schlimazel_traveler

Still debating! The price on the Grandeur seems to have come down and it's now less than the Summit...

Plus, I read that Celebrity cut its activities staff in half!

Of course, you can't have the same cruise twice and I imagine we could book the same cruise on the same ship next year and be disappointed if the crew, schedule, or weather were not as favorable as this year.

What to do, what to do...

Also, I thought there was some arrangement in which I could get the benefits of on-board booking within a very short window after getting off a ship, but I'm not seeing that option. The OBC would be nice but mostly the reduced deposit would be nice. It doesn't seem I can combine the WOW with the BOGHO...at least not online.

How was the activity schedule? Have they indeed done away with trivia, contests, interactive games, karaoke, and the like?

I expected craft/art classes (like were posted in previous dailies), lectures twice a day (like were posted in previous dailies), more trivia (like were posted in previous dailies), game show type events held during the day and not right before late dining at 8pm where we'd have to hope that it's completed by 8:30pm and then try to get a wheelchair from deck 11 forward to deck 4 aft to make late dining at 8:30pm (like were posted in previous dailies), and yes, movies shown 2 or 3 times a day (like were posted in previous dailies).

 

I don't care if there are the sales as long as there are other events. Celebrity seems to have dropped 80% of the "other events" and just left the sales so that's mostly what's appearing in their dailies. It's disappointing. If I want to bring my own entertainment (like reading, games, crafts), I'd sail a cheaper line / time.

 

I took another Royal Caribbean cruise in February of this year knowing that they don't generally have many day time activities (we're not rock wall or ice skating people) because the price was low (it was downright cheap) and I knew that for the price I paid, I would need to bring along enough stuff to occupy my mind (and keep me out of the casino).

 

When choosing a Celebrity cruise, one of the big draws for me was the variety of daytime activities onboard. Looking at previous dailies, I thought, "wow, how am I ever going to choose which activities/events/shows/lectures to participate in - there's so much going on!" Looking at the most recent ones, I know feel like I'll need to pick over the activities and say, "well, I better grab lunch between 12-12:30 because the only event I want to participate in is at 1pm today".

Oh, dear. I am distressed to read this thread because I feel exactly as you do about the onboard activities. I had been hopeful about Celebrity based on reading older daily schedules that people have posted. We just got off the Grandeur of the Seas cruise to Bermuda, and thought we could "trade up" a bit by sailing on the Summit next year. This seems like a significant change from past procedures, and more of a "trade-off" than a "trade up." Grandeur's activity staff (Cruise Director, Activities Director, and three staffers) were everywhere, all the time, doing games, contests, trivia, bingo, crafts, dance lessons, karaoke, etc. With only 2 full port days, there is a LOT of time to fill on a 7-night sailing and they did it very well. I had expected the same, but perhaps minus some of the crasser stuff (sexiest man contest?) if we "moved up" to Celebrity.

Argh. Unfortunately...Grandeur is considerably more expensive! And the food is just eh.

I just booked 2 Celebrity cruises, one for January on the Silhouette and one for next May on the Summit.

I suppose most people would have done this in the opposite order, but NOW I'm reading reviews. People on the recent sailings of the Summit are describing a great lack of onboard activities. Someone said the cruise director announced they'd done away with such things as Bingo and trivia.

I guess we are not very hip because we really LIKE trivia, game shows, silly contests, karaoke, and that type of cheesy stuff. Someone posted links to the daily schedule for a 2012 Bermuda cruise on Summit and it was full of things to do. But that was 2 years ago. If they really don't have this sort of thing on the Summit--or on Celebrity ships in general--any longer, maybe this isn't the best choice for my traveling party?

(I also read that people were very, very unhappy with the buffet restaurant, noting great deterioration from previous sailings.)

I know there is "entertainment," but we don't just want to watch a show or hear a concert. Can someone who has sailed recently fill me in on the interactive activities onboard?

You'd think so! But I just got off a RCCL cruise to Bermuda yesterday and booked a cruise to go back next May. I guess I should have said that!

I'm brand-new to Celebrity and relatively new to cruising--both cruises I've booked before, I've booked so close to sailing that final payment was already due and I have no experience working the price and promotion changes.

I just booked two cruises today in the Take 2 promotion. The agent (I booked over the phone with Celebrity) said I could add additional offers as they came along and particularly mentioned gratuities.

It doesn't look like I can combine this promotion with that one, but I also see that the OBC is $200 vs the $125 I got for my Bermuda cruise (which I think was outside the "Take 2" window anyway).

What is my best strategy here? This promotion is only for "new bookings" but if I cancel and re-book, that's a new booking, right?

Just off the Grandeur's Bermuda sailing and looking forward to returning to Bermuda this time next year. This was just our second cruise, both on Royal Caribbean, once on Enchantment out of Baltimore and once on Grandeur. We chose these ships because we live <30 min from the port.

We had a lot of fun on Grandeur--loved the activities staff, found the silly games and contests very entertaining. Enjoyed participating in trivia, the Quest, the Majority Rules game, karaoke, etc. Enjoyed the aerial shows, the music on the pool deck, and the relaxed atmosphere. Liked the freestyle soda machines, too! Our cabins were comfortable. But we didn't love the food (it was good enough, but not exciting), and we also think we might like to try something different.

I just priced out cruises next year (late May/early June) and we could have two balcony cabins (not concierge class or aqua class or whatever, just veranda cabins) on the Summit for $200 LESS than the Grandeur--and that's assuming I book the Grandeur TODAY before the price goes up by $950/cabin. Plus, the Summit includes some OBC for each stateroom.

We are 3.5 hours from Bayonne.

It seems like a no-brainer, but will Celebrity be too sedate for us if we liked the silly stuff on Royal? We're not drinkers or carousers, we just like to be entertained.

If your ship has a Freestyle soda machine (and I think it does), and you are soda drinkers, I think you might want at least the soda package. It's $6.50/day, I believe. You can't use the Freestyle machine without the mug that comes with the soda package. The only fountain sodas you could buy by the glass at a bar would be Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Ginger Ale. I liked having the options of all the different diet sodas in the machine, and I think sodas are more than $2, so it doesn't take much use of the Freestyle machine to break even on the soda package.

I know from our bill that beers were about $5 and whiskeys were about $8. I stuck to soda and our bar bill came to about $70 for the 7-day cruise, plus the ~$100 for the soda package. You may do better paying by the drink if you're not going to drink much alcohol.

I gather your cruise is this summer?

The activities staff onboard is very entertaining. I wasn't mad about the cruise director, but he'll be on vacation until August. The rest of the staff was delightful. There is plenty to see and do--whether you participate or just watch, there are things going on around the ship like shows, games, contests, etc., that are a lot of fun. But if you don't want to do any of those things, there are also places to sit and listen to live music, or just sit and read a book. We were surprised at how uncrowded the ship felt.

As far as the food, I can say that there were some discrepancies between the descriptions on the menu and the actual dish that was served. We joked that they had lost the recipe book. One example was that the chocolate sensation dessert, which we liked on our previous cruise specifically because it has a marzipan layer, did not have the marzipan (described on the menu as "almond icing.") Or sometimes the description was misleading. I ordered a dessert last night that was described as “Williams Pear Chocolate Crisp” (Williams pear cream, chocolate crunch, chocolate reduction). This turned out to be a molded mousse type thing with three holes filled with chocolate sauce and a piece of chocolate candy stuck at one end. Apparently, the chocolate candy was the "chocolate crisp," but I think I can be forgiven for anticipating that it involved, you know, a crisp, like an apple crisp. It was fine, just not what I expected. There were several examples where the item was fine, just not what was advertised--there's no guacamole in the veggie quesadilla in the Park Cafe even though the description says there is. These things don't really ruin anything--they were more funny than upsetting--particularly because the waiter will be perfectly happy to bring something else!

The vegetarian in our party found her choices to be somewhat limited. Pasta was always an option, but she would have liked better and more varied options for salad. The main dining room's "Tutti Salad" at lunch was a better option than some others, but our traveling companions noted it did not compare favorably to their college dining hall. (They do go to a school that has a reputation for good food and being very vegetarian-friendly.) She had fun trying a new chilled fruit soup every night, though.

The aerial shows in the Centrum were fun to watch (you may get a better view from deck six or seven than from the dance floor in the Centrum), and if you're onboard during the day in port, you may get to watch a rehearsal too.

Posting from the Windjammer on Grandeur. We had a lovely time and were very entertained. The food was fine. Not great, but enjoyable enough. I would do another Bermuda cruise on this ship.

Oh, so how does it work?

I buy a package and then go around to the venues and set up my reservations?

We've only cruised once before and didn't try the specialty venues at all.

But for that price, it seems like we might like to!

Do I have to set the reservations right then and there?

I saw that someone recently off the Grandeur mentioned a $55 package that covers all three specialty venues and includes $20 credit at Izumi, making the cost $35 for Chops and Giovanni's Table. That seems like a very good deal!

I'd like to buy the package, but I'd like to wait to see what is being served in the MDR to determine which nights to eat in the other venues. Is that possible?

Does anyone have the cruise compasses or recall the order of the menus?

Also, some of the passengers on the cruises during and just after the norovirus outbreak noticed that the crew seemed tired and that the service the passengers received was less attentive. Does the crew seem to have bounced back at all?

Karen,

That is interesting, because when I booked (same cruise), the agent told me the times were 6 and 8:30.

I went with MTD because 8:30 was too late. Might have chosen differently if I'd known traditional seating was actually 8.

Apologies if this has been addressed before, but I'm seeing a number of threads in which people are unaware that there is a soda-only drink package that costs ~$7.50/day. One person explained that this was because that package was not offered on board--only the $20 Royal Replenish package and the alcohol packages.

I'd like to defer purchase of our drink packages until we board because we have a (small) OBC that would cover some of the cost. I plan to purchase the soda-only package for everyone. (P.S. for soda-judgers--getting the cup for the Freestyle machine is the only way to get access to diet sodas other than Diet Coke and Diet Sprite, as far as I can tell.)

Is the soda-only package not for sale on board?

If not, I'll pre-purchase and I guess we'll use the OBC for something else. (We had to prepay our tips already, too.)

But I thought I'd let the others in my party decide if they wanted to upgrade to Royal Replenish (they can pay the difference--these are young adults and I'm footing the bill for the cruise). If we pre-purchase the soda package, can they upgrade on board?

You could wait until you're on board. They have them out on display for people who want to buy a beverage package on board. If she likes it, you can pick it up then. It will seem a little pricey for an insulated mug, but it does come with all the soda you can drink for the duration of the cruise.

Tell us more. Sounds like as long as we're not expecting "great" (and I'm not), it will mostly meet expectations?

I am looking forward to that lamb shank! It's the last night, you say? Did you note the order of the menus by any chance?

Did you try various venues, or just the MDR?

It was booked (and paid for--I booked after final payment was due and had to pay on the spot) only for three passengers. The rep on the phone (I booked directly with RC) was completely aware that I planned to add a fourth passenger, and never mentioned the possibility that I might not be able to.

I am very glad I asked because Patty will be very upset if she finds someone who can go and we're not able to add a passenger!

I'll check.

Thanks. I'll check before I press her again about finding someone...who has a passport.

And if she decides not to go, do I notify them? Or just show up without her and explain?

Does anyone know what becomes of the gratuities I paid for her? Will I still be charged for those? That would seem pretty unfair, because I only had to pre-pay them due to choosing MTD. If we'd chosen traditional dining, we'd get on board with 4 passengers and owe tips for four passengers, not five.

You could pack a single-cup Melitta cone and some filters.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/melitta-pour-over-single-cup-brewing-cone/1010182077?device=c&network=g&matchtype=&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_coffeetea_&gclid=CN-ok-Pylb4CFYMSOgoddVwAWg

My family is booked on a cruise sailing 5/23.

We told our young adult daughters, Patty and Cathy, they could each bring a friend on this trip, and we booked two cabins, one for my husband and myself and one that sleeps four for the girls and their friends.

Cathy had a friend identified at the time of the booking, so there are three passengers booked into that cabin.

Patty hasn't chosen a friend to join us yet. She's deciding whether or not she wants to come if she can't find a friend to bring along.

So I have two questions:

1. What is the last possible date we can add a fourth passenger to the girls' cabin?

2. What is the last possible date Patty can decide she just doesn't want to go? I know we won't get a refund on her cruise fare. (But maybe we'll get the pre-paid gratuities back? Or converted to an OBC? I hope?)

Starbucks is the worst coffee ever. It tastes like licking a dirty ashtray.

I thought the on-board coffee on Enchantment in December 2012 (my only previous cruise) fit that description pretty well. It tasted like perhaps the percolator needed to be cleaned out, but I imagine it's hard to keep up with that when so much coffee is brewed. I'm thinking I'll bring along the Starbuck's Via as well on my next cruise. I've never tried it, and it galls me to have to bring along my own provisions to a cruise, but the coffee really was just awful.

I don't recall whether it was any different in the MDR. We only had breakfast there once.

Oh, dear. I'm sorry to hear about your experience. We're sailing the same itinerary in a few weeks. I hope the crew has a chance to recharge but I can't imagine how they would.

Nothing much to do on the ship.

That is particularly distressing to hear. Were there not the usual evening entertainments, like Quest and the Love and Marriage game? Dance lessons, trivia games, karaoke?

I know that stuff is cheesy, but my family liked it on our previous cruise on Enchantment, and it was sorely missing when we tried an all-inclusive resort instead this year. Can you clarify what you thought was missing?

Welcome to CC. We frequently sail out of Baltimore, and my experience is to book early, because prices tend to go up only. Even the great prices they offer close to final payment are higher than what I paid by booking early.

 

Booking late works for many ports, but I just don't see it working that way for Baltimore. At least not very often.

Thanks for that insight!

I priced our May cruise on the Grandeur back in January, but procrastinated and then wound up paying more for 2 balcony cabins than I was going to pay for the Royal Family Suite (which was, natch, no longer available). I kicked myself. But I thought the prices would go down! I booked after final payment so had to pay it all on the spot. Which also meant I missed out on switching my reservation to a TA that was offering a very nice OBC.

Live and learn!:rolleyes:

:)..we have $425 OBC that I am now wondering how we're going to spend (I imagine in actuality, it won't be a problem!). ... I'm a planner and can't do the "book them on the ship" method. Oh well, I guess we'll just see how it goes.

I believe you can opt to purchase your drink packages (if you were going to purchase them) onboard rather than ahead of time. That could take care of some of your OBC and there wouldn't be any risk of missing out on something that needed to be secured ahead of time.

(Come to think of it, I now recall we might actually have a small OBC on one of our cabins. Which makes me a tiny bit more chagrined about the pre-paid gratuities than I was a moment ago. But maybe I'll just hold off on getting the soda packages.)