Team Stag

I've seen turtles in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Bonaire, Grand Cayman, & Curacao although this was during scuba diving.  I do think that if a turtle hears 40 people jumping in the water to go snorkeling they probably are heading off to quieter waters.

We saw this little lady in Cozumel earlier this year. 

In 2019, my wife & I were looking for a short weekend getaway cruise.  We chose another line due time restrictions and needing to be able to sail from Port Canaveral.  We found an NCL cruise that we throught was a really good deal but expired at 12:00 mid.  So we called our travel agent (who was traveling) and at 11:00 p.m. when we didn't hear back we booked it online.  The next morning - we woke up to a 48 hour Flash sale and shocker - it was the same exact price 🙄

I feel like Celebrity has taken a page from that book.  They have their price & now play a constant shell game with how they advertise their price.  Buy one get one 75.  But one - other passenger 50%, etc etc but at the end they all come out the same price.  My recent cruise (before final payment), I saw it was $100 cheaper.  So I call the TA & she confirms it but it reduces my current OBC form $200 to $75.  So basically a net $25 gain to stay with what we had (knowing my wife will spend at least $200 on board).  I feel like it's just trying to create confusion and force the customer into a sense of urgency to book "to get the best deal".

My Tip for the first time on the ship is don't over research it.  Don't spend hours on Cruise Critic, don't youtube videos, don't ask for a bunch of "what to do".  As we get older and with the benefit of technology, seeing things for the first time in person and allowing ourselves to be "wowed" is becoming more and more rare.  Just go and enjoy the excitement of something new experienced in person (which was a tough lesson for me to learn growing up with the motto of Be Prepared 😁)

My choice would be the Equinox.  First, you seem excited about Aqua; so go do it.  Also, being a holiday cruise, you should expect it to be full.  I find the S-Class ships have more smaller venues which makes the ship not feel as full to me vs the E-Class where you just have a giant martini bar & eden bar.

Ultimately, you need to try to figure out what kind of cruise you want to have.  We are doing a 3 day Reflection Cruise in a couple weeks & we know we are going to party.  We have steam to blow off and that's going to happen.  So for us - MDR and more likely the OVC or Room Service will be our dinners of choice.  The idea of sitting down for a large delicious meal after being in the sun all day after too many adult beverages would be a waste of money for us.

We love the specialty restaurants & the great selection they have of them on the Reflection.  As you can see from this post, there are multiple different opinions on their favorite (ours is Murano followed by LPC based on the show / menu).  Now, if you are celebrating a special occasion - a specialty restaurant is a GREAT way to do that.  Speciality restaurants also tend to have excellent service & a step up in food from the MDR as well (although we find great service lots of places with Celebrity). 

As others mentioned, you need to pick a time for check in. If you go to your cruise planner, you will see when Check In opens.  If you want an early boarding time, I strongly advise you check in on that first day.  Especially with a 3 day cruise, most fellow passengers will want to maximize time on the ship.  Enjoy the cruise!

13 minutes ago, Harborgirl246 said:

I am not spreading misinformation! Two separate passengers on Ascent  FB page right now reported this. 

I'm sorry - this was not intended to be directed at you.  It was a simple observation of things that I read on the internet (especially between here and the book).  We see it regularly that people can have complete opposite experiences on the same cruise.

13 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

some will say anything without any confirmation at all. 

Now that's a 100% accurate truth bomb.  I read some postings & just wonder if they are paid by other cruise lines to spread misinformation.  😂

I agree.  Although my take is things were never as bad as some made it out to be.  Some became hyper focused on one element and allowed it to influence their trip or they were convinced of shortcoming without actually stepping on ship.  I also believe that things in some areas are not as great as others claim.  Reality is hanging out somewhere in the middle.  Everybody cruises a little differently; so things important to one may not even make the next person's radar etc.

It's been interesting to see some posters who swore they were done with Celebrity forever continuing to hang around.  Either going out somewhere different wasn't as glamorous as they thought or all the new opinions of positivity brought them back.

I thought the Equinox had one of those little step down areas off the Sunset Bar.

4 hours ago, Boxerlover2 said:

I can confirm butlers are back for Sky Suites on Edge as of today’s 13 March sailing. Our butler, Albert, came to introduce himself. He is taking care of 26 suites across multiple decks. 

So the butlers are back. But still have way too many rooms to efficiently handle all their rooms effectively. So they will end up focused on some rooms that either are the loudest, the neediest or the best tippers. But no way that 26 rooms are getting the full butler treatment as many claim on this board.
 

So basically the same as before the change. One overworked person with the butler title….time for the new complaining to start (I barely saw my butler, my room service took 90 mins due my butler busy with other duties, etc etc)

Is it possible your TA is confused Aqua with Aqua Suite?  That would explain the pricing difference the TA sees. 

As far as the classics, they have them available from the Luminae kitchen.  On our last Apex cruise, my wife had French Onion soup and I had Escargot at least 5 of the 7 nights. Caesar  salad and steak was always an option as well.  Or simple chicken breast too.

Now if you are looking to order a specific dish (like Beef Wellington - if they even still do that) from the MDR menu; that would be more of a special request.

We dove with Neal Watson in September.  I agree with you that their outfit is professional and provides a fun low stress experience.

My only warning would be - look over your equipment closely.  Since this was a short cruise for us; we only brought regs and mask.  My BCD tank strap came undone twice and I saw several other tanks floating due to bad tank straps.  One person had some problems with their reg and needed replacement mid dive.  Some of their equipment has seen a lot of action.

5 hours ago, RichYak said:

I would be very surprised if this ended up being true.

I agree with @RichYak.  You will have one Chiq Night on Day 2 (sea day).  I will almost guarantee that.  No way that they give you your other Chiq Night 2 nights later on an 8 night cruise.  I'd wait until you get much closer to the cruise to allow the App to update itself.

They will also have the location, time and date on the app for your cruise as well.  Look under the heading of "Loyalty and Suites".  Under my recent cruise it was offered from 12:30 to 2 and did include the Short Rib (but no burger - I love a burger 😁).

As others have mentioned, we find it a very relaxing way to start the cruise.  We also find the bar service much easier than waiting at other places around the ship as everyone is rushing on.

We have always gotten a table for two in Luminae.  Now be warned, they tend to be very close to other tables of 2 due to the space constraints.  

3 minutes ago, Jagggg said:

I'm curious about the price. 

On our upcoming cruise it is listed at $169.99 (although currently priced at 157.99 - 6% off)

1 hour ago, doghog said:

🙄 What's next, the small table on the balcony.  🤣

Technically they removed the balconies on most of the rooms on the E-Class 😂

8 minutes ago, CruisersTimesThree said:

I believe the Silhouette has a bar on one of the two retreat decks, along with a hot tub. Will find out next month! 

I did not realize they built out space on Deck 15 for second Retreat area on an S-Class ship.  That's the first I've seen of it (I'm normally a Equinox / Reflection - S Class passenger).  Thank you for the information!

Keep in mind even the S-Class ships with Retreat sun decks are only the sun deck.  They do not have a pool or private bar like the E-Class ships.  They do have waitstaff to get drinks and such but they are walking down to the another bar.  So it's nothing like the E-Class if you are trying to recreate that experience.

We use the Auto Train from time to time.  We like it a lot.  HOWEVER, even when upgrading to a room or roomette; I don't always sleep great (late night in the bar doesn't help).  And sometimes even the 45 minute ride to get to my house takes every bit of energy I can muster.  😂

I agree with others.  If you are coming in a day early, I would try to chop away at as much of the drive as you can to make sure the next morning is an easy and relaxing experience. 

19 minutes ago, Irishgirl1012 said:

I dont' feel like it is worth it. Anyone?

Sounds like you answered your own question.  If you don't feel like it's worth it to you; then it's not worth it to you.

8 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

Of course that was where it first surfaced that they were being eliminated I think.  

I hope it does change.  Only to watch all these people who have swore off Celebrity due to the Butler change come running back and book up all the sky suites.

On 1/16/2024 at 1:56 PM, RichYak said:

The current rumor circulating on Facebook is that Celebrity is working on restoring butler service to Sky Suites and that it will take some months to implement but should be done by June.

I mean it's on Facebook so it's gotta be true....

We are still fans.  When we talk about vacations, a Celebrity cruise is always included in the discussions.  We have always enjoyed sailing with them.  We recognize the prices have gone up; but what hasn't?

I think a some people allow outside frustrations to creep in and use Celebrity as a punching bag.  Inflation is rampant and the dollar just doesn't go as far as it did. Heck, I was in the best grocery store this week and a chuck roast was $9.49 / lb!  That's just insane. 

I travel a lot.  And I have seen changes throughout all types travel & vacationing.  Airlines have made cuts while raising prices and add on fees.  Airport lounges are also making all kinds of reductions of offerings or price increases (or both).  Hotels are cleaning the rooms when they feel like it vs everyday.  I live in Orlando & have you looked at the price of a Disney vacation??  We use to have annual passes pre-covid & the cost to buy the same one now is almost double.  And don't even get me started on Restaurants.  They are a shell of their former selves.  Even my favorite pricey steakhouses have yet to return to their quality standards while raising prices.

Fortunately most of the grumbles having been going on so long now; it's just background noise to me.