BarbJ52

I think if there was an OPT IN way to use the app, we would use it. It could be an great tool.

I agree.

It's usually very simple to cancel online. Once you've cancelled, you will still see the booking online but it will reflect the cancellation. You will also receive an email confirming the cancellation.

A word of caution: You need to make sure that the online booking reflects the cancellation. Otherwise, you will need to call and cancel. Previously, we needed to cancel a paid-in-full cruise due to personal reasons not covered by our insurance. We knew that we would lose 50% of what we'd paid, but also knew that cancelling was the best choice for us at the time. I cancelled online and received an email confirming the cancellation. The online reservation, however, never reflected the cancellation. I waited, thinking that the cancellation might just take some time to process. (Plus, I was tied up attending to details related to the situation that led to the cancellation.) Once I got back to it, I found that the reservation still appeared to be active and, now, cancellation would cost us 75% of the cost of the cruise. When I called, the Celebrity representative said gave me the same information that was reflected online. Fortunately, I still had the email and was able to prove that I had cancelled at an earlier date.

special_needs@rccl.com

 

I emailed them and have been assured that I will get a foam/mattress topper item ready on my bed when i cruise next week

I also like the suggestion of extra duvets just incase the toppers are minimal comfort.... I will let you know how it workd out.

Deffo worth sending off an email!

I don't know what ship you're sailing. If it's Vision, good luck with getting a foam/mattress topper. We, also, were assured by the Special Needs dept. that DH would have one to accommodate his back issues. Once onboard we were told that they did not have any, but that an extra duvet had been added under the sheets. After the first night, a second one was added and was of minimal help. Hopefully, you will have better luck.

And I also meant I have not seen many Celebrity cruises that stop in Antigua, although many other cruise lines stop there.

We were on Summit and stopped in Antigua. We will also be on a Summit cruise scheduled to stop there next year.

We'll be doing western on Vision 2/28/15! We got a JS corner aft. Pretty excited about that. Thanks for your review. I saw your cruise history with the Jewel, Feb 2008, that's when we sailed together-a long time ago.

 

I've been reading so much about the Vision. We did an 11-day southern in 2013 and loved it. But I have noticed service changes on RCL since then, so I'm a little apprehensive. I'll just keep drinking and everything will be fine!

 

Take care!

Mary & Tom

Wisconsin

Hi Mary & Tom,

That Jewel cruise was one of our favorites! We too have noticed changes in the RC product. For us, service was fine aboard Vision. But, our next few cruises will be with Celebrity.

Enjoy your cruise,

Barb & Fred

I find nothing wrong with the mattress……it is a nice ship………….so be it…...

did you sleep on the OPs bed?

Exactly! We were on Brilliance for a 4-day cruise last month. DH complained every night, even after getting some assistance from our wonderful cabin steward. My side seemed fine and, after listening to him complain for 3 nights, I agreed to switch sides for the last night. OMG!!!!! That side was unbelievably hard. I barely slept and was incredibly uncomfortable all night. So, unless you walked in their shoes (slept in the same bed) .......

We were on Vision last week ... and both sides were very hard, but made somewhat better by the addition of a couple of comforters under the sheet. Our cabin steward stated that they no longer had egg crates. Neither of us slept well for the entire cruise.

We loved both cruises. There were many, many positives, but uncomfortable beds are a deal-breaker for us. When I'm on vacation, I don't want to go to bed EVERY night wishing I was home in my own bed.

. Talking about doctors - I have no knowledge of any norovirus during our cruise ...... although it would not surprise me if some were sick... many forget to wash their hands ..... I see it on land , so ship would be no different. The sanitizer/ alcohol stations were placed all over the ship but they do not kill noro.

While I missed most of her announcements, I happened to be in the right place at the right time (Thurs. or Fri.??) to hear Captain Lis mention that Medical had seen a few cases of norovirus during our cruise. She, again, reminded us to be vigilant with hand washing, etc.

Good review Professor.

 

Question: does RCI want us to carry the wine on? Almost all other cruises we put it in our checked bags. Thanks for all the good info

Yes, the signs that we saw inside the building (long after our checked bags had already been taken) clearly stated that wine should be removed from checked luggage and carried aboard. The bag with our wine was not delivered to our cabin. We had to go to a conference room, identify our bag, and open it up to show that we only had wine and not some other alcoholic beverage. It was a relatively painless inconvenience that could have been avoided had the signs been placed outside rather than inside.

:eek:

From past experience with various RCI ships/terminals I've observed that you could have one hand occupied with a bag/cane....etc but as long as you had one hand free, you were allowed to use the escalator.

 

I will be on Vision for the 1/3/15 sailing and was planning on carrying my bag off (and using the escalator as I would have one hand free). My question is; in your debarkation, did you need to have both hands free to use the escalator?

Our group debarked immediately following those who carried their bags off. From what I was able to observe, those who only had a small carry-on seemed to be allowed to use the escalator; those with larger bags were sent to the elevators; and those with canes (dh included - with or without a bag) we NOT allowed to take the escalator down. The gentleman ahead of us who had no bags tried his best to get on the escalator, but was refused and was told specifically that it was because he was using a cane. We had to wait in a VERY long line for our turn on the elevator. I located our bags just in time to retrieve one that someone else was mistakenly claiming was his and was ready to walk away with. :eek:

I went over Thanksgiving on Vision with many legitimate complaints. I would like to know if the windjammer had a better selection of food and cleanliness. Did the entertainment improve? Read my comments and please let me know if things changed. My friend is going Jan 7th and I would love for them to have a great experience since ours was just not good. How was the smoking smell?

 

Happy 40th anniversary! Blessings!

Professor & I noticed that there was not necessarily a large selection of foods in the Windjammer at lunch time, but enough to satisfy us. We did not notice any issues with cleanliness and spoke with a couple very experienced crew members who said they had been brought onboard to help with some unspecified issues. We didn't attend any shows so can't tell you first-hand about that, but did hear some positive comments. As for smoking, the only time that we noticed a few people smoking was Sunday on the pool deck while the football games were being aired on the big screen. Of course, our experiences may differ from others who go to the casino, spend time by the pool, etc.

First, congratulations on your 40th.

 

Found your comments to be very informative.

 

We have been looking at a GS (8518) on Vision and now have a second concern regarding sleeping comfort. Our first concern was noise from above. Could you please share your experience? Also, I guess that we should consider a late flight out of Tampa on debarkation day.

Since Professor sleeps with ear plugs, he did not notice any noise and may not be the best to comment. As his other half, I did notice some noise overhead but did not really find it to be bothersome. I did bring ear plugs but never used them. We were in 8014, so just a little further forward than you will be. We did chat with a couple that was even further forward than us and they seemed to be definitely bothered by noise above - especially on the last night.

From Post No. 1: "I've stayed away from CC since before the cruise on Allure from the 12th - 19th. I'll give a brief overview at a later time, but I did miss the ship in Nassau and want to share what to expect."

 

 

 

OK, which is it? Thanksgiving or the 12th -19th???

Perhaps his travel agent is actually in Canada where Thanksgiving was celebrated on Oct. 13.

Per the US Federal Law that went into effect 1/1/2013 RCCL can and does have the passenger(s) "attest" to their need to book an accessible cabin when doing the on-line check-in process. Attestation to the needing an accessible cabin is done at the time of check-in and not when initially making the reservation.

We have always been required to attest to needing the cabin as soon as we have reserved the cabin, not when doing the online check-in.

On a couple of occassions, we were able to hear voices if the people in the PH were near the door and speaking loudly. Fortunately, these were not arguments that we overheard, but people talking to each other from different parts of the suite as they were getting ready for their excursions. And, we could occassionally hear the piano. I'm sure this could be dependent on the particular passengers in the PH suite, but we didn't find the ocassional sounds to be bothersome. Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to book the cabin again.

We are going to be booking this suite later today and quite excited after seeing all the photos. Just want to be sure about this room as opposed to another sky suite.

 

Is it a problem only having the one glass door and not the larger patio ones giving more light and view? I am thinking the lovely room makes up for that.

 

Also re the loungers which I would like, do you ask your stateroom host to get some when you get to the room or do you have to ask before the cruise?

 

Many thanks.

For us, the single glass door was a non-issue. While I didn't give it much thought, I don't remember feeling that there was a lack of sufficient light/view.

There were no loungers on the balcony when we got there - just a few weeks after Solstisization. Perhaps they've been added since. We didn't request them, so I'm not sure if they would have been provided. Perhaps someone who has sailed in that cabin recently can answer that??

It was lovely and I wouldn't hesitate to book it again. :)

Is the balcony shaded by an overhang or does it get sun?

While there is an overhang, we did find that the balcony was quite sunny for most of the day.

So glad to hear Joane is feeling better. Just goes to prove "You can't keep a good cruiser on land!".

Hope all is well with you. Still hoping that we catch up with you again sometime in the future. :)

Barb! OMG thats my room come June 10. The pictures are fabulous. Did you find the Butler accomodating and pleasant? What is mounted in the shower on the green tile? Is it a shelf or seat of some sort? Did you notice much ship movement? I usually opt for midship, but wanted this room badly ( mostly because of Sandi's posts). Thanks. Julie

Julie,

There actually is nothing mounted on the green tiles in the shower. What you are seeing is a reflection of the bathtub. As far as movement goes, I didn't really notice much. But, it's only deck 6 and the seas weren't particularly rough.

Our butler, Singh, was very nice and accommodated what few needs we had. We don't really make much use of butler services, though.

That's too bad. It felt so decadent soaking in the tub, glass of wine in hand, while at sea. It is quite a step up to get into the tub, I agree. The shower is awfully nice, and roomy, too.

Yup, that's what I had in mind - soaking in the tub with a glass of wine in hand. But to be truthful, I'm not sure what part of my cruise I'd be willing to give up for that. Great cruise - great people - great memories. So I guess, all in all, it didn't really matter that we couldn't use the tub. :)

Wow, beautiful! Thank you for sharing your photos. Too bad they can't make the side of the bathtub any lower, but the decor is just lovely!

I almost forgot! We had a little incident involving the bathroom. While we were in port one day, there was a problem with the toilet not flushing. As we attempted to get it flushed, we managed to fill it nearly to to top. Well it was late in the day and our neighbors in the PH invited us to a sailaway party, so headed next door. Our butler, Singh, was there so we mentioned the problem and he said he'd take care of it.

Well, a little while later we went back through the connecting door and found the butler and a maintenance person in the bathroom. Upon seeing us, Singh told us, "You won't be able to use this. They have to order a part." :eek: Oh, my! But before I had a chance to panic, I noticed that the maintenance crew member had a rubber plug in his hand that was clearly intended for the tub. Of course, it was too small and they proceded to explain that the mechanism was broken and that they didn't have the necessary spare part and would need to order it.

As for the toilet, it seems that there was a situation that effected many toilets that day. But, it was taken care of and we didn't seem to have any more problems with flushing.

Personally, I like a nice deep bathtub. But, as it turns out, we were never able to use the tub since we couldn't. :(

It looks like the sofa and chair are new as well as the carpet. Do you know if the mattress was replaced? On our last two cruises in this suite on sister ships the mattresses were hard as rocks.

Yes, the mattresses were definitely new - very comfortable for me. :)

Thanks for posting these Barb. So glad I was able to get 6145 again; looks better than ever!! Wish they had loungers on the balcony though. Did you ask for them?

We didn't ask for loungers, nor did we use the balcony as much as we thought we would. I suppose that is because the cruise was so port-intensive.

We were in this wonderful suite for the Feb. 25 cruise. As we had learned here on CC, it is connected to the Penthouse Suite and is appointed to match that suite. As mentioned by others, there were some occasions when we could hear the piano in the PH or conversation that happened near the door but we did not find this to be bothersome. We were fortunate to have great neighbors who were also part of our CC Roll Call. One interesting thing that we noted was that the balconies were also adjoining and we were able to open the door and go between the 2 balconies.