2chiefs

30 minutes ago, drjohn4 said:

The main dining room may be able to accommodate a request for onion rings with some advance notice.  Just ask your waiter or head waiter.  (They made my wife gluten-free mozzarella sticks for lunch one day.)   

Agree. Sometimes the MDR will bend over backwards for your special requests. We love Filipino food and they even made us to on occasion. It all depends on the ship etc...

10 hours ago, chemmo said:

The focus on RC is action and adventure whereas on Celebrity it is more on rest and relaxation.

 

If you don’t like the smaller RC ships which have less entertainment venues you may also find the Celebrity M class limited. 

 

In our opinion all Celebrity ships ‘win’ on food, relaxing bars, a quieter atmosphere and excellent service. Also generally less children on board and those that are on board are well supervised and well behaved.

 

Also in our opinion RC ‘win’ on entertainment and activities.

 

With a free cruise up for grabs why not just give Celebrity a go? If you board expecting a new experience you may find you really enjoy the differences. if you board and compare negatively with the RC big ships then you will be disappointed.

In my opinion, this is the best response for you so far. We love both lines and sail both. We don't use the casino however so no advice on that. You should absolutely try it. (If I had a comped cruise I would definitely go).

On 7/14/2023 at 1:44 PM, Biker19 said:

Follow this thread:

 

Thanks

2 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Usually starting in November

Thanks!!

Should have shown the nurse your pics from Eden. 🙂 

We are looking to book a transatlantic cruise in the spring of 2025 and would like to know when X normally post their itineraries? Thanks in advance...

Looking to book a transatlantic cruise in the spring of 2025 and wondering when RCL normally post their itineraries? Thanks in advance.

On 6/18/2023 at 7:33 AM, Treasure Hunter said:

Just got off on Tuesday ( Greek Islands). Concierge cabin very shabby. Sofa broken. Bed lumpy. Useless TV.

food in MDR very good to excellent. Unlimited shrimp cocktails. Delicious lobster tail and the best Prime rib of beef I have ever had. 
two production show’s excellent with first rate singers and dancers. Other entertainment pretty good too. Service excellent in MDR no one to get drinks in Buffet. Many things broken in cabin ( safe, shower head, toilet) fixed immediately! Don’t take ship tours ( ours were terrible). Weather and ports beautiful. Free shuttles but you have to ask. Not advertised. Hit big in the casino! Would I go again? Only in a suite that’s been renovated. 

Thanks for the info. We are sailing Conny in March in the Caribbean. I'm sure she has a lot of wear and tear that needs to be addressed. Hopefully they can address some of it soon.

20 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

The Happy Hour (free selected drinks from 5-7pm or something like that) still exists.  The dedicated location (section in the Sky Lounge) is no longer.

I realize that as I said in my remarks. I was commenting on the reception. That's what I will miss.

Drinks are a non-issue if one has the drink package.

On 6/10/2023 at 10:44 PM, mahdnc said:

 

Yes, the two hour window is not new and is something we always managed around because we always had early seating.

 

To me, the downgrading with this is not having a portion of the Sky Lounge set aside for the Happy Hour anymore with the option for others that didn't want to be there to be able to get their drinks elsewhere. The hors d'oeuvres served there were a nice touch, too. It we also nice to talk to the Captain's Club Hostess there and meet other people.

 

I know it wasn't for everyone, but I miss it. 

 

 

Elite Happy Hour, Solstice Sky Lounge, Jan 1 2020, Tasman Sea

 

 

Solstice Captain's Club Hostess, Melissa

What? The Happy Hour has gone away? We haven't cruised Celebrity since before Covid so we weren't aware of this. We really liked it a lot (even though we always had the drink packages). It wasn't about the drinks for us. It was the camaraderie with fellow frequent cruisers and the hors d'oeuvres that we enjoyed every evening. We just booked 3 cruises with Celebrity so this information may have had an impact on our bookings.  Like you, we will miss it.

3 hours ago, njsmom said:

Definitely a sad looking sticky bun. 😞

 

This is what a sticky bun should be.

 

 

YES!!!!

23 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Nothing special about this "sale".  Don't be surprised if it gets extended by popular demand or something like that.  Or it will be repackaged as another sale with a different theme name.  Usually at worst, they may drop the extra $50 OBC bonus just so they can bring it back again later.

 

In the end, whatever Celebrity does, it gives them the self-created excuse to reset the FOMO countdown clock that is prominently displayed on their website.

I also notice things such as when they stop the $400 OBC bonus on one sale that the regular price drops by about $400 on the next sale and vice versa! There is always a sale. There are some differences, but they seem to be minor. As someone stated above, they pretty much seem to stay about the same.

However, I'm thinking they must have some sort of algorithm tied to the price structure on the website. If the ship is not booked up very much, as in the case someone mentioned in a "fire sale" earlier, the price drops. As the ship gets close to booking full capacity early, then the price jumps dramatically. 

Thanks for all the replies!

I'll be looking for them on our next cruise on the Beyond in December. I hope they are as good as I remember.

3 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Their sticky buns are not that great 😢

Celebrity should steal the person who makes the buns on RCL 😁

We never saw a sticky bun on any of the 28 cruises we took on RCL. Where did you get them?

We just got off the Adventure of the Seas last week and their burgers looked great at the Windjammer. They even melted the cheese on top with different types of cheeses. They never used to melt the cheese on their burgers so we were initially impressed. They looked so good but what a disappointment! They were actually worse than what they used to serve. They were bland and I felt they added some sort of filler to the meat.

The last Mast Grill burger we had was on the Reflection in 2018 and we really liked it. Too bad RCL and X don't have a nice burger joint for lunch. It doesn't seem like it would be very hard to do with little or no real effort or investment.

We haven't cruised Celebrity for 5 years and we have 3 upcoming cruises with Celebrity.

They had this phenomenal tasting pecan sticky bun at Al Bacio that was to die for. Does anyone know if they still serve this wonderful dessert?

On 5/15/2023 at 1:05 PM, mahdnc said:

 

I don't want a private island.  Besides all the shady and nice spots will be in the Retreat area

I love the private islands! It gives us the ship to ourselves!!

On 5/15/2023 at 6:19 PM, ShawninFL said:

In all honesty, we took 2 Celebrity cruises in our late 20s and early 30s.  Although the food was the best we've experienced on any ship we've sailed, the overall atmosphere at the time was not for us.  At the time, the only option for dinner was the main dining room at either 5 or 8:30 PM.  Entertainment was geared towards an older generation and we at times found ourselved bored at night.  Fast forward 10-15 years and we gave Celebrity another try on a Soltice Class ship and we have been Celebrity loyalists ever since.  That cruise on Silhouette blew us away.  The modern ship, wide array of dining options, lots of entertainment options and the Martini Bar.....my happy place.   Although I said we're Celebrity loyalists, that doesn't mean we'll only go on Celebrity, but when looking for a cruise, we check there first.  With all this said, we'd never told others it was full of old people.  We always said that although we had a good time, we preferred Royal Caribbean as it had more entertainment options and was a bit more laid back.  Our tastes certainly do change as we age.  

👍

On 5/15/2023 at 4:27 PM, njsmom said:

I've been cruising and booking different lines these past six months to experience different things and see what fits for us. We'd only done Carnival in the past, due to old friends who preferred it. My husband and I did not like it, but we adored our friends, so we went with them. Now we've done Norwegian, which was fine, but nothing spectacular. Although I found the food in the specialty restaurants to be outstanding. Someone said it was because the Prima was new and the best chefs were there. Whatever the reason, it was amazing. And then I sailed on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas with my teenager last month for a spring break cruise and that was fine, but I found the food lacking. He LOVED the cruise, tho. So it was a win since it was for him. And now my husband and I will experience Celebrity on the Millennium in seven weeks. 

We are Celebrity and Royal cruisers. You hit the nail on the head. We cruise Celebrity for the food and adult ambiance. We sail Royal for the shows and entertainment. Both have their strong & weak points (in the eyes of the beholder of course).

When they come up with a cruise line that satisfies everyone, then we will all switch and all the current cruise lines will go bankrupt. 🙂 

7 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of this. You're comparing a mass market cruise line booking from 11 months ago to a premium cruise line booking today. How does a Retreat cabin on this same sailing with today's pricing compare to Oceania?

Not only that but pricing seems to variy by a computer algorithm depending on how full the booking of the ship is at the time it's priced. If the ship is close to being booked full, the price tends to skyrocket for the remaining cabins. Price comparisons need to have more sampling with apples-to-apples comparisons.

9 hours ago, Ashland said:

"IF" they have bread pudding it's usually on an end station and will have a vanilla sauce next to it...usually never by the desserts...Crazy...cause to me it's dessert !!

I think it's because there's no heating element by the deserts and the pudding and sauce is kept warm.

3 hours ago, moposh said:

I think the Tooth Fairy only left me a quarter so $2 is great!

My teeth were only a dime each so I must be a lot older.

On 3/12/2023 at 1:25 PM, 2chiefs said:

PLEASE BRING BACK THE HONEY STUNG CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!

On 3/12/2023 at 2:17 PM, lenquixote66 said:

What is that ?

Not sure how to describe it but it's the best fried chicken ever!! RCL used to serve at the Windjammer on embarkation day.

PLEASE BRING BACK THE HONEY STUNG CHICKEN!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps with all the inflation, we should eliminate all one and two-dollar bills and promote the use one-dollar coins. (However, the one dollar coins need to be made a little larger because they are often confused with quarters.)