AmberCascades

In the dining room you can get coffee, tea, water, milk (maybe)? In the morning there is water, tea, coffee, milk and an array of fruit juices - I usually ask for a V8. 🙂

Maybe they were finding some butlers had a lot to do and others didn't get quite as many requests, so they decided to share it out amongst a team? Maybe if a butler gets tied up helping with a cocktail party then those who share that butler can still have access to "a" butler? Just throwing out some ideas for why they might have decided to do this. Of course, one never truly knows why a corporation does the things it does. lol

OTC medication (allergy meds, cold tabs, pain relievers, etc.) and small first aid kit.

In San Diego there is a stop very close to the pier. If you Google it you will find a map with all the stops. I'm not sure if it's called San Diego Trolley or what, but those words should get you somewhere. We did the trolley both times we were in SD because there's so much to see there.

In San Francisco and Santa Barbara there are HOHO (hop on hop off) trolleys near the ship. Very easy to do on your own. We did a food tour in Catalina that was interesting and a lot of fun. It is also very easy to just walk around on your own. I'm not sure about Muir Woods as to how far away it is, etc. but you can look on Viatour or Tripadvisor to see what kinds of tours might be available. If it's not too close then you might want to take a ship's tour to ensure you get back in time. If one is available. Wherever we are, we always make sure we are back at the ship at least 1 hour before sail away time. You have to be onboard 30 minutes before, but we like to allow extra time to be sure.

Have you tried making the reservation online and it isn't working? Sometimes if your party is too big you can't do it online. The worst that will happen is you go to the dining room on boarding day and sort it out then.

You don't. What do you need help with?

Turkey parmesan. I don't even like turkey but I loooove this dish. They will also make a GF version if you order it the night before.

We've never used the Concierge for any of this stuff. We like the cabin location and the embarkation day lunch is a nice bonus. You also get a bottle of sparkling wine, complimentary shoe shine (my DH tried it out and they did an amazing job!), a nice place to hang out on disembarkation day while waiting. We were invited to several events onboard, as well as a couple of invitations to the helipad for sailaways - one from the embarkation port and another from one of the port stops. On our last cruise we had a couple of issues with our cabin and with a food allergy issue. We were able to access our Concierge on deck 3. We also played a bit of phone tag but they were all over our issues to get them resolved. The Concierge isn't a butler though. They aren't there to do little things for us that we can do ourselves.

Where is this? Is it only on Millenium? I haven't seen anything like that on Summit or Infinity, but maybe I missed it. If it's not on those two, do you know if there's one on Constellation? Tx

The only time I ever saw mass was on a sailing that took place over Easter and Passover. There was mass on Easter Sunday (not sure about Good Friday), and they had a Passover seder one night that people could attend if they wanted to (they had to rsvp), which I'm assuming was presided over by the Rabbi. I think he was invited to be on the ship. His wife wasn't happy to be on the cruise so maybe she was coerced. lol It was a Panama Canal cruise and we were on the helipad when we spoke to her. Not sure why she was unhappy.

Agreed. We always see that sign. It's more likely that they will get rid of the suites using the move-up program prior to sailing.

We usually take the National Express bus the day (or two) before sailing and stay in Southampton. It's a nice little place to walk around and there are some very nice restaurants. One time we were on the bus, the day before embarkation, and there was some sort of traffic delay. The driver told us it would be slow going and gave us a heads up. A couple of guys who were sailing on Princess that same day were freaking out and worried they were going to miss the ship. In the end I believe they made it on time, but it was close. I would definitely recommend getting there the day before. Much less stressful.

You likely can't take any fresh food off the ship. You are going to be very uncomfortable after a while if you don't have bathroom breaks and some kind of food during the day. I would ask the guide if she can arrange something. She would know if there's somewhere along the way that you could pick up something quick and eat it on the bus if you have to. We've been on private tours where the guide has picked up a pre-arranged lunch for us. One time we had a picnic at a fort eating local food. We only stopped for about 15 minutes but having that little break was very welcome. A couple of times we had our lunch in a parking lot. Hahaha On others the guide passed around sandwiches and cookies on the bus. We also always bring pre-packaged GF snacks because there's no guarantee that my celiac husband can eat whatever is offered.

I thought it was an unspoken rule that this is not acceptable anywhere in public - public transit, waiting rooms, restaurants, etc. I don't care what they're playing. It could be my most favourite song in the world but if I'm trying to read, or enjoy the sound of the waves or sleep in my bed, I don't want to hear it!

LOL I was going to say "beware of using pineapples as people will come by and turn them upside down". Well, I don't know how many people do that. My husband never saw a pineapple he didn't like to turn upside down. Because he's a brat and now he's obsessed since I told him what it meant. lol Anyway, yes, the doors are magnetic and you can decorate them. We don't, but we appreciate it when our neighbours do as it helps us find our way as well.

Celebrity takes food allergies very seriously and are very accommodating. My husband is celiac and has never been sick on a cruise. He looks at the menu the night before and is able to order certain dishes gluten-free. I wonder if it would be possible for you to order this ahead of time and specify "no mussels"? Although they might still be leery because, is it the actual mussel that causes a problem? Or what if mussel juice somehow got in there, would that make you sick? Like I said, they take this seriously and usually err on the side of caution.

We always request a 2 top on the first night we show up for dinner. If we like our waitstaff we ask to sit in their section every night and we usually end up at, or near, our original table. If you have a large party you should go to the dining room in the afternoon to request it.

They are not ALLOWED. There is always what they will GET AWAY WITH? Maybe they will, maybe they won't. It's never too early to start teaching children what is expected of them in society. This is not a slam against your parenting skills. We teach them to say please and thank you and eat with a fork. The expectation here is that the stated dress code should be adhered to. I don't recall seeing any teens or children in the MDR. I did see kids wearing shorts in the buffet.

The crew, always the crew. They won us over from the beginning and they've never let us down. After that, it's the vibe and ambiance, especially on our favourite ships, Infinity and Summit. Finally, coffee at Al Bacio. And the crew at Al Bacio. Oh, and the sweeties at Al Bacio. 🙂

I'm so sorry that happened to you, but I'm glad you are both okay. Thanks for the advice. Covid is going to be around for a while so this is all good to know (not the part about you and your husband being sick, of course).

As far as I know you just request your table size when you go for dinner. Otherwise, see the maitr'd when you first board. Someone will be in the dining room to help with reservations, etc.

Late port days are the days to explore the dinner offerings in the Ocean View (buffet). We have select dining but still, after a long day in port it's nice to just relax on our own in the buffet.

Hmmmm.....chocolate cake was my go-to 3 or 4 times per cruise. I will be disappointed (but sllightly less chubby) if they get rid of it. 😞

We were in Concierge in April and were invited twice. There was another day that we noticed people on the helipad and we hadn't received an invitation for that one, so I assume it was Elite or maybe Retreat class.