Cruise Planner missing a lot of details?

[PineappleTraveler]

Very excited that the cruise planner has opened up for my first cruise, on the Summit next year, and I want to try ALL the things, except it does not give much indication what I'm buying, which I find odd. If you have ordered any of the following I would be so grateful to know what you received:

 

1. The Macallan Flight Experience, Food & Wine Pairing Workshop, or Mixology 101. They seem cheap, how much food or drink did you get to consume? When and where on board did you do these things?

 

2. Gifts and Gear Veuve Clicquot. How many mL is this? A glass or a bottle? It asks me which guests to reserve for, and charges per person. If I buy just one are they going to deliver a single glass for us to drink out of? Is a bottle going to appear in my state room? Am I allowed to leave the room with it? Do I bring it to dinner and they serve me? $300 seems steep for 2 glasses, should I just buy a bottle in Miami and carry it on?

 

3. Deluxe special occasion package "Champagne, breakfast and mimosa in your stateroom, a bouquet of fresh flowers, a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries and a personalized cake" This sounds like a nice anniversary surprise for husband, did you like the breakfast? Again where can I go onboard with my champagne once I get it?

 

Please help this novice, thanks in advance.

[Oceangoer2]

Our son gifted us this pkg for our anniversary  last month....the mimosas come with your 'order from the b'fast take out' menu which is a card you fill out night before and hang on your door, picked up through the night....it's as special as you like but we did enjoy our b'fast on our balcony. The chocolates and flowers came later in the day.  The cake appeared at dinner.  I wouldn't hurt his feelings by saying 'not worth the price'.  You can order orange juice with your breakfast and spike it yourself with your own champagne.  Flowers and chocolates were nice.  Cake didn't get eaten...too many desserts on the menu and plus cake...too much.  You can take any bottle of wine or champagne to the dining room and it will be served to you.  Our butler arranged for balloons all over the ceiling in celebration of my b'day and flower petals ALL OVER THE BED for our anniversary....that was a hoot!  However, doing something nice for someone else is never a bad thing.  Enjoy your cruise!

Edited December 23, 2022 by Oceangoer2

[PineappleTraveler]

3 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Thank you, that's really good info!

[DaKahuna]

7 hours ago, PineappleTraveler said:

Very excited that the cruise planner has opened up for my first cruise, on the Summit next year, and I want to try ALL the things, except it does not give much indication what I'm buying, which I find odd. If you have ordered any of the following I would be so grateful to know what you received:

 

1. The Macallan Flight Experience, Food & Wine Pairing Workshop, or Mixology 101. They seem cheap, how much food or drink did you get to consume? When and where on board did you do these things?

 

I did the Macallan flight on Silhouette last April.  It was held in Cellar Masters. 
we were given a shot of four different varieties of Macallan.  The host went through the process of how Macallan produced their whisky. He also went over the tasting notes for each one. 
 

[jelayne]

We booked the mixology 101.  No choice of date or time when we booked on line pre cruise.  Once on the ship no notice in our suite of when it would occur.  After 2 days asked the Retreat Concierge to check, she did and it was the day before.  No problem, 3 more sea days just check with the World Class Bar on days and times.  Went to WCB and was told every sea day at 3:30- Great!  Do we need to sign up, No just show up at 3:30.  Last sea day we showed up at 3:30 to be told “ Oh the last one was yesterday”  Too late, the refund of our OBC didn’t happen or didn’t happen in time for us to use it that last night.

So my advice is don’t book ahead wait and book it on board and get a specific date and time.

[PineappleTraveler]

3 hours ago, jelayne said:

“ Oh the last one was yesterday”  Too late, the refund of our OBC didn’t happen or didn’t happen in time for us to use it that last night.

 

Oh no! They should really give a lot more info when you book these things. I'll definitely wait.

[LGW59]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:29 PM, PineappleTraveler said:

Very excited that the cruise planner has opened up for my first cruise, on the Summit next year, and I want to try ALL the things, except it does not give much indication what I'm buying, which I find odd. If you have ordered any of the following I would be so grateful to know what you received:

 

1. The Macallan Flight Experience, Food & Wine Pairing Workshop, or Mixology 101. They seem cheap, how much food or drink did you get to consume? When and where on board did you do these things?

 

2. Gifts and Gear Veuve Clicquot. How many mL is this? A glass or a bottle? It asks me which guests to reserve for, and charges per person. If I buy just one are they going to deliver a single glass for us to drink out of? Is a bottle going to appear in my state room? Am I allowed to leave the room with it? Do I bring it to dinner and they serve me? $300 seems steep for 2 glasses, should I just buy a bottle in Miami and carry it on?

 

3. Deluxe special occasion package "Champagne, breakfast and mimosa in your stateroom, a bouquet of fresh flowers, a dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries and a personalized cake" This sounds like a nice anniversary surprise for husband, did you like the breakfast? Again where can I go onboard with my champagne once I get it?

 

Please help this novice, thanks in advance.

If you "buy just one", of course it will be a single glass to drink from and it is not meant to share, if you both want to participate, pay for two, it's not difficult. 

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

If you "buy just one", of course it will be a single glass to drink from and it is not meant to share, if you both want to participate, pay for two, it's not difficult. 

 We had a new glass for each pour for our tasting. 

 Then again the crewmember hosting the event was our favorite waiter/bartender from the Ensemble lounge.  He was a waiter on our cruise as he was headed home at the end of the cruise.  

 

[LGW59]

Just now, DaKahuna said:

 We had a new glass for each pour for our tasting. 

 Then again the crewmember hosting the event was our favorite waiter/bartender from the Ensemble lounge.  He was a waiter on our cruise as he was headed home at the end of the cruise.  

 

I assume you each paid for the package?

[DaKahuna]

11 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I assume you each paid for the package?

 

Sorry for the confusion.  The "we" was collective for the participants in the tasting.

I bought it for me as my wife does not drink alcohol neat, except sake.  She was not even at the event.  As @LGW59said, there is no sharing.  If your spouse/significant other wants to participate, they need to purchase their own tasting. 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by DaKahuna

[PineappleTraveler]

3 hours ago, LGW59 said:

If you "buy just one", of course it will be a single glass to drink from and it is not meant to share, if you both want to participate, pay for two, it's not difficult. 

 

I'm not getting something here. Why do they sell a single glass of one drink ahead of the cruise for $139? How do they get it to me? If I wanted one glass why wouldn't I do that at a bar? Is it even more than $139/glass once I'm onboard? Why can't I buy one glass of any other drinks on the planner?

[PineappleTraveler]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

If your spouse/significant other wants to participate, they need to purchase their own tasting. 

 

 

 

There's nothing indicating that particular drink is a "tasting" that I can see, or a glass, or a bottle. It's literally just a brand name and a price.

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, PineappleTraveler said:

 

There's nothing indicating that particular drink is a "tasting" that I can see, or a glass, or a bottle. It's literally just a brand name and a price.

 

 I cannot speak to the others but the McCallan Experience that I had was a tasting - a single sample of four different McCallan's.   YMMV 

 

 

[PineappleTraveler]

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I cannot speak to the others but the McCallan Experience that I had was a tasting - a single sample of four different McCallan's.   YMMV 

 

 

Thank you, that makes sense for the mccallan

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, PineappleTraveler said:

 

I'm not getting something here. Why do they sell a single glass of one drink ahead of the cruise for $139? How do they get it to me? If I wanted one glass why wouldn't I do that at a bar? Is it even more than $139/glass once I'm onboard? Why can't I buy one glass of any other drinks on the planner?

 

 The "single glass" is a single glass for each of the four samples.  So you are getting to taste four different varieties they offer in the Experience package.  It was pointed out during our tasting that only two of the four that we tasted were available for purchase onboard by the glass.  

 

 It does not make sense to sell individual drinks via the curise planner.  It's just easier to walk up to a bar and order a drink as you said. 

 

 

 

[PineappleTraveler]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

It does not make sense to sell individual drinks via the curise planner.  It's just easier to walk up to a bar and order a drink as you said. 

 

 

 

Thanks, it's the Veuve that doesn't make sense to me, there's no description what it is.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, PineappleTraveler said:

Thanks, it's the Veuve that doesn't make sense to me, there's no description what it is.

 

Sorry, I have not experienced that.  However, I believe it is a bottle of Veuve Clicquot delivered to your stateroom.  

 

[DaKahuna]

@PineappleTraveler I neglected to comment on the Mixology 101.  I also signed up for this on my Silhouette sailing and found it a lot of fun.  For ours it was held at the World Class bar and the same bartender that hosted the McCallan tasting along with one of the regular World Class Bar bartenders were the host.  Each person was taken through four different styles of cocktails and the differences in stirring, shaking, mulling, and mixing were demonstrated and we each got to make our own drink using each of these methods.  It was fun and informative.  

 

Unlike @jelayne we did not have any difficulty with the time and location for our event.  Then again we talked with the bartender that was in charge of it every day at the Ensemble lounge.  He even chose my favorite drink that he made as one of the four for the Mixology event - Spicy Rum Old Fashioned.   I am trying to remember but I think the event was saved to my cruise calendar when I booked it and therefore was available in the app on my iPhone. 

 

 

[PineappleTraveler]

6 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@PineappleTraveler   It was fun and informative.  

 

 

That's great, I'll definitely try this one.

[kayehall]

I just found the glass blowing class on my trip planner.  But it doesn't say what day or time?  I hesitate to put out the money when I don't know if I have something else already scheduled.  Anyone know how to tell when this event takes place on the Solstice Alaskan cruise?

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, kayehall said:

I just found the glass blowing class on my trip planner.  But it doesn't say what day or time?  I hesitate to put out the money when I don't know if I have something else already scheduled.  Anyone know how to tell when this event takes place on the Solstice Alaskan cruise?

 

 I could be wrong but I believe dates/times do not show until you select to book it.  You can still cancel before being charged so you may want to check and see. 

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

1 hour ago, kayehall said:

I just found the glass blowing class on my trip planner.  But it doesn't say what day or time?  I hesitate to put out the money when I don't know if I have something else already scheduled.  Anyone know how to tell when this event takes place on the Solstice Alaskan cruise?

I did this on the Eclipse to Alaska in Sept. I purchased the package for one precruise and once onboard you go to the Hot Glass studio and the crew are there to set you up with a date and time of your choosing, it does fill up so go the first day to get a time that works with your schedule. They have 20 minute slots whenever they’re open. The cost of the session is for one of the basic items or you can choose to pay more at the time of the class to do something more intricate or large. I really wanted to make a sea turtle so paid extra and it also took more than 20 minutes but they’re very flexible. Was a great experience and I’d def do it again 

 

[Oceangoer2]

14 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

I did this on the Eclipse to Alaska in Sept. I purchased the package for one precruise and once onboard you go to the Hot Glass studio and the crew are there to set you up with a date and time of your choosing, it does fill up so go the first day to get a time that works with your schedule. They have 20 minute slots whenever they’re open. The cost of the session is for one of the basic items or you can choose to pay more at the time of the class to do something more intricate or large. I really wanted to make a sea turtle so paid extra and it also took more than 20 minutes but they’re very flexible. Was a great experience and I’d def do it again 

 

Beautiful!

[thebutlerdidit]

We pre-booked Mixology 101 for a cruise this past October on the Equinox. In our experience, there was a card in our cabin at embarkation specifying the date, time, and location. We had already noticed in the cruise planner that it was held on sea days at 3pm at the World Class Bar, so we scheduled our hot glass workshop in the morning.

 

We showed up and got checked in, taking a place at the bar. We saw a steady stream of people coming up to try to attend the class. Mixology 101 was listed as an extra fee activity in the daily planner on the app with the note to bring your sea pass card. There were lots of takers! The bartender had to constantly either turn people away or in some cases he added their names to a wait list in case someone didn’t show. His class was capped at 10 people, and he had 10 people on his list. It sounded like some of the people on his list hadn’t booked the class, but had been issued “invitations”. Maybe VIP’s or upper suite guests?  It was so awkward, and he had to wait to see if they would show up. It was honestly a hot mess. 
 

I think we ended up with 8 or 9 of us at the bar, officially taking the class, but all of the other seats in the World Class Bar were filled by people who just watched and listened to the class. Since the class was held in such an open public area, there was nothing the bartender could do to shoo them away.
 

Each of us ended up with 4 mixed drinks, including the drink  that’s smoked. Honestly, I only liked 2 of them, and having had the experience once I decided to cancel Mixology 101 that I had pre-booked for a 2023 cruise I’m going on with a different person. 
 

 

These were the drinks made In our class. They were off- menu except for the one that’s smoked. We also each received a can of water at the start of the class.