OceanCruise

31 minutes ago, ScottC4746 said:

We tried Celebrity and we were hooked.  Unfortunately their trend seems to be infinite verandas which we will have on our cruise in 20 days but heard it is a love hate thing.  The more we read about them we already hate them.  While it makes a beautiful streamlined ship, if it says balcony we want a balcony. No trivia.

We recently cruised Celebrity and there were 4-6 trivia sessions daily but no prizes.

Taking an 8-night Smithsonian Journeys cruise summer 2025 to Italy. We have taken many cruises on Celebrity and RCCL but this is our first Ponant cruise. We want to dress appropriately but also want to minimize how much we have to bring. General info for this cruise on the Ponant website recommends that men should bring a suit for 2 gala nights and a sport coat for the other dinners. Is a suit truly necessary for men or would a sport coat, button down shirt and tie suffice? Is a sport coat really necessary for all the other nights or is a polo shirt and Dockers ok? For daytime sightseeing tours to ruins and around the cities in the summer, do women wear mostly sundresses or are neat capris or "skorts" acceptable? I assume shorts for women is only appropriate for the pool area. Would a plain but "nice" black dress be ok for women for gala nights or do I really need to bring something sparkly? 

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

 

 

Are alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks included in the Haven Lounge similar to the Retreat?

No. No drinks are included with the Haven. You either pay for drinks with a room charge or you can accept the "free" beverage package that comes with your reservation. 

 

I was looking at a NCL cruise with "all included" promotion that listed a drink package as an included perk but then there was an additional $350 gratuity added on for that perk.

Yes. You pay the gratuity on the retail price of the drinks package. That comes to $350. That is the same for any passenger on the ship from inside room through Haven. The Haven does not get you relief from paying the gratuity. 

 

You would have also been charge a smaller gratuity if you accepted the free specialty dining. 

 

That was in addition to the $25 pp daily service charge for suites. Then, in the FAQs, it said that none of the service charge goes to the butler (only regular service staff) so an additional gratuity should be considered for that person. I am confused because the Haven service charge is higher than a standard room service charge. 

There is a standard $25 daily service charge. It is kinda like the $23 daily service charge you pay for a Retreat room (versus the $18 paid for a steerage room on Celebrity). 

 

Yes, your butler and concierge are not included in the daily service charge. And NCL encorages you to tip them accordingly. 

 

There is a much higher crew to passenger ratio in the Haven, so your daily service charge is increased because of that along with all of the front of the house and behind the scenes crew that help you throughout the ship. 

 

Personally, we tip our room steward (who is include in the daily service charge) regardless of what class of room we are sailing in (steerage to Haven). We tip our butler. And we tip our concierge. 

 

Thank you. That info is very helpful. I admit that I am surprised that the Haven is more expensive than the Retreat due to these extra costs (at least for the cruises I was comparing). Does the Haven lounge have food offerings throughout the day like the Retreat or is it just an exclusive lounge? Can you get lunch on the Haven sundeck? On the Retreat sundeck there is a small lunch menu and a server comes around to to take orders and bring food/drinks to your lounger.

We have never cruised on NCL but are Elite Plus with Celebrity and usually book the Retreat. Are alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks included in the Haven Lounge similar to the Retreat? I was looking at a NCL cruise with "all included" promotion that listed a drink package as an included perk but then there was an additional $350 gratuity added on for that perk. That was in addition to the $25 pp daily service charge for suites. Then, in the FAQs, it said that none of the service charge goes to the butler (only regular service staff) so an additional gratuity should be considered for that person. I am confused because the Haven service charge is higher than a standard room service charge. 

Spouse got a small fracture while on a ship's excursion so I speak from experience. My suggestion would be to obtain a digital copy of the x-rays. We emailed the x-rays the ship took to our doctor at home for a second opinion. We wanted to ensure the current treatment was appropriate and that we did not have to rush home for treatment. This will also help expedite information if the medical software program in St. Thomas is not compatible with the one your US health providers use. The ship will provide wheelchair assist to the taxi stand but ask for this ahead of time. We were offered the option to have meals delivered to our room if spouse's mobility was too hard to manage. Not sure if this was because we were in a suite but you can talk to the maitre'd (we were ok going to dining room-just needed extra time to get there). Good luck.

1 hour ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

I can answer a few of these. We'll be taking a Ponant/Smithsonian tour from Malta to Livorno (that is, up the western coast of Italy) in September with daily port calls. Our tour options were announced in early April; they're not yet available for sign-up.

 

The number of excursions varies, but only one port has just two options; the rest have 3-5 choices.

 

None of our excursions seem on the high end of the activity scale. Frequent mention of "uneven terrain", but even the trips up Mounts Etna and Vesuvius appear to be coach-based with just one to two miles of walking. There's a "flat" tour available at each port. None are strictly sedentary, though.

 

Each port has at least one food-oriented choice, sometimes more. This is advertised as a foodie tour with a celebrity chef onboard, so we may have more food-oriented excursions than normal. Even so, a lot of the excursions are archeology/museum oriented or mixed (for example, the Mt. Etna visit includes a stop at a winery). No classic movie locations tours 🙂

 

There is no extra cost for any excursion. With the Smithsonian partnership, all tours are included in the base price.

Thank you for the helpful info. Please do a review after your cruise. 

We are considering booking our first Ponant cruise (Sicily). For the Smithsonian Journeys cruises free included excursions, approximately how many different excursion options are generally available for each port? Are there always both an active and more sedentary options? How many people are on the tours, i.e. shuttle van or coach bus? Are the tours geared mostly toward archeology/ruins or are there also options for other types of tours such as food tours or visits to places where classic movies were filmed? What types of tours are extra cost? I know it probably depends on the exact tour, but what is a general price range for extra cost tours and are these typically private or smaller groups?

This is from the Silversea website about status matching:

https://www.silversea.com/travel-informations/faq.html

How do I enroll in the sister program to qualify for status matching?

Venetian Society members can call at the time of booking to enroll:

Enroll Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society
North America (800) 526-9723
Outside of North America (541) 285-9723 (charges may apply)
Open Monday through Friday, 9 AM-9 PM ET and Saturday through Sunday 9 AM-6 PM ET

Enroll Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club
North America 1-800-760-0654
Outside of North America 1-316-554-5961 (charges may apply)
Open 24 hours

Members of Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society or Celebrity Cruises Captain’s Club:

Enroll in Venetian Society through their respective brand apps

How do I qualify for the new Loyalty Status Match program?
You must be 18 years of age and enrolled in the loyalty program of each brand where you wish to have your status matched.

Can I match my status across all three Royal Caribbean Group brands at once?
Upon joining each brand's loyalty program, your status will be matched. If you're currently a member of more than one Royal Caribbean Group brand’s loyalty program, your status will be updated automatically within 5-7 business days.

Are there any exclusions for certain loyalty tiers in the Status Match program?
Yes, both the Pre-Gold tier in Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society and the Preview tier in Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club are excluded.

When can I start to enjoy Status Match benefits?
Venetian Society onboard benefits effective on sailings departing June 5, 2024, and onward. Venetian Society Member Savings (5% and 10%) applicable on new voyages booked after May 30, 2024.

If I am on a voyage that started prior to May 30, 2024, and I qualify for Status Match benefit starting May 30, 2024, can I enjoy those benefits on that voyage?
No, Venetian Society onboard benefits effective on sailings departing June 5, 2024, and onward. Venetian Society Member Savings (5% and 10%) applicable on new voyages booked after May 30, 2024.

After many cruises with Celebrity and RCCL we are considering trying Silversea (or Viking) for an "elevated" experience on a European cruise. I am seeing conflicting info on the Celebrity and Silversea websites. For Captain's Club members (Elite Plus), is there a status match for Silversea cruises? If so, how do I sign up for the Silversea Venetian Society program? Can I book a future Silversea cruise while onboard a Celebrity cruise and receive an OBC perk? Is Silversea truly worth a higher cost for an 8-night cruise versus a cheaper 10-night Ascent cruise in a Retreat Sky Suite? Also wondering how Viking compares in terms of overall experience (price point somewhat similar to Sky Suite). We were all set to book a similar itinerary with Regent but, unfortunately, that particular ship got horrible reviews on Cruise Critic. 

If you want to try a frozen drink, my favorite is a Mudslide. It is like an alcoholic mocha milkshake.

We cruised Celebrity last month and I saved the perks sheet regarding booking a future cruise onboard. It lists OBC for cruises starting at 3 days. I just received my cruise documents for an upcoming cruise and the cruise contract lists OBC perks for booking future cruises onboard beginning at 4 days. For those of you currently sailing Celebrity, is this change happening onboard?

When are cruise documents and luggage tags available? Our cruise is just over 30 days away and I was able to do online check in and get our boarding passes but cannot access any other documents. 

There should be contact information in your cruise documents

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

We did Voyager B3B last year.   Loved it.  🙂   Hope you will too.  

 

We actually enjoyed sitting at the bar in the VCL more than being in the suite's lounge.   Loved the bar set up out there.  We could still pop into the SL right next door for snacks or coffee when we wanted.  Very convenient. 

 

Not a fan at all of the then DL, now called Crown Lounge on deck 5.   

 

Though it is indeed called a "Suite's Lounge" it does not do the 11-11 beer, wine and bubbly as a free perk being in a suite, like the newer larger ships do.   But of course you can still use your 5 drink coupons anywhere.  And BTW....being in a GS gets you into Chops for breakfast.  We enjoyed it every day...good food and great service!   

 

Have a fantabulous cruise!  🤗

Is breakfast at Chops a perk for all Sky level passengers? Is the breakfast menu different there than Coastal Kitchen? I am also confused-- I know Diamond members have drink vouchers but are wine and soda free all day in the Crown Lounge if you are in a Sky-level Suite (and also Diamond)?

Nothing comes close to the high suite prices lately

I was debating whether to wait a few weeks to book while onboard another cruise. Right now the price is too high anyways.

13 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

@OceanCruise, as Biker is gently pointing out, you mean "OBC" not "FCC".

 

Are you looking at the Oasis in autumn 2025?

 

@Ourusualbeach - can you fill in the blanks here?

Yes, Oasis 2025. 

Looking to add a 2 night cruise to our existing 7 night cruise. Is any OBC given for booking a 2-night Royal cruise while onboard? I have a recent Celebrity future cruise paper that, for booking while onboard, only lists OBC incentive for 3-5 night cruises and longer for Celebrity so not sure if it is similar for Royal. Also, would we be eligible for a B2B discount if we add on the 2 night cruise?

3 hours ago, 7Trainguy1951 said:

Wife and I are sailing to Bermuda in June. We currently have a mid-ship balcony. We were thinking about bidding on a concierge or standard sunset balcony. Are they worth moving-up? We realize that we wouldn't have a choice in selecting the deck or cabin; my question is: are there any "bad" sunset cabins?

The only negative is the very long walk to other parts of the ship (and it is a long walk). Good way to burn off calories though

We were on deck 11. The view was not blocked. It looked like the window washing equipment was on deck 9 or 10

This was just posted on our cruise planner for our May cruise. The description doesn't list a lot of info. How long is the galley tour and what exactly is the lunch experience and where is it held? I remember when galley tours used to be free and listed as a shipboard activity. Are galley tours ever offered for free for Retreat or Elite Plus guests?

I know it depends on the weather etc., but are the transatlantic cruises generally a lot rougher than going from NY to Bermuda? We always found the Bermuda routes worse than the Caribbean with the ship rolling quite a bit. Obviously a transatlantic sailing would be in the same ocean but is ship movement a lot more pronounced? We have sailed from Vancouver to Honolulu 5 sea days in a row and that, surprisingly, was pretty smooth sailing. I am not concerned about being bored on a transatlantic but am more concerned about having to endure 4-5 days of rough waters. Also, if there is a medical emergency in the middle of the Atlantic, how quickly can a person get evacuated?

Room steward (aka Retreat Host) kept us supplied with bottled water in our room without us asking

There were different steak options every night in Luminae (short cruise) and they were really good

The free sparkling wine (champagne?) was actually decent in the Retreat and Luminae (in our experience it was usually mediocre on past cruises)

The production show "Life" was a huge improvement over past production shows 

Luminae had more chocolate desserts than I remember in the past

29 minutes ago, Octavias said:

It will be wonderful if they don’t charge me.  When I asked executive offices about the new upcharge in MDR effecting me in Luminae, they said it would and comped me 50 bucks to help cover the cost. 

On our recent 4 night cruise there was filet mignon, ribeye or other type of steak as one of the entrees each night in Luminae and they were all good. There were also steak frites and filet mignon on two lunch days at Luminae. 

Are all the Crown Loft Suites basically the same or are some "better" than others in terms of the room and/or location (on Oasis)? From the deck plans it seems like the ones facing the back don't have a water view like the ones on both sides. Any other differences?