Ethanol95

DCL has just announced that DCL will deploy it's largest ship out of Singapore starting from 2025-2030. This is amazing for us. We have always wanted something Disney in our country and now we are being served. So thrilled to be able to try the inaugural trip when it opens for sale! She will sail around South East Asia is what some news outlets have said. 

Please remove the link if it's not allowed. 

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3 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

What did you think of the ship? Did it seem weird to have so much of the ship segregated for silver and gold passengers? How different were the food menus from the usual Caribbean sailings? Did you try any of the specialty restaurants? 

What did you think of the ship?

TBH i prefer Spectrum to Quantum despite the suite in a ship concept. The physical offerings of the ship is of course quite significantly different from Quantum, with some saying its worse. This i will not argue cause there is some truth to that. But boy oh boy, the entertainment line up on Spectrum is miles better than what we ever got on Quantum. Especially sailing QN during the covid period. Spectrum's shows are all very good. The Effectors especially, is the best Royal Caribbean show i've see so far and i've been on many different Royal ships before. Live bands in the Music hall and in bars were amazing. 

Did it seem weird to have so much of the ship segregated for silver and gold passengers?

This time round i didn't have time to properly experience the segregation of suite vs non suite, as i was travelling with friends and forgoed my diamond status to dine in silver to be with them. Having said that I didn't feel as though the suites vs non suites was really in my face as a mainstream cruiser. Perhaps for only the Solarium and the exclusive dining as others have mentioned. Even when i went to the solarium with my friends, we didn't see any specific area cordoned off for silver or gold specifically. 

 How different were the food menus from the usual Caribbean sailings?

At the time of my sailing, Royal had been in the middle of rolling out fleet wide the new 'themed' menus that they have been conceptualizing. On my sailing, this was still not implemented. I believe it was implemented on Spectrum only 1 or 2 weeks ago. But during my sailing, we still had the classics section and a much larger menu that had rotating items everyday. For Singapore/Asia sailings, you will definitely see more local asian AND Indian options in the MDR. Some can include:

Chicken soup

Laksa

Thai Pad Thai

Noodles

Hot and Sour Soup

Sweetcorn Crabmeat Soup

Etc. 

Did you try any of the specialty restaurants? 

Nope, but based on what i've heard and seen, the exclusive SC specialty dining places are not fantastic. Sichuan Red is better than Hot Pot. In Asia, we have high standards for Hot Pot, and Royal Caribbean's doesn't cut it to pass at all. It's just a thing in cruising and Hotpot. Even on Resorts World Cruises, our home grown local brand, the Hot Pot is pretty bad as well.

19 hours ago, Genevivev said:

 

How did your cruise go? Any tips?

We ended up going to Bang Tao Beach which is north of Patong Beach, the beach is much nicer and less crowded. The area is themed as a lagoon resort area, with famous hotels such as Banyan Tree, Dusit Thani Laguna and Angsana. It's very much like a lake which is a different vibe to the conventional Phuket experience for most tourists. Transportation to and from that area is not cheap though. Roughly paid 1000 Baht, which is around 30 USD for our trip there and back by grab car. I think it was well worth the experience. We felt like we beat the crowd this time round. 

Also in Patong beach, do go to Bangla street, there is a nice Thai street food setup along one of the smaller roads there. Shouldn't be hard to miss. We managed to catch some food at dusk, right before boarding the ship. Had to make a run for it to the pier though.

Sad to say I do think over the decades, Patong beach has become way too commercialized and flooded with tourists it takes away from the experience. But if you've never been there before, I do think you should at least walk around there to get a sense of what Patong has to offer.

If you are interested in beach clubs, Patong is not the place. You can check out Kamala and Bang Tao beaches north. Hope this helps!

Yes my employer knows but can't cover. We have to cover the ship to a live audience given the internet holds.

40 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

No, it must be purchased no less than 48 hours before the sailing.

 

bon voyage

Is there an international i can call from Singapore?

7 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Well try calling to at least apply the Elite discount.  I did that.  It would be at least $100.

Do they not recognise it if I wait until embarking the ship and buying the package on that day instead? 

22 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

We had the premium WiFi recently on Equinox with Starlink.  Our cabin was mid-ship.  It was the best (fastest and most consistent) WiFi we have ever experienced on a ship.

what about in the atrium and in public areas of the ship?

38 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

We just got off of the Equinox from Fort Lauderdale 9 day sailing and husband had the premium for the same issue - work.  We had the basic package already as we had all included.  I paid to upgrade him.  Few questions and my apologies if already answered.  1.  What is your captains club status?  2.  Did you have the option for always included?  

If no, then like Nuts said earlier, you are going to have to bite the bullet and purchase.  Do it now and don't think about it.  We curse every time we buy it and hate the ridiculous prices but his job pays for these trips so 🤷

1. I'm Elite status

2. Nope, booked through an Interline TA, so didn't see the options displayed. 

Yea guess i'll just have to swallow it down.

5 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

e95 now you tell me about it not being a primary job!!! LOL

 

I think I could suffer through it, at least for a bit... two (2) years or so, would you guess???

 

Happy that you have this opportunity regardless...

 

bon voyage

Yup, thanks! 😂

5 hours ago, lorimay said:

I just got off the Equinox yesterday. I did not have an all inclusive package but needed stream wifi as I was working all week and needed to be available for zoom calls. I called to book my wifi before the cruise so I think there was a 14% discount over the normal price, plus I got a Select Captain's Club discount on top of that. Yes, it was expensive. 

 

First day the internet was going up and down all day. Very little coverage on the balcony. I went to guest relations to see if there was anything that needed to be done as I had an important zoom meeting the next afternoon. They sent me to the help desk that was set up in the photo gallery. The person there was extremely nice and once I explained that yes, I knew what the internet was and that I was correctly connected to it, she took me seriously. Made some notes in the computer and then two IT guys came up and she explained the issue to them. Told me they would reset the connection and come back if it wasn't better.

 

Next day, slightly better but I didn't feel like complaining again. Figured I would go to one of the lounges to do my meeting. Around noon there was a knock on the cabin door - two IT guys had come to install a personal access point in our cabin because they knew I had an important call. 

 

After that, it was really fast. As fast as my home connection. I didn't do a speed test, but I had absolutely no complaints on either my computer or my phone the rest of the trip.

 

I did seek out the senior IT officer at one of the events to thank him. He was thrilled when I told him I had already put in a comment saying how great I was treated. He said no one compliments the IT department 😀

Wow that's great of them. I've always had varying degrees of issues with the internet whenever I sail and for sure none so far has offered this level of personalized service and excellence. If it was me i would have tipped those IT guys personally and generously.  

9 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

This, for sure, unless you work for yourself, then it’s your choice to work and not vacation.  But I agree with others, if you must cruise for work, where do I apply? 

I work for a travel media organization. So travelling is part of the job 😂. Sadly it's not my primary job!

3 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

I tried a couple of locations on the ship and it made no difference even with the Premium Plan.  You may want to try climbing by the smoke stacks to be closer to the Satellite. 😀

 

Seriously, I expected more from the Premium Plan but I wonder if it would make a difference what part of the world the ship was located.  For us, service was poor for the first day leaving FLL and from the Dominican Republic back to FLL.  The best service was in the areas around St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

Hmm interesting, i would think that sailing from FLL would have good internet stability. Maybe the weather was a factor in your internet reception on board? I'll be sailing out of Rome, so I do hope that it is better than what you describe at least. 

8 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

Or make sure you have a port intensive cruise so you can use land-based Internet.  

 

You should be ok on the ship if you are only using basic email.

Nope i need the full bandwidth. 

15 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

That rate is no perks, no bev package, or wifi and gratuities will be charged to your seapass account daily.  From the code I suspect it's probably an interline rate.

Yes. So i guess its the full fare for wifi then 

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

If you booked on line after selecting your cabin there is an option to pay a higher fare a get prepaid daily gratuities, the Classic Beverage package and basic wi-fi.  The added cost varies a bit but is generally around $100  +/-pp pd.

On your booking confirmation the line with the cruise fare should read ALLINC and then more code.  

Oh okay. Nope mine is INTERL NOPERK

6 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

woyh - that is, IF, work knows they are going on a cruise!!!! LOL

 

My office always knows when I Am on a sailing, each time I call to have someone in the office to accept documents via email... the response is: I hope your cruise is going well... LOL

 

bon voyage

Part of my job involves being on a cruise so... They know but can't do much to help 😂

5 minutes ago, keesar said:

Check your booking to see if you got the All Inclusive Plan which would include Basic.  If so, in order to upgrade and receive the 30% off, you have to call Celebrity in order to apply the 30% discount.  If you have Elite status, you would automatically receive 90 free minutes under the Premium Plan and this would be separate from the above.

 

We had the issues using two different iPhones.

Where on your booking invoice would it say that I purchased the all inclusive plan?
 

3 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

We just came off Beyond.   Basic emails worked just fine on both plans as long as there were no photos or need to use  apps like FaceTime.  Even on the Premium Plan, sending attachments like photos did not function consistently.  Same was true with FaceTime as if it went through, the person called usually did not see me and only heard my voice.  However, I could see and hear them when connected.  A staff member told me that was typical for the ship's service and for better results, for me  to use Internet at ports.  That was the case. 

Okay this was my concern as i'll need to do video calls as well. I'm hoping the internet comes through for me. 

2 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I'm Aqua - not Concierge.

 

It looks like Concierge you have to opt in for All Included (though that is the default selection and you have to consciously check cruise only).

Sorry i meant what tier are you in the Captain's club loyalty? 

I see that there's a perk on Celebrity's website for Elite members 30% off wifi package or Wi-Fi upgrade. Does that mean i can get Basic and upgrade FOC to Premium wifi?

4 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

The All-Included option that you can opt for when booking your cruise (or it comes with Aqua and maybe Concierge). I'm in Aqua for 7 nights in July and with my Captain's Club discount for upgrading I only paid $69.93 for Stream.

 

 

So..work should reimburse you or pay for it outright if they're going to require you to be connected on your vacation.

I'm in Prime Concierge class, do you know if it's included in that category? What tier are you for CC?

18 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

WOW, this IS high.  And, I thought my $199 for 16 night Premium on HAL in May is high.  Although, I am sure your Starlink is going to function much better than mine.  I haven't cruised Celebrity since last July and the package was included.

That sounds like a steal to me now.

54 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

We’ve always had basic wi-fi as part of our package and have found the cost to upgrade crazy.

What package is that?

I do need to be connected for work reasons.

Hello just wanted some input from y'all. Now, i'm not a new cruiser by any means (although a first timer on X cruises). This is my first time sailing on a 10N+ cruise, but surely paying $329.89 USD for wifi for the duration of the entire cruise is ridiculous. 1/3 of 1k just on wifi for 1 device is exorbitently high. Is this pricing normal for all X cruises. Just wondering how people afford the wifi on longer cruises given most X sailings are generally longer than other cruise lines. I would at least think the longer duration the cruise, the lower the price per device per day would be.

If Disney hasn't build a park in India yet, there has to be a good reason why. Disney cruises aren't exactly cheap either. I would say China is more developed than India and hence the Chinese have more spending power which is what Disney would look for. 

5 minutes ago, gkbiiii said:

I used to work at Disney and think India would be the best home port of this new ship.  

Our Indian guests to WDW loved all things Disney, India is soon to have a greater population than China.

The middle class, is soon to be over 300 million strong, with Mumbai & Calcutta being perfect for the line.

Ports of call could include Columbo, and Dubai. 

The average Indian guest, is not interested in Casino gambling and is very family centered. 

It's likely going to be out of China and tied up with HK Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland and possibly even Tokyo Disneyland/Disneysea. It would provide families with a very full on disney experience on land and at seas creating great family vacations. 

18 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I missed that as well.  With SY and IC in Miami unless they are planning on putting Utopia in FLL for 7 day sailings PC might be a good guess

I think Utopia is going to Southampton.