shipshape sam

9 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

For those of us, like the OP, who enjoy the "connection" to the water that comes from being on an outside, forward-facing deck, it's a shame that Celebrity's new builds (the E Class ships) have restricted that unique space to suite guests (and that Celebrity is doing as much possible on the S and M classes to do the same). 

 

It's one thing to have a suites-only restaurant and interior lounge.  These are not unique spaces on a ship, everyone gets to eat somewhere and hang out in other places. 

 

That's my personal feeling in terms of one of the things that I find special about being on a cruise ship -- seeing the ocean from an outside deck, seeing where the ship is going, seeing the ship pull into port, just hanging out on that deck.  

 

 

Do a Ben Franklin 2 column plus or minus and see how it shakes out.  I do not like the IV balcony cabins on E class ships and thus, I plan to sail/look for cruises on the S class ships.  I also have seen a lot of public space on the M class of ships chopped for more cabins and have no real desire to sail on them either.  I loved the M class ships when first launched.

Does Celebrity care, in a way yes and in a way no.  Yes as if I sail on an S class ship while    avoiding an E or M class, they still got my business.  And no as they have made their decisions and I am sure on some financial modeling spreadsheet and they know they will lose 'x' amount of business and they have determined the attrition is not bad enough to put some  traditional cabin balconies on E class ships.

On 5/2/2024 at 5:12 PM, mahasamatman said:

It's in the T&C and the rules of every PUP opportunity: "Club Points converted from Power Up Points in a given month will be rounded up to the nearest whole Club Point."

 

They wrote the rules.

They may write the rules, they like to save money too.

Had dinner last year in PG and will check out lunch menu on our 2025 sailing on Rotterdam. For me though, I like the lido deck and NY Deli for lunch.  

On 5/2/2024 at 1:29 PM, PTC DAWG said:

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission applies here? 
 

what was harmed? 

I say no. But Celebrity could be fined and prohibited from sailing that area at a minimum. Cruise lines have, in past, been banned from sailing in certain areas for needless violations.

On 3/3/2024 at 5:59 PM, daisy-mae said:

Even though we have cruised Celebrity in the past, we would not even consider trying their newer ships due to the lack of true balcony cabins.

We are with you too on not booking an IV cabin.  Our plans are for now sailing the S class ships which I really like anyway. 

On 4/29/2024 at 4:41 PM, GonzoWCS said:

Me too!

 

Cheers

On 4/29/2024 at 4:37 PM, mahasamatman said:

 

I can see them offering 5 power-up points (not 5 CC points).

That would equate to 1/2 CC point. That would be an odd promotion.

Great info.  Been on a few cruises with large groups and nice to know.  

Notice Rotterdam has not had a dry dock.  Any sense of when a new ship gets some updating in general as I am sure there are a number of issues that drive dry dock decisions/timeframes.. 

I agree too. We sail Royal with grandkids  Sail by ourselves or friends on Celebrity.

Well this is first time I have not received my PUP/CC points. I called Celebrity and the person was nice and checked and verified that I had not received the Q &A  points.  She would submit the issue to   (not sure who/where) but it would take  1-2 weeks.  That seems a long time,, thus not many people or too many issues maybe.

I then asked to check on my wife as I had submitted both CC numbers as we both watched the Q & A.  She came back quickly after getting DW's number and she had been credited.

You would think/hope that at this point, the support person would have some guidance/discretion to go ahead and credit me the 3  CC points which would have me in the 860's.  (not like I am getting real close to next level.  Nope, she is submitting a request to check on ( I am not sure on what ).  I watched the video and did not get credit.  I guess I could have put in an incorrect CC number,, but I did key in DW's correct number. 

Guess we will see what  happens.

AS for the Q & A, I thought the answer to the question of syncing up the benefits across Royal and Celebrity was no (and a good reply IMHO) .  We are different and that is one of the differences.  

We hope for Samba's to be there on Radiance in November and Allure in December.  We were on Allure of Seas in Dec 2010 and went to Samba's twice on that sailing.

We were on Mariner of seas this past January and there were a fair amount of kids. We did not have any issues with kids as we had a 7 year old girl and used the kids area.

 We have booked Radiance of seas and they have no slides on the top decks, thus even less attraction for kids.  Clearly, you still need to  look at literary and what else is important to  you.

Sure hope Sambas is still there.  We booked Radiance for a November sailing and one of the 5-6 features was trying Sambas that we looked forward to.    

On 3/21/2024 at 3:31 PM, HBE4 said:

 

Disappointing that the Labadee stop is cancelled but look on the bight side. Rather than getting an alternative port where you'd be spending money on food, beach chairs, excursions, etc, you are actually saving money by eating food already paid for, free pool-side loungers and - if drink package purchased - free drinks. Financially speaking, you are getting a better value for money already spent.

 

Be happy Royal isn't adding a surcharge for the extra fuel they are burning. 😀

I can see why some are not happy with losing a port of call.  Labadee is not just any port of call either, it is a neat private island.  We are the opposite, we would welcome another sea day.  

All this in the context that Haiti is a dangerous place to go right now and Royal Caribbean did not create the situation. 

We have our Labadee moment of truth coming up later this year.

On 1/9/2024 at 1:02 PM, Niagarawine said:

They all are, love the cocktails especially the pain killer. Had maybe a few too many,but that’s cruising

We had the painkiller after lunch a couple of days from the Seaview bar.  Loved the cover area and also the area open to watching the wake.

Each bar has pluses and negatives depending on your point of reference.

For a quiet, very small bar, we loved Half Moon.  Only 5-6 seats at the bar, but there are a number of tables for 2 down the hallway next to windows.  These tables for 2 are across from the exclusive CO dining room heading aft. We liked Half Moon when we wanted to stay for some time and just enjoy talking between ourselves/other bar seat mates and talking to the bartender.  This was our go to pre dinner drink and post dinner/entertainment nightcap.  They make some interesting drinks.

Bilboard bar is neat as it is in the entertainment area and thus you get  to hear the music when they are playing.  Lots of seating  and I think about 8 seats at the bar itself.  On our sailing, they had  a number of bartenders and due to the larger crowd, were busy when we were there, thus we tended to choose a table for 2/4 and have a wait staff person take our order.  This was our bar for show drinks.

Never sat at Ocean bar, but did walk pass it.  The bar seating seemed to be full most of the time with some people standing next to the bar seats. 

Taramind  has a very small bar. Bartender was customer centric and gave us some guidance to trying something we had not tried before and we did enjoy the restaurant once and you are looking aft 

Enjoy your cruise and let us know your favorite bar area.  

We loved the entertainment area with great music every night, either Rock and Roll, Blues, or  two pianos with themed music or requests.  We have booked Rotterdam again. 

On 2/17/2024 at 1:09 PM, Blackduck59 said:

It's nice to know the change was well received, and the world as we know it has not ended. For the "I don't like the piano bar" crowd, don't go there, there probably won't be room for you anyhow. 

When we were on Rotterdam in March 2023, the two pianos were NOT dueling and not very responsive to requests.  They had musical themes for the night/set.  

We actually liked to sit on the piano side (Onboard something) and listen to the pianos and then listen to the rock music set across the large room/space.

Limited items.  Also it seemed limited in Logo apparel too.  

We used self laundry on Coral Princess on an Alaskan southbound inside passage in 2003.  It was  great  as we got on early and did laundry on embarkation day while in Seward which we had planned to do.

We also have used onboard laundry service and HAL has been the best for us with prompt service times.  Celebrity not so much and have not used on Royal or Carnival.

We have also washed a number of items in sink and dried in shower or on back of chair while in port if on  a warm sailing. A lot of shirts are quick dry items.

Now days, we plan for using laundry service and if no free laundry offered. we will pay.  We found that on Princess it was frustrating to go back and forth hoping to time it right and get a washer and we have seen both dryers and washers sit with someone's stuff for way too long.   Also, if I remember from 2003, laundry is not on every deck  with cabins which puts more demand on facilities.

As mentioned, we would rather be doing something else. 🙂

Mine worked in Safari this time, but have a number of websites I open with Chrome if I do not want to waste my time.

Language says:

 Did you know that Celebrity Cruises^®, Royal Caribbean International^®, and Silversea^® are all part of the Royal Caribbean Group? For this week’s Power Up Activity we want to hear from you about status matching across brands.

I like idea of Weekly!

10 hours ago, 2belgiantervs said:

So glad to get this survey! I only needed one point to get to Elite! Yippee!

Great!  Enjoy your new status on, we hope, a soon to be Celebrity cruise!  😄

58 minutes ago, kazu said:

OP - you might well find that the ship chooses to divert from Jamaica depending on the situation.

 

I would think a ship’s excursion would be relatively safe - but I would be tempted to stay on the ship.  I can’t stand the pushy vendors there even when things are good.

Recently, our HAL cruise  for early 2025 deleted Key West and added Jamaica.  I was bummed out!

Back from Coco Cay last Friday Feb 2,2024.  Turned out to be a great day, but water was real cold.  I got as far as my ankles and  chose to not get cold.  Not many in pools or beach water.  For whatever reason, we did not get any sense that it was crowded in any area.  Obviously, we did not go to every area, but the balloon ride as one example, was being discounted to around $70..  

Good news is with dock you don't miss Coco Cay due to moderately higher seas or mild/moderate winds.  

We were in Coco Cay with Icon of Seas and she is big!  We were on Marinor of Seas.

Thanks for all the info.  Been at least 5 years since last Royal Caribbean cruise, but now with granddaughter, we will be sailing more Royal Caribbean cruises.  

15 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Yes, but that was Celebrity and this is Royal Caribbean.

Yes, but I liked it and have no doubt that Royal Caribbean can do it if they choose to do.

 Seriously, I was just pointing out that some cruise lines are offering that benefit.  May not be a feature/benefit that you would like or use.