Sparkle 123

Really enjoying your live Blog, certainly helps pass the time til it's our turn on June 4th!

How fabulous that the head waiter made the gin cocktails especially for you. Maybe I should start a Twitter account about champagne:D.

Mind you, we are quite partial to gin too, in fact we are treating ourselves to a gin themed afternoon tea in London this weekend.

Quick question if you don't mind, as it's a cruise out of Barcelona are they adding Spanish vat to on board purchases?

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It might be a different captain by the time you sail in November.

Just a quick question for those who were lucky to get a preview of the new cabins.

Did you happen to notice which veranda cabin number had been refurbished?

Thanks.

The photo gallery has been the source of entertainment on some of our past cruises!;)

http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/vietnam-waives-visas-for-5-more-european-countries-including-germany-uk-46839.html

Just read this info on above link. Starting in July Vietnam will waive single entry visas to visitors from UK France Spain Germany and Italy in a bid to increase tourism.

The honey stung chicken was on the room service menu on the Allure in April. Very nice it was too!!

These dogs in strollers seem to be a much more common sight on cruise ships lately. We recently cruised on the Allure TA. There were 5 "service dogs" on board and 2 of those were in strollers!!

They had a special grass box on the promenade deck to do their business in.

I did see one of the pets in the Promenade cafe and folks were stroking it then helping themselves to cookies:eek::rolleyes:

We use an independent travel agent in the US rather than one of the big online companies. She has our credit card on file but our card is always charged directly by the cruiseline in USD. We always use a credit card that doesn't charge foreign exchange fees.

Thanks for the update!

Enjoy your cruise:)

I don't think we had the option of the posted luggage tags the last couple of cruises, it was just the print at home ones.

Be interested to hear if you can still get the "proper ones"!

We often book via a US travel agent and as far as luggage tags are concerned when your cruise docs are issued on Celebrities website you can print your tags yourself. We ordered clear plastic holders which you can get from cruise critic to put them in. Failing that print them off and fold and staple them to your luggage. Or you can get them from the porters when you arrive at the pier and write your cabin number on them.

Heard from friends yesterday who are currently on the Equinox. They said the special cleaning measures were in place for the first 4 days of the cruise but now all is ok. They were more concerned about the expensive drinks prices. I did tell them to choose the drinks package as their 123 go perk but they went for the obc instead! Oh well:confused:

We did the Quantum transatlantic last November. There's plenty to do indoors if the weather is not so good. The seaplex is a huge indoor complex with bumper cars, circus school, x box stations, arcade games. The solarium is indoors so you can use the pools and hot tubs in comfort.

We had mixed weather but there were a couple of days when it was warm enough to sit on deck and sunbathe which I did not expect in November but we did sail past the Azores so the weather was pleasant in this area.

I'm sure either ship will be great for your family but the Anthem with the dynamic dining,I fly and the unique North Star would be a great choice. Of course the Allure is also an amazing ship with so much to offer as well but it is more geared towards warmer weather cruising.

Yes as a lifelong fan of Abba and having seen Mamma Mia in London numerous times, I can tell you that it is the full length production just the same as the stage show. The whole production is wonderful, just as professional as the original. I saw it on the Maiden Transatlantic and Nick Weir The VP of entertainment for RCCL came onstage to introduce the show and said he insisted that they did not shorten the show if they were to bring it to the ships, he said it was a risk as most cruisers don't want to sit through a full 2 and a half hour show but in the case of Mamma Mia he thought it should not be shortened.

I think he has been proved right as the atmosphere in the theater is just the same as on land with everyone on their feet singing and dancing at the end.

I for one couldn't have watched it if they had cut it!!

Enjoy!:)

Just had an e mail from Lisa Lutoff-Perlo the new President and CEO of Celebrity.I expect most UK capt Club members will receive the same.

She says she is going to reintroduce the turndown chocolates rolling out across the fleet in April!

I know its only a small thing but I appreciate those kind of gestures!:D

She also confirmed she will be onboard the Eclipse 2 night taster cruise in May from Southampton hosting a Captains Club reception with the UK and Ireland MD.

We were lucky enough to meet her on the Quantum Maiden Transatlantic and thought she was a very approachable down to earth person. I am sure she will do great in her new role on Celebrity.

You can watch it in channel 37 on Freeview in the UK if you don't have Sky.

Actually there is a stage production of Mamma mia in Mandarin!

Seems even the Chinese can't resist the catchy timeless music of Abba!

As someone who works out 5 times a week I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed of the fact that we never even saw the gym on our recent Quantum cruise. I even had some workout videos on my Kindle and I didn't do any of them!!

I managed a couple of Zumba classes in the Music Hall and used the stairs lots but that's about it.

I think it's maybe because on past cruises our whole morning on sea days has been taken up by working out as I always get really sweaty so then I have to shower,wash and dry my hair and sort myself out before going for a late breakfast. Half the day revolved round going to the gym so it made a nice change to be free of all that!:D

I completely understand your concerns George, we too used to love getting to know our waiters and seeing them again on other ships, also we always requested a large table and made great friends over the years, some of whom were on this Quantum cruise with us, but over the past few years as foodies we have found that sharing a large table often detracts from the dining experience, sometimes you are so busy talking to your tablemates you haven't had time to study the menu by the time the waiter comes to take your order, then you get folks complaining about the food which also spoils the atmosphere, so now we have come to like having a table for 2 when it suits us and dining in different restaurants makes a welcome change and we can appreciate the food and enjoy the ambiance.

George in NY

Honestly we loved the Dynamic dining. There were 3 couples in our party and 2 of us had made reservations online prior to the cruise but it was never a problem to ask for a table for 6 in each venue, we didn't have to wait long either. Plus we were able to make changes to our reservations as we wished while on board without problem although we found it was better to do this directly with the restaurant rather than the buggy Royal I.Q app.

We had 13302, like a lot of folks on the TA we were upgraded 2 weeks before the sailing, however this cabin was right under a galley area of the Windjammer and we could hear trolleys and noise intermittently thoroughly the day and night. My husband did go up there one morning at 4.30 to see exactly where it was coming from and it was a dishwashing area.

To be fair the staff were not aware that it could be heard in the cabins below but they obviously have a job to do.

So while it was a lovely cabin we wouldn't choose this area of deck 13 if we were picking our own cabin.

We had 13302 towards the aft of deck 13. We didn't choose it as we were upgraded from an inside GTY.

It was a lovely cabin but the downside was that it was under a galley area of the Windjammer so we were awoken most nights by noise. My husband did go up there at 4.30am to let them know we could hear quite a lot of noise and to be fair to them they were not aware that it could be heard in the cabins below.

It did ease off a bit but then started up again towards the end of the cruise.

For this reason I wouldn't choose a cabin in this area if I was picking my own cabin.

Fab review. Loved reading it. Agree 100% with your sentiments.

Wish I was still on-board :)

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

Oh my goodness yes! Please continue with your excellent review.

As you know I was also on this cruise and agree with your sentiments. There were far too many people looking for negatives, its lovely to read a like minded review.

I also loved the Dynamic dining and also had no problems with our reservations and was even able to swap bookings without any problem and we didn't have to wait long for a table at all. We loved the decor and attention to detail in all the different dining venues and definitely agree the food was a cut above the usual MDR fare.

Can't see us rushing back to the main dining room on other RCI ships so will probably buy a specialty dining package instead if DD is not offered.

Also agree with your comments about the smoke drifting up from the casino and we too found the Diamond lounge hostess had her favourites and if you weren't one of them she basically ignored you!

But these were minor things that didn't detract from the great time we had on the Quantum, I mean where else can you be taken 300ft above the ship in a glass capsule? It was a priceless experience and we felt lucky to be amongst the first to experience it.