villageneighbor

We have been on both M-class ships (Constellation and Millenium) and S-Class ships (Reflection, Silhouette, Equinox).

M class ships have connecting cabins in the middle of cabin

S class ships have connecting cabins with vestibule in hallway

S class ships - you can open balconies (both Equinox and Silhouette we have sailed with 3 balcony cabins in a row - with parents/children/grandparents and everyone enjoys the going back and forth on the balconies. Haven't tried on M-Class, so don't know

Agree about the comments of the Oceanview buffet organization on the S class is more compact, better organized and has a larger variety.

Upside for M class is poached egg station is toward aft and many people don't get that far, so less of line than on the S class ships).

Appreciate the fewer number of decks on M-class ships when taking steps up to Oceanview cafe.

Like the bathroom setup and space better on the S class ships. Like the cabin storage better on the M-class ships.

Quick thoughts on changes in the last 4 years:

1) MDR used to have 4 courses - starter, then salad or soup, then main, then dessert, now 3 courses with starter/soup/salad offerings are grouped.

2) Wine by glass list used to be deeper. Still good, but less variety

3) More beer offerings

4) Notice more of staff trying to learn/remember/use your name

5) Evening Chic - is less formal than the formal nights

6) First day there's a lot of upselling - specialty dinners, upgrade drink package, etc. but stops after that.

7) Estimate that more people have at least the classic beverage package - as more of Celebrity's cruises have bundled pricing

8) Not changed - Service still very high quality, ship officers very visible,

Recently returned from the Millenium Southbound Alaskan cruise.

Sailaway was 8pm. Muster drill was 7:30, so first dinner seating was finished.

Was able to board ship at 11am. Rooms were ready between 1 and 1:30.

Didn't see Captain Kate in action as she was in training when we were on the Equinox in March, but would love to see her in action. I have enjoyed Captain Alex - his jokes, his thoughts for the day and his Peace and Love signoff.

We were on Western Caribbean Cruise on the Equinox in March.

Things we enjoyed:

-Hot Glass demo on first day (after which you can sign up for fee classes to make something)

-Silent Disco

-Gastropub (great beer selection)

-Trivia

-Slush Bar (Starboard side of outside pool heading forward toward Solarium)

Ports:

Key West - Hemingway House (if into Literature), fun walks, Eating Conch fritters, eating key lime pie.

Grand Cayman - Turtle Farm

Cozumel - snorkeling either from shore or small boat excursion

There is no Lawn Grill restaurant (where Hot Glass activity is)

There is no Cellar Masters (replaced by Gastropub)

For Seattle - second the vote for Chihuly Gardens by the space needle.

Having recently gotten back from Alaska Millenium southbound ideas for packing:

Tevas or Sports sandals (if doing any water sports)

Hiking Boots (if you will hike)

Sneakers

Layers (water proof jacket, fleece, winter coat, long sleeve moisture wicking shirt).

Also - evening chic means - more casual than other trips - mostly no fleece or t-shirts

We were also did a prestay in Anchorage/Denali/Seward in advance of the July 27th Southbound Millenium cruise, but planned it on our own.

While we could have used more time in Alaska(who couldn't?), here's how we made the most of our time.

Arrived in Anchorage - 11pm Monday July 23rd, picked up rental car, stayed overnight Embassy Suites.

Tues am - got up, ate free breakfast, made a snack/supply stop at Walmart and by 7am on road north to Denali National park. Spent time at visitors center ate walmart sub sandwich, then took hike to sled dog kennels. Saw part of the 2pm ranger led sled dog demonstration, interacted with dogs and stayed for the 4pm demo, then took bus back to visitor center. Took a quick hike around Horseshoe Lake - part of our group saw beaver carrying cut log, the other part say mother moose and baby. Ate at Denali Park Salmon Bake. Stayed this night and next at Denali Primose B&B in Healy.

Wednesday - went on pre-booked 8 hour Tundra Wilderness Tour - Denali National Park Bus Ride with a 6:50am departure from the bus depot. Ate yogurt and cereal while waiting for bus to arrive from local hotels. Animals - saw moose/Dali sheep, bears, caribou, snowshoe hare, marmots, squirrels, hawks and peregrine falcon. Also got to see the top of Denali. Couldn't believe everything we saw - simply amazing! When booking was initially nervous about 8 hour, duration, but it went by super fast with lots of stops to get out stretch legs, bathroom breaks, stops for animals, etc. Bus had more comfortable seats like charter bus. Received a snack pack and water from the bus ride. Also brought sub sandwiches from previous day walmart run. Recommend a packed lunch. After bus ride went to visitors center. Then group split and took 2 different hikes one group to Mt Healy Overlook, the other group back to Horseshoe Lake. where moose and beaver were spotted again. Ate again at Denali Park Salmon Bake. Stayed at Denali Primrose B&B.

Thursday - left Healy 6:30 am to head back to Anchorage. Got lunch at Glacier brewhouse. Switched cars at airport (minimized the 1 way fee to be only 1 day). Then rainy drive to Seward. Stopped at Exit Glacier visitor's center. Took rainy hike to Exit Glacier's edge and back. Checked in at Twin Peaks Lodge. Ate dinner at Exit Glacier Salmon Bake. So close could have walked to dinner and back to lodge, but we drove into Seward and port area to see other dining options and see where ship would be.

Friday am - Slept in, ate quick cereal breakfast at lodge, dropped rental car in port area. Boarded ship when opened at 11am. Fun to have mostly empty ship for a while.

Like others who have posted here one of the things we appreciate about Celebrity is it strength in food and wine. We’ve done a number of cruises and have always found a sommelier at our table or in cellar masters that we connected with and asked for suggested wine by glass pairings available in the premium drink package with lunch or dinner(menus posted in advance) in front of MDR. We’ve continue to learn what works, been inspired by new experiences and have old favorites-wild mushroom soup paired with Bordeaux.

Enjoy the exploration!

Thanks Anita for sharing!

Excited to try the Alaskan Rock fish.

You review is awesome! I’m enjoying reading it as prep for ours later this summer.I’m amazed at all the camping gear you were able to fit in your bags for your post cruise time in Alaska. Can’t wait to read about the cruise and the experience with the public cabins.

We sailed northbound June 22. I didn't record the menus, however I recall seeing word "Alaskan" used to describe items on the menus, maybe an average of 1 per night? I know for a fact that Alaskan rock fish was offered one night because I ordered it, and so did my DS, because I haven't ever had it and was so curious because it was one fish caught many times on the series Alone. Don't know if that is offered fleetwide or special to the Alaska itinerary.

 

It was excellent and I recommend trying it. Shawn of Glacier Winds in ISP shared with us that rock fish was his favorite, because it was easy to catch and so versatile. I was glad that I knew exactly what he was talking about because I'd had it already.

 

There is an Alaskan seafood feast that is offered one day by the pool. There is a rather large fee charged pp though the sales pitch is that this price for what you get is much less than what you would pay in port. I don't recall all the details except that two King crab legs were included as well as chowder? And I don't recall what else. We didn't buy the deal.

I would also like to know if any Alaskan seafood ended up on Main dining room menu or is just the standard corporate menu or in the buffet?

Was it the first full day or embarkation day?

 

My wife definitely wants to do it so I'd like to sign up ASAP when we board.

Check the daily when you board. The demo was on embarkation day and I recall it was later afternoon somewhere between 4 and 6.

On the southbound leg starting in Seward with sail away at 8pm - what time were you allowed to board?

Was on the Equinox at the end of March and had the Hollywood Hot Glass. There was indeed a demo on the first day and you could then sign up to do a class to make a variety of objects(paperweight, ornament, vase, etc) at various prices.

Would recommend Sail and Snorkel on Catamaran in St. Kitts. Some of the better coral reefs in the Caribbean.

We were on the March 24th sailing of the Equinox- there were themes for lunch and dinner in the oceanview cafe.

Mexican lunch after return from Costa Maya or Cozumel

Other nights...

English - Beef Wellington, Shepards’s pie

Spanish including tapas and Paella

Italian - remember Tiramasu, Eggplant Parmigiana, chicken cacciatore

There was almost always an Indian section near the grill area in the buffet towards the aft of the ship.

We have gone to free events on the lawn...

Acoustic guitar ( with wine available for purchase) they had blankets available for sitting

Music concert

Kids Camp out night - they had hula hoops, blankets for sitting, some tents setup, then had supplies to make s’mores ( marshmallow fluff in serving dish, graham crackers, chocolate)

They Equinox doesn’t have the Alcoves, but Reflection and Silhouette do.

Equinox has the Glass show and options to make glass items(ornament, vase, paperweight, etc) in the area where the Silhouette and Reflection has the Lawn grill.

We went on a cabin crawl on Celebrity Silhouette(S-class sister ship of Reflection) organized by a Roll call for a cruise. What we learned was the size of the inside/oceanview/balcony are the same - only difference is having big picture window or balcony.

Also typically the Reflection docks in Naples.

Cool things to do in the area - book a private tour to Pompeii or Herculaneum.

-book a private tour to Amalfi Coast.

-consider using your roll call to arrange private tour with others on your same cruise.

Santorini and Mykonos are typically tender ports, so make sure you plan for that.

For Santorini - If you are up for DIY get early ticket for tender to get off ship early and take tram up before long line gets backed up.

You can take the local bus to Oia.(bring small euro it was between $2 and $3 euro in 2014) and be prepared for colorful bus ticket handler.

If you are okay with steps/stairs

Oia is full to walk around.

If it’s summer bring water, hat and be prepared for sun.

We were also on the March 24th Equinox Cruise.

On Embarkation day - the bar in ocean view was open. Also there was some bar staff in ocean view taking tableside drink orders. There was also a bar on the back of ship outside ocean view cafe and I remember that being less crowded than the bar in ocean view cafe.

Other things:

Oz was on Equinox with some wicked trivia questions. Oz is the best.

For things to do:

Key west - it’s just easy to walk off ship and do things. You can get the trolley tickets directly from trolley website cheaper than cruise excursion. The Hemingway house is interesting. Also it’s fun to try conch fritters or key lime pie.

In Grand Cayman we did the Turtle farm excursion. The turtle farm was a great place and our children enjoyed holding the sea turtles and getting to snorkel in a lagoon with some of them. Because Grand Cayman is a tender port - doing the Celebrity excursion has the advantage of getting off early.

Just was on the Celebrity Equinox for the March 24th western Caribbean cruise. They had the 2 nights of evening chic for dinner. Also one evening there a full moon party with black lights where it was suggested to wear white, but people wore lots of different things.

The only difference between connecting cabins on S- Class ship and adjacent cabins are that with connecting cabin they will pull the door closed in the hallway and both sets of keys will operate the outer door. This creates a small vestibule and then you need to key into the regular cabin door or keep those doors open.

With S-class it’s not a big difference connecting cabins vs adjacent - just get extra keys for the boys cabin and like someone suggested open the balcony between the 2 cabins - so you have options for going between the 2 cabins.

M-class ships have the connecting room in center of cabin- like traditional hotel connecting room configuration.

We are a family of 5 and need the connecting cabins(2 parents in 1, 3 children in the other) On the S class ships- connecting cabins they pull a vestibule door closed in the hallway to make them connecting and then key the outer door to work for both cabin keys. For the regular cabin door you either need to leave it ajar or have extra keys made at guest relations. Also you can have the balconies opened between cabins(both connecting or non connecting) and use that to go between cabins. We just got back from the Equinox and had 3 cabins in a row and opened the balconies among the 3 cabins. On this trip the third non-connecting cabin was grandparents.

On the Constellation(M class ship) our experience was the connecting door was in the middle of cabin- more like common hotel room configuration. If I were traveling with adult friends (2 in each cabin) on S-class ship, I wouldn’t be concerned with connecting cabins only adjacent cabins- get extra room keys and open the balconies.

we have been on a cruise during the spring and saw in the daily bulletin listing for catholic mass during holy week.

also we saw a special option for having a seder dinner.

My husband and I have done the past 2 spring breaks on Celebrity with our daughters. They were aged 6-8-10 on the first cruise.

Know your children and what they like and understand what both lines offer. Then figure out what will work for you and your family.

Ours liked Celebrity's kids program, going for ice cream in the afternoon, the scavenger hunts, family bingo, kids talent show, getting dressed for dinner, reading by pool, seeing food demos, playing trivia, touring the kitchen, doing karaoke, going for walks on deck, etc.

Our children prefer trying more adventuresome foods like salads, soups, escargot, frogs legs, lamb, etc).

I wouldn't worry about the first off comment on ship shore excursions.

What I would do is have a plan in tender ports.

If you are a DIY traveler without status, either decide to be leisurely and get off after the crowd or get off very early.

If you plan to get off early, understand how/when/where tender tickets will be distributed either through asking staff at celebrity connection party or asking guest relations. Then line up for tender ticket 1 hour or so prior to the time stated. Bring a book or someone to chat with while waiting.