Cruise Arizona

We will be on Solstice starting June 19th, and I am looking for clarification on dinner service while the ship is in Victoria.

One report says there is one sitting in the MDR at 5:00 and this did not go well.

Sounds like the buffet might definitely be a better choice or specialty dining.

Looking for clarification. One seating - all open seating in the MDR that night? If you weren't going into Victoria, could you dine later? Or did they close down at 6:00 or so? Was all specialty dining available if you didn't go into Victoria?

Want to be able to inform others in my party.

Is Florin a Sommelier or the Cellarmaster? I think I misread the original post thinking that Florin was the THE Cellarmaster and not just a Sommelier in the Cellarmaster. Either way, he sound wonderful and we look forward to meeting him in June.

I heard from Sinisia that Zravko is currently Cellar Master on the Solstice, but I have not heard if he is continuing through the Alaska season. Maybe someone else knows better.

We are actually hoping that it is Szravko (A third spelling option) because we are coming back to Celebrity with a wine group in June and the last time we sailed with this wine group, he was our cellar master on the Silhouette.

Thank you all for your input.

Yikes only 3 kids on a cruise??? I sure hope my kids have more than just each other to play with. I guess I'll find out when we are on board.

The cruise with three kids was a Trans Atlantic, kids were about 10 and 12 years old I think, maybe 11 and 13. Any way, they had a blast on that cruise. They would go to the fun factory and basically the counselors would give them some choices and they could decide what to do. They had a schedule of activities every day based on what they normally do, but often the kids wanted to play monopoly or clue or a card game.

The kids actually enjoyed doing a lot of activities with us too like trivia, and some of the other all ages activities. On the second TA I think there were 10 kids or so on board, and on that one my kids loved the Hot Glass show.

When I was a kid my parents took me cruising and there was no such thing as a kids program, so we did things with Mom and Dad like ballroom dancing, or moved the wooden horses for the "horse races" or we would play in the pool. If you are going when school is out there will be a nice number of kid on board.

The good thing about Celebrity is that the ship will never be completely overwhelmed with kids because of the limited number of quads, and even those can't all be filled due to life boat restrictions. Carnival and Royal Caribbean have their ships set up to fill all those berths. Celebrity has to quit selling 3rd and 4ths even before they all sell out.

Despite the discouragement from people with other motives, I will again actually speak from experience.

We did back to back Celebrity Silhouette in 2013 with our 15 and 17 year olds. This was their 6th and 7th cruise on Celebrity. They absolutely loved it.

We spent our time doing stuff as a family like card games and board games on our own and had a family trivia team that spanned three generations which helped us do well.

The kids also spent some time at the teen activities like a night time pool party or games and other social activities and they also made friends and just hung out.

With the exception of the screaming rild Muushka meantioned in the elevator, I would say that teens and kids that cruise Celebrity tend to be well behaived and do not cuase problems. They are also friendly and fun for the other teens to hand out with. I have never had a problem with a single kid or teen bothering me on a Celebrity cruise.

We cruise with Celebrity 5 times when our kids were between the ages of 7 and 14. The number of kids on board varied with ship and itinerary from as little a 3 to as many as 123.

Staff keep them busy with games, arts and crafts, and themed activities. Games varied from sports type activities to board games and the occasional video game.

On the Solstice my kids also love the Hot Glass show and bocce ball or bean bag toss on the lawn.

Here's another tip I got from a client, put plastic grocerystore bags in each draw and keep you stuff in the bags. When it is time to move just pick up the bags and load them on the cart or what ever you have for the move.

I'm not sure if you can do the pre-loaded thing, because I don't think the ships computer always checks against an available balcance. But maybe someone knows better. However, you can certainly set limits and monitor those limits. You can pull of your account on the Interactive TV System to see what you have charged. You can also go to guest relations and pull up a print out. You could set up a seperate folio for the child and then you would be able to pull up on the TV the charges for that folio only.

You could do something like a $50 limit for the whole cruise, the child could be required to keep a log of his or her charges and report back to you each day the spending which could then be compared to the folio. This could be a great budgeting lesson for the child.

actually 8244 is not necessary, if you have any pictures of the hump cabins that have the X reflective material. What does it look like from the inside

some of the people (especially in the dress code thread) are so hateful, stuck-up, pompous jerks, and definitely not the kind of people we choose to be around.

Celebrity curisers are not all :) stuck-up, pompous jerks, - we just play them on cruise critic.:D

Never judge a cruise line by the people on CruiseCritic, but look at the overall information provided by them. The majority of cruisers never even post here. I'm sure you see some of the same attitude, but maybe in reverse over on the Carnival Boards, just as annoying and judgmental but maybe with the - "I'd be board to death" and "people go to bed at 9 pm" kind of attitude. It is easy for you to brush it off because you know how genuine, kind and funloving the people are with which you have sailed on Carnival.

I started this thread because I had been away from boards for a while and with my upcoming cruise I'd been getting caught up on the latest information. I noticed several people posting on here who had not sailed with Celebrity but where actively participating in the conversation, so I was curious about why they were willing to give Celebrity a try after many cruises with another line. (and quite frankly the negativity that I sometimes see on this board.)

I just wanted to add that the most helpful reviews and critiques are ones that provide details about why someone liked something over another. For example on my Royal Caribbean cruise in Dec, instead of individulally plated deserts in the buffet area they had large platters of mousse and jello with a spoon. You scooped out your own serving rather than having an individually plated dessert. One of the first things I noticed on my Princess cruise was the beautifully individually plated desserts. Conversely I read a review of the Solstice on which I will be sailing in June, that critized the cute little dessert servings. Apparently the guest would have preferred to be able to do it the other way. That is why I say cruising is subjective.

Another example, is that when making the comparison between service on that Royal Caribbean cruise with my Mom who went with me and my recent Princess cruise or any Celebrity cruise was that once you sat down at your place you had to go get your beverage, or vice versa. On Princes and Celebrity, someone comes to take your order after you've sat down. Mom said she'd rather save $300 on the price of the cruise and go get her drink herself. Everyone is different.

How are you all? We are still loyal X fans...and were lucky enough to make "Elite Plus" when they rearranged everything...so...while I hate the name..I do love the perks!! Our DD works for Princess and we don't sail on them anymore...our experience has been very poor food and really old ships!! But that was our choice to be able to cruise with her!! (re the ship part!!)

 

 

Hope you are all well... I bet the "kids" are very grown up by now...I so remember them on the cruise in '05...such great little entertainers! Wow...10 years ago...I bet they are in college??? LuAnn

Just to give you an Up-Date, I'm in CA now, Ventura County. My son is all grown up and freshman at U of A. Daughter is very getting ready for senior year of high school.

We just did our first Princess in Feb, the RT Hawaii, like we did with you guys in 2005. What a great cruise that was. This Princess one was nice, but I might give a slight edge to that one 10 years ago on the Infinity for the over all experience. We came off that cruise feeling like we'd definitely do Princess again, but that we still prefer Celebrity. See if you can find me on that other social media page, I'd love to catch up.

I found pictures from 2009 of the reflective balcony material creating the X on the Solstice, specifically 8244, but when I did a search to see how obstructed the balcony for that cabin actuall was, I read that the coating on the glass creating the big X on the hump section of the ship had been modified so that it is not as obstructed. However, I couldn't find any recent pictures showing what those balconies actually look like from inside.

Any current reports on the X glass covering or pictures would be a great help.

Truly that drink package, or atleast the OBC is in the price of the cruise. Especially when it s not combinable with Senior Rates or State Rates, but compare Celebrity with a beverage package to Azamara, Oceania or Crystal or Regent, it is still a great value.

When they first came out with the 123 Go bev offer, we declined it and went with just the $200 OBC and the Elite cocktail hour. At that point we were still in mode of a glass or two wine before dinner, and then a thoughtfully selected bottle of fine wine with dinner.

The next time we went with the bev package, and loved that we had hardly any bill at the end of the cruise. We did upgrade to premium, but that was way less than what we had been paying for fine wine by the bottle, though you could argue that the wine was not as good.

On that cruise we were with a group where many were first time cruisers, so we did't even bother with the elite lounge.

The free upgrade might be nice, or maybe one complementary specialty dining. Something of value above and beyond what we paid for our cabin. For those who are Elite and book inside cabins, the cocktail party is a great benefit, but I agree that for those of us with 123 Go Bev packages, the value is deminished, and for those cruises where it is still held in the observation lounge, it takes a way a lounge that many people who aren't elite enjoy.

We are long time Princess customers with many happy cruises under our belt, and about to experience our first X cruise in July.

 

Why are we "jumping ship"???

 

 

Quality of food: It will a change to experience X's menus after having had pretty much the same on Princess for a while, and experience the different dining options.

 

Cabin: Storage space will be "interesting" on X after being used to the wonderful amount on Princess (I could just bring less I suppose) I have read alot of threads on "storage tips" so hope all those assist.

 

General atmosphere: Of course it depends on the itinerary, however, we have found that the Princess demographics are getting older, and as such the ship caters to that group. While we are not "youngsters" either, I will be interested to see how X manage their entertainment & activities.

 

So, it will be interesting...watch this space... :)

Lara,

The food is so subjective, but I'll share my experience on other lines compared to Celebrity. I actually thought the menu on RCCL was just as ambitious and appealing as Celebrity, but unfortunately the execution was a little off with sometimes the food not being hot enough or the steaks either over or under cooked.

On Princess, I loved the food, though I found the buffet line to we in that grey area somewhere between a line and stations and no knowing if I should move ahead or wait. For dinner I always had three or four things that appealed to me and everything I ordered was delicious. No flops, nothing to send back, all good. We did you 8:30 in that weird back of the ship dining room on the Grand that no one wants to be in because there is no lounge or bathroom down there. Because the dining room was half full we got our table for two and we had excellent service and the food was always piping hot. However my husband was a bit befuddled sometimes as he doesn't eat sea food other than fish and chips, so often that left him with one or two choices, and then he got confused by the always avialble menu that kept changing everynight.

I will say that the raspberry mouse 50th anniversary heart thingy could possibly be the most delicious dessert I have ever had.

We will be back on Celebrity in June, and hoping that the service and atmosphere will be what we have always experienced.

If you are giving Celebrity try after loving a different line please share why.

About 12 years ago my husband and I wanted to book a Mexican Riviera cruise and we new we wanted high levels of service and a sophisticated atmosphere. We had been on Holland America for our honeymoon 10 year earlier and have loved the attentive personalized service. Our TA suggested Celebrity as at the time they were doing the same or similar iteneray as Holland America, and he felt that we would appreciate the service and slightly younger atmosphere.

We loved our first Celebrity cruise on the Mercury and have been mostly with Celebrity every since.

I did my first Royal Caribbean with a group friends and family last December and had a great time and felt the ship to be very fun and hospitable, but also noticed that the ship seemed very understaffed. Everyone had a great attitude, but there just wasn't that anticipatory and attentive service that we have loved on Celebrity.

I sometimes find myself explaining to my Mom what makes Celebrity so special and she thinks I'm a snob, but I just try to explain that when I'm on vacation I really appreciate have someone so things like bring me my glass of wine before I even sit down, or come by with a selection of appetizers like they do in the elite lounge and I don't have to go make a plate like in the Diamond lounge. Just a lot of little things that add up to make the vacation much more enjoyable.

(We also recently did our first Princess cruise and we found the service to be just as attentive as it is on Celebrity)

I am curious about those who have done other lines, like maybe the contemporary lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean, what are you attracted to by Celebrity and what had you apprehensive.

Thanks for all the replys. I will have to take pictures and post when I get back in June.

Does anyone have experience with dropping the third person from a booking?We wanted to take our daughter to the Galapagos and had to book our Xpedition cruise more than 2 years out in order to have a third person in the room. For earlier sailings, 3-person cabins were available, but only for 2-person bookings because the ship's capacity had been reached. What will happen if my daughter can't go on the cruise because of her work? I assume we'll get a refund for her fare before final payment is due, but what about after that?

oops I aswered this and then realized that the questions was specific to expedition. I'd call celebrity on that one since the expedition has different terms and conditions of other ships due to it being so small.

We had early seating, MDR on Reflection. Our table was in the back on the left side, behind Luminae. We could only enter the MDR through the right door. Getting to and from our table involved a very long walk through the DR, squeezing between tables that seemed crowded and close together. We also had to dodge waiters carrying heavy trays who also had less room to walk through. As a non-suite passenger I felt very inconvenienced by Luminae and would consider select dining on my next cruise, although after reading this thread I'm having second thoughts about that.

I have a friend who was on Silhouette in March and she had the same experience with squeezing around table and plowing through dining room. They should maybe open up some isles to accommodate the guests making their way in and out.

I didn't spot a pizzaria in the piazza, I'm assuming there is none on Ruby, just the one up on deck by the pool?

Also, guests wants to know where the designated smoking areas are? I'm assuming promenade deck and on back by the terrace ?

We booked a room for two over a year ago for Solstice Alaska June 2015. In June of last year we added my daughter to the reservation during a promotion just incase we decided to take her. In Jan of this year I inquired about a three person cabin for a family, and was told that the ship had reached lifeboat capacity for the 3rd and 4th births and only double occupancy booking would be allowed at that point for that sailing.

So booking 16 months out and adding 3rd person at a year out was not problem, but if I had wanted to add her in Jan, I couldn't have done it.

This sailing is in June so there were probably already a lot of families booked since school is out, but it is nice to know that on Celebrity, unlike Royal or Carnival, which tries to fill nearly every 3rd and 4th berth, she ship will never have every third berth filled.

If you were booking a cruise for a time when it is likely that very few 3rd and 4th berths would be sold, ie when school is in session, you would probably have little trouble adding the 3rd person closer in to the sailing date.

I am only familiar specifically with the Grand Princess.

I have been studying the deck plan of the Ruby and notice the buffet area has two names Cafe Caribe and Horizon Ct. Are the spaces utilized differently?

Also any other tips on difference between the two ship designs, in terms of how they are used for functionality would be much appreciated.

Long story short for everyone just getting to this. They raised the package of the drink packages. At first, we were told by the Celebrity Official who came here to give notice about the prices increases, that the cost of upgrading would be the difference between the old price (of your existing package) and the new price of the package you wanted. BUT if you paid for the upgrade by X date, you would be able to do it for $4 (non-alcohol classic to non-alcohol premium) and $10 (classic alcohol to classic premium).

 

Everyone got up in arms, and said it should be $4/$10 regardless of when you do the upgrade. Half-way through a very long thread, the Celebrity Official came back with the official word that it would be $4/$10 regardless of when you did the upgrade. WOO HOO! But then, some members got onboard and were told differently.

 

 

 

The cruise critic celebrity official (also concerns@celebrity - good to know that!) confirmed that it is in fact $4/$10 and its all being sorted out with the ships.

Thank you, I really appreciate the summary. :)

I knew this was going to happen when the "Official" first posted this info on the original thread. Actually I said it then on April 3rd.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46146619&postcount=301

 

 

 

This is old info, apparently you haven't been keeping up with the threads on this board lately. The official Celebrity Cruises spokesperson started the thread on April 1st, over two weeks ago. The thread is now 36 pages long, here it is if you have a day or two to waste reading it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2190579

36 pages is more time than I have to read the boards, please excuse my shortcomings. I have been trying to strike a balance between Cruise Critic and other responsibilities.

I just heard from my source that if you have a 123 Go beverage package and you upgrade from classic, it will still be the $10 a day plus gratuities, as both packages, classic and premium, are increasing by $6, so you will pay $10 not $16 as the difference between the two package prices remains the same.

I heard from a source at Celebrity that the price for the premium package is going up to $65 a day.

Is there also going to be an increase to the cost of the classic?