NCHPcruiser

Would love to walk into the Retreat in two weeks to see Cranston!  We would probably spend a little more time in there than we otherwise will.  

Cranston was the best on our Baltic’s cruise about 18 months ago.  I wish all of the bartenders in Michaels/Retreat were close to being that good!  Tied with Cranston was the other bartender we had in Michaels on the same cruise  (off hand I can’t remember her name but she was equal to Cranston).  Would love to walk into the Retreat in two weeks to see either one of them!  

Mauidiver,  do you remember what time the muster drill was?   Thanks! 

I’ll be following along!  We board the day of the Super Bowl.  DH was disappointed he won’t be watching a Packer-Kansas City matchup that evening!

I second the advice to arrange transportation to and from the ship if you are flying.  And I hope you have a wonderful cruise and go home with many special memories!

Thanks for the review!  It’s nice to know the Summit is in such good shape.

On our last cruise on the Solstice there was indeed a very, very hard sell before and after both mine and my husband’s massages.  They continued to call our room every day for the rest of the cruise (three more days).  It was very annoying and will keep us from ever going to the spa on a Celebrity cruise again.  I know, we should have complained but didn’t.  I much prefer to get a massage, etc. pre-cruise.

Our experience has been that Celebrity does not alter the menus according to the area being sailed.  We have seen the same menu’s in the Caribbean as we have in the Baltic’s,  Australia/NZ, Spain/Portugal and Mediterranean.   I have seen items in Oceanview Cafe that were more region specific.  Over the past five years we have been sailing Celebrity we have not seen much of a change in menus at all.     Our last cruise was in Feb/March 2019 and I believe there have been some changes since then.  I’ll find out in three weeks! 

Thank you for your well thought out review!

Our experience has been that Caribbean itineraries are the most casual even on chic nights (except perhaps Alaskan itineraries).  But you will see a vast range of dress so wear whatever makes you happy and are comfortable in (within Celebrity’s guidelines).  

We have sent a variety of items to be washed, dry cleaned or just pressed and have always been satisfied.  I do think a little more care could be used when folding the dry clothes but not a big deal.  

Our experience while sailing with friends (all of us in a suite) whose adult children were NOT in a suite was it didn’t matter whose card was used.   It was a 14 day cruise and the adult children dined in Luminae all but three  nights as well as several times for breakfast and lunch.  Between everyone’s OBC credit the extra charges for dining in Luminae were offset.  

Our TA has always requested final payment about 2 weeks to 10 days prior but it was no problem when I told him I was out of town without the credit card we always use for cruise payments.  I think they just want to make sure it gets done in a timely manner so there are no problems.   They have probably had issues with  credit cards being declined for whatever reason so they want plenty of time to work any issues out.  

I can highly recommend Barcelona Day Tours as well as Devour Barcelona (this tour is the benchmark from which we judge all food tours!).  

From what the OP says, I believe Celebrity will be an excellent fit.  We are partial to the S-class ships but haven’t experienced a “Revolutionized” M-class ship.     They have never felt crowded in the least!

I’m happy to deal with the pole (which after a day or two you forget about) to sail in one of the corner aft suites!  

The solarium is one of our favorite spots on a Celebrity ship.  Our first Edge cruise is in a few weeks so it’s good to know that’s one place that will be the same (or similar)!  

I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you were in the UK when I answered!    Unless something has changed, Dyson hairdryers are unfortunately not dual voltage.   I almost purchased one prior to a trip to Israel a few months ago but changed my mind when I realized it wasn’t.

Hmmm.  Not sure why it wouldn’t work but I don’t have a Dyson.   I use a powerful hairdryer  and always take it.  Can not stand the ones on board.  They do not get hot enough (in my experience)  to “style” my hair at all and having to keep the on button held down the entire time is a pain.  

Just now, Fouremco said:

Personally, I'd ensure that I had Celebrity's agreement well in advance of embarkation.

We knew from others experience that it was permissible (at least for AU and several other countries)  and weren’t worried.   I read on CC that there was an “Emergency” # to call where we could pay the fee before boarding. But all I got was a run around.  We were in an upper level suite and the suite concierge was no help either.   Spent hours on this!  

There is a specific officer onboard that handles these request.  You can make Celebrity aware of your plans upon boarding and this officer will contact you.  

Personally I’m not sure that with travel to the airport, a flight, transfer to a hotel on the first day and then in reverse order the following day that it would be worth it.   In our situation we only had one short return flight on the third day so enjoyed two full days in Melbourne, skipping a sea day (of which there were many).

Good luck!  We have a Japan cruise planned in 2021!

You should also join your Roll Call.  You may be able to join semi-private tours others on your cruise have organized.   We do this frequently or organize our own and post on the roll call for others to join.  Works very well and is a great way to meet people on your sailing.   Only once when sailing with my mother have we taken a Celebrity tour.  I am sure some are worthwhile but we do not like large group tours on a bus which is how most (not all) of Celebrity’s tours work.   As long as you book with a reputable company (check TripAdvisor reviews and Ports of Call boards on CC for ideas) I think you are safe in NOT booking with Celebrity.   These private tour companies depend almost entirely on cruises passengers especially in the Caribbean and are very cognizant of the importance of getting people back to the ship on time.   Their business depends on it since one or two reviews on TA from people who didn’t get back on time & missed the ship could put them our of business!

This is exactly what we did on our AUS/NZ cruise last February.  There were a lot of sea days on the itinerary so when the ship docked in Melbourne we checked into a hotel for two nights and caught an early morning flight to meet the ship in Sydney two days later.   Still had time to walk around Sydney where we had spent three nights prior to embarkation in Perth.  There were hourly flights to Sydney from Melbourne so we weren’t worried about making it back.  This might be something you would need to look into before deciding.  I think I would want a backup flight just in case of a problem.    We decided to take one of the earliest flights for peace of mind.  

In our case the morning we disembarked in Melbourne we (along with several other guest and crew) met in the main dining room  where AU immigration took a look at our passport.  We were required to bring our luggage as well for inspection but we didn’t see anyone’s luggage getting inspected.   As we left the ship Celebrity kept our sea passes.  We were told this would happen but still made me a little uneasy.  Upon returning new sea passes were ready and waiting when we went through Celebrity security (in this case at the dock since we were tendered).   Make sure Celebrity is aware of your plans as soon as you board.    There is a charge per person to do this but I can’t remember what it was, maybe around $50/pp.  

Looking forward to sailing on the Edge in four weeks and Eden cafe is on my short list of things to try asap for breakfast, lunch & pre-dinner cocktails!   My husband will love the brownie!  

We are going with an open mind and lots of excitement to try something difference.   I’m sure there are things we will miss from the S-class ships, but there will likely be things we miss from the Edge when back on a S-class ship too.

30 minutes ago, OhioCraig said:

Edocs and luggage tags still haven't been released for my upcoming 2/2 cruise.  Seems kind of late.  Hopefully they will be released soon so that I can request the luggage tags.  Not sure what the hold up is.

We are on the 2/2 Edge sailing and have received our luggage tags and printed e-docs (as back up since we’ll use the app to check-in).  

Thanks for your review!  Good to know that the app worked so well!