Covepointcruiser

 We ate in Lawn Club the first night.   It was cold but the food good.   We brought winter coats, gloves, hats for Boston and NYC and used them in the Lawn Club.   We found the beef and lamb there to be much better than on the transatlantic from Rome on the Reflection last year.    We enjoyed the Murano and pre ordered Steak Dianne.   The sauce is to die for, the filet mignon was not of the same quality as the Lawn Club or TPC.    Lunch has been good in Sushi on 5.   It’s a great place for a lighter lunch and they have quick service.

Congratulations on becoming Zenith!

Karen and Jim

Have you tried any specialty restaurants on this cruise?    Do you travel on other cruise lines?    We have lost interest in acquiring enough points for Zenith.   It is such a long way from Elite Plus.    We still cruise Celebrity once every year or so and like the transatlantic from Southampton to US.    We have had very excellent experiences on Seabourn and Cunard.   You can have a Penthouse on Seabourn on a repositioning cruise for the same cost as Celebrity CS or you can sail in a Grill cabin on the QM2.   We met one couple at breakfast who had come over on the QM2 to catch this ship.   They were surprised their drinks were not included as they are in suites on Cunard.   They didn’t know about Michaels Club as no one had mentioned anything to them in a S2.    Hopefully they will be happy getting their drinks at Michaels.

Maybe I’m wrong but I thought all of the RCL ships were air conditioned!    I certainly would understand shorts in outdoor or warm eating areas.     We have found it fairly simple to pack a pair or two of slacks.   They are certainly cooler and not as heavy as denin.    We wear denin and our heaviest shoes when we fly to avoid the extra weight in our luggage.   We are on the Silhouette and it is cold in all of the indoor restaurants, the outdoor restaurants are unbearably cold.   

I remember the Brits used to wear Bermuda shorts in the tropics, even the ships officers.   They wore these cute white knee socks with white shoes to top off the

look.

RCLmust be saving money by keeping the restaurants warm in the tropics.

We loved the Porch because we like to eat a light lunch.   We would have the soup and the tower.   We would always choose what we wanted for the tower, lobster and shrimp.

They als had lobster rolls, fish tacos and burgers.   It’s expensive for lunch but all the specialties were included in the suites above the Celebrity Suite level.   We will only had breakfast in the Luminae, found the service there to be slow.    

We are on the Silhouette right now.    We are taking the southern instead of northern route and will be delayed in each port by one day.   We are also missing a port, Nassau, but no loss there to most passengers.    Passengers are quite upset as they had already bought tickets to Broadway Shows and their own tours in Boston and NYC.   Celebrity has allowed these passengers one call to rearrange tours.

Even though we are on a altered route because of the storm, we are rocking and rolling in 18+ seas and rain squalls.    The captain said to expect the same weather tomorrow.

I am not booking anything in Boston and NYC as our itinerary may change again.   I will bet the only North Atlantic crossing that may not be impacted is the QM2 leaving today for NYC.    She was built for the North Atlantic storms and is storm and usually stable.

If you would rather go through the storm and are already I. Southampton, the QM2 leaves today and her next port is NYC.    She was built for the storms, however, she may still deviate around the worse of it.    We were on her in 45 ft seas and Force 10 winds and she was stable, although all outside decks were closed off for safety.

We left Southampton yesterday and are headed south instead of the northern route.   We are arriving one day late in all ports and we are missing Nassau.   We have 18 ft. seas and she is definitely rolling around.   The captain says the weather will continue to be bad tomorrow.   If this ship was in 35 ft. Seas it would be horrendous.    It is also around 56 F and we are in rain squalls.   So you should still expects several days of cool weather.

Wrk2cruise, are you on this transatlantic.   We did go with you to the Motown show.   Remember how super cold it was?   We have packed adequate winter wear this time so we won’t have to make a side trip to the Salvation Army for hats!

We are on the Celebrity Silhouette 11/3 crossing.    They just added an extra  day for the crossing and have deleted Nassau as a port.   We still have the other ports, just one day late.   Have not heard of any cruise credit for us.

Wrk2cruise, are you on this transatlantic.   We did go with you to the Motown show.   Remember how super cold it was?   We have packed adequate winter wear this time so we won’t have to make a side trip to the Salvation Army for hats!

On 11/1/2018 at 3:07 PM, nikel said:

 

 

And nexus card...best $50.00 investment ever

On 10/31/2018 at 3:22 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'm sure there would be a long que of immigration officers volunteering for that job for sure.   Unfortunately, I don't believe we will get any immigration officers until we arrive in Boston.

 

@UKPete71may be able to update us on the process.   Did they have different ques for U.S. and International Passport holders.   On my last cruise, In Japan they had the U.S. Passports in one area and other Countries in Cosmos. 

Didn’t everyone get the post from Celebrity??   They stated that there will a delay in Boston because everyone on the ship (including crew) must go through immigration before anyone, including suite guests, can get off the ship.  We are in a suite and have a tour booked to avoid some of the hassles.

On 11/1/2018 at 3:07 PM, nikel said:

 

 

And nexus card...best $50.00 investment ever

It’s a shame UK, Heathrow does not recognize it.   We stood in line for 45 minutes yesterday after arriving.   The UK has their own special entry card  and you must purchase it online.   The line for non-UK passports was extremely long.

My husband always packs a blue sport jacket and a tux.    The navy blue is for the 

smart casual nights.   He also dresses in a sports jacket at home when we go to a decent restaurant and to church.    Other areas in the US are more casual and some retired or young men will only wear short sleeve shirts and jeans regardless of the event or occasion.   Cruising to us is still special as we only go 2 or at most 3 times a year.

Morano is the most elegant restaurant on the ship so definitely wear your best.

We have been on many Christmas cruises.   They do attract a different group of passenger than regular 14 day cruises.   There will be no shortages of teenagers and college aged young men and women.    Back in the day, as young adults, we had more fun than the adults could have imagined.   It was great meeting contemporaries who were from different colleges, cities and countries,

Be mindful that the QM2 does not have the bells and whistles of Royal, Disney or NCL and will always be more elegant.  No wave riders, ice scaring rinks, circuses or anything goes evenings.

If it’s the same menu you get when you sit down to dinner, it is fairly large.   I believe a lot of the wines and some cocktails were at an extra cost.    They were disappointed when we ordered our regular drinks.    I am surprised that they served ice cream sundays in Dallas steak houses.   I thought that was only on First and Business Class on U.S. airlines where they think you will be delighted by this dessert.    I used to prefer a good New York cheesecake but that was when I didn’t worry about sugar and calories.   I now love the fruit desserts on Seabourn, especially the raspberries.

We will see you in Michaels Club if it’s not too crowded.   We traveled in a CS when they shared the benefit of Michaels Club with the Suites above them.   On the Soltice Class, we found the CS small with a tiny bedroom and no dining table.

we did enjoy the much larger balcony but our balcony opened to the bow so we couldn’t use it when we were underway.   We are in a RS and that is a better suite but the balcony is small.   Guess it still includes the jetted bathtub so you can only have one lounger.    We have always cruised with Cunard and have recently enjoyed Seabourn sailing.    The prices are comparable.   See you on board, Karen and Jim

We have also enjoyed Cunard and don’t mind the dressing up.   We have been visited by the upgrade fairy for every cruise except for the two week portion of the world cruise.

note, that when the upgrade fairy visits, there is no extra charge.   We found the drink prices, except for the champagne bar, was $12 or under.   Cunard is very smart.  On our first trip on the QM2 we were upgraded from a regular balcony to a Queens Grill Suite.   Since that time we always spring for the lowest Grill Suite.   They handle the Suites much better than Celebrity.   There are no in-your-face displays of the passengers in the Grill Suites.   On initial embarkation, you are sent to a separate room.   If you have one of the higher suites G-4 and above, there is an additional room within that room.   We notice no other overt shows of the Suite class.    There are separate restaurants for Princess and Queens Grill.   There is also a bar.   We have often invited folks in the other cabins to that bar and it is nothing special.   In fact neither of the restaurants or the bar have a view on the QM2.    In the US, most of the offers we receive include drinks up to $12 if you book a suite.   Some also include gratuities and Internet.   We found the speakers on Cunard to be more interesting.   We especially enjoyed the guest entertainers, James Taylor being my favorite!    You can go online and find out who your speakers are by cruise.   The last time on the QM2 we went through the remnants of a hurricane with Force 10 winds and waves over 35 feet.    The ship handily handled the storm with very little motion or discomfort on board.   As for dress, the women at my table wore a long black skirt and alternated dressy tops so no packing problems.   There is a self service laundry on board with irons so my husband only needed a few shirts.  He doesn’t mind the tux as it is as easy to pack as a sport coat and slacks.

Butler service totally depends on the number of Suites your Butler has.    We were in a RS but our Butler had all of the RSS, CSS and Penthouse on the starboard side of the ship ( many decks).   The Penthouse expected the Butler to be always at their beck and call and the residents were notorious throughout the ship.   If the Butler didn’t answer their call within a minute they complained to guest services.  He brought our coffee and OJ every morning and once arranged a party for the RS guests.   He did pick up our laundry and dry cleaning.    We never sat in the reserved seats as we like making a quick getaway if we don’t like the show.   On the transatlantic last year on the Reflection Michaels Club was often too crowded to have a before dinner drink or have tea.   This is the case of too many Suites for the same size MC.  Because Beverage Packages are not included on transatlantic the crowding was even worse.   Many people were carrying drinks out of MC,spilling them on the way.   You could follow the spills to the elevators.  For good suite service, avoid the Reflection.

I would say skip the Porch.    The passengers who like seafood will fill the tables.

The burger and maybe corn chowder are the non seafood offerings.

This will be our first time using Choice Air through our TA. She was able to get us great rates ($200/pp) O'Hare to London on United. We chose to upgrade to Economy Plus for the leg room. In the past, we have flown on BA and paid for Premium Economy. In both instances, the TA was able to choose our seats.

That is amazing, we paid more in fuel and federal taxes for our one way trip to LHR!

We have always found the public rooms to be too warm. The only places we were cold were the outside Specialty Restaurants in the North Atlantic.

We did a B2B on the Silhouette, in an Aqua and it was under the Solarium. We have done many cruises on S class ships, and have never heard any noise when going through it at night. On the B2B they did the Silent Disco in there both weeks. It sounded like a herd of buffalo stampeding over our head, making sleep impossible. When I went up there to see what all the noise was,and I wasn’t the only one. I was told there were activities all over the ship that made noise. I agreed but said the were in areas designed for the noise and everybody was aware. She just shrugged her shoulders and walked away. The front desk referred me to the cruise director and he couldn’t care less. Just what I expected. I didn’t expect any compensation, just some understanding or maybe an apology.

Don’t bother giving me the “many more people enjoyed in so the inconvience of a couple of dozen made it acceptable” crap.

How many hours did the “Silent” Disco go on? Did it occur every night? Have never been to one but tried once and it was too crowded to participate. We avoid cabins underneath the Solarium because of the movement of chairs early each morning. Only made the mistake once. Now we have the Disco to worry about!

Great to hear. We will be cruising to Alaska next July and first time in Luminae. We don't want to overpack. This will work out just fine for us. :)

Hawaiian shirts on an Alaska cruise? Sounds like an odd choice. Folks wore polo shirts on our Alaska cruise in Luminae and we didn’t see any Tropical Prints but you could start a new fashion trend in Alaska.

On my next cruise if I get into this situation, immediately after they take the list of the attendees I retire to the sunset bar to enjoy the sail away

That’s great, the bar won’t be open until the drill is over.

You will just wait for the bartender to open the bar.

Cruise Review: Celebrity Infinity - Pacific Coastal Sept 2nd 2018: concierge class stateroom 8120 and 8118. This was my second cruise in recent years and I booked with my Mom, but, with concerns of privacy and having our own space, we booked adjoining cabins at the solo fare for each, we had thought my dad or one of my friends might join in, but, their schedules did not allow it this time.

 

Why did we choose this itinerary?

We had a prior cruise booked through Celebrity to the Caribbean for this past fall, however as a result of the major hurricane the itinerary was shortened and changed. They gave us the option of a refund or to move the reservation if we wished. My parents and I had been to Vancouver and Seattle before and really liked the area but I had not been further south, so, it was good chance to see the west coast and California. So my mom and I moved the reservations and received a nice amount of onboard credit as well as a beverage package as our perks / incentive for staying. Good part on Celebrity for this.

 

Embarkation process?

Knowing we had a lot of luggage, we walked through the Canada Place terminal the day before to get our bearings. On embarkation day, at 10am we headed off with our luggage, down to where the signs directed us, however, we needed to really be a level lower for our checked bags drop off. Once that confusion was settled, it took about 20 minutes to clear customs and made our way to the cruise check in for our 10:30 embarkation time. When embarking, we came in the doorways on deck four in between the rendezvous lounge and the main foyer. The welcome champagne was a nice touch and we had about 30 minutes to kill before the lunch in the main dining room reserved for the concierge cabins. We lucked out in the solarium area in that the staff from the spa were doing 10 minute complimentary chair massages as part of the sales pitch to book a treatment. The concierge lunch afterwards was nice, they had a separate area where we could drop off our carryon luggage. The staterooms were ready about 2:00 and muster drill was around 3:00 with sail away at 4:00. The muster drill was quite a mess, we were in the rendezvous lounge with not enough seats and what could have been a 15 minute process was 45 minutes. It was stuffy and passengers were getting quite grumpy. My mom is nearing hip replacement and there were no available seats, so, she sat on a coffee table versus standing. We headed to our muster station as soon as the announcement was made, however there was only seating for about a third of the guests. This left a negative impression most certainly. The last cruise with Celebrity, we had the theater as our muster station and it was much better.

 

First impression of the ship?

I had cruised a sister ship three years before so the Infinity felt much like the Millennium but with different art and color choices in certain areas. Overall she was clean and in good condition. I noticed the outdoor wood hand railings were showing their age, sun bleached and not as new looking as the Holland ship that was also in port. Also, the glass partition of the balcony was dirty with salt spray and needed to be washed. I noticed this was cleaned on my balcony on the second day of the cruise, so, I think they stagger this each day. The interior of the ship seemed immaculate though from the start. Overall the ship was great, easy to get around and only feeling crowded on occasion. I enjoyed use of the solarium pool, the pool side bars, and watching a movie on the rooftop terrace. I think they have a tasteful offering of onboard amenities which fit their target audience. With only 20 kids on board, there wasn’t a need foe water slides or go-karts. This ship is about relaxation, music, imbibing adult beverages, and enjoying tasty food with new scenery every day.

 

What type of state rooms?

I booked a concierge class stateroom and my mom was planning on doing the same, so, we selected adjoining staterooms which had an interior door between the two rooms. The adjoining door was located next to the TV and swung into my stateroom (8120) so that the door would block the TV view. So we kept it closed mostly until we were about to leave to go out, however, that was really nice to have and made coordinating schedules easier. The balcony had a small table and two chairs, the cabin had a sofa which could be a fold out bed, a coffee table, dressing table and mirror, the beds joined together as one. They gave us a lot of hangers and two plush bathrobes per cabin for going to down to the pool or spa. The wall next to the dressing table had two hooks which could be used to hang your clothes for the day on which I thought was convenient. The bathroom had a rectangular shaped shower with a curtain and was big enough but did feel tight on either side. The shower had an adjustable shower head on a wand which could be turned to a massage type mode. Overall the bathroom was clean but could stand to be updated with tile and granite or marble, if they are going for the luxury line marketing. The concierge level meant we had a gentleman available to us in the Library just outside of our staterooms who could take care of guest relations type of concerns and worked to remedy some of our issues. Also as part of concierge we received a bottle of the Celebrity Brut Champagne per stateroom, afternoon canapés which were four little appetizer bites that changed each day and also there was fresh fruit of pears and green apples. The canapés were one of our favorite perks. Additionally we had an expanded room service menu for breakfast, a nice heavy duty zipper tote, the traditional celebrity tote and also use of umbrellas and binoculars. This sailing we did not have towel animals like our previous sailing, but, there were chocolates with turn down service. Our attendant Singh was very good, prompt and courteous when resolving some minor issues (my TV kept cutting out and loosing signal, and in my mom’s stateroom the safe did not work). Both issues were resolved before dinner the first night. There was twice a day service for the room where the bed was made in the morning, and folded down in the evening. Each time, empty drinks and dishes were taken away and the bathroom was cleaned and towels refreshed if needed. I felt our stateroom attendant did an excellent job, so, we left him an envelope with a nice note saying our appreciation and a bit of cash, this was on top of the cruise lines assigned gratuities.

 

Thoughts on dining options?

My mom and I each had signed up for a three meal specialty dining package on embarkation. Onboard there where three specialty up-charge restaurants offered: Q’Sine, Tuscan Grill, and Sushi in Five. Being that my mom doesn’t care for sushi, we skipped that and did one meal at Q’Sine and two meals at the Tuscan Grille. The Q’Sine was great, it had a fixed menu but that was because the table turned into a screen and projectors broadcast down onto the plates and table, a cute Pixar / Disney type animated show of the Petite Chef catching and preparing the ingredients for each course. After the animation stopped, the waiters would bring out the physical course portrayed in the animation. Tuscan Grill was the Italian steakhouse with pasta. The food and service there was exceptional. It is nice that they offer half sizes in the pasta, so you can order a steak and also a half size of your favorite pasta as well. The quality of the food in the main dining room was very good, the temperature was a touch cooler than in specialty dining but all the meals arrived warm. We ate in the main dining room 3 times, twice at a shared table and once by ourselves so we could sit by a window and watch sail away under the Golden Gate Bridge. Each time, the service was very lacking, drinks were never refilled before sitting empty for extended periods of time and we had to wait on the waiters. I’m more harsh on this as I eat all meals out at restaurants back home and have my usual waiters who know me by name. However, I think the servers onboard were running short staffed compared to my last sailing with Celebrity. I think we had just a waiter and an assistant, and it seems to me, a few years ago there was a waiter and two assistants. I could be wrong on this, but, regardless, they had too many tables to cover to properly address the customers. At the later seating, some of the wait staff were busy in their close down process and could have been helping with the guests. This area of service was a disappointment. Also, the maître d’ on our prior sailing would allow the any time dining guests to book reservations out for the length of the cruise. This sailing we were told we could only book one night at a time, so, we had to continually make reservations. The maître d’ was actually very short and rude to us on embarkation day, so, we did go down to guest relations to make a formal complaint. Next trip we will try and book the late seating and see if our issues are better with consistent wait staff and also to not have to deal with a rude staff member regarding reservations. Our final night to make the most of time with having to pack, we went to the lido buffet which was good. The pasta station was tasty and some other good choices on the buffet line and overall a much faster dining process than the main dining room. We chose select dining which was flexible, and in that we tried dinner before the shows a few times and also after shows as well. Going forward I will choose a fixed time late seating. I enjoyed seeing the show first and then having a leisurely dinner afterwards. Going to dinner first was stressful in regards to that I wasn’t sure that we would be through with the meal in time to get to the theatre and find a good seat.

 

How was the entertainment?

The entrainment on-board was outstanding! It was made a point that we were going to the show every night and we really enjoyed each show. There were two nights which were comedians during the 7:00 / 9:00 theatre show, but, they each came a second evening for a 10:45 follow up show. I made sure to attend all of these and it was great. Even the later night “adult” performances by the comedians were fun and were not vulgar or offensive. The musicians in the public spaces were out standing but the real shining stars for me were the lighthouse string duo. They had an electronic cello and violin I think, which they performed some pop and other well known songs and it was a great unique twist that I have not seen before. On the second formal night, there was a performer who climbed stacked chairs and combined it with balancing and headstands on top of the chairs which was on the upper landing of the grand staircase. That was really impressive while also nerve wracking! Celebrity does an outstanding job of putting together excellent shows that are just the right length. The shows run about 45 to 50 minutes and leave you pumped and wanting more. A critique of the late night club, it would be listed in the daily times of starting at 11:00 and going until late. Apparently late is deemed as midnight and so bar service at the constellation lounge shut down about midnight religiously and so the guests had to wander to find another bar that was open, typically, only the casino bar was open later than midnight. If the hours were to be 11:00 to 12:00, that is fine, my only request would be that they should have been printed in the paper that way is all. There were several of us who felt the party ended too soon on those evenings. The entertainers were spread out well between the various venues and they rotated venues so if you preferred to stay in one place each evening you would get a variety of shows or if you preferred a certain group, you had the variety of lounges and bar spaces to try out.

 

Itinerary of ports?

(Vancouver, Seattle, Astoria, sea day, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, & San Diego)

These were all outstanding exceptional places to visit. It was a great sampling of the west coast with each having a unique feel! I would happily visit any of these cities again. We booked shore excursions in all of the ports with Celebrity and also the full behind the scenes ship tour on sea day. This is where we used our onboard credit and only had to pay a little extra for all. Giving the tours the caveat that they only do this twice a year, the excursions were very good however not a polished or organized as excursions that are repeated regularly. If this itinerary was repeated regularly and had the tour providers offered these weekly I would be more harsh in my criticisms. For instance the Mission in Santa Barbara made us wait 30 minutes to verify the tour operator had purchased tickets, and we had a bus driver get lost as well. Overall we saw a lot and had a ton of fun with some great info provided by the tour guides.

 

Debarkation?

We were staying extra in San Diego and so we requested the 10am disembark time slot to get us closer to the hotel check in time for dropping of our luggage. The concierge class stateroom meant we could use the constellation lounge for our debark waiting area. They provided coffee, juice, water and pastries in the lounge and we had a good view of San Diego. This was a pleasant experience and I’m glad we made use of it. I had time to relax and transfer photos off the camera and make some Facebook posts for friends and family. Once our time arrived, we grabbed our bags and headed to our Uber and were off to the hotel, much easier than expected.

 

Wrap-up:

My final thoughts, it was a wonderful vacation and I made memories that I will cherish forever. The other guests were all wonderful to visit with and I would gladly do it again. While there were some issues, Celebrity worked to improve and recovered in some areas. I would consider a suite next time so that I would have access to the suite restaurant Luminae or if not, then a fixed seating time to hopefully have better service in the main dining room. Despite issues, I have a lot of photos of my Mom and I smiling, so that’s what really matters, we had fun!

Please note that Celebrity is not a Luxury Line. It does not intend to be with its current ships. They are coming out with a small totally suite ship that should be luxury.

Seabourn and the like consider themselves luxury you will pay more for a standard stateroom. Seabourn compares favorably with the Suite Prices on Celebrity and has the very nice bathrooms you desire. Silver Seas and Crystal may also be considered luxury.

I'm not here to condone breaking rules, but Naughty is right. Like it or not, it's happening. I was on a cruise that stopped in Cozumel and went on a fishing excursion set up through the cruise line. As we got headed out to our fishing spot, another cruise passenger on the excursion pulled out a joint and offered to share with anyone who wanted to participate. There are drugs on that boat. There are drugs being taken in cabins....in multiple ways. There are drugs being taken out in the open....are you really sure that was a Tylenol that guy at the bar just took?

 

I have a vape pen sitting next to me which is virtuously odorless because there is no flavor in it. There is nothing to create an odor. If I smoke this on my balcony nobody would ever know. Again, I'm not saying break the rules, buy you really are fooling yourself if you think it doesn't happen.

I don’t care what drugs are taken. If you want to kill yourself have at it. Just don’t release anything into the environment and expose me to your nasty addictions.

Don’t they have nicotine tabs and patches for those who are so addicted they are tempted to break rules.