Kandtcruisers

Our first cruise was in 2014 in AQ. Blu’s service, atmosphere and food are the best, in that order. We’ll be dining in the MDR for the first time in 2025, since we always booked with AQ and loved Blu throughout the years. I’m a bit nervous but, now that we are retired on a more or less fixed income, I want to find a more economical option.  With that said, we met some wonderful staff and passengers in Blu.  We also love the Persian Gardens even though we are not spa people.

Thank you for your positive vibe in all your reviews; they are a joy to read. Best of luck on the renovation.  I usually have to go visit family or friends when my husband does major renovations because the chaos drives this OCD person a bit crazy. I’m looking forward to your next review.  

3 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I'm not interested in the IV's so we booked a Deluxe Ocean View which is a forward facing stateroom with a faux balcony set up...at least that's what I'm calling it.  The drinks package is the classic and the wifi is the basic.  Grats were not included but we prepaid them.  The deposit of $900 is nonrefundable.  All totaled, with prepaid grats and the aforementioned inclusions for 2 people is $4000.  Oh, and we are getting $350 refundable OBC, which more than covers the gratuities.  I've paid a lot more for higher categories and on E class, I feel like there is so much included in the regular experience that I didn't feel compelled, nor would I pay current prices to book a suite...

 

Please let us know your opinion with this cabin.  We almost booked one but went with a sunset veranda.  However, if the review for this ocean view is good, then this may be in our future, and save a few dollars.  

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

No that will be about a month later.   

 

We wanted to try Oceania before the other cruise we booked with them.   Sorry Celebrity You lost out on 6 bookings this year.  

 

While Celebrity's new announcement about cruise only fares for Zenith,  Member's in the private Zenith Group are finding it is useless.    To get the benefit they require you to rebook and loose the $800 OBC from booking aboard and Gratuities if booked before they were eliminated.   Many are reporting that if they took advantage it would actually raise their rates by $1,500 plus. 

 

So the theme is --- Yes we admit we have been screwing you for years and now will continue to do so for the next year or so.   They then scratch their heads and wonder why they lost over $100,000 in booking from us this year.

 

The more we read about Oceania the more we believe they may be a better fit for us.   Having said that Old Time Oceania cruisers are complaining about the cutbacks and decline in quality of food.   Hmmmmm....Must be contagious.

We are also trying O for the first time this November, after exclusively sailing X since we became empty-nesters in 2014. Like you, we’ve seen some complaints regarding O too, but we’ll make up our minds. Something tells me we’ll be back on X again.  We are looking forward to your thought-filled reviews and hope to meet in person.  Until then, the best from the beautiful Colorado Rockies. 

We booked through our TA but when I’ve had shore ex questions, I’ve called O directly and they answer immediately and are very helpful.  We have our first cruise on O in November.  

47 minutes ago, HopefulCruiser123 said:

We have a TA booked on Equinox a full 14 months away with a 6 week road trip in Europe after, followed by another TA return trip back to the US also already booked.  I can’t really reserve anything else this far out and it is killing me to not be able to make plans.  I have a large wall map of Spain/Portugal and Southern France mounted on Foam board on my dining room wall, all dotted with multi-colored pushpins of places we’d like to go during our road trip.  The latest edition to our dining room “wall art” is a blank, dry erase 24 x 36 wall calendar.  To assuage my frustration, my husband suggested this so that beginning with this April (that will be one year prior to the start of our trip) on each day of the month we can fill in where we think we will be and what we would like to do on that day. (This will give me lots of opportunities to research each town’s hotels, restaurants, bike rentals for me, accessible trails for him, potential hair salons, local attractions, etc).  We can do the same thing for each day on the ship, particularly with planning specialty restaurants, or our special retirement dinner (that day will earn a trip to the salon), theater shows, and the few port stops we will have. If I haven’t said it before, I just really think my DH is a genius.  Now I am excited for this April to get her so I can start fleshing out the calendar.

Congratulations on your retirement!  

Thank you very much.  We’ll plan accordingly.  

First time Oceania cruiser.  We cruise next Nov 2024 from NYC to Aruba on Insignia.  Since Aruba is the last stop, do we leave the ship early in the morning or do we have use of the ship until the end of the day? Thanks for any information.  

As a fellow birder, I love your pics and identifications ( except the pigeons. ;)). Thank you.  

Great review and pictures.  Thank you taking the time to entertain those of us still on land. 

Charla, I received my map dress today! Thank you for showing us yours and where you got it.  One thing though, I don’t see the US or Caribbean on it. Darn!  I’ll still wear it. 💃❤️

I adore your style and attitude.  You’re an inspiration.  

Let’s all offer some good thoughts, mojo and prayers for all the Celebrity (and other cruise lines) Ukrainian crew and their families during these tumultuous times. I can’t imagine how stressful it is for the crew to know that their family and friends may be in harms way. 

My husband and I were having a great cruise on the 1/30 12-day Equinox sailing, and then first thing on the eighth day we received news that my husband’s mom had passed away.  Our TA (I so wish we could give her name out on this board) and Celebrity (especially Rodle and Royston in Guest Relations and Documentation, respectively) were nothing short of amazing in their assistance in getting us disembarked in Dominica and on a flight back home at 4 pm that same day.  A simple thank you does not seem to be enough to express our appreciation for making a very difficult day a bit easier. The logistics they handled were complicated and time-sensitive due to being in a foreign country and in times of COVID. We met some very special people and crew (Erin, Komang, Agung, Jaya, Blu crew, to name a few) this voyage whom we hope to cruise with again.  Thank you Celebrity for going the extra mile; Celebrity was our favorite before this cruise and they didn’t disappoint. Special Blessings to you all.

Do you know if the steam and sauna rooms in the spa are open?  Thank you.  

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

BTW we just had a nice selection of hors d’oeuvre delivered to our AQ stateroom. We always thought you had to be in a Concierge cabin to get them delivered daily. Has AQ cabins always received them as well? 

Yes, at least since 2015 when we started cruising.  I think it’s a nice touch but some people don’t like them. My DH always seems to devour them. I’ve enjoyed your review; continue having fun and thank you.  

I hardly ever reply on CC but I love your review, writing style, fashion and radiant personality. Thank you for lighting up my day. Went on cupshe.com and Venus.com for cruise attire - loaded up the cart, now I just have to ask, WWGD?  What Would Gen-X Do?  ☺️  Safe and fun wishes for the rest of your cruise. 

Does anyone know if there is a pool in the Retreat on the refurbishment Silhouette?  I assumed the pool would be included but now I’m concerned that is only for Edge Retreat. 

I think you can thank lisa lutoff-perlo for this. I have zero confidence in her direction for X. It just seems to be quite random. She puts out press releases about aiming for affluent couples and families and yet I don't see that as X's target market. Whilst we've enjoyed our X cruises this year it seems she's never actually sailed as a passenger on one of her fleet (without the red carpet) and seen who the clientele really are. I also think the Modern Luxury tag line has had its day now. It's mass market cruising, luxury would be Regent perhaps. The food in the MDR slips each time we sail with X and with most receiving a drinks package the bar ambience is way more busy and loud than 'modern luxury' would suggest, bumfight comes to mind. When we first started sailing X we were surprised by the loyalty of those onboard, most of them sailed X regularly and most, but not all were of a certain age, but we enjoyed that our shipmates were well travelled, pleasant and nice to chat to cruisemates. The tattoos and beer bellies on our last cruise would certainly not meet her 'modern luxury' description. In fact I would say our Sep cruise on Eclipse was less classy than our first ever cruise on RCI on independence.

 

 

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Do I understand you correctly kevinyork? That if one has "tattoos and beer bellies", one is not classy? This judgement is pretentious and incorrect. My husband and I have sailed AQ on X several times, I have a tattoo and my husband has a bit of a belly. We've also managed to raise four now-adult children, worked in very responsible government positions are entire careers and would rather sail with happy and nonjudgmental people than with "classy" people. In fact, this Sunday we'll be on the Eclipse if you or anyone else would like to discuss this further. I'm easily identifiable with my columbine tattoo on my upper right arm.

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Thank you all for replying.

Does NCL Jade have a plank board? a slide? Thanks for taking the time to respond.

We are also not spa people but Aqua Class is more than that. Best location on ship, Blu food and staff are second to none - in fact, we've cruised twice and have never eaten in MDR bc we don't want to miss a night in Blu - it's nice to be able to use Persian Gardens whenever we want, and all the extras in cabin. Future cruises will only be in Aqua Class.