OMW

Sorry...Celebrity Cruises not to be mistaken for Carnival (CCL).  

I see that the skies in St. Lucia were mostly sunny while you were in port.  Is this due to the CCL 1/1/23 cut backs.  I have read from other passengers posts that the skies in St. Lucia were all sunny prior to 1/1/23.  Make sure to add that to the list of complaints on your comment card.  

This might be the all time best string of posts!  

We are on the Edge TA and EuropeB2B this April-May.  We are now dreading this trip.    How dare Celebrity force us to book 26 days on a cruise ship where all of our meals, drinks, housekeeping, etc...are taken care of in style.  The nerve of the waitstaff constantly asking us if we need more, the bartenders harassing us for another drink, the housekeepers intruding on us to keep our rooms clean!  Unlimited food and drink and entertainment!  The horror of it all!   How dare the Captain and crew work their behinds off to cater to our every whim!   It's inconceivable that we would be treated in this manner by the cruise line.   What kind of fools are we to sign up for what will clearly be a horribly terrible experience on the Edge?  

Rah Rah Rah!  

Thank you all for the info.  We are simply looking for a place to relax and have a drink or two before dinner at Luminae.  It's poor planning by Celebrity for not having a bar/lounge adjacent or very close to Luminae IMO.  That being said, in the big scheme of things not a big deal.  Adapt or die!  We'll figure it out.  

Thanks J.  We do not take elevators (it's crazy, I know, it's just our way to get extra exercise in!) so it sounds like somewhat of an inconvenience.   Oh well...bigger problems in the world than this!  How late is the Retreat Bar open?  We eat late.  

Sorry about the hostess...does not sound very customer service oriented to me.  

Hi All,

Quick question...is there a bar to hang out at pre-dinner inside or near Luminae on the Edge?  I have studied the deck plans and cannot detect one.  

Thanks

OMW

In case anyone cares we ended up NOT booking on Regent.  We opted for Celebrity Edge in a Suite in April.  Too many questions unanswered regarding the internet...plus the retreat perks, prospects for better weather a month later both crossing and in the Med., and many other factors.  Perhaps we will book a Regent down the line.  Thank you.  

I actually have had pretty good luck on Viking and Celebrity.  Viking especially.  

Thank you.  I did read through the thread plus the other feedback so far. It has definitely given us pause for thought on going through with this cruise.  We are doing some more diligence and hope to get some more feedback here.  

Thank you Kwaj Girl.  That is helpful information.  

Steve...We are booked with the deposit due Monday (also for the next leg...although we may stay in Italy for 5 days then hop on an Oceania to Barcelona).  We have other options we are exploring as well but would prefer to go Regent.  It seems silly maybe, the internet performance is a deciding factor.   We each own our respective companies and cannot be too out of touch.  Hopefully we can get some more feedback to help us make our decision.  

Hi All,

We are a working couple tentatively booked on the March 2022 crossing to Europe.  It is essential that we have decent working internet to manage our businesses (email mainly...streaming not needed).  Please provide any insights on recent (up to early 2020 obviously) sailings regarding internet performance on the Explorer.

Thank you...much appreciated in advance. 

Hello All,

I want to again thank the folks who answered my question concisely and judgement/lecture free.  I have enough feedback to make an informed decision.  As you can see with my tiny posting history over 16 years, this question was asked legitimately and with no ulterior motives.   I am not bored nor was I looking to create a rabbit hole.  Now that the lecturers and would be judges have hopped in, I am hopping out...no pun indented.  Good luck. 

Thanks to all for the solid answers and observations.  Only one lecture...I am impressed.  

Thank you everyone for your concise answers.  Your feedback is very helpful.  

Hello All,

I ask from the get go the following:

1) I am not looking for a lecture. 

2) I am not looking to start an inflamed exchange.

3) All I am asking is a simple question for which I am looking for a simple answer.

We have been on well over 50 cruises ranging mainly Viking, Oceania, Celebrity, Silverseas, and a few Disneys peppered in.  

We are looking at booking our first Regent cruise for next March.  My question is about the after 6:00 PM no jeans policy.  I have been wearing NICE designer jeans (some black and khaki)  and a sport coat to the dining room on all of the recent cruises (pre-COVID of course) and have had zero issues.  In fact you might say it's de rigueur...especially on Oceania and Viking.  Would this really be an issue on Regent?   

We sailed on the Star in November out of San Juan. Let me qualify this by saying I work for myself out of my house...jeans are dressing up for me! I packed for the cruise like all others we have taken, dress pants/khaki's and polo shirts. The first night at Manfredi's I spotted an older dude (we are both "just" 50...older being relative!!) wearing very nice jeans. That was it for me...jeans the rest of the nights except when we ate outdoors where I wore shorts.

We are booked for the Carib/Panama Canal 15 Day in November/December and I will not be packing any dress pants. One more plus for Viking in my book!!

Viking's policy on this is ridiculous. We are booked on one of the West Indies cruises in November and have opted to make our own arrangements as I certainly don't want to be at the mercy of Viking's travel department. After reading many of the routing horror stories I am confident we made the right decision. My airlines, my dates, my times, my seats.

That being said it is pretty lame that Viking does not offer a credit if passengers choose not to take their "free" air. I italicized free as that is what Viking calls it, but let's call it what it really is...included in the price we are paying. There is a clear and concrete cost to them to book air. If passengers choose not to use their included air then a credit should be issued. It even shows up as a line item on their final invoice with a cost attached to it (then credited/zeroed out)! We talked to at least four supervisors and got nowhere with any of them. They have definitely been taking a lot of flak for this as they were ready for whatever we threw at them.

Now...doing the math between this particular cruise and others like it we still found this to be a relative value so we did book even though we do have a bit of a bad taste in our mouths. It's not going to stop us from enjoying the cruise at all. It will definitely be a consideration for future cruises if the policy does not change...as in Viking will no longer be considered. Lots of choices out there. Then again if the cruise is spectacular...:p

just my $.02 worth.

We are booked on the 12/1/16 sailing on the Quest for our 25th anniversary. While the refurb plans look great overall, taking away the sunset outdoor dining option in favor of the for pay Asian venue may be a deal killer for us.

On the surface complaining about one "small" issue compared to a shipwide refurb seems silly...and maybe it is. However, we enjoy dining outdoors in the evenings over a main dining room experience so much that we definitely will strongly consider other options if the information out there turns out to be fact.

Too bad...as stated prior, the rest of the refurb looks great. Hats off to Azamara for the ambitious plans. Hopefully they will reconsider the one issue so many seem to be unhappy about, or at the very least have a solid plan B for us Al Fresco Freaks.