Georgia_Peaches

Welcome back to Celebrity!  Would be helpful to know the ship.  Facilities vary by ship and class.

From Celebrity's FAQ's:

Children ages 3-9 must be signed in and out of the Celebrity Youth Program. Children ages 10-12 are free to come and go as they please but are required to sign themselves in and out. Children ages 13-17 may come and go as they please.

If you get the Premium Access Pass (available in the cruise planner under WiFi), one of the perks is a waived room service fee for anything other than the continental breakfast mentioned by @1Virgo.

4 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

I am sorry but Legionnaires disease has been around since 1976 and it is from water, bacteria yes and it is not contagious.  Nothing to worry about.

While I agree with your carpe diem sentiment, and further concur that Legionnaires has been around for a while, and that it is not spread person-to-person, it CAN be very worrisome for high risk persons, ie. the elderly and pulmonary challenged.  Enough so that Celebrity saw fit to inform passengers on previous cruises as well as the one OP has posted about. Not sure why you object to other people's concerns about the risk, especially not knowing their individual story.  I pray you are grateful not to have such health worries!  Happy cruising! 😎

Happy Embarkation Day!  Hope you have smooth sailing!

Wow! What a great day in Melbourne!  Thanks for the Blu menu. Have to agree that the space looks way more intimate and appealing (to me) than Luminae. 

3 hours ago, Liao said:

Foolowed by this:  I didn't question what they said, I asked if they were referring to the on board grats.  So settle down and relax.

And I answered the question. Which is why I was confused. Perfectly settled over here. Was genuinely asking bc I wanted to be helpful. Peace. 

1 minute ago, Mark_K said:

But not quite as high as The Haven ($25), which is probably its most direct comparable.

Whew!  That’s high!  It’s been before Covid since I was in the Haven and I’m sure we didn’t pay that. Sign of the times, I guess. 

2 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

Nov 17    Bimini and Labadee are new to me, not that exciting, but nevertheless new to me...

Bimini was one and done for us.  The little island has a nice resort and is convenient for those in southern florida who want to get away for a weekend...There's the Bimini express which commutes passengers over the island for a very reasonable fare.  We spent an hour in the very small resort casino and then headed back to the ship.  Like many islands in the Bahamas, it's quite impoverished.  Opening this up to cruise ships will hopefully stimulate their economy.

Just now, love to cruz said:

If you look up gratuities, all suites are $23.00 per day, per person. We will likely not use the butler & ask for nothing more from a room steward than if we were in a regular cabin. It seems quite steep to us 

Yes, completely agree.  I was just confused by @Liao response to my follow up to your post regarding daily grats.   Perhaps s/he will clarify.

12 minutes ago, 2flacruisers said:

All ships have problems.  We have had no air

So true!  We lost A/C in our cabin on the brand new Ascent on the last night.  For perspective, we were the first passengers to sail in our cabin...ever.

3 hours ago, love to cruz said:

$23.oo per day, per guest seems a little steep to us. As a rule we very seldom ask for anything especial.

This ^

2 hours ago, Liao said:

Are you referring to the ship on-board gratuities, pre-paid and/or charged per/day at the end of the cruise?

Followed by this ^

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

Followed by my response to your question above ^

38 minutes ago, Liao said:

Right I am aware of that, but that's not what I asked.

Followed by this ^....Hmm...what did I miss?😕

11 minutes ago, Liao said:

Are you referring to the ship on-board gratuities, pre-paid and/or charged per/day at the end of the cruise?

I believe $23 pp/pd is the current gratuity rate for guests in the Retreat.  I further believe that this rate is among the highest in the industry.

15 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

We were just off her on Monday, 4 nighter to Nassau and Bimini, we were on the 3rd deck.  Great cruise, only two issues were the slow-to-drain shower/sink, and the safe wouldn't lock as the display asked for an "e-code".  I reported both issues, the safe FOUR times and neither were fixed despite telling us the safe issue was fixed multiple times.  We figured nothing would be addressed about the slow drainage and while the non-locking safe wasn't that big of a deal, we were surprised there wasn't much communication about it.  The odds are too long that they "fixed" the safe four times and only when we happen to use it, press any button and it flashes "e-code"

Glad you had a nice quick cruise experience.  I love the 4 night get-aways!  I have to say I would be very distressed not to have a working safe.  I like to play in the casino and I keep my player's cash locked up...few things get me in front of the guest relations counter but having a safe that won't lock puts me at the front of the line.

40 minutes ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

I thought edge class were fully flexible across all four dining rooms? 

Yes, this is correct.  But the app still allows you to make reservations if you want...not really sure of the reason.

26 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

It may be Captain Kate's final cruise on her current contract based on her Instagram vlogs.  

Oh no!  Not that I'm a cruise ship captain groupie but was looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about.  Will she return to Beyond?

Ascent is a beautiful ship.  Have a wonderful cruise!

5 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

We love gorgeous Antiqua.  

Do you mind sharing what you did?  We stop here in November and it will be our first time.  Also curious what OP will do at this stop.

1 minute ago, justcrusn said:

Anything extra, or special, or above and beyond, should be tipped extra.

What would be “extra”? Thats very debatable, but one example for us is

asking to have a bottle of champagne (we provided) iced and ready with glasses on the balcony when we return from an excursion.

Well said!  The above and beyond for us was when our cabin stewardess decorated our room for our anniversary and provided a cake and sparkling wine.  It was all her doing and completely unexpected.

Since the grats have increased we have scaled back our additional tipping.  If our cabin steward goes above and beyond, we will as well.  On our last cruise, a b2b that was split between a PV stateroom and a sky suite, we gave additional grats to our cabin stewardess on the non-suite leg.  We did not tip beyond the grats for the sky suite.  Bottom line, its personal to your own experience and desire to tip or not.

It's possible OP forgot to turn his phone to APM once the ship left the port.  I've done that before and once I was far enough out, I received a text from Verizon asking me if I wanted to sign up for an international plan....thus, reminding me to switch to airplane mode.

5 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

I believe the create and pour event was with the resident artist on board …they teach you to make a picture and you are served wine….

we went once…I like the music and mixology better…

Now see?  My head went immediately to cocktail making with the create and pour event.  Never would have thought about it involving art.  Sounds interesting, though.  But you didn't really like it?  Did you walk away with a piece of "art"?  

Is this a new thing?  DH has AT&T and I have Verizon.  Neither of us have even been charged while on the ship in a US port.

These two events are shown at the Elite level of the Captain's Club perks.  The Create and Pour is only available on Beyond, Ascent and Apex while the mixology is offered on all of the ships.  We've attended the Music and Mixology and have enjoyed the show.  Despite being on Ascent for the pre-inaugural cruises, we did not get an invitation to either event.  I'm guessing they didn't hold them on the short preview cruises. 

Have you attended the Create and Pour event?  If so, what did it entail and how was it?

5 minutes ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

Please don't fall into the fear porn.  It is the flu, the typical yearly flu that hits during winter, we are nearly getting out of it as spring moves in.

Legionnaires disease is not the flu.  The flu is a virus and Legionnaires is caused by bacteria and causes pneumonia and can be contracted by vapor in showers, spas or A/C ventilation. I'm not sure Celebrity is in the business of fear porn but informing passengers of potential risks is their job.

Thanks for the heads-up @mac_tlc.  We really enjoyed Ascent last November and have Beyond booked for this November. We didn’t book a suite though. After sailing Ascent for the first leg in a porthole balcony and a sky suite the second leg, we felt the first experience was superior to the suite experience. Left us wondering if paying more = better was all in our heads. I do love a suite deal though!  So will definitely take a look.