cmoore5524

Thanks for your posts. I will be on the ship soon. How many Evening Chic nights did your 6 day cruise have?  And were they on sea days?

On 5/21/2023 at 10:07 AM, horseymike said:

I have found the entertainment much like the buffet , somethings we enjoy more than others.

With that said , on a 4 night Summit Cruise in late April of 2023, There was a lady who sang the hits of some of the All Time Great female artists, her name was Gen Maldonado.

We thoroughly enjoyed her performance.

Hope you have a great cruise 🛳️

We just returned Sunday from a fun Summit 10 day cruise and Gen Maldonado performed on our cruise. She has a great voice. 

3 minutes ago, rupert5 said:

 

This concerns me. We have bought the Lumber Jack show and my mom requires a mobility scooter. We've gotten no information from X yet about the change to the disembark situation in this port. Looks like I've got to make a call...

Isn’t the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan?  The tendering is in Skagway. 

We were on the July 29th Solstice sailing. You’re in for a great time. Service was fabulous and the scenery was spectacular.  We rented electric bikes in Skagway (not through the ship) and that was one of the highlights of our trip. I highly recommend Klondike Electric Bike Rentals in Skagway if you’re looking for a fun and memorable way to see the beauty of Skagway. One caution I would give you is to not take the ship’s transfer bus to the airport after the cruise.  Instead arrange your own transportation or take a taxi or ride share. We took the transfer bus and it was filled with unmasked coughing passengers from both the Solstice and Ovation OTS.  I’m sure Covid was passed around that bus during the 45-55 minutes we were on it. Several people from our cruise posted that they tested positive after they got home. Be safe and have fun!

I was on the Solstice in July and you could only transfer OBC to slot play in increments of $50. You told the cashier how much and they gave you a ticket to put in the slot machine. I didn’t ask about OBC transfers for table play. 

We were on the July 29th sailing and in a suite. There was a small area on the right that had a lady behind a lecturn with a Retreat sign on it.  It was just before the street crossing guards that are right in front of the doors to the terminal. The Retreat person checked our names off her list and escorted us into the suite door of the terminal.  You couldn’t go through the suite door without an escort. Our check in time was 11:30 and we got there at 11 and were able to immediately check in and walk on the ship. However the terminal was unorganized once we checked in and we only got to board immediately because I asked a ship’s officer where suite guests should go. He walked us to the front of the line. Have a great time!

We’ve stayed in Sky, Celebrity and Royal Suites on the Summit on Deck 6 (Penthouse Deck).  Regarding the Celebrity Suites, we love the fact that one person can get up and move about while the other can sleep or nap in the private bedroom in the Celebrity Suite.  Space-wise, it’s a world of difference from a Sky Suite.  I also like that the bathroom has 2 sinks and enjoy the dressing/makeup table in the walk in closet. I have found the tub/shower to be manageable if you are careful.  These suites are very convenient to the mid ship elevators but not so close that elevator traffic is bothersome. The balcony, while not real deep, is in the curve that juts out in the middle of the ship so you have good visibility to see the scenery.  If the upgrade price is reasonable, I would definitely go for it. Royal Suites are even more fantastic but the upgrade cost is usually much higher. 

On 6/29/2022 at 9:58 PM, canderson said:

I've long suspected this based upon a number of different encounters that would be difficult to explain any other way, but never had it confirmed.  Where did you tumble to that bit of information?

 

It was confirmed to us by suite-related staff on previous cruises that certain staff get names and photos of suite guests before embarkation.  That’s how top notch suite service can start at minute 1 of your cruise. 

3 hours ago, cangelmd said:

There was no Mer Soleil or Caymus on our cruise, and more to the point, no Cherry Pie, which is one of our default go tos. We didn’t go thirsty, we had acceptable wines, and by the end of the cruise when the bugs got worked out, excellent service, but flexibility is key.

Oh my, I’m not sure I can survive a week in Luminae without Mer Soleil (and I’m being serious). It’s my go to wine in the Retreat and dinner. Fingers crossed for our July Alaska sailing. 

2 hours ago, padgman1 said:

For comparison sake, here is a complimentary wine list from the Regent board from one of their newest ships ( Splendor):

 

 

Regent wine list.htm 741.07 kB · 25 downloads

I would love to see that list, but for some reason it would not download.

39 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

Just because a wine is listed on the menu doesn't mean  its available onboard.  The better wines are depleted very quickly and you most likely won't find them again on your sailing. Just bring your own to avoid disappointment. 

The problem with bringing your own wine is twofold.  First, we fly to our cruise and get there the night before so finding a store to buy wine is not convenient or something we desire to do.  Second and more importantly, we have paid for the premium drink package so we should get "premium" quality wines from Celebrity.  They need to get their act together and fulfill what we are paying for (by virtue of either our Always Included fare or the upgrade to premium).  I was willing to give them some leeway due to the pandemic for a period of time, but it's time to move on and get the wine inventory back to what it should be on the ships.  If the issues continue, I question whether Celebrity's wine procurement department procedures and staff need scrutiny by management.

Earlier in this thread when I suggested sending concerns about the Premium Drink Package offerings and availability by e-mail to Celebrity’s CEO, one response by a reader was it would fall on deaf ears. Well, that is not true. I emailed a nice but truthful email about the shortcomings to Celebrity’s CEO this afternoon. Within 2 hours (and it even being a holiday weekend), she had forwarded it to a supervisor in Celebrity’s Engagement Center who immediately called me. We discussed the issue of non-premium wines being the only wines offered on the premium package on multiple ships. She said she would escalate the issue. Perhaps if they heard the premium drink package issues from a few others, the message would resonate even more. I’m a firm believer that management doesn’t know every issue and they tend to focus on ones that are brought to their attention so I tried to do my part on this issue. 

26 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I swear to God.  If Celebrity offers me another $20 glass of wine I think I’ll scream.  😱

I'm not sure I understand your thoughts behind your comment.  Are you upset that you have to pay above the $15 premium beverage package price or something else?

25 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

On our February Edge cruise they had lots of Decoy. At least they offered yet a decent replacement red. I was offered Morphe or Reservado from Chile and I paid for the Premium package.  This was on an 11 night Eclipse Hawaii cruise.

Reservado is the worst.  The only Chardonnay offered in Oceanview Cafe at lunch was Reservado and I took one sip and couldn't drink it.  It's been on both the Summit and Equinox in February and March.  They need to find a better offering.  I put that in my post cruise survey on both cruises but not sure they care as I'm guessing they like the cost of it to them.

16 hours ago, drakes2 said:

@cmoore5524I'm afraid it will fall upon deaf ears. I'll just bring my own wine from home and skip the AI package unless, of course, the price difference between the sail only and AI is minimal. Just yesterday I scored 2 bottles of Austin Hope cab which were in limited quantities and extremely hard to find, one will be traveling with me on my next cruise. 

Actually don’t sell contacting the CEO’s office short. I did that several years ago on an issue and I received a call the next day from LLP’s office. Her staff person listened to the issue, made it right and I was more than satisfied. I come from the school of thought (I am a recently retired CFO) that if management is not made aware of issues important to their constituents, then there is less of a likelihood of the issue getting resolved. 

Has anyone considered emailing Celebrity’s CEO at llutoff-perlo@celebritycruises.com to express their dissatisfaction with the current quality and shortage of wines in the premium package?  If it’s that big of an issue, then top management needs to be made aware of it. 

On 5/12/2022 at 3:15 PM, drakes2 said:By the fifth night I found the MDR had run out of the Decoy and was trying to substitute the cheaper wines such as Reservado from Chile.  While its not a bad wine I didn't understand why the sommelier would not offer one of their better wines since they had such a limited selection  to choose from. Wait tines in the MDR were long one evening we waited 2 hours and 15 minutes for our entree to appear. When we questioned the waiter he said they were short staffed and kitchen could not keep up.  Maitre D was nowhere to be seen. I gave this cruise a rating of 3 out of 10, the best service I received was from my cabin steward.  This was the first sailing for the Eclipse since March of 2020 and clearly they were nowhere near ready to sail. Food quality was mediocre and was served warm most evenings.  Have done more than  a dozen Celebrity cruises and this was the worst of them all. 

Reservado wine is the pits. I can’t believe they tried to substitute that for Decoy. You certainly deserved a refund in that case if you upgraded to Premium package. I put on every post-survey cruise that they need to get rid of Reservado. I’ve only had it in Oceanview at lunch and couldn’t drink it as it was so bad. Celebrity is better than that wine. 

Don’t be concerned. Check in these days starts 30-45 days before sailing 

43 minutes ago, CyberTag said:

We have a cruise planned in April, one in June and another in a October.  Trying to figure out when to order our tests since don’t want to receive expired ones.   Hmmmm

I ordered a 3 pack Monday from Optum and they arrived today. They expire in December 2022.  

I ordered a box of 3 at home proctored tests on Monday and the Fed Ex shipping notification says they are being delivered today (Thursday). I noticed the Optum website is now saying out of stock for the boxes of 2 and 3 proctored tests. Guess there was a rush to buy after Biden said private insurers have to cover up to $12 reimbursement for at home tests purchased on or after 1/15/2022.  

For those of you who have recently sailed on the Summit's 5 night sailings from Miami, what time and day is Deal or No Deal usually held?  I assume it's on sea days but please correct me if I am wrong.  And I have no clue as to the time of day for it so please advise.  Do they offer it more than once?  I am trying to plan some group activities for our reunion group of 46 so any info you can provide is helpful.  Also did you enjoy it and would you recommend it?  Our sailing is in early March.  Thanks!

Hi, who is the Hotel Director on your cruise?

19 minutes ago, WIIsland said:

Did the rep imply that this was going to start 12/8, as others have posted, or indefinitely postponed (meaning it is probably cancelled)?

He didn’t elaborate but I got the impression he thought it would happen at some point. 

A Celebrity rep I spoke to this morning on the phone told me the sale that was supposed to start 12/1 on excursions and other extras was “indefinitely postponed”. He was reading from an email he received regarding it.

Could someone please advise what the email address is for the Blue Chip Club?  Many thanks.