RainbowRichard

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

They removed the CEO title for incoming Presidents of both Celebrity and Silversea. That wasn't an oversight. Jason Liberty (former CFO now CEO) has more control over all the brands now as there are no competing CEO roles. If Michael Bayley steps down, I would put money on the new RCI head being President minus CEO as well. My take is Laura's position was awarded after her success with Coco Cay and the RCI and the Royal Amplified program. Lisa is now "chair of external affairs" for RGC. I would translate that as they gave her $300k to do some light legacy consulting work and she hasn't been to an office or answered an email since May. 

Ah that explains a lot - the CEO used to be the CFO? I have worked for a number of companies that got totally ruined when the CFO got promoted to CEO….

We tried Iona for the first time in May of this years after being fairly loyal Celebrity cruisers.  We’re in our early to mid forties if that makes any difference.  We also have yet to try Celebrity again post pandemic - our next Celebrity cruise is this September.

Things we liked about Iona:

The number of Speciality restaurants was good and the extra charge is modest so it is less of a considered purchase.

Food was generally good, though I found breakfast disappointing, more akin to a low/mid range chain hotel.

Limelight club a good concept which we enjoyed.

We generally like to find a quiet-ish bar with some low key music such as piano/strings etc and there were a good number of these on Iona and relatively easy to find a seat.  Seems like a bigger ship means there is something to please everyone and it was easy to find a quiet spot if that’s what we wanted.

Downsides of Iona

The service didn’t seem quite as polished, we felt that the staff, although pleasant, did not go above and beyond and we also feel like we did not get to know them like we do on Celebrity but that could be due to being a much larger ship.

Dinner in main dining room always felt rushed, and we were in and out in about an hour or so even on formal night.

We did get ill with bad colds halfway through this cruise so did not try any other entertainment outside of the limelight and music in the bars.

We did not buy a drinks package either and just paid as we went.

In summary, we’d certainly try P&O again especially as Celebrity pricing seems to be going through the roof.  We’ll see how our September Celebrity cruise is and determine whether it is still worth paying a bit more for.

On 8/17/2023 at 10:22 PM, Chrisclaire said:

I posted a question on the P&O UK forum "P&O v's Celebrity"

Some interesting responses.

Good to hear your P&O experience was pleasantly surprising!

We have only ever sailed with Celebrity and have loved every cruise......Inside, Balcony, Concierge & Aqua

However our most recenct one last Sept was a little disappointing. 

We are leaving from Sydney in October on Solstice and will make a decision after that as to who we cruise with next.

As you say, Celebrity prices are excessive and for us it's about what else is out there that is similar but not so expensive!

 

Thankyou to the OP for this very interesting/helpful post!

 

I think part of the reason for being pleasantly surprised was that we perhaps had lower expectations than we do of Celebrity but I’ll post some further thoughts on there for the benefit of everyone else - thanks for the link. 

I’m very much in the same boat too (excuse the pun), We are in our early to mid forties and have been pretty loyal Celebrity cruisers the last few years - the last few times in Aqua class. We have one booked on Silhouette in September but looking ahead to next year from Southampton UK you are looking at £8k for an aqua class cabin for pretty much the same itinerary as we did in 2019 for £4k. I know prices have increased but double in five years is excessive. We earn good salaries but cannot justify that for a holiday. We went on P&O earlier this year and were pleasantly surprised so we’ll see what Celebrity is like in September and see if the extra for Celebrity  is worth it.  

Loved the lollipops. Last time I went to a Little Chef though I had severe food poisoning.

Seems OK to me Susie. I can access it and search for cruises though have tried logging in and looking at cruises planner if that’s what you mean. 

Cheers

Richard

Hi All,

My partner Adrian and I will be on this cruise. We’re from Yorkshire, UK. It will be our second time on Reflection - very much looking forward to it now as it’s only a few weeks away!

We’re staying over in Rome for one night before mainly just in case there are flight delays and to have a good amount of time on the ship before she sails. We did a few days in Rome last time and loved it.

Steve, if you’re staying near the centre you can just get the train to the port. We got the train from the city centre last time and will be this time and found it clean and reliable. Just be aware of people trying to “help” buy your ticket and show you the platform...

Coming back we tend to get a Celebrity transfer to the airport. It’s extortionate but is convenient and gives some peace of mind as it’s pretty well organised.

We’re struggling with what we might want to do in Athens. We had two days there on our last cruise and so have done the “sights” and don’t feel inclined to repeat them. We also thought the city was a bit noisy and dirty and not conducive to just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere. We fancied getting out of the city but most of the Celebrity tours going out of the city also have stops at attractions in the city. If anyone has any suggestions then let me know!

I’ve joined the Facebook group mentioned above and I’m sure will be in the Martini bar at some point for the 8pm LGBT meet ups.

Richard

ALL ABOARD!!! 20 Days and Counting!!! :)

:D Yes very much looking forward to this now! Definitely counting down the days...! Work is going to be very busy before then but this will keep me going!

Thanks for all your help and advice above, Neil and Jerry - very much appreciated! More or less decided on our Ephesus excursion (non-Celebrity one), the others we're just going to see how we feel and maybe book on the ship - there are a few I like the sound of but could do with finding out a bit more about them...

Surely it's only 19 days now? :)

Dear Richard and Adrian:

 

So good to hear from you. We also love the itinerary. We are flying into Rome on the 22nd of June for a few days prior to the cruise.

 

We are avid cruisers and fell in love with Greece too. Our favorite is Mykonos. We are spending the night in Athens and the food is wonderful. We were there last year and two years prior and had a great time. We also loved visiting Ephesus and Pompeii and plan to return this trip. We were in Capri last year and the Amalfi Coast before that.

 

We usually either cruise Celebrity or Princess, and as we live in S. Florida hopping on a ship is really easy.

 

We look forward to meeting you both. please come and join the main group under Celebrity Reflection - June 27th. I am coordinating the Sail Away Party with the group. Also, you can register for the Celebrity Meet & Greet Party. You will find the directions I supplied in the main Roll Call and an invitation will be in your cabin upon arrival.

 

See you soon..:)

Hi Neil and Jerry,

Thanks for your response all those weeks ago and apologies for taking ages to respond and thank you for your reply, but things have been pretty hectic lately! We've never been to Mykonos which is a bit surprising as it's almost a rite of passage for gay men here in the UK! One of the reasons we chose the cruise so we're looking forward to it, pleased to hear you recommend it too.

We're looking forward to Ephesus as well, never having been. I've been to Pompei and loved that so looking forward to returning. One question I have which you may be able to answer and for which I'd be grateful is whether there are any additional excursions added once you are on the ship? The reason I ask is that the description of Chania in Crete is that there are many mountains and gorges etc to explore which really appeal to us but on their website there is not one excursions listed taking us somewhere like that. Was wondering if more would be added? I tried looking for independent excursions as well and found one company offering a jeep safari but not sure we're there for quite long enough that day. Otherwise seems very little out there.

Thanks for the info on the main group, I did find that as well and may also post about Chania there as well. We'll probably give the Cruise Critic gathering a miss though, as although we're friendly and sociable and happy to meet new faces, we don't really "do" big gatherings.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive and no doubt will meet you at some point in June.

Richard & Adrian

Hi Neil and Jerry,

Thanks for creating the post. My partner Adrian and I are also going on this cruise. We are from Yorkshire, England. It will only be our second cruise and first time on Celebrity. We love Greece though which is why we chose this itinerary. Very much looking forward to it!

Richard