Cachecara

I have 3 grandchildren similar ages and personally would choose another cruise line, even though X is my own personal preference.  
Yes, they have a kid’s club.  But it’s not close to all the other kid friendly things they will not have on X as mentioned above.  
The pool is not shallow.  I’m 5’2” and feel vertically challenged, so I can’t imagine how younger kids would feel.  Jmo

21 hours ago, Salf777 said:

So we have never done Alaska and our travel agent says Celebrity does not do glacier bay and would recommend another line. In looking I see Celebrity has Dawes Glacier, Southbound glacier, northbound glacier, and Hubbard glacier. She also said that the Seattle to Seattle doesn’t do the inside passage which the itinerary says it does. She said Seattle to Seattle has to go via ocean to make up time and it’s not a scenic. Suggested sailing from Victoria BC   
so my questions are to those who have done 

1. What’s the difference in all these glaciers? Is one better than another?

2. Would prefer flying into and out of Seattle but not a deal breaker do you think the itinerary from Victoria is truly better? We have been to Victoria so don’t feel the need to stay there

3. May is a better time for us to sail but an do June or July is may not a good time to go?

4. Any other insight on Alaska anyone can provide appreciated 

5. Is celebrity good for Alaska or would you suggest another line?

For brevity’s sake, I say your TA is spot on.  
We mainly sail X, but have some RCI when with our kids/grands. However we did Princess to Alaska.  We did a southbound from Seward to Vancouver with precruise time in Alaska.  We went early Sept.  

Summit swapped out with Eclipse just recently ( the east coast itineraries). 
We have sailed on Summit many times and sailed her for the New England/Canada Oct 2022.  We loved the fall foliage and booked at this time frame just for that.  Marvelous cruise. Boston RT, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Quebec City and Sydney. 

Imo, Murano.  

On 9/25/2023 at 11:21 AM, vickykay said:

If you’re looking for lobster rolls, the I’d recommend the West End cafe in Bar Harbor, right across the street from the tender drop off.  They had a special which we shared with and extra bowl of clam chowder ( also excellent).  Also Dimillos in Portland.  I never had a lobster roll with so much lobster!  

Oh, the memories.  We did this cruise via summit last Oct and dined here with other cruisers.  Definitely delicious!  One of my favorite ship and favorite cruises. 

On 9/20/2023 at 7:13 PM, zitsky said:

Nice post, but haven’t you read the other discussions?  No one can be enjoying Celebrity as much as you say.  This must be a fake post!!!  😂😂😂

I read other discussions often.  This is my POV.  And I’m quite happy that I’m pleased with my memories and experiences.  

On 9/19/2023 at 6:08 PM, Baggy178 said:

In all fairness who needs a cabin cleaned more than once a day anyway.

But for the rest Virgin seems to have their finger on the pulse.

Amen.  I don’t want someone in more than once a day.  
How does price compare across the staterooms, would be my issue.  

On 9/19/2023 at 1:35 PM, young_k92 said:

First, this topic is not intended to start a verbal war. I'm honestly asking, because I do not have unlimited funds to spend on trying new cruise lines in an attempt to find one that doesn't make me, to be honest, hate cruising. And we're trying to decide if we should try Celebrity or move on to HAL.

 

Background: My husband and I are almost-50 Gen Xers who cruise exclusively as a couple and have only cruised Carnival. We usually average about one cruise every 5 years. We started in 2005. We started on a 5-day on the smallest ship in the fleet, and have done 8-day as well as a 14-day Journeys cruise. Each time, we've cruised a bit larger class of ship, but we will never book a cruise on a mega ship. Just not for us. Our next cruise is in October on MSC (not YC).

 

Our last cruise on Carnival was on the Magic in the Caribbean last January. For various reasons, it became apparent to us that, post-Covid, Carnival would not be receiving any more of our hard-earned dollars. It was so bad, that we were booked on a B2B and chose to get off the ship after our first leg, even with it costing us some of those dollars. We are stuck on a previously-booked 14-day Journeys cruise to Alaska next year, praying that the length, itinerary, and sailing month makes the other passengers at least semi well behaved. We're not snobs. Before Covid, we considered Carnival people to be "our people," but post-Covid, it seems to be a different cruise line.

 

So, I've been reading a lot of the posts here on the Celebrity forum. It almost sounds like RCI is turning a once premium line into what Carnival was like pre-Covid. Anyone that can elaborate on this possibility? Honestly, I wouldn't mind trying a line that was like Carnival 18 years ago. We rather enjoyed our pre-Covid cruises. But I want to be prepared not to expect "premium" when it isn't anymore.

 

And, if someone with experience could elaborate on the difference between Celebrity and HAL post-Covid, I would appreciate it. The plan was to try MSC first, then Celebrity, then HAL. But after reading these reviews, I'm wondering if moving straight to HAL might be a better option for us.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

We have never sailed Carnival, so I can not fairly compare Celebrity or Royal with Carnival.  
Initially, we sailed RCI with teens and young adult children.  When we sailed by ourselves this was with X.  We had great cruises with each cruise.  Never a disappointment. 
For the last, 20 yrs we have sailed with X solely, 2-3 times a year.  We have chosen to sail with a verandah room, choosing deliberately NOT to sail suite, aqua or concierge class. Again, always a great cruise, with little to no disappointments.  
We have sailed X 3 times since Sept 2022, post Covid.  Lovely cruises with no complaints.  The latest on Summit in June. No stateroom, food or service issues.  Wonderful times.  
We sailed May 2019 on RCI Jewel to the Mediterranean.   It was wonderful and we plan on sailing on her again to Iceland/Scotland next June.
 I think itinerary and particular ship is extremely important when comparing cruises or cruise lines.
 We live right outside of NYC so are very accustomed to fine dining, Italian, seafood, steaks, sushi etc.  We realize we are not getting a comparable when cruising and do not expect such, but again, have never been disappointed as service has always been great to help if there was an issue( there has not really ever been).  
so many things are subjective, but I hope this helps, from our opinion.  
have fun! 

On 9/5/2023 at 1:40 PM, truckswain said:

Thank you, I did read this post which was extremely detailed.

 

None of what was in that post has significantly impacted my cruise experience.

 

I thought maybe I had missed something.

Same here.  Most of those changes have little to no effect on us. 

On 7/21/2023 at 10:42 PM, pstone1 said:

I just checked again, and our dates next year are not open yet!  I will keep checking though!  Definitely a great hotel!

I’m glad to hear such glowing reviews regarding Bank’s. We have plans to stay there pre-cruise June 2024.  

We’ve been on both multiple times and agree there are more similarities than differences.  Both are great. S class has an additional specialty restaurant and that’s good. 

9 hours ago, bboop51 said:

You are entitled to your opinion, but we lived it. They may be prepared for the cleaning but not the patients, more than once calls for assistance were responded to (after long delays) by the same thing  we don't have enough staff. So we can agree to disagree. Our getting the ship was nightmare. We can leave it at that.

I was on the May 15 cruise and know several who got Noro.  The sick bay was so overwhelmed they stopped allowing noro patients in and attended to them in their staterooms.  It was a circus.  Very long delays. 

20 hours ago, ecslady said:

 

I was also on the May 15 Summit cruise.  I seem to remember several announcements by the Captain about gastrointestinal illness from about day 3 or 4 till the end of the cruise. The captain gave updates each day.

I was on this cruise, also.  The Captain was very vocal during his announcements regarding noro and precautions, procedures, etc.  

 There were more than 2 passengers effected by Covid.  A shipboard friend contracted it the day of disembarking and then myself a day later.  

17 hours ago, Traveler1977 said:

All I was pointing out is that $83.99 is a lot of money for just drinks. 

My package for the Jewel a yr from now is $71.99.  Deluxe package. 

On 6/2/2023 at 9:42 PM, RenieRaider said:

Karen~ Tell us more!

Wish I could.  I did not attend.  Friends did.  Spouse peeked in. That was the extent. 

On 5/30/2023 at 4:24 PM, homedepot124 said:

We were just on the May 15-25 sailing of the Summit and our MDR experience was also less than stellar.  Even though we were confirmed for first seating, when we went to deck 5 the first night we were told there were no tables available because they had 600 people confirmed on first seating and only 400 seats available.  So that night we did my time dining on deck 4.  After checking the second night we did have an assigned table for the rest of the cruise.  The service was hit and miss.  One night we waited 20 minutes after ordering desert and then gave up and left.  Another night we ordered ice cream for desert and gave up after waiting 15 minutes for it.    I know they are busy but desert should be the easiest of all the courses. 

 

On our cruise the nurovirus outbreak started on day 5 and the serve yourself buffet stopped after

breakfast on day 6. 

We were on the same cruise.

We found the service to be very good in all areas and were very happy with the crew, as always.  
Our dinners in the MDR were over all good.  The OVC had very little day to day variation whether it was breakfast or lunch and so became a bit stale, but I never left hungry or disappointed.  Personally, I like having the crew reinforce hand washing, serve the guests etc.  JMO
The one negative was Tuscan Grill.  We are used to good Italian restaurants, we live in NNJ.  The calamari was so bad, we didn’t bother.  It was thickly coated and deep fried. Like eating a calamari funnel cake. My fillet was over cooked to well done.  But again, I wasn’t cooking or cleaning up and anyone can have an off night.  We’ve eaten at Tuscan several times in the past and been pleased, so I’m hoping it was a one off. 

Food is so subjective. 

Was on Summit May 15-25 and there was a white night. 😀

I’ve been on each several times and loved them both.  There are far more similarities than differences.  
Eclipse has Murano, so one more specialty. 

We are on Summit now.  All being used. 

On 5/7/2023 at 10:15 AM, Laurab23 said:

So happy to read all the positives. We love the Summit and will be boarding her May 15. I will miss being on her next years. After so many cruises, she feels like home to me.

 

Laura

Us to! On our way to port now.  Many times on lovely Summit. 

10 hours ago, Tierun said:

Threatening behavior on a Celebrity ship? Carnival maybe, but not the relaxed, laid back world of X. Too mature for the nonsense.

Simply not true.  
We cruised to Bermuda from Cape Liberty July 2018.   A male was detained in his stateroom across from ours and was under security watch 24/7 until arrival in Bermuda at which time he was escorted off and flown back to NJ under police supervision.  
That same cruise, we observed security immediately attend to a couple obviously inebriated, cursing loudly, throwing drinks at each other and swinging arms at each other.  
it can happen anywhere.  X is not immune. 

13 hours ago, ggo85 said:

Thanks. I read the guidelines and they seemed mostly the same. Hence my question.  If my DH wears a jacket on chic night, will he look out of place?

I think if he feels comfortable and happy wearing a jacket, does it matter if only 10% are wearing a jacket? 
Many are trying to down size packing.  Many simply don’t want to wear a jacket or the climate is warmer and choose not.

 Since the dress code changed from formal nights to chic, we have noticed very few dressed up regardless of itinerary.  But it’s certainly ok, if that’s what personally works.  
I think he’ll be fine. 
 

As others have mentioned, itinerary.  Something you might also consider is how hot it will be in June-August.  We did this May-early June 2019, and lots of walking.  It was wonderful, but fairly and humid warm even then. 
We generally choose X, but found a very, very similar cruise on Royal.  It was thousands less for same type stateroom and itinerary.  Due to a smaller ship and time of year, very few children. 
enjoy! 

EWR is the airport nearest us and one used most frequently.   It has always been recommended to be at the airport at least 2 hrs early to get through security.  
Sometimes we have plenty of time to spare.  Sometimes, not so much if the security lines are long or if the concourse has been changed at the last minute and then you have to take the mono to get to the correct concourse and gate.  Imo, get off the ship fast because you are pushing it. 

On 10/26/2022 at 4:02 PM, dedlaw said:

It has been a number of years since we sailed in the Caribbean, but that's what we're doing in March on the Constellation.  I know much has changed -- with time in general and post (post?) pandemic in particular.  I am sure I could read through a lot of posts and find the answer to this question, so please don't  complain on that score -- I've been looking, and mostly I'm seeing complaints about the way others are dressed (and complaints about the complainers needing to get a life).  So . . .

 

In MDR on a regular evening, are jeans and golf shirt okay for the men?  By "okay," I'm only asking about what generally blends in fairly well.  If jeans and golf shirt don't cut it, what upgrades would be okay?  On what used to be formal nights, are button downs, sport coat and khakis on target?

 

Thank you.

Yes.