mnocket

If you are a suite passenger on Celebrity and are considering the MSC Yacht Club, you will be pleasantly surprised.  

If you are a non-suite passenger on Celebrity and are considering a MSC cabin outside of the Yacht Club, you will likely be disappointed. 

I guess in a free market system, we should probably blame the people who actually buy junk from Park West for this situation.  If they'd stop buying, Park West would disappear. 

10 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

I guess we will have to wait for the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), land department and coast guard to finish their investigation and report as opposed to local residents and tour guide comments.

And pictures.  Let's not forget to ignore the pictures too.

11 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I agree.  Also, some of the embarkation/disembarkation ports aren’t easily accessible. 
 

ETA:   Saw an almost last-minute (if May 30th is LM) 12 nights from Miami - TA, ending in Arricife - for little more than €500 pn (for 2 people - €6200!!).
 

 

Yep.  Good price, but can't say I'd be thrilled about a TA ending in Arricife. Maybe they want to encourage people to make it b2b?

3 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

And if you look like a stupid foreigner the asking price will move to three digits 😄

Aren't the gondola prices standardized?  I'm sure that's what I read recently. 

Maybe one contributing factor in low sales volume is the lack of unique or attention-grabbing itineraries. I've wanted to give EJ a try, but when I look at the itineraries I'm less enthusiastic. 

23 hours ago, marne-c said:

And likely stemming from the leadership and mentorship of Captain Tasos and his hand-picked executive team

I honestly had no idea that the captain got to hand-pick his executive team. Must be a scheduling nightmare. 

19 hours ago, Woodrowst said:

I am fully prepared for the first response to be: This does not apply to me because I don’t like Gaelic choir music or hexagonal basalt columns ☺️

lol   This is one of the best lines I've read on CC in quite a while.👍

Wow.  You are trying to compare two very different cruise experiences.  Both the ships and the itineraries are completely different.  My inkling, given your stated desire...

"I really enjoy seeing new destinations, so I do not want a mega ship or a lot of nightlife.  Food should be good but doesn’t need to be gourmet."

is that Windstar is a better match. In all honesty, these two cruises are so different that I really don't think it should be a difficult decision for you to make.  You know what you value most. It really shouldn't be hard to determine which option is the best fit for you.

12 minutes ago, LJWECOC said:

I love tender ports for several reasons:

 

1. Tendering on Windstar ships is fast and convenient but, as with all ships, keeping your footing while hopping onto any tender requires a bit of agility. I'm in my late 70s and have never had any problem with tender operations. Logistics are not at all like tendering on huge ships.

 

2. A tender port in the Caribbean means the water sports platform is likely to be open! For that reason alone I love them.

I'm booked on the Wind Spirit for a Greece itinerary.  Many of the ports are tendered, but the itinerary only shows the water sports platform on one day.  Should I expect it will be available on the tender days as well?

2 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

We ate at Lawn Club Grill last night.  They no longer allow guest participation due to “some unfortunate instances”.

 

BTW - one of top 2 best meals we’ve had in the 6 days on board, and we’ve been to all the Speciality Restaurants.   There’s just something about eating outdoors with the grill smoke wafting by.

 

 

I agree.  I love the LCG 😋  Too bad they no longer allow people to participate. 

We cruised the Amazon in Dec-Jan, no issue at all with bugs, but might be a different story in Feb.  Overall, it was an enjoyable cruise, but not at the top of my list of memorable ones. The shore excursions were mediocre. The Amazon is not the rustic, untamed, wild rainforest that I had imagined. It wasn't what I would classify as an "adventure" vacation. If there are other items higher up on your bucket list, I'd recommend you focus on those instead. 

On 4/22/2024 at 7:03 AM, LewiLewi said:

All cruise lines required proof of that shot before you were allowed to board

Not true.

A Caribbean cruise in the Yacht Club is one of the few (only?) sailings where I would book an inside cabin.  With the lovely YC pool area just steps away, I never feel the desire to spend time on a balcony.

I'm following with interest, but when does your cruise actually start?

I don't know if this is still the case, but it used to be that you could cook your own steak alongside the chef when dining at the LCG. Seems one could get a more personalized and hands-on experience doing this than attending the steak Master Class Ship Experience.

20 hours ago, billc23 said:

I'm a new Zenith member and prior to Covid was elite with around 500 points. Since the post covid restart we spent around $380,000 with Celebrity staying in upper suites - usually PH at 18 points per night. We will end up with 3726 points when we complete our current B4B on the Solstice. So, if you are starting with zero points, then $190,000 per person would bring one to Zenith status by staying in upper suites. Staying in other cabin would take more days and I am not sure if the cost would be more or less.

 

We enjoyed our Zenith celebration on this cruise but achieving the status was nothing we sought out and it will not make a material difference in our bookings. We are willing to pay the price asked for our travels and expect an excellent experience. Celebrity has disappointed us with small nickel and dime changes prompting us to try other cruise lines and we were pleasantly surprised. Our future bookings are all on other lines for the remainder of 2024 until Spring of 2026 - we will need to add in our free cruise for achieving Zenith. If these sailings were on Celebrity we would be well into double Zenith. I need to thank Celebrity for small irritations - like up charging $2.40 for a glass of wine - that caused me to look elsewhere and realize there are many great options for cruising. I was so comfortable booking Celebrity that I never would have considered trying other cruise line and I thank them for giving me a nudge.

You have earned my respect for having a wise and open mind👍

7 hours ago, jonthomas said:

 

I guess I can repeat that, talk about YOU missing my point.

IF a luxury line is about how much you can drink, the variety, quality,  and how you are served those drinks, since we dont consume any alcohol,  then we are getting all the luxury we need by sailing a premium line , without the cost. For us it has to be about something other than liquor to pay more.

Hope you get my point. I really cant explain it better than that.

WOOSH!  It's not about alcohol.  

23 hours ago, jonthomas said:

doesnt mean anything to those of us that do not consume alcoholic beverages.

Talk about missing the point🙄

At the end of the day, it really comes down to IT, specifically their customer facing IT, not being a priority to the cruise line executives. I don't know if it's because they don't understand it, and hence ignore it, or if they just don't put much emphasis on the pre-cruise experience.  Either way, they either under-invest in these IT systems, or they don't manage the quality of the developer's work.  It seems to be an issue for most cruise lines.  There's really no excuse.  Other travel related websites offer reliable websites with excellent functionality. Cruise line websites could, and should, do the same.  The fact that they don't is 100% a management issue.

I'd hate it.  I enjoy nice background music when dining in a restaurant, but loud, in your face musicians?  Go Away!

Actually, many TAs who specialize in cruises are one-person franchisees.  I have no idea what the up-front cost is of buying a franchise, but I suspect it wouldn't make sense for someone in your situation.  

Great trip report!  Thanks👍

1 hour ago, Best Cat Mom said:

No because they don't the specific way you are funding the chips. The amount is charged to your cabin via your cruise card. They don't know if you have OBC available in your cabin account or if you'll be covering extra charges with your registered credit card.

 

Also, if you use the slot machines instead, it is all electronic on the machines themselves. No interaction with a human is needed until you decide to cash out.

Thanks👍

4 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

When you are in the casino, load money into a slot machine (or buy chips at a table) by charging to your room. Play a bit if you want, then cash out at the cashier to get cash for whatever is left.

Do they issue different chips for OBC?  By that I mean, on another cruise line  the chips they issue for OBC are marked as such and can't be cashed out.  You can only cash out the "normal" chips you get when you win a hand.  So basically, you have to cycle through all of your "OBC" chips before you cash out.