vincesm

Hello anyone know which terminal Celebrity uses in Port of Miami using Uber and need to “point” address in the aap

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Address Celebrity Port if Miami for Uber

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Enjoying the review we will be at Four Seasons next week before our Celebrity Equinox cruise so following closely enjoy

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Hello Paul - enjoying your review - quick question seems you've been eating at Specialty restaurants did you purchase "dining package" if YES did you purchase before you boarded or while on board? Thanks

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BarbarianPaul

Would you be so kind to provide more info/details for item 5 on your list of the underground tour of Nero's palace, the domus aurea...

This will be our fourth visit to Rome and there are so many places that we have not seen.

Thank you.

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It is definitely an overwhelming process. There's so much to see and do in each port and you will not be able to see and do everything on your first Med cruise.

What would you like to see or do??

Consider how much time you have in port, if your ship docks or if it's a tendered port.

Check your roll call to see if others are looking to do shared excursions in some of your ports of call and also consider the ship's excursions or transfers to do it as a DIY

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Thanks

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Hello

We were trying to use RomeInLimo for our day in Rome but they are booked.....they recommended this company whom we have never heard of any insights would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you are all well. The cruise is going well. My apologies for not posting too much. Here is an update.

 

Yesterday was Nice / Monaco. The weather was perfect. Sunny, around 70 degrees. Nice and warm in the sun and a little cool in the shade. Anyone who had extensive excursions planned had perfect walking and exploring weather. Today is Marseille and the weather could be better. It is around 60 degrees, a bit cooler this morning with some decent winds and a little rain. The sun has come out some in the past couple hours (it is 3pm now) but still not as nice as yesterday. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow in Barcelona and from the looks of the forecast it looks like we will be good.

 

OK now let's talk ship. The second night in Luminae was much better. No issues waiting for food, no delays, no complaints. I keep forgetting to take food pictures, I'll remember tonight! Last night our main dish was the veal cannelloni which was very good. Though it is a small portion so if you're very hungry order two or something to split in the middle.

 

We've continued to meet more people around the ship. I'm doing my best to keep track of all the names! It's not easy, but it's definitely a good problem to have.

 

We're visiting Michaels club every night. Joyce in Michael's is very nice and seems to have taken a liking to us. We will be sure to stop in and see her tonight. Tonight is evening chic night so I'll try and post what I'm wearing. Since it's a bit cool today I think I'll have a sweater in the mix.

 

Shows.

Sat night we saw the show Maxx. It's about a boy that gets caught in a virtual world. It was....interesting. Most of the music wasn't my specific tastes but I found the female singers to be very good. The main female vocalist was excellent. I'm hoping for better shows in the future for her to show her range. Tenures of Rock are on board and will be getting off the ship to go to a two year contract in Vegas. I've heard excellent things about them so we are looking forward to their show tonight.

 

Regarding the TV question, there is a HDMI port as well as a PC in port and AV. However, I don't have any cables with me so I cannot attest if it will actually work for you. I've heard varying things in the past on cruise critic.

 

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you are all well. The cruise is going well. My apologies for not posting too much. Here is an update.

 

Yesterday was Nice / Monaco. The weather was perfect. Sunny, around 70 degrees. Nice and warm in the sun and a little cool in the shade. Anyone who had extensive excursions planned had perfect walking and exploring weather. Today is Marseille and the weather could be better. It is around 60 degrees, a bit cooler this morning with some decent winds and a little rain. The sun has come out some in the past couple hours (it is 3pm now) but still not as nice as yesterday. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow in Barcelona and from the looks of the forecast it looks like we will be good.

 

OK now let's talk ship. The second night in Luminae was much better. No issues waiting for food, no delays, no complaints. I keep forgetting to take food pictures, I'll remember tonight! Last night our main dish was the veal cannelloni which was very good. Though it is a small portion so if you're very hungry order two or something to split in the middle.

 

We've continued to meet more people around the ship. I'm doing my best to keep track of all the names! It's not easy, but it's definitely a good problem to have.

 

We're visiting Michaels club every night. Joyce in Michael's is very nice and seems to have taken a liking to us. We will be sure to stop in and see her tonight. Tonight is evening chic night so I'll try and post what I'm wearing. Since it's a bit cool today I think I'll have a sweater in the mix.

 

Shows.

Sat night we saw the show Maxx. It's about a boy that gets caught in a virtual world. It was....interesting. Most of the music wasn't my specific tastes but I found the female singers to be very good. The main female vocalist was excellent. I'm hoping for better shows in the future for her to show her range. Tenures of Rock are on board and will be getting off the ship to go to a two year contract in Vegas. I've heard excellent things about them so we are looking forward to their show tonight.

 

Regarding the TV question, there is a HDMI port as well as a PC in port and AV. However, I don't have any cables with me so I cannot attest if it will actually work for you. I've heard varying things in the past on cruise critic.

 

Rose, I haven't forgotten about you. I walked by the rooom today and there are several crew doors across from it but they're small crew doors, not the massive ones you normally see. I took a quick video and will upload it for you.

 

 

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Paul

Thanks for the review to date following this closely we are thinking of a transatlantic cruise in the future and are booked on a med cruise may 2017. Question while in Nice and Marseilles did you take a tour or do it on your own? These are two ports we will be stopping at and trying to plan thanks again

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A Mediterranean trip doesn't have to have include both pre and post cruise days. Just add a few days before or after your cruise to explore on your own.

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We stayed here pre-cruise in 2014. The hotel is in a quiet location, walking distance to Gaudi's Casa Batlo and Casa Mila, and close to great restaurants and / shopping. Be advised that the hotel does get very busy with checkin/checkouts and you may have to wait for your room or plan to store your luggage.

The Scuola Grande Di San Rocco is amazing if you are interested in art.

Oops sorry! I was about to tell you about the Scuola Grande Di San Rocco in Venice that we visited on another cruise from Venice. We did this on our own with info that we found on the Internet and also from Rick Steves Venice guide book.

If you go there you will be given a mirror to hold up and view the ceiling paintings. It's abs

We stayed in the Cannaregio neighborhood pre cruise a few years ago. We did a private walking tour with a local guide in this neighborhood and our tour ended near St Marcos square. We enjoyed the backstreets and it's a working class neighborhood of Venice, so you will see Venice from another perspective.

On another cruise we had an overnight in Venice and went

Are you staying in this area, or just want to visit it from another area in Venice?

We were on the Reflection Nov 14-21. This was our twenty second cruise, our fifth on Celebrity (seven on Princess, three on Costa, three on HAL, two on RCI, one on Crystal, one on NCL). We have never, ever had a bad cruise and this one was no exception. We had a grand time.

 

The following is not a review, per se; rather, it is a collection of random experiences and personal observations.

 

Food in the MDR

I thought the food never dipped below very good. No complaints whatsoever. The portions tended to be on the skimpy side (no surprise). What I didn’t expect was that instead of the appetizer/soup-or-salad/entrée/dessert meal sequence, the appetizers, soups and salads were all lumped together in a single “Starters” section of the menu, followed by the entrée choices, effectively giving the impression of a three-course meal (starter-entrée-dessert). Of course, the wait staff is more than happy to bring you any number of choices from the Starters, but this is not how the menu was organized on our Millennium cruise in June. Is this a subliminal way of getting people to order one less course?

 

Bar Service in the Lounges

Terrible. We had late seating dinner at 8:30. Live music was scheduled in the Grand Foyer for 8:15, so we would take seats at that time and spend 15 minutes there before dinner. We were never once approached by a server for cocktail orders.

 

Do they even have servers in the Sky Observation Lounge? If so, they must have been disguised as passengers. Everyone is expected to belly up to the bar and fetch their own drinks. Tacky.

 

French Martinis

Our cocktail of choice is a French martini. On the rocks. This is hardly an exotic drink, consisting as they do of just vodka, Chambord raspberry liqueur, and pineapple juice. When we ordered those in the casino, we were told, “No, sorry, those can only be made at The Martini Bar”. What? Why can these not be made at any bar? The typical answer was a non-verbal shoulder shrug. Some servers in the casino could be cajoled (read: tipped) into going to the Martini Bar to have them made but others steadfastly refused. And in the Sky Observation Lounge? Forget it. The bartenders there simply said, “No. I can’t make those here”. Is this supposed to enhance the cachet of The Martini Bar? I don’t get it at all.

 

One time we tried ordering them at the bar in the Grand Foyer. When the bartender lifted up a stemmed martini glass, I said, “On the rocks, in a cocktail glass, please”. A look of consternation swept over his face. He said he had no cocktail glasses and asked if he could instead make them in wine glasses. Gee, OK, wine glasses are fine.

 

Theatre Shows

We went to every show and we enjoyed every show. This was, far and away, the top show lineup of any of our 22 cruises. Every act, every performance, a cut above the usual cruise ship fare.

 

We saw Claire Vinkesteijn, a pianist/singer who won the Holland’s Got Talent TV show. If she were only a singer, she would be incredible. If she were only a pianist, she would be incredible. But she is both and her shows, an evening show and a matinee later in the week, brought the house down.

 

We saw Rondell Sheridan, comedian, best known for his role on the Disney Channel’s sitcom, That’s So Raven. Good show. He had the theatre roaring. Little did I know, with his hat pulled low and glasses on, that I had been playing next to him at the Ultimate Hold’em table in the casino on several occasions.

 

We saw Paul Palisoul, another comedian. We had seen him previously about a year and a half ago on the NCL Getaway. I wondered if he might repeat the very same show, but it was 98% new material. And funny.

 

We saw Jesse Hamilton Jr., a very good singer and energetic performer. He was a last minute replacement for a production show that was cancelled for some unspecified technical difficulty with the stage. Very enjoyable.

 

We saw Gareth Oliver, a ventriloquist with a unique act who lost out to Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Good show.

 

The Reflection singers and dancers did a Broadway tribute show and later in the week also did a combo rock musical/Cirque type show. Both good, led by two talented male singers, one average female singer and one decidedly below average female singer. This is not Cirque du Soleil in Vegas, and I didn't expect it to be, but it was fun and diverting and performed on a night when the ship was churning through heavy seas.

 

LAX

LAX is the Reflection house band – they are four 20-somethings providing musical entertainment for a demographic that skewed way, way older than that. Their music was enjoyable, but don’t expect to hear a Frank Sinatra song. But they are repetitious and limited, with some of the songs being played night after night in the Grand Foyer. And their songs were long: our 15 minutes of listening pre-dinner might include just two 7-minute selections.

 

Dancing

We enjoy dancing on our cruises. As a reader of this forum, I went on the Reflection, it being an S-class ship, knowing full well that dancing opportunities would be meager. They were. Dancing in the Grand Foyer was a giant practical joke that Celebrity is pulling on its passengers. A completely unsuitable venue pressed into service because no workable alternative exists. What is sorely missing is the Rendezvous Lounge we found so enjoyable on our June cruise on the Millennium. To think that Celebrity would opt for wasting precious real estate on the ghost towns that are the Bistro on Five and Cellar Masters, as opposed to a lounge where people could enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail, music and dancing is completely baffling to me. Compare this to Holland America’s new Koningsdam which will have a huge dance floor; a fact that HAL is already trumpeting even before the ship is launched.

 

Then there was the dancing at the Martini Bar. At least I think it was supposed to be dancing. This consists of DJ Drag@n setting up shop in the hallway adjacent to the bar. This allows the drunks to congregate, stagger and sway, and create a traffic jam with no fear of a DUI arrest. Boogie on down in a hallway? Really?

 

One night the Solarium was transformed into a "Miami Night Club" (their description). But it's not a night club. It's the Solarium. It was hot and stuffy. Another case of needing to kludge up something to make up for the fact that there is no appropriate venue with a dance floor.

 

Concierge Class

I booked a regular veranda cabin. Our TA swung an upgrade to Concierge Class for no extra money. I had the concierge make our reservation for the Lawn Club Grill and that was the extent of the value provided to us on this cruise. I can’t even imagine what needs Celebrity envisioned could be filled by these concierges who dutifully sat at their desks during their on-duty hours, seemingly with little to do. No value add for us - I would never choose to pay for this.

 

Cruise Director Alexander Yepremian

Some people might find him personable, glib, engaging and funny. Some might find him snarky and irritating. Others, like me, might find him all of the above.

 

Lawn Club Grill

As this was our first Celebrity cruise on an S-class ship we decided to try the Lawn Club Grill. Disappointing, to put it mildly.

 

1. We ordered two glasses of wine from the (not extensive) list of wines offered. After 10 minutes they still had not been served. When we inquired about the delay, we were told they had run out but some was being sent up from below. Ten minutes after that we got our first glasses. Since the LCG offers such a small number of wines, why wouldn’t somebody ensure, daily, that there was an adequate supply available for that night’s dinner? Then, when our entrees were delivered, and our now empty glasses needed refilling, the waiter appeared oblivious, and did not bother to ask if we wanted another glass, we had to ask him as he prepared to step away.

 

2. At least half the items in the salad bar were close to empty. Some, like the sun-dried tomatoes and sliced peppers, were completely empty. The ranch dressing was ¼ inch away from empty. No one was refilling anything, a situation that seemingly never occurs in the OceanView Café. Why should it be happening in a for-fee restaurant? Celebrity says, “We promise to make the “All You Can Eat” salad bar cool again…”. Totally not cool.

 

3. The lobster mac-n-cheese side may have had two teeny pieces of lobster in it but I had neglected to bring my magnifying glass.

 

4. The baked potato side was served with butter and sour cream; that was it. No bacon bits, no chives, no cheddar cheese, which, to me, could reasonably be provided for those who might enjoy a loaded baked potato.

 

5. Our filet mignons were both ordered medium well and we specifically requested them to have “a little pink”. Both were cooked well done with not a trace of pink.

 

6. I ordered the chocolate chip cookie for dessert. The waiter didn't mention that the dish it came in was the same temperature as the surface of the sun. I grabbed it to rotate it and as the late comedian Jonathan Winters used to say, "That'll set you free".

 

This would have been disappointing in the MDR, but to be expected to pay for mediocre service and pedestrian food? First and last time for this venue.

 

Tuscan Grille

Again, as this was our first Solstice-class cruise we opted to try the Tuscan Grille. At the Tuscan Grille I received a ribeye steak that was fit for a king, as in "Here King, here boy". This steak should never have made it out of the kitchen: 1/4 inch thick, it resembled a cube steak. Worst of all, only one half was edible, the other half was a blob of fat and gristle. Overall, a letdown, especially for $100 (for two). Not going back.

 

Casino Raffle

During the last two days of the cruise the casino gave out raffle tickets for various reasons, like getting a blackjack at a blackjack table, entering a poker tournament, etc. They did the same thing on our June cruise on the Millennium. On that cruise we won the second prize: $125 in cash and a (very nice) Celebrity Fortunes Casino polo shirt. Shockingly, we won top prize this time. Only now, instead of cash we were given $250 in special Celebrity promotional chips which could not be redeemed for money. They could only be used to gamble at the tables. And instead of a polo shirt, it’s now a chintzy white t-shirt that says, “Fortunes Casino” in tiny unreadable yellow letters. Size=medium, “Sorry, that’s the only size we have”.

 

Top Chef at Sea

This was a Top Chef theme cruise based on the Bravo TV show. We didn’t know that at the time that we booked. We went to one of the cook-offs where two of the “cheftestants” battled it out and one night in the MDR was Top Chef night where the cheftestants created the menu. That was the extent of our Top Chef involvement.

 

Cabin Storage

No shelf at all in the closet. Sorely missed and a cruise ship first for us. Scant drawer space. The bins over the bed are a poor alternative.

Wow this review makes me want to cancel our upcoming cruise cannot belief Celebrity has sunken to such a low in service and value offering. We have sailed Celebrity multiple times on the S class ships and not encountered such issues. But then again the majority have been in Europe.

Agreed!!!

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