Cruisin4ABruisen

4 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

If I recall, you can purchase it onboard on the first day (maybe Day 2?) and any drink orders will be included. It’s a short grace period.

Do you purchase it from a bartender? Are they incentivized for selling them?

Before my time, but what a lovely looking ship! 

I’m sure someone else can provide more details than I can, but it’s related to the casino. 

My wife and I recently made it to Elite and decided to test out the benefits on a 7 night cruise. Typically, we get the premium package, but on this cruise we didn’t get any package. We paid for drinks if we wanted them outside the happy hour, but generally were fine with the HH drinks, plus whatever was offered at the elite events. We made friends with a few bartenders, and that worked in our favor to get a few discounts or good upgrades. The first day, we ended up paying around what the drink package would cost, but every day after that was significantly less. I’d say try it out and see if it works for you, even if you buy drinks you’ll probably come out ahead. 

Thanks for sharing! My wife and I are going to do this cruise over Christmas this year. It will be our first Viking cruise so we appreciate the sneak peek!

For what it’s worth, my wife and I just booked our first Viking Ocean cruise. She’s early 30s and I’m just months away from the mid 30s. 

I'm not qualified to comment on the specifics of the glaciers, all I can say is that I've done an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity and it was plenty scenic -- I don't feel like I missed out on anything and if you enjoy cruising with Celebrity, then I think it is absolutely a fine choice.

I've never had a problem with getting a double on the Premium package -- I'd imagine the Classic package is the same. I've specifically asked bartenders about it previously, and they've told me that if they know you have the package, they are willing to do the double because you can always just come back for another anyways. Saves them time too.

Curious if any Celebrity cruises have tried Viking ocean and what their thoughts are...

4 minutes ago, Rangerblp said:

What drinks will be free on the cruise? Do you have any idea? What is typical on most and not just celebrity? 

Water, tea, coffee, various juices are free -- Soda, smoothies, alcohol will cost you money (either ala cart or package).

I have such mixed feelings on this subject -- I feel like we normally come out ahead by booking our own flights and removing the middle man. However; last year we had a flight that was canceled last minute and we couldn't even reach the airline (wait time was 5+ hours) -- we were on hold with FBC for a few hours, but they were able to book us on a different airline's flight (which would have cost us $5k to book ourselves) last minute.

In terms of upgrading seats, that has definitely bit us before -- we've upgraded, then FBC has changed airlines. Some pros and cons for sure...

21 hours ago, MattnTricia said:

 

What is crazy about the world wine tour?   I have seen positive reviews but nothing really that descriptive. 

We did the world wine tour on our recent Pacific Coast cruise on the Eclipse -- I wouldn't describe it as crazy, but it is definitely a LOT of wine. In case you're not familiar with the event, I believe the price was 30 to 35 PP (again, it was a lot of wine!). On our cruise, it was hosted in Cellar Master's. They had 6 wine stations set up. Each had several different red and white wine options available (2-3 of each), from a specific region (France, Spain, South Africa, etc.). At the start of the event, you are given a wine glass. You have an hour to visit whatever stations you want and try the various wines. They also served some snacks during the event.

We really enjoyed it and thought the wines were better than what is typically available on the beverage packages (though there may be overlap). We would definitely do it again!

We were on this cruise too — first cruise since earning Elite. We thought it was pretty good overall. OVC had a good selection and food was good. We also did the “Wines of the world” event at cellar masters. $30pp but good wine and plentiful. 
 

We caught the tail end of the Seattle mess, probably was in line around 45 minutes. Definitely wasn’t ideal, but it beats standing around in Canada Place for hours, like our last trip out of there. 

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

With the popularity of Escape Rooms on land, I think that having one onboard, could be a fun revenue-generatror. These are especially popular with the younger Gen-X, Millennial, and Gen-Z folks cruise lines need to attract. 

 

Perhaps Celebrity Central, or another location could be temporarily set up as one, especially on sea days. If it ends up being very popular, it could perhaps replace a shop that doesn't generate much revenue, and could be set up more permanently. 

 

If they had multiple sets of puzzles, they could sell pacakges. As with some other things, discounts could be offered to E, E+, and Z  CC members. 

They had a “escape room in a box” event on the Apex earlier this year. It was fun, and free. I’d definitely pay for a similar experience, especially if it wasn’t with a group of random people.

My wife have done this at the Martini bar (S-class), Eden, and the WCB. Maybe not in top down order, but definitely tried them all. 

We did the dinner on our recent Apex TA. It was a bit cold and lightly rainy, but we thought the food was good. Probably worth the experience once, but I don’t think we will book it again anytime soon. 

This will be a great ramp up for joining you on the transatlantic!

31 minutes ago, southerngoose said:

How do you find out the cost of the specialty dining?   I looked and it doesn't seem to indicate a cost, unless it's next to the food you're ordering.

 

The cruise planner (on Celebrity's website) should show you the cost of booking an individual restaurant. You can also book a package at a discounted rate, but in that case you won't be maybe to make your reservations until you are on the ship.

There is a buffet. Additionally, there are a few other venues that offer complimentary food. You can find more information here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-edge/eat-and-drink.

For the specialty dining, you normally pay an entrance fee, then you can order what you would like (though I believe some may charge for extra entrees). Some are ala cart, where you pay per item you order.

I’ve heard a cabana rental is a good way to get a lot of booze at a somewhat reasonable price, but I have no experience with them myself. 

6 hours ago, wineoclock said:

Loved the tasting menu on Apex in October. Struggled by the end though but pushed through 😁

I can believe it! It looks massive! Any favorites?

11 hours ago, Team Stag said:

When we were on the Apex in November, Eden was no longer offering the tasting menu.  Maybe it was just for that cruise or the policy had changed.  We noted our disappointment on the survey.

That’s unfortunate! Thanks for sharing

On our upcoming Apex TA, we've booked two nights at Eden. We wanted to make sure we got specific times and days, so we booked them directly (not part of a package). Are we able to do the tasting menu instead of the standard app/entree/dessert? We would prefer the variety of getting to try different things and hopefully smaller portions as well.

On 3/6/2023 at 12:16 PM, C-Dragons said:

I agree.

And there are security cameras everywhere, even over the bars. I don’t believe the bartenders would risk their jobs for a few dollars, IMO.

I'm going to slightly deviate from the topic. Bartenders will definitely ride the line when it comes to rules -- they want you to have a good experience. This doesn't necessarily mean free drinks, but they may be more inclined to offer a sample, a stronger pour, or a more expensive drink (perhaps high shelf booze, or just a custom drink with fancy garnishes). My suggestion -- make friends with your bartenders.

15 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

I’m not sure why you would want to do this. You can get pretty much any drink you want at the dedicated bars. The only real outlier might be Eden, where they have their own menu of drinks and you can get any of those at the Eden Bar. There isn’t anywhere to sit in the Specialty Restaurants to enjoy your drink, only tables for guests who have paid for their meals. Each of the bars onboard should have a package that has the “ingredients” for all of the drinks offered ship wide. Some bartenders may or may not know the list exists. It’s basically a xeroxed list stapled together. 

I think sake might only be available in Sushi On 5.