prmssk

I personally don't try to guess. I figure I can always go up on deck if I'm not on the right side. If you know your ports and you know someone who is familiar with those specific ports, you might be able to get some insight but even within the same port and ship, there is no guarantee they will always park the same way.

I'm making a note to try this one in November. It sounds good!

I don't have experience with the Edge class specifically but generally speaking ships can and do dock on both sides. It depends on the layout of the specific port, what berth they are assigned, the way the wind is blowing, the ease of getting in and out, the recommendation or decision of the local pilot, and probably other factors I'm not aware of.

@SunNFunCruzer Just curious, have you cruised any other ships besides the two you are comparing? If so, how recently?

Eurekatini is by far my favorite although I do tend to work my way through the martini bar menu each cruise and find others I also enjoy.

I love watching line handling, pilot boats, tugboats, and all that goes into going in and out of a port and I love doing time lapses of the process and taking photos. So I always find somewhere outside to watch. Sometimes our balcony is a good location. Other times I find public deck space. The last two cruises I was on (not Celebrity) had open public space above the bridge with amazing views. Sometimes the Sunset Bar is a great place. Or even any covered promenade areas that some ships still have. And no, it never gets old. Counting the days to the next sail away…..

@hovank I’m not sure anyone was doubting you received such an e-mails. The doubts were about whether Celebrity was actually following such a policy. Although, I can see how a Maitre’D could assign tables like they describe (although it sounds like a nightmare), there isn’t a way for the average crew member (that I’m aware of) in the theater or other venues will know your vaccination status. It’s not printed on your seapass and I haven’t heard of them suddenly requiring wristbands or anything.

I would not suggest bringing your favorite chef knife. Although, I'm sure the cruise line will reasonably do all they can to care for the items, they likely do not have any responsibility if something does get lost. Keep in mind you are essentially asking them to provide free storage.

The only way they can truly do this is if the crew have an easy way of knowing who is vaccinated and who is not. When Royal restarted last year, vaccinated individuals were given a wristband and couldn't enter vaccinated areas without their wristband. I can't imagine we are going back to that.

The Millennium (although revolutionized) is an even older ship than the Solstice. And I’m sure when they switched ships you had various options. I’m not particularly loyal to any line. This year alone I will sail four different lines. But a number of your complaints seemed a bit random and strange and not all that productive. I also think comparisons (especially between two vastly different ships) are all that helpful. Many of us want to know the legitimate good and bad of ships we plan to sail but not necessarily a laundry list of negatives that include things that are typical of cruising that simple research could have prepared you for.

I have really been enjoying this thread. We will have our first penthouse experience on the Constellation in early November. I have been taking notes so we can be prepared to talk to the shoreside concierge when we hear from them and then our butler when we embark. I've told my husband that if he is ever looking for me during the cruise, he should always check the balcony first! 🙂

Have a great cruise! Celebrity's non-smoking casino is definitely a huge plus for me too. I'm booked on the Constellation (which is even older and has not been revolutionized) this year and the Eclipse next year (which hasn't been revolutionized either). I like these older ships and I really like Celebrity.

Isn't there always a step into the bathroom on cruise ships (except accessible rooms)? There definitely were on my Princess cruises this year and I think my Carnival Cruise earlier this month. The photos I'm looking at from my Harmony of the Seas cruise in 2019 look like there is a step. My Holland experience goes back too many years to remember. And any older ship isn't going to have more than about 2 outlets. I'm sure that is true of Holland's older ships as well. And are you comparing staff since the restart on both lines on more than just the newer Holland ship? All cruise lines have done a ton of hiring of new staff. The newest ships are being staffed the best with the most experienced staff. The older ships are getting a lot of staff still in training and are often less well staffed.

I remember hearing that! We have done 4 cruises since the restart (two different lines) and I kept hoping to just once experience a super low passenger count but it was not meant to be. Our lowest was about 65% going through the Panama Canal. Our most recent two were at 100%. Oh well!

We are on the sailing before you. There are 10 cabins available to book (all insides) on our sailing. it's a shorter sailing so I'm not really surprised. The same 5-night sailing last year was one of their higher capacities last fall at 75%.

According to the website, Blu is your assigned dining room. Edit to add: Although in another spot it does mention Luminae so hopefully someone who has actually sailed in one of these suites can comment.

Any idea whether they are holding back cabins at all or are the lower capacities people are reportedly solely based on lack of demand? I ask because my early November sailing on Connie shows all categories sold out except a handful of inside rooms. I was assuming that probably means we will have a full ship.

Progreso really is quite the unique port experience! And they keep making improvements to it so we may see more cruise lines stop there in the future. I would like to go back and see the Uxmal Mayan ruins. Tulum is definitely worth seeing. It's still a long day from Cozumel but you get more time at the ruins.

For those that want to get to Chichén Itzá on a cruise, I suggest finding a cruise that stops at Progreso, Yucatán (unfortunately, I don’t think Celebrity usually stops there). The travel time is cut significant enough to allow a good amount of time at the site. We had originally planned an excursion from Cozumel but it was really hard to justify 4 hours in a bus and 2 hours on a ferry for about 45 minutes at the site. I agree with others though that as long as it is a Celebrity excursion they will be fine. They will be on one of many excursions that completely fill the last ferry that the ship anticipates waiting for (as I don’t think they are ever on time getting back from the mainland).

I was not trying to discourage tipping. We all should do what we feel most comfortable with. The staff do work hard and so many of them are truly excellent at what they do. I just think it is helpful to make sure we are making those decisions based on a bit more accurate information. Although I don't think the crew are paid necessarily well, I don't think they are paid quite as poorly as some like to imply. And I'm not sure it is helpful to compare them to tipped staff in the US or any other country. Their contract structure and situation is a bit unique.

The per day per person gratuities are not split among the entire crew, nor are the split evenly among those that do receive a portion of it). There is a decent percentage of crew that are not tipped crew (think officers, entertainment staff, etc) and bar staff receive their gratuities through a different pot of money (service charge on individual drinks, service charge on drink package purchases, and from the AI fares). So it comes to a lot more than 40 a day per person base gratuity, especially when you are talking about your cabin steward and wait staff who are getting the largest portion of those daily gratuities.

I upgrade because I really like Perrier/San Pellegrino (not covered at all by classic) and martinis from the Martini Bar (and nicer wines are a plus). On average, I drink enough of those to make up the daily upgrade cost. I really appreciate that Celebrity allows just me to upgrade because my husband would never make use of the premium package. Unless you will drink enough premium drinks, it isn't worth the upgrade. And right now (because of supply issues), if I was only upgrading for wine, I would probably wait until I boarded to make sure they actually have in stock premium wines I drink.

That website is clearly about the Blue Chip Club. Scroll down a little further and it talks about the hours of for new members to take advantage of their benefit in the casino from 9:00 a.m. - closing

Not sure if this is one of the ones you are asking about but there are a couple different YouTube videos of cabin 11104.

My understanding is that a stocked mini-bar is not officially complementary for a lower suite so it really seems to be dependent on what your butler is willing to do. Ours in a Sky Suite last fall was hesitant even to stock just water and soda (and didn't keep up with it). As you see in this thread others have had butlers willing to stock much more. Royal Suites and above have spelled out amenities that include the 2 liters of hard liquor, a bottle of champagne, and fridge stocked with beer, soda, water, and mixers.