WB57

Hello Folks -

Well the title about says it all! I have done multiple cruises in Celebrity Suites in the past with the family. And also managed to do a solo TA (East to West) on Regal Princess. I might have the time to experience the SD II life this November (TA West to East) solo (family seems to be busy with other activities). Just wondering what you experienced folks would have to say about this venture! Any and all comments would be most welcomed.

Cheers...

-Tushar

Last day onboard. Luminae still is a hit or miss experience in the food quality department, service is exceptional. I completely agree with a previous comment that I'd rate food a 5 and service a 9. I'd be interested to hear from those who board on July 30th ... if time allows, please let us know your experience.

 

 

 

Jole is onboard until November.

 

 

 

Safe travels to all.

Thanks for all of the great info during the week. I hope you enjoyed your cruise overall. I will drop a note on my Luminae experience as well. Safe travels home. Cheers...

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As as correction, I learned that Olgica's role is actually that of "Hostess" and Mihaela is the Maitre D. Last night, the food was excellent in Luminae, but we ate a bit early and the restaurant never was very busy. Will status again before we disembark.

Thanks for the update. Hope you are having fun! We can't wait to board on Sunday. Cheers...

Soney from Istanbul was our waiter in the Luminae.

Very friendly & personable both on & off the ship. We crossed paths with him at one of the beaches when he was on shore leave.

And his dining room service was excellent.

 

Barbara in Michaels Club did an outstanding job, as did Jole.

 

Also, be sure to congratulate Ferdinand for the birth of his first child (born in June).

Thanks for the info Rumpelstiltskin. Is Ferdinand in MC or Luminae? And quick question, is Jole pronounced as 'Yo-la'...if so, we had her on previous cruises and she indeed is terrific. Cheers...

Where can I email it

Andymattmom- can you please email me Fritz's info? Thanks. suthart@hotmail.com

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Hello, everyone. Reporting in from the Equinox :)

 

Our first 24 hours have been wonderful. Upon embarkation (which was incredibly quick), we went to lunch in Luminae. Although our first meal wasn't spectacular, we were greeted warmly by the staff (and our favorite server, Rakesh.) Dinner last night was very good quality but service was fairly slow (we dined at 7pm and didn't make it to trivia at 9pm.) The wait staff I have encountered in Luminae thus far are Rakesh, Serkan and Vishal (waiters) and Kurt, Leni & Florin (assistant waiters) with Red as the sommelier. Olgica is the Matre D and I think she is new. One of the senior dining staff members, Mihaela, has been a constant presence in Luminae. She introduced herself at dinner and said if we have any issues or concerns, please let her know. I don't sense the seamless coordination of service in Luminae like we experienced on the Solstice in January ... no complaints, mind you, but it's not "running like a well oiled machine" if that makes sense. We'll see as the week goes on.

 

Jole Jacoby is the MCC, very pleasant and helpful. Our butler, Alex, has also been great and chided us for getting our own coffee this morning, lol. We generally don't make full use of the butler like others, but he is certainly reminding us of his services.

 

Otherwise, weather is spectacular and the cruise is off to a great start. Hoping for calm seas, sunny days, and lots of fun. I'll report with an update in a couple of days. Let me know if anyone has any other inquires.

 

Until later,

Sharon

Thanks for the info Sharon. Interesting that in an earlier post yesterday, they reported that Vishal was an 'assistant waiter'. Wondering if there are 'two' Vishals floating around there. I am sure they will get the operations running smoothly in no time at all. Curious - is Rakesh serving in the front or back section? Have a fantastic time! Cheers...

Just off the Equinox today. We were delightfully surprised to see Kurt from our Infinity trip on the Equinox. Once we knew he was there, he was our server for the remainder of the cruise. Just ask for him when you are being seated. Vishal is his assistant and Sam is the maitre d'. All were great and i think anyone in there will make you dining experience enjoyable. Red is the sommelier. I typically had him make recommendations based on what I was eating and I was happy with his selections.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise. We had a fabulously relaxing time. The crew on board were wonderful. All were more than happy to do whatever they could to make your stay memorable.

 

 

 

Becky

Thank you Becky. We can't wait to get on board a week from today. Cheers....

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I certainly will. I will take copious notes, lol. Okay, okay perhaps not copious, but enough to relay all pertinent info.

Please advise if there is any other information I may obtain for you, I'd be happy to follow up.

 

Sharon

Bon Voyage Sharon! Have a great cruise...

The sommelier is Mr. Red and he was excellent. Mr. Clark Kent, the Turkish waiter mentioned is very very kind and very good. On our last cruise 1 week ago we found the food to be mediocre.....Kitchen making mistakes, things under and over cooked etc. I hope you had better luck than we did. We gave service a 9 and food a 5 for this cruise. Enjoy!

Thank you cruiseerf. I look forward to mtg Superman :)

I certainly will. I will take copious notes, lol. Okay, okay perhaps not copious, but enough to relay all pertinent info.

Please advise if there is any other information I may obtain for you, I'd be happy to follow up.

 

Sharon

Thank you - and hope you thoroughly enjoy your cruise !

Just got off B2B on Equinox this past Sunday. Kurt was our main waiter, luck of the draw where you sat first night it seems, but absolutely everyone was fantastic. Since breakfast and lunch are more open seating, we got to know all waiters/asst waiters including Serkan (still in the back section), Rakesh, Evica, Soner (aka Clark Kent, you'll see ...), Nixon, Vishal and Maria (she's going home soon). Red was sommelier (and did suggest wines based on chosen entree), maitre d was Aurelian and hostess was Olgica. Only bad (?) thing about B2B is the 7 day menu repeats.

maggiepie - if it is the same Vishal (from Mauritius) we had a year ago, he was absolutely awesome. He had an assistant waiter named Mervyn. Do you recall if Mervyn was also in Luminae? Thanks for the info.

Thank you DogLover!

DogLover - one more request. If able, can you please make a note of the Sommelier's name as well. Thank you.

Maggie was the Sommelier on Eclipse when we were on it.

Thanks for the info Mary Lou.

Actually, I can make use of the Celebrity Online area with plenty of computers - and with unlimited internet, not a worry about slow connection time ;) I'll make sure to follow up and give you the scoop on Luminae.

Thank you DogLover!

UberXL fare will be about what you'll pay for a standard cab -- if there is a wait for UberXL or surge pricing is in effect then I would grab the first taxi in line big enough for all three of you.

Thanks JohninDC (BTW - I am in Old Town Alexandria). As we are going to be in no hurry (spending multiple days in Ft Lauderdale), we should be in good shape with UberXL. Thanks again. Cheers...

Hello All-

I have perused a bunch on this forum - and haven't found a simple answer to this (at least not on a recent thread).

A party of 3 - two big bags - three carry-ons. Thinking of using Uber to get from POM to FLL Hotel. Few quick questions:

1) Is UBER plentiful on dis-embarkation morning at POM? Or is there a long wait?

2) Would you recommend a Uber X or Uber XL?

3) Any other recommendations/suggestions?

Thank you all in advance.

We found Luminae better overall - food and wait staff - on Eclipse than Equinox. Rakesh is great!!! Maggie the sommelier was fabulous - she made our meals and honestly I can't imagine a better sommelier anywhere.

ClaudiaB - thank you for the info. Quick follow-up...so were Rakesh and Maggie on recent Equinox - or - Eclipse?

We were just on Equinox a couple weeks ago and ate in Luminae most nights. Serkan was our main server and he and his team were fantastic. Very professional and a good sense of humor, which made for enjoyable meals. We had a couple other servers there for breakfast/lunch and one night for dinner, and he was definitely our favorite. Not sure if he'll still be on the ship or which section he'll be, but he was serving in the back section when we were there (walk through the main entrance and past the partition). Tell him the honeymoon couple with the mushroom allergy recommended him!

Higgens - thanks for the info. I will make a note on Serkan. Do you by chance recall who the sommelier is/was in Luminae?

Hello - thanks for the 'live' report. By chance, are you dining at the Luminae restaurant? If so, I would appreciate any recommendations on any particular waiter/waitress that have provided outstanding service. Thank you.

We are on the Equinox right before your cruise, the Eastern sailing 7/23. Although not sure if I'll be able to post prior to your sailing, I think I can make a recommendation. We were on the Solstice Australia/NZ in January and had a wonderful Luminae waiter, Rakesh (spelling may be off.) He told us after his break, he'd be joining the Equinox in June ... we are hoping to request him on our upcoming cruise. If I do get a chance, I'll certainly pop in and update whilst aboard.

 

Hope this helps.

DogLover - thank you for the response. Whilst a quick note while you are on board would be very much appreciated, I certainly hope you not worry too much about finding a computer and instead have a great time on your cruise. Wishing you a safe and enjoyable cruise! Cheers...

Hello folks -

We will be on the Jul 30 Equinox cruise. We have been on other S class ships and have really enjoyed the Luminae experience. In my humble opinion, the one thing that made the experience even more wonderful was the wait staff. I am wondering if any recent Equinox cruisers can comment on their Luminae experience. Particularly, if they can recommend a particular waiter/waitress that gave them outstanding service. Also, names of the Maitre'd and the Sommelier staff would also be welcomed. Thank you all in advance.

Thank you Crewsweeper. I did look at those reviews as well. As this club is only a few months old, I was hoping to see more recent reviews. Thanks again.

Hello fellow cruisers -

We will be in Costa Maya the first week of August and was seeking recent reviews on the new Pitaya Beach Club. I have gone to their website and all looks pretty good. However, it would be great to get some opinions from some recent travelers. I have been monitoring this board for a couple of months and haven't seen any recent feedback on this club.

Thank you all in advance.

Thank you both for quick responses. I will check out both references. Cheers...

Hello Seasoned travelers - I am on a TA in a couple of weeks and will be in Rotterdam on 15 April (Saturday). Our ship (Regal) will be in Port till 10 PM. As Easter Sunday is 'at sea' day - and no guarantees of a Catholic mass on ship that day, I wanted to ask fellow travelers if they can recommend a Catholic Church (preferably English speaking - but not a requirement) to attend on 15 April (Easter Vigil). If so, any recommendations on transportation would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.