phoenix_dream

I always bring and leave several books. Unfortunately most people don't and the ship doesn't buy them anymore. In fact, when you leave them the ship slaps their own sticker on them so no one takes them home which I think is wrong since they didn't buy them. But I would absolutely LOVE to see more people bring books and leave them when they are done. Many of us (like me) much prefer a book in hand to reading on a tablet or Kindle.

IMHO the absolute best cruise itineraries are those that include the ABC islands. We're doing that on Reflection in January as a part of a B2B, for the umpteenth time. Love them.

There will likely be two evening chic nights

Agree. And for the OP's clarification - the one level upgrade does not apply to suites.

One other thing to consider is that on Deck 6, depending where you are located, you may be looking down from the balcony onto lifeboats on the deck below. If you don't spend a lot of time on your balcony, or don't care about looking down, it might not matter to you. You also can see straight out - it's just the view down that might be blocked. You can see where the lifeboats are located by looking at photos of the outside of the ship - which don't have room numbers but give you an idea of location. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think there is also a smoking area mid-ship, port side on deck 4 (or is it 5?). That could drift up to a Deck 6 cabin in that area

Wow interesting last comment. I feel the total opposite (of course I am a senior, albeit not from Florida). By far the loudest and most crowded ships I've sailed are E class. I don't know if I'd say a bad vibe per se, but definitely a noisier, more party crowd. I much prefer S or M class, although I will sail E if I can afford the retreat as that is far superior in many ways there.

Don't give up. It took me 30 years and 70 cruises!

I hear you. I am cringing at the "why can't it be like Royal " comments. Not to mention a few that are truly an embarrassment to read, and that I would never in a million years ask in that type of event. I'll refrain from specifics.

I did my first cruise on Carnival for our honeymoon in 1982. It was so awful I swore I'd never cruise again (besides the ship itself the weather was terrible). Thankfully my persistent husband eventually changed my mind and I now have 90 under my belt, 80 of them on Celebrity!

Just as a counter note, I've been retired for 15 years and I cruise often and regularly walk all around for hours in various ports to explore or just to get exercise. I know i am not alone. I do agree that if one can afford it, do your traveling while you can as you never know what life will bring.

Usually by the 2nd day at the latest. We've had a couple times where we had to call the TA as it never showed up.

Yes

Yes, and definitely not all seniors (although of course there will be groups of them as well)

Just because there are groups of seniors does not mean they will be the majority of cruisers. Read Facebook posts, and questions here on Cruise Critic. There are lots and lots of younger people talking about taking their first cruises and jumping on those 3 and 4 night sailings - especially the ones over week-ends. So their strategy is working, but unless you do mid-week sailings which might be higher age demographics, I think you will be very, very surprised by how many younger people are onboard. I've certainly seen significant changes on my recent Celebrity cruises from FLL.

Not so fast. Confirming does NOT guarantee this won't happen! We confirmed the price before getting in, and still the driver tried to scam us into paying more. We were getting dropped off at a hotel for a resort day pass. We gave him what he originally asked for and told him if he continued to harass us we would call the police. He left quickly. Had we not been dropped off in "civilization" not sure how this would have ended. The hotel told us this happens pretty frequently. It is NOT the fault of the passenger.

Can anyone recommend a hotel with a day pass that has a nice pool and is close to the port? We are not big beach people so are looking for a place with a nice, relaxing pool area. Years ago we used to book a hotel room nearby for the day, but I can't recall where unfortunately. We could go with the pool only, but would actually love a place we could have a room as well to change, shower etc.. TIA for any info

I have one booked in January on Eclipse as well, then a b2b with a 9 night. But they are few and far between particularly when compared to a few years ago. And if you notice, those are the cruises that sell out the fastest and are the most highest price (of Caribbean cruises, on a per day basis). There must be a reason for that! And there are no 14 nighters like there used to be years ago out of Puerto Rico. Those were the best!

it is not a small thing to everyone. One of our primary pleasures on a cruise is spending many hours on our balcony relaxing, watching the ocean, reading, napping, etc.. For us this is a very big deal. The chairs they have out there now are so uncomfortable, and no footstools and now no loungers. I cruise Celebrity 7-10 times a year so I don't find it amusing at all. And if they don't change it I likely will change cruise lines.

How are like questions combined? I'm just concerned the main points being made might be lost in a consolidation. My post, for example, explains a bit of why I am asking the question and questions the reasonability of the action.. Will that reasoning be left behind in a consolidation?

I don't think it matters how many are asked, but I can't say for sure. But I also wonder if multiple similar questions are asked how are they compiled - do they dilute the point by being reworded in a less challenging way?

For many of us, spending many hours relaxing on our balconies is one of the main reasons we cruise. First footstools were removed. Then reclining chairs were replaced. Now loungers are being removed, even in suites costing tens of thousands of dollars. The chairs left are uncomfortable to say the least. We were given the reason of "safety", yet cabins on other lines have this furniture, including some cabins on Royal Caribbean (at least the loungers). Can this decision be reconsidered? Despite a long love of Celebrity (at Zenith level now) this change alone is honestly causing many of us to consider other lines.

Can you tell us what kind of cabin you are in? If in a suite it is a whole different ballgame than in non-suites (not saying either is bad, just that one offers so much more than the other).

IMHO there still isn't a "significant difference" in available space, particularly on S and M class. Everyone has to eat somewhere, so having a separate dining room for suites is a wash. Yes, the old Michael's club is now the Retreat lounge and only for suites and Zenith. So that is one venue lost. On some M and S classes part of the top deck is turned into a suites only area, but there is plenty of other deck space. So on those ships there really is not that significant a difference. On E class there is of course a whole area designed and dedicated to suites. But at the same time, they were designed that way from the get-go so there is plenty of other space for everyone to use. At the same time, I do get your point. I remember when they first started having suites only areas and I could not afford a suite and it seemed elitest to me. Over time I realized it really did not impact my ability to go to so many other places that it didn't bother me at all. I confess though, that there was something about the "everybody being treated equally" thing that I really enjoyed when first sailing.

I'm sure it wasn't meant that way, but it really feels like another slap in the face to me as the "lounge chair on balcony gate" continues with mixed results depending who you ask.

Unfortunately past experiences tend to be somewhat irrelevant (unless recent) because Celebrity has changed their marketing strategy to appeal to younger people, including families with kids (proven by their 3rd and 4th sail free promotion). So there will be likely more at that time than there were last year for instance. Any cruises during summer or school breaks will have more kids. More than what? More than the usual Celebrity sailings. But definitely less than Royal or Disney or Carnival