Edward51

On 10/5/2021 at 11:35 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

It is rather quite pleasant this morning on the balcony of the cabin in Roatan. Steel drum music is playing from somewhere and our only concern is deciding where to eat lunch since our Luminae is closed having gotten to Roatan on time.

Before I forget I wanted to thank you for your observations, tips and humour.  I have been following you for awhile now and it has paid off wonderfully.

We are currently sailing with you and I am still getting great info from you.  I am in the Retreat but spend little time there.  As you have said, Luminae is the best part worth the price of admission.

My favourite plaace on the ship is not in the Retreat area.  I think it was you  who suggested going up the stairs by the Eden Bar.  It opens to the most quiet, tranquil spot on the ship.  Comfortable chairs and sofas and a great view aft.

Thanks again.  Loved all your observations.

Cheers,

Edward

21 hours ago, Travelnana6 said:

Wonderful review. WE will be on the Edge 11/14 and are wondering if they are doing covid tests on ship 3 days before reentry into Florida.  

We are being tested today on the Edge at 5 pm.  uThis is for non US citizens.  Results by Friday evening.

Yes, I remember those days but believe me it works.  We are on the Edge as we speak.  Could someone else try and verify.  I had $900 OBC and now have the cash.  Hard to believe but factual.

50 minutes ago, the penguins said:

You can't bet red/black, odds/evens with promotional chips you have to play inside only.

However you can convert most promotional chips to cash with very little risk if you follow this basic system:

1) draw $50 in promotional chips - no fee for this.

2) bet the minimum $5 in $1 chips with each chip covering 4 numbers. You have covered 50 numbers roughly 50 % of the table. 

3) take any winnings and keep them separately.

4) continue to bet the promotional chips in the same way - every time you win you only need 4 chips to make the 5.

5) once the promotional chips have gone cash out and walk away.

6) repeat daily as necessary. 

7) don't chase loses.

We use this system on every cruise, it gives us a lot of fun for very little risk.

On another thread it was said  you could put $25 from the OBC on to a slot machine. Have a couple of pulls then cash out and the cashier will give you cash. Don't know if this works as it sounds to easy.

 

 

 

Way to complicated .  We are now on the Edge.  Had $900 in non-refundable OBC.  We now have $900 cash.  Put your card in the slot machine.  Your pin is your birth month and day.  Go to “personal banker”, then “transfer funds” then “room charge”.  Input amount of OBC.  You will see this amount appear on the slot machine.  Press cash out, collect ticket, bring to cashier.  

If I missed something, see the cashier and they will explain it.  There is no service charge.

Now we can use it with cash tips, or keep it to spend at home.

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

From my personal experience there were suites that became available within a week of sailing due to cancellations.     On my current cruise I was upgraded to a RS on one and PS on the next one.    Neither were showing when I won.

 

On you other statement about Luminae.    We are sailing at 100% suite capacity and Luminae has never  been overburdened.   Service and food have both been excellent.  

Would you mind indicated where the needle landed on your upgrade wins.  Weak, fair….etc.

54 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

And 4 locations do the PCR test if that is what is required for travel (currently some cruise lines allow you to cruise unvaccinated but you need a PCR Test).

The locations are: Carling Ave, Bank Street, Walkley Road, Montreal Road

Any idea how long it takes for PCR results?

Ottawa

Shoppers Drug Mart  - Rapid COVID Antigen Test $40 results in less than one hour.

On 8/23/2021 at 2:54 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Just got back from eating lunch at Le Grand Bistro! Wow, what a deal for $20 per person! So from our point of view, here’s our list so far of the Best Buy for the buck.

 

1. Lunch at Le Grand Bistro ($20 per person)

2. Lunch/Dinner at Raw On 5 (a la carte, but will probably work out to around $20-25 per person)

3. Dinner at Le Petit Chef ($55 pp includes “plate” show and great food plus $15 pp for wine pairing package)

4. Dinner at Fine Cuts ($55 pp with a expanded menu to choose from)

5. Dinner at Eden ($55 pp - good food but minimal choices on menu)

 

Again, this is just our personal opinion. 😎

 

Thanks for all the great tips and insight.

I am curious as to why you rated Le Grand Bistro as number 1 of the speciality restaurants.

Graphic Guy

Thanks so much.  I don’t usually follow live threads but you were fantastic!

My best friend and I will be celebrating our 50th anniversary on the Edge Oct 1.  It will be our first suite so thanks for all the tips, pics and good humour.

Like Countess5 said, I look forward to following your next live stream.

Just confirmed on my Celebrity account that this cruise is no more.  Very sad.  This is our third cancellation of the same cruise.  

We were planning to come in a week early but now must cancel accommodations, side trips etc.  

This could not have been an easy decision by the Australian government or Celebrity.  Safety of your citizens must be the priority.

Hopefully we will still eventually visit your beautiful country.

14 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I’m from the NYC area where at the beginning of the pandemic we spent our days watching body bags being put into refrigerated truck outside of overrun, understaffed hospitals. We counted the number of people we knew that were struck down by this awful virus. My husband and I fought about who should take the risk to go to the grocery store considering our health issues, and once there the shelves were empty. We didn’t see our friends and family in person for over a year.  I, for one, am very happy to be able to be going on a cruise, at any price! I understand and don’t fault the OP for wanting to get what you pay for, but I’m so deliriously happy to be alive, vaccinated and finally able to be with people having fun, that nothing is going to effect my having a good time!!

Good for you.  We are sailing with Apex on November 27 with the exact same attitude.  

17 minutes ago, camella said:

I was wondering if this is the same as the Tuscan restaurant that was a specialty restaurant on the other ships?  That one was an Italian steakhouse and was just wondering if anyone has a sample menu?  The only ones I can find are the old ones from the other ships. Thanks in advance for your help!

More than you asked for but this should help.

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/press-kit/10/celebrity-edge-menus/

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

The only target that you apparently hit with any accuracy is the pool.🙄

You must admit the nom de plume is clever and probably accurate.  I guess that Ionlycareaboutme was already taken.

5 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

That’s too bad.  We’ll miss you.  😂

Add our family to the growing list that you will be crying for.

I’ll  drink to that🍹 Thanks for sharing.

6 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I did a quick search and came up with 12 results, including the 2 kindly provided by @HskrCrsr. I used "mixology class" without the quotation marks, and searched in This Forum for all of my search terms in both titles and body.

 

While I generally don't have an issue with Cruise Critic's search engine, if necessary I'll do a Google search using the "site:" parameter. The search would look like this if you aren't familiar with this parameter: site:boards.cruisecritic.com mixology class celebrity.

 

Our next cruise is still many months away, but I'll keep this class in mind!

Thanks and love the mask.  Go Sens Go!

8 minutes ago, markeb said:

Part of it for me is the name. I've had the opportunity, mostly ashore, to sit at bars with really good bartenders that I'd actually consider mixologists. I might order a Manhattan first, but when it's been a quiet early evening or afternoon (that's usually Vegas), and I've struck up a conversation, I've said "make me something". I can't remember ingredients exactly, but one of the most amazing was at the bar at Gordon Ramsey's place at Caesars. It was something I think he'd played with and maybe even entered in a bartending contest in Vegas. Smoky whisky, I think Laphroaig, a sweet liqueur, but I don't think it was a vermouth, and bitters, and probably something else. It was amazing. I've seen that on ships in the past, but on Celebrity the best are probably at the World Class Bar, and that's almost a fixed franchise operation (it actually may be; I don't know). Best was probably Brilliance of the Seas, no package, and a great bartender who was willing to have fun after a couple of nights.

 

I think the challenge is if they're making what I'll call "fun stuff", it would be enjoyable, but you'll never repeat them at home. It's like that great Southern Indian dish that needs 1/8th of a teaspoon of a spice you have to buy by the pound. I've probably got 4-6 bitters in my cabinet, and various bourbons, whiskies, and ryes, so I'd probably do OK at recreating a liquor heavy drink. But the fun mixology drinks are going to start requiring ingredients I just wouldn't have available. At home, you have to plan to make a Mojito; fresh mint only lasts so long. An espresso drink that uses a one shot of a coffee liqueur means a bottle of that liqueur hanging around for 25 drinks. Etc. And there are things I've had onboard that I really love, and do make occasionally at home, like the Zacapa Old Fashioned (which doesn't take that many ingredients, thankfully).

 

None of which means I wouldn't do it if I found it interesting at the time! But I'd like it more if they were doing creative things...

Your last sentence is exactly how I see it.  I will wait and see.  Thanks.

Now if only Celebrity could sell it as well as you.  I loved that you could not remember the last two drinks and it did not matter.  Sounds like you had fun.  Thanks Miched.

Thanks for the replies.

I do not know why Celebrity does not give up much info.  No time length, no nothing.  Just the name of the package.

I will enquire on board but I have a feeling that my favourite bartender, on a quiet port day, may be more than happy to show me a few tricks of the trade for $35.

51 minutes ago, HskrCrsr said:

I have not done this but wondered the same. Here are links to prior discussions just to get some quick info:

 

 

 Thats helps.  You had more luck than I did looking for old links.

With the drinks now included,  I was just hoping to learn a bit and try a mixed drink I otherwise would not have tried.

 Thank you.

Has anyone taken this “course”?   What did you learn?  Duration?  Was it worth the $35.  Thanks.

On 6/22/2020 at 12:06 AM, Retty2Go said:

That's ridiculous. Our reservation was for a 19 night cruise going in the opposite direction in April 2021 on the Solstice. The next cruise is April 2022 on the Eclipse for 18 nights. Some members of our roll call said their TA's could not re-book them on the 2022 Eclipse voyage because it was *less* nights, and that they could only get the November 2021 Honolulu-Sydney segment, instead. I was able to Lift and Shift to April 2022 without a problem. I was prepared to do battle, but only had to hold about half an hour with a nice Captain's Club rep. I made the reservation directly with Celebrity. I would b!tch, and fire my TA if I were you.

Hopefully this not to late.  Two more days to the 30th.   We booked this same cruise through a TA and were denied the “lift and switch” because it was one day less.  I phoned the TA and demanded to know why Celebrity would deny us when it is us who is losing 5% of our cruise with one less day!    Don’t let anyone tell you there is nothing they can do.  Ours was accepted today, Sept 28.  

Shortly after the American Thanksgiving in late November, Christmas decorations began to appear.  By December 10,  I  believe they had almost everything in place.  The enormous ginger bread house was up by mid December.  You will be there at the right time.

On 1/3/2019 at 11:28 AM, scrapcreator said:

We were with you on the first leg of your journey and thoroughly enjoyed the Eclipse!

I don’t know if you had a chance to watch any of the four lectures by National Geographic's husband and wife team of Jake Willers and Dr.Alyson Andreason.  

I am not sure why I forgot to mention this fascinating couple.  They presented a behind the scenes look at the work that goes into a 1 or 2 hour documentary for National Geographic.  The long hours to get that perfect shot or video and things that go wrong and in some cases horribly wrong.  Would love to have had them aboard for all three trips but we must learn to share.

11 minutes ago, ChrissieCee said:

What’s clear to me is that pretty much anything is accepted if it involves long pants and a collar (the T-shirt thing above seems a real anomaly).  But since I will be making a bit of effort on evening chic nights, the least DH can do is is a dress shirt - I will leave the tie as a choice for him.  Choose your battles, I say! 😉😂

Well said.  

I also think the t-shirts were an anomaly.  Perhaps they had a tux printed on the front.