glenr

We are leaving this Saturday for a seven day Caribbean cruise. I had opted not to purchase any drink package because I found it hard to believe the two of us would spend $200 a day on alcohol. If we simply want to head to any of the bars and get a drink the way we want it is there any reason we can’t just pay a la carte as we go along? In reading the Celebrity description it mentions getting coffee and orange juice in the morning and then a variety of choices for drinks. This implies they charge you for coffee and orange juice at breakfast? I want to have a great experience but can’t see spending $1400 on a drinks package. We are also dining at the aqua class restaurant and other specialty restaurants. Is wine something that is normally an additional charge by the glass In those places? Thanks.

Hi, We will be on a 7 night cruise on the Apex in a few weeks. Aqua class. It's been a while since I've done a Celebrity cruise. In Europe I always bring at least a sport jacket for dinner. It's a pain to lug along if I won't need it. Would I be correct in assuming on a warm weather cruise nice slacks and a sport shirt suffice at all dinner locales? Thanks.

Yes, that's all I could find. A more informative website would eliminate a lot of calls. Thank you.

First, thanks to everyone who answered my other questions down thread. Very helpful. Two more: The Celebrity website (extremely glitchy the past two days) shows Apex Split Cabana under dining experiences. No other info. So, is this just a place to hang for the day and you order food and drinks as needed? All times show as 9am so I assume you have it for the day? I'd also like to know where it's located. Pool area? Second, mention is made of the Magic Carpet but very little info. Is it a place to just go for drinks or is it a dining venue? It is not listed as the latter but does show tables in the picture. Reservations? Thanks again all.

As mentioned in another post I'm on the Apex for the 1/21-1/28 sailing in Aqua class. I have a bunch of questions so please feel free to chime in and give advice. Here goes: When reserving shore excursions, spa appointments, specialty dining, etc in advance, can you cancel or change these before the cruise without charge? It seems basic drinks are included in Aqua class. If so, is the upgrade charge for Premium the same as other classes where drinks are not already included? I would think there would be some sort of offset. Are we automatically booked at Blu every night? How does booking other specialty restaurants affect that, if at all? What time do shows usually start? Trying to select dinner times accordingly. Lastly, for those who have tried them, are Edge and Fine Cut Steakhouse worthwhile? Thanks.

It's been a number of years since I did a Celebrity cruise but I thought I'd try one on the new ship. Several questions I haven't found answers on yet. I'm in Aqua Class. It seems some ships include tips and drinks and some do not. Any clarity appreciated. I do like better wines and spirits. Aqua gives us access to Blu. Reviews here so far seem so so. How many nights (it's a 7 night cruise) should I plan at Blu and what would be the other top choices? Last cruise was Viking and I've done Seabourn before that so I'm used to decent food at dinner. Thanks!

Given that most of the people on the cruise were on an 8 to 9 hour airplane flight, airport environment, and transfer buses it’s hard to believe that Covid on board would be such a concern after all that. You were surrounded by seven or 800 other passengers. There is no way to avoid contact if there was an infected person aboard. we had to do saliva PCR test every single morning. You would think that would alleviate some of the concern.

Keep at it. By the way, people on our cruise that did have all their transfers handled by Viking were very unhappy. They were picked up at their hotels in Barcelona and of course there were a dozen hotels to stop at. They were on the bus from 8:30 in the morning until 3 o’clock. It was a one hour ride for us in a private car.

Because you’re still a Viking customer and paid a lot of money for the trip? Extra costs will be incurred not to mention a lot of aggravation. There was talk on my trip that it wasn’t the port but that Viking didn’t want to pay the port fees in Barcelona like the big ships do. It may just be luck but I never had this problem with the other lines.

We just returned from our Viking cruise on the Sky. Barcelona to Rome. Several weeks before leaving we got a notice that the departure port was being changed to Tarragona. We had hotels booked in Barcelona that could not be changed. I called Viking and got the usual runaround but I persisted. After at least an hour on the phone with several people they agreed to provide an onboard credit of about $150. The extra ride cost a little bit more than that so it was almost a wash. The aggravation level was high because we didn’t wanna lose a minute in Barcelona that we didn’t have to. Get on the phone with them and don’t take no for an answer. Other than the rocky start our cruise was excellent.

We just returned from the Barcelona to Rome journey on Viking Sky. The only real issue was the change of departure port from Barcelona to Tarragona. I have a separate post where I covered that mess so won't delve deeper here. Having cruised Seabourn I was looking for a smaller ship and the Sky seemed to fit the bill. It is a lovely ship, well appointed and laid out. Our stateroom was very nice and I found the food venues all good to excellent. In some ways the service actually exceeded my prior experiences with Seabourn and that's a high bar. In fairness to Seabourn it has been some years since my last cruise with them. The Covid protocols were well organized. The embarkation went smoothly and the organization of the excursions went flawlessly. I really liked Viking Ocean. My only negative comment, and this is not on Viking, is that a lot of the passengers were old (and I'm 66) and less than sociable. I'm not sure if this is due to cross selling the river cruise folks or if it is even typical for their other cruises. Dress on board was rather casual which is fine, but there was the occasional baseball cap turned backwards and requests to wear shorts in the dining room. I was one of a few men who brought a sport jacket. We did meet some nice people of course but I was surprised to see how many kept to themselves. I would consider another cruise with Viking but may give Seabourn a try again. The latter seemed to have a somewhat more sophisticated crowd. I'm sorry if that sounds elitist, but there were people signing up for simple flat walking tours who couldn't even handle those. As I said earlier, I can't say enough about the staff on board. Truly excellent.

Having just returned I thought I would update this post. Just before I left I spent an hour on the phone with Viking who eventually relented and offered a $150 shipboard credit. Our cost from Barcelona to Tarragona was slightly more but that part worked out. There was much debate on the ship as to whether Viking was responsible or the port. A few people said the bigger ships pay more and Viking didn't want to ante up for Barcelona's fees. No way to know. Anyway, the cruise itself was great.

Thanks Millybess but this is a vacation, we have lots of luggage and a train isn't going to cut it. Either way I'm hiring a car but this is my first Viking cruise and probably my last.

We are booked for the Iconic Western Med on June 4th. Barcelona to Rome. We arrive in Barcelona and have hotel booked. Assumed we could spend some time in town before boarding the ship. Now Viking sends a notice that ship is departing from Tarragona, 60 miles away. Aside from the aggravation, and the fact that Tarragona was already the 2nd day stop on the cruise, this will probably cost me upwards of $200. Should Viking be taking care of this cost?