Chrisclaire

Never been on Beyond as we prefer the smaller ships.

What we noticed, having done the ABC,'s was that it was a much more casual vibe.

We recently sailed from Sydney & there were many from the UK on board, it was much dressier.

But tbh, people tend to dress as they please, there will probably be very dressed up to very casual 🤷‍♀️

Suech1970 beat me to the "French onion soup"

It is THE BEST!

The bread basket in the MDR is always delicious with lovely fresh bread!

Tbf, the food on the whole is very, very good imo.

The Martini Bar is our favourite with a great atmosphere & great drinks!

Enjoy!

3 hours ago, surfnsun said:

For such a lively place, Venice is very quiet at 3.45am which is when we met our private limousine boatro from the hotel pier for our Miami Vice type trip to Marco Polo Airport.  Earlier,  I reported our trip to the airport would cost 200EUR, but it was 150EUR, preferably cash.  Needless to say, we ended our 3 week vacation with our suitcases full of souvenirs for us and gifts for friends and family.  And a photo gallery very full of moments we can look back on while we dream for the next time we are fortunate to experience more amazing destinations.  Thank you for following along!  Ciao!

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOW!

All of your photos & video's of Venice are fantastic, I love the night time ones.....eerily beautiful!

Hope you enjoyed your "James Bond" experience, 😉 shame it was dark.

Safe travels home & many thanks again for a fantastic report!

I'll leave you with a photo I wanted to share with you.....probably will never see this sight again 😊

19 hours ago, surfnsun said:

Ok guys (that's my best tour guide impression), Venice is definitely a place to free the ta tas.  I'm so very glad I packed a couple scarfs and I bought another in Portofino.  I mean, that's what scarfs are for, in case you didn't know.  Ok guys, all kidding aside, Venice is a pinch me place.  So, you ask, what is a pinch me place.  It's a place that we consider favorites. You know, like Barcelona, Turks and Caicos, Windsor Castle, Cesky Krumluv, the Scottish Highlands, and wherever our grandchildren are.  They are places where everlasting memories are made that one can only hope will never fade.  And that you hope are some of the things you see in your final moments on an earth that God blessed you to experience.  I'll post a series of pics and videos in a bit.

I told you Venice wasn't boring 😉😉😉🤣🤣🤣🤣

You hotel looks fantastic 

What a location!

We stayed in the Violino D"Oro, it was stunning & also a great location.

Loving all your photos....thankyou for the memories.

I'll be sad when your trip ends, but not as sad as you I'm guessing 😅 

Thanks again & enjoy the remainder of your trip & that water taxi to the airport!

6 hours ago, surfnsun said:

@AG2 I forgot to mention, you will need cash for the water taxis and the water taxi from our hotel to the airport is 200EUR, but we have to do it as I've never taken a water taxi to the airport!

The water taxi to/from the airport is expensive, but us worth every penny.

It is the most amazing experience......you feel like James Bond 😁😁

Enjoy! 😊

2 hours ago, surfnsun said:

Bar hopping on the ship on our last evening of the cruise.  Do they give out rewards for being able to still fit in at least some of your clothing?  I'll take a rainbow and show in the Martini bar... 

So many memories.....my favourite location on the ship 🫣🫣🫣🍸

11 hours ago, CruiseSWE said:

You deserve a BIG award for being the best blogger ever!🏆 You are so kind with your time, your (and Watson’s) detective skills are outstanding, your pictures are fab and you are a born comedian.😂 

 

I am a little sad that your cruise is almost over, have thoroughly enjoyed waking up each morning for a daily dose of “SurfnSun”. Thanks again for letting us cruise with you! 🛳️🥰

I would love to have a chance to follow you guys along to Venice. 

 

GRAZIE MILLI A TUTTI !!! 🇮🇹🙌🏻

☺️ Jannike 

I agree 100%

I too look forward to reading the post's each morning in the UK 😊 

Will definitely miss them when your cruise ends!

I have just booked the Portugal to Argentina for Nov 2025

I would love to read interesting info like yours before we go.

Very lucky people who are about to do this similar cruise having all your well documented info!

Great job & many thanks again, well deserved recognition 👏 

Btw, I have never heard of Venice being boring 🙃 😳

It's anything but......

Fantastic, fascinating city with loads to see and do.

We have been 3 time's and love it.

If you get a chance to go to Burano it is absolutely stunning.

Enjoy getting "lost" in Venice 😉

12 minutes ago, surfnsun said:

Holy Cow!  Take me north quick!  I have a personal heater that just does not quit!  Here are some must bring items for our cruising.  First and foremost, a bad a*s mama jama coochie goochie, small but powerful fan and a bad a*s (fill in the blanks)...mobile cell phone charge for my you know what cell phone because if my camera is not available you may need to call 911.  Finally, a travel light up 10x magnifying make up mirror because otherwise I might put mascara on my eyebrows and eyeliner on my lips.  😆

Haha

I think every lady of a certain age can relate!

Your so funny 😁 

Great advice for future cruises 👍 

3 hours ago, surfnsun said:

Tendering back from Kotor...question...are the videos coming through ok?  Not sure they are working...

You are so lucky! Sadly we could not visit Kotor due to the weather 😕  

Very disappointed 

Constellation looks fab, as does the surrounding area.

Great video, thanks 😊 

9 hours ago, Poconolady said:

I find that European cruises tend to be dressier due to so many Europeans being onboard. That said, nice pants and dressy tops are perfectly acceptable on all Celebrity cruises. Australia was very casual.

Agree, however our last cruise at the end of 2023 was out of Sydney and it was one of the dressiest cruises we have been on! 

Many from the UK!

I say wear what you are comfortable in & sparkly jewellery is always good to have 😉

Just now, Chrisclaire said:

 

Fabulous refreshing drink!

Here's the mix, from our time in the wonderful Italy 🇮🇹 

26 minutes ago, Difiroa676 said:

Just a small correction. It's aperol spritz... The bartenders will understand you, though they might be thinking you had a few too many 😃.

Another set of fabulous pictures!

What a talent.....

Enjoy the rest of your cruise & thank you again for sharing 😊 

1 hour ago, surfnsun said:

So, unlike our other previous ports where I easily found opportunities for many type of tours, Brindisi was a tough one to figure out.  What made it even tougher if you read about the port, is that it is probably near the top of the list of ports that one could miss without too much heartburn.  So, I found a private tour that went out to what seemed like the Puglia hinderlands and we spread our more cruise adventurous wings and off we went!  I don't think you will find too many cruise or group tours to these places because a big bus is not feasible.  We are glad we invested in going outside the port.  Photos will be by destination so will take a few posts.  Our fabulous, private tour guide was Fabrizio.  He was so much fun and he and Mr. Voluntold became best buds, as you will see in the photos.  I'll post later contact info.  Let's start with our first stop at Alberobello, where Fabrizio was able to show us inside a Trulli.  A unique experience...

Fabulous photos! 

What a privilege  😊

Good Morning!

I'd like to thankyou for the most amazing photos & for taking time out to post all the interesting information!

I am enjoying reading all posts 😊 

Love Italy!

We were on the Constellation in Sept 22 and apart from the shower enclosure, it was in decent shape.

It now looks great!

Our first ever cruise was on the Constellation in 2015, we still love this size of ship.

Enjoy the rest of your trip & thankyou 😊 

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

I went to change my password. And saw the (new) website.

 

i get it.  It’s cute.  It’s fun.  It’s energetic.  But it gives me a headache with the zoom zoom fast changing video every two seconds.  Am I just too old?

Very distracting and most annoying!

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

You may like to join our roll call.   We currently have about 20 on our Roll Call list.   All will welcome you and answer any of your questions. 

 

I've done over a dozen TA's and Love them.     This itinerary has interested me for years.

 

 

Thankyou so much.

I was just having a look at the roll call.

We are intending booking this tomorrow and are very excited about such an amazing/unusual trip!

Always enjoy reading your posts 😊 

22 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Check out this thread 

I waiting to see if there a price drop for Black Friday to book this cruise 

Thanks for this......very useful info!

Hi everyone

Thinking about booking this for next year on Equinox.

Anyone done this crossing?

Any comment's good & bad would be greatly appreciated.

Never done a transatlantic before.

3 hours ago, gvgseg said:

Hello Celebrity CCers...

 

My family (2 adults, 12yo, 9yo) has traditionally done Club Balcony Suites/Mini Suites on Norwegian and are taking our first Celebrity cruise on Solstice. It looks like there are very few Veranda cabins designed to accommodate 4 guests. Can anyone share if one room layout is better/more comfortable than others? We are trying to get one with the single sofa plus upper bed rather than the single sofa plus pullout sofa.

 

 

Also, are the Concierge class benefits worth it for an additional ~$500 for the week?

If you go to Celebrity's website & do a "mock" booking.

When you choose the room type you want it takes you to the available rooms on the available decks. 

There is a deck plan key at rhs which tells you that rooms with a square have a single sofa bed & the one's with a triangle have one upper bed.

Hope this makes sense!

I am currently in the process of choosing a stateroom for Equinox (S class ship also)

I am finding the spreadsheet invaluable....thankyou so much to everyone who has contributed to it!

I also agree with justcrusn re Concierge, we have only used once and did not think it was worth the extra.

We were on Solstice from Sydney to Singapore in October last year, we loved the ship & hope you will too!

The staff are amazing 😊

13 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Well Im on arvia now halfway through a 14 night Barbados arrival holiday and never completed the Barbados immigration form (I forgot all about  it) as I normally do complete it

 

And was never asked for it nor was it mentioned on the flight

 

Ps flight on Maleth was great. Loads more leg room than on our recent dreamliner flights with Virgin and Tui?

 

And we were in standard seats

 

And the staff were brilliant

 

Would prefer flying with them again next year ahead of Tui given the chance

 

No idea why people rate Tui flights so highly?

 

2 ladies behind us said they were absolutely dreading the flights due to things they had read on social media and will never take any notice of stuff like that again

 

(Will post more details and some photos  in maleth thread when I get time)

 

Getting ready for 710 Club shortly!!

 

 

 

 

Hi 

Going slightly off piste!

We are looking a doing a similar 14 night Barbados cruise this time next year. 

Do you mind if I ask?

Are there many children on board?

Many Thanks in advance ☺️ 

21 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

February half-term 2025:

 

All of Wales:  Mon 24 Feb - Fri 28 Feb

 

Essex: Mon 17 Feb - Fri 21 Feb 

 

Durham: Mon 24 Feb - Fri 28 Feb

 

I’ve checked Essex and Durham as being representative of South/North as I know from experience that Northern England tends to have the same Feb half term as Wales. Scotland is another different story, as you probably know!

 

I presume your cruise is a 14 nighter, and in theory, children in state schools shouldn’t really be off school for a fortnight. The reality is however very different (and a bl…y nuisance for secondary school teachers as I well remember), and I imagine that a lot will take their children out of school for 14 days of educational experiences (sun) in February! 
 

Do you want to avoid children or just avoid a busy cruise? Iona Feb term last year was heaving! 

Thanks for your response!  Was it a Caribbean cruise on Iona? The agent told me that they are not as busy with children in comparison to the Canaries etc 

I understand that the cruise will be busy and it's a massive ship compared to what we are used to.

Very keen to try P&O, but certainly don't want it mega busy with children 🫣

Hi Everyone!

We are considering a Caribbean Cruise on Arvia in Feb 2025.

We have only ever sailed Celebrity, but are interested in trying a different cruise line/ship.

The itinerary we are looking at leaves Barbados around 14th Feb.

My question is, can anyone advise if this is a particularly busy time with children?

I'm assuming some may even be on a similar sailing at the moment!

Thanks in advance.

2 hours ago, PumpkinPatches said:

Good Morning! I am getting ready for my holiday cruise on the Silhouette, but my last Celebrity cruise was in 2016 so I have a question about MDR staffing since I know many cruise lines have made cutbacks since the pandemic.

 

I remember having a waiter and junior waiter in the MDR, plus there would be cocktail servers and a wine sommelier walking around taking care of drinks.

 

Is this still how the MDR works?

 

I am asking because I've upgraded to the premium drink package and am hoping to start with a glass of champagne and then enjoy a glass of wine with my main course.  I know from past cruises with Royal Caribbean, if the waiters are also in charge of drink service it can be really stressful for them and makes me feel guilty for even asking for a glass of wine. Plus even if you do ask, drink service can be really slow at best because they're serving multiple courses to many tables.

 

Any feedback or insight you fellow cruisers can share is much appreciated!

 

We were on Solstice 2 weeks ago and had great service in the MDR

We had a waiter, asst waiter & sommelier (never saw a cocktail server)

The sommelier was always busy serving us and other tables.

Hopefully your waiter will be as observant as ours and if your wine glass is empty he will call the sommelier 😊

Don't ever feel guilty!

A wee word of warning......we didn't drink Champagne at dinner but at the bar's they often pour Prosecco instead of Champagne!

Have a great cruise 😎 

On 11/17/2023 at 3:24 AM, Stockjock said:

Unless I am misunderstanding her, I think she meant that she had the classic package and paid the $8 upcharge for "Champagne", but didn't get it.

As I mentioned, I was being served Prosecco rather than Champagne in the premium package, but worse for her if she was paying an $8 upcharge, for Prosecco, which should have been included in the classic package.

You are absolutely correct!

I had no problem paying the upcharge, but not for nasty Prosecco. 

Not sure if Celebrity are chancing their luck with this or if the bar staff just don't know the difference 🤔 

It is easy enough to watch them pour if sitting at the bar, but if it is table service then not so much.

In future I will always ask to see what I am being served!

The other annoying thing was they sometimes poured from a bottle that had been lying opened.....clearly for too long....no fizz.

That was rejected and I asked for a fresh bottle to be opened 😉

13 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Did they pour it in front of you and did you see the bottle ?

They did & yes I saw the bottle.

Didn't recognise it and don't remember the name but it was a black bottle and was very good.

I also asked for a "nice" Champagne glass instead of the horrid thick prosecco glasses 😄 

#fussy 😉