kwokpot

Yes, wrong dates, lol. I'm on the inaugural cruise, and it's an Elite casino cruise to boot!

You can search here on Cruise Critic for photos of the Persian Garden and see if the facilities are something you would enjoy. As you will see in the photos there isn't individual heated tile loungers, only communal benches as previously stated.

The naming ceremony will probably be on October 20th, the day she comes into Miami from the TA. The inaugural voyage is the day after on the 21st.

I was skeptical when they announced they were using one of the existing M-Class spa/gym locker rooms and create two separate locker rooms but after boarding the Summit I was pleasantly surprised how they got everything in it. Yes the sauna is now 1/3 the size of the original one but it's still functional.

FYI the Summit has a free sauna, albeit small, in the locker rooms that are accessable to all passengers.

Funny, we're having the exact opposite situation. Airfare to LA from East coast in February is through the roof, minimum $550/rt/pp, up to $900pp!!! That's craziness! You can fly to Australia or Asia from the East coast for that price !

Your requirements are a bit skewed. Miami cruise port is an island off the city of Miami, which has no beach. If you want a hotel with a beach you need to stay in Miami Beach. What's your budget?

In Porto you MUST Go to Livraria Lelo, an amazing historical bookstore. Make online reservations prior to getting there. At Bilbao you must go to the Guggenheim museum m also make advance online reservations.

No need for a jacket or tie. Khakis and a button shirt or a nice polo shirt fine.

I forgot to write that Zebrugge is 30 mins drive away from Bruges.

None of the ports are tenders, and I'm assuming the last port you meant to write Zebrugge, Belgium. Having said that the Bilbao Port stop is actually the adjacent town and it's a 20-25 min drive to Bilbao. Carnival should be providing a free shuttle but your experience may vary. The Porto stop is actually in Lexioes which is a 15-20 cab ride away, or you can walk to the train and take the train.

The Personal Retreat Host is dead. Long live the Butler!

No Thermal suite on the Pride. There's a complementary hot tub in the middle of the fitness center but surrounded with glass. It's available to all passengers. In the locker rooms are single sex steam and sauna rooms(also individual stall showers), also available to all passengers without an extra fee.

I'll have to strongly disagree with your assessment about obtaining a table for 2 alone for dinner on mass market Cruiselines. We cruise Carnival,Royal, Celebrity, NCL, Princess,MSC and never have any problems getting a table just for the 2 of us. If there aren't anymore 2 tables we are always seated at a four table. 98 cruises under my belt and never been an issue once all the cruiselines followed NCL's game changing lead with their Freestyle dining option.

NO it has not been removed.

This seems to be a trend on new builds of vall cruiselines, but I guess with a finite amount of space they want to devote it to the other actual spa amenities. I don't think I like Virgin's solution of doing away with locker rooms and having individual unisex changing rooms and shower stalls. The other annoying thing is complicated electronic locks on lockers. Everyone has problems with them and eventually the spa staff gets tired of always resetting the locks and/or having to open a locker for a guest so they just leave the lockers with unusable locks.

I think there definitely a difference between having drinks while getting a mani/pedi vs drinks in the thermal suite. Alcohol and hot rooms such as saunas and steam rooms aren't a good combination and could lead to situations with health related risks.

Yes, looks like you summarized the situation perfectly. Our first cruise on the SL was through URComped, but the next one in January on the VL was a comp directly from the SL's casino department for play earned on our first sailing. As an aside the casino staff on the SL was really nice, and apparently most are from Celebrity and Royal's casino department. There's supposedly a VV Casino program rolling out sometime the end of the year.

There is no thermal suite on the Pride. There is a hot tub that's located in the middle of the fitness center and enclosed with glass and is complementary to all cruisers. There are single sex steam and sauna rooms located in the locker rooms which again are available to everyone, no extra cost.

Spas and alcohol isn't normally mixed. The idea of many spa treatments is to cleanse and detox, just the opposite of drinking alcohol. There are very, very, very few land based spas if any that would have a bar in their Thermal suites. It's antithetical to the whole spa culture.

The bed is by the window.

Well I'll have to eat my words and apologize. Went back to look at the daily planners for the 2/6/22 Reflection sailing and lo and behold it's right in there:

I know the OP is concerned about Port of Charleston but here's the priority debarkation letter for Port Canaveral:

BCC is a terrible program. Like much of what Celebrity does there's inconsistencies and non transparencies. My husband, who is the gambler in the family, always tells me the issues with BCC. 95% of the time it comes to who the onboard casino host is. Some of the are really very helpful, some are just terrible. For example, as you should know,one the last day of your cruise you should speak to the casino host to find out how much onboard comps you earned on the trip so you can offset folio charges On one ship he had a casino host tell him she doesn't think that all casino gamblers should be entitled to onboard comps. Really? On the other hand we were on a different ship and this casino host was so nice she gave him an estimate of the onboard comps earnings on the 2nd to last day so we kinda knew what to expect.

You're absolutely right about that. It was cash on the Pride too.