NMTraveller

For E class suites are a must.  Then you can go to the retreat and view from the front of the ship.

9 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Why do I remember being able to walk outside from the fitness center forward?  Maybe it was on Equinox.  

 

Seeing where you have been is just as interesting if you aren't driving.  🙂

We did that when we were kids.  Had the station wagon with the rear facing seats.  Not a fan...

9 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I guess Celebrity doesn't care if they lose me. After a lot of years cruising Celebrity exclusively, all of my future cruises are booked on HAL.  The E-class ship design with the IV balconies and loss of any forward view are key reasons why I have left Celebrity.  It was great while it lasted.  See you layer.

Same here.  I won't sail E unless in a suite and the suites are rather pricey...  For Norway I am not seeing S class ships sailing the longer itineraries.  For Norway I want a view, not a view of high end shops that I will not shop in.  Looking at Princess and HAL ...

8 minutes ago, markeb said:

So basically you’re a California cab drinker? 😀

 

Pretty much.  That and French Champagne ... 😋

Next year headed to Paris to get a taste ...

Of course when I was in Australia it was Shiraz.  But some of the better bottles.  I have yet to find a good Shiraz on the ship by the glass...

I thought that the combinations were good.  That they complemented each other,  but the wines by themselves were meh except for the cab.

17 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

@markeb @NMTraveller We have been getting excellent service on our current cruise, especially with wine selection.  Our sommelier in Luminae has been point on with his recommendations and so far only wine has not been at or below the premium pacakage price and that was a nice Columbia Valley merlot we had last night. When he recommended it I was tempted to ask if he had the Benziger or Robert Mondavi but it tased so well and went with the short rib that I just went with the flow.  

 

Today I had a nice Pinot noir, the Kendal Jackson, and was very happy with it.  

 

 I have been please with just telling the Sommelier what I am having for my entree and going with his recommendations.   Tonight is lobster night and I plan to have surf and turf so I am thinking either Conundrum or the Elegance.  Will see what he says first. 

 

Now that I recall we did have a very good sommelier on board.  We did the wine pairing on the chef's table.  The wines were well watched with the food and there were brands that were not on the menu.  IMHO most of them were MEH/OK...  I would taste most of them and leave most in the glass.  However when we got to the final wine which was a Gingrich Hills cabernet everyone was asking for 2 or 3 glasses of it.  The point of this exercise was that I should have skipped the wine pairing and just ordered the Gingrich Hills cab throughout the meal.  Everyone else asked for 2 or 3 glasses on the Gingrich Hills cab.  No one asked for a second glass of any of the others...

13 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

It shouldn't be "expected" anywhere. But my guess is that the parents at the land resort were doing more parenting than the parents on the cruise. I guess they figure there's only so far they can go on a ship so they don't keep as tight a reign on them, but I don't know.

 

At any rate, it comes down to parenting rather than type of vacation. I'd guess there have been some 5 star resorts where parents are more "hands off" and kids run just as there have been cruise ships where parents were more aware of what their kids were doing and stop silliness.

Well I think that some of it has to do with lack of enforcement of rules. There will be staff on the ship.  They can either tell the kids to quit running in the halls or ignore it.  We had people in the OVC with no shirts.  No enforcement there either ...

20 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

If you have data onboard, "some" of the wines by the bottle are a good deal. In the past that's included some not by the glass that were far better and averaged out at a decent price. No, Conundrum is probably still overpriced. But there are some decent to very good Pinot Noirs that aren't badly priced. Not 3X retail for sure. Actually, Pinot Noir may be one of the best bottle prices I see in the app.

 

Again, if you're drinking mixed drinks, beer, water, soda, and specialty coffees, you'll do better than you think. Some of the whites by the glass are pretty good. Right now, it's the reds that seem to be lacking. I'll try to report back after the Summit.

 

Where are you going in Napa?

Castello Di Amarosa,  Darioush,  Far Niete,  and Domaine Carneros.  We may do some others.  Still trying to decide.  What was your favorite?

44 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

Holiday cruises always have more kids than any other time of year.

Still no excuse for kids running in the halls but cannot blame cruise line for that.

The land resorts we stayed at did not have kids running through the halls at night, though there were many more kids at the land resorts.  I have run into hotels that do have this problem.  I stay away from them.

Kids running through the halls was more of a Royal experience, except for my last Celebrity cruise. 

If the 5 star resorts do not have this issue,  why should we expect this on Celebrity?

24 minutes ago, markeb said:

What would you have paid for 2-3 bottles? Just curious as that seems like it would be a better alternative for dinner. Better wine and maybe even less expensive if you're paying the upcharges anyway. The question then becomes would you have drunk enough other covered drinks to pay for the package.

I think that you have a point here.  With some of the upcharge prices we could have just purchased several bottles and brought them on for the same price.  We were in Asia and not familiar with the wines we saw (many nice Aussie wines).  Not much time to taste and purchase...  Our suitcases were already at the weight limit so we did not bring any with us this time ...

Headed to Napa in a couple of months for wine tasting ...

On 5/2/2024 at 3:57 AM, YankeesFan4Life said:

Seems like this is more kid oriented?  Has anyone done Wonderland on any of the Royal ships?  We did, it was "entertaining" and yes, a "one and done".  From what I'm reading here, I'd rather take my 4 night specialty dining elsewhere on the Beyond....Prove me wrong?

We did Wonderland.  I would say that this is also a one and done.  If you have never seen a plate projection show or if you have kids LPC is fine.  The food is better elsewhere on the ship.

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

 

Wines are limited if you stick to the printed wine list.  If you have a knowledgeable sommelier they can recommend some wines that aren’t on the list.  Just got off 27 nights and only had wine with a upcharge 2 nights.

 

Do they have Cabernets and Champagnes that are not on the printed wine list or app?  I was never offered/recommended a different cabernet or champagne?  Do you just ask?  In Blu our sommelier was way too busy to have a conservation.  In Tuscan there were only 3 tables seated at our time.  Zero suggestions from Cellar Masters...

Anyways I ended up spending over $300 and signing more than 20 slips with the premium package...

We had a helo evac on Millie for an Asia cruise.  We watched the helo fly in and out from our balcony.  We had calm seas and winds.

6 minutes ago, Pushka said:

So the premium covers it? It used to cover it easily pre covid. 

It covers martinis.  But if you are a wine drinker you will likely be signing upcharge slips...

I thought that it was very rough.  It rocked me to sleep like a baby!  Best sleep ever!

I would if you like martinis...

18 minutes ago, doghog said:

SSS's, DPVs and SVs are real balconies on the E class ships.

DPVs are obstructed by 30% by design according to everything that I have seen.  I would much rather have unobstructed.  Call it what you will but it IS obstructed.

15 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You might want to enlighten the chief and others which ship/when you are talking about.

It was the 2016 Anthem.  I went back and looked at past cruises.

29 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Captain Ban is still at the helm of Q class ships and no, sales didn't go down on Athem or other ships after that incident (106.4% occupancy in 2016, the year of the incident and 108.4% in 2017). Folks have short memories, despite the media hype.

He was not the captain on the preceding cruise...  That was my point.  People find this difficult to believe.  We were on that one.  People do have a short memory. 

It has been a while since I sailed Royal.  I had to go back and look it up.

Del

21 minutes ago, doghog said:

Celebrity ships have mini (junior) suites and real balconies. 

E class?  Not many real balconies.

Some itineraries are only E class 🙃

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

I know you feel that Captains should be relieved of command immediately after any incident, but the US is still a country where you are innocent until proven guilty.

I did not say that.

I cited one case where the captain made the national news multiple times for doing something stupid.  Going right out into the middle of the storm,  breaking glassware,  flooding parts of the ship.  tables moving all over the place and creating a PR nightmare for all cruise lines.  I am sure that cruise line sales were down for several months afterwards.  When he could have waited several hours and had a successful cruise without incidents.  Perhaps he is the reason cruise ships try to navigate around the storms somewhat.  Right at the start of the cruise he muffed it up and the cruise had to go back for repairs.  Would you want the captain that screwed up the last cruise on your cruise?  You had a difficult time believing that Royal removed him and put in another captain.  Bad PR to have him sail on the ship?  Yes definitely.

For the Edge case they did not even make the national news,  though they are not sailing into that area right now.

On 5/4/2024 at 1:55 PM, chengkp75 said:

Yes, as long as you are not expecting the full protections and rights of US law, then by all means embrace foreign flag ships.

What do you think will become of the Dali captain and crew?  I know your position on captains with lesser errors/incidents.

39 minutes ago, hasentreelake said:

WHY order Branzino while dining in Tuscan!?

 

We prefer fish and seafood ...

IMHO they switched to thinner filets which are easier to overcook.  Previously they had thicker filets.

So what happens when you book a room for 2 and 1 of the guests does not show up?

Asking for a friend 😉

3 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

The solo pricing hit is still alive and well in addition to items reported above.  Example:  Prime Concierge cabin for 2 on Summit November 10, 2025 is $4,121.74.  For a solo on the same cruise it is $5,742.87.  And they wonder why people are looking at other cruiselines.  Or maybe they don't care.

Other places the solo is a fair amount less than 2 not more...  Very surprising...