Moby Jones

I agree. I usually take a couple of bottles of good wine onboard. When compared to the mark ups seen on cruise ships the $15 pales into insignificance.

I've sailed om both Celebrity Solstice and Azamara Pursuit. In rough weather you will notice the seas more aboard the 30,000 tonne Pursuit compared to the 122,000 tonne Solstice. But not much more. The Azamara R class ships are pretty stable despite their much smaller size compared to the Solstice class ship you have sailed on.

I think this thread should be stickied as a cautionary tale to others who believe they are more 'seasoned' than they really are. I'm in the UK also and book cruises through both UK and US TA's every year depending who is offering the most attractive deal at the time. I'm fully aware of the pros and cons of booking either side of the pond and know that there will always be a degree of risk. But what is key to me is that people should book at a price they are comfortable paying and be happy with it. If you can rebook and get an overall better deal, then great, go for it. But this is not a fault of Azamara. And I don't believe anyone has attacked the OP. They've just given him a reality check. The accusations of people attacking him are really just someone who didn't do sufficient homework venting their frustrations on others. Maybe Cruise Critic should produce a detailed article on the differences between bookings in differnet countries which can then be referenced in threads such as these?

You're quoting the wrong poster. Keep up!!! 😆

I see, so you failed to understand.

What has the OP said that makes you think Carnival is a viable option for them?

Some people always have concerns about ‘older’ ships from any line. But surely it’s more important to factor in price and itinerary to any decision. Why cruise on a more modern ship on an itinerary you don’t want to do?

Jim_Iain is giving you some pretty solid advise based on real observations. We started sailing on Celebrity in our mid to late thirties and were almost always the youngest people on the shop. On multiple trips we were asked "is this your first cruise?" by elderly ladies! Sadly that no longer happens!. Now in our late forties we still appear to be amongst the youngest on the ship when sailing longer itineraries. There are some in their thirties and forties but not very many at all in our experience. I've seen kids on every Celebrity cruise I've ever taken but there's not very many onboard. Most families look to sail on RCL, Carnival or NCL etc. What I would say is completely ignore all of the Celebrity marketing that features young models. At best it's disingenuous to suggest that that is their usual demographic. If you want to see how young the real crowd is on a Celebrity ship take a look at Youtube. You're bound to find videos from people who have taken the itineraries you are interested in. Have a look at the footage they take in the public areas of the ship and you'll see it really is an older crowd who sail on Celebrity. And I'm not trying to be controversial here but one big observation of mine has been that older people always insinuate that there are more younger people onboard than there really are. If you are wanting to meet and mingle with those in their thirties and forties I would say that Celebrity is a poor choice. Across the board I'd put the average age onboard to be around 60. I'd also say that entertainment is definitely not aimed at thirty to forty somethings in my experience. Check those videos on Youtube. 😉

It's $25. Though it's waived if you have either the classic or premium beverage package.

No not really. As you've realised the Retreat is for suite guests only. The only other 'private space' would be the spa deck. But it's not the same thing at all.

The M class used to have the Ocean Liners restaurants. Each one named after a famous ocean liner and they even had memorabilia from the individual ships. These restaurants had a touch of class about them and served the Murano menu as found on the S class fleet. They also had Qsine, although a little quirky it was a great place for a group of friends to dine and try a pretty extensive menu. In my opinion replacing 'Murano' with Tuscan was a big mistake. We've tried Tuscan on a number of ships and it's always been a disappointment. LPC is very much a one and done for us so dining options really are limited on these ships and their current offerings lack appeal. It really is time they were replaced with something new. The lack of quality options onboard really does put us off sailing on M class.

Dubai too is a really interesting place to visit. It's exceptionally clean and modern. Violent crime is extremely rare. The extreme wealth can be a little ostentatious but it's still worth a visit IMHO. However if you are an openly gay man as suggested in a previous post it would be best avoiding. Even checking into a room with a same sex partner could cause you very real issues. Sadly they are a few decades behind the civilised world in that respect. Even a man kissing his wife in public can end up with both in jail!

I visit the US regularly. Statistically I'm far more likely to be murdered there than pretty much anywhere in Europe or the Middle East. We have a land trip booked to Turkey in April. I have no reservations or fears about visiting there at all. We've been to Istanbul before and loved it. It's one of the most interesting cities in the world and never had any kind of issues whatsoever.....

No.

All casinos on Celebrity cruise ships are non smoking.