LGW59

No one here can answer that question for you. Make the suggestion to O to consider for the next build

Here is my take, keep in mind not as a frequent cruiser, but when I do it has been primarily on Celebrity. Most recently this fall, I did the TA on Edge, in an uppser suite, so had all the benes that come with that. Quick summary of my cruise, I loved it, the EV was amazing, butler, room steward, Luminae staff amazing, all of them! Talked to several on the cruise NOT staying in the Retreat, most all thought it was "good" but not "great". As you already know about what Celebrity offers when staying in the retreat and probably have studied up on OLife, I will tell you why I have recently booked a cruise on Oceania Vista. My husband and I have been really anxious and wanting to do a Med cruise. Looking at Celebrity, they can't get into and/or don't go to some of the more exciting, smaller Med ports. We compared one to an Oceania Med cruise, loved the ports and sailing on the new Vista was enticing. So cut to the chase: Two 7 night Med cruises both depart on May 13, 2023, Edge in Sky Suite, so all of the Retreat benes (other than specialty dining) included priced out at $11,300 for the two of us. Oceania Vista, Founders Cruise, also May 13, Penthouse1 suite, specialty dining included for every suite apparently, we do not drink so not paying for something we will not use. This priced out at (we have already booked) $7,598. So for $4,000 less, in what appears to be very similiar suite levels and we will use the $200/pp OBC to pay the tips, we don't spend any other $ on board, it was a very easy decision, esp. after all the feedback we got from others on CC. Good luck with whatever you decide and keep doing those cost comparisons, we are looking at several other cruises for late 2023 and early 2024, all comparing Celebrity to Oceania, and in EVERY single instance, O has priced out lower, ranging from $1,500 to $5,000+.

I really loved the ship. Luminae food/service was great. Wonderful shows and entertainment speaker in the theatre. Whether you have it included or not Eden is a great treat. I ate standard included menu and really enjoyed it. They have an up-up charge menu also, too much food for me and the additional cost is just another of those annoying and IMO unnecessary money grabs.

LOl I went on the cruise in October, I looked high and low for you to no avail, so I gave it to one of the passengers in steerage.

I think I finally understand what the folks on here mean when they say that Celebrity is creating a two class system on their ships. Retreat seems to me to be ALMOST all inclusive, save for upper suites being able to dine in any restaurant, still off limits for some without extra $$$. All inclusive resorts I’ve stayed at, everyone can eat in all restaurants, drink all top shelf liquor and basically use all facilities as inclusive, barring massage facials etc. never had any idea who was in a studio, 1 or 2 bedroom oceanfront (just paid extra for type of accommodation) otherwise everything was the same. The Oceania, Regent et al style of cruising makes a lot more sense to me lately.

How many days cruise at those prices?

I was forward on the ship but my view was to the side, not directly forward at all

Totally depends on how much you drink. Just do a cost comparison between the two packages. Then it’s easy to decide if the up charge per drink is worth it

Thanks, looks like a lovely hotel and the location is great directly on one of the canals. The idea of being outside of the bustling center in Venice is very appealing.

Thank you for the good intel on both fronts! Found what looks to be a delightful small hotel that we will book.

You are going to be very pleased that you did this. Enjoy!!

LOL Mine is OK but my husband is an engineer and has the sense of direction like a blood hound.

In late spring of 2023, my cruise ends in Venice/Trieste. So looking forward to finally spending time in Venice. We plan to spend 4 days after the cruise and in researching where to stay, I find an area called Santa Croce, looks to be off the beaten path but still within a 15/20 minute or so walk to San Marco area. It's also very close to the train station so seems quite convenient. Anyone have any experience staying in Santa Croce? We are walkers for sure so we won't mind that at all but just wondered if anyone has personal experience using this as their Venice base. TIA

His "all in" pay in 2021 was $19+MILLION. Good on him, capitalism at work. Seems like he does not want any kind of pay cut and to not have that happen, let's lay off the lowest level of employees. The company (a partnership) that I work for, in 2021 had gross revenue of $1.9+BILLION. This year they want to hit $2BILLION, the economy said probably won't happen based just on clients paying their bills. So in order to reach that $2BILLION goal, they laid off 200 employees the week before Thanksgiving, 7% of our US work force. Oh yea, by letting them all go BEFORE EOY, they don't have to make their profit sharing contribution because they aren't employees of record on Dec. 31. In January they will gleefully announce in the marketplace, look at us competitors, we set a brand new revenue record. Profit is good, it's important, it keeps the economy churning, but when is enough enough for the FDR's of the world that they can't be happy at a level salary of say oh $19MILLION.

I was on Edge in Oct/Nov and while I did not eat there, I met several folks traveling in Aqua and they said they were really enjoying the menu and would do it again

I did it twice as well, LOVED it, I was solo also.

We did a 12 day NCL Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Diego in 2015. Absolutely one of the best cruises/vacations we have ever taken. Puerto Vallarta is a special place, fortunately we did an overnight there. Highly recommend a Mexican Riviera to anyone that might be considering.

Last I heard on the evening news tonight, they say they have at least 2-3 more days of this non-sense they have caused. I'd definitely be making contingency plans.

Recently did a 14 day TA. 4 ports, then 2 sea days, then 1 port, then 6 sea days. The first 2 sea days were wonderful, the 6 consecutive at sea were 3 too many for me. The cruise itself was awesome, the ship fantastic but I realized that many consecutive sea days was a lot for me. TA was a bucket list and very glad I did it though. Going forward will do 7 day cruises (coming in May 2023) and add land days before and after.

Do they impose the increase on only new bookings or already existing as well?

Ok thanks that’s a good difference

How much larger are the extended verandas?

I really was not in my suite a lot during the day but whenever my butler saw me in the hallway he always asked if there was anything that he could get for me.

So I suppose one should not ask for afternoon canapés in the suite, washed down with a side of Pinot Grigio.

On my recent cruise my butler stopped me in the hallway to ask if he could bring me a cappuccino and pastry each morning. Sure enough it was delivered by 9am everyday, and it was delightful.