kebrown

Does this perk also apply to the Second Al Bacio in the Oceanview Cafe on the S and E class ships?

We just returned from a cruise aboard the Solstice and our Aqua Class balcony did have two footstools.

17 hours ago, benel204 said:

I would appreciate your (and anyone's) thoughts on selecting the Singapore to Hong Kong route, vs the reverse.  I've always wanted to tour Singapore, so when we see (before or after the cruise) is still up in the air. 

 

The Singapore to Hong Kong route includes one additional port stop in Vietnam, Nha Trang.  For some reason, the Hong Kong to Singapore route does not stop in Nha Trang, Vietnam.  In my opinion, gaining an additional port in Vietnam makes the Singapore to Hong Kong route more desirable.

If you don't have a beverage package, you can get free speciality coffees at the Captan's Club Elite breakfast.

This perk is useless if you sail with a Classic Beverage Package.

I am trying to decide between Aqua Class cabins 1605 or 1601on the Solstice.  Does anyone know which of these two cabins has the larger balcony?

We did Le Petit Chef twice on the Edge and once on the Apex.  On all three of those dinners they had the filet menu and the food was excellent.  From my understanding, they are no longer using the filet menu which is unfortunate. 

Another advantage Blu has over the MDR are the steaks.  Celebrity is no longer serving filet or ribeye steak in the MDR.  However, there was filet and ribeye steak on the Blu menu aboard our Reflection cruise last September.

We stayed in sunset verandas on the Edge and Apex on deck 12 and there was quite a bit of soot that landed onto our balcony.  I would avoid the sunset verandas on deck 12 on all E class ships.

Celebrity is no longer serving Ribeye or Filet steaks in the main dining rooms on any of their ships.  You will have to spend extra money in one of the speciality restaurants if you want a good quality steak.

Regarding steaks in the main dining room, it is true that Celebrity is no longer offering filet or ribeye steaks on the menus in the main dining rooms.  Within the last year, we have taken 3 Celebrity cruises, including a 14 night transatlantic cruise on the Apex, and there was not filet or ribeye steak offered on any of the menus in the main dining rooms.  I believe that is criminal for Celebrity not to offer a filet or ribeye steak at least one night in the main dining room at the prices they are charging.

We purchased a Speciality Dining package for an upcoming cruise on the Beyond.  Does anyone know if Le Voyage is included in the Speciality Dining packages?

We were just on the Reflection at the beginning of September and they were offering 30% off at Lawn Club Grill.

We were in Europe.  It was an 11 day cruise that left out of Rome.

33 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

If your are saying that shorts were worn in the evening in Blu on Reflection. All that is saying is that maître d was not doing their job. I have not heard of any changes to corporate policy. 

Yes.  Men were wearing shorts in the evening in Blu and no one told them anything.  I was very surprised to see this.

2 hours ago, 3CanadianBears said:

If booking Aqua class are you restricted to eating in Blu or can you still go to the MDR? Thanks. 

We just dined in Blu on the Reflection and we were able to order from the MDR menu while dining in Blu.  Each night when they gave us the Blu menu, we asked for a menu from the MDR as well.  If we saw something on the MDR menu we wanted instead, we gave our order to the waiter in Blu and he brought it to us.  We ordered from the MDR menu while in Blu several nights on the Reflection and it was not a problem.

We were just on the Reflection and we dined in Blu every night.  We noticed several men dining in Blu with short pants on and no one told them anything.  I guess the rules have changed and you can wear whatever you want while dining in Blu.

We just returned from a cruise on the Reflection that left out of Rome on 9-5-22 with 3 stops in Greece.  No one at the port in Rome asked to see our negative covid test results before we boarded the ship.  We were able to board the ship in Rome without ever showing our negative covid test results to anyone because no one asked to see them.

We just returned from a cruise aboard the Reflection that left out of Rome and we visited 3 port in Greece.  No one at the port in Rome asked to see our negative covid test results.  We were able to board the ship in Rome with out showing our covid test results to anyone because no one ever asked to see them.

Does anyone know how the one day access to the Persian Gardens for Elite members work on the S class ships?  I know it has to be taken on a port day but do you need to make a reservation in advance or can you just show up on whatever port day you choose?

12 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

We left Savoca at 11.15 am and drove back down the twisting road with the switchbacks that we had come up. The views along the coast were great.

 

 

 

It was another 45 minute drive to get to Forza d'Agro up another twisting road with more switchbacks. Like Savoca it had also been used for scenes set in Corleone in The Godfather and Godfather 2 movies. At midday we started our walk through the very pretty town to go to the Cathedral.

 

The Cathedral Maria S. Annuziata was built in 18th century and was also used for a scene in a Godfather movie 

 

 

 

 

We then walked through the pretty streets, stopping at a viewpoint to admire the view of the coast.

 

 

 

 

We walked to Piazza SS Trinita so that we could visit Chiesa SS Trinita which was built in the 16th century.

 

 

 

 

 There were views from the square along the coast and up to the town's old castle.

 

 

 

Do you remember what level in the Opus Main Dining Room is reserved for passengers who have Select Dining?

6 hours ago, groryjm said:

A French 75 before heading up to the sunset bar to enjoy the views an were greeted by another friendly face, A A Ketut, a barman we had known from our recent cruises on Silhouette.

 

 

 

One of my favourite aperitivo and ingredients in cocktails is Campari. In Europe and Italy it is 25% by vol yet on the ship it is 28.5% by vol. is this Italian bitter really shipped from the States to supply a ship that is restocked in Italy?

 

 

We had a lovely diner in the porch while the sun set and we watch the lights in the city

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you exit the new port in Istanbul, is the Galata bridge easy to find?  Is the bridge to the left or right of the port exit?  And once you exit the port, are you saying the walk to the bridge from the port and then across the bridge to the old town is 15 minutes total?

6 hours ago, groryjm said:

A French 75 before heading up to the sunset bar to enjoy the views an were greeted by another friendly face, A A Ketut, a barman we had known from our recent cruises on Silhouette.

 

 

 

One of my favourite aperitivo and ingredients in cocktails is Campari. In Europe and Italy it is 25% by vol yet on the ship it is 28.5% by vol. is this Italian bitter really shipped from the States to supply a ship that is restocked in Italy?

 

 

We had a lovely diner in the porch while the sun set and we watch the lights in the city

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were on the Apex last April and the Elite breakfast was held in the Tuscan Restaurant each morning from 8:00am to 10:00am.

15 hours ago, maggipie said:

This is my PSA for those of you with lots of non refundable OBC thinking you can get an Apple something ... probably you shouldn't, especially if it's old stock. (If you do, be sure to open it up and check it out before you disembark so you can return it if it's a dud!)

 

I am just off Summit, had a lot of OBC thanks to Best Offer Guarantee, so bought a (2019) 16 inch MacBook Pro for $2199 (saved $200 with their "sale.") Reading up here on CC, I saw if available, Apple stock was mostly older products being sold, and also saw riredsox's Feb post of the drained battery on a MacBook Pro purchased on Constellation. Sure enough, the one I got refused to turn on and refused to charge. After some online research, I figured the battery can be replaced for $200 which is less than what tax would have been if I bought it at an Apple Store at home.

 

I took it into an Apple Store today and turns out it's not a simple battery replacement; after some manipulation in the store trying to reset it, it was determined it was utterly dead. Seems the drained battery was out so long that internal damage occurred, and it now needs to be repaired ... for $678. The person helping me thought I was a huge dummy to spend that much money on an older MacBook Pro when the newer/2022 MacBook Pro with a better chip was only $300 more than what I paid; my dummy status changed only a little when I told her Apple Store doesn't take OBC.

 

Also, I learned that the one year warranty for Apple products bought onboard works this way:  the clock starts when Celebrity buys it from Apple. This MacBook Pro was purchased from Apple Jan 2020, so its warranty expired Jan 2021, regardless of that fact that Celebrity is an "authorized reseller." So my Celebrity receipt stating "Manufacture warranty valid one year from date of purchase" is erroneous, since this applies only to Celebrity's date of purchase, not my date, and the link for more info on that receipt gives specific details only for products purchased from an Apple Store, not an authorized reseller.

 

Hope this helps those of you with NR OBC trying to decide between specialty dining, excursions, spa or MacBook Pro ...

 

We were on the Apex last month with a large amount of OBC.  There was a 2018 MacBook Pro for $2199 that we were going to buy with our OBC but someone else purchased it before we could get to it.  We decided to buy jewelry instead.  After reading your post, I am glad we did not buy the MacBook Pro.  i would have been extremely upset if we had purchased the computer and encountered problems once we got home.  Thanks for this information on Celebrity's Apple products.