Married90

So I guess next time someone says they enjoyed their meal I should ask if they were served caviar and Lobster Bisque because that will better tell if they knew what they were enjoying? My point (while admittedly poorly worded) is that I have seen it time and time again over the past month when a person bucks the trend and states a positive comment they get slammed with could you order 5 lobsters again? did you get prime rib and beef wellington served to you? If they say their steak was tender the response is not nearly as tender as when the cut of beef was better. We all know "X" updated their menus at the first of the year. That by now "should" be a given. Do I like it that prime rib (one of my personal favorites though the wife could take it or leave it) is not on the menu? nope Is that going to stop me from ordering the lamb instead that is on the menu? Hell NO! Everyone of us has a choice. Enjoy the cruise or ***** about it. For those that ***** they have more then made it well know to anyone that doesn't want to listen all the reasons we should all cancel our upcoming cruises in protest for there not being prime rib... Personally I would much prefer hearing some of the positive things also but many on this board can't accept that someone could have a positive experience. YMMV

How come every time someone states that MDR was great the same question keeps getting asked was prime rib on the menu? We ALL for at least the hundredth time is is presently not on the MDR menu . Give it a break…. Sorry for the rant….

complete agreement. Classis did cover non alcoholic coffees/teas at the Cafe al Bacio but is never covered the other items.

Give "X" a couple months to catch up. They are on the way...

Yep but not any more for the rest of us in steerage. Why do I get the feeling that we have come full circle to the days of the titanic with first, second, and third class passengers. The class systems at its best... 🙂

Certainly improved profits to the cruise lines bottom line with less labor cost... This is all more of the "twisted logic" Make the customer pay more for getting less. For ones I would love to see a company be honest instead of putting some "marketing twist" on it.

Buy as many as you want at 20% off.

The Martini bar will make ordinary cocktails also but they will not make any of the ones on the menu with well liquor. You have to pay the up charge for those… at least that has been my experience…

How dare you post something positive and mess up everyone’s pity party….

With the elevate package it should say pall and call both , at least that is what mine says.

We are sapphire on NCL and they were our go to for many years (our first sailing was on the Seaward in 1993). Honestly post COVID felt we were being nickeled and dimed by NCL. Had wanted to "try" Celebrity for a while and due to a promotion through our TA we got a much better deal last Summer in Alaska and cancelled out 10 night NCL for B2B (14 night) on Celebrity. LEts put it this way, we are on a 10 night with Celebrity in 25 days. 🙂 Seriously though, we are mid/upper 50's and now post kids (they LOVED NCL and the kids program). We loved the freestyle cruising and the "built in drink package". Recently though unless you upgraded to premium things were getting very restrictive. Specialty dining is really nice on NCL but of recent years almost a must as the regular dining rooms were at time So-so... Pricing just kept going up and up, of course we chalked it up to post pandemic inflation. So overall we were good with NCL but were open for a change. Come along Celebrity in Alaska. 14 night over a 10 night and a $1700 savings over NCL for similar balcony room. All included really meant all included. No "free drink package" but you still have to pay the gratuities on top. No separate daily service charge on top of what was paid, unlimited lo speed wi-fi for the whole trip instead of playing the "per minute game" where 1/2 the time it didn't work. Got on board and stateroom was much larger (although no coffee pot. 😞 ). Nightlight in the bathroom, more balcony space, etc... Décor nicer across the board on the ship. MDR a little nicer, little things like 3 different butters with the breads/rolls. More personalized service from the wait staff, etc. Things what you only got from a specialty restaurant on NCL as of late. Basically a more "upscale" experience across the board. One announcement per day at 11am from he captain and cruise director, no continual announcements letting us know for the next 30 minutes there is a sale on costume jewelry, etc.. Now, NCL definitely had better entertainment. Music groups at the pool, better shows, etc. more lively night time parties, more pool games and belly flop contests. 24 hr restaurant, and other things too. Bottom line is we loved Celebrity. We have an NCL booked for May as it was the perfect itinerary ( a loop around Ireland) at a good price so we haven't "dumped NCL" but if 2 itineraries and pricing are comparable I would now take Celebrity in a minute over NCL. Let me know if you have specific questions to compare.

HI, All I can say is I received notice today of the premium upgrades from X. No idea if the TA paid for them, if there was a screw up at X or what . All I can say is the TA followed through and made it right.

We will be on the Equinox next month but on a sister ship (Eclipse) 3rd floor was for early and late seating. 4th floor was for anytime dining. If you want to the aft side it was for reservations and the port side it was for walkups. We could walk in or wait up to 20 minutes or so (given a pager) based on when you tried to get in. Dont go just after a show gets out... Personally we always topped off a wine glass then went to dinner. Most of the time there was still 1/2 glass as we sat down. If we had a long wait we were just about ready for the sommelier as we sat down...

Nope, I was the original poster (op) and @LarryHD2was correct. I did not have a boarding pass yet. You were responding to someone else’s message ….

It is a TA with unique group structures available. Typically that is how I book , when a great group rate comes around I take it.... They haven't gone wrong by me yet....

We were last September on the Eclipse. There were hot drinks on the heliport when we were glacier viewing and I know there were blankets up on the lawn but never used them. Honestly, I was more concerned that I had a mimosa in hand rather then a hot chocolate. 🙂

The boarding pass says CALL so I reached out to my TA to deal with... We will see. I have the paid cruise invoice stating premium beverage package for both guests so I am sure it will all work out... Better off now than at time of boarding.

Thanks. Boarding pass is not available yet. I expect in a couple days as it is 32 days out... I will wait till then....

I am booked on Equinox at the end of February. I am booked under a "group rate" from my TA. The booking included the "premium drink package" instead of the "classic drink package". Nowhere other then the paperwork from the TA can I validate this. In looking at my order history on X's website I can find what I believe is the drink package but it gives no info. Short of sitting on hold forever with X or waiting till we get our sea cards on board is there a place to find out the package? THANKS

We have always booked select and just show up when the mood fancies us . While I have not been on Equinox (booked for end of next month) what I have seen is one side for reservations and one for walk-ins. Typically no more then 10-15 minutes to wait unless you hit it right after a show gets out. We always top off the wine glass on the way to MDR and typically still have a little left by the time seated this way any delays with the sommelier getting to the table are taken care of... 🙂

@SRQbeachgirl Can I ask of a small favor. Can you swing past the photo area on board and ask about availability/cost of the digital photo package. X used to have a fixed price for a downloadable file (or the physical prints at the photo area) of all the pictures taken of you while on board. I want to say it used to be $149 less discounts. That option is no longer available to purchase in advance. I am wondering if they dropped it. THANKS

Wow, prime rib, NY strip steaks, crab cakes. 2 beef dishes on French night. Sure beats what I see on Celebrities MDR menus currently…

truly up to the individual. We will tip at the end of the cruise to those that went out of the way to make our trip memorable. Personally I am a firm believer that pre-paid gratuities cover all the "norms" so I do not tip for each drink. If the cabin attendant went out of their way to do something special for us or if we found a favorite bartender, etc we give them something extra.

I see salt shakers from Ocean View Cafe somehow showing up in your cabin. 🙂

I have seen $10-$20 p/p but never $200. I asked my TA ( who does a lot of group bookings) on this and his explanation is that taxes/fees/port charges will very "day to day" but when the Travel agency books a block of rooms for a special group rate the taxes/fees are locked in on that day. Sometimes they are better, sometimes worse then what they are today...