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We also did both on a cruise last year, and LB_NJ summed up our experience rather well. The only thing I would add is to get to the food pairing early so you can get a central table, close to where the instructor might speak. We were on the periphery and a noisy group really interfered with our ability to hear the instructor.

As with so many others on this thread, we have booked nothing new and have no intention of cruising with Celebrity again until the things we enjoy are restored. Exception: we have a Galapagos cruise booked but we pushed it out, and will do so again until we feel better about the company. We are fortunate that we booked with the reduced deposit for booking onboard, so the investment and risk is low. We are looking at more land packages than ever before.

We were on a cruise this past December that began on New Year's Eve. There was a big party on the pool deck. Lots of drinks, lost of people, lots of music and lots of fun. The only things that were difficult to find were the horns, hats, beads, noise makers and glow sticks. Most of these were available in the dining rooms and restaurants. We were in Aqua but had to ask in Blu as they were not given out when we were there - we had to go back to get them. So ask wherever you dine, and ask others where they got theirs. A funny word though, in your post: "Celebriety ". If that's a combo of Celebrity and Sobriety, you won't find that on the ship on New Year's Eve.

I have this chart from 2020, prior to the November 2020 changes that removed this access. While some benefits have comments about availability, there is no such comment for the Zenith access benefit.

From the Celebrity site (https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/captains-club) Does Captain’s Club offer reciprocity with other Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brands? Celebrity's Captain's Club program offers reciprocity with Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor program and Azamara's Le Club Voyage program. Captain's Club Classic members receive Le Club Voyage Adventurer benefits. Captain's Club Select members receive Crown & Anchor Platinum and Le Club Voyage Explorer benefits. Captain's Club Elite members receive Crown & Anchor Diamond and Le Club Voyage Discoverer benefits. The same holds true for Crown & Anchor members and Le Club Voyage members when sailing on Celebrity. Credits are not combinable across brands; however, as members move up in tier, the membership level will be automatically upgraded across all enrolled programs. If you are currently a member of both Captain's Club and Crown & Anchor programs, you will automatically receive benefits based on your highest membership level between the two. The benefits of the two programs will stay independent, and the number of sailings a member accrues on each brand will not be combined. You will earn the tier credit for the brand you are sailing as long as you are a member of that brand's loyalty program. If you are a Captain's Club member but not a member of the Crown & Anchor Society, and plan on sailing with Royal Caribbean, or you are a Crown & Anchor member but not a Captain's Club member and plan on sailing with Celebrity Cruises®, please call the Captain’s Club at 1-844-418-6824 if within the U.S. or contact your International Office or Representative if outside the U.S. to enroll in the equivalent tier. Also, please remember to provide your membership number when booking a Celebrity cruise to ensure you receive your Club Points and benefits while sailing.

Also note that PUPs remain on the newly-released Captain's Club brochure (https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/Captain-Clubs-Benefits-Brochure-V8-8-30-23.pdf)

Captain's Club terms say this: Wi-Fi Discount applied to the total price of the Wi-Fi package or upgrade purchased. Combinable with the pre-cruise advantage only. (https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/enroll#Terms) That suggests they stack in some manner.

I found these at the bottom of the benefits brochure - the new one and an older one I save a few months back. See the lower left corner of the first page of the brochure:

They updated the exclusions for the CC Cocktail Hour by adding Craft Social and removing theater: Unlimited drinks available from 5–7 PM daily in most bars and lounges (excluding World Class Bar, Craft Social, restaurants, and Magic Carpet. Excluding embarkation day) It was Unlimited drinks available from 5 –7 PM daily in most bars and lounges (excluding World Class Bar, Magic Carpet, theater, restaurants, and embarkation day). Note embarkation day is still excluded.

We did this in December on Reflection. It was pricey but we had some OBC and our Captain's Club discount, leaving it still mildly pricey. We are happy with the pictures but would have been happier if they were more affordable so we could have selected more of them. The photographer worked well with us and did what she could to help us make a selection that worked for us.

I suspect that's what post #7477 is all about🙂

Do you perhaps mean a sale like this one, going on now and ending July 31 (possibly to be extended): "Now, for a limited time, when you book a vacation to the incredible Galapagos Islands, you’ll enjoy 20% off your cruise fares.* Plus, when you book a vacation package, we’ll get you there with airfare included* as part of your all-inclusive experience." This can be seen here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-deals/galapagos-free-air-and-savings-offer?icid=spclff_tctclp_lln_hm_other_204 and depending on your Captain's Club tier, there can be more savings: https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/exclusive-offers/galapagos-savings Galapagos always seems to be treated separately but there is often some promo available. We sailed on Xpedition and enjoyed it so much we are going back in 2024.

I find that many of the images shown for various locations (lounges and suites included) have a gallery link in the upper right corner. Clicking this often takes you to a series of pictures for each class of ship, although not necessarily a specific ship. Perhaps you already used this?

We did this itinerary in December. We enjoyed the Old and New San Juan City tour in Puerto Rico. We did NOT enjoy the Golden Eagle Sailaway in St. Maarten - the description is quite deceptive. People were packed onto the catamaran like sardines, as least 3x as many as would be comfortable. The snorkel site was lousy (very murky, too crowded to swim without getting kicked) and the beach site has a very rough surf. Norman Island Snorkeling in BVI was so-so. Our St. Thomas excursion (Discover St. Thomas & Magens Bay) was not great but I think that was due to particulars on that day. We enjoyed Flavors and Sights of Nassau. We also did the Blue Lagoon Island Sea Lion Encounter and Beach Day at Nassau and VERY much enjoyed the sea lion encounter. We scheduled the earliest available encounter and it was just the two of us. I recommend this one highly if you want to meet and learn about sea lions. As with most of these, your specific interests and experiences will affect your enjoyment. We went to Galapagos last year and that might have spoiled us for "ordinary" snorkeling. Enjoy your cruise!

Window seats in Blu are one of my favorite things on Celebrity cruises. I have found that different itineraries seem to bring different behavior: some cruises have the early lines, some have very short lines at opening. Our most recent Caribbean cruise had maybe 3-4 couples in line at opening. Since I wanted a window table, I showed up at 5:15 and had no problem. On other cruises, I would show up around 6:30, ask for a window table and say I was willing to wait. I'd go have a drink in the Rendezvous Lounge and get paged after 20 minutes or so. I have missed out on a window seat only in situations where I did not want to wait. The downside is that I was not always seated in the same section so I did not always have a server who knew my preferences - but the sommelier would often see me, so THAT service stayed the same.

We put a stocking, decorations and even a small string of battery-operated LED's on our door this past Christmas. Not only weren't they taken down, someone put candy in the stocking. It was nice to come back to every evening.

I shouldn't admit it, but I went looking. There are more Easter Eggs around, and I got credit for 4. The original eggs are shown but I couldn't get credit for them. I found others for which I did get credit, and at least one that was not an original egg and I couldn't get credit. It seems the daily eggs should count but don't. Of course, it's not clear what rules "should" apply anyway.

I agree it has not been this way in the recent past. This must be an official change as it is shown in the FAQ: Does everyone in the stateroom need to purchase the same drink package, including upgrades? The Drink Package Policy requires all guests to purchase the same Drink Package for ALL guests of legal drinking age in the same stateroom (ex. if one guest chooses to upgrade to the Premium Drink Package, ALL guests of legal drinking age in the stateroom must upgrade) This policy applies to packages purchased pre-cruise and onboard. https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/beverage-packages

I was on Reflection (Aqua Class) when this charge was initiated. We ordered room service every morning as it is something we look forward to on every cruise. Our first two orders had significant errors (wrong items, items missing) and were also quite late. We complained so they put us on some priority list. No more errors, but I started going to the buffet to get items just in case. It became a waste of time and a waste of food. It sounds like perhaps they decided to improve the service if they're going to charge for it?

I was on Reflection this past Christmas and New Year's. The Christmas cruise reportedly was at 120% capacity and did have more children, including a group of young teens that seemed determined to make everything about them. There were also larger family groups than I have noted on other cruises. This was not generally an issue. (There was one large family that was an exception.) I was in Aqua Class, and dining in Blu was no different than I had experienced in the past and I very much enjoyed it. The biggest letdown on this cruise, for me, was that there was no special menu in Blu for Christmas. The buffet listed good things but supply seemed limited. The evening shows were not very good, IMHO. Sailing in Aqua Class, I did not find the children or over-capacity to be a problem. The New Year's cruise was around 100% capacity and had fewer children. This was even better than the Christmas cruise and the New Year's Eve party on the pool deck was a ton of fun. If I were to choose, I would cruise over New Year rather than Christmas. If you go, be sure to practice elevator dancing so you can shine during the parties in the foyer.

Note that there are different gratuities for different workers. The pre-paid gratuities only cover a subset of workers. Per the Celebrity FAQ, "Gratuities for stateroom and restaurant services are shared by dining, bar and culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, and other hotel services teams." Beverages from most bars are not included in this, so drinks from the bar would have a different gratuity associated with them (and the beverage packages build that in). Spa workers do not get a share. So even if gratuities are pre-paid, there are a significant number of workers that do not get a share of that and would benefit from a separate gratuity.

We were on Christmas and New Year's B2B cruises on Reflection a few months ago and had great fun with these photos. I managed to get the $50 unlimited digital & prints package and made good use of it. In addition to the standard shots, we got several pictures with props borrowed from around the ship - decorations for the NYE party, chairs from the lounge, centerpieces, hand sanitizer dispensers, "watch your step" signs, bartenders, some of the entertainment staff (Ozzy, DJ Jammin), the photographer herself, and maracas from one of the ports, along with various poses with the life-changing prizes from trivia and other games. We also got shots off the ship at some of the ports and a few around the ship when we found a roving photographer. For us, this added greatly to our enjoyment of the cruise, and I still grin when I look at the print I have in my office. And we really wanted the photographer present to get a picture with the sommelier that vastly improved our dining experience. To each his/her own, I suppose. As for the prints being a waste of paper or resources, I'm not sure a cruise ship is the proper context to be critical of extra prints going to waste. It seems to me there are far worse things being wasted or needlessly consumed on a cruise.

Yes, same here.

This topic was discussed to some extent recently here:

The Captain's Club T&C's seem to base Preview and Classic tiers on sailings rather than points: "Your Captain's Club membership falls into one of six tiers: Preview (prior to sailing), Classic (after first completed cruise), Select (after earning 150 Club Points), Elite (after earning 300 Club Points), Elite Plus (after earning 750 Club Points) and Zenith (after earning 3,000 Club Points). After you complete qualifying sailings, your membership will automatically advance to the applicable membership level. " Has anyone reported getting the benefits of Classic tier without having cruised, and solely by PUPs? I have been curious about this for some time. I recognize the tiers are described in most places based on points, but the terms suggest otherwise.