CalTexCruiser

I received free offer for sailings in the Med earlier this year, including on Beyond if one has flexibility on dates and want to sail in Europe they can probably wait and see what shakes out

👍Great news! Once you are underway and crossing the Tasman Sea, could you let us know whether it is just as fast? In NZ as well. Thanks in advance.

Anyone have any experience whether the recent high demand/lack of supply of specialty dining is affecting the ability of passengers in upper suites in booking unlimited specialty dining at prime times in the specialty dining restaurants? We've never had an issue in the past getting a spot at any restaurant at any time we asked for, even last minute.

I'm confused--when making multiple reservations in advance wouldn't the customer need to pay in full for each reservation? If they are willing to do that, I don't see what the issue is.

May be related to whether there is a sufficient quantity of Starlink satellites in that region. I understand that Starlink is continuing to deploy more and more satellites, so hopefully the coverage improves for AU/NZ soon.

LOL. To me any number with an Mb after it is way better than the sub 100 kb/s speed I experienced on a recent Princess Mexican Riviera cruise, which rendered Wi-Fi unusable.

Thanks @Tom-n-Cheryl Just curious, did staff react differently to the new upper suite indicator any differently than before?

Same thing with those people who received free veranda cabin offers, and complaining about charges to upgrade to Aqua class.

We were on Discovery Mexican Riviera and the Internet was unusable--couldn't even download emails. We have an ATT Wireless unlimited plan, so we get free cell service in Mexico (unlimited data, text, and call). I tried hot spotting to my phone in port but even that was a challenge--not sure why.

How are the blackjack tables: 3:2 payout on $50 dollar table, and 6:5 otherwise?

Never been on a SB cruise but have an 18-day upcoming in 2024 on the Encore. I'm wondering what a "crowded" Colonnade buffet looks like on the Encore. If someone has a picture could you upload? Trying to set my expectations appropriately. We sail mainly suite class on the large mainline cruise ships so what I am picturing as a crowded buffet may not be what a crowded buffet looks like on a SB ship with 600 passengers.

Same here. Onyx. I have received only one offer in the last six months. My daughter, who ran $ 10 through a slot machine for about 10 minutes back in 2019, has been getting non-stop continuous offers. I wonder if they are trying to get younger people to try their product and hopefully become avid cruisers like us. We are elite and do not plan on buying any drink package for our upcoming comped cruise. So definitely Celebrity will "lose" money on us, unless the casino manages to get some back. LOL.

Seems like a solution looking for a problem...this may reduce lines at guest services, but they still need staff to process the hundreds or thousands of paper receipts this will generate. A better solution...hire a competent IT person to program the app with a link called "Drink Voucher"--then when you go to the bar, click on said link and 4 short numeric codes will pop up for a Diamond member per day. The bartender will just enter the numeric code into their system as each drink is ordered, and the numeric code will disappear from the app when consumed. If someone doesn't want to use their drink voucher, just don't present the codes.

The weather forecast called for large waves during the Tasman sea crossing back to Sydney...I wonder how bad it was for those on board.

I can vouch for the Retreat employees having sharp memories when it comes to faces. One time, on embarkation day, we got in the elevator to head to lunch, and a lady in uniform walked in. Then she turned around and greeted us by name, Mr. & Mrs. CaltexCruiser--surprised the hell out of us. She was the Retreat Manager. On another occasion, as we were wandering around the Retreat Sundeck also on embarkation day, a Retreat Concierge walked by us and also referred to us by name (we had never seen her before and she was not carrying around any device that would have our pictures on it so she was doing it purely by memory). So for those worried about unauthorized people in the Retreat, don't worry.

Thanks for the Starlink maps. Glad to know that service will be in place for our Feb 2023 AU-NZ crossing on the Eclipse, assuming Starlink is installed in November on the Eclipse as set in Celebrity's current schedule.

This is the wave height map at 7am on Thurs. Not sure when y'all are reaching the Azores but looks like the wave conditions will have calmed down relatively speaking by then. Still not ideal since you really want to be in regions with blue shades...the darker blue the lower the waves.

Looking at the wave height map below for today at 5pm (not sure time zone), red is 28-ft waves, while dark blue is 0, and yellow is about 20-ft waves, it appears the captain could have taken a more southerly route (from Portugal) rather then going right through the heart of the bad sea. Probably would have added a bit of sailing time so may not be feasible to meet the debarkation port time.

So how bad is the ship rocking...can people still walk around the ship? And most importantly, is the casino open?

In any event, if the Eclipse timeline holds, we will get the new speedy WiFi for our Feb 2023 NZ cruise. YAY (hopefully) Having just spent a week on Princess' agonizingly slow-w-w-w-w-est ever "Best WiFi at Sea" on their newest ship, I look forward to faster Internet.

when I clicked on it just now, it said Coming Soon Enjoy faster, more reliable internet throughout the Celebrity fleet

Yes indeed. Quite an interesting strategy adopted by Celebrity's executive office: let's fill our ships with free casino offers to people who have no history of significant gambling. Someone must have run the numbers and concluded that it's cheaper to hand out free rooms than to further discount rooms for sale. What they may not account for is that once word of this gets out on social media (like this site and other sites), that may actually depress future sales as now more people are waiting for free offers for future sailings. Who wants to pay for a room now if they'll get a freebie later?

LOL, I think Celebrity is using some random selection process to pick who gets offers. My daughter set foot in Eclipse’s casino 3 years ago and played penny slots with us for 2 minutes, and has never set foot on a cruise since. these days she is getting nonstop BCC comp offers but she has no interest in going I get these offers less frequently even though I gamble much more, but I have already done a Caribbean cruise so not interested in any more even though “free”

So we've sailed on the Ruby and the Discovery. The problem with the Ruby when we sailed back in Apr 2022 was that there was rust everywhere along the balconies. Felt a bit rundown due to the rust. But the interior of the ship was fine. Discovery is nice and new and more modern decor and lighter colors, if you like that sort of thing. We have no problems with older ships if well maintained but we try to book newer ships.

@JeremyK1956 So having stayed a week in S108 (the smaller of the 2 window suites) on the Discovery Princess, the following are my observations: 1) I like this suite...the online video does not do justice to how spacious the suite feels. It may be smaller than S107, but it is still nice. The bedroom size is fine...does not feel small at all, especially since the panoramic views give the entire suite a very roomy feel. 2) The 90 view out the front side of the suite is great. I enjoy watching the ship pull into port. We also had a fantastic view of Los Arcos when the ship anchored in Cabo. I thought that I might miss the balcony, but not a big deal. It was very hot in Mexico anyway so I would not have used the balcony much. And this suite would be excellent for cold weather sailings such as Alaska, Norwegian Fjords, etc. 3) Very quiet cabin. There may be the occasional deck chair noise from the Sanctuary above, but those last a few seconds and is very rare. 4) Love the proximity to the Retreat pool (and its bar). I can literally walk a few steps whenever I feel like it to grab a cocktail. 5) Easy walk to the buffet...just head aft, walk down one deck to the main pool, and then to the buffet area. 6) It is a bit far to get to the Concierge Lounge, but we only go there to grab canned soft drinks...no reason for us to hang out there as our suite has a much nicer view anyway from our living room. 7) I'm used to Celebrity Retreat. Princess' suite service does not really compare. No butler. Club Class dining is not at the level of a dedicated suite restaurant. But as long as one sets expectations sufficiently low, I guess staying in a suite on Princess is ok.