dcbiker97

Out of curiosity, where would you have Celebrity port near Venice since Venice isn’t an option for them as their ships are too large for the new requirements (at least that’s how I understand it).

That sounds about right. We staked out at 9am what we thought were available chairs at the Riu. They had a rolled up towel on them. At 11am hotel guests came out and proceeded to yell at us for taking their chairs which they reserved with the towel at 6am. Between that and the bar serving alcohol from bottles only marked with masking tape, we will never go back.

Barefoot restaurant is a short taxi ride down the street. They have beach side dining and we enjoyed our meal there in May. https://barefootaruba.com

I would not count on a box lunch. That is an off the beaten path port am am sure not many folks will know. But if it’s like most every other port, bringing food off the ship is prohibited.

I thought shoreside was in their Kansas call center....At least all of the shoreside concierges I've spoken to in the past said they were. I also pulled my last email from shoreside and she said she works 9-6 (central time). So that also may play into it.

Yes I’ve done take away a number of times. I just give them a call and they take my order.

We do the same and just leave a $20 when we both dine. When we go to Sushi for lunch I do $5pp.

We only book the alcoves if we have a ton of OBC to use. It is nice to be able to use it as a sort of landing pad where friends can come and go during the day. I’d have a hard time convincing myself to pay cash for them.

I would assume the next move up is suite class? If that’s the case, technically you can dine in Blu on a space available basis instead of Luminae, but Luminae is significantly better IMHO. You would lose your access to the spa area that are Aqua class amenities.

No. Celebrity counts each portion of a b2b as a completely separate cruise.

No one can really answer that without knowing what you paid and how much upgrading is without moving up. If you do a mock booking to see how much Aqua would be versus what you paid, you’ll get a decent idea as to whether it’s a good deal to use move up or just upgrade.

Agree with chemmo. Not all suites get a reach out from the shoreside concierge. Don’t worry at all if you don’t. Anything they would do, can be done be the Retreat concierge or the butler once your parents get onboard.

The fact that Blu is a restaurant for Aqua passengers has nothing to do with her question. Celebrity often holds events in spaces outside their normal use times. Blu would be nice because of all the light. Tuscan Grille would also be nice overlooking the ships wake.

I always take the posts complaining about ship conditions with a grain of salt. Rust happens on a ship. Railings get dull. I read the post concerning Eclipse and I must have been on an alternate Celebrity Eclipse ship for my 2 week cruise this last November as I thought it was in great shape and wouldn’t hesitate to go in her again. Staff were constantly cleaning and making sure everything was tip top. You can find something on even the newest shops if you want to.

On sailings from the UK, Australia, and NA (maybe a few others) Celebrity adds the gratuity into the price and increases the drink package limit to also include gratuity.

I've only seen the large table in Cellarmasters used for group tastings (wine, whiskey, or scotch), not actual meals.

Two weeks or less is the norm. We’ve been contacted as far out as 8 weeks and up to a week before. Also, some shoreside concierges are way better than others for sending requests to the ship. We’ve had every request sent, some, and sometimes none at all. I know you said you prefer to have it done before, but don’t stress because even if shoreside contacts you, you may still have to go over everything with the butler or retreat manager.

We got off May 6 from Summit and the hot tubs in the Solarium were warm, but no bubbles.

Some airlines do not let you select seats unless you’re ticketed (meaning your ticket is paid for).

I’m sure this is the opposite of many, but I don’t really care to sit by the window in Luminae or Blu. It’s not a clear view out because the windows distort things and after it gets dark, it’s not like you can see anything. Give me the best server any night over a window.

Checkout dayuse.com. I’ve searched for hotels there when we have time like you.

We have used Bodden Tours (boddentours.com) three times in Roatan (which is where I'm assuming you're going in Honduras. They are great to work with and can hire a private driver to take you to any of their options.

You need a new TA because it seems that they are not aware of how it works. Flights by celebrity is an additional line item for the cruise. It adds into the cruise fare to make one total.

You should be able to pay the entire amount with your agent. It’s not a separate payment as ours have been all part of one final amount owed. Once that happens I would call FBC up who should be able to see this and ask for it to be ticketed. They will usually wait until closer to the cruise to ticket, but I don’t like that.

We were on the cruise and had Pratik and Moniek. We also brought along Catan and Splendor to play with our friends. Too bad we didn’t connect for a tournament. And yes, that group was quite loud (we were the ones always sitting at the far end of the banquette where they were).