4 hours ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

I do think a lot of your issues are with the Sun Princess being new and they haven't gotten the timing down yet. Although I would never call service in the MDR (on other ships) fast, I have always had servers who were 'around' if you needed something. I've also never seen a sommelier on a Princess ship....generally the assistant server has taken our wine orders....but I have heard sommeliers are coming back. On any ship, some servers/bartenders have embraced the medallion technology...others...not so much. Our 2 cruises last year, we had the best service in the MDR that we have had recently. We've not yet been on the Sun. I would suggest trying another cruise (on a different ship), to see if service is better.

I was on the Ruby for the New Year cruise.  There was 3 sommeliers on board.  The one we first connected with made a point of watching for us to arrive and was very attentive.  He even came to check on us in Sabbatini's and the Crown Grill.  I was very impressed with his attentiveness and his recommendations.  
Come to think of it, our waiter and assistant waiter were pretty amazing too.  It wasn't uncommon to have a 6 drink dinner (a pre cocktail and champagne, wine with each course, a port with dessert, and an Irish coffee to take to the show). My Old Fashioned was always on the table within 3 minutes of sitting down.

Maybe I just got lucky but it was by far the most attentive dining staff I've had.

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Ships Sailing Away

Sky Princess

 

Ruby

 

 

 

More...

I'm on the Ruby you were photographing. Thank you for this.

You better check with Princess.  My waitlist was canceled and there is now availability on the ship.  No explanation as to why.

I'll chime in from a Reflection cruise.  Ate in Blu all but two nights when we did other specialty restaurants. Never a wait for a table (once we had to wait while the people in front of us got seated).  It was never crowded and lots of tables were available.  And we entered every night between 6-8 pm.
 

One night we went to the MDR after as two people weren't happy with their meal and that was where the wait with the pager was.  But no big deal.  Went to the Martini Bar and ordered a drink.  As the four drinks were delivered, the pager went.

20 hours ago, 39august said:

Can any of you tell me if Cellar Masters is now a full bar, not just wine bar? If so, has the seating changed? I just read on another post that the CM on Millie is now a full bar. 

Was on the sailing prior to the one mentioned in the thread.  I concur with everything said.  And to address the question, Cellar Masters was a wine bar (not converted to Craft Social yet).  It is underused but became one of my favourite bar/lounge on the ship.  Daniel (the primary sommelier at CM) was great! There were a few whisky's available as well as wine.  I didn't ask for any other type of drink though.

We used Flights by Celebrity on our recent cruise, and I am very happy we did.

Cancellations and delays were dealt with quickly with every attempt to get us to the ship on time being made.  When it became obvious we would not make the port in time for embarkation, plans were made to get us from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, a hotel, a flight from Miami to Nassau the next morning, and a transfer from the Nassau airport to the cruise port were all arranged for us at no cost.  

There were approximately 27 people in total affected, and only about 8 were handled through FBC.  Those that didn't, had to research and find the info themselves, and book at their cost and then try and fight it out with the airlines later.  (I shared what FBC was doing so they had to do less digging but still had to arrange and pay for it themselves)

Worth every penny to me to use FBC

Take good care of her.  We board when you disembark!  We will be watching this with great interest.

If Carnival Corporate said that the people miles below them appreciate these things, it MUST be right.  The corporate office is always completely in tune with what the little people like.

For the record, I renewed mine recently.  Went to Service Canada on a Friday for just before they opened.  Was at the office for less than two hours (including the 20 minutes before their opening time), and had my passport the following Thursday.  So 6 days total (not business days).  

1 minute ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

 

 

Let’s please try to be kind and civil to one another.  We might be on a cruise together in the future.  Peace and love!

Just don't give me a trinket with scripture and we will be fine

5 minutes ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

I don’t force anything on anyone.  In fact I don’t even have a conversation about anything Christian with them for that matter unless they identify themselves as Christian or start a conversation about religion.  If it is a conversation I respectfully engage in that conversation and respect their personal viewpoints.  That is more than I can say for this particular thread where I see numerous posts attacking my beliefs.  Not very tolerant of another viewpoint or lifestyle.  I simply shared what I do when I go on cruises in reference to gift giving as was the request of the original poster.  There are MANY Christians working on cruise ships by the way.  You might want to take the time to have a conversation with some of the people who “serve”  you and get to know a little bit about their lives.  In fact, I became a Christian while I was working on a cruise ship.  One of the dancers in the production show I was in as a singer kept sharing her faith with me.  At first I was offended like many of you but after a while I realized she was trying to share something that was special to her.  I was “empty” and she saw it. I had everything but absolutely nothing.  She invited me to a Christian worship service in the bottom of the ship in the laundry room. It was there that I came to know Jesus.  That room was FILLED with other crew members, from waiters, cabin stewards to entertainers.  It was the path that I chose to follow. Im not saying I’m better than you.  Quite the opposite.  I am in very bad shape as a human being trying to be like Christ.  I just know that when God leads I want to share what was given to me if anyone wants to talk about it.  

Soooo..ummm..yeah.  You went off on a lot of stuff that NO ONE has said.  No one said there weren't christians on board.  No one said you acted like you were better.  No one attacked your beliefs.  

And by giving trinkets with scripture, you ARE forcing it on people and are too obtuse to recognize it.

1 minute ago, bEwAbG said:

People not expressing disdain at being preached to are just humoring you. 

 

I once sat on a long flight next to someone who was engaging in pleasant conversation throughout.  Towards the end, he finally let it slip that the publication he mentioned working for earlier in our conversation was the Watchtower magazine.  He had enough awareness to quickly add "but I'm not going to proselytize on a plane."   We had a good laugh.

I used to work at a gas station.  There was a gentleman who came in around 630 am every Saturday morning and we had a good chat for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Once, he left one of those magazines, so that was the only reason I knew he was affiliated with that (and I don't think it was on purpose that he left it).  Every other time he came in, we talked about everything else.  Football.  The economy.  Family.  The weather.  Everything.  And I appreciated it.  I enjoyed his conversations.

However, if every time he came in, it was about THAT, I would have been much less engaging and likely told him that I had work to do if he didn't mind leaving me alone.  I can assure you, that if he left me a trinket with a scripture on it, it would have been thrown in the garbage and I may not have waited until he left to do so.

To Cruzinforpeace:  So, when the crew, who do not want to risk offending you or have you go off and tattle on them, smile and nod, I can almost guarantee they are not listening to you and cannot wait to get away from the interaction.  I'd even go so far as to say they may dread a further interaction with you.  Not all of them by any means.  You will hit some that may generally enjoy it.  But just because no one has said anything to you, does NOT mean they enjoy it.  Context matters, and the context in this scenario is always 'yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir'.  As the cruiser, you are always right in their eyes, no matter how wrong you are.

I know that my saying this will not change anyone's mind and you will continue to do it.  As someone else said, it is what gives Christianity a bad name.  It has also lead to a lot of bad practices throughout the world in the name of religion.

Not that it is anyone else's business, but I am a Christian.  And even I don't even like other Christians forcing their religion on me. I can only imagine how I would feel if I was of another faith.
 

8 minutes ago, chimchimtx said:

We were on Equinox in September. I filled out the request the instant it hit my inbox. It showed multiples of each item available. Upon boarding the steward said they didn't have any of the items requested and offered me an alternative of the only two items they actually had which I think one was a yoga block. So in other words just because you reserve them doesn't guarantee you will get them.

I'm not shocked to hear this.  Disappointed maybe..but only if I don't get me acupressure mat!

I find the pricing on Celebrity excursion to be excessively high.  I know it comes with peace of mind of the ship waiting for you, but I don't value the peace of mind THAT much.

What are you favourite ways to discover excursions that aren't through Celebrity?

13 hours ago, davekathy said:

In your case it does. Why does it bother you what others say. 

It doesn't bother me what others say.  It bothers me that a certain set of people will not allow other people to have the opposite feeling as them.  That's the whole point.  This group ONLY wants to hear things that confirm what they think.  And at the moment, it seems like they think that Celebrity is the devil and only want to hear/read things that confirm that.  In their minds, there isn't room for the thought that someone might have actually had fun.  

This is a real example:

Person 1:  I had fun on my cruise.  I enjoyed the food.  The crew was great.  Service was great.

Person 2:  Thank you Celebrity Marketing Department

Really?  It isn't possible that person 1 actually liked it?  To be sarcastic and demeaning and totally discount what someone thought about their experience?  Yet the same people do this:

Person 3:  My cruise wasn't good.  The waiter didn't have my drink waiting for me when I sat down.  They wouldn't cook me something that was off the menu and may or may not have actually had on the ship.  And I think my room attendant used my toothbrush to clean the toiler but I have no proof of that.

Person 2: Thank you for your honest review

Also Person 2:  Starts new thread titled "Celebrity saving money by using toothbrushes in cabin to clean toilers"

11 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Hang around for awhile you'll get use to all the different opinions. Just roll with it. Thin skinned isn't good. 

This has nothing to do with being thin skinned.

This has to do with a certain group of people here.  The ones who jump on a positive post because it goes against what they believe.  And those same ones that will call a negative post 'honest' because it confirms what they already believe.  

Most, if not all, of these people haven't even been on a cruise yet this year.

 

2 minutes ago, cw2go said:

I can't even figure out why you thought I was being negative? You seem to have a lot of points in this post that are not related to this thread? Why was I a target? 

 

You basically validated my point... 66 posts vs membership length means NOTHING! I was saying exactly what you are...

Patty 

Again...that was my point.  That's also why I mentioned that this is a new account but I actually date back to 2006 on this board.  And even with that, my opinion doesn't matter any more than anyone else's.  

Either you didn't read my intent, or I wasn't clear...I was agreeing with you.

6 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

It doesn't, but reading many of the posts here, that is what appears to be the norm. Personally I am not a fan of flaming people for their take on their own experiences.

Which is exactly my point.

People perceive things in different ways.  But since January, everything is negative.  EVERY. THING.  And when someone has posted anything positive, they've been called a cheerleader or worse.  Maybe, just maybe, their happiness isn't contingent on getting a second lobster tail.  

Do I love all the changes?  Not at all.  Do I think everything Celebrity is doing is bad.  Also, not at all.  But some people believe that is the case and that everything that happens on their cruise is the fault of Celebrity.  And when someone does come in with an opposite or positive view point, there is a chorus of people to jump all over them for having the different view point.  

Just because it is the norm, doesn't mean it is right.

27 minutes ago, cw2go said:

And is questioning the legitimacy while only having a total of 66 posts? So what length of a CC membership or number of posts is considered qualified? 🙃

Everyone is qualified to have an opinion. The fact is, we know nothing about the majority of posters here.  For my part, this is a new account, so there it shows I've been here less than a month and have less than 50 posts.  But guess what, I used to post under a different account that I lost access to that dates back to 2006.  So that particular poster, would find my comments 'suss' because this account is new....but...by their logic if you take into account the fact that I actually date back 17 years, I should have more clout than them.

But I don't believe in clout based on that at all anyway.  Everyone has their opinions.  Everyone has their preferences.  Everyone has their tastes.

I am really just getting sick of the negativity.  We are all here because supposedly we like cruising (or are trying it), and that we like Celebrity (or are just trying them out for the first time).  Everyone will experience it differently.  

Celebrity will provide a product.  That product will change over time.  It is up to us to decide, for ourselves, if the product they are providing gives what we perceive as value for our money.  When someone decides that it does not provide the value they are looking for, then it's time to find a new cruise line, or a new vacation.  You may find that the grass is greener somewhere else.  You may also find it's a wasteland.

Time's change.  I don't hear any clamouring for a bunch of drunken men shooting off the back of the ship (was once a popular past time on ocean liners).  When I don't think I am getting value for my money, I will change what I want to do.

5 minutes ago, marieps said:

The recent very favorable review of the Beyond EV certainly did not get flamed, but for its alleged click bait heading.

Would the attached comment have been made if the review was not favourable?  I severely have my doubts.  The commenter is only skeptical because it's a positive review in my opinion.  

Which ship just out of curiosity?

We are going thru the same thing on packing.  Also AC.  Trying to do it all in a carry on but are skeptical of accomplishing that.

I'm on an early march sailing.

Just now, Lena11033 said:

How far in advance do the emails come out (if you get them)? Just curious as I'm in AQ for the first time coming up

I"m curious why a positive review is labelled as being from a cheerleader, and why a review that is 100% negative is viewed as 'honest'?

I am my suspicions as to why this phenomena exists, but I am curious what other people thing

I got this email today.  No one else in my party did though.  Soooooo..how does it work.

There are 4 of us going.  Us, and another couple (in another room).  Do all 4 get this?  Or is it per stateroom?  

2 minutes ago, BelleEpoque said:

You’re a unique case. OP is a tad bit dramatic for my tastes, but I am actually enjoying their posts and comebacks even while finding them a bit suss. 

Not that unique.  I have a new account also...my old one dated back to 2006.  

Number of posts and time on site does invalidate people.  Is this a new type of classism?

8 minutes ago, samiams2 said:

WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS!?!? I swore I had read every piece of fine print! 

In the cruise planner under dining.  It's in the fine print of the speciality dining packages.