Straughn

Since the restart after “that pandemic”, I have been surprised at the lack of requests from staff re the survey and his/her ratings. My experience has been that those requests were fewer. (Others mileage may vary.) When a crew member tells me that I need to reply to the survey and hope that he/she will receive a 10, my standard response is “your service deserves a 10 and will, most likely get a 10, if your service continues as it has been so far. I say this pleasantly with a smile, and have never had that server ask again.

Will be on Jewel twice in 2023. I am trying to a get a handle on the pricing of the various non alcoholic drink packages.. What is the current “pay as you go” cost of a can of soda and a bottle/can of water? I am not sure I will drink enough of either to justify getting a package, so pricing would be very helpful. Thanks.

Absolutely, the best explanation of the differences in the two beverage packages I have read.

I was in The Retreat on Silhouette for the recent transatlantic from Southampton to Miami. Since the invention of Luminae, this was, by far, the most disappointing experience. Many of the foods I received were at best lukewarm- soups, main courses, and then one breakfast disappointment. Completely cold and undercooked Belgian waffles. I sent several courses back; they were returned somewhat warmer, but never hot.. I was not alone in my opinion. It was a frequent discussion in The Retreat Lounge- food temperature, over or undercooked foods.

I now read on the C&A info that Royal has reinstated the access for D+ (and Pinnacle) folks to the Concierge Lounge. Yes, I understand this does not apply to Suite Lounges-only the very few ships who still have Concierge Lounges. What have folks actual experiences been? Is this dependent on the # of D+ and Pinnacle passengers? I am D+, sailing solo, on Jewel in February and would like to know the chances of actually being able to take advantage of this perk. Additonally, I know I can go to the Diamond Lounge. As a solo, I find I have a better chance of seeing the same folks each evening and striking up a “ship friendship” in the less crowded Concierge Lounge.

Are the bars open? 🙄 Of course they are! Go drown your troubles…

Hi Abby! I doubt that you recognize my screen name. You and Glen know me as Pat, the solo lady, with whom you dined, spent time in the Retreat Lounge, and went to the theatre with on numerous occasions. I am enjoying your recap of the cruise. Love your writing style as you have a slightly humorous approach to things. Please keep the posts coming as I like your prospective on the cruise.

Back in the pre-Covid days, as we know, a muster drill required you to report, along with all the other passengers, to your assigned location. There were always a few no shows, late arrivals etc that delayed the process for all the passengers. I (jokingly) said one time to a Hotel Director that the solution to that problem was to not open the bars until after the muster drill. He replied, quite seriously, “don’t think we haven’t thought about that.”

Any Buffalo Trace sightings?

Same issues here. I reset cookies, cleared cache, etc. Still not working.

I have purchased the unlimited dining package for my Jewel cruise in February. In the past (pre-Covid), it included lunch, on Embarkation day, at Chops. I do not see that listed in the description now. Has that been removed?

Interesting that underage children are allowed in The Retreat Lounge unaccompanied. Pre Covid, I distinctly remember the concierge telling a family that their son (whose was 14ish) must always have a parent or other adult with him in the lounge. The parents asked and that was the response. That matched what I had been told on other ships- kids must have an adult with them. Like everything with Celebrity, that has probably changed so as not to offend someone.

I have been in a SV, on deck 7, but on the Edge. Since they are sister ships, I would guess the deck layout is the same. I would say that approx. half of the balcony is covered and half is open. Unless you stand at the rail, no one can see you. I had minimal issues with soot, but I did have my steward leave a beach towel so I could cover the chairs when seated. I was in one of the two center cabins and the balcony was huge!

I am in the group who doesn’t like the IV cabins, so my E class sailings are in an SV or SS. I can see them being useful in colder climates where using the balcony w/o bundling up isn’t possible. On warm weather cruises, I want my balcony. My thoughts on why the IV was developed are this. There are no balcony rails with wood and metal to be maintained. It is much easier to have the Bridge close and lock all the windows and then go zipping along with the window washer. The cabin steward can clean the IV the same way he/she cleans the rest of the cabin. With a true balcony, the cabin steward has to clean it every day, hose it down a couple of times a week to get rid of the salt spray, and clean the interior of the glass. There are complaints about dirty chairs, tables, floors. With a regular balcony , the wooden rails must be periodically refinished and the metal framing rusts. I am sure there are a lot of complaints about the condition of the true balconies.

I am an allergy suffer. I take two different meds to control it. If I was around the ship in the early morning, everyone would assume I had Covid. I cough, I sneeze, I blow my nose, I clear my throat. I know it is allergies. So, I now plan to be up at least an hour before I leave my cabin as I don’t want others to think I have Covid.

I had them with me on my last two cruises (July & April) with no issues. Packed them in my checked suitcase.

Ok, I am probably going to get beat up with this comment. How in the heck did we all survive before the ability to constantly be in touch 24/7? My late DH and I loved cruising because, for 7 days, his office (he was the CEO) could not reach him. He DID NOT want to work for seven days. That was why he had a deputy. Today, I read posts about cruisers having concerns that the Wi-Fi connection might not be good enough for their daily FaceTime call with their pet at the sitters or pet spa. What did folks do when they went on vacation and left their pet? My grandchild is having a birthday party. Will I be able to Zoom in to participate? What did you do when there was no Zoom? There are concerns that about being able to be on a Zoom call for work. Will the Wi-Fi support a video conference call with X number of people? Does anyone just go on vacation to chill out anymore?

@MarkWiltonM9309 will have bed by the balcony. Each cabin has a little rectangular jut out into the cabin beside. That little space is where the bed is. 9307 bed by bath,9309 -balcony, 9311-bath, 9312- balcony, 9310-bath, 9308-balcony.

Yes.it is.

And to answer often asked questions- No, it isn’t noisy at all. Bit of a mechanical hum and it only takes a few minutes to pass by the cabin. No one is on it, so no one looking in the cabins. At most, it moves twice a day.

Celebrity has four ships doing TA's that stop in Bermuda in October: Beyond, Edge Silhouette and Reflection. That is a lot of passengers to test on each ship. And as someone pointed out earlier, there may be a number of asymptomatic passengers or those not reporting that they are ill. Do they really want to deal with all this? Plus, if the ship has too high an infection count, Bermuda might refuse to let the ship dock. I have had that happen twice in Caribbean. I am on the Silhouette TA and it would be fine with me if they canceled Bermuda and sent us just about any place else.

@sollyman Enjoying your posts immensely as I am in an SS for the October TA. I love the aft cabins, but alas, all were taken by the time I booked the cruise. I keep watching to see if one surfaces, but not getting my hopes up. Also, put in a mid range Move Up offer on a CS. Don’t expect that to happen either. Interesting about The Retreat Lounge. I so hope folks are there pre dinner as I enjoy the lounge then. I also go to the continental breakfast there most mornings. I have not done afternoon tea.

I was about to post the same question. I have quotes from Blackberry and Pinkberry. They are the same price. My concern is also reliability as I have read posts similar to what the OP mentioned. Blackberry gets good reviews. I can’t find much on Pinkberry.

Female bourbon lover here.I realize that I am not the only one, but all of my bourbon drinker friends are male. On my Apex cruise, in April, I was in The Retreat. First night, I looked at the bourbon selection on display and selected Woodford. The next day, I said to the bartender that I had been able to get Buffalo Trace on Edge in February. He said “I have it,.” He reached into a cabinet under the counter and pulled it out. Well, OK, then! For the next 6 nights, when I arrived in the lounge, a glass of Buff was immediately poured for me. Last night of the cruise, I go to the lounge and the bartender, whom I tipped nicely, said we are out of Buffalo Trace. I had Woodford. About 15 minutes later, the very young server in the lounge (whom I also tipped. I think most didn’t) shows up with a very full glass of Buffalo. I said how did you do this. He said, I work many locations on the ship. I know which bars have it. So, the point, to this self serving post, is that there may be good liquor available, but you need to ask for it.

I was just going to say this. And agree about JD.