mahdnc

Yeah, good point. That release date is obviously a typo.

If and when it is apparent that Xcel is going to finish ahead of schedule, I imagine you might see those pre-inaugural sailings offered.

I hope you have a nice cruise, Ruth.

Sorry, the URL I posted is messed up. Here is the correct one: https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Deployment/CEL_2025_26_Itinerary_Reference_Guide.pdf

Both times we sailed on Solstice shave been from Sydney. It is an awesome city and Sydney Harbour is so picturesque. I guess we were lucky as we have never had a problem with embarkation however I can see how the traffic to the Overseas Passenger Terminal could be bad during peak times. Also the space for traffic around the OPT is especially tight. Tendering at the Great Barrier Reef ports is a very long process, indeed.

I have not seen a Celebrity or RCG number associated with the food cut backs. However in this Seatrade Cruise News article that was published earlier this month, NCL reported that they cut food cost per passenger by nearly 30% since 4Q2022.

Thank you for your review. We will be sailing on her for the 3rd time next month (the first time since the cutbacks). How were the ports you visited?

Here is the newly published Deployment Itinerary Reference Guide 2025/26. Dates and itineraries for Xcel's cruises are listed.

Maybe the color of the logo changes with the season. We are looking at the fall logo.

Thanks for posting! How’s the ride?

Here is something I found on a Celebrity website (not the usual celebritycruises.com website) that gives some guidance: link (see the third FAQ). It doesn't say you have to fill out a form but you need to present a notarized letter with the specified information/language in it. Like the form I mentioned in my previous post, this is for a situation where the adult is neither the parent nor legal guardian, but I think the guidance on the wording of the letter would be the same as for your situation. If you want complete peace of mind that you are documenting this correctly, I would contact Celebrity Cruises or have your travel agent do it.

You don't have to use a form per se as long as all the relevant information is on it (and it's notarized). Having said that, you could use this Royal Caribbean Group form and assign your husband as the accompanying adult.

We don't know for sure, but my guess it will continue to be a Millennium class ship.

Last year, the westbound transcanal sailing (Summit, Apr 2024) was released on Nov 15 while the Caribbean sailings were released in mid December. The eastbound transcanal sailing (Summit, Sep 2024) was not released at the same time when the westbound one was. I think that one got released in late December.

Yes it was! We were lucky enough to go on 5 Celebrity cruises before Celebrity's relationship with Michel Roux came to an end. He oversaw the implementation of the original specialty restaurants on all 4 Millennium class ships.

You will want to head straight to the specialty restaurant as soon as you board the ship to talk to someone there about getting your reservation time changed to something more to your liking. There likely will be a small line of people doing the same thing as you.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/single-parent-cruise-advice-your-questions-answered

Typically you will need a notarized letter from you authorizing your husband to take the kids on the ship and ashore. However the requirements are not uniform nor universal. Therefore you need to find out what the requirements are from Celebrity (for them to allow you on the ship) and each individual country that your husband will be taking them to. If your husband and kids are flying to a foreign port to start the cruise, the airline may also have a requirement.

Very nice review and photos. We will be out there in a couple of weeks. Were you allowed to bring a backpack (personal item) in addition to the 22 lb carryon luggage or were they considered to be the same thing?

Yes, that was the last PUP opportunity. Here is the list of PUP opportunities since the beginning of 2002 to date. The dates show when the points were awarded.

I got my survey, but there are no PowerUp Points to be had from it.

We have sailed out of Sydney twice on Solstice. Once to the Great Barrier Reef (starboard side cabin) and the second time to New Zealand (port side cabin). Having done it both ways, I don't think it makes much of a difference which side of the ship your cabin is on. Perhaps the only consideration maybe is Sydney itself although even that consideration is not clear which side is better: 1. IF the ship is docked with its bow point towards Sydney (1st photo), then you will get a nice view of the Opera House from a port side cabin. Most of the time I see ships docked with their bow facing towards the center of Sydney however there are a few photos that show cruise ships docked with their bow pointed towards away from the center of Sydney. 2. When the ship sails away, the starboard side will get the close up view of the Opera House as as your ship sails past it. None of our port stops made it clear to me that a cabin on one side of the ship was better than the other including sailing into Milford Sound (2nd photo). All the port days at the Great Barrier Reef (3rd photo) are tendered and you are fairly far away from any scenery.

There should be a discount for three. The flyer simply gave numbers for four.