goofysmom99

Jim, all the S-class ships (except RF) have only 70 suites total. Apex has 184 suites and Beyond, a whopping 204! The numbers alone disenchanted me with E-class. No way to receive personal service among hordes. BTW, I also prefer Michael's Club to the Retreat. Excellent news about the vacherin! That and the zenith discount just might win me back to X. 😉

David, did you get another eclipse photo today?

Nah. I prefer the bunny fur-covered handcuffs. Just sayin....

Concierge cabin on Summit earlier this month. Had stateroom attendant push the bed all the way to the chair. Plenty of room to park and turn around. Also exposed the plug so used a Euro adapter. Worked well. Will NOT work in standard veranda; in standard cabin, bed is already up against the chair.

From X's FAQs: If your assistive device is 23 inches or less, it will fit through a standard stateroom door. If your assistive device is 32 inches or less, it will fit through an accessible stateroom door.

The scooters come with a big charging brick, a bit like laptops had in olden days. They take both 110/220.

You can make it fit in a concierge or aqua cabin but M-class standard balcony cabin is too small. I know this first hand.

After checking the zenith fare for next year's Eclipse TA, I looked at the price I'm paying for identical 13-night TA on Silversea for same period. Celebrity Eclipse (2010 build), in an accessible S1 w/zenith discount, is still $200 more, +$299 for gratuities, than the solo fare I grabbed in early Feb for next year's Silver Ray (2024 build) accessible suite (way bigger and better than X's). SS includes excursions, specialty dining, and $300 OBC. I do appreciate the effort X is making, but so far, the product doesn't yet justify the price for me. Royal Caribbean Group is probably quite happy, though, that I'm at least keeping this particular TA within the family.

I just looked up next year's 13-night Eclipse TA and the difference for cruise-only is ~$911 (~$70/day). For two, it was $1012 (~$39/day/person). Didn't reflect my usual military discount, though. I suppose including both the z and mil discounts automatically would overtax X's IT dept, but I'm actually impressed they were able to mesh the CC numbers (plus, I can do -$200 math in my head😅).

Last three cruises (Constellation, Summit), every time I used my card at Sunset Bar for a single drink, when I'd check my account, always showed multiple orders, usually +3 or 4. Only happened at Sunset. Bartender was obviously pouring freebies (for tips).

Finally. It's too late for me for this year and next (booked other lines), but it's now a possibility for 2026. A lot will be determined by their handling of this for a solo.

Or, a lot of awful music. 😇

Earlier this month on Summit, I wanted to enjoy the before-dinner group in the Rendezvous. Had much more current tunes, good singer with talented backup, but....they were so overamped, it was actually painful. My fancy, new Sony noise-canceling earbuds weren't up to the task either. Probably could have benefited from the noise-suppressing earmuffs I was required to wear around jet engines back in the day. I don't know what demographic ear pain should appeal to; it was absurdly loud all the way into Luminae where they closed the doors. Up until this last cruise, Summit has been nearest to my heart (cruised her 11 times since the restart). Sadly, this time, everything was "off" in most of the venues. MDR quality was much better, though. Looking at the big picture, I'm glad RCI is profitable and paying off its debt but it saddens me to watch Celebrity's bumper-car style of management steer the line I've loved for 30 years so far off course. Someday I hope they can find their way back.

If OP was able to carry luggage on onto Apex, I imagine that luggage will fit through the scanner for Summit.

Exactly what I did on Summit late last month @ 10:30.

I repeat, I don't see M&Ms ever returning. They win.

For sure a raincoat/poncho of some sort. I've been rained on a whole lot during/after Spring TAs and it's usually too windy for an umbrella (and umbrellas are a hassle anyway). But all the gardens are glorious at that time of the year!

So many of the M&Ms/Connections I used to attend devolved into folks making announcements about their private tours = a rude slap in the face to the folks who put on the gathering since those folks obviously cared about selling Celebrity's tours. And even though Cruise Critic lists Meet & Mingles as "paused," in light of the current revenue-producing frenzy occurring within all the RCI fleets, I don't see M&Ms ever returning.

They got plenty of feedback from me after a cruise earlier this month. No beverage package on my room key (bartenders knew black card should have it, though) and I was charged for room service three days in a row. Three trips to Guest Relations. At the Zenith lunch, I fussed to CC concierge about the charges and she actually said she'd have to check on if it was free. I chose not to complain about it to HD who was seated next to me. Later I got a call that "Miami" said free room service was OK. Ya think? I can't possibly have been their first zenith not in a suite! Oh, and also haven't received double points after my last six cruises; waited for the two most recent to post so I'd only have to make one call (yesterday). Yup, I sure feel "special." One X cruise remaining in November then 2025/6 are all booked elsewhere. And they didn't give me Suite/Zenith luggage tags.

The Hotel Abruzzi (Albergo Abruzzi) is exactly next door to Albergo del Senato. I've stayed in both and actually liked the Abruzzi better. If you're able bodied (stairs) and it's available, their annex room was my all-time favorite. It's one story up, not in the main hotel, and it was utterly delightful to hang out the windows and watch the goings-on at all hours. BTW, they'll help you with your luggage. I can't manage a flight of stairs anymore so have had to settle on the main hotel (elevator). Late October is my favorite time to visit Rome. Have fun!

I wouldn't count on outrage making a huge difference. The CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, Jason Liberty, moved to that position from the CFO side of the house, not hospitality. His emphasis is and will always be on the earnings/shareholder side of things. As a stockholder, I'm pleased; as a passenger, not so much. Love him or hate him, he's the golden boy of the cruise industry which is why he was named chairman of CLIA in January. My guess is they'll use the photo op to try to rein-in some of the pax who are bailing on overpriced Celebrity suites. I'm one of them. As a solo, 18-night 2025 Silver Moon Panama Canal transit was $6650 less for me than a 16-night Summit sky suite. For two people, SS is still $3400 less than X. I guess I'm making Jason happy by staying within the Royal family for this cruise. I also think he knows SS has heavy competition.

I've cruised Celebrity for many years and for the past twelve months or so, every after-cruise survey has included something to the effect: "Which of these cruise lines are part of the Royal Caribbean Group?" Same question on the after-cruise survey I completed just a few minutes ago. Ditto on a couple of Celebrity marketing surveys, too. Evidently not enough people know SS is part of the Royal Caribbean Group. I was disappointed but unsurprised to read that SS is doing the 3-ship photo op with such insensitivity to the disruption it causes their customers. My take is that RCG (Jason Liberty = bean-counter central) is calling ALL the shots for all three lines. I doubt it's coincidental that Celebrity no longer has a CEO, but a President. Celebrity has made equally bone-headed management moves since early 2023. That was why I decided to widen my horizons to SS (and RSSC & Oceania). Since it looks like RCG wants to Royalize all three of their lines, maybe SS won't be a good fit for me, but I'm going to give it two tries.

And I've received no-show double points. Guess it depends on who answers. Lately I've had to call almost every time to correct from single to double points. Usually corrected within a day or two. Most recently, took two calls.

I'm currently on Summit. First leg, I was charged for room service (always wrote Zenith benefit). The other seven zeniths were in suites so they weren't affected. It took two trips to Guest Relations and one to the CC concierge before it finally got straightened out. I don't even want to remember the boarding screw-up in Miami (they apologized). All is well now.

Whenever I've taken port intensive cruises like Med, Baltics, etc, I've been so tired after dinner, entertainment never mattered. TA/TP = maybe.