JustinPlusLauren

We dressed up for the formal nights and it seemed like we were among the only ones who did! Most people were dressed pretty casually, even on the formal nights. 

Hello everyone! We sailed for the first time with Celestyal Cruises this past June aboard the Celestyal Crystal. It was the Idyllic Aegean itinerary from Athens, which included Thessaloniki, Kusadasi (Turkey), Heraklion (Crete), Santorini, Mykonos and Milos. When our ship couldn't dock in Mykonos due to high winds, we went to Syros instead which was beautiful! And then we went to Mykono in the evening, so we got to visit two islands in one day!

Celestyal Cruises isn't like most other cruise lines I've been on. The ships are rather no-frills with the focus being more on the ports. With that said, the food and drink was awesome, and we loved being on a smaller ship and getting to know the staff better for more personalized service!

I've written a full review of our experiences with everything you need to know about Celestyal Cruises. We've also written some pros and cons to traveling on this cruise and ultimately some reason why we really enjoyed our trip.

Check out the review here: https://justinpluslauren.com/celestyal-cruises-review/

Here are a few photos from the places we visited on our cruise!  Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have! 

On 5/3/2023 at 4:42 PM, Megan_Strick said:

Is there a beach within walking distance? I'm a female traveling solo so I'm a little nervous to venture too far.

I think it would be a little too far to walk. You'd need to take a taxi.

If the tour you wanted to book is all full up on the ship, you can easily book with an independent tour company I'm sure! You can do a quick search on Viator as well and join a tour, just make sure you pick a tour that works with the time you are in port as to not miss the ship.

There are many questions here about the best shore excursions to take while in Puerto Plata, and I've compiled a list of the best ones! There's something for everyone here - beach days, snorkeling trips, outdoor adventures, city tours, and even a couple of voluntourism trips that I personally really enjoyed.

Check out the 10 best Puerto Plata shore excursions on my travel blog! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I'll try my best to help!

I've used ResortPass in Miami and had an amazing time! Our flight was later in the evening and we disembarked from a cruise ship in the morning. It was fantastic because we could store our luggage at the hotel, make full use of the facilities all day long, and then head to the airport later that day. I imagine that a ResortPass for a day in port would be great - you could use all of the resort facilities for the day. 

On 3/2/2023 at 7:17 PM, genealogyfan said:

Thanks for the info. Just an FYI, Norweigan Cruise lines is sailing/docking there too. At least the Epic on the Apr 14 sailing is.

Oh that's good to know!! Thanks! 🙂

On 2/28/2023 at 9:30 PM, sailawaybellaluna said:

This is so helpful, thank you for posting! I think this has convinced me not to book a tour! 

Do you happen to know the minimum age for children on the zip line?

 

Thank you!

I didn't know off hand, but I searched around a little for you to see if I could find any information. Apparently the minimum age is 14, but I'm not totally sure if that's correct. I also saw the minimum weight is 80 lbs (and max is 250 lbs). 

When we took an island tour of Grenada a few years back, we learned about the spices, visited a beautiful waterfall and a crater lake, and eventually made our way to a small bar. After sampling some rum punch, our tour guide brought out this big gallon jug filled with a clear liquid with tons of fresh spices stuffed inside.

This is what locals call "under the counter" - a name for an unregulated kind of alcohol that's not exactly legal, but so common place that it's not banned. But, you won't find it listed on any signs or menus at the bar!

Under the counter is a high proof, often "overproof" rum. At 140 proof or higher (over 70% alcohol), you can't bring it home with you on an airplane - the bottles could explode in transit! You need to try it while you're in Grenada. You take a shot of it and immediately chase it down with some water. It's pretty potent!

If you want to bring it home as a souvenir, many distilleries make a 138 proof (69% alcohol) version that's safe to fly with.

You can read more about drinking "Under the Counter" on my travel blog >> Under the Counter in Grenada !

4 hours ago, Suntanz said:

Awesome review! Thanks for posting this. I debating whether to do the Falls with my 22 & 21 year old when we cruise in May.

I've heard it's amazing. I had it booked when I went there, but unfortunately there was flooding when I visited and it wasn't open. I had to cancel my tour. This is a pretty rare occurrence though so I'm sure things will be fine when you visit!

I visited Amber Cove a number of years ago, shortly after it first opened, and I wrote a guide all about planning your visit. I've recently updated that guide with information about how to spend the day in Amber Cove, excursions you can take from Amber Cove, and some details about the volunteer excursions you can take that were a big focal point of the trip I originally made there (on the defunct Fathom Cruises ship, Adonia).

You can check out my full guide here! It might answer some questions you may have, and also help you plan your trip.

I'll include a few photos below from my trip to Amber Cove. Please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have and I'll try my best to help!

Also, thank you so much Cruise Critic for the award for my review! I'm honored! 🙂 

On 2/21/2023 at 7:02 PM, rockmom said:

While I'm glad that Royal recognizes that there should be vegan options, by moving the vegan menu that used to be on the app (or you could ask for the paper menu), they have pretty much made the choice to be either you eat meat/seafood or you eat vegan.  For the many vegetarians out there, that become much more restrictive.  A vegan menu will not have butter, dairy, eggs--and nothing that is made with any of those things.  Vegetarians are sort of stuck in the middle.  So many things have milk, cheese, eggs or egg whites and butter as an ingredient. Not everyone wants to be as strict as a vegan diet needs to be, but they do want to enjoy meat-free meals.  And with the 'no special requests' mandate, ordering a baked potato with butter and sour cream, or add shredded cheese of some sort to one of the vegan dishes isn't an option.  Seems so odd because there are far more vegetarians than true vegans, there must be a way to accommodate both.   

I was vegetarian for many years before I was vegan, so I hear you. There were still some vegetarian dishes on the menu that weren't vegan. Lots of things with cheese, etc. And lots of other things in the buffet that were vegetarian and not vegan. So, you still have options. I had them make one of the vegetarian pastas into a vegan one for me when I didn't love the vegan entree option that night.

By making a vegan option on the menu, it is more inclusive because both vegetarians, vegans, and those who have allergies to eggs and dairy (or those choosing not to eat eggs or dairy products) can eat them.

On 2/21/2023 at 7:59 PM, raoden said:

Is it confirmed at this point that they are strict about not allowing requests for vegetarian food that is not on the menu? If yes that is definitely a big downside for the vegetarians.

 

I guess the following page is out of date now?

What Options Are Available for Dietary Restrictions? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

 

Especially the following...

"A variety of vegetarian Meals are available on all menus in the Main Dining Room and Windjammer Cafe every day. Guests do not need to make a special request for these meals."

I'm not sure what you mean about not allowing requests (please let me know!). There are always vegetarian/vegan options on the main dining room menus and there are lots of options in the Windjammer. 

There was a time when I wanted one of the vegetarian pastas to be made vegan in the MDR and they had no problem doing that.  There are still some vegetarian items on the menu that aren't vegan, in addition to the vegan ones.

Anyway, let me know what you mean regarding a request for vegetarian food and I'll try to help.

On 2/17/2023 at 4:21 PM, TwoMisfits said:

I'm not a vegan, but b/c of my allergies, I tend to eat a lot of vegan foods, especially desserts.  Thanks for the pics and reviews of all the new vegan foods on the menus.  It's helped me immensely!

You're welcome!! I loved all of the desserts each night. I only wish they would expand the sweet treats to other areas around the ship, like at the cafes! But, I'm grateful that they're available each evening and it's probably good that I'm only eating dessert once a day anyway 😉 haha

On 2/17/2023 at 12:34 PM, WyKnott said:

I'm not vegan, but my best friend is. On previous cruises, she had a selection from the separate vegan menu, now it looks like the choices are fewer. How did that affect your dinners?

I never sailed with the previous menu so I can't comment about that, but this didn't affect my dinners at all. I really enjoyed everything that was served. There was one instance where I was able to modify a vegetarian pasta to be vegan quite easily since I didn't want the vegan option that night. I was really happy with the vegan meals!

18 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

No, we just had the chips with quac, tomatoes, salsa, jalapenos, but they did load them up and they were really good! Yep I wish they had a vegan cheese option, mainly for the pizza but I roll with it on a cruise and enjoy the made for me veggie ones 🙂

I roll with it, too. Maybe that's because back when we both went vegan, 2008 / 2009, there weren't that many vegan cheeses out there (maybe Daiya?) and so we were used to going without any haha!

14 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

You are welcome to! We went back a few nights and even had my son (who we jokingly call the anti-vegan though he loves what I make and he and his friends all request my pecan pie lol) and his GF who weren't interested in going but when they saw my pics they came too and ordered the veggie sushi too and loved it!  

Thank you so much, that's amazing!! 

That's so funny. After seeing that sushi, I don't know how anyone could not want to try it! 

1 hour ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

Just got off Wonder, the best vegan food was found in the Indian/Asian section of Windjammer. Specifically the cauliflower “wings” that were breaded and crispy in a light chili sauce. After the crunch of the delicious outside coating, the cauliflower melted in your mouth, and the chili sauce provided a little spice that was perfect. 
 

Veggie burgers were complimentary and available on Wonder upon request in the Windjammer.

That sounds so good! I didn't see the cauliflower wings when I was there, but it sounds amazing. I also didn't see any veggie burgers on Symphony of the Seas, but I never asked - perhaps they had some upon request as well!

3 hours ago, ShillyShally said:

Adding a photo of the veggie sushi we got at Izumi more than one night 🙂  We're hoping we can do this again on upcoming cruises that have Izumi.

This looks SO GOOD!

May I ask you a favor...could I use this photo in my blog? I would be happy to give you a shoutout/photo credit if you agree! Please let me know!

3 hours ago, ShillyShally said:

Thanks so  much - I've been vegan since 2008 and sailed many a time and have never starved.  Some cruises were awesome, some more sparse on food options but I'm looking forward to trying the new menus.  I had awesome luck on our last cruise on Indy where we got amazing veggie sushi and had them do vegan nachos at playmakers. 

 

Were the onion rings vegan?  They haven't been in the past but my husband will be thrilled if they now are!

Wow! Veggie sushi AND vegan nachos, that's awesome! Did they use vegan cheese on the nachos? I couldn't seem to get vegan cheese anywhere that I asked, but I didn't try Playmakers.

I actually didn't ask about the onion rings. I made a wrongful assumption that they were vegan, and now that I think about it, they might not have been. Since I can't be certain, I'll make the amendment to my article. Thank you!! Also - Vegan since 2009 here! 🙂 

1 hour ago, Badatz2 said:

The food looks very delicious and I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Did you happen to ask the staff if the food was cooked in regular pans, fryers, oven etc, or in special vegan dedicated ones?

In the main dining room, the vegan options are marked as vegan on the menu, so I'm thinking that they are using dedicated pans and things for them. I never asked though. There weren't any issues of cross-contamination at all, as far as I could tell!

I'd perhaps create an email group or a private Facebook group for the whole family. Ask people to make suggestions of what they're really looking forward to doing on the ship. Choose a couple of activities from that list or perhaps book an excursion together if you can all agree to one. I'm sure there will be lots of different tastes and preferences and you don't want to force everyone into continual activities with one another the entire time. I think it should be a group decision 🙂

Seapass, and also be sure to arrive early if you're sailing on a larger ship! Bingo was extremely popular. We waited in line for about an hour before to ensure we could buy our tickets and find a seat in the lounge. 

Hi everyone! I recently sailed aboard Symphony of the Seas as someone who follows a vegan diet. It was my first time sailing with Royal Caribbean (I've cruised with Princess, HAL, MSC and Carnival in the past) so I was excited to try the vegan and vegetarian offerings.

I sailed mid-December on Symphony of the Seas and they were testing out the new menus. The first main thing I noticed was that there wasn't a separate vegan menu. Instead, the vegan options were integrated into the regular menu. There were options for each course, starters, entrees and desserts.

We also dined at Johnny Rockets (but didn't venture into any other specialty restaurants as the options were never as good for vegans as the MDR), Windjammer, Solarium Bistro, and El Loco Fresh. 

I've taken SO many photos of all the food, the menus, and basically everything I ate over the course of the week. The food was all really delicious, some of the best that I've had on any cruise ship! There were a couple of misses, but overall, it was awesome. 

It would be wonderful if the cruise carried vegan cheese for the pizza and had some other vegan options on the specialty restaurant menus. And perhaps a few vegan desserts as grab-and-go options at the cafes. Otherwise, I was really impressed!

It's all shared over on my travel blog if you'd like to take a look! >> Royal Caribbean Vegan Guide on my travel blog.