cruiserhal

We were recently on a 12-night Getaway trip and the Haven menus were the same every day.  Honestly, it was not a problem for me because it did give me a chance to order some items I would not normally order.  Of the 12 nights I can honestly say I did not have anything I did not like but I did repeat some of my favorites a number of times.  

A Radio adventure - fantastic!   I always followed your reviews when you sailed on Royal.  We were recently on the Getaway and can't wait to see your comments about the Joy.  

Have a great trip.  

Hal

2 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Assuming you are driving and parking at the port. You will go up the ramp to the parking lot. Pay and go down to the pier, turn into the parking area and security will be there to look in your trunk or hatch. As soon as you are cleared their is an area you can pull over, porters are there to put your baggage on carts and take them down stairs. Go park and make your way down to the security and check in

Thanks.  Rather than drive I hired someone to bring us.  Don't like to drive very much.  

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

No special place. You just give it the same porters who are handling the steerage passengers' luggage.

Thank you - that helps.

Sorry but it has been many years since leaving from NY with NCL.  Is there a special place for luggage drop off for Haven guests?  

Thanks for any information you can provide.    

Fantastic pictures!  Thanks for sharing.   You must have gotten up very early to get all the pictures without any people in them.  Looking for the next set.

2 hours ago, rncruiser said:

I’m not sure which cruise line we will go with, but definitely not NCL. I have several friends who have had great experiences but the one cruise we had with them about 5 years ago was awful in virtually every aspect imaginable, and some not imaginable. 

I understand completely.  That is why we only book the Haven on NCL and will not consider any other cabin types.  Totally different world from the rest of the ship.  We are also looking at going back to Holland America depending on the destination.  

3 hours ago, rncruiser said:

So disappointing. I may have to reconsider my loyalty to Royal. Meals in the dining room have always been my preference. 

I agree with you on reconsidering Royal.   We have already decided to go back to NCL and booked a trip in the Haven for April 2024.  We booked the haven a number of years ago and really enjoyed it.  The last 3 trips on the Oasis staying in a suite (2 in a GS and one A3 overlooking the water show) were a disappointment for many reasons including poor cabin maintenance.   

We have also booked the Odyssey New Year's cruise in 2024 which we won't cancel but that is the only cruise we have booked with Royal going forward.   We are waiting to see what additional cuts or extra charges may be coming from the Royal accountants.  

Good luck with whatever you decide.  

Hal 

With my TA, we don't receive the OBC until the first or second day of the cruise.  It is never available before the sailing date.   You can check with your TA but that may be their procedure also.

34 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Early, Late, MTD.

Thank you very much.  That helps make my decision.

Hal

Sorry, I'm having a mental block and can't find the simple answer.

Does the Odyssey main dining room have traditional dining along with MTD or is everything MTD?  

Thanks, Hal

I can't address those cabins but we were on the Beyond earlier this year (April 27 to May 15 a TA and then Rome to Rome) in cabin 10127.  Just one deck down.  While we had some rough seas, some bad weather and mostly good sailing I can say we did NOT have any of the reported noises.   I hope this helps somewhat.

Good luck and enjoy the Beyond.  We loved it.  

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Yeah I have a 10 day on Celebrity Beyond in April. It does worry me.

 

 

This past Spring we did a 22 night trip on the Beyond.  We never encountered any waiting for a table at the 4 main dining rooms for breakfast, lunch or dinner.   Each dining room had a lot of tables and plenty of help to wait on people.  

A little humor trying to understand the dining rules.  At least I found it humorous:

I will say that before the trip there was plenty of confusion over dining.  First our TA was told there was both regular dining and MTD.  Wrong.   Then she was told we could reserve dining times before the cruise.  Wrong.   Then we were told to reserve times when we got on the ship.  Wrong.  No reservations in any of the main 4 restaurants.   The only reservations that could be made were in the specialty restaurants.   Seems no one knew how dining worked before we got on the ship.  It all worked out OK.

Enjoy your trip - it is a great ship.

Hal 

Oldest: Sun Viking 1989 (most fun we had on a cruise - believe it or not)

First: Song of America 1988 (total of 5 trips)

Newest:  Anthem 

Favorite Overall:  Song of America

Favorite Currently Sailing with Royal:  Anthem

Sory for adding more than what was originally asked but I needed to get my plugs in for Song of America.  🙂    

On 6/5/2023 at 3:15 PM, question221 said:

Has anyone used Luggage Forward going and return from a cruise with Royal Caribbean at the Rome port?  The shipping to sounds straight forward, but the pick up on the return sounds more complex.   If anyone has used it with Royal Caribbean could you let us know how it went and what you had to do on the last day of the cruise to get your bags to the right place?  Thanks in advance.

I noticed I did not quote my response to your question about Luggage Forward.   Please read post #3.

cruiserhal 

1 hour ago, Tin can said:

What exactly is luggage forwarding?

 

Ideally we would like to send our luggage home (UK) after departing Explorer in Venice so this sounds interesting if someone could provide some details.

 

Thanks

Luggage Forward is one company of many that will ship your suit cases so you don't have to take them with you.  Sorry, I have no idea how to ship from Venice since I only used them from the US.

I've used Luggage Forward for many years both to US ports and to European ports.   These were to a port and not from a port to home.  I found the process to send things home was very confusing so I never tried it.  I read another post a few years ago from another CC member who described the process as difficult.  Think about how confusing and disorganized the disembarkation process can be then add that you have to find your suitcases and then try to find the LF rep to turnover the cases and needed paperwork.  In the US, the paperwork is straight forward and they use either Fed Ex or UPS so I assume that maybe they arrange a rep to be at the proper dock.  I don't know.   Shipping internationally is more interesting.

International shipping to a port.  You must have the bags ready to ship about 2 weeks before the cruise (8 to 10 days in for a US port).  With the suitcases you must include a customs form for the end country detaining everything in each case (provided by LF).   Customs adds shipping time.  I never had a problem with this.  I have no idea what you need to ship back to the US.  

Sorry I can't help with the return shipping process other than my comments above.

3 important hints:

1. Take color pictures of the cases you ship and have multiple copies.  One for you and one or more for the cabin steward who may have to go find them.  One time they were delivered to a ship OK but stored on a different deck luggage area.

2. Have a copy of your paperwork from LF and the Customer Service number in case there is a problem.  This is from personal experience this past April.  (We were without 2 suitcases for 10 days on a trans-Atlantic cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Rome.) 

3. Be sure to check with your cabin steward if you don't have your cases 3 hours before sailing!  If they can't find them call LF CS asap and keep calling if the cases don't show up.  I kept calling every 10 to 15 minutes and was told they were delivered over and over.  I finally talked to a CS rep who noticed all my calls and said she would contact the delivery service.   Finally, I was told the driver did not deliver the cases but was on his way.  This was 15 minutes after we left port thus the 10 day delay.  Thank goodness for Celebrity Cruises staff who helped me with the process including contacting LF and customs for me since I don't have international calling on my phone.  Enough of that.  Bottom line is stay on top of the shipment until delivered.

Sorry this is so long but I hope it helped a little.

Terrific summary - thank you very much.  We are doing the crossing in April and the following Rome to Rome cruise and are always looking for opinions of the Beyond.  Thanks again.

3 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Celebrity has had this requirement since November 

 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/healthy-at-sea/transatlantic-travel-requirements

I just went to this link and the second line says:

This direction applies to guests aboard Celebrity Infinity departing Fort Lauderdale, Florida November 28, 2022

I don't see anywhere that this is for all TA sailings.

Yes, in 1989 for Thanksgiving.  It was our third cruise ever, Song of America was first and Sovereign was second.  There were 550 passengers (if the information I have is correct).  We had a fantastic time.  The staff was excellent - that is the only time on our any of our 53 cruises that anyone managed to get me out to dance.   The small Viking Crown Lounge and the outside ladder to get there was one of our favorite spots.    Food was so-o-o-o much better than ships today.   Good memories.   Oh, neither my wife nor I get seasick which helped since the small ship did Rock & Roll.  

We just returned from a 19-day B2B on the Equinox using the basic package.  Most of what my DW and I drink is covered we decided not to upgrade.  Our overages were in the $2 to $6 per day for a special wine and large martinis so the math worked in our favor.  BTY, at the martini bar they saw the basic package and always made me the smaller martini unless I asked for the larger one - they keep both glasses at the bar.  I agree with waiting until you board to make the final decision since you can't go back after upgrading.   Have a good trip.

We just got off a 19 night B2B on Dec 1 and totally agree with you about the ship, entertainment and Eddy.  The Rave-Ons were terrific.  Funny thing was I didn't know who they were but when they came on the stage all I could think of was that the lead singer looked like Buddy Holly!   I loved the ending of the show when he sang the slightly modified version of American Pie to the point when Holly died.  Wow.  

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.  

8 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Maybe the exciting news was the dropping of pre cruise testing requirements.

 

COVID-19 Cruise Health & Safety Protocols | Celebrity Cruises

 

That is great news.  Thanks for posting this.

Hal

14 minutes ago, jwlane said:

Touch the calendar at the top center, then, if necessary, at the bottom select Change Ship/Dates.

13 minutes ago, prmssk said:

At the top, you probably see three icons (a ship, a calendar, and a person).  If so, click on the person (the right one).  Then it should show the cruise it is currently showing and there should be an option to "Select a different" cruise underneath.

THANK YOU Both!   I think I had a senior moment but I'm fine now.

Can someone please tell me how to switch reservations in the celebrity App?   I did it before but I can't remember how and can't seem to find it.   Thanks for any help.