lizzy911

Thanks for your review. Just to confirm - you went out of San Juan? We are taking our first cruise out of San Juan on the Summit on Saturday. I have been curious on boarding times as we were given 2:30 and would prefer to board between noon and 1:00.

CELEBRITY MOVE UP TRACKER 

• Ship:  Celebrity Summit
• Length of Cruise: 7 nights
• Cruise Sail Date: November 9, 2019
• Date email offer received: September 11, 2019
• Captain’s Club Tier [“PREVIEW” = first Celebrity Cruise]: Classic
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA
• Current Cabin: Category 6 - Oceanview
• Bid?  Yes/No: Yes

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: Balcony
• Bid Offer: $150 per person ($300 total)
• Notification Date: October 25, 2019
• Accepted / Rejected Accepted

General Comments (offer details, etc.) Also bid $225 per person concierge and $255 per person Aqua. Minimums were $80 per person for balcony, $150 per person concierge, $250 per person Aqua. Category 2C, lowest balcony was assigned. We are very excited!

I've cruised eight times in the past twelve years, including twice on the Celebrity Reflection. I am sailing on the Summit out of San Juan in November. Historically I have found main dining room food to be very average across all cruise lines, generally not much better than buffet food. With a very port intensive itinerary (5 in 7 days), we think we'll probably use the buffet a lot at dinner because we'll be tired from daily activities. 

Any recent feedback on the quality of Summit buffet food at dinner? Do they have theme dinners (i.e. Asian food, Mexican night), or is the food generally the same nightly? 

Thanks!

We were on a Celebrity Cruise with 400+ Bears and only 30 people under the age of 18 onboard, including our then 4 year old daughter. Her development was not impacted by the cruise 😂

It was an amazing time and we had some terrific conversations. Members of the group invited us (and many other like minded travelers) to some of their private events. The drag show run by the group was top notch, far exceeding Celerity's entertainment options.

Sorry to the OP.

I believe Nassau was not an option for this sailing because of the number of ships already there. Some would have preferred it; some (me) prefer Miami.

All of this misses that unlike a weather issue, this was Royal's fault. Which yes they are in their rights to make a change for whatever reason or no reason at all, but we have the right to be unhappy and wish they had a better alternative.

I am on this cruise and there has been robust discussion in a group of 300+ who will be on this sailing. Overall,  everyone agrees that as described within the cruise contract, Royal CAN do this (caveat: EU citizens potentially have more protection as this was advertised as a Bahamas cruise).

However, two points also noted:

1) Mariner sailing received compensation for this same situation a few days before we dock. The claim by Royal Caribbean is this is because 50% of their ports will be missed. But for this sailing, 33% of the ports will be missed, so that is not incredibly convincing as an arguably to me. Arguably Grand Bahama Island (Mariner replacement port) is much better than Miami (note that Grand Bahama is not an option for our ship due to size), so the Mariner receiving a day's refund for their cruise is making people upset when we are facing the same situation.

2) Unlike a change due to weather, this change is Royal's "fault". They didn't properly account for pier and Perfect Day time overruns and now are scrambling to finish. Our sailing's docking at Coco Cay is collateral damage.

Because of #2, it is BAD BUSINESS to offer little in the way of compensation (a shuttle ride, cool). Can they do this, of course. But in the age of social media, we know about item #1 and that justifiably makes people upset. 

Also note - I personally am not particularly upset about the change. I love South Beach and don't have the drink package. I already have plans for Miami that I am more excited about than my Coco Cay plans.

The follow was suggested as fair compensation:

1) Refund a day of drink package for those who purchased (they planned on using on Coco Cay and cannot in Miami - of course CAN be used on the ship but that is not the same as at port)

2) Refund a day of Internet for those who purchased as we will be in the US an additional day

3) Token OBC ($25 a person?) to cover lunch at Miami (once again we COULD eat on board but this would be a nice offer of Royal Caribbean)

Of course being Cruise Critic people are focused on the contract language, could be worse, etc. That's fine for people to be that way. I understand. I have missed many ports due to weather and had itinerary changes due to hurricanes. I do think it would be in Royal's best interest to offer more, but if they don't oh well. It doesn't matter much to me but it does to others and Royal will have to make that calculation for themselves.

I have sailed on both. Norwegian Escape (7 night) and Brilliance of Seas (4 nights), so totally different ship class. I am going on the Anthem this month so will have more to compare.

I am a drinker (not HUGE but a bit) so the promos NCL is always running appeal to me in terms of value. I found the food significantly better on NCL, particularly the specialty dining vs the MDR on Royal which isn't fair (but once again, NCL runs "free" specialty dining package perks for the same price as MDR in Royal).

I found NCL to have more to do in the evening.

Royal had much better options for lounging by the pool, but that may be ship specific.

Overall to me it would come down to overall price (including anticipated alcohol consumption) and itinerary but right now I give a slight edge to NCL.

Not on RC, but I have often dropped off the car and the rest of my family has boarded the ship while I take the taxi back over to port. They are normally drinking cocktails or swimming when I finally do get on the ship 🙂 

Our other excursion options would be Balmoral or getting a resort pass at Hilton or Melia (can't do the other resorts with a 6 year old)

I just got a notification my Nassau excursion - Pearl Island - was moved from a 12 PM departure to 9 AM. I had scheduled North Star for 9:30, so I could no longer make that reservation. We are 5 weeks out and there is no availability for North Star online for the length of the cruise at a different time. Is there a decent chance we could book on board? If not, I may change excursions because my 6 year old really wants to do the North Star.

My family and I are sailing Anthem in March. We are considering the Royal Caribbean post cruise excursion to NYC as we are flying out of LGA at 4:30. Seems not much more expensive than a private car to NYC, luggage storage, private car to LGA. Our 3 year old is free for this excursion. 

We are also spending a day before the cruise in NYC, seeing some sites and I'm taking my older daughter to a Broadway show. So basically looking for a way to kill some time and maybe see a bit of the city before our flight, not counting on this tour to cover close to everything in the city.

Has anyone does this excursion? I'm not expecting amazing but is it reasonable? See a few things, a bit of time to walk around, etc? 

Has anyone traveled Anthem recently, using a room with a sofa bed? My husband and I are bringing our two girls, ages 3 and 6, in a month. They will sleep on the sofa bed.

My last cruise on NCL, our room rarely received a morning "refresh" that I had grown accustomed to on other cruises, but we only had two people in the room. This would be a bigger deal if we have the sofa bed pulled out. My understanding in the beds are not easy to pull in yourself? I would be more than happy to do that if it's an option. 

Have you found your sofa bed to be folded up by lunch most days (assuming you are out of the room)? Thanks.

Not quite sure on etiquette on a thread of this size so apologies if jumping in with a question isn't cool.

I wanted to know recommendations for transportation from Manhattan to Cape Liberty with a 3 year old in a carseat if you didn't want to bring a carseat with you. My understanding is Uber family won't go from New York to New Jersey. Not sure which car services provide a seat (willing to pay extra for it). We're spending a day before the cruise near Times Square and plan on taking Uber family from LGA to our hotel.

I am sure this has been discussed before, I have heard CoCo Cay is missed a lot... any clue on the percentage of time it is skipped? Edit: Skipped due to not being able to tender

Thanks for the review so far. If you get a chance, could you let me know what the earliest time is for self debarkation? 

In case helpful.

Brilliance of Seas, 4 nights, sail date 2/14/19

Received e-mail to bid 1/5/19

Placed bid 1/8/19

Bid accepted 1/9/19

Original cabin was a 2V - inside

Bid $75 / per person ($150 total) for Balcony

Accepted, moved to category E1 - Balcony (edit maybe category is 1D - not totally sure - normal balcony)

I was on NCL Escape a year ago and am going on Anthem in March. We had to choose between repeating on the Escape vs Anthem.

They were similar price to us, and both a long drive for us (coming from Ohio). Anyway I debated a lot but what made me decide on Anthem was the indoor amenities during a colder season with little kids (ages 3 and 6). We were on the Escape just as a couple.

I think in your situation I would be inclined to sail on the Escape because of the port proximity, drink packages, and specialty dining promos they tend to offer. With little kids, we can't drink much alcohol, so the perk isn't very valuable. I remember being on the Escape and thinking how much fun it would be with older kids. We loooved going to the Howl at the Moon in particular, but it is not for little kids.

I will do a comparison when I return but that will be too late for you. There are a lot of comparison posts out there though. Good luck.

The site no longer mentions getting two loungers with the beach bed, or getting lunch delivered. If anyone has been there recently, have you had these two amenities? 

On Celebrity Reflection in early November 2016, my four year old daughter was one of only thirty on board under the age of eighteen. Often the only one at the children's club. It was pretty boring for her, but good for adults who want to avoid children.

14 hours ago, NanciRDH said:

 

There's over 1300 under 18 on the Christmas sailing.  My kids have always loved the clubs, we've been cruising since they were in the 3yo age group, and have hit every group on up thru the years.  

Thanks! Have the kids clubs hit capacity? We were planning on using most morning sessions and a few evening ones when we sail.

Did you use the 40% off bottles of wine? Is using that discount straightforward?

Thanks for doing this. If any of your grandchildren use the kids / teens club can you give their thoughts? How many under 18 are on board? (We're going in March)

I think there's been a question as to whether you still get the loungers. On my cruise planner it no longer mentions the loungers for my March trip. The photos also do not show any loungers. A few months ago they did show them. There is also no longer any mention of having lunch delivered when there was before.

I don't have first hand facts of the case but if is very rude to blame the OP for not escalating further or board and suggest they have no other actions to take. Many adults are embarrassed to be the victims of bullying, let alone minors. It is unsurprising the facts didn't come out completely until later... Very common with victims. As such, RCI should be open to your complaint. They have your original complaint and can amend and investigate it. Good luck.

I am thinking through what we want to do with our CocoCay day in March. We are sailing on Anthem - 2 parents and 2 children (ages 3 and 6). It looks like the average high is 81 degrees, which coming from Ohio will be pretty nice, but not sure about how much we'll want to get into the water.

How nice is the "normal" beach vs the beach by the bungalows, cabanas, and beach beds? Plenty of room for the kids to make sand castles and splash a little? Or really crowded? I was considering a beach bed for the seclusion and conveniences but it looks like the lunch delivery and the lounging chairs have been eliminated, which takes away a bit of value. 

Mainly we want a relaxing beach day and to spread out more than we can on the ship. If possible, some shaded chairs. Is this possible without the pricey upgrades?