Host Anne

You can definitely switch your cabin.  Call Celebrity since you booked with them.  Or cancel it and rebook.

Clark ~ I'm with your wife....I tend to be claustrophobic (got stuck for a long time in an overcrowded elevator a few years back).  I've been in an IV once and it's not for us.  For me, it's really like a bus window (although larger). And yes, we did have the bridge close the window once on our cruise for window washing.  For me, the window is slow to close and can be a bit noisy.  A/C does go off in the cabin when the window is open.  

Your wife would likely be more comfortable in a regular balcony but those are few and far between on Edge-class ships.

Good luck!

47 minutes ago, Kteacher said:

We’ll be on the Reflection’s first stop to Coco Cay. The last time we stopped there on a a RCI ship was before it was transformed to Perfect Day. We had a lot of OBC to use so booked the  Beach Club. I’m looking forward to checking it out, but a little nervous as one of the larger RCI ships, Wonder of the Seas, will be there on the same day. There’s been a few recent Reflection live reviews, but I’ll probably do some semblance of a live review of this stop.

One of the good things about the Beach Club is that they limit the number of passes they sell per day.  Worked well for us.  Sadly, I will pay for quiet.

We've been three times.  The first time we spent the day at Chill Island.  It was peaceful and quiet and we spent the day in the water on a float.  The second time we bought the Beach Club Pass. We enjoyed it.  Again, relatively quiet and the food at lunch was outstanding.  The most recent time we were with a large group and spend the day at South Beach.  It was relatively quiet but it was a pretty gloomy day (rained all morning).

Hideaway Beach is a new area of the island.  We didn't go there on a recent visit.  While the beach and water look lovely, the chairs I'm seeing in photos are awful (and different from other beaches on the island). They don't lay flat (they bounce) nor do they sit up straight.  I can't sit in them and avoid them whenever possible.  

Note that the center of the island where the waterpark and other features are can get crazy .... we avoid that section.  

There is lots of complimentary food on the island and I would guess that the drink package will be honored on the island like it is for Royal.

Overall, we think it's the best private island of all the cruise lines.  You can find the type of area that suits you best.  ENJOY!

dlapel ~ this isn't a dumb question at all. If you are above the dining section of a restaurant (marked Tuscan Grille, Blu, Qsine and Murano below) you likely won't hear noise.  If you are on the port side of the ship above the big empty space between Murano and Blu, that's the galley and an area that you could hear noise at night as marycrus mentioned above.

Years ago I learned my lesson about only booking cabins that have a deck of cabins below and above us.  I was on Century (long gone) with my daughter and we were directly under the gym.  There was early morning constant noise from an exercise class.  It was the last time we were below a public deck.  If you can locate your cabin on the deck plan, you should be able to determine what's directly under you.

Enjoy your cruise!

Here's your ship during sunset on Saturday Feb. 3 after leaving Ft. Lauderdale

For those sailing on Apex on February 3, here's a shot of the ship as the sun set on Saturday evening.  I was onboard Sky Princess.  Loved seeing Apex throughout the week.  Hope everyone had a great cruise!

Let me add that we were seldom in the Piazza area during the day when they had activities here.  So I could only comment on the evenings when it was nearly always music in the Piazza.

11 hours ago, MissP22 said:

What time did you sit down for dinner? 

Something tells me that you were just lucky & didn't experience a loud band at that time. 

7:00 PM and we were there until 9:15

I said I'd come back and report on the sound level during our recent cruise on Sky Princess.  We got home yesterday so here goes....

We dined in Catch one evening and my concerns about the sound level did not come to fruition.  The band in the Piazza were playing Frank Sinatra-type tunes and a nice background level so we could enjoy both our dinner (which was terrific) and the music in the Piazza.

What we learned was it depended on who was playing in the Piazza.  The steel drum player was at a nice sound level.  The ship dance band that often played later in the evening int he Piazza was way over the top loud.  It's just so unnecessary .  

So while we mostly enjoyed those who played in the Piazza at normal sound levels, we didn't enjoy the music so loud that it was mind-numbing.  I guess it all depends on who is playing and when as to whether you can enjoy a dinner in the "open to the atrium" specialty dining restaurants.  Fortunately for us, we had a great experience but I can certainly see where that would not be the case if others were playing in the Piazza.  

5 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

Don't miss out on Catch by Rudi because of the music playing down below, the food is incredible.  The music wasn't that bad, even though I winced a few times at the singer trying to hit a note! My husband and I had no issues talking during the meal or even talking with the people at the table next to us. 

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise.  Even with terrible weather in December, we really enjoyed our sailing on the Sky.  Bon Voyage @Host Anne!!

THANKS so very much, Host CJSKIDS!  We will definitely check our Rudi's Catch.  It will be interesting to see if the music changes in the venues due to it being an Irish Music Cruise.  I'll come back and let everyone know how the sound levels are.  We plan on having a fantastic time!!!  Thanks again!

Thanks for the heads up.  We are on Sky next week and we'll avoid specialty restaurants near loud music venues.  Sadly, most lines are doing this these days.  I don't get it.  We love to listen to music but we also want to be able to talk to each other and friends or family that might be traveling with us.

I also put it on our evaluations and those who are bothered by this should do the same.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  I'm not sure what information you are looking for.  If you click on a thread you have interest in, you'll find a REPLY TO THIS TOPIC box at the top of the page that allows you to post a response.  You'll write your response and then SUBMIT REPLY. 

In the upper right corner of any page, you'll find your screen name where you can click and bring up the threads you have responded to or started by clicking MANAGE FOLLOWED CONTENT.  

You posted this question in the Celebrity Forum.  If you wish to post elsewhere, go to our main page that lists all the boards here:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/

I hope this helps.

15 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Once again. It is NOT 181 days. It is 150 days. 

 

 

I posted this on post #20, not sure why the discussion still goes on and people repeat the same false information.

You are posting Cancellation dates.  I was asking about deposits & final payment when booking.  They are two different things completely.  No worries....I won't continue this discussion.  

To answer all the others who have been kind enough to answer, here is a clip from her Confirmation:

I was wrong in my initial post to say her confirmation didn't have a "deposit" amount.  It does.  It's just that the deposit amount is the full amount of the cruise.  See above.

Cruise lines make changes all the time but when you make changes (and for me this would be a big change) I think the line should have all of its information updated.  I just checked and the Oceania website still has their previous policy on deposits and final payment.  This is where someone wanting to book a cruise would look. They aren't going to wait until they get an invoice to look at policies like this.  Fortunately for my friend. the deposit amount seemed a bit over top so she reached out to me.

I appreciate everyone's help.  Happy Cruising!

On 11/25/2023 at 12:23 PM, Vallesan said:

Couple of points:

1. I often book with an Oceania Agent by phone then pass the booking over to a TA where I get roughly 10% discount. Food for thought, if her booking is still in a low penalty cancellation charge?

2. We’ve sailed with Oceania 9 times with 2 future cruises booked and I personally wouldn’t have any issues with the company. However, I assume she has insurance so no problem if  she has.

Just as a matter of interest why did you recommend Oceania when you’ve never sailed with them?

I recommended Oceania based upon a different good friend who has sailed with the twice in the past 12 months.  I value her opinion and after sailing with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean for years, we are in search of smaller ships ourselves.  No payment is due until Dec. 2 (I think that's the correct date) so she doesn't have any cancellation penalty.  I just found requiring full payment 181 days very unusual.  Thanks for your response.  

37 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

The terms above say that for cruises less than 15 days final payment is due 90 days prior to sailing.

There is now a penalty of $150 pp if you cancel after booking but that penalty increases after 181 days before sailing. These terms are still current on the Oceania website.

Can’t understand why your friend is being asked to pay in full 181 days before. 
Is she using a TA? If so could be them rather than Oceania asking for payment.

We have a cruise booked for mid May and the Oceania due date for final payment is mid February.

Double check the  Oceania invoice and ‘manage my booking’ on the website.

Thanks for the quick response.  She booked on the Oceania website so it's not a TA requirement.  The Oceania agent I spoke with said this was a recent change to deposit/final payment requirements.  I referenced the information above and was told that the information on the website is out of date and she'd put in a request for it to be updated.  She said her invoice was correct and that final payments are now due 181 days out for all cruises.  I didn't ask when this "new" policy went into affect because it appears that this is what they are requiring now.  

Requiring full payment six months out is very concerning to me.  I don't want to steer my friend wrong.  This is a big investment for her and I don't want to see her have issues.  

THANKS again for your response.

Good morning, everyone ~ I've never cruised Oceania before but I have a good friend who just booked a 25th Anniversary cruise because I suggested she look at Oceania.  When she received her invoice, there was nothing about a deposit; it only said the final payment is due next week (181 days out).  She asked me about this and I did some research for her and the following deposit and final payment schedule is what is says on their website:

It's an 10-night Med cruise.  I volunteered to call Oceania for her and ask about this as she's a first time cruiser.  The agent said all bookings now require full payment 181 days out.  I've never seen anything like this before.  I've searched the Oceania website and can only find the policy listed above.

This final payment schedule has me very concerned about her booking with Oceania.  I don't know of any other cruise line requiring full payment 6 months out.  Is anyone else concerned about this?  I consider it a drastic change (I do read fine print) that isn't published on their website nor on the confirmation she received (she hasn't paid it yet).  I'm not sure I feel comfortable with her sticking with this cruise.  

I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks..... THANKS

You may get better responses by posting in the Spain Ports of Call boards. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-ports/

Hi everyone ~ there was a long-running thread with this topic that became challenging to determine what information was current, giving it was 34 page long.  I'm starting a new thread so people can easily find current information (and because I have some questions myself).  

If you want to refer back to the original thread started in 2019, here's a link but start viewing by going towards the end of the thread (page 30 or so) instead of trying to go through all 34 pages as much of the early information is no longer current!  

Here's my questions for our first Cunard cruise out of Southampton in August of 2024!

• Suggestions on transfers for a group of 12 from London to Southampton (we haven't booked our hotel yet).  We've never sailed out of Southampton before and we are all flying into Heathrow.  We will have four days in London pre-cruise.
• Should we consider staying in Southampton the evening before the cruise?
• What is the earliest time you'd book a flight back to the USA on the day we embark the ship?  We are flying Virgin but others are flying US airlines.  I know there can be a difference.  

THANKS for suggestions and feedback!  MUCH appreciated!!!

Hello everyone ~ first, THANKS to all who have posted so much useful information on this thread.  Members helping members is the best thing about Cruise Critic.  

I am not the moderator for this board (in fact, British Isles/Western Europe is a very broad board) but I do have several options.  I'll try to find out who covers this board as well.

First, all moderators here on Cruise Critic are volunteers!  We do this because we love cruising.  It's not possible for us to trim threads like this or to do editing.  What we can do is "close" this thread to additional posts and start a new thread.  That way, there would be more current information at the start. When I see threads this long, I typically start on one of the more recent pages (maybe at page 30).  I know that way, I'd be getting more current information.  But perhaps others wouldn't think of that or notice this thread began in 2019.  

I do have questions about a Southampton transfer so I'm happy to start a new thread.  I am going to unpin this thread and start a new one.  Let me know what you think!  

HAPPY CRUISING!

Just a quick note,,,  Summit was originally launched in 2008.  She is not a new ship. She has been refurbished bur isn't new. 

First and foremost, I’d like to thank Pat & Stu for taking the time to share their review with us.  I felt it was well balanced and provided their honest cruise experience.

It’s completely inappropriate to accuse members of lying here on Cruise Critic.  It’s fine to believe or not believe what someone posts but it’s not OK to call other liars.  If you have an issue with something that is posted, we have an alert system that allows you to report a post.  But please be considerate when posting.

Next, I want to share an experience my husband and I had on Equinox in the summer of 2022.  I wrote (but never posted) a review.  But here’s one thing that REALLY happened….We decided to do a quick last minute cruise on Equinox to the Caribbean.  We just wanted to get away.  We chose Celebrity Select dining and did a mixture of dinners in the main dining room and specialty restaurants.  We ate in the main dining room for both Chic evenings on the upper level of the room. 

On one of those evenings, we were seated at a two-top next to the railing, overlooking a table for four just below us.  We were surprised when four guests were seated at the table and one of the gentlemen had a button down shirt open to his belly button, shorts and a backwards baseball cap on.  While we typically don’t care how other people dress, this was pretty noticeable because I don’t think in my 30 plus cruises on Celebrity had we ever seen someone dressed like this in the main dining room, let alone on a Chic evening. 

So out of curiosity, I asked the Maître ‘d and we were told that the staff was no longer permitted to turn anyone away from the dining room because of their attire.  I was pretty surprised but at the time, cruise lines were simply thrilled to have passengers sailing again.  I believe that attitude has morphed into the norm these days.

Do I like it?  Not particularly because I think the lack of respect for rules and others in general is gone.  I’m happy to read about cruisers like Pat & Stu that enjoyed their cruise.  I just wish others would respect cruise lines rules (or don’t have them) and other passengers….and Cruise Critic reviews.

Fizzy, all posts looking for tour sharing must be posted on your roll call for the cruise.  To find your roll call,  CLICK HERE: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/127-celebrity-roll-calls/    Then search for your ship and then your sail date.

Have a great trip!

We have sailed Celebrity more than any other line (more 55) since we began cruising in the early 90s.  We've sailed on 7 different lines over the years.  We are now trying even more lines but it doesn't have anything to do with management changes at Celebrity.  It has to do with the experiences we've had on our last three or four Celebrity cruises which were all before the management change.

Many of the issues discussed on our boards (reduced food quality, higher prices, staffing shortages, etc) have been prevalent on our Celebrity cruises the past two years.  When Celebrity first re-started cruising out of St. Maarten as the pandemic began to recede, we had one of our best cruises ever on Summit.  Since then (sailings on Equinox (2) and Beyond (1)) we've gone from our best experience to our worst.  Yes, being on a ship is still better than being at work, but after so many cruises on a line, there are expectations and those have fallen far short of the Celebrity we knew and loved.

We certainly understood the tremendous financial losses during the pandemic and the challenges of coming back afterwards, but I'm at the point in my life that we are choosing not to pay for what we think is an inferior product.  Like many things today, Celebrity simply isn't the same and we choose not to pay the prices being asked for a product that has slipped.

So we are have been branching out and checking out other cruise lines.  We've done two Windstar cruises in the last year (I'm liking smaller ships and crowds more and more) and we just booked our first Cunard cruise (yes, I understand the demographics but they have a new ship doing an itinerary I REALLY want to do) and it's the smaller - between the size of Summit and Solstice.

If you start really looking at pricing across lines (you need to look closely at what is included in the cruise fare of each), some of smaller, higher end lines aren't really much more expensive.

We've always loved Celebrity's ships and crew.  But we've learned that there are lots of other alternatives out there that are worth cruising as well.