Host Anne

Thanks, MamaFej for posting the link to Suzi's roll call. Suzi, please post this question there. Happy Cruising!

@PurpleTraveller WOW! I've been reading through your wonderful review throughout the week. I'm another CC member sailing on Reflection in October on your same itinerary. While we've been to Italy multiple times, we have not been to half of the ports on this cruise. Your detailed journey and wonderful photos have me looking forward to this cruise more than ever. I'm very impressed with the quality of your photos from your phone. What a wonderful cruise. I also loved the friendship you made with the UK passengers! The same think happened to us more than 20 years ago and we still cruise with our friends from England that we met on a cruise. One of the very best things about cruising are the wonderful people (passengers and crew) that we meet from all around the world. Thank you again for sharing your experience with all of us. This is what makes Cruise Critic so valuable. Terrydtx ~ wishing you a wonderful cruise on Reflection in two weeks. She remains one of our favorite ships (we were on her in January). VickyKay ~ looking forward to meeting you on Reflection in October!

Floridastorm ~ At this point in time, nothing is "certain" with just about anything. You can only review what protocols are today and watch to see if they change. Celebrity's current mask protocols have been in place for months. Could they change? Of course they could if something happens. No one here is going to be able to provide any additional certainty, unfortunately. We started cruising again last August when Celebrity began sailing from St. Maarten. We continue to sail and have had great cruises. You have to decide what's best for you! Good luck!

Have you talked to your TA (if you used one) or called Celebrity? I have no idea how they handle this situation. Great questions, though! GOOD LUCK

Susan ~ Have you considered booking flights by yourself and getting your money back from Celebrity? I certainly wouldn't be comfortable waiting a few more weeks for flights. Yell if you need help booking on your own. I book all my own business flights (have for years now). Happy to help you As for testing.....things are changing rapidly. If you don't have a test that you can take on line with a medical proctor, I suggest ordering those now. Here's a link to where we purchased ours for family sailing with us last January You have to order the AG tests.... https://store.optum.com/shop/products/abbott-binaxNOW-COVID-19-ag-emed-at-home-test-kit-2-pack/ You would definitely be able to get on line to do this proctored test once you land in Europe.

I have not been in a corner aft Sky Suite but I have been in a corner aft cabin on the M-class ships and we love it (been there multiple times). The only deck you'll need to worry about noise from deck 12 since it's directly below the Oceanview Cafe. You should be fine on any other deck. For me personally, I'd prefer to be on deck 9 or 10. They are sufficiently squeezed passenger decks. I wouldn't go lower than deck 8. Ocean views are better a little higher. You aren't going to get exhaust from the ship to interfere with your view. We have had aft cabins on many S-class ships and that has never been an issue. Occasionally, aft balconies in the middle of the back of the ship will get some soot but cabin attendants are good about cleaning any soot that may fall and this was never a constant problem for us. What a lovely surprise for your wife. You will have a great time. I'd pick the corner aft for myself 😉

It's funny, the group of family & friends we cruise with each year always booked Elevate. It was less expensive than purchasing everything individually. Now we're back to purchasing individual upgrades which is more of a pain for guests....and likely more expensive.

The problem is that customer service isn't better anywhere else. Try flying or doing business with hotels. If poor customer service was costing companies business these days, many of them would be out of business. Unfortunately, it's not. I've often said if we want something to change, stop spending money on it. We don't seem to be able to do that.

A few more insights (feel free to agree or disagree....politely, of course). Celebrity has continued to bring back ships over the past six months and has increased the amount of reservations and passengers sailing with them during that time as well. Regardless of where you want to place "blame," the fact remains that the demand for people calling customer service far surpasses the number of staff they have to man the phones. I'm talking with people daily in our industries about the challenges of finding people to fill jobs, then show up for those jobs, the cost to train them and hopefully getting them to stay. I don't believe that more money and more perks are the ultimate answers (I'm not sure what it, quite frankly). It's easy to say "just pay more money and provide more perks," but the reality is that Royal Caribbean had a reported loss of $5.8 Billion dollars in 2020; 5.3 Billion loss in 2021; and a loss of 1.2 Billion in the first quarter of 2022. How long are companies suppose to survive with these kinds of losses? Even if the pool of qualified folks to man the customer service lines was unending, you can't continuously add to debt regardless of the company. If it's really a matter of simply paying people more, the biggest question becomes how much more are we willing to pay for a cruise so that the cruise lines can attempt to staff their land-based operations such as customer service and to hire enough staff to train those folks. That's what it's going to come down to. The nice thing is that we all have the right to choose to spend our vacation dollars elsewhere. But right now, it's not "pretty" elsewhere, either. Again, be kind and grateful to those who are willing to work, whether it's Celebrity, an airline or a hotel.

I think we are all facing the same frustrations. It's not just Celebrity; it's not just the airlines; it's not just hotels.....it's everywhere. While customer service may have not be great prior to the pandemic, the pandemic did cause many businesses to lay people off, offer early retirements, etc. The fact that many received a lot of money over the past two years when not working allowed many to save and be slow to return to work. I work in manufacturing. It's very challenging for companies to find skilled workers, a gap that the pandemic greatly exacerbated. Even trying to find and train people is next to impossible. Getting them to stay in the job, next to impossible. Celebrity is in the same position as many other businesses today. This is certainly not Celebrity's CEO's fault. I spoke to many crew on the first two Celebrity cruises I took when they started sailing again last year. They were so appreciative of everything Celebrity management did for them while they were home during the pandemic that it made me happy that we were cruising to support Celebrity. I believe that all of Celebrity's executive management is aware of the situations we are all frustrated by and want to correct them as much as we want them corrected. I've been trying to book restaurant reservations on line and on the ap for the last week for our upcoming cruise. It's simply not working. That's not a good thing and I know why a lot of people are getting frustrated but I've just decided I'll wait until I board. My experience (especially in the past year) is that onboard staff will work to assist us. At the very worst, I'll be onboard a Celebrity ship with a drink package, comfortable accommodations, a balcony to watch the world go by, a lot of good food and friendly staff that go out of their way to take care of us. If you chose to wait on line for hours, remember to thank the person who answers. At least they are choosing to work!

Random ~ good for you with the carry-on. My husband even asked how that's impossible. 🙂 I hope with each passing week that the flight situation settles down. But then I tend to be an optimist. Note that one leg of our return flights from Europe was cancelled last week and Delta's rebooking had us on three changeovers so I found other options that would work and took care of the rebooking myself on their website. I don't believe you'll have any issues with your testing. Sending all positive vibes for you!!!!

When I sailed with a group of family in January, everyone flew in on Friday afternoon for a Sunday departure. I hadn't seen these folks in more than two years! I had purchased all of the eMed protored tests (even got a few extra) since we live in Florida and brought them with us to our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. We had give people taking the on-line proctored test late Friday afternoon. We had no issues getting through and I'd say we were done with everyone in a little over an hours. With an 8-hour layover in JFK, you have tons of time to get the test taken care of. Honestly (and I'm not trying to cause you additional stress....just preparation), I'd be far more concerned about my flights given all the delays and cancellations these days. I feel pretty confident that Delta's international flights from JFK haven't been impacted too much and you have a nice long layover so that helps. But I still recommend being prepared. Amsterdam (I'm guessing that is where you are flying to) is one of the airports having plenty of issues. Have the flights from your home departure to JFK been on time the past week; have all the JFK - AMS been on time (they were all on time yesterday...you can check on the Delta website)? Delta has at least four non-stop flights per day from JFK - AMS departing late afternoon into the evening. If you are one of the later flights, ask Delta if you can switch to an earlier flight given all the cancellations and delays. Be sure to have a list of the other Delta flights from JFK - AMS in case you need to make a change. Having that information handy rather than trying to research it later can be useful. The good news is you are flying on Thursday so if something delays you, you could still take flights on Friday and make it to your cruise on Saturday. Flight changes are happening all the time right now. I check my upcoming flights (for work and our October cruise) daily. Sorry....didn't mean to get away from your concerns about testing and create more anxiety, but the more you know and are prepared, the better your entire trip will be. Wishing you a safe and uneventful journey and a great cruise!

Moonglum ~ as emmas gran mentioned, these types of post belong on the roll call for your cruise because that is where you'll find people on your sailing who might be interested in tours. Here's a link to your roll call: Have a great cruise!

Regarding elevate and indulge packages, like everything else today, they are constantly making changes to available promotions. I'm hoping we'll still be able to upgrade our drink packages but I'm a bit concerned what those future upgrades might cost. Continuously checking Celebrity's website for promotions and what's included and watching discussions here, hopefully we'll be able to stay well informed.

The upside of all of this is that you can be assured that you will be well taken care of when you board Equinox. While there can be lots of disconnects and phone agents not always being able to assist (many of them are in training as they are new), the onboard experience has always been terrific for us. We sail Equinox in two weeks. I'm certain we will have a great experience!

No, they do not take away any promotions you got when you booked. You always keep the perks on your confirmation that you received at the time of booking. You do not need to call. I have a sailing this fall that was originally booked for a transatlantic in October of 2020. That booking has been moved twice. We were originally booked on the Good, Better, Best promotion and we kept all the perks that came with our reservation. New promotions come out all the time. But they do not take away pricing or perks guests received with their original booking. Just hang onto your confirmation. 🙂 By the way, if you booked with a travel agent (we only book with a travel agent), they should have a record of your booking and perks as well.

Jonnah ~ welcome to Cruise Critic. I'm so sorry that your first post is because you had a serious issue with your cruise. When you send your email, I would address it to both Ms. Morales and Ms. Lutoff-Perlo. I learned a long time ago that it's best to start at the top for serious issues that haven't been solved by going through the normal channels (which you've done). Be sure to attach all of your Celebrity documentation that details your cruise and flights. As I mentioned on another thread today, like all businesses, Celebrity is very understaffed right now and those on the general lines, while trying to be helpful, often can't assist in a situation like this. But hang in there. At least in my experience over the years, Celebrity does make things right. It make take far longer than it should, but I'll be surprised if they don't give you a refund. I've only used Celebrity Air once (a number of years ago) and as soon as I booked the flights and paid for them, they showed up in my airline's website and I had complete control over the reservation moving forward. I don't know if it still works that way, but right now, I would only book direct with an airline. There are far too many changes, delays and cancellations. I don't want to wait for a third party, like Celebrity Air, to contact me and attempt to rebook me. Please come back and let us know how things go for you!!!! Best of luck!

Sadly, Celebrity simply doesn't haven sufficient staff to handle the number of calls they get these days. It's no different than contacting any of the airlines higher level loyalty lines. They are routinely re-directed to general reservations these days. I am positive you'll be able to get whatever specialty restaurant dining you'd like, even if you wait until you board. They do hold reservations for those in suites so you won't have any issues. By the way, know that the Retreat on Equinox and the Retreat on the Edge-class ships are significantly different (I think you are sailing on Equinox). While still a lovely experience, the Retreat on the two classes of ships are not alike. Have a great cruise!

Of course cruising has changed over the years. There are many reasons for that. Our first cruise was on Monarch of the Seas which, at 73,000 gross tons, was huge back then. While there were a lot of kids on board then, it can't compare to the amount of children cruising today on mega-ships. But, there are all kinds of ships and cruising experiences available today. If you want a quieter cruise without water slides and zip lines, you can find that. If you still want to to vacation with family and hang together for meals, you can do that. If you prefer an adults only cruise, that's available, too. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong cruising nor is it right or wrong whether you prefer to dine at a large table or one for two. We've cruised on sailboats to mega-ships (I much prefer the smaller vessels) and I'm grateful for the all experiences cruising has afforded us. Plus we've seen a lot of the world. I consider us lucky. And yes, I have herded a great deal of cats over the years! Good thing I like cats!

Let's keep this thread on track and keep discussing ships and the changes over the years, not parenting. 😁

Susan....I recommend posting something on your roll call by mid-September to select a day, location and time for a gathering if Celebrity hasn't brought the CC parties back by then. I see Julia just posted the same thing above. 🙂

Thanks for starting an interesting discussion, Hank. We've been cruising now for 20 years so our cruising career began with set dining. We had that for many years. We do enjoy being seated at tables with others we don't know. Over the years, we've remained friends with quite a few and frequently cruise with some. We began cruising when our daughter was six (she's an only child). Early on, we were typically seated with other families who had children close to our daughters age. It enabled us (and her) to meet all types of people from all over the world. While some large dining tables might have been more enjoyable or memorable than others, I can't think of a time when our table was boring. We've had a few goofy instances over the years but we simply asked the Maitre 'd for a change (I can only think of twice that this happened and once we were seated at a table for eight by ourselves). In the past several years, we've switched to anytime dining. We still ask to sit with others, but when late seating went to 8:30 on some ships, it got a bit late for us. We found that we like the flexibility of sitting in a lounge for pre-dinner drinks a bit longer, or going to see an early show in the theater. We don't dine at the super busy times of the evening so we've never had long waits with flexible dining but we still prefer dining with others and meeting new people. I find dining with others often helps put life in perspective sometimes. We once had a single guest at our table that had Lou Gehrig's disease and he wanted to cruise while it was still possible for him to still get around in his wheelchair. Our best cruising friends come from the UK and our daughters became friends in the kids club while the parents had just meant in a lounge... So many ships and so many options that people can now choose whatever suits them best. But I think Shipgeeks said it best in post 31 above! You never know what surprises cruising has in store for you. Happy cruising!

This is exactly why I asked people to let me know if you found a link here on Cruise Critic. We are not on every page of the website every day. We need members help at times like this. Thanks for posting....I will pass it along. If anyone finds other locations where you see the sign up box, please just post a link. THANKS MUCH!

There has been a lot of confusion recently about Cruise Critic parties onboard Celebrity ships. Unfortunately, Celebrity is still not hosting our parties at this time. It seems that if you "search" for a party link on Celebrity's website, one can be found and you can enter your information and receive an email confirmation. However, while the link may work, Celebrity is not hosting the parties. As soon as we receive word that the parties will be offered again, I will post here and you'll again see the sign up links on our Cruise Critic roll calls. Members are free to set a time and a place to gather onboard through your roll calls. I've done that for several cruises in the past year. My suggestion is to avoid lounges that are typically used during the day for ship activities. If you select somewhere outdoors for sailaway or something earlier in the morning (say 9:00 AM) on a sea day, you can likely avoid other ship activities. I hope this clears up confusion that is currently out there. Watch here for updates when they are available.

Hi everyone ~ unfortunately I do not have good news. I did not receive good new from our Cruise Critic Community Manager. Celebrity is not hosting Cruise Critic parties onboard at this time. I mentioned that a link on Celebrity's website is working and allowing people to register. I suggested that she discusses this with Celebrity and suggest that they make that link inactive until they are doing parties again. I cannot find any link here on Cruise Critic when I'm on the roll calls for various cruises that I have coming up in the next six months. If you see a link on a roll call (without searching for a link, that is) please let me know and I'll pass that along. Cruise Critic does not activate any links on Celebrity's website. For now, my recommendation is to select a location and time on your roll call for a get together. Avoid lounges that are typically used during the day for ship activities. If you select somewhere outdoors for sailaway or something earlier in the morning (say 9:00 AM) on a sea day, you can likely avoid other ship activities. I'm very sorry that the parties aren't back up and running. As soon as I hear they are, I'll post about it.