markeb

One of the great things about Cruise Critic is consensus... 😁 If we go to Denali, any recommendations on where to stay? We'd probably do one overnight in Anchorage on arrival, and then drive? train? to Denali. Obviously you have more options with a car. We're somewhat open ended on time before the cruise. I'm well aware we'd see a fraction of the park regardless of how long we're there. Is there a general time recommendation we should consider? There's a lot of travel involved regardless. We'd plan to get to Seward the day before the cruise so that would bring the same choices into play. It sounds like the train from Anchorage to Seward is pretty enjoyable. Thanks! We'll look at those as options.

That's an interesting question. We all assume that, but what if it's not the case? What if they (corporate they, not just Celebrity) are able to reset while they can charge whatever they want? I really have no idea. I've not seen a clear strategy from Celebrity (or really RCG) to suggest that's what they're doing. But right now the default strategy is do whatever we can to raise revenue, and I doubt that's unique to Celebrity. And BTW, for the OPs question (these threads all become one continuous thread at some point), we thoroughly enjoyed our most recent Celebrity cruise in November (which I'm sure I'll be reminded was before the most recent round of changes...). We went in expecting it to be a bit different than our last cruise but also expecting to enjoy it. Both were true.

Wouldn't any CEO feel the same way? Like it or not, if they can do that, they need to ride it. At some point they may have to balance current gains against long term viability but they have a ton of debt and I'm assuming a bunch of shareholders that would like to see a return on their equity. None of us like it as consumers, but cruising is a luxury, not a need. Luxury goods are the classic example of inelastic demand; demand increases when price increases. And that's apparently across RCG so even though most of us wouldn't consider RCG a "luxury", other than maybe Silversea, apparently at least for now the market does and is behaving that way. And a lot of the food, beverage, and service changes don't appear to be impacting that bottom line. It has to be a strange place to be corporately...

We are booked on Celebrity Summit southbound from Seward on May 31st to Vancouver. We're late in planning, probably because there's a part of you that doesn't really believe you're going to take the cruise, but we are! Our plan had always been to fly in, probably to Anchorage, and spend a few days in Denali before heading to Seward for the cruise. Looking at some threads in this forum, I see there are issues with the road into Denali, so I'd really love input on whether that's still the best option or where else should we look? Both my wife and I have separately been to Alaska. She did a roundtrip HAL cruise years ago from Seattle and I spent about a week in and around Anchorage at Elmendorf years ago. So we've seen what, less than 1% of Alaska? Looking for suggestions all around. Go to Denali? Go somewhere else? Where to stay? Rent a car or take one of the trains? Getting from Denali (or elsewhere?) to Seward? We're still somewhat open on how long we'll be in Alaska pre-cruise. We do plan on spending at least a couple of days post cruise in Vancouver, and it looks like Air Canada has a direct flight to Dulles! But the Alaska piece is pretty unclear and in its infancy. We're both 61, reasonably active, but we both have some health issues, so a long backcountry hike isn't a consideration... Help!

Or tomorrow’s. One ship sailing today had no wine when I looked They implemented this late last night or today with no time for IT to update the app.

They're in the app for the Ascent. Easy enough to check (yes, for the most part it appears they did). Ascent sailed today so that looks like the first menus to update.

Get a new phone... Seriously. An iPhone 6 running iOS 12 is missing three full generations of security updates. I'm hoping you don't have your bank or credit card app on it! Look for a used unlocked phone. You can get refurbished iPhone 12's direct from Apple, and there are other resellers out there. But you can't update the phone to a version of iOS that will let you run the app.

Just pulled up Ascent in the app. Today is Day 1 of their new sailing, and a quick look shows the $19 wines (that I recognized and found) are now $17 (again). Including the infamous Decoy. Looked at Equinox and it still shows the $19 pricing but they're also mid-cruise. They "might" have reverted the pricing there as well, but I'm assuming they'll roll them back on Thursday on the next sailing. Of course, you can win all the battles and still not "win" if you don't have a unified, coherent strategy (talking Celebrity and RCG, not CC!).

This always concerns me. London is huge and varied. Some attractions will have timed entry and lines (looking at you British Museum...). Some sites are seen from outdoors and are "open" as long as there's daylight to see. It is an easy city to over plan! With 3 days, pick the things you absolutely have to see or do and figure out where they are. Group them geographically so you're not constantly retracing your steps. Then prioritize because you won't do all of them. And please allow some time just to walk along the streets or a park or the South Bank and sit at a pub! I've lost track of how many times I've travelled to London for business or leisure over the last almost 30 years (there were some long gaps there) and have probably seen less than 10% of London. In 3 days you'll see 1-2%, less if it's peak season and you're visiting peak attractions. Plan, map, prioritize, and prune the list!

I'm concerned that your price point is unrealistic, but you might get lucky. As others have said, there are frequent (constant?) discussions on where to stay. Convenience versus cost... A good starting point is the London Toolkit, https://www.londontoolkit.com/. You might peruse there for information. You don't have much time in London, so you're probably going to have to trade time for money. I'd be inclined to look at hotels on the Southbank near Waterloo. But it's all a matter of price:convenience, always considering your time. With the added challenges of mobility you're describing. And convenient for seeing a bit of London in your limited time may not be as convenient for getting to Southampton. Doable, I think, but maybe not easy, and maybe not at the cost you're hoping for...

1986, a much younger and thinner 2LT rappelled off the wall and skids at Vint Hill Station. The history there is fascinating. What they were able to intercept changed WWII. Mark is an amazing winemaker, trained at Washington State. And it’s about a half hour or so drive…

We could hijack the whole thread here… We’re big on Delaplane, and (we live in PWC) Pearmund, Vint Hill, and Effingham. None of which will ever be on a cruise ship!

And old school malts. Don’t forget those. Need to pick up our wines at Doukenie. And a burger… 😀

Loudon County? We’re members at Doukenie. Some of the others on that map are as much event centers as wineries… But then there’s Catoctin Creek for great rye whiskey. And Market Burger…

Does it matter? They’re gone. They’ve convinced us (including me) that it’s worth something. If it was your quiet go to place, that sucks. But it’s not a great place and I never saw anyone hanging out there before it became the Retreat.

It really annoys me that I can't go through the curtain to the front of the plane unless I have a ticket for Business (or on some airlines still First Class). Or that I can't go to the club level or a suite at a baseball game. (Actually it does annoy me that the Chairman's Trophy for the 2019 World Series is in on the Club Level. But it's the least expensive upgrade in the park.) I do have access to Marriott lounges and most United/Star Alliance lounges. But even there I may not be able to get on the club floor unless that's where the lounge is. They could have walled off the whole Retreat (all the suites, Luminae, etc.) and required key access; they didn't. And on Equinox the Retreat sundeck at the front of the ship is hot as blazes and the wind whips everything around. If it wasn't the Retreat sundeck I doubt I'd spend more than a minute there. Is it just the notion that you can't go there?

Poor man's Opus One? To Kalon is the vineyard that sources Opus. It's not that impressive when you drive by it, but everyone says it's magical... Oh, and To Kalon is in Oakville. The Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon could contain grapes from To Kalon. And then there's Woodbridge... BTW, I didn't go through every venue on every ship, but I don't see any Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon on Celebrity. I would think it's there somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

Can't say that I have. Having a hard time imagining wines from that part of Texas. My only experience with anything Salado is Salado Creek. Which ran through Fort Sam Houston and had a nasty habit of flooding and cutting off the main post from Brooke Army Medical Center. And the town of Salado was apparently incorporated to try to manage flooding on the creek way north of San Antonio!

I would say most don't. There's a gratuity in the package. In fact, if you're on the package and ordering within the package, you probably won't even be presented a check, and if you're ordering from a server rather than sitting at the bar, they'll likely be gone before you'd have a chance anyway. George must be chasing them down with a wad of bills! 😁

I 81 can become just as much a parking lot as I 95 these days…

Why would RCG do that? They'll continue to flag any of these ships as Royal Caribbean. That's where they fit in the corporate structure. They're having enough issues differentiating products as is...

Oddly, I don’t know that I’ve ever had Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay. The real one. Need to track down a bottle in memory of Mike and what his Chardonnay meant to American winemaking a long time ago… I’ve certainly had Grgich Hills wines. Not the just the cobrands. The cobranded cab though is very good.

Their 10-K is due March 31. If they’re still servicing in excess of $20B in debt, they’re trying anything to get out of debt. It’s actually as simple as THAT. Not a great long term strategy, but I’ve never been the president of a subsidiary of a publicly traded company that’s over $20B in debt. Nor I suspect has anyone else on this thread…

I know I answered this earlier, but don’t remember if it was in this thread. 18 venues across the fleet were last awarded in August of 2023. It’s by “restaurant “, not the fleet. The award is based on the overall strength of their offerings. Wines by the glass in a package really aren’t part of the equation… They must provide Wine Spectator vintage information, which as stated is missing in their wine lists.

The Opulence co-brand was and is. It’s now $25 a glass, apparently. Same as the cab. It was in the premium package in November.