trinitygirl

Hi there, I cruised out of Rome in August and Southampton in November 2023, booked and paid in AUD but onboard folio charged in USD. I had the Plus package for both cruises. I prepaid the crew appreciation charge for both cruises via my online account back in 2022 shortly after booking. Once on board I took this thread to guest services to ask if CA was included in my Plus package so that I had paid twice. I was told both times that CA was not included in the AUD version of Plus. I was also told that I was able to turn my prepaid CA to OBC if I didn’t want to pay the CA charge (but needless to say I did not do that). Hope that is clear?

i have alas just packed my bags but I still have the patters, so once I get to LA I will have a look and get back to you.

Hi again everyone, I have now been on board Celebrity Reflection for 12 days and I have adapted and had time to reflect (haha) on my feelings about the differences I have noticed between Celebrity and Princess and thought I would come on now and let you know what I think before I get caught up in the next stage of my adventure and forget all about it. I am going to use headings to help me focus my thoughts, and I will add some photos at the bottom just because ... photos. The ship: I have decided that almost all of my issues with Celebrity have to do with the way the ship itself has been designed. She is very beautiful - elegant really - but because I am used to the way Princess organise events, the Reflection doesn't 'work' for me the same way Princess ships do, with the result that I have not engaged with the activities offered with nearly the same enthusiasm I do on Princess. For instance, there are crafts every day here, but they are run in the Sun Lounge at the back of the ship, which is also where trivia and games shows are run. During the day it gets very warm in there, but the bigger problem is that the only tables in the lounge are tiny little cocktail tables - like the kind you get on balconies. You can not craft on those, and even if you could, there are very few of them. There isn't a stage like there is in Princess Live or the Vista Lounge, so sight lines to the instructor aren't obvious. Another example: the Celebrity Central concept is just stupid in my mind, as a place for seminars, auctions or movies - with people constantly walking through, all the noise and lights - it's not a comfortable space in which to concentrate on anything. And the Reflection Theatre is a bit of a travesty - the first few times I went in there I had to get up and move once I realised that I couldn't see around one of the many poles, or the overhang from the balcony above. I also really hate the huge main dining room - being led through all those tables which are so close together, to get to a table way at the back and then having to find my way etc - and it was SO noisy in there with all those people talking. I much prefer the way the Princess dining rooms have that sense of smaller sections within the bigger space. And finally - I really, really miss MUTS. The grand plaza down on deck 3 is really lovely, but you have to be one of the few people on the dance floor or immediately around it to be able to see what is going on, but the noise moves all the way through the ship because the atrium goes all the way up to deck 12, which means that those beautiful spaces that go around the atrium - the library, nooks etc, are open to the sounds that echo through the atrium. I did love the library but its so noisy that its not a really great place to read (although I did love the jigsaw puzzle tables and really wishes we had had those on the transatlantic crossing). Watching the movies on the grass up on deck 15 turned into a non-starter from me - lying on the grass is not at all comfortable and there are no loungers, and during the day there is no shade. So in the Ship Design contest, although the Reflection looks so lovely, Princess is the big winner for me. Entertainment: Celebrity is the big winner when it comes to guest entertainers - way better than on any of my previous Princess cruises. The productions were at about the same level as Princess - Spotlight Bar is still my favourite, but the standard is about the same. Princess wins hands down with TV though - there is a short list of movies on Celebrity, none of them anything I want to watch, and no TV series. They do not show the movies being shown up on the grass lawn, in cabins, which was really disappointing to discover. And because of the issues with the spaces they were held, I didn't persist with any of the onboard activities. Dining: Princess wins in the main dining stakes when it comes to Vegetarians - the new vegan menu gives so many options, and although Celebrity has a separate veggie menu the options are space, not very inviting, and it's difficult to construct a 'complete' protein over the course of the meal, and make sure you get enough iron (eg greens/citrus together) etc. Not a menu constructed by someone who understands veggie needs. This week has been much better, because I can switch between Blu (which has great vegetarian options) and Luminae (which clearly does not get a lot of vegetarians but does have delicious food). The absence of good pizza and the disgusting (completely tasteless and someone very dry) vege burger up in the Mast Grill means that Celebrity also loses out on the fast food option. While the pastries at Cafe Al Bacio are yummy, the absence of savory items means its not a true substitute for the International Cafe. I do like the way the buffet is organised - it is much easier to navigate than on Princess - but the dining areas are much less pleasant, really crowded, and the servers will only help you to buy things from the bar - they don't bring you tea or coffee or water etc, they way they do on princess. I had one room service breakfast down in my Concierge stateroom last week and it was a disaster. I ordered cereal, a banana and yoghurt, and some toast and marmalade. The banana and the milk were missing, as were the toast and marmalade. Room service brought up the missing items within 15 minutes, but it was not an experience to repeat (I had to show up for my excursion check in time by 7am so had been trying to save myself time but it didn't work). I have had room service in my suite twice - my breakfast this morning was early and complete and very good, and a late lunch yesterday which was the same. So, in review: I didn't enjoy the dining experience last week, but being in a suite this week has made a big difference. Short of being in a suite, Princess wins this category for me. Organisation: The way Princess organises excursions is head and shoulders above Celebrity. I have really been left bewildered at the way they do things here. They put a table right down the bottom of the theatre and they ask one member of the party to head down there to collect stickers - you have to walk down, across the theatre and back up the stairs. Then you can just disappear or you can wait in the theatre until they call your group number. At which point, you make your own way off the ship, and then you have to find your group leader out on the dock. It's a total dogs breakfast. You end up spending at least half an hour down on the dock while they wait for all the customers to show up and they don't have a list of who is coming because there isn't a proper check in system. Last week my group spent over half an hour in a torrential downpour on the dock in St Thomas while the completely indifferent excursion person stood under an umbrella. The men around me literally took off their shirts to ring out the water (something the women were not able to do) after the rain stopped. It was unreal. I have taken to collecting my sticker and heading down to the deck 3 stairs where the crew member with the walkie-talkie can tell me when my group has been called and then heading down. but seriously, they need some logistics training. I have also not been impressed with the communications on the ship - on Princess I felt like I knew what was going on with changes to the itinerary, and explanations were more forthcoming than has been my experience here. Having said all that, we got where we were going and there have not been any disasters - as long as you are able to let go of the frustrations of the moment, it has all been ok. Suite experience: I am in an Aqua Suite which is physically the same as a mini suite on Princess (right down to the 3/4 size bath) but with the full suite perks. Luminae and Blu are definitely a big step up from dining in the Reserve section of the main dining room on Princess - the service is top notch and the food is mostly excellent. On my first night, I had a truly hideous main course served (the only veggie thing on the menu was slow roasted radicchio - it was bitter with no relief, and inedible) and left after two bites, heading to Blu where I had a lovely dinner. The Maitre'D was really lovely about it the next day and I have since had a couple of excellent meals in there - but I prefer Blu for breakfast and will be going there for dinner tonight because the options in Luminae are no good. The Concierge team are really great and good at follow up. The events they have organised (a helipad sail in, a visit to the bridge, cocktail parties in Michael's Club), and the way they handled tendering yesterday etc - all make you want to Suite up for every cruise. Things I have noticed after two weeks in a suite on Princess: Celebrity's room service menu is limited (you can't order from any of the ship menus the way you can on Princess), there isn't a bar set up, and laundry is not included (a big minus in my opinion). It has been a big step up from my tiny stateroom last week, but it has not been the full experience I had on the Sky Princess. It has also been really nice getting back to plush towels here in the suite, after a week of threadbare scratchy towels in Concierge class - the difference is enormous. Loyalty: I am one cruise away from Elite on Princess, and now 2 points away from Elite on Celebrity. Apart from the cocktail party on Princess, there weren't any loyalty events. Here I have been invited to a really excellent wine tasting (it was so informative!), a helipad sail in to Puerta Plata, a breakfast and a cocktail party. So, Celebrity celebrate loyalty better on board than Princess to. We had a useful consecutive cruisers meeting the day before we got to FLL last week and I won a bottle of wine which I have been drinking for dinner in Luminae this week - it is good stuff and I didn't have to pay corkage to use it in the dining room, which was nice. Other stuff: the toiletries on Celebrity are better and the amenities kits and bar soap are really nice to have, and the chocolates on your pillow at night are lovely. So, in summary: I haven't yet bought a future cruise credit but I am thinking I might just go and get one tomorrow just in case. : ) the ship really is super beautiful. I love the solarium - it is way better than the retreat pool on Princess. Some veggie menus from the main dining room: One of those weird veggie mains - beans, asparagus and tomato sauce. It was tasty but it was not a complete meal in itself and I couldn't turn it into one with any of the appetisers either. And here was another one - it was tasty but nowhere enough veggies to make it a veggie main, no protein, no iron etc. But the eggs florentine was way way way better than any breakfast dish i had in the main dining room on Princess (and equal to that in Sabatinis). the Celebrity veggie burger is a total travesty. It looks so pretty and yet its completely tasteless and dry. I asked a crew member about it and he just shook his head and nodded in agreement. weird. really wonderful wine tasting experience offered to Select loyalty status members. pillow chocolates again! My suite on deck 12: my deck 10 concierge room:

I can’t reach those cabinets alas! The Buffet is easier to manage here because you can see the whole space instead of wandering the separate rooms and getting turned around. We had an awesome Queen singalong the other night and last night was Abba, so much fun. The CD has mentioned the silent disco so if i see it, will efinitely give it a go. Yesterday I had an incredible day on the water in Sint Maarten with ‘captain Bob’, and today we were off the ship at 7am for a tour of Tortola and three hours at Cane Garden beach - so relaxing! Tomorrow is the Dominican Republic, then three days of R&R to look forward to,

Hi everyone, today I am back in St Maarten, and the weather promises to be better than last week. I am still trying to keep an open mind but so far I am not really enjoying the Celebrity experience. We arrived several hours late in San Juan (it was originally a 4.30-10pm visit; they announced the day before that because we left FLL two hours late, we wouldn’t be arriving til 6.30pm - with no explanation for why they couldn’t make up those two hours over the course of two days at sea - and as it turned out, we didn’t begin debarking til after 7.30pm. They gave no updates and no explanation until a brief announcement at 7.10pm, and there were people everywhere waiting to get off, from 6pm. Total dogs breakfast. All ship excursions cancelled; people with private excursions stressed. And what is there to do at that time of night on a Monday? No follow up, no apologies, really a very poor experience in every way. yesterday in St Thomas I experienced the X excursion experience and it was also a total dogs breakfast. They appear to be shockingly poor at organisation, where I think Princess have this down to an art. At least part of Celebrity’s problem is that the ship’s public spaces are not actually well designed for what they are needed for. They look great but are not very functional or flexible. For instance, I have now been in the theatre five times and every time, I have had interrupted sight-lines either because of those stupid columns or the overhang from the balcony. And as a meeting place pre excursion its completely useless because there is no way out from the bottom, so they have one family member go in and down to the stage to collect stickers and then you go off and wait somewhere else until your group is called - it was totally ridiculous. There are a dozen better ways of sorting it than this. Another example: Celebrity Central is not a great space to try to follow a seminar or a game show, with all the noise and the walk throughs - Princess Live and Vista Lounge are much more useful spaces. and the main dining room is awful, just one huge chaotic noisy space. I have taken to going to dinner late to avoid the main crowds, and aiming for 4th deck which is smaller. Anyway… I am not writing a ‘live from’ because the Celebrity board is not very friendly (in my humble opinion), but I will come back here next week and provide my thoughts for those interested in the comparison with Princess. Yesterday I was notified that my upgrade bid succeeded so I will be moving to an Aqua Sky Suite for the second week (this week I am in a concierge balcony, great location but tiny with poor storage space) so I will be able to compare apples to apples.

Thank you! It was nice to share with people who love to cruise. Right now I am on the Celebrity Reflection and the culture shock is real. This is only my 7th cruise; the first two were with Celebrity in 2010 & 2014, then I have had 4 with Princess since 2019. The gap between the two means I had forgotten or never realised how different the aesthetic and the vibe is between the two lines. I am trying to withhold judgement until I am acclimated or the next two weeks will be less fun than I was hoping. But hoo boy, things are different over here.

I booked everything myself but only because Princess killed off the Australian vacation planning department for about six months last year and the wonderful PVP I had been using previously was no longer available. They seem to have reinstated it this year but I haven’t found the responses to questions I have sent to the new guy either timely or helpful so I am not convinced that it’s a good replacement. In Australia, travel agents don’t seem to offer all the perks they do in America to attract clients, and during the pandemic I think I did better with refunds by having booked direct with Princess than my friends did who were dealing with external agents. It seems to be definitely a matter of personal preference. However I will also note that the quality of assistance available on the Princess call lines has dropped dramatically over the past year and at times I would have paid really good money to have my old PVP available to deal with problems for me.

I am also on this cruise, and the one that follows it. I transferred yesterday from the Sky Princess after a transatlantic, and was pleasantly surprised by the embarkation process. I had to wait over an hour in a chaotic taxi queue over at Terminal 2 and the humidity was a horrible shock, but once I arrived at Terminal 29 at 10.40am everything happened very swiftly and I was on board by 11.05am, despite my having received three emails reminding me that my boarding time was 12pm and not to show up early. I had just been hoping for somewhere cool to sit with my bags, so actually being onboard so quickly was fabulous. Like you I dropped my carry on in the cabin, then walked the ship, did my muster check in, and then went to the Concierge lunch. It’s been a good long while (2014) since I sailed with Celebrity and I am currently in culture shock. It all seems terribly American and foreign after Princess. But my bed is also very comfortable, and I started my day with a swim in the empty solarium and then a massage, both of which were lovely, so hopefully the adjustment will not be too hard. I look forward to reading your trip notes!

You can pay your gratuities up front - in the personaliser there is a tab where it sets out how much it is with a ‘click here’ button to pay by card. I did that for my August and November cruises because for us (booked in australia, cruises in Europe and out of Southampton) the Plus package does not include gratuities. I prefer to pay up front so I don’t have to think about it again (and also because I was concerned (rightly as it turned out that either the gratuities might increase or that the exchange rate would get worse - both of which happened in the 18 months between booking and sailing). friends on the same European cruise just let the daily charges accumulate and paid at the end of the cruise. They like to be able adjust the amount if they want to.

Hey everyone, good morning from the Sky Princess for the last time. Yesterday ended up being very relaxing. I started with a lovely swim up on deck 16 in the main pool. It was empty and so lovely and deep! The sky couldn't decide if it wanted to be blue or black and the wind was cold; I was amazed by the people staking out their pool side loungers so early in the morning. After that I had a wonderful suite breakfast in Sabatini, then went to the culinary demonstration in the Princess Theatre - as usual, it was fun and interesting. Among other nuggets I learned, we ate 300 tons of ingredients over the past 15 days; we ate 8000 whole eggs every single breakfast service and another 4-5000 pasturised (carton) eggs are used in other ways (desserts, scrambled eggs etc). We ate 142,000 meals in total! They made a broccoli pasta dish, something with shellfish, and tiramisu and as usual it is hilarious the ingredients that professional chefs assume that everyone just has in their pantries.. I went to guest services to zero out my account (there was about $10 in OBC remaining so they paid me out in cash and I got two shiny new quarters that I have never seen before) and after a wander, tried to have lunch at Alfredos (do not do what I did and leave using your last casual dining credit to the last day: Alfredos was completely packed. I got there at 11.55am and ordered a pizza which did not arrive until 12.50pm), checked out the crafts session (it was a lot smaller than previous sessions, and involved painting jars for candles) and then went back to my suite to watch Avatar: the Way of Water while I got started on my packing. That is a LONG movie and I was really disgruntled to learn it was a cliff hanger with no resolution. I had afternoon tea in my suite (just sandwiches and scones, lovely), and then after listening to some music in the piazza used my remaining free meal voucher for Sabatinis. Unfortunately the afternoon tea meant I was not really hungry but I had a lovely mixed salad, that delicious pesto trofie pasta, and tried the zabaglione for dessert (definitely not my thing but at least now I know what it tastes like). I then had to talk to guest services about removing a weird bar charge that had shown up during the afternoon (keep an eye on your account!) and headed to the Princess Theatre for the variety show, which was really great. It started with a 15 minute video of the out cuts from the Wake Show - it was hilarious, who knew it was so hard to get that line "Good morning everyone' right on film. There were a couple of dance numbers, the comedian on board did a 15 minute stint, and so did a male vocalist, and the show finished Sam doing the haka and a woman crew member singing a song. I got my cases into the hall before the 10pm deadline and finished my day with a bath and the last of my bath oil. I am about to head to guest services again because ... I managed to pack my medallion. I can't believe I was so stupid. So I will need a new one, then breakfast, then I am going to hang out on deck 14 in the concierge lounge until they make me leave. From here I am catching a taxi around the port to Terminal 29 where the Celebrity Reflection is docked, and hope there is somewhere cool for me to wait until I can check in and board at 12pm. So, thanks for travelling along with me, and so long for now. : )

Hi everyone, its our last day! A lovely blissful sea day to finish. I am about to head up to the main pool for a swim - i haven't been in there yet and I figure it will be packed all day long so I am going before breakfast so I can at least know I have been in there! Yesterday was Grand Turk, and it was lovely. I headed out on a snorkling tour; we had a warm up at a baby spot because there were a number of new snorklers in the group, and then headed to the Library Reef, right on the edge of the Grand Turk Wall, where the sea bed drops away to 7000 feet. The water was a pure indigo over there, and it was gorgeous. There were a lot of fishies - all the little tropical ones and lots of big fish like snapper - and it is bliss to spend time in the water watching them, but the reef itself, like all the reefs I have seen over here, was nothing special. unfortunately for me, I snorkled the Great Barrier Reef back in the late 90s - there are no words to describe the poetry in motion down there, and nothing else since (not even the red sea in Egypt) has come even close to the colour and perfection. Now that its pretty much gone, I feel such sorrow whenever I go snorkling, to think that we just let such a magnificent treasure die. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend time in the water, and then even better to get back on board to enjoy some ship-side silliness and thanksgiving dinner, followed by a last lovely bath in that gorgeous bathroom in my suite. I am going to miss that bath so much!! Some photos: A beautiful sunset at sea: I thought the Sky Princess was a huge ship, but we felt dwarfed by Carnival Mardi Gras - what an enormous ship! Grand Turk from my cabin window: A monument to the Friendship 7 splashdown: Thanksgiving decorations: A demonstration of towel art: Thanksgiving Dinner: I had the special cocktail - it was super delicious: I had the pumpkin soup (very yummy), then the green salad, and the gnocchi which was too rich for me and most of which I didn't eat. I didn't have dessert but the people at the next table had pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie and they weren't impressed with any of them, so I don't think I missed much except calories I definitely didn't need. more silliness - I scored 19/20, being tripped up by a law in Minnesota prohibiting bingo more than twice a week.

Thank you! How completely fascinating! I must have just not seen it on the other Princess ships I have been on - I am not very visually observant.

And now some food photos for those of you who are interested: tonight's menus - the first two pages of the main menu and then the Vegan menu: I went with the cauliflower tacos - they were very flavourful but the taco shells were not crisp so the texture was off and I wished I had gone with the spring rolls which looked amazing! Then I had a small portion of the fafalle with broccoli and cheese sauce which was scrumptious - silky and very tasty. Followed by the vegetable strudel - the strudel was yummy but the accompaniments were yuck and remained on the plate. No room for dessert tonight but the other night I had a very light starter of orange, almond and fennel, and so had room for dessert which was the banana tart with chocolate gelato. They were both DELICIOUS.

I was really looking forward to it too, but the online reviews fail to point out that since 2016 there have been no big planes landing there. I was on the beach when three of the small planes went over and it was no big deal at all. If you really want the full experience, go to Wellington, NZ and head to the end of the runway from Lyall Bay. That's super exhilarating.

Hey everyone, greetings from the Sky Princess after another fabulous day in the Caribbean. I had a quick scroll back and it seems I haven't posted for a few days - port days are intense. So a quick catch up is in order. In Antigua we had really gorgeous weather, and I went on an expensive catamaran and beach excursion with a lobster lunch. To be honest, to me it was not good value for money. The crew were lovely and the scenery was gorgeous but unfortunately I didn't realise until it was too late to change, that there was no snorkling on this cruise. We went to two beaches and the water was so murky at the first that I couldn't see my hands, and at the second one, while the water was clear, there was nothing to see under the sea. The lunch was pretty basic (especially for me) and it was clear that my fellow sailors were determined to get their money's worth from the booze - they started drinking as soon as we were off (at 9am!) and they continued until the minute we got back at 3pm. As someone brought up in NZ to respect the dangers of the sea, the idea of drinking IN the water (as they did - cans and bottles in hand) is totally foreign and it stressed me out - not least because as they got intoxicated they got loud and some of them, fairly obnoxious. I know that the caribbean is completely different from the pacific ocean but still, it wasn't fun for me. The music was awesome but it wasn't enough to turn the day around for me. Actually, the day got off to a bad start because of a gentleman doing a loud 'grace' at breakfast in Sabatini, and I really don't need to hear out loud, before I have absorbed my tea, what all someone else believes is wrong with the sinners of the world. Anyway... that was Antigua - it's a lovely island and I wish I had chosen a different excursion. Yesterday we were in Sint Maarten/St Martin and the weather was crap - it started off blue and hot and humid but no sooner were we in the bus on the way to the french side of the island, it started to rain and it didn't stop until way after the excursion ended. We hit all the sights - it was a good excursion that way - but its hard to appreciate the beauty when you can't see it through the fog. I am back here next week and doing a (non-cruise ship) snorkling adventure, and I am really looking forward to seeing the island from the water. Also, I found the diamond pendant I have been looking for since I was robbed in Arles back in September - it was exactly what I wanted and about 1/3 of the price of the one I had been looking at in Effy, so I bought it. Colour me pleased. Today we were in beautiful San Juan. I have been here before, back in 2010, when I walked all over the old town and had a tour of the gorgeous civic buildings, so this time I went on a nature adventure, to El Yanque National Park - it was just lovely. They had 6 inches of rain yesterday so the La Coca Falls was in great shape, and the view from the top of the tower was so beautiful! When we got back to town, we visited the San Cristobel Fort for awesome views of the city up the top. It was super hot (35 degrees) and humid, but hey, I am travel-hardened now, having lived through the summer from hell in Europe. I have also been catching up on my movies up at MUTS: I have now seen the latest Mission: Impossible, and the last Indiana Jones movie, along with Barbie! and Top Gun Maverick. So I feel culturally caught-up again, and if only they were showing Oppenheimer, I would feel even more complete. Hopefully it will be showing on a plane as I make my way home next month. There has been more great food in the main dining room, and this morning when I had to have room service because we had a super early immigration call (I was really glad for this when I got back mid afternoon to realise that there were a number of other huge ships in port and large numbers of passengers milling about outside - we were all through customs by 8am and on our way before they even arrived in port, so well played Princess) - anyway this morning I had to have awful room service breakfast and it has made me even more determined to really enjoy the next three breakfasts in Sabatini before disembarkation. Ok, that's probably enough jabbering on and its almost time to head to dinner. So, here are some photos in case you are interested. First up, does anyone know what this insignia is? I have never seen it before. Some photos of beautiful Antigua: Some photos from Sint Maartin: There are so many igunanas! lots and lots of bright green adolescents, and a few huge adults like this one: A word of warning: do not waste your time at Moro Beach - it was amazing prior to 2016 when the 747s landed but now they are only small planes and the effect is not the same. the ONLY product actually made in St Martin is this liquor made from a local berry. Literally everything else for sale here is imported. But its also tax free so that means some of the things are good value. it was so lovely looking out my window and seeing the sun rise, and then I saw the string of cruise ships following us into port and that was not so great. And from today: The Mameyes River running through the park: La Coca Falls The Yokohu Scenic Tower: View from the top: It's worth the climb. The Atlantic looking far more gorgeous than she did on our crossing: