bigbenboys

My DH and I has been huge fans of Blu for many past cruises with the thought in mind we were treating ourselves with an Aqua class cabin for the privilege of dining in Blu. Not so much anymore, our recent Millennium Alaska cruise has us booking a regular balcony on our next X cruise. 3 out of 7 menu nights were not enough regular sort of options as I do not like lamb, duck or squab. One night salmon was featured (not the always available) I had one taste and knew if I continued to eat it, I would be ill...it was off. I requested a med steak to have it arrive well done so next time requested med rare steak to have it arrive next to raw. I know they are very accommodating to replace a meal, but waiting for a replacement while my husbands meal gets cold as he won't start his until I get mine is just not how I want to do dinner. The mat'd and hostess were great, the staff good but not as excellent as past cruises (perhaps because it was a 7 day cruise and we usually do longer). We did not complain (I do not want to piss off anyone in the care of my meal...for a number of reasons) For the price diff on the next cries we can dine a number of times at specialty restaurants and still have significant savings....so long Aqua class.

We are still booking Aqua for location and dining in Blu. But it not for the food. The service is excellent and we can dine when we want.

I will not eat lamb, duck, veal or squab. I seem to find something it eat. I order my steaks rare. I like med-rare, but as long as the center is not cold I'm fine.

As to the price. They have gone up. We were going to book 14 day southern Caribbean cruise in Aqua for March 2016. We are now going to book a 7 day eastern in Aqua and spend some time in Miami. As we have done east, west and south many times.

I was on Silhouette in March. The Hideaway on Deck 7 has a coffee and tea station.

Times change and laws change over the years. This is what I found while doing some research. Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 which effectively banned its use and sales. While the Act was ruled unconstitutional years later, it was replaced with the Controlled Substances Act in the 1970’s which established Schedules for ranking substances according to their dangerousness and potential for addiction. Prior to 1937, cannabis had enjoyed a 5000 year stretch as a therapeutic agent across many cultures.

I live in Washington state where it is legal to buy at licensed stores. We will see what happens in the next 5 to 10 years.

That would be nice, but then why does the Celebrity web site say this:

 

 

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/frequently-asked-questions#internationalSailings

 

Unless there is another way of reading this, this says you can not say "I'd like to charge $100 to my account" and then have it settled using OBC ... even if your intent is to actually gamble with it. Perhaps this is the written rule but it is not enforced on the ships? That's why I would like to get first hand accounts of people who have recently used this tactic to get cash from the casino using OBC.

Maybe I look at a little different. I cant go to the casino and put my seapass card in the machine and spend OBC money. When I do have OBC and I ask for a draw from my account at the casino cage. They do not say to me I'm sorry you have OBC and we cant give you any cash. Now go spend your money on wine or a bag. The wine I like on Celebrity is $25 a glass. So it does not take me long to go through OBC. Back at home the bottle is not that much more, but I'm on vacation.

It does not make that much difference to me. I would like the bed near the balcony. It give me more room to get into the closet.

Celebrity has NEVER called itself "all inclusive". They have offered promotions that have certain items "all inclusive", such as the beverage package, or pre-paid gratuities. But if you are fooled into thinking such a promotion means EVERYTHING is included, then that quote by P.T.Barnum about something being "born every minute" certainly fits.

 

And, they have not taken away and "free" food options, only added ADDITIONAL dining options that have a fee. No one is forced to eat at any fee dining venue. Everything that has always been "free" is still "free". The difference is now you have more choice!

 

I have no idea why people have such a hatred for more options and variety! :rolleyes:

The quote "Don't miss out on our cruise special offer, 123go! All Inclusive." is from Celebrity. It is dated from Nov 24 2014. You can do a google search. Celebrity is calling themselves All Inclusive.

I do like Celebrity and cruise with them the most. We normally get Concierge and above cabins and have seen cabin prices going up. I'm most likely going to book 2 more Celebrity cruises next week. I might also book 2b2 on Royal next week also. I was going to book Celebrity 14 night southern caribbean. But the cost for 2 in a Aqua cabin was $6500 to $7000. We have done that cruise 2 times before.

We normally get Concierge and above cabins and have seen cabin prices going up also. What I was pointing out was where there are additional fees on the cruise ship.

Another example of more charges. However, you will find some people that will say....

'It is only $10.'

Here is another $10 fee with the Tips and Pkgs increase. The Pub charging $8 for a burger, etc.

Celebrity, you are going to price yourself out. You are not Crystal or any other TOP cruise line. Get Real!!!

What I'm hearing and seeing is that Celebrity is becoming more like some of Royal Caribbean cruise ships with many more pay restaurants or food you must pay for. Celebrity might be looking or calling it self all inclusive. "Don't miss out on our cruise special offer, 123go! All Inclusive." There is a fee of some type at the following restaurants. The Porch, The Lawn Club Grill, Aqua Spa Cafe, Bistro on Five, Murano, Qsine, Tuscan Grille, GastroBar.

For me booking a Concierge cabin is all about location.

For us it also about location. We are doing more Aqua than Concierge. Dining when you want in Blu and not having any formal nights.

We have used the binoculars and umbrella. The sparkiing wine is nice for the 1st evening without having a captains club event.

We booked a suite on the Constellation Jan 2017. There are now only two or three suites of any type left. There are also 3 accessible sky suites left. So we are glad that we booked early.

 

I forgot to say also that the price has gone up $1300 Australian since we booked. It's a repositioning so no perks are involved in the price change.

We seem to always book way ahead of time. I have 2 more cruises booked for this year. Still looking for a cruise for Mar 2016. But I have booked Sept 2016 and Jan 2017 already. As benjoon said the suites are just about gone for Jan 2017 on Connie. I grabbed 2 Sky suites and the price jumped up. For us it is all about location.

This is what I use.

Belkin 3-Outlet 918 Joule Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger

Model: BZ103050-TVL

If you need more than that you can get a 7-port USB hub.

I would stay with the inside and think about the balcony if you find a good cabin and price. On the other hand how much drinking do you 2 plan if you did not have the drink package?

This is a quote from Celebrity website. "Starting this April, Suite Class guests will be indulged with a new and exclusive restaurant—Luminae. Offering complimentary breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Luminae is a culinary experience of modern, eclectic cuisine and extraordinary service that will remind you (and your taste buds) that there’s no better way to vacation than as a Celebrity Cruises Suite Class guest. Luminae offers a deliciously exclusive dining experience like no other."

It does not say starting in April, but we dont plan on getting our act together until a month later. If a company is adverting 3 meal per day in Luminae then they need to do it. If that means overtime and long hours for their employees the company must comply and pay. Would I feel for the staff yes. But my thoughts would go back to Celebrity.

In life most problems seem to come down to lack of communication.

As to the drink packages. Not all get it for free. And nothing is really free. For myself I went to a bar and ask for a drink and got one.

With those three restaurants being closed on embarkation day, it really sets the tone doesn't it.

This is getting very poor.

We like to eat lunch before we board the cruise ship. The board after 1pm when there are less people boarding and you can go right to your cabin.

For us it comes down to location to food and pool. We seem to book CC or AC. We travel with family and friend and like getting cabins next to each other and opening the dividers on the S Class ships. We did book 2 Sky Suites for my retirement cruise in Jan 2017. 598 days until I retire. With a total of 7 sea days I thought it would be nice to try Luminae.

We just got off a 28 day BTB cruise on the Solstice and we had Aqua class. Yes you can eat in the MDR at any meal and you don't have to ask the Maître D. On sea days the MDR is open for lunch so you might want to check it out at that meal.

 

The MDR has items served every evening. Among them are appetizers escargot, shrimp cocktail and French onion soup. These are not on the Blu menu but can be ordered at any evening meal. My wife had the escargot almost every night. Also at breakfast in Blu you can order Eggs Benedict which is not on the menu. Blu serves fresh squeezed orange juice while the MDR does not.

 

We were never served cold food. Not all waiters are created equal. We found Cetut a waiter we had back in 2008 on the Infinity and he was excellent. We asked for him every night. When he left the ship in Honolulu we asked for Sydney or Rosebud both excellent also.

 

The problem with Celebrity food is what you see listed on the menu and think you are going to get may be completely different from what actually shows up on your plate. Case in point I love pesto and make it myself. One night they had spaghetti with lamb meatballs with basil pesto listed on the menu. When the plate arrived it had red marinara sauce, not pesto. I called our waiter over and asked him to bring the maître'd over and told him about it. He then brought out the head Blu chef. He tried to tell me it was pesto sauce. When I told him pesto is green not red and I know how to make it and ran off the ingredients in pesto he then said a small amount was on the side which also was not true. Their idea of strawberry shortcake and key lime pie are nothing I have ever had in any restaurant in the USA.

However Blu was worth the Aqua upgrade for us.

When I think of pesto I think of the green pesto that I love. I now ask what color is the pesto before ordering.

Because pesto is a generic term for anything that is made by pounding, there are various other pestos, some traditional, some modern. Pesto rosso (red pesto), is a sauce from Sicily similar to pesto genovese but with the addition of tomato, almonds instead of pine nuts, and much less basil.

If they do have 2 minors in 1 of the cabins, just change and put 1 adult in each cabin. If I remember right you can change only one of the names in each cabin once. Then when you get onboard get new or additional seapass cards. That way you can bring 4 bottles of wine and be within the rules

On the S Class ships we like going from having breakfast in Blu to the Tuscan Grill to have drinks and look out the windows.

We have 2 suites on hold for Jan 2017. The cruise has a total of 7 sea days. I thought my parents would love having lunch in Luminae. As we have cruise many parts of the world we do not always get off at port stops. On port days I eat lunch before I get of the ship or after I get back. Four hours at most ports is time enough for me. I will say my father has not gotten off at a port stop in years now.

You can choose to book a promotional fare that doesn't include any perks, that might make it feel better.

On our last cruise I did the math. We had all 3 of the 123go. We could have booked without the 123go. In the end it was about $150 pp for us to have the drink package on a 7 night cruise.

With the 123go promo. We normally take the perks in this order. Gratuities then OBC and last the drink package. We already get drinks at the elite events. How many drinks do I really need.

Over all I would have to say yes. With the prices going up we decided to do a 2 week land trip to England last year. Going to Wales, Cotswolds, Winston Chruchill grave and many other great places. In March 2015 we did a Caribbean cruise. We normally have been doing the 14 southern cruise. With the prices higher we opted for a 7 day cruise then to Universal Studio to see what they added to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We had a great time.

You also, most likely, need to be logged OUT in order to access the pdf -- at least that's how it's been in the past.

Yes you are right. I just signed in and could not get to the page to get the pdf file. Why oh why does Celebrity do what it does?

Is it just me. I like getting one plate sit down. Order a glass of wine. Eat my salad then go back for a 2nd plate if needed.

For us it is about location to pool and food.

I would say that Azamara's website is or was the worst. I just stopped looking at their cruises.

As to Celebrity's website. I had the wait for 20 minutes message. I called my TA. She gave me the line about not signing out right. I said I can get into Celebrity, but I cant get into my reservation for my up coming cruise. And that I have not been on the website in over a month. TA called and Celebrity could not get into my reservation. In the end they had to give me a new reservation ID.

I think the idea is a good one. We are Elite+. Our last cruise we booked on land. We went with the 123go all in. After doing all the math our A1 cabin with the promo cost us about $150 pp to have the drink package. We still went to the Elite event in the evenings and then to Blu.

We book a cruise while onboard. They gave us the 123go all in. When I got home my parent wanted to book the same cruise. My parents booked the cruise and got the same price as I did, but without the 123go all in promo.