chemmo

Terms and conditions vary from country to country so ideally you need a response from a countryman as I think Australian terms and conditions will apply regardless of it being booked on board.

Why not have lunch in the port? I can guarantee there will be some great sea food options! The best bouillabaisse is usually found in these ports, boat to restaurant, no middle man.

Take comfort and support from the posters who have supported your views, feelings and emotions…

I don’t think anyone’s reaction is over the top. Would you see things differently if the sommelier was pushing a recent none smoker to just hold a lit cigarette? It is simply forcing a vulnerable person to say ‘no’ and resist a temptation not once but on several occasions. He had done the right thing by alerting the sommelier before the event. The sommelier then should have found an alternative for him and discreetly provided it. You know, quite apart from the OP’s experience on every occasion like this there should be a nonalcoholic option readily available ‘just in case’…

I have a vision of being coached with others to a beach set up with usual beds and side tables and you simply being given a basket of cold (but warming rapidly) food and a glass of cheap fizz… There is no mention of vehicle being used to transport you Number of guests Do you get unlimited wine or a glass? Bottle? Option for alternative Location, is the beach just for the tour guests or are you simply on a resort? I think I would want all the above answering before even considering booking. To be honest it is so easy on St. Maarten to set up a beach break independently it may be a ‘private journey’ because no one opts into it!

Only slept at the back on M class. Whilst most of the time the motion wasn’t an issue we did have two gusty days and I did take my sea sickness tablets! Whilst I love the wake view I wouldn’t book extreme forward or aft rooms for Transatlantic or Transpacific cruises. Would definitely book an aft view for usually calmer water…

Agree… OP, so sorry this happened to you. The sommelier was obviously oblivious to the inappropriateness of his behaviour. His behaviour was insensitive and possibly dangerous to someone with issues. I totally understand you not wanting to discuss this with management but there is a clear training need. If you don’t want to talk about it could you simply print off your post and ask customer service to pass it on to the Food and Beverage manager? You could, if you wanted, add a hand written addition saying you don’t want to discuss it further but felt that for the sake of future guests you needed to bring it to his attention. Bad as the experience was, try to put it behind you now and enjoy your cruise!

Just tried to collate myself, I think you are spot on!

No irons or ironing boards. There is a comprehensive list in your cabin when you board with prices for pressing, washing and dry cleaning. Not cheap but perfectly acceptable if you just want a few shirts etc pressed. Let your room attendant know what you want to send to press and fill in the form. Usually mid cruise there is an ‘all you can squeeze in a bag’ laundry offer, much cheaper than laundry by item. This comes back folded but not pressed. Not good for delicates but great for underwear, shorts, T-shirts etc. Look out for the offer in the ‘Today’ leaflet.

We generally give the shore side concierge our provisional dining list for dinners. We are not massive Luminae fans so tend to use the speciality restaurants most nights. Lunches are often unknown until boarding and are usually easily available. They are not particularly important to us as we only tend to have a light snack at that time. However, if they are important to you ask your butler on boarding or the M’D of any of the speciality restaurants and they will tell you what will be available and when and accommodate your booking requests. Our RS and PH experience has been on S and M class. In our experience the speciality Tuscan and Murano lunches have not been included. However lunch in Sushi, The Porch and Sushi on Five have. Obviously others have had a different experience. Again I suggest you ask on boarding. Also the speciality lunchtime menus in Tuscan and Murano are not as extensive as the dinner ones. Sushi, The Porch and Lawn Grill are rarely mega busy at lunch and probably would sit you any lunch without a reservation. Once on board we give our list of evening dining bookings (print out of the email sent to the shore side concierge) to the butler and ask him to check they have been made. Most of the time they have but occasionally they haven’t so always worth checking. After that we often modify slightly our bookings to fit in with the entertainment schedule, for example ask to change a 7pm booking for 7.30pm. Never usually a problem. Depending on the circumstances we sometimes ask the butler to do this for us, other times we will do it ourselves. If we decide not to do a booking we let the restaurant know to free up the table. Just as an aside, the email copy of dining bookings we give to the butler also has details of our bar set up (beers, spirits, soda) and room requests (full fruit basket…) and special requests (afternoon tea tray set up…). On the occasions that shore side information hasn’t gone through the butlers have really appreciated having the list rather than frantically trying to note down dining requests, the brands of beers etc. Hope you have a fantastic cruise!

I was thinking exactly the same…

They are young enough to endure! I am sure at their age they are used to sofas and sleeping bags when they visit friends! At least the hiking should help them sleep….

I think you are right, cover for travel and cruise is probably less vital if you are cruising ‘locally’ but there are so many posts on CC where sadly many people do need to cancel last minute and then are frantically asking for advice on how to try to recuperate some of their hard earned money back! Responses invariably range from sympathetic to helpful to none sympathetic condemnation for not having purchased insurance! I guess if you have booked a cheap get away I can see the logic in not wanting to book trip cover… The medical aspect of insurance cover, however, is a different matter. Much as the majority of accidents happen in your own home I think holiday wise they often occur in your holiday back yard…All you need is one slip, one fall and repatriation from Alaska or a Caribbean Island with a complex limb injury can be eye watering without even thinking about emergency X-rays, scans, surgery… At the end of the day you book a holiday to relax and unwind. Hard to do that if you know in the back of your mind you aren’t protected for all the ‘what if’ scenarios life can throw at you.

If in a RS you simply tick both the wash and press boxes on the form….

Limited experience but I think both the MDR and Luminae were closed both days at lunch when we had an overnight in the Caribbean but if I remember correctly Sushi on five was open for lunch both days and Lawn Grill day 2 (we were on Reflection). I think that it could probably be something you won’t get the answer to until you are on board.

Thanks for the correction, I should have made it clearer in my post….

Laundry in suites is different from the stuff in a bag Elite perk. In a RS you can request items to be laundered and pressed free of charge. These, and other items like polo shirts come back on hangers. The smaller items are returned in a small basket neatly folded. We have never found return an issue with RS laundry as we always have enough garments to cover two days as I think most guests do. If you do have an ‘emergency’ garment issue, for example you notice a stain on a gown you were planning to wear later, give your butler a ring and he will take it down to the laundry and if they can do something quick for you they will. I know from experience!

Crossing the pond would require me to board without clothes if I gave a lot of space for books! Seriously, next time I cruise from Southampton I will take any unwanted books with me however we also tend to do this… Although recently some charity shops are saying they have enough books…

Please double check what the ‘expert’ TA’s inform you. There are some fantastic TA’s out there but many who have no specific knowledge of the individual ship layouts. It doesn’t help that sometimes when you try to look up rooms on Celebrity you can get a mix of the M, S and E class pictures. Sincere best wishes that you and your Mother find something to suit.

I think a mistake guests can make is the thought that if you book a suite your cruise will be automatically better. It will only be better if the perks it offers are the things important to you. Many guests prefer speciality dining to Luminae or are happy with the MDR and find standard rooms a perfectly adequate size. As you say, the art is to look at your holiday $$$ and decide what to spend them on.

I guess that is why the revolutionised ships are popular. Not too many suites but with a ‘decent’ if not perfect suite deck… Silhouette with its additional restaurants, being less elderly and with the S class favourite restaurant Murano perhaps being the ‘Sweet, suite spot!’.

Definitely some butlers are more willing to go ‘above and beyond’ than others but sometimes the directive can come from above. On our last Silhouette cruise we became aware two sets of RS couples (related) were trying to run circles around the suite system. They were on the suite deck insisting that the waiter should get them full meals from Luminae. Constant repetition of ‘We are in Royal Suites….’ I wonder if on your cruise several guests were regularly ‘expecting’ to order room service from Luminae to the point it was putting pressure on both the restaurant and the butlers. It is in such circumstances that the M’D of Luminae or the Suite Manager may feel the need to intervene and simply say to all butlers ‘No Luminae room service’. This is why on my earlier thread I said we would always ‘request’ a special meal and accept if it is not offered. Quite simply the few over demanding can spoil reasonable requests from others. For those with long memories when suite perks were first introduced we asked why unlimited laundry had become ‘twice per cruise’. Our butler explained that there had been several occasions where larger family groups with one couple in a RS had been sending in multiple bags for the full family daily…We have cruised many times since and, as others will I am sure agree, have never had our laundry restricted but they do have the restriction rule in place if needed.

We have never asked for or had breakfast, lunch or a last minute dinner served course by course when in a RS or above. RS and above have unlimited speciality dining but there is no mention of this being included in suite. However, some cruises we have requested a special meal one evening. We have chatted with the butler about the food we want at least one day before and have received some lovely meals served course by course… This reflects our experience… Not something I would ask for or expect regularly. We see it as a treat not a right. If we asked and were refused we would accept it. Unfortunately there are some guests who can be ‘demanding’ expecting this level of service daily and last minute. Quite simply they then overwhelm what is a shared service. In our experience butlers love the ‘give us 24 hours’ to organise…If they know one suite between 7/8pm will need a bit more time they can juggle other duties. Whilst I totally agree that none of us should abuse or over expect service from the butler in our experience they love setting up little treats. Friends of ours in a SS mentioned that the next day was their wedding anniversary and pre ordered breakfast. The butler arrived with the breakfast, flowers and champagne…

Great idea, unfortunately many of us fly in to cruise so tend to rely on our downloads. On our last Equinox cruise we regularly saw a group of quilters meeting up to enjoy their craft. Definitely a space worth saving as a quiet, relaxing corner on the S class ships.

Agree. We tend to have the premium package as it comes with our room but I have mixed drinks so weak it probably doesn’t matter what spirit goes in! Also I rarely have a Martini and never have energy drinks or vitamin water. However, I do like a decent glass of wine. If the premium package didn’t come with the room I would probably stick with the classic then simply either pay the upgrade nightly for a better glass of wine or purchase a couple of bottles. It is great that you can buy a bottle of wine in one restaurant and ask them to send it to where you are dining the next night to finish…