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Agree, we have had some fantastic meals in Murano on S class but I will never forget the two we had in Olympic…Just so very, very special…You simply felt from entering the room that it was going to be an occasion you would always remember…

I must say we felt pretty much the same…We did wonder later if she actually went to the rest room or the ensemble lounge for a top up between courses… Much as on the night all we felt was frustration that an event we had looked forward to was a disappointment there was a sadness about the whole affair. The M’D apologised to us as we escaped (sorry left) as soon as we could. We apologised to him saying he couldn’t be responsible for the behaviour of guests…However we bumped into one of the other table couples later in the cruise in Michael’s and as we began to review the evening some mirth did creep in as did some pathos…

I think we were a table of twelve on both occasions. As I said, our first chef’s table was very pleasant. The people were all very nice and the conversation was flowing and inclusive. I have thought about doing it again. One bad experience shouldn’t put you off for ever. However, the prices are steep….

We have done two chefs tables… I have recounted this before but I will relate again, your experience will depend more on your fellow table mates than the food quality. Our first experience was very pleasant. Nice food, excellent service and good company. Our second less so…Unfortunately Mr Know it All and his wife Mrs Drink it All definitely spoilt the experience the second time. Since then we have seen the funnier side of the experience but at the time we felt we had spent a lot of money and then couldn’t wait for the meal to end. Mr Know it All dominated every conversation interrupting every conversation started by other fellow guests being an expert on everything whilst his wife constantly requested extra wine…She also tottered on her very high heels whilst the wine was clearly having an effect between courses to the rest room resulting in our waiters delaying presentation of the next courses….She left a few times and each visit took longer…by the end we were surprised she found her way back…To be honest I was more surprised she wanted to make her way back as her husband had almost killed the art of conversation….As I say, in hindsight we have laughed about the experience but we haven’t repeated it. Perhaps we might if cruising with family or friends…

The children issue we did experience on an early September cruise on Oasis but on our Allure cruise there were next to no children but quite a few loud adults, many quite elderly. One day we inadvertently sat on three unsaved sun beds poolside between two groups of saved. Eventually a large group arrived who obviously knew each other and settled each side of us. Not only did they yell across to each other we were asked to pass over sun cream etc. We suggested we swap beds so they would all be together but they declined saying they wanted the ends of the rows not the middle! You definitely have to laugh at the comedy of such situations!

Looking forward to your review. Most of our early cruising was on Royal. We did love the shows on the larger ships although the largest we ever did was Oasis class. So nice to get such a variety. I loved the ice shows and the water shows…Much as we don’t need entertaining 24/7 we did make more effort on RC to see shows. It was the noise levels throughout the ships that made us turn more and more to Celebrity…I don’t just mean the announcements, even the speciality restaurants seemed loud. I don’t know how much had to do with size, design or clientele! I would add that we did find quiet havens on Royal ships of all classes. It may be worth asking on the Royal Boards recommendations for quiet daytime havens and evening relaxing bars on Anthem for when/if you want to escape the more active Royal vibe… I always find it strange when people ‘condemn’ RC as not being like Celebrity…It doesn’t aim to be…Both ship styles have their strengths. Whilst, like yourselves, we have cruised mainly Celebrity in recent years I would consider a RC cruise again. However, I would board (as I think you are) looking for what it has to offer, not expecting the Celebrity ambiance… Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise!

There is so much misinformation out there, even sometimes from TAs…Really it can be a minefield for those who don’t do their homework. Definitely not helped by Celebrity not clearly informing guests of changes either. Some years ago we spoke to a lovely elderly couple who had been told if they booked an Aqua room they had access to the Retreat deck. Much as the Equinox retreat deck isn’t up to much they had clearly been looking forward to it. On Silhouette we met a couple who thought they had booked suite because their TA had told them they had one of the ‘top veranda rooms’ on the ship. It wasn’t until they tried boarding at the suite entrance that they understood the difference. I remember trying out a new TA some years ago and asked for a quote for an Eclipse cruise in the PH. The TA came back to me and said she had managed to get me an upgrade to a RS at a great price! What? It took a long conversation before she believed me that PH was bigger than a RS. Her information came from being on RC Freedom of the Seas where the top suite was the RS… I guess this is why CC is sooooo useful. I believe CC far more than the Celebrity website or TAs…

Looking forward to the next instalment….

Now that is a nice looking itinerary! However, I don’t know how much beach time you would get…Too many exciting things to do in these ports!

Hi Debbie &Ron, We chose an all inclusive option as we were planning on spending a lot of time beachside. I am fairly sure it was the Mecure…It is a few years since we visited. Our hotel was quite busy and had lots of young Australians who were enjoying lots of beach and pool activities. This is not a criticism in any way, simply trying to describe the ambiance. It certainly wasn’t a quiet romantic tropical paradise. However, it had a lovely beach location, friendly staff and was excellent value for money. I suggest you decide what is important to you and do some searching. We found that many of the hotels priced B&B but then offered an AI option. If you price up sodas, coffee, lunch, dinner and a few cocktails we found the AI option was well worth it. We looked at tours through our tour company and then priced a car driver and guide through the hotel concierge. It was fantastic. Our tour guide phoned us at the hotel and asked us what we wanted to see/do, how long we wanted our tour to last…It was cheaper for three of us privately through the hotel than the coach tour offered by our tour company. Definitely worth considering. I would think most hotels offer something similar. We did two one day private tours and visited volcanoes, rice fields, monkeys, temples, local restaurants and by request no shops! A fantastic way to see a lot of a beautiful place with very little effort… Sincere best wishes for a wonderful vacation!

I hope you are feeling better. There are two necessary ‘Well Done’ and ‘Thank You’ responses needed here. Firstly, as you say, to Celebrity who handled things well but also to you and your spouse for your response to your illness. You recognised symptoms and responded in an appropriate way to secure the wellbeing of fellow cruisers, not everyone does that. I am so pleased that Celebrity looked after you appropriately. Once again, sincere best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

This has happened to us a couple of times, not just on Celebrity. I honestly think it is simply a numbers game to fit everyone on buses/boats…Each time for us we were a party of three so if they work in even numbers they would want a solo or another three or five to ensure no empty seats… I have been trying to remember how many times this has happened to us, I think 3/4 but twice on Celebrity. First time didn’t bother us, I think it was a swap from 9am to 11.15am for a 4 hour Caribbean island tour. However, in the South Pacific we had booked a set time to fit in with our adult son joining friends also on the cruise. Although our bookings were not linked we had all booked the same time well in front to ensure we would all be together. When we spotted the change to our booking we did involve the suite concierge and they did manage to resolve the situation. However, would we have had the same outcome if we weren’t in a RS and our son’s friends (whose timing hadn’t changed) were suite guests too? We were a little annoyed that the shore excursion manager acted as if we should be delighted he had resolved the issue rather than put his hands up and simply said ‘we moved you for our convenience’… There are many guests (me included) who for a variety of reasons prefer morning or afternoon for tours. You do feel that booking and paying in advance should give you the security of getting the timing that suits you…Not necessarily true…I always take copies of booking details and check tickets asap on boarding…

We have so many happy memories too…We were in Phuket for the Songkran (water) festival…Even the local fire brigade joined in!

The fact that beaches comes so high up on your ‘likes’ list makes me wonder if you wouldn’t benefit more from a land based holiday than a cruise in this region. We have done three South East Asia cruises and loved them but excursions have been focused on sightseeing…Quite simply if you are travelling so far it seems a waste to not see the fabulous sights on offer. If you opt for beach excursions then you won’t see any of the culture or history of the region…If you opt for sightseeing excursions then you will not have the beach days you love… In addition to cruising we have enjoyed several land based holidays in South East Asia including Phuket, Bali, Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong…Both Bali and Phuket have plenty to do but offer fabulous beaches too. You could book a 14 night package holiday in either…Enjoy the beaches and break up your stay with some tours. In addition tour companies often offer city + beach options. We have enjoyed Bangkok + Phuket and Hong Kong +Bali…Either of these options would give you a flavour of the ambiance of the region, the friendliness of the people and the fabulous food too. In our experience these land based breaks have been equally enjoyable to cruising. I know on a cruise forum it may seem odd to suggest that a cruise may not be the best option but it does all depend on what your priorities are for your next holiday…As you can tell from my posts, we are firm cruise lovers but there have been occasions when we have preferred to opt for alternatives. For many people a vacation has to be a balance between seeing the world and offering much needed rest and relaxation…You have received lots of excellent cruising advice, consider alternative holiday options too!

Thank you for your usual entertaining read…After a busy few days I have only just caught up. Looking forward to your daily instalments…

Could do…Nice sometimes to pre plan things, enjoy looking forward to shared activities. I haven’t always taken my embroidery with me. I would definitely pack it if I had arranged to meet up with fellow embroiderers on sea days…

Embroidery is one thing I have taken on a cruise. Doesn’t take up much packing space and easy to pick up and put down… Just a suggestion, if you would like to meet like minded readers, bead workers, embroiderers, knitters or scrabble players why not join your roll call and see if you have other interested people on board…

As a relatively new solo I am on a real learning curve. I have been following lots of posts and simply decided not to cruise solo! If immediate family cruise with me we will book a higher suite with two rooms. If I decide to pay double rate for a cruise I will treat a friend rather than let a cruise line pocket the difference! Regarding other holidays there are some odd practices too. For example, many UK hotels offer single rooms at lower rates but they are tiny and usually overlooking a car park. If you try to book a sea front luxury room for one it won’t let you do it on the website. If you phone you are told to put in two people by some hotels (regardless of the fact it is just for one) or told that solos can only book solo rooms by others. Coach tours have similar restrictions. Some will only book doubles, or only have limited tours with solo options. One tour company offered to take my name and they would offer me a room two weeks prior to the tour if there were seats available then (note, still at double price)… Seems the hospitality industry generally doesn’t like solos!

At least the Summit and Millie have had updates whereas Connie and Infinity haven’t…I am booked on Infinity in September and having doubts… I don’t mind a bit of rust here and there but there is a limit to how shabby a ship can be without it loosing its ‘chic’…

None refundable OBC is a bit like Mickey Mouse money…you have to spend it on something and a watch you like is as good as anything! We have on occasions had an embarrassment of OBC and have purchased watches, iPads and other things not as bargains but as useful ways to spend $$$ we can’t take off the ship with us…

Congratulations at reaching Zenith! I have been doing a bit (lot!) of browsing for the next couple of years and I am fairly horrified at the prices for suites compared to a few years ago…Especially two roomed suites (RS and PH) which have served our family so well over the years… Quite simply, enough to make me think of looking at alternatives (both other cruise lines and alternative holidays). I am not a last minute booker, part of the pleasure of a holiday for me is the planning and looking forward to…Waiting to see if I could get a move up would spoil my pre holiday pleasure! I guess Sky Suites have had a bad press in recent months with the butler changes…Celebrity must understand that you can’t charge top $ for a product, degrade the experience it offers and expect it to sell as well… Good news for those looking for last minute upgrades though!

Your truck shots brought back many happy memories of our numerous trips to the Far East. Do they load up lorries and take bets on the likelihood of them reaching their destination? We once followed a truck full of water bottles…The big ones for offices…Every corner we cringed as they slewed one way then the other…Our Tuc Tuc driver was gleefully gesturing to us what he expected to happen when the lorry driver turned off sharply to the right at speed and the inevitable happened…Needless to say our Tuc Tuc driver had to stop to ‘help’ the unfortunate driver with many gesticulations of advice! We also remember clearly seeing two cyclists one behind the other cycling through a busy thoroughfare of Bangkok carrying a large glazing unit…We took bets on that one…We contemplated leaving our evening beverages to follow them until what we felt must be an inevitable end…

When I found out SS butlers had gone and no real announcement was made I really worried about these folks who would be filling a void with no additional training or resources and possibly many disgruntled guests boarding who were not aware of the changes… I wonder if they receive any of the butler portion of the tips which SS guests pay? I sincerely hope they do. It also seems like some promotional steps may have gone too. No assistant room attendant as a starting point and very few butler posts to aspire to…

Something called a premium package should simply cover most mixed drinks offered on board and a good selection of wines… People buy the package so they have a more inclusive holiday experience and the convenience of no charges. I am not a faddy wine drinker but I expect a variety of quality wines available in all venues without paying extra and without compromising on quality. Shabby to degrade the package. It will also slow down service if wine waiters are constantly having to explain additional costs and mess with slips for $2…

Thank you for taking time out from your holiday cruise to post. Sincere best wishes for Christmas and the New Year!