chemmo

Thoroughly enjoying reading along! We have the opposite time issue each time we fly to the US to tour. We call it reverse jet lag…We manage first night to slot into US time and stay up to at least 10pm but then next morning we are wide awake at 4am! No fooling our body clock. We manage the morning but then are on our knees by 3/4pm…Totally understand the plans you made and the second strategy of the Hop on bus…Sometimes in hindsight you realise you would have been better if you had given in gracefully and simply sipped a coffee or two… Food right next to major sights is frequently both disappointing and ridiculously expensive. Surprisingly just a street or two away there is usually a gem of a cafe/restaurant at a decent price. Asking someone in a shop or at your b&b where the locals eat can often be a good strategy. Looking forward to your next report!

I think several of those invitations may still be quite restricted at present. The bridge tours and invites to dine with the Captain or another officer don’t seem to have recently been reported. Helipad sail aways are usually for all suite guests. In our pre covid experience we were always were invited to dine with the Captain when in the PH and sometimes invited to dine with the Captain or another officer when in a RS in Europe and Australia. In the Caribbean (Reflection and Equinox) they had a different pattern of last sea day all higher suite guests being invited to a Bridge Tour and then a lunch with the Captain and several officers in Blu. Jim and Iain recently reported the Zenith lunch had returned (very similar) on Summit so hopefully some of these higher suite treats are being reintroduced. We do feel we get ‘special attention’ at the speciality restaurants but I think that is often because we are ‘regulars’ rather than in a RS or PH! They do listen when we suggest our preferred dining spot and have sometimes offered to make us things off menu. I do suggest that you make sure that the concierge knows you are travelling as a party and if you do receive an invite the rest of your family doesn’t always worth asking if it is possible for them to join you…. Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

A tip for future cruises, if the time you arrive is busy ask the M’D to suggest times when there is less likely to be a queue. Sometimes just half an hour can make all the difference. For example, arriving at 6.45pm rather than 7.15. As jaylayne says ‘peak time’ can vary from cruise to cruise. The M’D will soon spot a pattern and will be able to advise you…

We like our water and drinks cold what we don’t like is spirits and mixed drinks poured over a mountain of ice! For example, order a Bacardi and coke on the ship and the glass is filled with ice then the measure of Bacardi is added and then the glass is filled with coke. In the UK we are more likely to put about 2/3 cubes of ice in a glass then add Bacardi and coke. When we travel in the US and on board ship we find ourselves frequently saying ‘No ice’ when ordering cognac and sherry and specifying ‘Just a little ice’ when ordering mixed drinks. So you are right, if you order drinks in the UK generally there will be less ice in them. However, the point I was making to the OP is that even when you put water in the minibar it is cool rather than cold. Whereas, if you fill a glass of water with ice and put it by your bed you will have a lovely cold refreshing drink if you wake in the night.

I was so hoping our cancellation had resulted in a ‘bonus’ for you!

Cruisestitch has compiled a wonderful list of ways to spend OBC, do a search. Over the years we have managed to spend our OBC with ease…Bigger items like iPads, cameras and watches easily swallow most of it but when we have had a surplus we have used it for additional tips, presents for relations…Remember you can spend it on speciality dining and spa treatments too.

We loved Singapore, well worth a few days stay. Have you thought of a river cruise for Vietnam? We loved Vietnam but our brief visit was not long enough. Seeing it in more depth on a river cruise is something still on our bucket list… Many tour companies offer split stay visits for Thailand so you would have no problem flying into Bangkok then moving on after a couple of days to a more tranquil area. Thailand was wonderful when we first visited back in 1992 but was much more commercialised when we returned some years later. If you have time limitations perhaps you may prefer a longer stay in Vietnam? We toured China some years ago. We did enjoy seeing the forbidden city, the Summer Palace and of course the Great Wall whilst staying in Beijing but found the rest of China far more beautiful and interesting. Only you can decide how comfortable you are visiting at present. We did the Hawaii to Sydney part of your trip when I retired. Our favourite cruise ever… However you decide to divide your time sincere best wishes for what will be a real holiday of a lifetime.

Is it just me or do others find the Cafe al Bacio pastries and biscuits nicer than the restaurant/buffet ones? Personal chocolate recommendation is the chocolate soufflé in Murano.

To be perfectly honest when we finally get around to booking E class (next two cruises on S again) we might look at a Sky Suite with a decent veranda and spend the money saved on speciality dining. Edge Villa not suitable for anyone mobility challenged (which we are) and Iconic Suite is beyond what we are willing and able to pay. As with all room choices you simply have to decide what is important to you individually. From what I have seen and read from CC and feedback from personal friends I know the RS and PH would not suite us as well as the S class equivalents. Much as we usually enjoy the higher suite experience we would forgo the RS/PH perks for a room with a decent balcony!

We put the scales in a cupboard… We put tight fitting clothes at the end of a cruise down to using the free laundry in RS and PH rather than the free speciality dining!!!!

We have had wonderful service in both RS and PH. Perks are the same for both the difference is in room size/amenities. We have not cruised on Edge class mainly because the RS has a tiny balcony and both the RS and PH have a large overhang. Whilst many guests report this is not an issue to them as the Retreat deck is close by it would be for us. We do enjoy our own private outdoor space and to enjoy the sun during the day and the stars at night. We love having an in suite bar set up. As others have said no reasonable request will be refused. If we want to set up a special meal in suite or entertain we always give our butler 24 hours notice. The cruises where the service has been outstanding have been so because we had a butler that was exceptional. Some butlers seem to be able to intuitively know what you may enjoy…Little treats, offers to arrange an in suite lunch on a sea day when you may want to just relax on the balcony…

Taking the Murano equivalents out of the M class ships was, in our opinion, a bad mistake. We have cruised M class on three occasions. We loved dining in the elegant surroundings of the Olympic and Normandy Restaurants. We like Tuscan on S class and find the view stunning. On M class Tuscan has less appeal. The food is the same but the ambiance with the stunning wake views is missing. Le Petite Chef is definitely a done for us. Laughed a lot the first time, novel…but it is a fun dining experience not a fine dining experience. Nothing romantic in synchronised dining… OP, as long as your anniversary is not right at the start of your cruise, why not book Tuscan first night (usually discounts available)? Then visit Luminae the next night before deciding which venue you want to spend your special evening in. Sincere best wishes for a wonderful cruise and a fantastic anniversary meal.

Thank you for taking the time to write such an informative review. Totally agree with you 7 nights just isn’t long enough!

They need to check your fan for obvious fire risk reasons…If you board with it in your hand luggage at least you miss the naughty room and you could enjoy a few iced cocktails while you await its return. Unfortunately they could decide not to return it to you until the end of your cruise. Personally I would go down the special needs route. Make sure you take copies on board of your request. If a fan isn’t in your room on arrival talk to your room attendant and see if he can get you one. If he says he can’t head for guest services with the copy of your request. Make sure you set your room to chilled and let your room attendant know not to move it higher.

Your room attendant will bring water or ice to your room twice a day on request. If you take a couple of refillable bottles on board you can just top up in the cabin. Even when we have a drinks package we request the ice twice a day as we like our water really cold, especially at night. We fill our glass with ice and enjoy chilled water during the night as it melts. Also free iced water in all dining venues.

Yes, we do tend to book RS or PH so cannot comment on other suites.

Iain must be very proud of Scotland’s wonderful response to the Queen’s death. The turn out at Balmoral for the drive to Edinburgh…St Giles… The Queen must be looking on smiling at the love she is getting from a country she loved and felt so comfortable spending time in. The place where she could ‘hang her crown on the gate’ and just be herself.

Obviously taking your comment as a joke but I do think many suite guests miss out on the full ship experience because they become focused on the suite aspects only… When the suite package came in we had a period of dining in Luminae most breakfasts and dinner and had most of our pre and post dinner drinks in Michael’s (Retreat). We now tend to see the Retreat areas as nice places to return to if we want but spend a significant amount of time elsewhere on the ship… We love a burger on a sea day at the mast bar more than we would enjoy a three course Luminae lunch. Elite breakfast is a nice choice on days you don’t want anything too heavy and we frequently will carry covered bacon and French bread back to our suite to make our own sandwiches…I am sure the butler would sort this for us but we are happy to see to ourselves most of the time. We will enjoy a Luminae breakfast once or twice per cruise but we certainly don’t want to go there daily. Then there are the bars…The Retreat Lounge is nice but so is the World Bar, the Ensemble Lounge and we love on balmy nights sitting at the sunset bar… It reminds me of the frequent discussions about ‘Why cruise in a suite on Celebrity when you could cruise on a real Luxury line’. My answer is on Celebrity is you have the best of both worlds, the higher service level and club ambiance in the suite area but also a lovely big ship with numerous bars to enjoy too. I honestly think you won’t particularly miss the suite life, in fact not having Retreat areas may encourage you to enjoy the rest of the ship more…Sincere best wishes for a fantastic cruise!

Thank you for taking us on your wonderful journey. Sincere best wishes for your operation. It is lovely to go travelling but it is always nice to get home too…

Confession time we always bring some PG tips…

Very touching….

You always seem to meet the most happy staff in Oceanview despite how hard it is working there. I don’t know if your Donovan is the same as the one we saw on Summit a few years before you….He greeted everyone with a fantastic smile, asked how you were, asked if you needed anything…There were several disabled guests on the cruise and he would always be ready to carry a plate for them, offer to get things…

Thanks for your acknowledgment…a lot of us very sad in the UK at the moment. One of those rare people, royal or otherwise, who gave her full life to service and duty…

Many of us are so sad tonight…Few people give so much service for such a long time… As others have said, she served right until the end… God Bless the King and we sincerely hope he follows his mother’s path and strengthens the bonds of the commonwealth and our special relationship with other countries.

We have found in the Far East, Middle East and Mediterranean that they tend to focus more on listing medical conditions which prevent you from accessing a tour. “This tour is not suitable for guests with back, neck, shoulder, hip……….or in growing toenails”. Obviously being facetious but the majority of us don’t get past 60 without an ache or pain somewhere that has been or is under investigation. The concern is if your insurance company and/or the tour operator decided your diagnoses of having arthritis in your knee or having physio for your neck in the last few years would mean you had accessed a tour ‘unsuitable’ and could reduce your ability to claim if something went wrong. We find this quite unsettling. Much as it doesn’t prevent us from cruising it does limit the range of excursions we are comfortable taking.