BosoxI

On M Class ( Connie), we moved immediately from AQ midships just under the bandstand.....very noisy with dj and zumba overhead,..the cabin actualy vibrated, Hotel Dept confirmed and found us a nice quiet AQ rm forward,..great location, no noise at all! Lucky they found something for us..

We've had at least three A1 cabins on S class ships, all on the forward facing humps and we've never had a noise problem. Of course, we didn't have the sun on the balcony, but we have another cruise booked in 1608, I think, and we're looking forward (;p) to it.

And BTW, I always thought the free upgrade had to be mentioned at the time of booking to qualify. Not so. When we booked in January, I forgot to mention the upgrade, so we paid the full A1 price at the time. Last week our TA told us he had gotten us the A2 price, not a whole lot less, but $100 is $100.

Queen Lisa could care less or it would have been fixed by now. When I was working my department was a test site for a new function. It was led by a senior manager. When a glitch was detected he had 2 words to the IT staff. "Fix it" Lisa would probably say "Ignore it"

If she "could care less", she has some level of interest. I say she couldn't care less, because she apparently has no interest at all. Nada. Niente. Nothing. It is infuriating, as we have two cruises booked and I cannot manage them on the Celebrity site.

Even more annoying is my inability to plan a future cruise. I cannot enter any planning information for cruises we would like to investigate. Coincidentally, yesterday I received an email from a cruise planner at Princess, where we have been Elite for many years, though we have used them less frequently in recent years. I sense we'll be returning to Princess very soon. I've always liked their food better, but we prefer X's ships. Oh, well.

Have never been to a show. Just not interested.

I usually try to avoid them and my wife usually tries to drag me to them. Every now and then they'll have a real professional perform. Twice we have seen a singer who played a lead in tbe LA production of Les Miserables. He was fantastic and a rare commodity. The production shows are usually bad, a bunch of untalented college kids screaming.

In any case I always insist on sitting on the aisle in tbe rear, ready to make a quick and unobtrusive escape

Need to check on the TA OBC. Often $50 - $75 of the OBC from my TA is actually something TA gets from Celebrity. When that happens that portion of the TA OBC is non-ref.

This is very true, as I once found out to my dismay

My wife doesn't care for the main dining room because she feels it's like eating in a barn. I don't mind it at all as long as we are not seated on a main aisle where the rush of waiters and diners can cool my soup before I can eat it

We have dined in Blu many times, sometimes finding the fare excellent but at other times finding it mediocre. The service in Blu is usually better than the MDR but there have been several instances when we were completely ignored by our waiter and left to forage in the buffet.

Some people rave about breakfast in Blu and it is pleasant, but I feel that there is only so much that can be done with eggs, bacon, and even the famous muesli (big deal )

In short you'll survive very nicely in the MDR. Have a great trip.

Being forward on the eleventh deck might be a problem for anyone sensitive to motion.

The OP clearly inquired about S class ships.

what "luster" is there to loose [or even lose

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This drives me crazy;)

Just got off the reflection today. The hamburgers at the mast grill were not edible. Hardly saw anybody up there. No loss if that goes away.

Inedible because they were tough, or dry, or underdone, or rancid? Or all of the above?

So much of this is blind luck. DW and I did not book on board on our last cruise. We simply forgot about it, but if we had, we would have paid thousands of dollars more for the cabin than we wound up paying several months later. We got all the perks but had to put up $900, a trade off I'd gladly take anytime. Also, when I told the Celebrity agent I would transfer the booking to a TA in order to get OBC, he asked me how much the TA would give me. He said "Hang on while I check with my boss". When he returned, I got OBC just $25 less than the TA's offer. He sent me an email saying I would get the OBC as a one time, non transferrable deal. Fine with me. It was all pure luck

If you're satisfied with close out pieces, bargains can be had in the Caribbean. Even Marco Bicego can be discounted, but Off Saks also discounts them. By the way, if you want to have a little good natured fun, ask the store clerk if Roberto Coin is carried. That Co-een, the Italian pronunciation which I am told is their version of Cohen

Just a few observations based on personal experience.

We bought a 3+ carat diamond with an EGL appraisal in a big hurry at Diamonds International.. On closer inspection we noticed it wasn't eye clean and discovered EGL is not a reputable appraiser. We salvaged it by combining it with two other smaller but higher quality stones in a very striking pendant. But my wife then needed a new diamond ring. Where did we find it? Right in good old Estero, Florida. A 5+ carat GIA stone for much less than we could find in the Caribbean and from an excellent jeweler. Plus, it was mailed to our permanent home up north saving us more than $4K in taxes. DI will never get our business again.

A $7,000 watch purchased in the Carib cost me $75 in customs fees, making me feel very guilty (briefly) for conveniently forgetting to declare other similar purchases.

If you've got excess OBC, buy those $400 ear rings. Otherwise, skip the ship purchases. An Omega watch I liked was full price on the Eclipse but discounted in every shop at home and abroad.

Buying watches which can be priced before leaving home, might lead to decent savings in the Carib. Precious stones are a different story.

Take a gander at Gem Shopping Network. There can be some really good items at fair prices and their return policy is excellent. No, I am not a stockholder.

You never get anything free on a cruise. If you eat it, you have paid for it. There is no free lunch.

Do you mean the carmel isn't free?;p

Wow...shameful!

More and more cruising seems like a less desireable vacation option...We have 3 booked but are carefully thinking about whether we will book anymore.

When push comes to shove, Celebrity is concerned more with its profits than its customers. No surprise there as many businesses have that attitude. I'm sure they feel if Mr. and Mrs. Smith stop booking, they'll have no trouble filling the cabin with Mr. and Mrs. Jones, so why worry about it. The cost of our cabin on our next X cruise has riswn by about 60% since we booked it. I can't imagine paying that much for a Celebrity cruise and now, apparently, there is the real concern of being bumped from a popular trip. Just what I need.

Bermuda is very different from the Bahamas and most Caribbean islands. The economy is not entirely dependent on tourism and is much more stable so the atmosphere is much more laid back. Harbor nights is a street fair with lots of individual vendors like you'd find at a similar event in the US. It's really not that big but if you're lucky, the Goombay Dancers will make an appearance.

 

People will definitely not be bugging you constantly to buy whatever they're selling.

Bermuda is special for any number of reasons, but this experience sums it up for me. DW and I were waiting for a bus near Hamilton. A local woman boarded ahead of us and as she did, she greeted the driver, saying, "How are you, Mr. Jones?" He replied "I'm very well, Mrs. Brown" How nice, how respectful. The way things were.

Depends what's more important to you. I just checked prices for this October for a S2 Sky Suite on Equinox, for 2 people: $6676. Same month on Divina in a YC1 for two people (and kids sail free): $3778. Of course, the Equinox is a 10 night sailing and the Divina is a 7 night.[/quote

 

 

Aren't YC cabins only for two people? Ten nights on the Equinox @ $668 per night versus seven on the Divina @ $540, a fairly substantial difference. Throw in the YC amenities and it becomes my choice, all things being equal.. Celebrity is rapidly pricing themselves out of my area of interest , but apparently, I am in the minority, as X ships seem to be quite full.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Yacht Club is the best choice. But beware that the food on Le Muse was a disappointment for us. We expected far better fare from an Italian line. While there were some excellent items, in general we like Luminae and even Blu better. Also, the Celebrity ships are nicer in the public areas. We found the Divina to be closed in and the shopping area to be claustrophobic. The color scheme was straight from the 1970s. We ate in the buffet only once and found it to be crowded and quite a mad house, though the food was very good.

Having said all this, the Yacht Club makes MSC far better than Aqua. The cabins are equal, but the butler service on MSC is much better than in a suite on Celebrity. In fact our complaint, such as it was, is that the butler service is TOO attentive. Upon arrival at the pier we were personally escorted into a waiting room on the ship. From there the Yacht Club experience really began. We look forward to repeating it, even as Elite+ on X.

You are wrong. Other cruise lines have the same set ups. I'll never see the inside of a pent house cabin, but I say more power to the people who can afford them. The vast majority of people in this world will never set foot on a cruise ship. To them the occupants of the lowest inside cabin are the rich and famous. Consider that before turning green with envy.

I think I'll pass until the reviews are in. From the drawings the cabins look very average to me, and the possibility of ship riders still working on the finishing touches does not interest me at all. But for you more adventurous folks, I wish you all a wonderful cruise. Give us a good run down when you return. I'll be in my usual suite on a Solstice class. Better the devil I know...

As many have noted, a TA's OBC is not always 100% refundable. We were on a back to back last December with $1600 of OBC on the first cruise, $700 was from our TA but we discovered only $600 was refundable. We had no OBC on the second leg due to a ridiculously low fare. To use all the OBC we bought five bottles of wine and the sommelier in Luminae delivered them to our cabin that night. As they were bought on board, there was no corkage fee when we drank them in Blu on the next cruise. Of course, we couldn't have done this had we not been on a B2B, as we fly home.

To the OP, believe me, the cost savings can be remarkable. That's the only time we book a Guarantee and we've booked quite a number of them over the years. Most recently we booked an A1 @$1399 p/p when the full cost at the moment was $3899. The guarantee was posted only for two days and then it disappeared. We never would have taken that cruise if we had to pay $7800, but at $2800 it was a steal. No perks, of course, but who cares?

You cant just show up for select if you have been assigned an early or late dinner seating in the MDR. There is a table reserved for you in that area.

For select dining they have a master list at the ma?tre d' station and do ask for your cabin # when you ask for a table.

Indeed they do. But I wonder how accurate X's record keeping is or how accurate my understanding of their system is. When we book a suite or even an Aqua cabin, we always have been assigned Select dining, even though we most likely will dine in Luminae or Blu. My question is: does this mean a select space is still being held for us in the MDR or does it mean only that we can dine in Blu or Luminae at any time we choose? If it's the former, there should be ample space in Select MDR, I would guess, so it must be the latter :)

We are trying Aqua this time, but might go back to C class for our next cruise, so it's good info to have.

 

Edit:

oh dear I've just re-read the benefits for captains club.

 

I've booked Aqua for my cruise and it looks like I've missed out on a category upgrade, as I didn't tell them I was a classic tier member when I booked my cabin!

Never mind, I'm not sure there's much difference between an A1 or A2 cabin anyway.

 

I've got a cabin near the back of the boat so it's handy for the sunset bar and the restaurants. Hubby enjoys the walk to the gym lol! So I'm quite happy with that.

Yes, there usually isn't a significant difference. I suspect cabin location is what drives most people to select A2

I didn't know that - thanks for the information. I've seen their ships but I don't know much else about them - Rick[/quote

 

There is a procedure to follow; one just doesn't board a MSC ship with a Celebrity Elite card to claim the benefit. But it is quite easy and in my case it was accomplished in a matter of hours. Others have said it took them longer. If you're in Yacht Club (lucky you), I don't think there's any benefit, as they already treat you royally.

It used to be a relatively easy and calm procedure. Once it became popular, it is more trouble than it's worth for us. People exiting elevators and trying to break into lines, people attempting to move luggage they really can't handle in crowds, and the lack of taxis early in the morning. We've tried it and liked it, but that was then and this is now. We take a later flight and fetch our luggage in the port. I would recommend self disembarkation only if your best flight choice is early and the next one is late in the day.