Gordoncruickshank

Ok Thanks. We usually cruise in February over our wedding anniversary and usually pre book Murano for that evening using OBC, which gets refunded if you are in a RS but it means that you have the booking for the time that suits us well before the cruise so I have probably not seen paperwork for one of these for some time as, if it is included in the room, they just give you a zero charge receipt. Don't really do much other than that as we have been and seen all the other restaurants on S class too many times and have had far to many totally indifferent meals in Tuscan, Qsine as was, and the Lawn Club. Menus haven't changed much since 2012 if at all. I know Tuscan had a new menu a few years ago but it didn't make the consistency of the food quality any better but that is going miles off thread on a tangent.

We started cruising with Celebrity in 2012 and the "fee" for the speciality restaurants always unclouded any tip due, I know that is some them ago but, unless we have had exceptional service our if we are not paying for the meal because we are in a RS or above, I don't feel inclined to leave much of a tip, despite waiters over the years trying to tell us that the fee didn't included a gratuity. Do they now add on a specific amount shown as a gratuity on the purchase?

The SS on the corners at the rear on the Edge have much larger balconies and loungers.

I do not think that Celebrity is not nice enough. We really like the retreat product but there comes a time when you cannot justify the cost pp per day. For the Celebrity Suite it was working out at over £700ppd in 2015. We are booked Ina SS in y weeks time at around £300 pppd. The CS is not worth that more, so you look elsewhere as I have been doing recently and we could travel on Regent or Silverseas cheaper. the previous cruises are in my signature, but I would rather be on Celebrity than on any of the other cruise lines we have sailed in the past, but MSC YC is a comparable product and it is cheaper than Celebrity.

We have booked MSC Seascape for 3 weeks in Feb/Mar 2025 in the YC. Got a RS there for 21 nights for £7k less than a celebrity suite on the Eclipse for 19 nights. We tried MSC a few years ago in the Med the last time Celebrity hiked their prices, in the YC, and always said that we would go back. the Celebrity SUite would have taken us to zenith but not at that cost.

I don’t know where you got this info about Luminae not having its own galley. We have had a tour of it and it has a dedicated area immediately behind the restaurant. It was taken over from the mdr galley when Luminae was built but it is self so rained with their own chefs, equipment and other staff.

We have just booked three b2b 7 night cruises in the YC on MSC for 2025 as we could not justify the cost of a similar suite on Celebrity. We have done 25 Celebrity cruises over the past 10 years with one Msc YC in 2019 the only non Celebrity cruise. We have two more booked in Feb next year. If we had booked the two Celebrity cruises we looked at for 2025 we would have reached Zenith but the extras that brings are just what you get in a suite anyway so what are we losing that is of value to us.

I missed one seat

It is on the menu as the Luminae burger and it looks like what you get in the restaurant.

It is on the menu as the Luminae burger and it looks like what you get in the restaurant.

Jim we were on in October and there were 4 stools at the bar. There are also seats and tables across from the bar which are set up for food and the are some shade areas there. From memory the food is now produced from the Mast Grill rather than hauling it up from Luminae as they were doing in March 2020 after the refit. The means that they now serve fries rather than crisp, which used to fly off your plate and leave oily marks on the newly finished deck. We uses it a number of times and it was good for a light lunch.

We did one a few years ago and while you are aware of the constant embarking and disembarking you are not as disturbed by it in the YC. We probably spent the vast bulk of the our time in the YC only leaving in ports where a butler always took you through the masses to outside or to go to the restaurant. We were on the Preziosa and the suite restaurants was at the back. The trip from the elevator at the YC to the front elevator did give you an idea of just how many passengers were on the ship!

Just to let you know that we didn’t get either the PH or R/S I the move up process despite having both bids at the maximum amounts. I don’t think there are many empty cabins on the whole ship. We will still enjoy ourselves as the CS cabin is one with the larger balconies. Apologies for a stray post in this thread.

The Silhouette is out of Miami this winter. We have 2 cruises in February and have just booked hotels in Miami.

Sure miss those ginger mojitos from the Molecular Bar.

We have only done one Reflection cruise in 2015 when the were building Luminae. We were in one is the Aqua suites at that time. They gave all suites free speciality bookings all week but all that did was make them over busy and not as enjoyable. Blu was overloaded caused by all the extra suites wanting to use it. It felt vary crowded as the added a deck but didn’t increase the common areas. It was just not pleasant. Never been back. Fortunately we had two weeks one the Eclipse immediately following that cruise.

One if the problems with b2b cruises is that the entertainment is likely to be a repeat of the previous cruise.

I has to vary. We are currently in a CS so our upgrade figures and banding will be the same as all the other 11 CS suites. Those in a SS or AQ will have their own options depending on their cabin type. You also have to factor in the fact that your captains club status gives you an enhancement of 1% to 5% for zenith. We are E+ so our bid is enhanced by 4% but a zenith bidding from the same suite gets an extra 5%.

Mines have increased by £170 and £105 although I am now wondering if that is down to our exchange rate dropping.

Also check your bids as they may no longer be at the maximum. For both my bids the maximum has increased several times. Not by much but a little each time. No point in thinking you are at the max if a few dollars more would make sure you are still there.

I also have a couple of bids and our cruise is in 13 days. I suspect they may wait until nearer the time so the can see what the last minute covid cancellations bring.

We are on the Silhouette on 9 October and it looks like that is sailing fairly full. 20 insides left plus 3 other cabins.

I would never ask. The information is volunteered especially towards the end of the cruise.

I have discovered over the years not to trust anything a crew member tells me regarding their wages.

We have usually been able to get real reductions with this sort of deal. We managed to switch from a CS to a R/S for Feb next year with no extra cost but the current offer doesn’t make sense to us.