peterde

Thank you Laura Hodges Bethge for your response. It’s wonderful that Celebrity is taking the time to interact with their guests and addressing our concerns. Bravo!

Do you intend to retire the older ships and reduce Celebrity capacity to more manageable numbers? Lately it seems celebrity has had trouble maintaining staffing levels and providing adequate service to its passengers. A reduction in ships would help this. 

My three points appeared today. Thank you all. 

I haven’t received my points yet. I understand how horrible celebrity's IT dept is and they have skipped my points before so I try and cover all bases. We actually watch all videos twice, once with my CC number and my wife as secondary, we then watch it again with my wife as primary and me as secondary. I had hoped to avoided missing point syndrome with this system to cover missing points. Alas even this has failed as we both failed to get our points. Very disappointing and it’s time to contact CC again for missing points. Why do they make it difficult. 

On 6/13/24 there was a keel laying ceremony for the Celebrity Xcel at the ship builders. It seems Celebrity was kind of quite about this event. Here is the post from the ship builders:

Celebrity Xcel is now under construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.

The keel-laying ceremony of Celebrity Xcel, the fifth Edge series ship, was held today (13th June 24).

Coins were placed in one of the 44 blocks that will make up the ship to bring her luck during her life at sea.

The Olympic Games symbols and the representation of NASA’s Saturn V rocket engraved on the coins pay tribute to the values of team spirit, commitment and respect promoted by Chantiers de l’Atlantique as well as the innovative characteristics of Celebrity Xcel. The ship will feature the latest technological innovations developed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

With a new tri-fuel engine, the 3,260-guest vessel is also set to become the company’s first-ever methanol-capable ship.

Sailing in the Caribbean, Celebrity Xcel is set to make its debut in November 2025. The ship’s inaugural season includes seven-night itineraries that depart from Fort Lauderdale and alternate between the Bahamas, Mexico and the Cayman Islands, Puerto Plata, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

📸: @chantiersatlantique 

#cruisecelebrity #celebrityXcel

Next time some executive says it’s for a safety reason just ask them why do they still sail ships after the Costa Concordia sinking. Surely more people died from that accident than any lounger accident. Using their logic all ships should be tied to the dock and never leave. 

They will remove all loungers, then charge for them. Soon they will be selling a premium access pass that includes a lounger for 99.99 a day. 🤦🏻‍♂️

My January cruise on Reflection had foot stools that made sitting on the balcony very enjoyable. It would be terrible if they removed such small items to save a few bucks. Those chairs are not comfortable for extended sitting, time will tell as my next cruise is just a few months away. 

They replace the outdoor furniture every few years. IMO I think it’s a cost savings as loungers cost way more that chairs. 

The website keeps telling me my password is incorrect yet I am signed in on the app with the same password. I hope I don’t have to change my password yet again. 

My concierge lunch is usually my worst meal of the cruise. If you miss it it’s no big deal, there are better options. 

4 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3002524-a-great-first-cruise-on-celebrity-reflection-review-dailies-menus-food-and-cabin-pics-march-2024/

check out my review of our very first Celebrity cruise which also happens to be on Reflection. We really liked it.

If you like dancing, don't miss the silent disco. 

Check out lounges for musical entertainment.

Queen sing-along was marvelous. 

They have Truvia at the buffet and MDR in case that's what you bring with you on a cruise.

You can bring your own soda onboard - whatever you can carry on at embarkation. We stopped by Publix and got some for us. Otherwise, if you don't have a package, it's almost $5 per can. Oh, and apparently they don't have Dr Pepper on board if that's what you like.

Oh, and something we didn't know but if you need beach/pool towels on a port day, they check them out to you by the pool the day of (as in - they write down the cabin number). If we knew that, we'd have grabbed some by the pool the day before when they don't take your cabin number down.

Is this something new? I was just on her in January and beach towels on port days were always left in our cabin the night before. Pool towels were always available by the pool, no signing out needed. 

I remember hearing Capt Kate saying that they don’t use the front of the ship for helicopter evacuation on the Beyond. They prefer using the top deck midship area. 

Just doing some random thinking but if they moved the cruise to a different date could they choose a refundable deposit then cancel and only lose 100 pp transfer fee instead of 750 deposit? Is that possible?

Norway has been passing a bunch of cruise ship regulations lately. most likely related to them. 

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/Destinations/articles/Norways-Svalbard-Archipelago-Sets-Strict-Cruise-Limits
 

https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/06/norway-moves-aggressively-to-curb-cruise-ship-emissions/amp/

https://www.cruisemapper.com/news/10056-norway-introduces-more-restrictions-cruise-ships

2 hours ago, upwarduk said:

Just watched the Webinar, complete waste of time, no questions were addressed.🙈

You posted a few times that you have already watched the webinar. Can you please post a link?

Service was good but my chicken was dry and hard, while my DW fish was the same. 

I made the luncheon in January on the Reflection. I can honestly say it was the worst meal of the entire cruise, the rest of my meals were great. 

I just booked the maiden voyage in an IV. I want to keep an open mind about it and try it first hand. Looking forward to sailing in a brand new ship! 

I was on the Reflection a few weeks ago and I did get app message notifications on my iPhone and Apple Watch. 

 Just got off the Reflection. The only group I saw by the pool was a group called NYC3. They were so-so. (Admittedly I didn’t spend much time at the pool)

Currently on Reflection. Martini bar is still $17 as listed on the menu but there are many wines and drinks that break the $17 barrier. 

Does the sunset bar that sell cigars provide lighters and cutters also?  I may want to partake in a cigar but I do not bring along any of my accoutrements along. 

Did you try on the website? Celebrity’s IT leaves a lot to be desired. 

There is only a limitation on torch lighters.