RobertoF

Thanks. That is helpful to know they were available yesterday. Lucky us, we have a hold on a couple of cabins for family members that are good for 24 hours. We were not aware of the problem with the gift cards before making the hold. I tried asking AARP whether the gift cards would be available tomorrow (the 25th) or the next day and could not get a straight answer. The answer essentially was "check back tomorrow". Hopefully our hold does not expire before we are able to buy the gift cards.

HAL gift cards are currently unavailable on the AARP website. Hopefully they will be back tomorrow (a rep at AARP did not know).

OK, let's get back on topic and stop the nonsense about soy causing cancer. That is completely false. You only have to go to the American Cancer Society website to know that: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/latest-news/soy-and-cancer-risk-our-experts-advice.html If you think "declassified" documents are more authoritative than the ACS then I have a tinfoil hat to sell you. The point is that Celebrity is doing a great job of adding vegan options. I agree that Beyond products are not so healthy (although they are getting better). Eating some fake meat products with more traditional vegan options on a cruise adds something special to the experience, just like eating lobster or filet minon adds something special for some people. Give Celebrity credit for paying attention to their vegan clients and not just going with the old standbys.

That type of machine would seem to be consistent with what the casino manager indicated to me. I guess we will have to wait and see. I played some slots even though I don't really enjoy them much. Summit had loads of slots that all look alike to me. I have seen those electronic roulette games that seem like fun (but I have never played them). I agree that the poker odds were terrible but I like to play poker so at least they were fun to play. Having electronic versions of table games is not a terrible idea but it does not substitute for poker.

I have more info on the video poker mystery. I spoke with a casino manager last night. He said the Summit would not be getting the machines back. He also said video poker is being phased out fleet wide! 😬 According to him the machines are really old and they keep breaking down and Celebrity cannot get the parts to fix them. He did say they were going to get other "similar" machines but I asked whether these machines would be video poker and he indicated no but they would be electronic versions of certain games (he was a little cryptic on this answer -- maybe Celebrity is still deciding which machines to buy). I really hope video poker does not start disappearing from other ships, but based on what this casino manager told me that seems to be the future unfortunately.

On Summit now and can report unfortunately no video poker and nobody seems to know when the machines will be back. ☹️

I was afraid Ascent would have the same structural problems as Beyond. I am loyal to Celebrity, but this is really, really bad.

Going on the Summit in a couple of weeks and I sure hope they have video poker or I am going to be spending way too much time at the roulette table.

Thank you! We are looking forward to coming aboard the Summit in a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy your last day. Thanks for taking us along.

Love this review. Question: when you docked in Cozumel, were you at International Pier?

It varies villiage to villiage, but in general there is a lot of uphill walking because the train stations are usually up the hill and then the town slopes down to sea level. So when you arrive you walk downhill but then to get back you have to go uphill. There was a bus at one of the towns that supposedly went to the train station. We waited at the stop at the bottom of the hill with some other people for a while, didn't see the bus, and decided to just walk it. In that town (I forget which one) you had to walk uphill and then there were stairs taking you back downhill to the train station. Because the towns are built on cliffs overlooking the ocean it is very pretty but also steep terrain to walk or hike.

We tried to buy the pass online but the site kept giving us errors. Maybe we were doing it wrong, I don't know. Some people also said you could get the pass at the machines but I did not try. Should have tried the machines ...

Oh, also one other thing I forgot to add: I figured the train ride between the towns in Cinque Terre would be pretty along the hillside and coast, etc. Unfortunately, most of it is through tunnels so you don't get extended views. So if you want the views you really have to hike.

We took the train from La Spezia to Cinque Terre last month. It was not difficult taking the train. The problem was the crowds. The train platforms and trains were packed solid. The line to get the Cinque Terre train pass (which includes unlimited access to the trains between the towns and park passes) was super long. We wound up hiking more between the towns because taking the train was too crowded. The place was beautiful but the crowds took away a lot of the enjoyment. The hiking was fun though.

I noticed this during recent cruises with the addition at the lunch buffet of more plant-based fake meat dishes that are high in protein. Celebrity calls this the "Vegan Corner" and it rotates every day. Now Celebrity just announced the Ascent will feature a seven-course plant-based tasting menu for dinner at Eden. I can't wait to try it. I am happy to see Celebrity is paying attention to the growing number of cruisers who are vegetarian/vegan or just trying to get more plant-based foods in their diet. These cruisers also tend to be younger, which bodes well for Celebrity in the long run.