terrydtx

We were on the Koingsdam last week doing a California Coastal cruise and this was our TV remote. We had a number of live TV channels but the two ESPN channels would not connect and I was told by guest services they were blacked out on our cruise. We wanted to watch the College Football game. We found with the premium Wi-Fi we could use our tablets to watch ESPN and the game. I also could stream FUBO on my laptop.

Thank you we go from NZ to Sydney in January and I wondered the same thing.

We got off the Koingsdam on Saturday and we got the survey on Monday. I couldn't wait to do mine as the secondhand smoke in the Casino was horrible and spilled over to the shops on deck 3. Other than the smoking it was a fantastic cruise.

I find having the AI premium Wi-Fi is just fine, it only takes a couple of minutes or less to switch between devises on the app. How many really can use more than one device at a time?

Great post and insights. I agree about the land restaurants, we have been disappointed many times when we try the new trendy local high-end ones, including a Michelline star rated one.

When the Retreat lounge was nearly full I found making that trip upstairs was better for using the bathrooms in the Retreat deck.

On the Apex in September we never had to produce our sail card in the Retreat deck, I guess they knew we had the PDP somehow.

This is a program that is very similar to HAL's Club Orange which we had on our HAL cruise on the Koingsdam a week ago. HAL limits the amount of CO they sell on each cruise, so I bet X will have to do the same. You can't have 50% or more of the passengers having priority boarding, tendering, and reserved seating in the theater, without creating even longer lines for all. I agree as others have said already this is just further cheapening of the Retreat product that many like us have already paid for. What's next, adding Luminae and the Retreat deck to the VIP Pass? I can see this happening in the future as Celebrity continues Royalizing its brand and seeks new revenue schemes. We will be done with Celebrity after our 2 January Edge cruises.

Along with prime rib and surf and turf. Surf and Turf is no longer a traditional Fillet and a lobster tail unless you are willing to pay extra. On the Apex in Luminae it was Scallops and pork belly.

We did a 12 night Apex cruise in September in the Retreat and last week a 7 day cruise in the HAL Koingsdam with Club Orange. I have to say the food in the Club Orange dining room was so much better than Luminae on the Apex.

Now Jim, how do you know what a road runner hit by a truck or Texas road kill baked in the sun tastes like? LOL

Food quality is probably the #1 thing most cruisers care about.

I agree with Lain, the Guinea hen we had on the Apex was the size of a Cornish game hen. I was not impressed at all with the way is tasted.

I also looked at the Luminae menus for our January Edge cruise and found some nice changes over the ones we had on the Apex in September. Here is a sample of what I see added for the 12 night cruise Cold water Poached lobster-2 nights Veal Chops First night Fillet (not seen since our Equinox cruise in 2021) Rack of Lamb-2 nights Venison loin Pork Tenderloin and the above mentioned Beef Sirloin En Croute, not really beef Wellington.

I thought drinks in the Retreat Sundeck bar were treated like the Retreat lounge and complimentary for all Retreat guests.

Interesting, is this part of Celebrity's returning to the old menus? Can't Imagin a sirloin cut being any good in this dish. We will be on the Edge in January for 22 days and I have also seen in the app that Prime Rib is back in Normandie one night too. We all know it will not be a "prime" grade and should be called what it is "Rib Roast". We were so very disappointed with the quality of beef on the Apex in September. Celebrity needs to provide sharper steak knives if they continue to buy the same quality of beef, LOL

I believe many smokers spend time in the Casino just so they do not have to go outside to the Seaview pool area to smoke. They can sit there for hours and smoke away and lose money providing HAL with more profits. I have no problems with allowing smoking on one side of the Seaview pool and bar, as long as the rules are enforced which did not happen on our Koingsdam cruise last week. Even with that I can enjoy the cruise without going to the Seaview pool, but the intrusive smoke from the Casino is disgusting and does effect many from enjoying the forward shops near the casino. When the smoke propagates to the forward stair wells and down to the music walk, it is time to ban all interior smoking. I made this point very clear in my post cruise survey to HAL, but I assume it will fall on deaf ears.

Exactly like my observations last week on the Koningsdam. i gave HAL my 2 cents worth on the post cruise survey about the casino smoking.

Exactly like my observations last week on the Koningsdam. i gave HAL my 2 cents worth on the post cruise survey about the casino smoking.

I think you made a wise decision to add CO, we will never book a HAL cruise without it. We actually enjoyed the CO dining room more than our past Retreat cruises with Luminae on Celebrity.

our bar code and boarding time was provided 7 days before we boarded.

A couple of times we have had to show a photo ID to get back into the port through security along with our sail pass. We always carry our drivers license as a form of ID. If a medical emergency or an accident were to happen to you while on a tour an ID would be helpful to others rendering aid.

We boarded on the K'Dam Nov 4th in San Diego. We had club orange and our check in time was 11:00 with a Group A Boarding time. We arrived at the terminal at 11am and after going through security and check in we were directed to a separate waiting area for, Neptune and Pinnacle suites, CO, and 4 and 5 Star mariners all in group A. Group A did not start boarding until about 12:15. There were some passengers trying to board in Group A and when the HAL staff saw they were not in Group A they were told to go to the general waiting area and wait until their group was called. You had to show your boarding pass to board. This was a very nice amenity to have the CO priority boarding as there were several hundred people waiting in the general waiting area.

We boarded on the K'Dam Nov 4th in San Diego. We had club orange and our check in time was 11:00 with a Group A Boarding time. We arrived at the terminal at 11am and after going through security and check in we were directed to a separate waiting area for, Neptune and Pinnacle suites, CO, and 4 and 5 Star mariners all in group A. Group A did not start boarding until about 12:15. There were some passengers trying to board in Group A and when the HAL staff saw they were not in Group A they were told to go to the general waiting area and wait until their group was called. You had to show your boarding pass to board. This was a very nice amenity to have the CO priority boarding as there were several hundred people waiting in the general waiting area.

You mean like Prawns?