terrydtx

I have one of those that I bought back when HAL had no limits on wine brought onboard and you only paid a corkage if you brought the wine to the dining rooms. When cruising out of FLL I would order online a case of wine from Total wine on 17th Street and pick up the case on my way to the cruise port. It now is our portable bar when we travel on land by car. BTW if you ever need to buy a replacement, Amazon has a nice selection.

Actually I was thinking double creme variety,

The same person on the Equinox did say there were still free cookies at the OVC but only during the dining hours they are open, On most ships the OVC is 5 or more decks away from Cafe Al Bacio.

We actually prefer Oreos, I just hope I do not end up in the naughty room when I smuggle them in my checked bags.

I think part of the uproar is during the test on Equinox, there were not any "free" cookies in the Cafe Al Bacio and Gelato area like before the test. This has been confirmed by a very well known and respected forum moderator on another social media site who is currently on the Equinox with his sister. If this continues the perception by passengers will be that the free cookies were taken away in favor of pay for cookies.

I am sorry this is the typical Celebrity Kool-Aide spin on changes. We give you more by taking away. This was the same spin they used for the Butler changes for Sky Suites, you will have better service with fewer butlers.

We do the same, we have FBC pay for our ticket at or shortly after booking so we could pick seats because we fly either BC or PE and want better seat locations. Next month our return flights from Athens are on British Airways BC and we couldn't pick seats until the tickets were paid for. Same for our flights to and from Sydney Australia in January with Air New Zealand wouldn't let us pick seats until the tickets were paid by FBC. I will say when we call FBC to pay for the air we ask for them to expedite payment to the airlines and in every case this has been done within 24 hours. We are very pleased with FBC. My only complaint is the ability to change flights with the airlines after payment is made. Next month we fly to Amsterdam on United from San Antonio to Houston to Amsterdam. When we booked the flights back in November last year our flight to Houston got us there with a 6 hour layover. A couple of months ago United added another flight to Houston that only left us with a 4 hour layover. We tried through United to change to the later flight but were told that we had to do this through the 3rd party (FBC) ticket issuer. We then contacted FBC and the only way they could make the change was to completely rebook our whole RT flights at the prevailing costs, which at that time would have doubled the cost of our BC seats. So we will be spending 5-6 hours in the Houston United Polaris lounge with free food and drinks which is not too bad.

That was written tounge and cheek. I guess you missed that, no need to personally attack me either.

Looked at Virgin, too many 7-day cruises and too many Carribean cruises, we no longer like any cruise shorter than 10 days and are done with boring Carribean cruises. Looking at Oceania and some HAL cruises going forward for their longer and more interesting itineraries.

I nominate you for the best post of the day award!!!!😁

Last year we were in the suite on the top floor and the view of the Caldera was spectacular. It is in the middle of Thera and there over 50 bars and restaurants within a 3 block walk. We got to see and laugh at all the cruise ship passengers fighting to get on the lift to the city and at night the city gets so much quieter with all the cruise ship passengers gone. There are a lot of full suites hotels at pricing up to $2K or more per night, my TA recommended the Asha Suites.

Asha Suites Luxury Hotel, we stayed with them last year, which is why we are returning. They only have 7 suites and they sell out fast.

After our Apex cruise next month we are flying to Santorini for 5 nights. We are staying in a boutique Suites only hotel for about $400 per night ($200pp) that includes a made to order breakfast delivered to our balcony by a Butler. It also includes afternoon wine and cheese plate, delivered to our suite by the same butler. Each suite includes a private splash pool/hot tub on our huge private balcony. The suite itself is about 800 sq feet in size with an included no cost mini bar. No other meals but at the price it is a bargain compared to our Sky Suite.

Are they still hot chocolate cookies after they sit out for an hour? Do they throw them out? or "One moment Sir, while I put your cookie in the microwave to make it hot and fresh"

Or Luxury A La Carte!!

I never would have thought to have my butler bring a drink to my cabin, but on our 2021 Equinox cruise our butler saw my DW and I walking down the hall to our cabin with drinks in hand. He looked surprised and said "please Mr. D**** next time call me and I will get them for you, it is part of my job".

You are not the first to think this way, we are most likely done with X after our 2 January cruises on the Edge. A lot depends on how the butler team handles themselves on our Apex cruise next month.

Specifically if that change incurred an added cost to Celebrity it surely will not be considered. I am surprised the Captain Club members still get a free scoop of Gelato, this has always seemed to be a cheezie $4 value member benefit. The Gelato could also be a smart marketing ploy, get first scoop free and then you will pay for many more on the cruise. I have never gotten more than my one free scoop as I do not find it to be as good as what I can get in Italy.

Very interesting article and this should end speculation that this is merely a rumor. It also brings up if this goes fleetwide what other formerly free things will soon be an extra charge. I can see Celebrity not stopping at the cookies at Cafe Al Bacio but making all of the sweet treats an extra charge.

I thought about that, but at 2am the cookies would not be fresh baked and would come from a pile of day or two old unsold cookies and charging $2 for the cookie was just too cheezie even for Celebrity.

Prior to our 2021 Equinox cruise, I bought that Drinks and More package pre cruise but it was canceled before we sailed and refunded to my account. The first day we boarded was when our butler told us that the mini fridge drinks and premium bottled waters were now included with suites having the Premium drinks package and he specifically said this replaced the drinks and more package. I forgot all about that conversation until you mentioned the D&M package in your post. It had been that way on the 3 SS cruises after that one in 2021.

I agree, that person is very reliable and I would take his word 100% over any speculation.

They can always turn the coolers into vending machines where you have to insert your sail pass to get charged $5 plus 20% tip for the privilege of using the vending machine. I see another profit center for Celebrity. Let me add this to the suggestion box, LOL

The guest lecturer's that show up on cruises and do seminars on things like Whales actually get a free cruise in exchange for their onboard services, but it's not in a suite, so I would have to pass.