terrydtx

Yes a 7 day and 11 day cruise.

We stayed in the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Beach resort for 3 nights before our Equinox cruise last month and they charged a $45 per day resort fee for services we never used but, had no choice but to pay so even other forms of vacations will have hidden add on fees.

Thanks, Dave, that is what I have read from many on CC. We didn't consider CO for our 14 day Oosterdam cruise last year, as at that time HAL wanted $50pp per day or $1400 more for our cruise, didn't see any advantage for it at that price. Now that it costs $25pp per day I can see the advantage of adding it, which we did for both of our upcoming HAL cruises.

We never cruise with that large a group but with 6 we never had a problem getting a 6 top in Blu. Assuming all 10 in your group are in Aqua Class, may want to talk with the Blu Maitre D when you board about accommodating your group. Non-Aqua Class passengers are not allowed to dine in Blu.

You will love Blu as we did in the past, and in my opinion the only reason to book Aqua class. Much more intimate dining room with great service. On the Reflection you will also be able to choose entrees from the MDR if you do not find something you want on the Blu menu. We now only book Sky Suites, but loved Aqua before we discovered the Retreat.

I love your post from the standpoint of a Canadian who have a totally different tipping culture than its Southern neighbors. Thank you for saying what needed to be said.

Since Covid we only book the Retreat in a Sky Suite, so never paid attention to the amount of gratuities as they are included in the Retreat premium AI price. I do not believe that you can book a suite anymore without AI, so the increase for suite guests would only effect those who get a suite as a result of a move up offer. This whole thread seems to be much ado about nothing. I am more concerned that my flights to Europe for my September Apex cruise are double what I paid last year in business class, that's real inflation. Also much more concerned with Celebrity's future pricing of suites with as much as 40% increases.

We were on the Equinox last month and they still had the set dining times. As @WrittenOnYourHeart said above, the change to no set dining times is only on the 3, soon to be 4 E Class ships.

On the E Class ships with 4 different and distinct MDR's each with a different menu, you can go to any one of the 4 when you want to. However, all 4 MDR menus are available in any one of the 4 MDR's to order from.

Yes a lot has changed since last year. It took 5 months to get our FCC from my wife's Covid isolation on the Oosterdam last August.

Did you try any of the CO additional entrees? How were they? We have CO on our November Koingsdam cruise and are looking forward to the CO dining room. We also booked it for our Volendam cruise, but we did this for the room upgrade which paid for the CO. Also wanted the priority tendering as we a 3 of them on the cruise.

I would call HAL tomorrow if you have not been notified,

Wise decision and you can also have some wine with meals if wanted.

One thing I have learned about HAL customer service agents is that they are consistently inconsistent. You can get 3 different answers from 3 different reps in one day. That 54 number seems to be awfully low. I booked CO on our November Koingsdam cruise, 2 months after I booked the cruise and had no problems adding it to our booking.

There is another long CC thread on Club Orange and I remember one poster said it was not available when they booked, but when they called back a week later a spot opened up and they grabbed it. They do sell only a set number of them on each cruise, but I have not seen anyone who knows what that number is. CO has to be limited to accommodate the capacity of the CO dining rooms.

We have found since Covid that the classic wines selections are wines we would never drink at home, so why would we on a cruise. I also like a Mccallan 12 year old scotch or higher end bourbon before diner, and only the PDP will provide the whiskeys and better wines.

That wouldn't change my opinion of them at all, still only a sunroom with a window that opens.

I agree with you 100%, we will never again sail in any E Class ship in an IV cabin, if we can't get a reasonable Sky Suite or Aft facing cabin, we will look elsewhere to spend our cruising dollars. I spend most of the time I am in my cabin sitting out on my open air balcony and sitting in a sunroom with a window that opens does not provide the same experience. On sea days I will not be sitting around the ship's pools basking in the sun, I will be enjoying my open balcony instead. We have 3 upcoming E Class cruises all in Sky Suites.

I think we will see more of the older and smaller ships of the mainstream cruise lines being sold off or scaped during the same time.

I would bet when Celebrity does decide to build out a new class of ships it will be some revolutionizing new concept. Solstice Class was the first to introduce live grass fields and mostly balcony cabins, both new concepts at the time. The E Class was a total revolution with dedicated retreat facilities, innovated hull design and the love them or hate them IV balconies.

All OBC cannot be used until you board, it is a terrible policy but that's HAL's way of doing business. If you booked with the HIA promo that includes credits for shore excursions and specialty dinning, those can be used pre boarding. If you booked two shore excursions and did not have a HIA credit or pay for them with a CC when you booked, they most likely are only in your HAL shopping cart and not paid for or confirmed. My wife did this last year on our Oosterdam cruise and by the time we found out what she did the tours were sold out and we did not get on them.

The only S class ships with Retreat sun decks and that have been revolutionized are Equinox and Silhouette.

Celebrity made a 5-ship commitment for the Edge Class ships and non-traditional IV cabins, the Ascent is the 4th of these ships. I was told while onboard the Equinox last month that a 5th yet unnamed E Class ship is scheduled for late 2025 or 2026. With all the debt of RCL, I doubt Celebrity will be committing to any more new ship builds for some time.

Your friends may be able to bid for a move up offer to a Sky Suite for their kids. If they get the bid they would have access to all Retreat facilites. The only retreat benefits I have seen for non-suites passengers is dining as a guest of a suite's passenger in Luminae on a space available basis. Most cruises are now sailing at almost 100% capacity in the Retreat.

Sounds like you got a good deal and the cabin you preferred.