LPCKG

We sailed on Reflection last year and opted to dine at the Lawn Club when it opened for Lunch on one of the sea days.

What struck me about the cabana area to include the grass area, which the Lawn Club overlooks, was that it was used by all. The sun was shining and whilst one or two cabana's had been hired the grass area immediately in front of the cabana's was being used for sunbathing. I have no issue with those that chose to do this, why shouldn't they. I don't think the cabana are any special, IMO, others may disagree.

The Pub is only on the Equinox, for now. It was added during the dry dock the end of May. The press release said it was a test, which means it may or may not be added to the other Ships.

Thanks for the additional information. It's sounds like a good redesign/concept I hope it does well.

The drink selection and menu options look like a good mix, something slightly different to what is available. Is the GastroPub in operation on Silhouette?

If it's open has anyone tried it?

As you will no doubt see below we cruised on RCI for a number of years and switched to X last year.

We loved the RCI style but just fancied something slightly different.

We loved our first cruise. I would say X has a more relaxed atmosphere onboard. We are early 30s yet we found a great mix of passengers. Good opportunity to mix and talk during predinner drinks. Activities are more refined ans more limited to those offered by RCI, in my opinion. Food offered/quality is, again, more refined in the buffet area although burger/fried available everyday on the top deck. We found the crew more attentive generally and really enjoyed our cruise so much so we have taking our second X cruise next month.

Hope this may help

Wonderful and informative review.

Like how you handled the 'noisy' neighbour!

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

 

We made the drive to Venice and got to our hotel at about 500. We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mestre. You are asking yourself: why would this idiot choose to stay outside of Venice??

 

Let me answer. Bags. We are packed for three weeks and a cruise. That involves 3 bags (now 6 with the glass we bought in Murano). Venice is a charming city with BRIDGES and CANALS. See the problem here? The HGI offers free parking and is 2 stops on the bus to Piazzale Roma-- the hub of Venice transportation. The bus stop is literally in front of the hotel and it takes 6 minutes on the bus to get to Venice. In addition they have nice things like free internet, a gym, a pool and new rooms. Tomorrow when we head to the ship we can grab an inexpensive cab right to the terminal. If you are starting in Venice, you should consider this hotel. It's a great choice. We have been highly impressed. Oh, and the rooms are available on points.

 

We took the bus to the city and planned on taking the No 1 Vaporetto through the grand canal to St Marks. We ended up on the wrong boat and took the long way around in the middle of the channel past the cruise ships. Here's what we learned: check the dock assignment! The Vaporetti are marked with their routes and the docks are too. Look for it. The attendants on the boat aren't the most helpful and don't announce routes or stops. You just sorta have to know what's going on.

 

When we got to St Marks the main tourists had cleared out of the city and we got to enjoy the beauty and the majesty of the plaza. Truly a dream come true. The original plan was to take a gondola ride but after our long Vaporetto ride, we needed a break from boats. We meandered throughout the city for a couple of hours and found a restaurant that looked promising. We sat on the terrace next to a canal and sipped wine pinching ourselves that we had actually made it to Venice.

 

After dinner we got lost but eventually made out way on foot back to Piazzelle Roma. Another efficient bus ride and 10 minutes later we were in the hotel lobby sipping limoncello and gushing about the day. Sheryl was tired but I was wired. So I did what any good husband does: laundry. I am happy to say we now have enough clean underwear to get us through until the "laundry bag" special day in the middle of the cruise!

 

More tomorrow. Ciao!

We are also staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Mestre, pre-cruise, thank you for posting some information on the transfer to the cruise port.

We've been on a number of cruises with RCI and CC what has always concerned me is the uncertainty of currency rates. what will the currency rate of conversion at final payment? I guess if the saving is substantial enough this would most likely be overcome.

We fell lucky on our first Celebrity last year. We upgraded to a GTY Suite and were allocated an Aqua Suite. We enjoyed access to Parisan Garden, as/when we wanted, of which we made full use, and took advantage of access to Blu, nightly.

The room is a good size with great wardrobe/store space and specious seating area although it is identical to a Sky suite. The usual Suite amenities applied such as Free speciality dinner for two (two nights on our sailing - depends on length of cruise as to whether it is one or two nights), butler, afternoon canapés etc.

We enjoyed the aqua package however I would not pay a surcharge upon the cost of a Sky Suite. The suite benefits to us out weighted the Aqua benefits and therefore whilst we had an amazing holiday we would regardless of those few, lovely, added extras.

Weeks of regular price checking finally paid off-the original rate for a veranda cabin I found in March is back for the August 10th sailing! I have it on hold and will probably confirm later today after checking airfare options. And if the 3rd or 17th sailings come down in price I may add one of those for a B2B.:)

Hope you manage to find good flight prices. Good luck

We sail on Silhouette next month - does this mean Michael's is no more? My partner was looking forward to working through the beer list...

Just checked Celebrity website and it is stating 'Sold Out' for our cabin type on our impending cruise. We got the 123 package to include the beverage package and OBC. I feel a strange sense of relief as at least the price hasn't dropped this time round.

We sailed onboard Reflection last year. The cruise terminal was busy however we completed the check-in process and were onboard within 30 minutes of disembarking the coach.

Overall the cruise terminal was well staffed which, for us, made the process feel fairly painless. I think because of the location of the terminal from Rome 'centre' and the airport a lot of guests make use of a coach transfer. This can mean that 50+ guests, from each coach, are arriving in short secession which adds to the general through put however I repeat the terminal was well staffed, well run and check-in was swift.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

We (decent-income, empty nesters) like to have fun on our vacation, without turning over every penny twice. We book the much maligned CC because we like the little perks. We buy a booze package so we can relax and order what we want. We purchase in the shops if there is something we like there. Do ship-organised excursions because its easy. Go to Bingo. Tip generously. Buy pictures because they are a fun memento. Enjoy the Speciality restaurants.

 

IMO my vacation is not a competition between Celebrity and I to see who can extract the most money, or save the most money. I don't care what Celebrity things of my demographic. I cruse to enjoy myself, not fret about corporate politics and planning.

 

Funnily enough - this is our 4th cruise with CCL and I have zero clue as to what or any status I have - so I obviously a Cruise Critic weirdo - and thats just fine.

Totally agree with your philosophy.

We take a similar approach. We do take the ship excursions for ease, go to bingo for a bit of fun and hope we win! Last year we purchased the drinks package although we upgrade our cabin to a GTY suite, this year we fell lucky and booked when the 123 package was available. We else enjoy the speciality restaurants and can't wait to try them, again, this year. Although we tend not to buy the onboard photos any more unless we look half decent, which sadly is rare in most photos. So we stick to our own digital photos and are grateful to fellow guests for helping out with the picture taking.

It's not about how much we spend or what we do onboard. We do what we enjoy and leave others to do the same. It's about enjoyment and that is different things to different people.

We enjoy pre dinner drinks and late dinner and then usually go to sleep. Our demographic is mid-30s, switching from RCI last year. We enjoyed RCI although having sailed with them for 6 years felt a change was in order so tried Celebrity. We enjoyed the change, levels of service, products and food options. We enjoyed talking to fellow guests of all ages and nationalities. We are truly converted...and looking forward to our next cruise in June!

We booked our first celebrity cruise on Reflection last June. We upgraded from Conceirge to a Suite GTY, noticed price drop after final payment. Never seen a Suite GTY available before they don't seem to offer these in the UK as frequently as they do in the US.

Our cabin was allocated about 3/4 days after we'd paid to upgrade. We were allocated an Aqua Suite and we absolutely loved it.

We also enjoyed the 2 free speciality meals, 10 night sailing, which was offered to suite guests a real added benefit.

Thanks for the helpful tips. I'll take a look at the bus transfer option too.

We've travelled to Rome to embark upon a cruise on a number of occasions however this time we are travelling to Rome for a city break.

We are travelling with Jet 2 and our flight arrives/departs from Terminal 3 at Fiumicino. We want to make use of the Leonardo Express Airport Train and I would be grateful if anyone can provide advice/tips such as how to get to the train station from Terminal 3, where do we buy tickets, do you have to swipe your ticket in advance of boarding the train?

Thank you in advance!

Great review, and photos, can't wait to read more...

We opted for the onboard spend and drinks package when we booked our cruise.

The drinks package does include non-alcoholic beverages and although you state you don't drink alcoholic drinks depending upon the length of cruise you may be able to secure a saving on drinks generally.

We are taking an 11 night cruise and received $300 OBC. When we booked the 123 package was per cabin not per person.

Celebrity's recommended gratuities is $11.50pp, per day; uplifted to $12pp, per day for Conceierge/Aqua cabins and $15pp, per day for Suite guests depending upon the length of your cruise calculate the recommended daily amounts per cruise day hopefully this will help put a value on the potential saving you would benefit from you if selected this option.

Fantastic review, lovely pictures too. Liked the cruise preamble information to include the extras and upgrades you were able to secure.

Wow!

Kotor is one of our ports of call in June and after seeing your fabulous pictures I'm so looking forward to a very unique early morning arrival!

We're in an Aqua Suite (in just two weeks!) - booked one on the hump, in hope of not having the overhang - can anyone comment on their experience in this cabin (we're on the flat, not the side, and so won't have the larger balcony)? I'm hoping for good but not all-day sun for our starboard balcony...

We had an aft sideboard side Aqua Suite. Whilst the balcony was of ample size and had comfortable furniture the overhang meant our balcony did not get direct sun. Although I enjoy sunbathing by the pool it would have been nice to catch a few rays whilst sat on the balcony.

There is no curtain between the bed and seating area.

We stayed in an Aqua Suite last year and it really nice with the added benefit of complimentary access to the Persian Garden and Relaxation Room.

Fabulous review can't wait to read all about your arrival into Kotor.

Whatever the length of cruise listed on Celebrity's website is the length you'll be paying for. The count the nights and days as the same. The count the first day but not the last.

 

Also, if you upgrade onboard, you can upgrade at any time, for the remaining days of the cruise. You get no refunds for prevous beverage spending and have to buy all remaining days on the cruise. On our recent sailing, they made these upgrades available all the way to the end of the cruise as far as I could tell.

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

Great, thanks for confirming. $23 isn't much but with it referring to 'days' wasn't sure whether the counted the last day.

We are booked on the 11 Night Italy & Croatia Cruise, 22 June 2014 - 03 July 2014. The 123 promo was running when we booked so we got the Classic drinks packages and on-board spend.

When we sailed last time we opted for the Premium Beverage Package and would like to upgrade our package. I've read all the posts and note that an upgrade from Classic to Premium Beverage Package is available for US$11.50 per person per day therefore does my '11 night' cruise mean I will be paying for 12 days or 11 days?