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Thanks for the effort but I'm not certain we've found a winner yet ...

I have seen the new menus with the signature cocktails which are not showing on your post Curleyjane but...I do appreciate the effort.

So my PIC and I will be in Aqua class early next month(December) and I'm hoping to get a glimpse at what is currently being offered. I know the breakfast so that's not important but dinners are.

Thank you in advance(TIA).

BTW...my PIC is allergic to garlic and onions so I can't wait to see how they handle her food.

Could be a real tell.

Yes we have let them know and will do so again with the maitre'd when we board.

Thanks so much for the excellent review and pics!

Heard about it from a buddy last Sunday and he swore by it.

He'd tried it on RCCL and was hoping Celebrity had it as well for his next cruise in December.

Thanks all!

HOHO it is and already booked it.

30 days until...

Can not wait!

So my PIC and my return flight had to be switched to late afternoon after our Equinox cruise in December and we are seeking tips and suggestions as to staying sane but entertained . Sane will be defined as being at FLL on time for our 4:20 flight without worrying too much about our luggage OR taxing Jeanne's fragile back with the Everglades airboat tours. As our TA hasn't been informed yet to seek solutions we are open to consider other alternatives to Celebrity excursions to address the situation. We have already booked the Celebrity shuttle bus but that'll get to FLL by noon so need to find something.

TIA!

Happy to hear Blu is making you happy.

Please provide any menus or highlights as we'll be enjoying it on the 12/2 cruise.

Thanks!

Perfect!

Thanks to all who replied

Very much appreciated

So as our December 2 Equinox cruise approaches we're thinking about packing and I know both of my previous Celebrity Aqua class cruises there were those cheapy cloth only over the shoulder Celebrity back pack type bags in the rooms.

Anybody know if those are still being given?

Any other freebies now a part of Aqua?

How about bottled water in Aqua...current posts appear to be different on each ship.

TIA

I've done 2 Christmas sailings with Celebrity and absolutely loved them both.

Funny part was that Christmas coincided with Hanukkah and there were large groups of Jewish folks from Spain on both cruises(Equinox and Solstice) and many participated in the caroling on Christmas Eve. Was really wonderful.

I highly recommend Holiday cruising as it takes off so much of that stress.

Thanks so much for the great thread Don!

Can you specify which bus from the port to FLL please?

Which operator and costs etc.?

Very much appreciated if you can.

Maria is passing north of Martinique, right on path for direct hit to Dominica. Martinique is taking a beating though...

Remains to be seen what changes will have to be made after this one. And still 2.5 months to go...

So hate to hear that! Dominica is about my most favorite port...so beautiful and the people are wonderful.

I have all the menus from our Oct cruise on the Constellation in our review of that cruise. Here is a link to the menu page: LINK

Thank you SO much for your wonderful link work. We're going on Equinox in early December and the Blu menus had me salivating. I am clearly going to need to bring an extra bottle of insulin for my insulin pump because I will be seriously consuming lots of joy. :D

I'm with Willman...get a new agent!

I switched from the agency I've used on my last 5 cruises to a new one due to inaccurate crap like you were told.

When I know more accurate information and am more aware of promos than an "agent", they are a waste of my time and money!

We were so sad to see Bistro on 5 go :( That was always our go-to for lunch on day 1 and we often went back on a sea day. We loved the crepes, sandwiches, and salads. We love everything about it! Neither one of us eat sushi

Me too on the day 1 place to go...rarely overrun with throngs of people like the buffet always is. I also liked it for foods in the early afternoon after port outings. Oh well...

Neither of us are sushi fans either but I'll give the Bait on 5 a go just to see.

I will talk to the director to find out about the crepes up there in the evenings in the buffet.

I live just north of Tampa and have gone out of Miami, Everglades, Tampa and just returned from my first one out of Canaveral. The majority of my Florida port experience is from Miami and Everglades but the more easily reached Tampa and Canaveral locations are just too convenient to warrant heading down Alligator Alley(I-75) 5 hours and dealing with the traffic and insanity down there if it can be avoided.

Now...my first experience at Canaveral...absotively loved it on all counts.

Hotel, parking, shuttle, ships, terminal/luggage and customs...the best and most efficient I've ever experienced. Yes there were lines departing on Sunday due to the fact there were 4 ships and it was a large ship but it was incredibly impressive the way it was handled. We were in the 8:30 wave coming off the ship(FoS) and were loaded up and shuttled back to our car, on the road by 9:40.

Canaveral even beats Tampa which I love.

Pic of PIC and I taken by Eldon of NativeWay

You may want to cover your eyes :eek:

I was on the Brilliance OTS from 4/12 - 4/17 and was VERY surprised and disappointed at the ship's mishandling of the FOBW "meetings". My experiences on every one of my RCI cruises, both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity over the last 14 years has been that they provide nice rooms out of main traffic flow and sometimes perfect conference rooms. One cruise about 9 years ago they even provided coffee/tea setup with danish and...meeting formats...what a pleasant shock that was. So of course my expectations were pretty high...uh oh!!! Yup...expectations are preplanned resentments and disappointments. Did my own 10th Step thank you very much.

There was nada except when I inquired at Guest Services...they had it at 4:30 in the Minstral Annex...right between the pool and the buffet/cafeteria...a VERY high traffic area ...wow!

They were sure they had done their part...

Ok...I went 3 days but nothing...nobody

Very, very sad lack of understanding and handling by the ship.

I was on the 5 day with Brilliance last week and did the MDR on the last 3 nights...absolutely loved the food. That's saying something because my last two cruises were on Celebrity and I did Blu every night...totally loved the Blu experience but I was absolutely pleased with both the service and food in Brilliance's MDR. I've never been as pleased in a MDR as I was on this cruise...ever!

Try to get Godfrey as your waiter. He followed my diet requests...well restriction on one ingredient commonly used and brought extra entrees with every dinner which he suspected we would enjoy...he was spot on. He did the same with the desserts and appetizers as well. No...I did not gain any tonnage...actually lost 2#'s this cruise. Had way too much fun activity day and especially night so that the extra calories evidently got played off.

Love it!

Enjoy!!!

We were aboard Brilliance for the Grand Cayman stop on 4/14(Monday) and had gotten a confirmation email from Sharon at the Port of Tampa as we were departing...had only sent our original email earlier that morning.

When we arrived at the pier in George Town I spotted Eldon easily and checked in with him early. There were only two others who did the stingray, snorkel and coral reef excursion. All 4 of us were shocked he did not cancel due to the number. It was all but a private outing which all 4 of us totally loved.

It was the single best shore excursion I've done on all of my cruises based on the hospitality and warmth of the entire NativeWay crew.

They are really wonderful people.

Great review Grady!

My PIC and I will be boarding on 4/12 for a 5 day getaway so your review reassured me of my choice. Having done and been sold on Celebrity Solstice class was concerned I'd be disappointed but this review alleviated those fears...can not wait to board now.

It'll be my partner's first cruise so want her impressed.

Thanks

There were two ships there when we were in Roseau and that did not seem to be too bad. I may be wrong on the number...the cerebral nooks and crannies want to say that there were three but I'm not certain.

Tom,

That was a totally perfect review on all counts.

We'll be doing the Ultimate 10 day on Equinox in December for the holidays and we even have 1610 as well. It will be a repeat having done the same cruise three years ago.

While I agree with you on Dominica, I really don't want it overrun so I hope we can keep it our little secret. We absolutely fell in love with it.

I'll be using this review as I plan our holiday cruise.

Thanks for all the guidance

Congrats on your marriage!!!

Awesome great thread Sandi...pics, stories, tips...the whole enchilada.

I'll be bookmarking the thread for our VI stop planning later this year.

Thanks!

P.S....OMG...that Blu menu...now you're just being cruel ;-)

Not sure I can wait 'till December

Obviously AQ is not for everybody but it's been a total game-changer for us. We love it's little perks but the Blu dining experience makes cruising so much more pleasurable. Blu's menu and food are so much better than the MDR but the service and sophistication is light years ahead of the MDR.

It's more intimate and fits our lifestyle.

As for cost...Miched already pointed out, the cost fluctuates and if you are a careful cruise shopper, you can get the price at the identical level as CC as we have done on our previous two AQ class cruises. In fact, the reason I booked the first was that AQ was less expensive than CC so I jumped all over it....wasn't much lower but I knew enough to give AQ a try and we were sold.

AQ makes cruising really special.

The website issues I had last year were the motivation for me to go to AAA Travel and use them. It was FAR less frustrating. I did my due diligence checking prices and called AAA to let them deal with Celebrity which they did twice, both times while I was on the phone with them...easy peasy and way more personable than the Celebrity CSR's. The two price adjustments as well as the way they were handled made us quite happy.

Now...yesterday, I called Celebrity CS to order the new brochures after trying the website at least three times with no success. The nice British gent told me it would be easier for me to go to the website and print them out. I informed him of my failed attempts and he directed me to try again...which I did immediately after he suggested...tried three different internet browsers and none of them yielded the brochure(s). I told him so and he said that the webpage was totally functional because he was on the page himself and could download them. Then I told him I was not alone and wanted to have 'em mailed to me...he did take my info and apparently will do as I asked.

Appears we have a failure to communicate :cool: