MMMCruiser

Following along and really enjoying your posts.  Thanks for sharing - this is great.  I'm booked on an Apex Norwegian Fjords cruise later this summer and this is really helpful.  It will be my first time sailing with Celebrity. 

You do you.  You're not hurting anyone and who cares what other people think?  1-2 tasteful magnets certainly wouldn't bother me.  

3 hours ago, Octavias said:

I called the executive office and asked them directly if the butler workload was the same as before the “team concept” was implemented then canned, or if they had more cabins to cover.  I was told they had the same workload as before the change.  I even repeated it back to her and asked again, to make sure she understood me.  
 

sounds like she told me an outright lie. 

I'm glad you asked them about it.  I plan to do the same.  If they are outright lying to their guests it tells me all I need to know.  I suspect our upcoming cruise will be our first with X as well as our last.  So far the amount of worrying and the bait-and-switch stuff they have been doing since we booked has me approaching this trip with an increasingly skeptical mindset.  I really hope they prove me wrong (last cruise was 2023 with another line and after reading a ton of complaints online I was worried but in the end we were all pleasantly surprised most of the time). 

On 5/8/2024 at 6:43 AM, floridatravelersforlife said:

I am not familiar with Norway regs.  If they are similar to the Antarctic water protections, then Celebrity has the Infinity  that will be compliant with the world water quality convention.  Infinity burns kerosene (light diesel)and has Co Regeneration gas turbines, upgraded from the jet turbines, that were installed when we sailed sailed to the Antarctic in 2010, Much cleaner.  

From what I have read the heritage fjord sailing will have to be emission-free in 2026, and I believe that light diesel and LNG still have emissions.  We planned to sail this summer because I really want to get to Geiranger. 

5 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

I expect they followed the rules doing it every week, but you suggested you had never seen one at all. I was just noting that there were regular visits, so Edge cruising it was not an unusual event.

I will try to say it more clearly.  I never saw a ship that size in the close-in area of the NaPali Coast.  I've seen tiny zodiaks and mid-size tourist boats, but no actual ships anywhere that close to the island.  I also realize that we don't know how close the Edge really was, because it depends on the camera angles and zooms, but at this point it seems like they were closer in than a cruise ship normally gets. 

6 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

NCL has recently discontinued it, but Pride of America has been cruising the Na Pali coast every week for years. It was one of the highlights of the cruise.

It's one of the most beautiful places on Earth, so I don't doubt it, but I don't think they ever were that close to land.

There is coral out there.  I've been snorkeling out there while on a Zodiak tour of the NaPali area (totally sea-sickness inducing, so I can't recommend it to anyone who gets motion sick).  It's gorgeous, it's pristine, and I've never seen a large ship there (let alone one so close to the coast).  The whole thing makes me uncomfortable because I don't want to sail with a cruise line that isn't conscious of the rules regarding something like this (and yes, I am speculating, but it certainly seems like they should not have been there).

Looking forward to following along.  I hope you have a great trip!

16 minutes ago, jwlane said:

It really has nothing to do with boarding---it's a show up time.  Since you're in The Retreat, it doesn't matter anyway.  You can arrive and check in when you want, then actually board when they begin the process.

Ah ok.  Thank you.  That really helps.  

8 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Check in time for retreat  is the same as other classes. However, you can board at anytime once boarding begins. For example if you have a 2pm boarding time you can ignore it and arrive at 11am.

Sorry for the basic questions - what is check in time if it's not boarding time?  Is it the time we can arrive at the port?  If I get a later time can I still arrive earlier?  Boarding is in Southampton if that makes a difference.  I'd like to board as early as possible so I can get my bearings and check out the ship.

Just now, CHEZMARYLOU said:

The express pass will be available at the 45 day mark when you do the check in. The boarding time is the same as the wellness time. 

Thank you.  Is the wellness time a wellness check?

46 minutes ago, doghog said:

When is your cruise? 

 

Download the Celebrity app. Create an account on Celebrity's website. Approximately 60 days prior to your cruise date your Xpress will be available to print. Approximately 45 days prior to your sail date you can select a check in time. This not a boarding time. Approximately 30 days prior to your sail date your luggage tags will be available to print.  

Thank you.  Leaving around 90 days from now, so it looks like when have time, booked in the Retreat so not sure about the check in time for that cabin, but I will log in and check.  I appreciate your advice. 

47 minutes ago, NanaPam00 said:

Your check in date should be showing on the app and the website - it is usually around 45 days out. Your curse documents and luggage tags appear on the website at 30 days. Updated menus and activity schedules are on the app one to two weeks out.

 

You do not need to reserve any shows on Celebrity.

Thank you so much.  I see it now.  I really appreciate your help.  

I've sailed before, but not with Celebrity.  

Is there a FAQ somewhere that goes step-by-step on how and when to do the check-in, get luggage tags and the like for our upcoming cruise?  Or can someone share a few of the basics here?  I just realized that I have no idea what I need to do online next after booking the cruise and paying for it.  

Thanks in advance.

I'm really looking forward to following along on your cruise.  And I love the new videos.  

Not to sound creepy, but do you ever walk on Mary?  I was driving and saw someone who looked so much like you and I seriously wondered if I had seen you in the wild.  LOL

I hope you have a great trip.  That itinerary looks amazing. 

22 hours ago, sixpackeddie said:

We were booked in a sky suite on the Apex last week and before we won our move up to a penthouse I sent a email to the ship directly to the retreat desk asking if dedicated butlers were back on the apex but did not receive a reply.

When we boarded the ship and were escorted by one of the retreat concierge staff they mentioned they received my email and really wanted to respond but were instructed not to by upper management. Clearly not wanting to be transparent about the timeline when butlers will be back.

They just keep digging a deeper hole with this stuff.  I am booked in an Aqua Sky Suite for my first ever Celebrity cruise and so far they are failing to impress me.  I did get a call a while back and was told the Apex would have butlers back "by June" but is that a full team or an understaffed one?  I have no loyalty to this cruise line, but was hoping that X would be our new cruise home.  It's not looking good right now.  You'd think they wouldn't want to make long time customers and new customers look elsewhere.

9 hours ago, swjumbo said:

Is there only one Apex cruise to the fjords this year?

I believe there are more than one.  When I booked we had quite a few options to choose from, but maybe some are full now.  Last time I looked only the $36K per person suite was available, but I also know that these things change all the time. 

7 hours ago, Nodrog2024 said:

Can I ask, Apologies again as a first time cruisers.

Is a shore excursion each day of the cruise too much?

I've booked via Celebrity. I'm wondering if we will be absolutely exhausted or if it will be okay? All excursions state *moderate*. 

Day 1. Boarding.

Day 2. Bruges (excursion morning 4 hours).

Day 3. Cruising

Day 4. Flam (excursion 7.5 hours)

Day 5. Geiranger (excursion morning 4 hours)

Day 6. Alesund (excursion afternoon 3 hours)

Day 7. Kristiansand (excursion afternoon 3 hours)

Day 8. Cruising.

 

I think it depends on how much you want to see vs. how much you want to relax.  I went on a Mediterranean cruise last summer and wanted to see  stuff, so I had a tour booked for each port (I booked privately though because I don't have much tolerance for shore excursions).  For Norway I'm doing a lot more time on our own compared to tours, but that's just a personal preference.  I see you have some shorter tours which I think will give you a nice mix of seeing things and having some time to explore on your own.  Kristiansand is small and you can walk from the port into town easily.  In Alesund the ship docked mere steps away from a really pretty part of the town.  The open air museums in those towns are really interesting, BTW.  

Hope this helps. 

I've been on a Norway sailing that had once nice day (spent by the pool).  On the other sea days I went to some activities, watched a movie, went to the spa, and read a book.  This wasn't on Celebrity, but I'm sailing on a similar cruise this summer with X and hope I can do the same.  

Thanks for the fantastic review!

5 hours ago, spammie said:

They are everywhere!  We were in the Retreat in November and they were there.  Lots of crew walking around and did nothing about it.  We prefer to sit in the shade and watched as chairs sat for hours with personal stuff on them and nobody using the loungers.  😞

Not what I was hoping to hear, but I appreciate the honest feedback.  I need shade, too.  I was hoping that the hog to chair ratio might be better up there.

3 hours ago, RK-NC said:

This is so disheartening to read but thank you for weighing in. At least we know what to expect and hopefully I can get my "hair on fire" feelings behind me now. I have seen posts about chair hog enforcement on Apex. I wonder why it's not happening on Beyond? 

I'm sailing on the Apex - I haven't seen anything about enforcement there, but since you have seen it I will hope for the best. 

After reading the comments about the chair hogs, how are things in the Retreat Lounge and on the Retreat sundeck?  Chair hogs is one of the reasons I booked into the Retreat but now I'm wondering if it's still going to be a problem. 

Great review.  I'm following along and hoping they do something about the chair hogs.

One would hope they would fix it before taking it across the Atlantic...  but the port time changes say otherwise.

I really appreciate the heads-up.  I'm not sure what I can really do now that an entire trip has been planned around this cruise plus we are meeting up with friends in London for this one.  If it was a simple Caribbean cruise I could easily just rebook it.  Ugh.