conquesodor

I have not been able to complete registration for the site. I can access my booking, but not my account. I called customer service and was told "they are working on the site" and that everything looked good with my booking. Weird, but hoping they have a working site sooner or later. Can't log into the app on my phone either.

Has anyone here taken the Marseille excursion, "Deluxe Visit to Provence: Avignon and Aix-en-Provence?" I've asked in the Ports of Call board and folks seem to think that this is a lot to do in seven hours. I'd really like to see Avignon, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off just spending the day in Aix, which seems easier to get to on your own. If you have taken this tour, I'm curious whether you'd recommend it. It sounds like most of the trip is guided, but lunch is on your own in Avignon. Thank you!
 

Ken

Thanks for the information!

We will be on MSC World Europa later this year, Nov 25 to Dec 2. Beginning and ending in Civitavecchia.

Thanks, Mark. That's good to hear.

Hello, I'm looking at an excursion offered by MSC that's listed as lasting 7 hours and would take us to Aix and then Avignon. I'm curious if anyone has any advice or insights on this. I am very interested in going to Avignon and it doesn't seem practical to do on your own. I'm concerned that it will be a whirl wind tour that will leave me wishing we had just spent that day in Aix, which seems much easier to do yourself.

Thanks,
Ken

Hello! I know there are excursion specific boards, but my question is about booking a "multilingual" tour through MSC. I will be sailing MSC for the first time later this year in Europe and some of the tours offered state that the language is "Multilingual - to be confirmed on board." As an English only speaker, I'm curious how this works. If I'm on a bus with 50 other people, is the guide repeating everything in multiple languages?

Thanks!
Ken

• Ship: Ascent
• Length of Cruise: 7 nights
• Cruise Sail Date: 12/10/2023
• Date email offer received: 9/26/2023
• Captain’s Club Tier: Elite
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Celebrity Direct
• Current Cabin: Aqua Class
• Bid?  Yes/No: Yes

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: Sky Suite
• Bid Offer: $1190
• Notification Date: 11/29/2023
• Accepted / Rejected: Accepted

General Comments (offer details, etc.)

Can anyone confirm if the sandwiches that cost extra were previously available for free? My guess is that they were not and that this is similar to the new items that were added to the MDR menus that cost extra.

Competition is good for all of us. Recent news is that VV is not in great financial shape, so I hope they can get that sorted. Good marketing and delivering on your product will help.

Thank you for your review! It strikes me as balanced and fair minded, which seems rare these days.

There is a free tram that runs from the dock to the resorts, so you can come and go as you please.

We were in Bimini last year and opted for a more laid back and less expensive option. Skip the tram to the resorts and walk down the pier until you get to the street. Grab a cab and ask them to take you to Radio Beach. The beach is free and the taxi is $5 a person. Order some conch fritters and have a pina colada made from a coconut. One of the best DIY "excursions" we ever did.
 

12 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Are you sure it was Goat cheese?  MDR has never had Goat chees souffle it has always been Blue cheese souffle.

I can tell this is very important to you! Haha. 🙂

Luckily, I did take a snapshot of the menu that night. It was "Double Baked Blue Cheese Souffle."  Sorry for the confusion.

Proof:

13 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

But was that in main dining?  I thought that was only in 1 of the specialty restaurants or Blu?  Also most of the menu changes I believe just happened in August.

Yes, MDR.  Blu and Murano do their own versions.

52 minutes ago, thebutlerdidit said:

I miss the falling off the bone lamb shank. 

OMG, yes!

13 hours ago, hcat said:

it speaks but not great!   Yikes!

It was delicious.

11 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Blue cheese souffle 

I had goat cheese soufflé on Summit last month, which is almost as good. 😄

1 hour ago, luv4cruises said:

I miss that option too!!!! 
I miss better cuts of beef in general- Tournardos  of beef, Beef Wellington. 

On Summit recently they served the "Celebrity Signature" Tournedos and they were very good. However, they also did Steak Diane one night and they used a very poor cut of beef from what they've done in the past.

56 minutes ago, Claret and Blue said:

I will be gutted if there is no rack of lamb, no prime rib, no beef wellington and no cheesecake on my next cruise! (PS from what I'm reading I'm preparing to be gutted 😉)

There was prime rib the first night, but I didn't order it. (see below)  I agree about the lamb and wellington.

51 minutes ago, Sphynxlady said:

Are shrimp cocktail and onion soup still available every day? That is often my dinner.

Yes. At least they were last month on Summit. Here's a pic of the first night menu:

 

49 minutes ago, thedriver23 said:

We was on this cruise, and I had no issue with the food in the MDR, other than the sides being the same every night.

 

Yorkshire pudding, Buttered Potatoes and cauliflower cheese.

 

13 nights it did start to feel a little samey, and we had 4 nights eating in speciality - maybe that was the reason.

 

But we felt the food was good - I have attached a couple of photos - as always they never seem to do it justice - the lobster I was disappointed with.

Thanks for posting some pictures. The middle dish (with some sauce) looks pretty good, but I'll admit that the other two look rather plain.

I missed having beef wellington on Summit last month. Hopefully it was a fluke and not gone from the rotation for good?

52 minutes ago, 1620rock said:

There has been a lot of discussion of the reduced menu options.  Starting a thread to post what are some favorites from the MDR menu you would like to see return. One of my favorites I order every cruise when available is the jerk chicken with black bean and pineapple rice but I don't see it on the current Equinox menu or my October Equinox cruise

 

 

 

That is a great dish. Not to rub your nose in it, but I had it on Summit last month. Hopefully this means that it is still part of the rotation?

Cruise Critic is equal parts extraordinarily helpful tips and insight, along with mind numbing negativity and cynicism. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. The important take away for me is that I have sailed on nine cruises with Celebrity since 2008 and I have not once found that what people complain about the mostly loudly has been true. Your mileage may vary and I won't deny that some things have changed over the years, but it hasn't changed the fact that Celebrity has consistently delivered a great cruise experience time and again. I suggest you take the doom and gloom with a grain of salt!

8 minutes ago, Rustyman said:

Your photos show how it used to be, always excellent, current cruises fall well short of this unfortunately.

I'm still looking for photos that clearly demonstrate this. Maybe someone will do so here?

It's unfortunate that there are no pictures of the "cafeteria style" meals that the OP describes. My experience in the MDR on Summit last month was excellent. A few example pictures should speak for themselves: