DingoMom

Thank you for the informative and entertaining review, as well as the great pictures!!

If you board with excess alcohol and they find it, it will be confiscated and NOT given back. Hoping someone can help with ‘declaring’ it when you board.

OP did, in fact, update us!

For just a second, I will hop on @WrittenOnYourHeart’s thread… THIS MORNING I HAD COFFEE WITH CAPTAIN KATE!! …* * kind of. I was in a secluded little spot near Cafe Al Bacio with DH at 11:00 a.m. She and one of her officers came in to the same little area for their morning coffee. It looked like they were having a ‘work’ conversation, so we didn’t interrupt. She was very gracious to the staff who was taking care of them and to the guests who spotted her. On my way out, I told her that I was going to tell all my friends that I had coffee with her.

@WrittenOnYourHeart, I am loving your review!! Your report on Eden is fabulous! Enjoyed our drink at the Sunset Bar and looking forward to our next one, and seeing you around the ship! ❤️ your picture with Captain Kate!

@WrittenOnYourHeart Hi, Beth! I am on board, too! I will try to call you tomorrow to see if we can meet up for a drink! World Class Bar, Sunset Bar … so many choices! You get to pick! Dawn

@FBrew, currently on the 6-night Beyond, and luggage Valet is offered. @DaKahunaand @39august the charge is $29 pp even in a Sky Suite.

@Happy Cruiser 6143, okay…my leap of faith! Hoping someone can fix this for me! Thank you in advance!

Well, I met the charming Charla, and ya’ll, her smile is bigger than Texas! We took a selfie, but whenever I try to post it, it turns out upside down!

Happy Birthday, Charla! Enjoy your special celebration dinner tonight!

So I also boarded the Beyond today and am so looking forward to my first Gen X sighting! I didn’t see her (them!) in the Retreat lounge or at the Martini Bar. I left my Gen X-inspired map dress at home because, you, know, it is really her (and Gen Z’s) thing, and don’t they look fantastic!! Tomorrow is a sea day, and I am looking forward to being a ship explorer until I hopefully meet the one…the only…Charla!! 😀

Thank you, but on another site, the Members are being told NO beverage packages, pre-paid gratuities (when included with offers) will be honored after August 1, even for bookings paid in full. Stand by to stand by.

Correct. (Unless you have cruising status on Royal Caribbean, that you can tier-match to Elite or above on Celebrity.)

The way I read this, if you have any cruises prior to July 31, 2025, Booked and PAID in FULL BEFORE August 1, 2024, you will get your ‘old’ tier level cash for that cruise. Thus, I just paid in full for B2B cruises that sail out of Sydney in March 2025. If you book a new cruise AFTER August 1, 2024: And you are Elite, you can get your tier level cash if you sail by Oct 30, 2025; And you are Elite Plus, you can get your tier level cash if you sail by Jan 31, 2025; And if you are Zenith, you can get your tier level cash if you sail by July 31, 2025

Amethyst $100 casino credit per cruise is gone. So is the $500 casino credit per cruise for Sapphire, $1000 for Sapphire +, and $2500 for Ruby. 😖

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this report! It is almost as if we are sailing with you! ❤️

I got the same email today as @miched for my upcoming Magic Carpet Sky Suite. I will not abuse the butler because Celebrity’s marketing is just plain stupid.

@mark46, all of the above responses are correct. However, you are asking about flying in. I dare say the majority of the folks on this board would advise that you fly in No Later Than the day BEFORE the cruise…soooo many variables. We generally stay one night pre-cruise, and then Uber to the port.

We use an annual travel insurance with med coverage and med-evac through Allianz dot com. Others (generally seniors, I believe) include med jet dot com

Hello, Ms. Hodges, Have you considered an ‘undercover cruiser’ to provide an honest assessment to your Executive Office on the various types of cabins / ship experiences? For example, I know that you and your Executive Staff are too well-known to attempt to do an ‘Undercover Boss’ experiment. However, when you DO sail, the entirety of the ship knows you are on board, and I expect that you receive the best of everything (as is proper). But if you had a proxy that is not in an upper suite, as well as one who was not in a suite at all, who could give you HONEST feedback about the experience, perhaps it would provide some good data points for you going forward. I think because the crew / staff is generally so great that none of us wants to give less than a “10” on our surveys, you are not getting legitimate feedback on the Celebrity cruise experience. There are several threads on Cruise Critic that echo this point. (I have several upcoming cruises, and I would be delighted to be your ‘secret shopper’ on any of them.)

@the penguins: your response does not cover “the bar server, sommelier, barrista, etc” and I would like an answer to OP’s question. Also, do not know who to tip in the Retreat Lounge or on the Sundeck.

Hi Abby, You mentioned a few days ago that you had your ‘half’ of a Luminae burger. This may be a silly question (sorry!) but can you actually order a small Luminae burger, or did you get a whole one and share it with DH? They are SO big!!

Our friends did this tour in June on the Beyond. It was WAY too crowded, and the lunch was Not good. Additionally, the day was very windy, and the water was up past their shoulders — way above their waists.

@CHEZMARYLOU and others, We were in a Sky Suite last month and were charged the $29 per person charge. I was told that when the service was restored after CoVid, even suites had to pay the fee. (Haven’t cruised in a higher suite, but we were charged in the Sky Suite.)

DH has a good idea for features on new ships. He thinks it would be great if the slides were re-purposed so that each one ended at a bar. Or more of a “ladder” so you could take the slides between bars!