graciepuppy

We disembarked the HM on Saturday.......the Suites Lounge Bar served exactly as Bob stated.

Thanks beachnative! One less thing to worry about! I emailed the concierge but haven't heard back. This is where we always come for reliable information! You are sailing with Bill and Bette--if you see them send greetings from Carmen and Barb (graciepuppy). Enjoyed them on the Baltic cruise.

Thank you so much Bob! Didn't want to worry about taking water on board;).

Soda and selected beers/wines are available from 11am to 11pm.

 

During the cocktail period (usually 5pm to 8:30pm) they add basic mixed drinks, but no blender drinks.

 

Hi Bob,

 

We are getting ready to board the Harmony this Saturday. We have sailed on Oasis and Allure in grand suites and beer, house wine and soft drinks were available in the Suite Lounge from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for free (of course we always tip the staff!). We were just told that this is no longer true and everything is a charge except from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 pm. Could you please clarify if there is a charge for stock beer and wine during lunch? Can't believe they would change this without there being some discussion on the boards about it. Thanks so much for all your wonderful posts. You do keep us all informed:D!

Without having to search the entire thread, can anyone bring me up to speed as to where Captain Leif Bang went to? He was our captain on Navigator back in '09

 

 

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He was one of our favorite Captains also. I think he is currently in Norway awaiting the birth of their grand child (second I think).

Do the included drinks vary ship to ship?

 

I love Bombay Sapphire which appears included on this list but not on Celebrity's website?

 

Also I love sparkling mineral water and not sure whats included on the Classic might upgrade just for the San Pellegrino!

 

Bombay Sapphire is on the Premium Package as is all sparkling water. So, for you, the upgrade to the Premium makes sense. The only water on the Classic is plain bottled water--not Evian.

Where was Zora working? We'll be on the Equinox 2-1-16 and will look her up. I too love my Chardonnays and might have to upgrade, but thanks to this thread, I'll wait until I give some of the wines a try first.

 

Thanks for all the great advice. Thanks to the OP for a great review!

Just returned from the Feb. 1 sailing of the Equinox and we too had no problem with the Classic package. I had intended to upgrade (I love my wines) but decided to wait and see if I could find drinkable wines on the package. We had a great sommelier in the dining room that paired our wine every night with what we were having for dinner. I might add that he never tried to upgrade us, which so many people have posted was a problem. The wines served in the bars were different in each, but we always found something we liked. However, the wines in Oceanview Cafe were not my favorites, and after a couple glasses, decided to get my wine in other bars.

We were on the Feb. 1 sailing of the Equinox and loved the Gastro Bar. Marija was absolutely wonderful. She was honestly the best bar server we have ever had! We had a classic beverage package and they were more than happy to serve us within our package. The Cava was wonderful and they were pouring Kettle One Vodka. After trying every bar on the ship (with the exception of The World Bar where they would not accommodate our package) we settled into the Gastro Bar for pre-dinner cocktails. Tamara and Fabiean were equally attentive. One night the only seats left were at the bar---loved talking with Rade--great show--great bartender!

Zora is a barista at Cafe Al Bacio. I miss that woman.

 

Also, I just want to say that once I found a place to call 'home' I did tip once or twice a day. Just $1, but they were very nice and I always received excellent service. More than worth it. Tell Zora hello from Barbara!

 

Will Do! I'll try to report back!

 

My observations of the Classic Package:

 

We were on Equinox for the 11/20 sailing.

 

 

 

I love chardonnay. I found the St. Francis to be all right and Beringers was OK also. I was able to get St. Francis at most bars and Beringers at Cafe Al Bacio. I don't know which chardonnay they were serving at the Ensamble Lounge, but it was so nasty I couldn't even drink it. And to add insult to injury, the waitress messed up the charging of the drink and I had a $17 plus change on my account at the end of the day. They did straighten it out for me.

 

I was very underwhelmed with our sommelier in the MDR. The first night of the cruise, before I realized how few chardonnays were on the classic package, I asked him if he had any more full bodied chardonnays. He looked down at me (physically and figurativly) and stated "Madam, there is only 1 chardonnay on your package". To which I replied, OK, "I'll have that one". I think it was St. Francis. I like the Berringer a tad more so I would stop at Al Bacio on the way to the MDR and pick up a glass there.

 

 

Once I upgraded, things became easier. And more tasty. Since the MDR sommelier was so condescending, I decided to upgrade with my favorite barista, Zora. What a lovely woman she was. She always remembered my name and went above and beyond what I would expect from such a busy position. She was knowledgeable about wines and offered me a few nice ones (once upgraded). She was so evil (in a good way, of course ;)) she would pack a few chocolate treats to go with my red wine that I do enjoy once in a while.

 

In conclusion (if you're still with me :p), I like the way I did the package. I saved a bit of $$ by not upgrading the first day. I liked that I could choose who would receive the tip on the upgrade. And once upgraded, it was definitely more interesting.

 

Where was Zora working? We'll be on the Equinox 2-1-16 and will look her up. I too love my Chardonnays and might have to upgrade, but thanks to this thread, I'll wait until I give some of the wines a try first.

 

Thanks for all the great advice. Thanks to the OP for a great review!

Where's the LIKE Button???

We only found one attractive entree on each of the two menus. We were ready for something else after the first night in CK. We found the lunch menu to be even less attractive.

 

We did not observe any passengers refusing to sanitize their hands, coughing on food, or not using the appropriate serving utensils in the W/J and we found much more variety. We will continue to dine elsewhere, including the W/J, until they improve the menus in C/K.

 

BTW, did you use the buffet in the suites lounge?

 

How about some CK food porn?

This was my wife's biggest beef with CK (outside of the fact that she's a huge scallop fan and she didn't really like that scallop dish at all). For me I just ate the same exact lunch today that I did yesterday, so that wasn't a huge deal for me.

 

I agree with your wife, that was not a good scallop dish! Friends of ours if they liked something on the menu in the dining room, they would order it for room service and eat in their room that night.

We know we're in the minority and most find CK to be just fine. We're even more in the minority since we really like the Windjammer. What's the old saying about food being subjective?

 

We were on the Oasis for a B2B in February and Allure B2B on the Med/TA in October. We LOVE the Coastal Kitchen--the food is served hot and everything was delicious. The service was definitely the best we have had on any ship--we still talk about the amazing service we received from Cornel Besoiu on the Allure! WOW doesn't even over it! On the Oasis, they added a special (extra item) every night from the main dining room menu, which gave you a lot of variety. They did not do that on Allure. They do a three night on one menu four night on the other for the Med and every four night switch for the TA. Have to admit, by the end of the TA on Allure, we were ready for something else. However, the fillet was so wonderful, as were the lamb chops, I really could have eaten them every night!

 

For us, we like NOT eating in the Windjammer, because I have seen so many people coughing on food, reaching in and grabbing food with their hands, and people refusing to sanitize their hands when they enter. Being served food is one way we try to avoid getting sick on a ship.

62 pinnacles could definitely overcrowd the venue. I doubt JS will stand a chance. Hopefully things will balance out when she gets to FL

 

I will keep you posted, but there was not a problem with CK getting reservations this past week. They are offering a special for the crossing of 5 specialty restaurants for $110 for the week, which could help with the demand. I'll keep you all posted!

Any JS passengers invited to partake? Also, are there a lot of Pinnacles and how is that effecting the availability of reservations

 

To my knowledge JS passengers have to be invited by a suite passenger to partake in the Coastal Kitchen. But, we are not on the crossing yet and that could change on the crossing. We have 480 B2B cruisers and 62(at least we think that was the number) of Pinnacle on board for the crossing. I'll post the plans for the JS as we are all interested. I think I read that in May they can come to the Coastal Kitchen if there is room. I'll ask the staff on the crossing. As of today our waiter, Cornell did not know. He is fantastic, but is leaving the ship tomorrow---we will miss him!

We are currently on the Allure and doing the crossing. The food in Coastal Kitchen has been excellent! The best part of dining there is the staff. We have been totally spoiled!

[quote name='emmy']Barb I believe you made a very good decision. Having been on Oasis multiple times and have seen that area when it was a public balcony it would not have been my choice for a GS and for the price they would be asking.

A different balcony category perhaps but certainly not worth it as a GS.

I do have 11330 booked in April but I know what it looks like as I have seen that cabin and large balcony on a previous Oasis sailing.[/quote]

Yes Emmy, we toured that cabin (11330) and fell in love and thought all the new afts would be equal, but they are not. We really wanted to do some entertaining on our TA and that cabin is just not conducive for that since you can't walk around the balcony and it is VERY SMALL. Go glad for all the help. We are aft cabin lovers, but we were very lucky to get a GS because they were all booked. Got one when final payment was due.

Enjoy your cruise Emmy and thank you!

Barb

You do realize this cabin's balcony is so small that there is no furniture on it at all?

 

Just off Oasis of the Seas stayed in aft suite 14730.

There are two balconies. One faces the Aqua theatre. Small no furniture on it. The door was from the living room.

The other balcony you got on from the bedroom. It had two chairs with those foot rests (wicker) and a round table.

Narrow but not as big as the ones below.

Nice view.

Probably would not book again. But for a different reason. You had to be really careful getting in and out of the tub. Very elevated.

 

Bye

 

 

Thank you everyone here for all your input. Because of your comments and photos we decided to cancel our 14730 and opt for a regular grand suite---one became available and we grabbed it right away. Sure Appreciate everyone's advice!!! Thanks!!!

Okay, I have scanned the Cruise Compasses from 28-Jun to 05-Jul

 

You should be able to download them from the link below; I've gathered them together into a single ZIP file. This weighs in at around 55MB

 

http://thepotters.org/blog/download/western-med-compass/

 

Enjoy!

 

Hamacting, thanks for the compasses. Did you happen to save the sheet naming the staff? Do you know who the current Food and Beverage Manager is aboard the Allure. I'm trying to set up a luncheon for our group of Cruise Critics and have not had any luck so far.

Thank you so much for all your comments here---we were able to change our stateroom today to a regular grand suite and we are so happy!!! Thank you everyone who posted, we will be so much happier:D.

Well we have this suite booked in two weeks.

 

Our sailing is almost completely sold out.

 

I guess I will take and post pictures and videos when we return.

 

Looking forward to trying something new, some of the reviews have been bad, some good, but, a suite is a suite, and hoping it meets our needs.

 

Sea Ya

]

 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE POST photos and your review. We have it for the TA and really have not seen any photos of this exact GS.

I have 11330 in Oct on a Med Cruise! Was the room itself a decent size?!

 

Yes, we loved that stateroom, that's why we jumped to book 14730, thinking it would be the same. We're booked on the Med Oct. 18 cruise--which one are you booked on--perhaps we can get together.

Barb, he's sailing with us in AL

 

 

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Great, hope that doesn't change!:D

what he posted was FUTURE home away from home. As far as I know he's currently master on Allure. Don't know when he'll drop out of the rotation to work on Harmony.

 

We're booked on the Allure in October and we were looking forward to sailing with him again.

We are on a B2B.

 

Can we bring 4 bottles on embarkation day for the 2 cruises. After the first cruise we will be staying on board.

 

Thanks.

 

In Feb. on the Oasis they took two of the bottles and kept them and said they would deliver them at the end of the cruise. My husband had two in his carry on and I had the other two. They did not deliver them and we had to ask guest services to have them delivered. They were delivered on the second day of the cruise---which was no problem, but we did have to ask for them.