the penguins

we have had one bad steward - complained and had meeting with Senior Officer - understood the guy's contract would not be renewed. The biggest complaint (i.e. what makes their job difficult) is the number of passengers who stay in their cabins all day. This is a particular issue on cruises with lots of sea days.

All the Stewards we have spoken too prefer the new system as now they are soley responsible for their own batch of cabins - don't get the blame if others mess up. The number of cabins they do was reduced when the new system was introduced

have to disagree - the real "stock star" is Captain Kirk - see his amazing late night show in the theatre and you will know why.

I admire what appears to be your "apparent" honesty however, at least to my eyes, it has 2 glaring omissions that I assume you will be willing to clarify: 1) you object to auto grats and then go on to say " just because I spend x amount on a cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage". What you don't clarify is that having removed Autograts if you then go on to tip staff individually or if you don't tip anyone. Which is it? 2) I assume that you never have a drink at the bar, wine with meals or a coffee in the Al Bacio as all of these have a 20$ gratuity added to the cost.

the comparison with X in all cabin grades is:

look at the original post and you will see they had other questions and later about ship time v land time. I should have added the smiley face to my original post 🤣

Are you sure you are not “over thinking” this. Put Phone on airplane mode, times will be confirmed every day and on boards as you leave the ship. Most times we cruise we are 4, 5, 6 or more hours time difference from our home and the world has never come to an end. You are on vacation relax and enjoy you can catch up with the digital world when you get home.

Just checked and it still shows as Premium on Celebrity’s own site.

check your Roll Call for private excursions

By checking once every day.

We do the same with $ but not everyone comes more than once and a lot don't realise that they can tip in any currency.

how much cash do you expect to need? Credit Cards are accepted just about everywhere so the amount of cash you will need is minimal. Just make sure you have a Credit Card that doesn't charge a currency fee and that all your transactions are in Euro - don't let any store do the conversion for you. If you do have Euro left don't change it back use it for any extra tips on the ship - the crew will happily take any currency and X handles any conversions for them at preferential rates.

Join the Roll Call for your specific sailing and you will probably find private excursions either at a fraction of X's prices or at similar prices for a much better experience (smaller groups, slower pace, less shopping, relaxing coffee breaks).

wow - for us one of the joys of cruising is to get away from the ever increasing intrusion of smart phones and other devices. We are on vacation - one lot of 240 minutes using one shared device (check emails twice a day - sign in and sign out) is more than enough.

the CC Host often checks Sea Passes especially on the first few days. Passes also likely to be checked if passengers "wander in and appear not to know what is happening".

All beyond me - I was commenting on Virgin's claims which as everyone living the UK knows are often wildly different to the reality

precisely - in the real world they may both be the same speeds. We had no issues video calling from Reflection during our October TA but had several days with no connection on our Princess TA in March both ships use Starlink

as always with Virgin (and not just Virgin Cruises) the devil is in the detail: 1) The speed you have highlighted includes the vital words ( up to). 2) Most Virgin cruises are currently in well populated areas and close to land (Caribbean, Med, around the UK) i.e. areas with the most satellite coverage.

Another good idea is to never book " flights only" but always to book them as "a package". You get all the ATOL protection plus: lower airfares (same flights/seats), and only a deposit when you book. To qualify as a package you need to book the flight plus one other service e.g. one night hotel, or one days car rental (book the very cheapest and don't pick it up). Can work out quiet a bit cheaper.

as you live in the UK the booking can easily be covered by the ATOL regulations. Just book the cruise and the flights as a package either with X or a UK Tour Operator. Under ATOL regulations if one part of the package fails you get a refund for the whole lot. As there are no flight restrictions now the debate is purely theoretical. If the worst was to happen contact the Tour Operator and claim your refund giving them 30 days to refund in full telling them if they don't you will go direct to your Credit Card Company and claim the money from them - confirm this by email. As 30 days is more than the legal requirement if you do have to claim from the CC Company the fact that you have been "reasonable" in your request will count in your favour. Your UK Travel Insurance should also cover you for the flight but if X still operated the cruise it wouldn't refund that element.

every likely on the first one and on the last depending on where the ship is coming from/going to.

We always have the fridge emptied as soon as we see our Cabin Steward on Boarding Day - if we don't see him/her we leave a note. We check our OBC every day (takes around a minute) usually whoever is ready for dinner first does it. If you have a non $ Credit Card make sure it's one with no charges for Foreign Currency and it's that the card does the conversion not Celebrity.

Great summary. Coffee cards are a discount if you order a small coffee. Go large and they take 2 of the "coupons" instead of 1 making it more expensive to use the card.

never had a single request refused - just make sure the paperwork clearly shows your name as well as the number of shares etc.

clearly works for you and as I said choice is good. Contrary to what many believe X does not guarantee to wait if you are on one of their excursions. In the small print it says that in the unlikely event that they don't wait they will get you to the next port.