Silkroad

I can report that the soups were still very good to excellent on our recent b2b in Norway/Iceland & Ireland. I chose soup for lunch or dinner on most of our 21 days. On the night there wasn't a main that appealed to me, I had no issues when I ordered three starters instead (shrimp cocktail, soup and salad).

We return to lovely Silhouette in December, so I'm very much looking forward to your review. I'm so happy that your husband is well enough to travel, and I hope you have a splendid holiday. Though I love being on the water, I too must plan for the possibility of sea sickness (which limits Move Up options for me). I pack enough chewable Bonine (meclizine, which the ships carry in non-chewable form) for five people😂 I take Bonine before leaving port the first time, and each sea day thereafter (unless the sea is calm). This has served me well on most cruises, including one from Southampton. Wishing you calm seas and an excellent cruise experience.

Exactly. This is what several of us have posted since Mini-Fridge-gate began. Our first SS included zero mini-fridge items. It didn’t even include Luminae because that restaurant opened a few months later. We had to ask our butler to remove the mini-fridge items so we could gather our own items to store within it. No big deal. That’s what we do when we’re in Veranda/Concierge/Aqua cabins. Despite having been offered mini-fridge sodas, beers and waters of our choice (within reason/if available) beginning in our SS in December 2019, I have never seen this published in official Sky Suite amenities. IMO we’ve had an unexpected bonus, but the bonus has ended.

That wasn’t true on the two European cruises I took this summer. I would say there were more people who preferred to dine late than I’ve seen on Caribbean cruises, but certainly not everyone. Regardless, the OP successfully selected late dining over a year ago. The Maître d’ should have honored that choice.

Your steaks look like the sorry specimens I was served on Apex last December. In addition to being largely fat & gristle, mine were not cooked to my specifications. I requested medium-rare. Mine were medium-well🙄 On that b2b, it was obvious they had some staffing issues in the MDRs. I eschewed steaks for the rest of our trip. Happily, our beef choices were much better on our recent b2b aboard Apex. Your experience being summarily moved from fixed to anytime dining is unbelievable. I would think they’d be happy to have people who prefer late seating. I hope you’ve got it sorted. This reminds of a live review by @Norwaylady during which she and her DH were changed from anytime dining to fixed! I think she was also on Infinity. I do hope the rest of your cruise is issue free!

No. Sorry, I see this has already been answered.

You beat me to it! Great minds😂

I understand what you’re saying, but as @Georgia_Peachesposted, the bubbly is available in Café al Bacio. What we love much more than the bubbly upon boarding is the ability to immediately stow our carry on bags in our stateroom (an option that wasn’t available before 2019). Once we accomplish this, we check in at our muster station, secure some lunch & adult beverages, and drink to another wonderful vacation together. This last bit is what fills me with joyful anticipation. As I would post almost exactly what @jelayne posted, I’ll simply say that DH and I just spent 21 nights aboard Apex, and we had a grand time. We experienced nothing that would make us cancel our future bookings. In fact, I just made final payment on another Celebrity cruise. Sure, Celebrity has changed. It’s been changing the entire time I’ve been cruising (since 2006). All the mainstream cruise lines have changed. Ditto for airlines, hotels and our local restaurants. I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise. Cheers!

I can’t speak for the OP, but I didn’t think this thread was meant to be a series of reviews. I thought it was intended to give all of us an opportunity to reflect on the positive aspects of our experiences on Celebrity cruises.

Surely it’s not necessary to have two of the most simple entrees - both fowl - on the same evening. The main dining room should provide appealing choices to all palates on a given night. Why should anyone be forced to pay an extra fee to “dine elsewhere”?

Thanks for sharing information about your journey. We haven’t sailed an M class ship since 2017, so I’m looking forward to your impressions. Lovely photos! Bon voyage🥂

I agree that evening turndown service is a lovely tradition, and it’s worth keeping, but I am capable of removing the extraneous bedding if necessary. What I would miss most is having the towels freshened. DH would miss the chocolates. There is a lot of speculation about potential cuts and changes. We both know that a lot of speculation and rumor proves unfounded. I’m trying to focus on the confirmed changes as I consider potential modifications to our current bookings.

Really? I am sometimes a Retreat passenger, but more often not. I have not brought up the cruise lines you mentioned.

This!

I’ve opted for Go Green for several cruises without having had the attendant ask me when I wanted my primary cabin service.

For evening turndown service? The beds are made in the morning.

I’ll confess that I’ve wondered if turndown service will be reduced or cut altogether. It’s a pleasant tradition, but it must be quite time consuming. A little side note for those who aren’t receiving pillow chocolates. I’ve been puzzled by sporadic pillow chocolate delivery until last week. The day after DH and I returned from our Norway/Iceland b2b, this mysteriously appeared on our bar😂

Oh no! Three of our next four cruises will be in Aqua and Verandas. Does this mean we’re riff raff?😱😂

IDK. I’ve always met people who had diverse travel & vacation backgrounds on Celebrity cruises. Like @Jose Zalfadilla DH and I had long gaps between our early cruises. We traveled in Europe, North America and the Caribbean, took beach breaks (not AI) and mountain hiking trips. Personally, I prefer diversity to homogeneity, and I enjoy Celebrity’s evolving customer base. That said, I draw the line at cruises that seem like keg parties😜

We met a couple of new cruisers on our recent European b2b. I guess I wasn’t surprised because DH and I were first timers on our first cruise (a Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Millennium). We also met people who were new to Celebrity, but had previously sailed Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival, P&O and HAL. Others had only taken river cruises before trying Celebrity.

And here I was, thinking we were paying too much for our SS on Ascent’s spring transatlantic😂 I guess we’d better enjoy it while we can, since we certainly wouldn’t pay 21k pp for a SS! DH just reminded me, “with no butler” 🤣

I wish Celebrity would send this survey to me! They send me daily marketing emails, so they certainly know my email address.

From the Captain’s Club Terms and Conditions posted on their website: Discount on drink package upgrade Members may purchase a drink upgrade from the Classic Package to the Premium Package with their discount pre-cruise, by calling Captain's Club at 1-800-760-0654. Discount does not apply to upgrades purchased once onboard. Discount does not apply to promotional drink packages, including promotional package upgrade. Not combinable with other offers.

When disembarking Apex last week (in Rotterdam) we were required to vacate our suite by 7:30. We were the in the last group escorted from the Retreat Lounge at about 9:15, and we were off the ship by 9:20. On all our recent cruises, we've had to vacate our suite by either 7:30 or 8:00, and we've had to leave the ship by 9:30.

I don’t think you’ll have any problem moving from T25 to T29. The Palm Garage is the recommended garage for both T25 and T29. When Celebrity has a ship at T29, a complimentary shuttle runs continuously between the Palm Garage and T29. After disembarking Ascent, roll your bags to the Palm Garage to board the shuttle. You may have a short wait for the shuttle to return to the garage with passengers who’ve disembarked Reflection.