sofietucker

One thing we get as elite is invitations to a sailaway with the captain on the helipad, with "champagne." You must wear closed-toed shoes for this (so on one cruise I couldn't go). Another benny is a separate disembarkation lounge, typically Tuscan Grille (same place as the elite morning coffee lounge). It was perfect last time as it was far closer to the gangway than the other gathering areas.

Just off the Silhouette last week and had a few fun Elite events, one being a cocktail party in the Sky lounge wherein the house band played both warmup tunes and then "theme tunes" for each of the 4 specialty cocktails the bartenders demonstrated and then served us: a manhattan, a mai tai, a fruity something with prosecco, and the one we can't remember, lol... And then the band played another 4 songs or so.

Crete, Crete, Crete! Regardless of where you dock (Heraklion or Chania) there is tons to do. An island to visit for weeks and still never get bored. Plus: Rhodes! We were the in Sept, loved it, can't wait to go back. Again, tons to do and see. And then when you do go to Malta, will be fun to compare the two Grandmaster's Palaces, etc.

On Azamara in Sept 2023, we had 4 ports in Turkey, plus spent a few days in Istanbul on the front end. We love this country, probably our 5th time in Kusadasi. No unrest, no terrible traffic (stayed in Sultanahmet, used the tram, etc. We did note that the city buses had electronic signs "STOP WAR" and one of our Uber drivers wore a tee-shirt with "Teach Peace" (I have that bumper sticker!). Cesme, Canakkale were very laid back & plenty of English speakers. Some other pax took a pre-cruise excursion to Cappadoccia and loved it.

Exactly so. Just off the Silly and it was atrocious, around the pool, in the Sky Lounge and 3 indistinguishable channels on silent disco. We are boomers, as were about 80% of the pax, but the young DJs/music staff all seemed to play mostly what THEY listen to*. We are huge music buffs; it was such a shame to only hear, at the FOUR silent discos, Pitbull and yelling music. The 2 live bands played classic rock (translation: all Beatles & nuttin' BUT da Beatles) and "Motown" (all Stevie Wonder, weirdly). They did play the standard boring trio of YMCA, Dancing Queen, and I Will Survive at the white--I mean, Full Moon--party. First time in many years we didn't hear a fave, Uptown Funk, once... What ended up being our favorite dance venue was the always empty Quasar! They piped in a random selection of 60s-70s pop--plus some Cars and Talking Heads! Apparently there's karaoke in there from time to time, but we didn't attend. *I actually fantasized an entire lecture for that staff on how to pay attention to demographics and do research on how to choose fitting music for those pax... Then I let it go. PS: the best DJ on a cruise ship so far was DJ Dragon from Serbia, on the Edge in 2021. He didn't just scrape the surface of genres and music history, and his own added beats ADDED to the music.

Thanks; we're on your itinerary in March (but not in the Parrot Suite, lol). Our butler--it was still a Sky Suite last year--said the previous occupants had named the parrots. Look forward to hearing the port reports! I do have a question regarding children. Just off the Silly and there were babies, kids and young folk, due to schools not fully back in session. We usually cruise during the school year and don't often see children at all on X, HAL and lately Oceania and Azamara. (But I suppose Disney would have kids cruising year round...) My TA, when I reported back to her after this cruise, asked especially about that and said she's got a number of clients now complaining about so many children on Celebrity. I can only think it's a school-schedule issue, not people bringing infants aboard. What's the current kid status on the Connie?

Brian, the balcony is large, with a full size table and a sofa/lounging couch as well as chairs. You are next to the huge wraparound balcony for the suite next door. In our experience, they stayed on the aft side; never heard them* on the side balcony, except once as their hot tub is on the corner. The one thing missing for us was actual loungers (like they have by the pool), so I asked our attendant to bring one. No problem. *They also have a piano in that suite and played it from time to time, not very well, lol. The door at the foot of your bed adjoins that room... Bring your European converters and you will double the number of your plugs. I have a vague memory that we MIGHT have had USBs by the bed but that may have just been our own chargers plugged in. There is a huge space below the TV for...snorkel gear? Or other large objects. Decent closet space both hanging and shelves/drawers. Due to the parrots--if still glued in place--the shelving along the desk mirror is unusable.

And we stayed in here last winter! Are the 6 large ceramic parrots still perched on the shelves beside the desk mirror? (They told us it would be "revolutionized," which I thought meant install the lighter wood cabinetry, revamp the bathroom, etc.) Watch out for the river running across from the shower to the drain on the other side of the sink vanity... A lil scary with the electrical outlet right there by the floor. We had to put down towels.

LOl--the treatments I get leave me smelling like a flower garden and feeling silky. Not gonna wash that away...

We board the Silly on Tuesday and today I booked a couple of spa treatments. If you have a booking, go to Manage my reservation, and instead of choosing shorex or dining, select spa. You may have to poke around a bit to find what you want--they are not listed in any comprehensible order-- but you can reserve (that is, purchase) any service, on any day or time that is available. Most in-port times are significantly discounted as in the past. Now if you DON'T have a booking, you can still get a full menu by going to, for instance, "our ships," click on the Equinox, then spa, then spa menu (just as with the restaurant menus). You'll have to then download the pdf to open it. There's a disclaimer that not all the services may be offered on a specific ship or cruise. But at least you'll have the list of what's possible and how much it may cost--PLUS a mandatory 20% gratuity now...

Woo!! Good to know, thanks

We have, this past Sept, Greece and Turkey, loved it, have booked another for 2025. Amazing itineraries in small ports. Their website was horrendous with the change, and eternally conflicting customer service, but seemed to finally get up to speed by the time we boarded. Very nice ship, very international pax. Lots to do, great excursions. Food was good. Staff & crew were great. We had already planned to jump to a smaller ship from X, so it was a tossup between them and Oceania for our "new" line. May go on O again, may not, depending solely on itineraries on offer (we're 70, but the vibe was a bit staid for us...). Though they had BY FAR the most stellar library I've ever seen on a ship (including before HAL removed their several rooms' worth). That being said, we have 3 more cruises booked on X too--one for family, one last minute, and one due to itinerary. And we're not mad at them. We're 4-star Mariners but pretty tired of HAL--except for the music venues! No other line compares. Limited itineraries though, and food and staff only okay. We had adored the small Prinsendam (RIP) but that entire Dutch-based culture has changed, I guess as pax died off and captains retired... Plus COVID then changed the entire world of cruising. Probably not Viking as we have been told no live music. But that was awhile back & may have changed... Virgin? Oh hail no!! Berthed next to them in Rhodes; it was all 30-yr-olds. One told us they have regular pajama parties, lol... The only absolutely never again is Carnival. Possibly may go on Princess again ONLY if they offer a ship with no MUTS, which caused us to stop cruising with them. (Watched Moana on a Disney ship from the top deck of our RCI ship when parked next to them... That also told us nope, no Disney ever, would be unable to escape the blaring outdoor movies. At least X shows theirs in a secluded location.)

We were in that Sky Suite last year. Nice & quiet back there.

They did on the Edge in June 2021. Every night folks lined up at the host desk and booked their times if they hadn't reserved earlier. It was constantly mobbed because even though they only had 350 pax on the entire ship, the suites were sold out. So Retreat was crowded too... Main pool and hot tubs? Empty. So much for spacing people apart; main office was brain dead on that one. We also had reservations at Luminae pretty much every night on the Connie last year. (They asked us when we wanted to arrive, we didn't ask them.) They seemed to have a table for us where we mostly ate, unless we joined someone else. Be interesting to see how it goes on the Silly next week...

Yep, perfect advice. Our TA knows our policies thoroughly; she even prods us to submit claims: we just got back 100% reimbursement ($3800 each) for a trip to Spain and 100% airfare; many thousands over the years for illnesses, injuries, weather-related delays and cancellations (along with travel, meals, and hotel reimbursements); $$ for clothes we had to buy due to lost luggage in Sept; and $100pp for practically every single cruise that is supposed to stop in Key West or the Bahamas but always (in the past 20 years!) becomes a "sea day." I would never buy anything but Allianz Global.

We just got $$$ back from Allianz after they switched a port to a different one; my TA says they will fully reimburse a cruise if you cancel due to a changed itinerary. (Note that this is NOT the ship's insurance!! Theirs usually says they can change with impunity and no reimbursement.)

More and more, this tells me we will just bring bottles on board....

Fun for your family, if they DO go on the canal cruise, from The Points Guy: If you're a reader who wants to glean all you can about this engineering marvel, pack a book that tells about the history and construction of the canal or download one onto your Kindle. "The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914," by David McCullough does an excellent job of capturing the tragedy and triumph involved in building the canal. If you're traveling with kids, "What is the Panama Canal?" by Janet B. Pascal breaks it down in an accessible way designed for those aged 8 to 12. "Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal" by Margarita Engle talks about the human toll that was needed, and "Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal" by Marixa Lasso recounts the history from the Panamian point of view.

Are they on the Beyond? I could see that, it being such a large new ship, there could be a concern about the draft. But then since it's only a partial transit--the ship doesn't HAVE to go through--they would likely simply port at Colon a day early and folks could take day trips to the various sets of locks via bus or smaller boat. Plus as you may know, there are big IMAX and other sorts of displays that explore the history of the canal, so they can still be assured that they have *been* to the canal. Can't imagine that the cruise itself would be cancelled. But travelers can usually cancel if they choose not to take a cruise when the itinerary is changed; we did that once. They have a few weeks before even losing the deposit to decide if they want to gamble (final payment not until Feb.). Check travel insurance: sometimes they will cover a port change or cancellation, sometimes not. Ours wasn't covered for Greek ports they CHANGED, for floods and fires in Sept--but they have reimbursed for completely cancelled ports for weather, etc. Low water table issues and ship/insurance policies are more comprehensively explored on the River Cruise boards...but having nothing to do with Celebrity, unfortunately (We're on the Celebrity Constellation cruise on those dates in 2024, much smaller. The port listed on our itinerary is Colon and not even a partial transit; if we want to see or even transit some locks, there are excursions to do that. We've done it before--plus 100s of locks in Europe, etc.--so will be doing jungle stuff that day... Which is very exciting too.)

So I'm appealing to the collected expertise here for some questions re: wine etiquette at dinner on board ship. This is especially in regard to the wine we may bring aboard, and the complimentary wine in our stateroom: We have already been informed that it's "not done" to bring a glass of wine with us to dinner--unless we purchased it (as part of our package or not) at a bar. But not from our room. 1. What about taking our bottle away with us, whether from the dining room (where we either bought the bottle on the spot or paid the corkage fee, albeit a screw top Molly Dooker, or whatever)? Maybe we want to savor a glass later "at home" without having them chase down the bottle in storage. (Oceania was forever losing our bottles.) We have taken away partially-full glasses from time to time, which they transfer to regular bar ware to save their Riedel, lol. Fine. But no bottles so far. 2. Much is made in the world of wine about letting it breathe after opening. There's an endless array of decanters, pour tops, etc. We use some of those methods at home--including those titanium "breathable" glasses--depending on the wine, and find they can make a considerable difference. But at virtually any restaurant, and at the Chef's Tables/wine tastings we've attended over the years on a variety of cruise lines, the pattern is: present the wine at the table, open it, pour a sip, pour glasses. The expectation is to drink it pretty much immediately: vigorous swirling is the only option for aerating the wine. (Examining the cork is no longer done--and at least on Az Quest, it's placed right back in the bottle. So no breathing by letting it sit either.) In our stateroom, we may use one of our aerating pourers, and then when we're finished, we'll use one of our vacuum stoppers to stop it from oxidizing until next time. Has anyone every brought, along with the bottle you bring or order, one of these tools? We've not seen such--but on O last winter, we sat next to a guy who regaled his table with a lengthy description of his home aeration system... Thoughts?

We did exactly this in Miami last year. Worked just fine.

Yep, cheaper to just get bottles of Caymus from time to time. Also the Decoy cab they opened at the table in Prime C the other night was actually WARM (the only-okay St Michelle chard has been chilled). And that one is already thinnish IMO so dilution wouldnt help... I refrained from asking for a cup of ice. On the bright side, they do have Fever Tree for Hendricks G&Ts. Served with a cucumber slice.

Re ice in wine: Robert Parker advocates putting ice in wine from time to time, and actually does so himself--as do a couple of our local longtime experts...

So as a follow-on, when is White Night usually held? We're on a 10-day, and expect to linger ashore till early evening in some ports--most don't leave til 8pm-- and will want to dine in specialty restaurants on other nights; we like to plan ahead when possible. Night 6 is Azamazing; next-to-last night overnights in Mykonos; night prior to Azamazing is the sea day. All other nights but one depart port at 8pm. So the obvious choice is the sole day that leaves port at 3:30 pm--which is also the very first full day of the cruise, after boarding the day before. Once upon a time in the cruising world, there were formal nights. The first (or sometimes only) formal night was the first sea day. It gave folks a chance to take a deep breath and plan for a fun and special evening to kick off the cruise--on many itineraries, that was the day after boarding. So we're guessing that logistically, this will be the White Night. What has been your experience?

We've bought several rugs at the Caravanserai there. Interesting place. They even walked our rugs to our ships. They will definitely mail them to you too. And they WANT/expect you to haggle! Read up on how to do it--as well as the usual value of the type of rug you want to get.