marco491

Shade can be a problem, unless you get there early and nab one of the cabana things. Other than that it depends a lot on which way the ship is sailing as to where the shade falls. If you want to sit, rather than lounge, there is shaded seating in the central areas linking front to back areas, but these feel a little like a thoroughfare and seem to be mostly occupied by people taking a break from the sun. The bar area was never too busy and the roving waiters were attentive. The lounge is very light and airy, good for working if you still have to do that, and the afternoon snacks are good. We were very happy with Luminae, though we usually eat late.

Indeed, I don't think their Silversea was twice the price of our Retreat (we didn't compare $$), but our suite and bathroom appeared to be much bigger, we had more choice of eating and entertainment venues, and weren't bound by the excursions. You would know better about quality, though, as we haven't done Silversea. Regent sounds far more amenable, but much will come down to personal preference.

Apex last month, Eastern Med, the shows were 7:30 and 9:30 (the latter suiting us far better than 9:00).

We remain loyal to Celebrity for now, but with retirement looming and more days available we might turn promiscuous. Threads like this are a great resource, but I have to say that talking to people onboard tells a rather different story: people who have tried and come back to X. Some good friends of ours tried Silversea recently, for twice the price, and had many misgivings: a smaller ship with less to do; running into the same people over and over (not necessarily what they wanted); more of a "country club" type of clientele, with politics to match; a not-at-all relaxed dress code; formal-bordering-stiff service, with the feeling that the waiters will be keel-hauled for the slightest slip; and the pressure to do every excursion simply because you have paid for it in advance. They are returning to Celebrity, for now. As I said, we look forward to experimenting a little, but are wary!

They probably expect it to be stuck in the microwave before it is brought to their table :-)

We did all of them on Apex recently, all reserved in advance for later (European?) slots, but see below. Overall I felt the experience might well have come down to individual taste and the atmos on the night. The best for atmosphere and choice was Eden. We also had the romantic table right over the wake. Steak House was very steaky, and no that's not being naive, it does what it says on the tin and more some. The first few mouthfuls taste great, but by the end you're really carving away thinking guilty thoughts about the third world. We went at 8.30 and it was quite empty. Raw was good, though I would have liked a better lobster option if you don't like oysters. The starters were better than the mains... consider more starters instead; this is the only pay-as-you-go restaurant. We went at 8.30 and it was empty, filling up later with officers, which I suppose is a good sign. Rooftop Grill was very good, but I had the impression that this was largely because of the excellent, warm and not too windy weather. It felt a bit exposed, with occasional people walking past, but the food and service was good. Not busy. In future I'd be more relaxed about (not) booking in advance. Our cruise was full, but apart from Eden the restaurants at 8pm were not.You could have turned up on the fly, depending on what you had felt like eating after seeing the martini bar show.

I was on Apex recently and the Luminae menus were sufficiently broad to suit our quite different tastes. However, we did witness two instances of people ordering from MDR menus (vegetarian options?) and the food arrived cold, as it had had to get from one end of the ship to the other. It had to be sent into the kitchen for microwaving, which kind of detracts from the Luminae fine-dining experience! This was also the candid view of our waiter when I casually asked if the MDR options were also a possibility.

Surely this will depend on where you are at any given time. Stationary in a port it should work well, assuming no throttling. A port day where you stay on board would be even better. Steaming (and streaming) across the middle of the Med on a sea day... less reliable. This is not Netflix where you don't really need immediacy as long as the buffer is big enough.

All Israel excursions are refunded in full but nothing for the cruise, it’s in the small print. I know they always have something up their sleeve but I think they've done well to pull up a new and fairly decent schedule in the circs.

Sorry for the people on board, because as I said earlier we were on this same cruise last week and enjoyed it. But even more sorry for the victims of the conflict, and you can never legislate for this kind of thing when travelling to powderkeg destinations. I can imagine the queues at Guest Relations and Shore Excursions. I hope the spirits remain good.

Was Haifa first port of call? We were on this same cruise one week ago. Ashdod was the first port, then Haifa. Have they already rerouted as Haifa is further north? As Tel Aviv has already come under attack I can’t see Haifa being any safer.

Yes, they’d probably give OBC if I made a fuss, but we wanted the lunch because we’ll have to skip breakfast on account of our travel, and it was supposed to be a nice start to the cruise (after a long period without a vacation, an “at last” moment). Anyway, not a *huge* deal but I’m mostly annoyed that they can’t understand the scenario and simply override the check-in IT system using good old human beings.

I’m a bit annoyed that even though we are Concierge, the earliest check-in time offered is after the CC lunch has finished. True I didn’t leap on the check-in email immediately, but you’d think they’d run some kind of algorithm to ensure this doesn’t happen. CS advice was just to turn up earlier and explain…