What A Market

In Uber on the way to Terminal 29 at Ft. Lauderdale for embarkation. Spent last night at the EB Hotel near the Miami airport.

Well, here’s another attempt at a “Live from” thread. Of course it will be no where near as humorous or informative as the Live posts we read from some of our favorite denizens of the Celebrity Cruise Critic board. People like hcat, cruisestitch, abbydancer, love2crews, Lena11033, Jim_Iain, and most recently, the amazing GenerationX. And those are just the ones I saw recently on the Boards. So what are we doing for this cruise? We’re on Reflection for an eight day cruise departing Ft. Lauderdale. Our ports include: San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Tortola, and Puerto Plata. (I think in that order.) There are two At Sea days on first day and last day. This was definitely a last minute booking for us. The plan was to cruise with dear friends from Ohio (Phil and Susie), while Susie was making one more attempt to recover from her latest chemo trial for pancreatic cancer. Susie and I are the cruise planners and she and I figured she might have a good window at mid-February to squeeze in a cruise. So last month we booked. It’s heart wrenching to say, but Susie’s almost three year fight ended two weeks ago. She would be pissed at me if I didn’t follow thru with this cruise plan, so here I am. I’ll try to post everyday. If you’ve seen my previous Live From threads, you I start strong and fade at the end. Boarding this morning.

Charla Thank you for the amazing live report! We missed being able to join you by a couple of weeks. We board the Reflection next Saturday (Feb 17). I’ll be making my usual attempt to post live, but likely, it won’t approach your level of commitment. Thanks again for all the posts! Safe travels.

Here’s us in Barcelona during November before boarding the Riviera for a transatlantic. In the middle of one of the Christmas markets. Cold! But beautiful as always. Still crowded.

Definitely book with Shoreside Concierge as noted. And definitely confirm with your butler upon embarkation as Georgia Peaches notes. As for “last minute” reservations, I would say maybe or maybe not. My experience with Penthouse and Royal Suites on S Class ships has been that the butler can usually get me a reservation in a specialty restaurant with a day notice.

How did you like the Royal Suite? We will be boarding the Reflection in February. Also in a Royal Suite.

Hang on while I grab my popcorn…..

I’ve almost entirely switched over to Rose Champagnes. Particularly if I’m drinking something in the more expensive price range. Some hint of fruit. Some spice. Crisp.

Yes, on GF pizza crust. Wife, who is Coeliac, rates Celebrity’s gluten free crust as Very Good. Cooked to order in special aluminum individual pans. Don't recall on special cheeses. I think no though.

Going back to title of this thread: What do “I” like about Oceania? This is easy for me. It’s all the unforgettable memories I’ve formed on cruises with my family. This past September it was a simple Pacific Coastal cruise on the Regatta. Celebrated DD’s birthday. Amazing meal in Toscana that finished with the kitchen baking an entire Special gluten free cake for Shannon.

I’ve missed your live threads on the Celebrity boards! We did ABC islands on the Apex. It may have been our first post-Covid trip. Also first time on E class ship. Had a great time.

You must have stayed away from this board as well! Even threads not devoted to discussing all the changes invariably devolve into discussions on the changes. 😆

Interesting to think about this. But companies, publicly traded or private, do not make up “for lost revenues.” You just move forward after losses. Maybe you raise capital or debt (to deal with negative cash flows) and all publicly traded cruise holding companies did so. High cost debt raised by cruise companies is a new burden to bear. All you can do going forward is try to make money. That’s what all companies do. I don’t think CEOs and their boards are trying to do anything sneaky or nefarious. They exist to provide a product and generate profits. Tough to do at times, but not that complicated.

Sadly, I have to say I wouldn’t. The Suite is lovely and the size of the space with balcony is crazy wonderful, but this room (including both bedrooms) makes too much noise depending on the direction of the seas and the winds. I’m going to try and post some final thoughts soon.

Your Celebrity App should show that

Saw same on my Windy App. And experienced! Swells/waves were less intense compared to wind. We were surprised how well the Apex handled throughout for our last day, which was a sea day.

Heidi is Coeliac and is very careful with her diet. We did eat in the buffet a few times. Once for dinner and twice for lunch. Gluten Free options always seem pretty extensive and are clearly marked. Breakfast is probably weakest in terms of options.

I didn’t notice. I will check it out on Heidi’s next Coke order. (And my Red Stripe order……😆)

Currently on Apex. All aluminum. These new cans are easy to open. Agree with previous posters that the older cans from one to two years ago were a b@tch to open. Please Celebrity — do not go back to plastic!

It is WAY nicer on the Retreat Sundeck than I think people are thinking. No lounger hogging. Lol No wait for beverage service either! WooHoo

Wow, last day of the cruise already. Today is a sea day and we are churning our way back to Amsterdam. Yesterday was Bergen. We had no plans other casual stroll into town to see some “sites” I identified from a free walking tour website. There are a number of covered food stalls on the water near the Bryggen historical neighborhood. The seafood, in particular, looked amazing. We tried some fish soup/stew at one stall. Really tasty. I was tempted to try the moose/deer burger at another stall, but passed. Wished now I had gone for it! Weather turned foul later in the afternoon. Strong winds and some rain. My Windy weather app showed we were going to experience some really strong winds and higher seas in the evening yesterday and throughout the day today. The Apex handles these really really well in my opinion. We did dinner again last night in Eden. Another awesome meal. I’ll past some more about that later.

A big thank you for your post on this. Checked out Blu’s menu on the App and they were serving their version of Osso Buco for that very evening (we’ve had it before and really enjoyed ). I asked a Retreat Host to call down and check if the dish was gluten free. It was. And we were off! Goran, the Blu Maitre D, welcomed us upon arrival, apologizing a window table wasn’t available. We were happy to sit in a quieter area at the front of the restaurant anyway. The meal and service were exceptional start to finish.

I used the masking emoji just to start a riot with those that enjoy such things. Lol But no, no masking really happening. Some people wearing masks as a personal choice, I guess. Very few. They probably did day one. Cool by me.

And in other news from the good ship Apex, the coughing, hacking, wheezing and sneezing has become pervasive. Glad we made it to day six at least! 😷 😜

Really Live! Enjoying some hot tea and cake after the hike up to the Briksdal Glacier. Pretty much a “why you travel moment.”