rollie

Thanks for all the replies.  

Rollie

Can we book Le Voyage pre cruise and get reimbursed once we board ship?  We worried about getting dining time we want.  

Thanks All

Rollie

We're cruising on the Koningsdam next year out of San Diego.  We're looking at a 11:15am flight home.  I'm a little nervous about the early flight, but it's the only non stop home.  Thanks for any feed back.

Rollie

All right you guys.  We're going on this cruise next year.  My question to you is, can we make an 11:15am flight?  It's the only non stop home.  Thanks for your feed back.

Rollie

22 hours ago, SonuvaBeach said:

For anyone who might be interested, here is the link to  my youtube channel with the playlist of videos of our cruise. Right now, I am up to our first day in Moorea. In the next few days, I will be adding more videos covering the rest of our cruise .  I have skipped over the sea days, but will eventually add them too. I hope you all enjoy the vids!

 

Thanks for sharing.  I was hoping someone would post on You Tube.

Rollie

If you are thinking of doing Club Orange, do it fast, it sells out.

Rollie

As we will be on this itinerary next Feb, I'm really looking forward to your views. Thanks for posting.

Rollie

16 hours ago, misguy said:

Here is a video we did about an affordable and accessible tour in Honolulu. 

 

Loved your video, well done.

Rollie

1 hour ago, misguy said:

Here is the video of the walk to the Port

 

Loved your video.  I'm not sure I could do that walk, seems like a long way with two big suit cases and a back pack.  I think we're going to price the Wyndham.

Rollie

Did you walk from your hotel to the dock with all your luggage?  Looking forward to more of your posts.  Thanks

Rollie

10 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Thank you 😪it was painful.

As a Packer fan I can't say sorry, but I do want to thank you for this post.  We will be doing Koningsdam to Polynesia Feb of 25.  You provided us with a lot of useful information.  My Packers and your Cowboys have a lot of playoff history.  I remember back in the 90's, they used to knock us out of the playoffs almost every year.

Rollie

Looks as if Celebrity has reversed it's decision to overcharge cabins for solo cruisers.  They got a lot of negative press.

Rollie

8 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Without the gratuities included, to me it's worthless.

I agree whole heartedly.  Price is near what it was when tips were included.

Rollie

1 hour ago, dunedinmaiden said:

Thanks so much for your insight.  We have been considering the MSC Yacht Club as well.  Unfortunately, not all travel agents work with them. The only thing that discouraged us from booking was their horrible, land-side customer service reviews.  How was your booking experience, accuracy, any issues?

We had no issues booking this cruise.  I will say that they sent us a preferences questionnaire pre cruise and didn't follow through and any requests.  

Rollie

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Good report..if you can answer a few ques that would be helpful...

 

What  MSC ship?  How many passengers?  What was the itin

How was your  suite  compared to X?

What did you enjoy most?  

thanks

We were on the Seashore out of Port Canaveral for a 3 day cruise.  The cruise was full with about 4000 guests.  We've only been in Sky Suites on Celebrity, and we had a Deluxe Suite on the Seashore, a comparable cabin.  Storage and balcony were superior on MCS, but cabin outlets were much better on Celebrity.  The bathroom was better on Celebrity.  The sundeck on MSC was by far the most enjoyable part of the cruise.

Rollie

3 hours ago, cbfb said:

How was the service on MSC YC? What ship were you on? 

Service is where Yacht Club lagged way behind Celebrity.  The restaurant was especially slow.  Now wine stewards and waiter were not very friendly.

Rollie

About myself, we have done over 39 Celebrity cruises.  In the last few years we have been able to afford the Retreat.  We really liked the experience on Edge class in the Retreat.  That being said, we feel that Celebrities prices have gone through the roof and the Retreat experience is not the same as it once was.  So, we decided to give MSC Yacht club a try.  I think that the only area that Celebrity still excels is service.  I don't think any other cruise line, other than a luxury brand, can beat Celebrities service.  Luminae food is not what it once was.  The service is still top notch, but quality and choices are not what the once were.  The Retreat sundeck is nice, but the Yacht Club is awesome.  Yacht Club is much bigger than the Retreat sundeck.  I liked the buffet there and had breakfast there everyday..  I was surprised with how good the food quality is in the Yacht Club.  I thought this was an area where Celebrity would still be tops.  Not so.  The lounge is another area that MCS out shines Celebrity.  The bar area is bigger and the whole area is more opulent.  

In summary, with the prices Celebrity is now charging for the Retreat, I think I well stick with MSC.

They hurt my feet, so I can't wear them.

Rollie

14 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

We're booked on the Apex January 6 sailing and I have already set my expectations (when we booked 5 months ago) this would most likley not be the Celebrity experience we've been accustomed too!!  

We will also be on the Apex again in January.  Will report back.

Rollie

9 hours ago, truckswain said:

See this is where I get confused, what is understaffed?  Only 1 bartender, or 2 or 3 during “busy” hours?  How long is reasonable to wait for a drink?  I think there are as many answers as there are people.  If one’s expectations are they should be served as quickly in the evening as they are in the middle of an afternoon on a port day well yes Celebrity has degraded  one of their main attractions.

 

i have also read the numerous posts about staff shortages, overworked crew and noticeable service cuts all over various ships.  The posts usually start - I sailed X in 2019 and the staff and service was amazing but my uncle’s best friend’s wife just returned from a cruise and the service was terrible.

 

Lots of hearsay on this board, hard to find those that have cruised and reported back actual facts.

I think I was reporting actual facts, as I was there.  We generally don't sit at the martini bar, but love to watch the bartenders juggle their bottle and glasses as we are walking through.  Saw none of this except at show times.

Rollie

17 hours ago, Tudy said:

To the OP

 

Thanks for posting. I am in the situation that I am cruising the Apex next week with 3 of my brothers and their wives. One couple has cruised Celebrity several times. Another brother and his wife are avid Carnival cruisers but went on the Apex with us in February and were blown away. The third brother has never cruised, never wanted to cruise--don't even ask and is coming on this cruise only because "blown away brother" is paying for his cruise.

 

So your impressions will help me manage expectations. And I really do think that it is all about managing expectations. For "blown away brother" I just told him, "It's a nice ship. I think you will like it."

 

Now I just hope "blown away brother" hasn't built up the expectations of "Never gonna Cruise" brother to the point where he will be disgruntled.😉

I do have a tendency to build up a a cruise to new cruisers or new to Celebrity.  My DW is always telling my to temper my enthusiasm.  Smart woman.

Rollie

4 hours ago, doghog said:

We were on the Apex in March. Pre supper (5 to 5:45) drinks in the martini bar area. Never at the bar. Always had good seats and excellent service. The public restrooms I (we) used always had plenty of cloth and paper towels and soap dispensers always had soap. The rest rooms were always clean. In the evening there was always (like other Celebrity ships) an attendant in the public restrooms. 

There have been staff cutbacks in the last several months.  I was on several Celebrity cruise last winter and spring and everything was great.

Rollie

We just finished our Thanksgiving cruise on Apex.  We are seasoned Celebrity cruiser and were with another couple cruising for the first time.  While we had a great cruise there were a few little things that seemed to be slipping on Apex.  Noticed there were only 2 servers at the Martini bar at a very busy time, and they didn't put on a very good show.  Soap dispensers empty and cloth towels not replenished in restrooms.  Just a lot of little things that were noticed by us.  Now the couple traveling with us didn't notice these things.  I'm not trying to nit pic, but a lot of little things do add up.  These are things that have always separated Celebrity with main stream cruise lines.

Rollie

6 minutes ago, jame_g said:

Usually just a small amount of additional OBC ($25) and maybe a reduced deposit. There may also be a price guarantee that you can rebook one time if you find a lower price after booking onboard.

 

Sometimes they may run an additional promotion to actually give more OBC, but even that may vary by what cruise (date, ship/itin) or category you book. I just booked YC onboard and got an additional $200 OBC for my cruise for booking onboard because they had an active promotion.

Thanks for the response.  We will be on the Seashore in the YC in December and thinking of booking again for next December.

Rollie

Are there any benefits for booking a future cruise while on board?  Thanks.

Rollie