catugirl

We almost always eat breakfasts and dinners in Blu because we enjoy the food and ambiance so much, plus it's less chaotic than MDR. For lunch we either eat at Bistro on 5, MDR or have burgers poolside. Sometimes we do a room service breakfast if we have a shore excursion planned. We may have one lunch in the buffet during a cruise, but not always. We usually try one specialty restaurant for dinner while onboard. IMO the food is good everywhere on the ship, so there is no wrong answer.

Enjoy your cruise. I'm sure it will be the first of many.

I just spoke to Tatiana at Celebrity, and she said you do not have to prepay gratuities if you're AQ and dining in Blu. Sorry for the misinformation before, but, like I said, I was told that by two TA's at two different online companies. Makes me wonder what other misinformation the gave me!

There's no reason why X can't cater to all age groups. When I was in my 20's, I loved GOOD modern music, but not Modern music which was painfully loud. I'm in my 60's now and still like modern music; I have lots of it on my iPod. Why not have good modern music on the ship, along with other types of music, but don't have the volume in any venue so painfully loud that it infringes on the enjoyment of passengers who may not be in the same age group? How would the 20 and 30 somethings feel if the ship blasted 1950's or 1960's music so loud by the pool or in the atrium that this was all you could hear anywhere on the ship? I think it's great to cater to the younger generation on the ships, but consideration should also be given to other groups, as well, who have also paid a premium price for a pleasant vacation. Many of the 45+ year olds have been loyal X customers, have disposable income, and still have many years of cruising left.

It may be a good idea to call Celebrity or your TA if you're using one because for two separate cruises (one of them is later this year) we were told by two separate online TA's that we had to be in Select Dining in order to be in AQ and eat in Blu. If you're in Select Dining you have to prepay gratuities. Makes sense because they don't have fixed times for dining in Blu, so it actually is anytime dining. So we didn't argue. It was no big deal for us because the crew onboard work so hard we were happy to prepay. At the end of the cruise we also give additional tips to whatever crew members who have given us exemplary service. Sounds like, maybe, they may handle this differently on different ships. That's weird. We were on Silhouette, and the one we've booked is Reflection.

I agree that not everyone prepays gratuities in Blu, you can easily arrange which way you prefer. This is going to sound a little nuts, but please bear with me. Everyone in AQ is assigned to Blu, and everyone has open seating all the time. But apparently the Celebrity computers don't know or don't acknowledge that. You must choose either Select, Early Traditional or Late Traditional when you book, and this will be on your reservation, even though it has no bearing on your experience onboard. Those who choose Select will prepay their gratuities, those who choose one of the Traditional seatings will not. However, what is says won't matter, you'll just go to Blu when you are ready to dine. Not sure why Celebrity makes this so complicated, but they don't seem inclined to simplify it.

This is not true. To be in Aqua Class, you have to prepay gratuities, as you are automatically in Select Dining when you're assigned to Blu. I have done AQ twice, and we were required to do this both times. We were told by our TA that there is no option. So the waiters definitely know in Blu that you have prepaid gratuities.

Welcome to cruising and to Celebrity. You will get all the bottled water you need. As soon as you finish a bottle, the cabin steward will bring you another one. If you finish one before he/she notices, just ask for one. You will also get iced tea every day. If you want ice every day, also tell your cabin steward.

Since you are in Aqua Class, you will be dining in Blu for breakfast and dinner. The waiters in Blu know that you prepaid gratuities because that is a requirement if you're Aqua Class. You will love Blu. It's quieter and more intimate than the MDR. The food and service are wonderful.

I can't speak to the Non-Alcohol Drink Package. We usually use whatever onboard credit we have for drinks. For our upcoming cruise, we were lucky enough to get a complimentary Classic Alcohol Drink Package (which also covers non-alcohol drinks).

Enjoy your first cruise. You will love it.

If you haven't done an Alaska cruise, and you don't mind a cool weather vacation, this is a wonderful experience. We did Alaska on RCCL, but I notice that Celebrity offers 7 to 14 day cruises to Alaska. The scenery is magnificent and took our breath away. If you haven't experienced the Panama Canal, that's also a fascinating experience. We did Panama Canal on Princess, but I see that Celebrity offers a really interesting 15 day Transcanal cruise.

We've never tendered on Celebrity. You said that to get on a tender, you need a number. Where do we get that number? What is the procedure?

Go onto the Celebrity website and look up drink packages. When you click on "Classic Drink Package," it will show you the liquors and beers included in this package. If you're OK with the house brands, most frozen cocktails are included. There have been some recent threads on CC showing all the bar menus showing the price of various cocktails! Wines and beers. If they're $8.00 or less, they're included in this package.

We'll be on Celebrity Reflection. So you don't think the six ships in port will delay the taxi ride?

There will be six ships in port the day we'll be docked in Cozumel. I guess the crowds will impact the length of the taxi ride back to the ship from Paradise Bach. How much time should we allow to get back to the ship? I'm always nervous about making it back on time when we're on our own.

Are there taxis readily available at Buccanos to get back to the ship? Do you make reservations or just show up?

Has anyone had good experiences with a local TA offering good OBC? Or do you get more OBC with online TA's? I have a friend (not a close friend) who is a local TA, so I called her last year for a quote on a Celebrity cruise. Her price was the same as the price Celebrity offered, and there was no OBC! I finally booked with a well known online TA and got $400 OBC. The issue with online TA's is that after you have booked and paid your deposit, it's very difficult to receive decent customer service. I recently booked a X cruise with the online TA I believe posters on this thread referred to, and the customer service was so bad that I canceled within several days, and they charged me $125!

I would love to find a local TA who offers good deals and is more accountable than an online TA, one that I could use on an ongoing basis. How is the best way to go about I find a couple of them have confusing websites. Many of them don't have staff to answer phones, so you have to leave a message and wait at least 24 hours for them to call you back. Any advice?

Have not been on Sapphire Princess, but we have cruised on Island and Crown. We enjoyed Movies Under the Stars on Crown, which Celebrity doesn't have. We thought food and atmosphere in the MDR were better on Princess (and less chaotic). Entertainment is better on Princess, IMHO. Staterooms are nicer on X. Service is great on both lines. Alcoholic beverages are less expensive on Princess. Pizza is great on Princess. There are more options for specialty restaurants on X, but the price is less on Princess. Celebrity ships are more elegant and aesthetically pleasing than Princess. The solarium (adult) pool is much more beautiful, quieter and relaxing on X. Celebrity has Aqua Class, which offers many amenities without having to book a suite. Princess does not offer anything like this. Celebrity has alcoholic beverage packages, and Princess is just in the process of testing these on one of their ships. DH and I love both cruise lines. You will have a great time.

You should definitely give Blu a try. Some of the tables are close, but no closer than in the MDR. We got to know some really nice people there. And there's a more elegant, intimate and less chaotic atmosphere than in the MDR. The food and service are wonderful in Blu IMHO. And Persian Garden is great. The heated loungers are so relaxing, and you get a beautiful view of the ocean. Being Elite, you probably already get the other AQ amenities.

Look at it this way. At least in the AQ cabin you won't have all the movement and vibration that you would have in an aft cabin. We had an aft suite in January for the first time, and the movement was so much more than we've ever had in other cabins. Love the view from the aft but can't take all the motion.

How readily available are taxis at all these places? I wouldn't want to be trying to get back to the ship with few options.

At Mr. Sancho's is it easy to get a taxi back to the ship? How long is the trip back?

We were on Silhouette last year, and she is a beautiful ship. Loved the food, service and ambiance. We were in Aqua Class, so we had access to Blu (a specialty restaurant); it was a cut above the MDR. The amenities in Aqua Class are great. You should go on Celebrity's website and check it out.

We hear wonderful things about Reflection, too. We're booked in Aqua Class on her in November. No matter which Celebrity ship you choose, I'm sure you'll love it. Celebrity is a class act.

The main difference between cocktails under the Classic and Premium packages is the spirits used rather than the drink itself. You can get almost any cocktail under the classic package with two notable exceptions which I'll discuss below. But they will be made with the spirits available under the classic package which includes lots of nice call brands. With the premium package you have access to top shelf spirits for the cocktails. For example if you order a vodka drink you can get Absolute and several other vodkas with the classic package but with the premium package you can get Grey Goose and other top shelf brands. Order a gin drink and with the classic you can request Beefeater or Tanqueray while with the premium you can request gins such as Sapphire, Tanqueray 10 or Hendricks.

 

If you look at the Celebrity package descriptions on this link: click here

You'll see that a word in the first paragraph of each package description is underlined - that is a link that will take you to a representative list of the soft drinks, spirits and beers included in that package.

 

There are two exceptions to cocktails available under the classic package: The cocktails served at the Molecular Bar are special cocktails which are all over the $8 classic package limit. And the large premium martinis at the Martini Bar are also over the classic package limit. However, you can get smaller martinis made with the spirits available under the classic package at other bars and sometimes, but not always, the martini bar waiters will make these for you as well.

 

There are probably some other drinks with more involved ingredients, such as those on the Molecular Bar menu, that might be excluded. But for the most part it seems that most drinks are included in the classic package as long as they are made with the spirits include with that package.

This list is different from the one posted by ORV, so I'm still confused. I'm looking specifically at Bombay Sapphire and Crown Royal. ORV's list has them on the Classic Package. Your link shows they are on the Premium Package. Does anyone have any experience trying to order these specific liquors on the Classic Package?

DH drinks Crown Royal and also Bombay Sapphire. I thought these were considered premium liquors, so how are these on the Classic Package? We thought he would need to upgrade his Classic Package on our November cruise; but if these are included, maybe he doesn't. I'm confused.

What is it lately with online TA's? We recently booked a November, 2014 cruise on Reflection through an online TA that offered onboard credit, money back after our cruise and the 123 beverage package. I asked the booking agent a lot of questions, and she couldn't answer many of them and kept putting me on hold while she asked someone. I booked, and when we received our cruise invoice and documents, it didn't list specifically what OBC, etc. we were receiving. When I contacted the booking agent, she said we were receiving the promotions, but it was just not showing on my documents. Weird! We have booked with online TA's every time and always had everything spelled out specifically in our documents. I asked her to send me an email showing exactly which promotions we would be receiving. She said she would have to check with her supervisor, so she put me on hold for a long time. She finally agreed to send the email, and when I received her email, she didn't include all the promotions she quoted. She was repeatedly difficult to reach, and I was out of patience. So I cancelled the booking, and they charged me $125! I was upset. I called to book the cruise through a different online TA and had a similar problem! I did, however, finally find someone there who wanted to provide decent customer service. I'm beginning to think I should find a local TA for next time.

We go to Bistro on Five right away. The food is great, and the atmosphere is relaxing. Then we explore the ship until they announce the cabins are ready. We go to our cabin and quickly unpack. Then we find a good place to watch sailaway (usually Sunset Bar). After a couple of drinks, we head back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. Can't wait 'til November!

We were in an aft suite on our last cruise. The view from an aft suite is amazing, especially pulling away from a port. It seems so much more private being aft. And the extra space in a suite is great. Our only issue was there was LOTS of movement back there.

We bought clear plastic luggage tags from Stein Mart and used them on our last cruise. Before that we enclosed the Celebrity in clear mailing tape. Both worked fine, but we prefer the clear luggage tags we bought because they're very sturdy. Unless you purchase the sturdy ones, it's best if you wait to arrive in your port city before you attach the luggage tags, and then you don't have to worry about them breaking.

I'd have to agree, eating in Blu and having complimentary access to the heated loungers in Persian Garden were our favorite AQ amenities. Love the way the heated loungers have a great view of the ocean. We also loved the shower with the glass shower door and the jets. We enjoyed having bottled water and iced tea every day. The fresh flowers and fruit bowl were a nice touch, too. And, of course, priority embarkation is great. Many people don't care for the canapés in the late afternoon, but we liked having them as we were getting ready for dinner. There are a number of other amenities for AQ, which you will find on Celebrity's website. Aqua Class has totally spoiled us. You will love it.