lbryant

My sister-in-law and I are doing a B2B on Edge next month but our husbands are only sailing on the 2nd cruise. I assume she and I will go through the check-in process with the other B2B guests. When our husbands arrive at the port later, will they have any issues checking in if we're not with them?   In a pre-sail email from Celebrity I noted it said guests on the same reservation must check in at the same time.  Has anyone experienced a situation where one guest on a reservation is on a B2B and the other guest on the reservation is only on the second sailing? FYI: We will be changing rooms (Sky Suite on 1st sailing and we each have Sunset Verandahs on 2nd sailing). Each reservation is separate.  If possible, I would prefer to get in front of this and not wait until we're onboard. Thanks for your help.

Has anyone tried Eden’s tasting menu? Is it fair to compare it (somewhat) to a Chef’s dinner? We did that once on Silhouette and it was amazing.

Thank you for the info. We're on the 10-day E. Carib sailing in November. Trying to decide if we need to make dining reservations in advance or if we can be flexible about where/when to dine once we're onboard. My in-laws like to eat early (5:30a-6a at the latest).   

On another note, what is your experience with the Retreat Host? Other than things like help you solve issues with guests services or help you make dining reservations, what can they do for you?  

Last, my MIL has some mobility issues. She can walk but sometimes has difficulty. She is not planning to get a wheelchair or a scooter, but if it turns out she needs one during the cruise, is it possible to get something for her? I'm afraid she'll just stay in her room all the time if walking around is too hard.  Thanks again.

We’ll be in our first Sky Suite on Edge for a 10 day cruise in November.  I’m fairly certain the sailing will be full.  How does this affect the Retreat experience? Is it hard to get a lounge chair on the retreat sun deck on sea days?  Is there availability for specialty dining reservations when the ship is full (I see this is something the butler can do for you)?  We’re beyond excited, so I want to have realistic expectations for the experience.

What are some not-to-be-missed dishes in Luminea?   Any Retreat newbie advice is appreciated.

Yes we are 1 floor above the theater on E223. Is M423 a better choice in terms of noise?

We've just gotten upgraded to Aqua in our upcoming 11 night Silhouette sailing. What are you favorite Blu menu items? Pictures if you have them would be amazing!! I've had breakfast in Blu before but not dinner or dessert.  Thanks

We'll be in Aqua on our upcoming Silhouette sailing... what are your favorite Blu dinners? Full disclosure, we were in Aqua on Edge in July and only went to Blu for breakfast (the kids really wanted to experience the Edge MDRs & specialty restaurants). This time no kids, so we plan to try Blu for dinner.

19 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

That is good to hear.

And Thank you for the kind wishes. 🌺🌼🌺

C-Dragons - We're on the sailing after yours (Nov 22). Hope you have an amazing time over the next 10 days.  Maybe someone on your sailing will do a live report 🤞. Based on my unofficial count of available cabins, it looks like the Nov 22 sailing is about 60% full.  How full is your sailing?

Thank you all for the advice.  Our boarding time is 11:30am, so I'll go right to Guest Services to see if they have anything to offer.

For our Move Up bid: both cabins show Aqua offer status: pending.  There is a button that says "Get Upgraded" but when I click it, it says I am not eligible for an upgrade. I also cannot cancel or change my upgrade bid. From what I read, that is a strong indication that the Aqua Move Up bid is in the process of being accepted. Min. bid to upgrade to Aqua was $400 per person, which was still high but less than the current published rate. Min bid to upgrade to Sky Suite was $1500 per person. When I look at available cabins, there were 66 available Aqua cabins (out of 130 total AQ cabins). There were 27 Sky Suites available (out of 44 total) and a few higher suite categories as well.  Crossing my fingers that some magic will happen once we're onboard. But if it doesn't, we still have Blu...

We sail in just over 3 weeks and I can see about 30 suites open to book. The price difference to change to a suite is about $7,500 per cabin. The Sky Suite Move Up min bid was $3k per cabin and I need to pay for 2 cabins ). I currently have a balcony cabin and have bid to Move Up to Aqua (which I think I'm going to get since I can't make any changes to the Move Up bid but it says it's pending... CC has not been charged yet and my room has not changed as of this AM). 

Anyway, I've read where some people are successful getting lower cost upgrades when they board the ship.  Can you share how you went about doing that? Do we ask at the pier (check in)? Guest Services onboard?  Assuming there are still Sky Suites available at that time, I would like to at least try once more.  My TA is working it on her end as well so maybe I'll get lucky before we sail.

Of course we will be extremely happy with Aqua; I've just read how incredible the suite life is, I'm trying to see if we can give it a try just once.  Any advice would be appreciated.   A quick and dirty cabin count looks like Balcony/Concierge, Aqua and Sky Suites are about 50%-60% sold with 3.5 weeks to go.

We were on Edge in July in Aqua and did not have to make reservations for the Thermal suite. Things could have changed since July, of course. From what I've seen, the Edge Thermal Suite is a bit different from the Persian Garden area, so maybe that's the difference in needing reservation. It was lovely to just wander in when the mood struck. The view from the dry sauna is pretty spectacular as well. 

12 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I have posted this previously --Friends in a Celebrity suite bid on Move Up for a Royal or Penthouse, more than the minimum bid it was refused. On boarding the ship they got the upgrade for $275 less than they bid for the Royal suite

How did they get an upgrade on boarding day? Was it at the port during check-in or when they actually boarded the ship? Is there a particular person or place to go to find out?

We're 2 couples traveling together and I'm interested in bidding for upgrades from our balcony cabins to sky suites on our upcoming cruise in November.  I've read through the Move Up requirements and I understand there is no guarantee we would both be accepted (don't care if cabins are not together). That said, has anyone been successful at getting 2 cabins Moved Up (2 separate but linked reservations)?  I have access to both reservations so I can go into them both once Move Up is open.

I also plan to ask my travel agent to call Celebrity directly to see if we can get a comparable deal to upgrade when the time comes.  At the moment the cost difference between balcony and sky suite is almost $8k per cabin, so I'm really hoping at 20 days out, that cost will drop.  If you have any suggestions on getting this done by either calling Celebrity or using Move Up bid, I appreciate your help.  I see about 20 sky suites open to book now, so it seems like there is availability

Second question: We currently have the Elevate package (premium drinks, wifi, gratuities, some OBC).  If we were successful moving up, would our Elevate package still apply? I know the Suite perks would not be included, but wanted to confirm our existing package would still apply. I understand we would pay the difference in gratuities.  Thanks for your help!

My husband and son-in-law are Pepsi drinkers. On our July 17 Edge cruise each of them carried on a 24-pack. We were told it would be fine as long as it wasn't packed in our suitcases. No problem boarding with them.

On 9/28/2021 at 6:11 AM, DCPIV said:

 

Yep. I had the same thing happen a couple days ago. That was a pleasant surprise. 

So when they re-opened check in for your trip, your Xpress pass reappeared and you had the same arrival time as before? 

Our Nov 22 Silhouette check-in originally opened on Aug 24. we added all the info (passport, credit card, etc) and had a 3pm arrive time at first, but a few weeks later, 11:30-12p arrival became available and I switched my group to that time. Last week our Xpress Passes disappeared and it says check-in open Oct 8.  I would hate to  loose that 11:30a arrival time.  I didn't print anything off so I don't have "proof" that was my arrival time. Hope we're not put back to 3pm.

4 hours ago, Reel Love said:

My question lbryant......you mentioned in your first post that you toasted the beginning of your cruise with champagne.....has Celebrity reinstated the "welcome aboard" glass of bubbly or was this something you ordered at one of the bars?? 

We were handed glasses just inside the ship (so not on the deck but just as you come inside). 
 

1 hour ago, VitaminSea53 said:

How is the food at dinner in Blu?

we’ve only had breakfast in Blu so far. Dinner tonight was Normandie. The food was good to very good. A couple of service hiccups but stuff happens. 
 

1 hour ago, 3red7s said:

where is Cabbage Beach? how much to get there? open swimming with facilities?  

Cabbage beach is over on Paradise Island (Atlantis area). We took a cab for $4 per person to the public part of the beach. Didn’t rent chairs but they were available from vendors. 
 

One of the ship officers said there were just under 1,600 passengers. I dont know how many are kids. It doesn’t feel crowded anywhere though that’s not to say venues aren’t full of people.  But I don’t feel like I have to arrive very early to get a seat whether it’s in the theater, a lounge chair at the pool or solarium, or at a seat at popular bar.   
 

Like so many of you, this vacation is a dream come true for us. We’ve planned, booked and then cancelled so many trips since January 2020.. including a big family trip for our 30th anniversary that I had been planning since 2018. So when the Edge sailing lined up with the vacation days everyone already blocked out, it was kismet.  
For references, we’re a family of 6 (3 adult daughters and one new son in law). We have 3 Aqua class cabins on deck 9 aft. 
I posted about our check-in experience but I’ll recap here. We had a 12:30-1p arrival time. We arrived at 12:10, dropped bags, and saw what looked like several lines including a long line for retreat guests. There were also people not in line standing around. It looked a bit chaotic, but we found some employees, showed our arrival time and they walked us to the 12:30-1p line. We were inside the building by 12:25 or so, did the Vaccine card check where they confirm your health status, take a picture of your vax card and send you upstairs. No line at security. Then onto the Xpress pass checkin to show passports, then onto the ship. We officially boarded by 12:40.  No wristbands were given out. Glass of champagne in hand we toasted the start of our vacation, found our rooms to drop bag, cried a little at how beautiful our IV cabins were, and went to lunch.  I don’t know the official passenger count nor do I know if there are any unvaxxed adult passengers. I’ve seen some kids but don’t know how many are onboard.  The crew are no longer required to wear masks though a few still are.  Lots of smiling faces.  The safety drill was very simple. We watched the videos in the app earlier that morning and just showed up at the muster station to get marked off. 
Here’s what we’ve experienced in our first 24 hours. 
The ship does not feel crowded at all. Everywhere we’ve gone there have been seats for our group. We’ve gone to the Magic Carpet a couple of times as well as the Sunset bar and the Martini bar and always found a table and chairs for our group.We had dinner at Le Petit Chef with same day reservation. I didn’t see the dining rooms so don’t know if there was a wait   There was one show in the theater last night. We arrived 15 min before it started and easily found seats for 6 together. It was a little more full at the start of the show but still plenty of seats for groups of 2 or 4. .  After the main show, we wandered around some more and while there were plenty of people about, you could still find tables open around the Plaza to enjoy the entertainment there. 
This morning we had breakfast at Blu. Got there a little before 8am, we’re seated right away and enjoyed a very nice meal. Service was wonderful.  Getting off the ship in Nassau could not have been easier. The Gateway is very open and we didn’t experience any waits.  We’re in

port with Freedom of the Seas. Even so, there was no wait to get a cab to the beach. We went to Cabbage beach for a couple of hours and had plenty of room to spread out. 
The elevators have been really fast and easy to get so far.  
We’re leaving Nassau soon and the pool is crowded but I see plenty of chairs in the sun and the shade. The solarium also had lots of open loungers even at mid day. 
We’ll try out the Thermal suite this afternoon and then dinner in Normandie because the menu looks delicious. 
I hope this helps those planning their upcoming trips.  Really it’s been a wonderful experience so far. Though this is our first Celebrity cruise, I can already tell I’m in love. 
 

5 hours ago, jg51 said:

 

Did you (within 24 hours of boarding) perform an online submission of a health-related questionnaire?  We ask this because of your mention of a "health check."  If you (or anyone) did not submit such a form online -- less than a day in advance -- were you (or anyone) given the opportunity to fill it out in person today?

We did our online health questions 24 hours ahead of time. The first checkpoint was to review the vaccine card, ask if anything had changed since finishing the in app health questionaire, verbally confirming the vaccine card is your original card and then taking a photo of the vaccine card. It did take a few minutes for this. Some delay was technical issues getting the vax card photo linked to your account. 
FYI they did not issue wristbands and the crew is no longer required to wear masks though some still do. 

We just boarded the beautiful Edge. Here’s how it went: We are a family of 6 in Aqua class. Our boarding time was 12:30-1p. We arrived at 12:10. There was a large crowd, some in lines and some people standing off to the side.   Retreat / Suite guests had their own line (yes, it was a line at least at 12:15). We dropped off luggage and wandered over to the front of the line to find an employee. We showed our 12.30 boarding time and they directed us to one of the lines for 12:30 boarding. It looked like they had lines for other boarding times (I assume the 1p-1:30, and a 1:30-2p). There was no signage, you just had to ask someone and they told you where to go.  I could not tell how many separate lines they had but clearly some people were there well before their boarding time. Our line started moving at 12:20. By 12:25 we were in the building. First stop was the health check where they reviewed your vaccine card and asked some questions. This took several minutes (it looks like they were training people today so it was a little slower). They took photos of the vaccine card. After that we took the elevator upstairs to go through security. No line there. Next we “checked in” using the Xpress pass and showed our passports. That took maybe 30 seconds. Then onto the ship. We were on the ship by 12:40. 
My recommendation is to arrive at your scheduled time. Can you get on earlier? Maybe. But how early I have no idea. It just depends on when you arrive and how many other people are also trying to board early.  Hope this helps everyone who is anticipating their arrival. Gorgeous ship. So classy and comfortable. The trip of a lifetime and it’s just day 1. 

We board Edge in a couple of hours in Aqua cabins. We found this online Aqua 2.0

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_04_28_FlyerAquaClass.pdf

47 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

We had a noon check-in and arrived within a few minutes past noon. A lady came to us, asked our time, then directed us towards the terminal entrance. There was already a second line of 40+ people off to the side. There was no line at that point but boarding had just started. You showed your passport and vax card right inside the terminal doors before the escalator. Next stop was security where you showed your docs again. I assume they will keep people stationed at the first check point right inside the doors to control traffic as much as possible. I timed it at 11 minutes from drop off to standing in the Martini Bar. 

Thank you, Jeremiah1212 - this is exactly what I needed to hear. Our hotel checkout is 10am but we'll hang out at the hotel until 12p and then get transport to the port.  We're so excited we can't sit still. 

9 minutes ago, stinkyenglishteacher said:

 

But I also think it would be kind to consider the people who have that assigned boarding time and that you might cause them to be delayed for a time they signed up for. 

Totally agree. We plan to arrive at our assigned boarding time. I just didn’t know if we would be in that long line anyway or if we would be allowed to enter right away.  I had read some reports of other cruise lines who were not enforcing the arrival times so people who showed up at their boarding time had 1-2 hour waits to board. 

We sail next week!! So excited. How do the crowds feel at half capacity? For instance, is it relatively easy to get a lounge chair by the pool or solarium?  Are there waits to get into restaurants? Does the thermal Spa feel very busy or crowded?  Just trying to set my expectations.  The video from week one looked pretty empty so it seemed easy to find seating at the Sunset bar or Magic Carpet. I realize there are a few hundred extra people now so wondered if the ship felt more crowded.  Thanks!!

Question to clarify: I understand there is a long line of non-suite passengers waiting to get into the terminal.  I assume the line is mostly made up of people trying to board  before their assigned check in time. If we arrive at our boarding time (assigned 12:30-1p) do we still stand in that line or are we allowed to directly enter the terminal?   If celebrity isn’t enforcing their own rules and we have to stand in line anyway, then I agree the assigned boarding time serves no real purpose. 

My experience has been that when booking online, you pay at the time of booking, not when you visit the restaurant. So when I make the reservation the full amount  for 4 of us is deducted from my OBC and/or we have to pre-pay by credit card. I understand I may be able to get refunded or make an adjustment later but that sounds a bit risky.  Sounds like calling to make the ressie is the only way to split the check in advance.