Miaminice

Yes. It’s the same…

doesn‘t hurt to do that. But there’s also a desk near guest relations for restaurants. We have been on Ascent in June and had Anytime dining. Because of the constant debate about this topic I asked the Maitre when we chatted. She confirmed there’s no fixed seating on any Edge class ship anymore. BUT, she also said that some people want to come at the fixed times so they of course let them come and give them the same table. That’s not to be confused with the fact that - no matter what the booking says - you can come anytime you want on E class. Personally I have no reason to doubt her because we sailed on E class 5 times and always experienced this policy and people who asked were always given the same answer.

You don’t need to do anything. There’s only one kind of dining on E-class and it’s Anytime Dining. The fixed times is just a thing of their IT which doesn’t differentiate between ships. You can go to either of the four dining rooms at anytime you like.

If you are on an Edge class ship, it really doesn´t matter. No dining times on E class. Only in the booking system.

It’s very good… but I don’t think it’s worth that much extra. We rather go to Rooftop Garden instead and enjoy the fresh air.

@debfed65 I am sure I will report… we‘ll do a 7 night cruise and then stay on Paros for one more week. I can try to post a note on the Celebrity board - and hope it won’t be deleted.

that is indeed a very interesting itinerary and great combination of the Greek Islands and the Adriatic. Very nice! We‘ll be in the area at the same time but we’ll try Virgin Voyages for the first time. Not because we are dissatisfied with Celebrity but because we were looking for a change. Enjoy your cruise 👍

On S class such as Silhouette we decline the free one category upgrade and rather book an A2 stateroom under the salon or Persian Garden. No overhang, no noise from the pool deck.

The link is to our private website. It is safe, has no commercials or tracking or anything... so you can open it without worries.

The spot as shown in #21

Especially on E class the bed - or beds if separated - are in a nook. That´s the space available. You can't really move them further apart without blocking the whole space in the room.

Thank you! The Extravaganza is lunch on the last day at sea.

After a last dinner at Normandie - I really like their baked brie - we met with Julie and her dad for a farewell drink at the Sunset Bar. Too soon came the time where we had to say goodbye because we had to put our bags in front of the door. The next morning we went to the Cosmopolitan dining room to have breakfast. It was a more relaxed way to spend the time before we had to leave the ship. We took a taxi to the airport and started the way back to reality 😁 As always, Wwe hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did and thank you for following along. Our next adventure will be a different kind of cruise. A cruise on the Mekong from Saigon to Siem Reap in Cambodia. We have until September to look forward to it. Until then - bye bye friends, by bye Ascent…

Later in the afternoon we had a last afternoon drink at the Sunset Bar and talked about how much we enjoyed the cruise. There was a time before our trip when I feared that I might have had an overdose of cruising. But I loved every minute of this one. Ascent is a beauty. She quickly became our new favorite cruise ship. We like Edge class and we loved the changes that have been made to improve it even more - like the new design of the Sunset Bar. The staff were fabulous and we loved the food - unfortunately 😉 Especially the Oceanview Cafe had such a tempting selection that - contrary to our usual habits - we had dinner there more than once. Since we knew all the destinations, our excursions were very relaxing. No checking off boxes on a bucket list, just go with the flow days. We also met lovely people on board and visited lovely people on Malta. What more could we ask for?

When I walked by the Oceanview Cafe I saw that they were just setting up an Extravaganza Buffet… impressive to say the least. When the F & B Manager saw me taking photos from behind the ropes still closing the buffet, he asked me to come in to take photos. Thank you again! The exclusive result was the photo/video compilation I posted a while ago. Of course I told Birgit about it and we didn’t leave it at taking photos. Birgit got a good dose of protein from shrimps and I thoroughly tried the non seafood selection 😁 When we got back to the room, we found a nice surprise from the Captain‘s Club hostess. We had talked to her before and mentioned how positively impressed we were about quality and staff on board.

Celebrity Ascent - June 2024 - Greece, Turkey & Italy - 13 - At Sea - The End There’s always the dreaded last day of a cruise. The day where you think it’s all over way too soon. And yes, it felt like the past two weeks just flew by. Since our last day of the cruise was a day at sea, Birgit took the chance to read in the sun and I took some more pictures of the beautiful ship.

In all fairness, no matter if the sommelier could have handled the situation better or not, he didn’t insist on you drinking it. You wrote he said it’s only for the toast. As I mentioned before, it often happens to me as well. I toast, don’t drink and set the glass down - or wait till DW emptied her glass and then change glasses. Life’s too short to get upset - says DW 😉

the question was how I respond to questions. When I am offered I just say no as well - different situation.

Depends on the situation. Sometimes I joke, sometimes I explain that I just don’t like alcoholic drinks. I never feel there’s a reason to be not nice though. People who react stupidly to it are too stupid to get upset about 😁

Oh, on the contrary. For someone who doesn´t drink that´s a regular (non-)issue :-) Just none to make a fuzz about. Waiters always want to pour me some wine, give me a glass of bubbles etc. etc. I have been asked "why don´t you drink?" my whole adult live. When my wife and I met, even her thoughts were "oh, he doesn´t drink..." So no, your statement doesn´t count 😉 on a humorous note... I never drank. I just don´t like the taste of alcoholic drinks. The positive side - I have always been invited to every party. A driver was always needed :-)

Happy with his actions or not. I would be there to enjoy my time, not to teach him a lesson. DW tells me I get upset about too many things. This, however, would not be one of them.

TBH I don’t see the point of bringing it up at all! I don’t drink either. So in situations as this I take the glass, toast and set it down again. DW might have two… There’s no point I have to prove and getting upset about it ruins nobody’s day but mine.

I would say either but probably prefer yen. I can’t say for sure because we never do ship tours. And as mentioned our guides didn’t want to be tipped. They even brought us gifts. So from the second trip on we brought them gifts as well. My wife works for a company owned by a Japanese mother company. So we asked some Japanese coworkers what they bring home from Germany. German chocolate and sweets were on top of the list. So we brought that.

Well, if you take the ship tours, then the guides accept cash. They are used to the western urge to give $$$. Private guides ate still different.

We will be doing our 4th cruise / trip to Japan next year. We always use private guides. Except for one the others downright declined $$$ tips! Since then we bring small tokens of appreciation from our home and they like it. One guide became a friend over the years and he confirmed that that´s the better way. But I do agree, bottles of booze, no matter how small, might not be well received.