Shiba_Lover

I honestly cannot blame them for shutting down the OV for dinner. I would sometimes go to eat a simple salad for dinner and this would be when the entire OV was open. It would indeed be a ghost town. Every station was open - and nobody was there. A huge waste. While I understand a few people may want to eat there for dinner, it is does not make economic sense to keep it open to serve a few. So yes, that means I may miss out on getting a salad there too. No worries - I will keep cruising and just need to pick and choose in getting something light either in MDR or begging for a main dish salad in Luminae (yeah, good luck).

I used my Amex to pay 1000 towards my Galapagos cruise. Checked on the card of the authorized user - no celebrity offer, so can't try to see if that works. Will check in a few days to see if it pops up and if so, we'll try to pay another 1K on it to test the authorized user theory.....

Celebrity's website has all the amenities listed -I just randomly picked a ship - but a sunset sky suite is the same as a sky suite in terms of amenities. You can just pick the suite on Celebrity web site and see the amenities Sky Suite - Celebrity Cruises Suites

Hi all - we arrive back at the Miami port and I've checked the port guides. There are 7 ships doing turn arounds that same day. Would there be any potential taxi issues? Our flight is not until 1:45 and we dock at 7. Looks like there all of the ships dock at either 7 or 8AM. I am thinking we should be fine given our flight time, and this many ships at once may be common for Miami, so I guess the taxis know to all queue up. Any thoughts?

I guess I could pay part of my upcoming cruise that still has an outstanding balance. That should work 🙂

Thanks. Good to know. I will book through TA and use the offer. I think the only difference in onboard is reduced deposit. Our TA gives extra OBC.

Thanks for the heads up. I got this one on plat card. The fine print does say I cannot use it for onboard transactions, so be sure to read carefully if you have an upcoming cruise. We sail in Feb and I was thinking I would book something onboard. Might call TA instead.

Thanks for the heads up. I got this one on plat card. The fine print does say I cannot use it for onboard transactions, so be sure to read carefully if you have an upcoming cruise. We sail in Feb and I was thinking I would book something onboard. Might call TA instead.

I saw no discounts on my last Apex sailing. I do see many pre-sailing discounts in the cruise planner for my next few cruises. If you THINK you may want to book - I would do the pre-cruise booking. If you book online pre-cruise, I do not believe you can cancel though. Here's an example of the discounts I see for Tuscan. First night is 33% off, any other night is 9% off. They also have Le Petit Chef at any night for 8% off, and they do say gratuity is not included. Of course, what others see may be different - it's been pointed out it is demand based.

I like this guy;s videos - he does many of the ships, and mentions the plugs and other things. Its good to know what to expect. If you need other ships - he has playlists and you can find the ship / cabin type for many others as well.

Here is a good video - And here is the retreat lounge and full ship tour. Retreat lounge is at 47 minutes, 30 seconds in and the retreat sundeck is at 7 minutes 50 seconds in.

you can easily communicate onboard through the app, which will work well. There is a messaging component of the app. and you can add each other to your allowed contacts then communicate through that (add to contacts in the app as in some random stranger can't just chat with you unless you were to specifically give them your name to allow it). In terms of wifi using your own cell service - it may or may not work well, even if you have premium wifi. Some ships have upgraded, some not. We've had premium wifi on the last two cruises, and sometimes it worked (even in port), sometimes not. That is true of texting, calling, downloading.....

Sneak Peak of Eden is interesting too - I would go to that. They hand out some drinks and several performers give a brief performance of their acts in Eden. If you have ever seen Cirque du Soleil or similar - they have some performances of that type. We saw a trapeze type performance, and a floor acrobat / balancing act. You just get a short look at a few of the things that would be going on in Eden during the sailing. Worth a look and Eden is really a beautiful space.

I did Create and Pour on Apex. Sign up with the Captains Club onboard. Do not just show up - trust me on this - ours was very popular. People who just turned up were not let in. It is limited due to seating, and the Captains Club signs you up onboard. You will be led through drawing with an art instructor, and given a glass of wine to enjoy while drawing. It was fun. On embarkation day - among the things in the room you will have a flyer with the create and pour class listed. If interested - I would sign up for it early. You can always cancel if there is another activity you find you want to do later.

I like the staff on X. I like knowing what's onboard. I don't know - maybe some think that's boring, but I like it. While I do agree the pricing is higher, and there are some changes, I can understand the economy drives that. I worked for a fortune 50 company for 25 years in financial analysis in roles that explained performance for shareholders. So, I can understand what is driving some of these changes behind the scenes. I would suspect that if I went on the Oceania, Viking, Silversea boards - I could find people saying very similar things - pricing is up, some things have changed, etc. I've got a short cruise in Feb on Summit (just to escape winter for a few days), then we have the Flora in October and we have booked the Arctic Circle in 2024 on Apex. So we are here on X for a while, all in Retreat even though the prices are a bit crazier than it used to be. But, we really enjoy the service and amenities, even with the changes.

We were on Apex for 28 days in May/June 2022. I can give three examples of "issues" that I have not experienced on previous cruises. One lunch, I had raw chicken in the Oceanview. I spoke to a chef (not the person serving, an actual chef) to point this out. He did not believe me at first, but took my plate and went back to the kitchen. He came to find me a few minutes later while I was making a salad and apologized (and had them remove the entire steam tray of chicken). Fortunately, I had not eaten the chicken but only cut into it and recognized it as raw. Another night, in Luminae - the same. Raw chicken. Again, fortunately I had not eaten it, but only cut into it. Also in Luminae - I had ordered a dish called Moroccan Tagine. It is supposed to be one of the Daniel Boulud's signature dishes. It was very dry and had no flavor. It is SUPPOSED to be a very flavorful stew type dish. Both myself and the woman at the next table mentioned this to the server. We were both told that pervious people complained about the spice and "soupiness" of the dish, so they changed it. 😂 We did notice the wines seemed to have gone down in quality. Not sure if this is a supply chain issue or a cost-cutting measure. Will be on the Summit in February, so we'll see if they have better wines back on board. Cookies in the Cafe Bacio - have never been good and still were not - only tried once. I agree - these are like some store-bought Chips A Hoy or something. Not good. I did get a small chocolate cake one afternoon on a sea day, and it was good. The deserts in Luminae were very good on the May/June cruise. I did not have any deserts in Oceanview, so cannot comment on that. I have always thought the food in Oceanview was "ok" - and on Apex it was also "ok" (other than the raw chicken I mean). I will say that had a special pizza oven, so the pizza was a bit better on Apex than previous ships I have been on. I did have a Turkey burger at the outdoor grill by the pool one day, and that was pretty good.

I could see them closing part of the Oceanview, but not the entire thing. It is typically not busy. We do the longer cruises and sometimes get tired of being fussed over and the fancier food in Luminae, so like to go to the Oceanview to get just a salad and nobody bothering us much for dinner. It would be a shame if they eliminated it entirely. Sometimes people just want a quick bite or something simple.

Slightly unrelated - one thing to watch for - and this may have changed - is the Retreat sundeck is not accessible except by stairs. This may not be an issue if you would not be using this. It is on deck 16 and is the only public space on deck 16.

We did a TA on the Apex, and it had a lot of art classes. Both formal instructor led and do it yourself "adult coloring" type activities. If offered on your ship, TAKE THEM. Even if you think you may not enjoy it - give it a try. It was very enjoyable. The onboard instructor was really good. The instructor led classes turned out really well. Those of us who thought we could not draw actually wound up with some really nice pieces. The classes were a great way to spend time. You can bring a glass of wine or a drink, and just give it a try. The do it yourself ones were in the grand foyer bar area, and the activities manager put out some pre-made heavy quality papers with really intricate designs. They provided some nice water color pens and then you could just get a drink, and spend some time mindlessly "coloring" the pre-made designs. Quite a few people did this. As it is at your own pace - you just spent the amount of time doing it that you wanted. Even if this is not something you would do under normal circumstances, just give it a try once. Even if you think "I can't do that" - give it a go!

That's good to know about looking at the deck plan. If the TV is same side as doorway. So now how do we know if the tv is in front of the bed or the sofa? It seems sometimes the bed is near the balcony side and sometimes the couch is near the balcony side. Is there a way to tell that? Is it odd/even room? I usually have a tv in front of the sofa, but never sit and watch - Actually only turn it on in the morning to see the ship path or whatever - and like it in front of the bed.

Yes to this!!! Especially if revisiting a port. The crew can give you tips on a good out of the way restaurant or particular place to visit that you may not find on your own. We really enjoy just getting off the ship and having a DIY look around. If re-visiting - the "normal day to day stuff" is good to see instead of the highlights.

If you didn't have a chance to watch the last "power up points" webinar - they did mention one you can string together in Asia to make 3 B2Bs with little overlap. On the website - put in the dates for all of 2025, then look at the Millenium. Feb 19, March 03, March 15 of 2025 on Millenium are all on Millenium in Asia and I think only one overlap port???? Check this one out if interested in a longer Asia B2B2B.

I get tired of all the eating on longer ones too. I basically just get a yogurt at breakfast and a big salad at dinner. Otherwise it is just all too much.

Reading - so many people have downloaded books on a tablet or ipad instead of depending on a library, I think those are going away - but if you want a book in hand, you would probably need to bring more with you or check stores in the ports. Maybe post on your ships roll call here in cruise critic for a real "book swap" on a particular day in a certain lounge. Or maybe a "book club" where you just talk about whatever book you are reading instead of a particular book - and then you could swap the books. Same for a tv or movie - just download something to watch if you want to watch something instead of depending on ship tv. People sit in lounges to listen to music and meet others. We have gotten to be good friends with people who were on a B2B2B cruise and just kept booking the next cruise while onboard because they were having such a good time meeting people onboard. When sitting in a lounge listening to the band - invite someone looking for a table to share with you and start a conversation. Walking on the outdoor walking path is also a good way to meet people - I walk around the same time each day, and notice the same people seem to do that too. Easy to start a conversation. In terms of ports - we tend to DIY things. Once we have done any touristy thing - we do some other things. I like to check out local grocery markets like spice markets, things like that. Even though I often can't purchase (restrictions on bringing on board or back home) - I like to look. It's free, and gives you a look at local things.

If you are going to ask - ask for 100 proof something or maybe Bacardi 151. I think you would need something with a much higher alcohol content to wash them down. I'm always afraid to eat them. Not sure what time you put this raw fish plate out. So no, not going to eat it. 🤑🤪