TeachAloha

REALLY wanted to visit a couple wineries in either Barossa, McLaren Vale or Adelaide Hills, but it looks like we're in port 7am-4pm. Would this be at all doable if we get a private driver? From what I can see, it's about an hour from the cruise terminal to any of the regions so if we left at 9ish we could maybe pull off 2 wineries & lunch & get back about 3 (to get some wiggle room). Thoughts? If it's doable do you have a recommendation for transport?

We were on Eclipse in May & it was a great Alaska trip! The funny thing was another person on the same sailing wrote a scathing post about how much they disliked it. I was honestly confused & could not believe we were experiencing the same cruise. Were there some hiccups? Yes, but it was other cruisers and not anything Eclipse related. A woman who never got over not getting French Onion soup at a meal and was rehashing it every time we saw her at a meal. Another person pitched a fit because the brand of iced tea changed & we saw them complain at every bar like it would magically appear if they groused enough. People so stuck on what they "used to get" that they can't try to find something new to enjoy, 

Believe me; you will have a great time. The staff is wonderful and while the ship is not revolutionized yet, I found it in good shape, they were cleaning & touching up constantly> Also loved all the interesting artwork! 

Sailed in May, and it was wonderful. I agree with the music in the atrium is too much and people camp out in the chairs around the area so it can get crowded. We are now show people, but we had a blast at the silent disco nights. they usually do 3 different channels so always something fun to dance to & great for a multi-age group. 

As for the ports, Icy Straight is not much to see, but the Gondola is beautiful (FYI, there are 2 the green that is free and takes you to the main area & the Red that has a fee but takes you up much higher)

Juno & Ketchikan we just wandered around & did not do excursions. Juno has some fantastic breweries & distilleries. A crew member mentioned to get Thai food there as it's the best they've had. They were right!

Ketchikan, we booked a pub tour with a couple that are just the coolest people. Send me a message if you're interested & I can pass along the info. We got a great walking tour and visited some dive bars. 

Weather, in late May it was way warmer than I expected. We did not use any of the warmer gear we packed. Just a light rainoat over pants & a tee. 

On the glacier days, it's just breathtaking, we found the Solarium was not very crowded and we got the best views (some of the windows open)

15 hours ago, RichYak said:

^^^ This. Also because they’re great people to get to know. 

3rd this! Our server noticed we were ordering the more "adventurous" entrees in Luminae (our sailing seemed to have everyone in Luminae ordering from the MDR menu like their lives depended on French onion soup) and I swooned over a Pancit. He started bringing us the most delicious Indian food to try with our dinner. It was literally the best aloo gobi I ever had. We didn't find out till the last night when the asst. waiter noticed and commented that he was so happy to see us enjoying us the family meal the Luminae staff eats and is usually favorite foods from home 🙂 It was such a sweet thing to do and loved that we could share in all the wonderful things that happen when staff from all over the work together and share their culture! 

Silly thing, but we learned DON'T order room service via the TV or button on the phone; call your butler. We didn't want to bother him so early, so ordered breakfast through the TV. Apparently, they have to transfer the order to the butler anyway & somehow, it got all mucked up and never got to him 🙂 There are door cards where you can order breakfast & if they are on your door by 2am, *poof* breakfast magically arrives at the time you requested. 

We didn't want to be "those people" and bug him, but found out not calling them for things like room service makes their job harder since it gets delayed.  

I just booked a cruise with an agent we found on the cruise compete website (we usually book direct) & they mentioned addiotnal perks if paying with Amex Platinum. I was able to get the Amex $300 shipboard credit plus the Travel Agent bonus credit as well as a "Bottle of Wine/Champagne if paying with an Amex Platinum" I was happily surprised & now know to ask when I shop around !

5 minutes ago, Scoobydobe7 said:

Did that change?? TheyI were both Sly class...

I stand corrected! I got so confused, You are correct this is the list on CC https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2771

Sea Tier: Sea includes Family Junior Suites, Junior Suites and Spa Junior Suites. Passengers are treated to dinner at the Coastal Kitchen (an exclusive restaurant for suite and Pinnacle-level passengers), as well as high-end amenities such as L'Occitane bath products.

Sky Tier: Sky passengers are booked in either the Crown Loft Suite, Owner's Suite, Royal Family Suite, Superior Grand Suite, Grand Suite and One-Bedroom AquaTheater Suite (decks 11, 12 and 14 on Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas). 

Star Tier: The highest tier, Star, includes the Royal Loft Suite, Owner's Loft Suite, Four-Bedroom Family Suite (Harmony of the Seas), Grand Loft Suite, Sky Loft Suite and Two Bedroom AquaTheater Suite (decks 8, 9 and 10 on Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas).

4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Not really if you’re in Sky Class. The Suite Concierges will e-mail you 5-8 days before your sailing. Simply respond with dinner reservation requests & they will take care of you. If you wait, certain times could be full but they should still be able to offer you something. Last year in Sky Class on Harmony (1st time) we only made reservations in advance for night 1. Once onboard we made reservations for like 3 more nights. We may have had to shift our time 15-30 min but reservations were easily available.

 

Currently in Sky Class on Wonder & we made standing reservations pre-cruise for every night.

 

And yes, open for breakfast & lunch, no reservations needed.

You are wonderful for sharing this info! You just saved me some hold time with RC 😞 Have a fabulous trip! 

and this one! https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2771

I was using this, I am calling RC to make sure it's accurate 🙂 nhttps://thepointsguy.com/guide/royal-caribbean-royal-suite-class/

Thank you! I like the OP poured over the info on the RC website and am still a little confused 🙂 We usually sail on the Retreat on X where you have access to a (I think) similar small dining room to Coastal Kitchen. That piece is VERY appealing to us as post-covid we like to be in less crowded areas of a ship. In a Sky Suite you have access for all 3 meals correct? the website says "all day access" but also "reservations for dinner are required". Is there a chance you are SOL for dinner if reservations are full?

I am looking at the same thing and weighing the price difference vs. value. It seems the Owners Suite comes with some additional perks since it is considered a Star Class and the Grand Suite is a Sky Class? 

On 6/6/2022 at 2:06 PM, calicakes said:

So, please don't laugh at me, but I'm kinda extra with my ice.  I have one of those old fashioned(VINTAGE) metal ice cube trays( with the lever that you "crack").  On our Oceania cruise, our butler brought it down to Culinary and had it frozen for me.  He brought it back each morning with my half and half for my iced coffee.  Would the butler in our Suite on X do that too?  We're cruising on Reflection in September. 

Wait,,,, What? I worked in high-end hospitality and thought I had gotten every request this is a new one!  How does this work? You travel internationally with an ice tray in your luggage & ask them to find room in the commercial freezers for your tray and to schlep all the way to the commercial kitchen for ice from your tray?

We loved Sushi on Five for lunch. I am not a sushi eater but I loved the ramen and Kobe sliders. I hacked my Mast Grill order & just got a toasted bun, then added the bacon & cheese etc. at the toppings bar to have a pretty decent BLT 🙂 We didn't eat at the Spa Cafe, but the pre-made dishes looked very tasty! 

Just cruised out of Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. We had the earliest check-in, but the biggest wait was after customs. We were sent to a waiting area with folding chairs to wait to get called onto the ship. My best advice the luggage check-in line was loooooong. Luckily our hotel ported luggage over for us & we could skip that line. If you can, selecting a hotel that takes the luggage over to the cruise port for you is a huge convenience, 

22 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

I am wondering what has happened to Eclipse between December 2022 and now??

 

We did not notice anything dreadfully concerning - in fact the opposite - scrupulous attention to sanitising high touch areas such as hand rails on the stairs, also lifts, both outside and inside.

 

If there was a little peeling paint, or a hole in some fabric - would that have affected our cruise experience - no.

A large stain I agree could be somewhat off-putting, but some stains are extremely difficult to remove - especially if the person who caused the (presumed) spill did not let staff know at the time, therefore prolonging the time before it received initial attention and making it more difficult, or even impossible to remove.

 

Surely everyone is aware that all cruise lines are doing it at least a bit tough, having had no income for several years. The ships are cruising, the beds are comfortable, the linen is clean, food is enjoyable and people are enjoying their travel.

 

Cosmetic refurbishment will come soon enough!

Yes & I was on the same cruise on the same dates & did not notice these issues in this post. In fact we saw the opposite with contact cleaning & touching up of paint. 

2 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 

That is an interesting take Alex. If this is, or it becomes a problem, they will go the route of other lines and limit you to how many drinks you can order a day.

So I do have to chip in with my take on the exact same cruise. It was impossible to order more than one drink per seapass. In fact, I had to go get my husbands card just to get 2 waters!  I saw the staff restrict to one per card and never saw someone able to get multiple drinks on one card in one trip. 

As a counterpoint to calm the nerves of anyone sailing on Eclipse soon, I was on the same sailing in the same common areas and did not see this. In fact, there were crews everywhere cleaning and on the sunset deck they were touching up paint all week. This is not my first travel rodeo & I worked in high-end hospitality so I would not let those types of things go unnoticed. 

14 minutes ago, OriginalBoat said:

 

Wait, are you saying they took the french onion soup off the classic menu too?

Oh it was there just not at the time she wanted it or some nonsense, and she never got over it. 

On 5/28/2023 at 1:43 PM, sonnycruises said:

We just got off 31 days on Eclipse specifically South Pacific and Sydney to Honolulu. We ate in Luminea, Murano and Tuscan Grill. Murano as always was outstanding and Luminea was the best experience we've had aboard a ship after 25 cruises all but 3 being on Celebrity. In fact the filet mignon in Luminea was the best we've had at sea.

Same! We just got off a 7-day in the Eclipse & (as someone who was in the hospitality industry), was happily surprised by the food quality in every venue we visited.I honestly can not relate to the OP's opinion on the food. But then again, we went in with the perspective that the travel industry has had to change post-covid and knew things would be different for many reasons from staffing to supply chain issues.  What was very interesting was that we saw a few people losing their darn minds when something that "used to be there" had changed, and you could see that taint the whole rest of the trip. From iced tea brands to lobster not on the night they expected. One woman near us at dinner had a sour face for the whole trip because she didn't get her french onion soup and every night reminded everyone about it. It reminded me of that old joke "the food is terrible,,,,, and such small portions!"  

Silly question, but if we bought SkyGlider (red gondola) tickets trough the cruise line, do we pick them up on the ship or at the gondola?

One more to consider 🙂 Depending on what ship you sail there are connecting rooms available 

Good to know! Can you share the number? I have e-mailed them a couple of times about our upcoming cruise in a retreat RS and have not heard back. Sending to theretreat@celebrity.com which was the e-mail address they contacted us from last cruise....

Silly question, can you pre-order by leaving the slip on the door the evening prior?

It has been all over the place & in our case it was cheaper to just upgrade directly! We got a great deal on a Sunset Skiy Suite this May (we had our cruise canceled by celebrity last year & they applied a 25% discount to the rebooking). Move-up minimums for CS & RS were high (1200+pp for CS & 1500pp for RS to get slightly out of fair into the good range). I was looking at cabin availability & noticed if you booked a RS today, the price was waaaaaay lower total than if we did move up & the CS was going for the same rate as the RS. I called X and asked to move to Royal for less than what they are asking if I did Move up AND I got an extra $50 OBC. Since you get unlimited dining in speciality restaurants with the RS and laundry I was able to cancel our prepaid dinners and laundry which made the overall cost a bit lower,