IDL

As I pack as light as feasible I no longer take a jacket and have not missed it.

18 hours ago, iowananny said:

i think we must remember that O carries many older passengers.  Sometimes they cannot wear the stylish shoes some of you want them to.  An example of this was my mother.  She had a bicycle accident as a young child and broke her ankle.  It was not treated correctly and never healed properly.  She had several surgeries as an adult and while it became better it was always a problem for her.  Finally, she had to resort to orthopedic shoes and a brace.  Because of this she was able to walk the last twenty years of her life, but the shoes were butt ugly and the brace made it even worse.  My mother loved dressing to the nines, and this didn't fit with the look she wanted but she wore lovely pant suits and floor length dresses to formal occasions.  She still wore shorts around the people she loved and cared about her, and she knew wouldn't care about her shoes.

 

I'll admit I don't like to see Crocs and flip-flops in nice restaurants but sometimes the rubber soled shoes are worn for a reason.  I'd rather see people standing on their feet than falling because they feel the need to wear a certain type of shoe.  I think the best advice is to ignore people's shoes.  Once they're at their table you never even have to see them again.

 

 

As Elvis sung: before you abuse, criticize and accuse, Walk a mile in my shoes

23 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I also wonder why Corporate has not already acted to modify this policy.

A logical accommodation would be if the credit can not be applied due to an action of the cruise line and not an action of the passenger than that specific credit amount should be made available to be used against any fee or service above and beyond the basic cruise fare: i.e. gratuities, drink package, casino, etc.  For instance Celebrity allowed me to use a shipboard credit in the gift shops. 

We ate at Fine Cuts on the Beyond in December with a couple we traveled with and all four of us were disappointed.  The steaks themselves tasted “off”, the service was pedestrian and certainly not worth the upcharge.

On 3/25/2024 at 4:39 PM, ORV said:

Most other reports say $100 per excursion, regardless of original price. Of course Olife could only get an excursion up to $200.

We were on the Vista last year and couldn’t dock at a port due to the weather.  As stated, we were credited $100 for the missed excursion which was not the stated price of the excursion but I was satisfied and we had a great cruise. 

1 hour ago, EJL2023 said:

Sooo……what about that pizza on Vista, Waves?

Pizza at Waves is fine and a good change of pace meal when the mood hits you.  

2 hours ago, iowananny said:

I'm glad we're not the only people who feel this way.  Jacques is not that good.  It's old school French food from the 70s.  If you like it that's fine and please enjoy.  We had a few dishes that we enjoyed but not enough to make it a "let's get up at midnight and make sure we have a reservation for Jacques ".  The last couple of cruises we never went to Jacques so those who do enjoy it could have our reservations.  We liked Ember a lot.  Would I want to eat there every night?  No.  But it was a nice difference from some of the fancier foods we'd been eating.  I don't know if you could compare it to Applebee's because it's been years since I've been there but somehow I don't think so..

We were on the Vista with 4 other couples and the majority of us, including myself, enjoyed Ember.  By the way I used to live in Urbandale, next door to West Des Moines.  

7 hours ago, Miznergirl said:

Thank you all for the photos of the toiletries! Exactly what I needed to see.

I found the standard shampoo on the Beyond watered down and therefore underwhelming.  

1 hour ago, MEFIowa said:

So... O apparently wants the world to think there are tablecloths. "Staged publicity photos". Yet there aren't. Why is that? Tells us something. And O knows why. As do we. 

You remind me of Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny trying to determine who stole the strawberries.  Maybe you should write a book once you solve the great tablecloth mystery. 

1 minute ago, MEFIowa said:

Still begs the original question. The O page for Ember shows tablecloths. Reviews and comments by passengers have discussed a lack thereof. So, does it even have tablecloths?

Here is the answer; Who cares?  If you don’t like Embers because you don’t like the menu, the food selection, the chef, the way the table is set, etc. then don’t eat there-problem solved.  Additionally is you don’t like the Vista ship for any or no reason than don’t sail on it.  

On 1/21/2024 at 4:55 PM, SeaWatch12 said:

Since you mentioned the gym onboard, just be aware that it is smaller on the Vista than any Celebrity ship, which I see is your sailing history. The Fitness Center was very busy in the morning of sea days, and even in the afternoon of one of our sea days. Sorry, I don't have a photo to show you, that is one place on the Vista I didn't take a picture of. By the way, we enjoyed Aquamar for lunch and went there for half the days. They also serve breakfast but didn't try it.

I found the Vista gym more than adequate for its size and passenger load; never waited to get on any equipment.  When we sailed it was windy and rained some days so was not able to take advantage of the sports deck. 

Another point of view is that, in all likelihood, Celebrity will now be paid twice for the same cabin and therefore requesting the points for being an already loyal customer is a certainly a fair ask.

 For instance, I had written corporate and got a higher credit than there were willing to give on the ship at the time of my cruise. 

As others have stated, there is no harm in asking.

We were on the Vista last year and missed a port due to bad weather.  Though there was no credit issued for missing the port we did receive a credit for missing the Oceana booked excursion at that port. 

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Never seen Bocce Ball on any Celebrity Ship   I've see Crockett on S-Class with the Lawn Club.

I would think you would need some type of a Clay Court in order to play Bocce and even then might be disruptive is someone had a room under a court.

Was played directly on the grass; the game can be played on different surfaces. 

1 hour ago, doghog said:

The Apex didn't have a Lawn Club/deck. Are you sure about the E class ships/Beyond? I know the S class ships have the Lawn Club/deck. Are you talking about the Roof Top Garden area? 

Yes

Do any of the Edge class ships still offer bocce ball on the lawn deck?  When the Edge was first introduced a large section of the lawn deck was dedicated for lawn games.  Went on the Beyond recently and didn’t see any dedicated game space on the lawn outside of an open pickleball court.   

Does the Simply More included Internet for only one device at a time per cabin or two.  Without an Oceana app that has a messaging feature having only one device connected at a time makes sea days communications unnecessarily complicated. 

8 hours ago, georgiaguy said:

Wow…I wasnt looking for a scientific answer. Just curious if people had a favorite. People pick favorites for all kinds of reasons. I mean it drew you in enough to comment…

That’s my rationale as to why I don’t have a favorite. 

On 2/16/2024 at 8:52 PM, georgiaguy said:

Interesting aside. Over 700 people have looked at this but only 23 have actually voted. Doesn’t that seems a little low for a simple question? Granted some likely havent cruised on the E-class, myself included, but still seems low. Just a curious observation on my part.

The vote is basically meaningless since the same exact food can be ordered at any of the four restaurants and they are all fairly similar in design.  The service will be dependent on the wait staff. 

On 7/19/2023 at 5:43 PM, jelayne said:

@Dreamer68 has a good description of the menu.  

Ill add a few points about dining and reservations on the E class ships.  Making reservations pre cruse is possible but not necessary.   As@ Dreamer68 found  sometimes the only reservation times available pre cruise are late.  The dining rooms only release about 50% of the reservation times for pre booking the remaining are for those who want the flexibility to decide each evening when and where they want to dine.

 

The 4 restaurants all have their Exclusive items but it is not necessary to dine in Cyprus to order on their Exclusive items,  Any of the Exclusive item can be ordered in any of the 4 MDRs.  

Your last paragraph is the key which is the reason we stuck with one restaurant on the Beyond for consistency of having the same waiter.  Unfortunately for newbies the fact that you can order the speciality items from the  other restaurants is not in any Celebrity literature I have ever seen (like the desserts are included at the coffee bar though they charge for the coffee).  

We just sailed on the Beyond and the key for us was homing in on one restaurant at the same dining time in order to secure the same waiter and the same table.  As has been stated, you can order the speciality items from any of the four restaurants so having a waiter that knew our general wants and could speed up the meal when we wanted to catch a show was the difference maker.   Some shows require securing a seat at least 30 minutes early so don’t always have 2 hours for dinner. 

How far in advance does Oceana publish the pricing of the shore excursions for a specific cruise? 

Like it as it extends the room and provides extra storage space. 

The Cruise Critic editorial ship reviews must have been written directly after Covid reopening as it is inaccurate relative to what is currently included in the standard cruise fare: 

Inclusions

20 hours ago, Kmkub said:

I’ve been to a lot of water parks in my life, and have never paid the insane price that you have to pay to get into the private island’s waterpark. It’s “on sale,” for $152 pp right now. That’s about double what the expensive water parks in Orlando charge.

 

Has anyone done this park? Is it so over-the-top amazing that we should suck it up and pay the cost? I’m a roller coaster enthusiast who loves the water, so water parks and I are BFFs. I’m just not sure we’re $300 for one day BFFs

 

 

The pricing paradigm for Celebrity and other main cruise line is charge whatever the market will bear and pricing a water park for a captive audience is on a different scale than a water park accessed when not on a cruise (prove your home wi-fi service vs. what Celebrity charges).  The bottom line is they are  focused on their bottom line and there is obviously no ceiling to the price they will charge for anything.