AmberCascades

I think you would enjoy it.  There are lots of activities if you wish to join in (dance class by the pool, trivia, etc.) but it is also easy to find a quiet spot to chat or read.  The food is really good.  They have some type of show in the theatre every evening and then there are still some late evening activities - a game show or dancing to the house band or the dj.  My young-at-heart 67 year old husband can usually be found at the "disco" late into the evening.  We like it because it is a very relaxing environment but there are things to do if you want, and they are not "in your face" if you don't.  Depending on where you are going, they sometimes have guest lecturers on sea days.  We've usually found them to be very interesting.

Another option for Dover is the nearby town of Canterbury.  We took the ship shuttle to town and then walked to the train station (not a long walk - maybe 5 or 10 minutes) and then took the train to Canterbury.  We spent quite a long time in the Cathedral, which is massive.  We also walked around the town along the medieval-looking streets.  It started raining so we ducked into a place for coffee.  It turns out the whole restaurant was gluten free, so my celiac husband got battered fish, onion rings and sticky toffee pudding - things that celiacs don't usually get to eat.  That just made his day.  But I digress.  :)  It was a lovely day in Canterbury and we got back in time to look around Dover a little bit and then took the shuttle back to the ship.

3 hours ago, EnthDegree said:

 

Your CD on Reflection for the British Isles trip will be Guiseppe Moschella aka 'thatcrazysicilian'.

Enjoy your trip - the weather is a bit mixed at the moment!

Thanks!  I haven't heard of him, but I'm sure we'll have a good time anyway.  🙂

Hey Morgsmom!  I hope your dh has recovered from his jetlag upon returning home.  :)

Do you recall who the cruise director was?  Also, what other ports did you go to and which was your favourite?

Thanks.

2 hours ago, Marelaine said:

 

It doesn't. But often we are asked if we'd like a bottle of water with our drink. It saves a trip for the server and they know many of us are stashing water in our cabins or going on excursions. 

 

 

Celebrity uses Coke products. Dasini is the brand of water on the classic package. There are no sparkling spring waters on the classic. 

Maybe it depends on the ship or where it departs from?  I don't think I've ever had Dasani on a cruise ship (just as well - I think it tastes like dirt).  The last few cruises we've been on they've had Crystal Geyser as the classic water.  

7 minutes ago, George C said:

I saw someone with cutoff shorts and a baseball cap on backwards walk into mdr on infinity in March. 

Last time we were on Infinity the hostess sent away a guest wearing shorts at dinner, and she also asked a man to remove his ball cap at breakfast.  He asked why?  She said, "it's the dining room sir".  He looked old enough to know about the "no hats at the table" rule.   I guess it depends who's manning the desk at the time.

5 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Where does it say that?

It doesn't say that anywhere.  But personal experience is, sometimes they will let you order a bottle of water with your drink or coffee.  A couple of times they've said no, but for the most part they do it, no problem.  

I haven't seen anything about Reflection lately.  Does anyone know who the CD is/will be in a couple of weeks?

We went with Marelvy Pena in 2015.  At that time the cost was $63 pp.  It included a snack that she brought for us.  Her tour was similar to Dora's.  We all wanted to stop for coffee so she took us to a local place where we could have some refreshments and do a little shopping.  That's the difference.  You will hear more with a smaller group and they can take you to places the big buses can't go.  There is also a bit more flexibility if you want to stay somewhere a bit longer or stop off somewhere.  We didn't spend much time in the dungeon (which was a cool place to be).  I imagine the shopping stops will be longer with the big bus tour.   I always recommend smaller groups.  It's usually worth the cost for a better experience.

1 minute ago, Icon901 said:

Gotcha! DO you swipe the cruise card with each "purchase" of a pastry (or drink, or dinner, or whatever)? Or are all on ship tips part of the daily "Gratuities" we pay..regardless of what we eat/drink? 

THANKS! 

If you have a beverage package then the gratuities are included.  But you still have to have your card swiped.  If you have a package then you don't have to sign anything.  If you don't have a package then they will have you sign a slip.  Other than that you just have your card swiped for things  you would be charged for, e.g. in the shops, for drinks, spa services, etc.  You don't get swiped each time you go to the dining room or buffet.  

1 minute ago, Icon901 said:

A little help on this one... as a first time cruiser. Do I walk up to Cafe al Bacio, request a slice of ______, swipe my cruise card to show it's free?, then hand them a buck or two? Tell them to charge the card a buck or two? Sign a slip? 

I'm curious how the transactions / gratuity system works in practice. 

Thanks!
 

No.  Disregard that comment as it pertained to a different thread.

You only have to pay for drinks at al Bacio, unless you have a drinks package.  The pastries are free for everyone.  Just go up and ask for whatever you want.  Or you can sit at a table and tell them what you want and they'll bring it to you.  Easy.

4 minutes ago, fizzy1 said:

Western med out of Southampton . Sep

We were on the Canary Islands/Azores/Portugal cruise, also out of Southampton.  Also in September.  

1 minute ago, fizzy1 said:

We had fab scones on  Silhouette last year and proper clotted cream too 

Us too.  Maybe we were on the same cruise.  :)

49 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

At the buffet, yes?

I just checked a recent Celebrity Today.  It's listed under the Oceanview as "scones and sandwiches" from 4 to 5.   

6 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Maybe you need to just have fresh fruit?  If you are very concerned about calories, I am not sure how you could enjoy any such as ice cream or donuts?  Most of the tasty desserts have as many calories as an entire meal.

There's being obsessed with calories and there's being mindful of them.  As one who has battled excess weight her whole life, I make sure that I enjoy the heck out of whatever it is I do decide to eat, regardless of calories.  But I try not to "spend" them carelessly, e.g. the apple crumble is a complete waste of calories for me.  I don't enjoy it.  Why would I eat it?  

But OP, as you can see, it is all subjective.  I hate most of the apple desserts (not home made, but the ones on the ship) and there are many things people have mentioned on here that I wouldn't bother with.  But they love them.  And I love my favourite things.  And that's why it's great that Celebrity offers so many options.  Watch out for special days too, like "pie day" and "cupcake day", etc.  I wouldn't go by what other people say.  You should just go and try what you want and have a good time.

5 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

DW always looks forward to the chocolate souffle.  Hot, chocolaty and decadent.  The grand marnier souffle is good as well.

Do you get that in the specialty restaurants or the MDR?  I don't think I've seen souffles for dessert in the MDR.  Oh, wait....maybe on chic night?

9 hours ago, ghstudio said:

That’s exactly the question I asked at the xcursion desk when we arrived back.  They didn’t know...the description didn’t differentiate!  My comment was that either way, one would think the person would say something about their country, what we are seeing and so on.  

That would definitely be disappointing.  The few times we've taken a "wherever on your own" type thing, it's usually just been a Celebrity staff member and they may not know much about the area.  If there's a guide, they often use someone local on the bigger Celebrity coaches and they talk about their country.  We are taking an approximately 2 hours each way "on your own" transfer next month.  It would be nice if someone said something about the area at some point over those 4 hours.  :)

I love Alejandro too.  He was so much fun on our Antarctica cruise with "900 sea days" (according to him).

ghstudio, are you sure your tour wasn't "hosted"  as opposed to having a guide?  Usually it says somewhere in the tour description.  If the tour (not usually a tour but transfer to somewhere) has a host then they just seem to be there to make sure everyone knows where to meet the bus and then go looking for strays that don't manage to get back to the bus on time.   At least that's been my experience.  

I can't speak to the Equinox specifically, but it seems to me that after they opened Sushi on 5 on the ships, they stopped serving sushi in the Oceanview.  I haven't seen it on any ships I've been on in the last few years.  It's disappointing because it was nice to grab some for a late afternoon snack after an excursion.

1 minute ago, Jaxweb said:

 

They can still take payments since they also offer premium foods a drinks as part of room service.

The premium items are not free and neither is after hours services. So, they have to have a way to take payments for room service.

Oh. Kay.  Well, you seem to have all the answers so I guess your work is done here.

Good job.

1 minute ago, Jaxweb said:

 

When you order room service, you don't get a bill where you can enter in how much of a tip you want to give and have it charged to your account?

There is no charge for room service during certain hours.  What would this "no charge" bill look like?

Just now, Jaxweb said:

 

So, they are saying there is a job to be only a room service attendant where this worker does't have access to money in the prepaid and other automatic gratuities?

From what I understand, they are not actual "room service attendants".  They are kitchen workers.  So one of them may be in the middle of making a fruit tray for the buffet and a room service call comes in.  They interrupt their work to go do the delivery and then come back and finish their work.  There's no one standing by the phone waiting to go do deliveries like there are at a pizza place.  

1 minute ago, Jaxweb said:

 

I can prepay pizza delivery tips with Door Dash.  I don't even like this, so I order out and eat out much less than I might have otherwise if they just charged a true all inclusive price and not shifted the responsibility of staff wages to customer tips.

Hahaha....I can go downstairs and get a coffee in my nightie when I'm at home.  Being on a cruise ship isn't the same as being at home.  I guess I could go get a coffee in my nightie, but that might be frowned upon.  No one is making you do anything  you don't want to do.  If you have no intention of tipping extra either way then why ask?   Ooooohhhh.....did you place a bet with your friends that you could get another tipping thread going?  Good job.  

Just now, Jaxweb said:

 

Because I hate it on principal and I wanted to just prepay it and get it out of the way and over with before the cruise started so never have to deal with it again.

Are you planning to order room service a lot?  Because if you don't then you don't have to worry about it.  Look at it as a delivery fee.  I assume you tip the pizza guy when you order delivery?  It's not included in the cost of the pizza is it?   You pay the delivery guy extra.  The same with room service people.  

5 minutes ago, AmberCascades said:

Whatever dude.  Make your own assumptions and do as you wish.

Apologies if it looked like this was aimed at cruisestitch.  It was not.  :)