Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Thought I saw he has been sick lately , maybe not out of the cabin that much?

That is possible.

[helen haywood]

Lazy day here too…

 

 

[Arzeena]

If someone doesn't handcuff me and take me out of el bacio, this ship is going to have a serious shortage of Lemon Tarts.

[Arzeena]

[helen haywood]

8 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

If someone doesn't handcuff me and take me out of el bacio, this ship is going to have a serious shortage of Lemon Tarts.

Good thing my next cruise is on Apex!  I love X’s lemon tarts…

[Arzeena]

Just now, helen haywood said:

Good thing my next cruise is on Apex!  I love 

😊

[Sea Dog]

10 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

If someone doesn't handcuff me and take me out of el bacio, this ship is going to have a serious shortage of Lemon Tarts.

I will be interested in what places were your favorites for food. We will have our first Celebrity cruise on Beyond this April. Looks like a lot of good places to eat.

[helen haywood]

She’s on Equinox, a Solstice Class ship.  Beyond is an Edge Class ship and the dining options are very different.  Cafe al Bacio (coffee and cakes/pastries) is about the only one shared by both classes.  To check out Edge Class restaurants look for reviews of Edge, Apex, Beyond (and Ascent but I don’t think she’s sailing yet.)

[Arzeena]

31 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I will be interested in what places were your favorites for food. We will have our first Celebrity cruise on Beyond this April. Looks like a lot of good places to eat.

As Maryann (Helen) said, the Edge class has more options in specialty dining than the Equinox which is an S class ship. When we go on the Beyond, we are planning on getting a dining Pkg. I definitely want to go to Eden, Le Voyage and Raw on 5 and will look out for sales.

On the S class, specialty dining is modest. We are in Aqua class this time, so eating at Blue. 

[Sea Dog]

32 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

She’s on Equinox, a Solstice Class ship.  Beyond is an Edge Class ship and the dining options are very different.  Cafe al Bacio (coffee and cakes/pastries) is about the only one shared by both classes.  To check out Edge Class restaurants look for reviews of Edge, Apex, Beyond (and Ascent but I don’t think she’s sailing yet.)

 

1 minute ago, Arzeena said:

As Maryann (Helen) said, the Edge class has more options in specialty dining than the Equinox which is an S class ship. When we go on the Beyond, we are planning on getting a dining Pkg. I definitely want to go to Eden, Le Voyage and Raw on 5 and will look out for sales.

On the S class, specialty dining is modest. We are in Aqua class this time, so eating at Blue. 

Thanks I’m not all that familiar with Celebrity’s ships and what restaurants are on what ships.

[HBE4]

4 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

Interesting change on this week's Wonder sailing.  Just saw this letter posted elsewhere.

 

 

Edit:  Oops, didn't see it posted elsewhere here.  Disregard.

 

And so it begins .

 

[Tree_skier]

19 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

Well, living in prime Lake Effect Snow* territory, I can't say the same for the second sentence! I have to admit that having a remote car starter is a contributing factor to why I rarely wear a coat.  

I wouldn't own a car that doesn't have remote start.  When its cold I want to a warm car.  When it's hot I want a cool car.  I've got an app that'll start my car or truck from anywhere. I can start my truck while I'm in line at Costco and everything is comfortable by the time I get there. 🙂 

[Luckynana]

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

If someone doesn't handcuff me and take me out of el bacio, this ship is going to have a serious shortage of Lemon Tarts.

On fb, I asked John and Laura where they were.  John said Martini Bar until 6:30 tonight.  Sorry, I just went on fb and saw John's response.

[George C]

2 hours ago, helen haywood said:

She’s on Equinox, a Solstice Class ship.  Beyond is an Edge Class ship and the dining options are very different.  Cafe al Bacio (coffee and cakes/pastries) is about the only one shared by both classes.  To check out Edge Class restaurants look for reviews of Edge, Apex, Beyond (and Ascent but I don’t think she’s sailing yet.)

My favorite restaurant is on all three classes and that is Le Petit Chef , did it twice on Summit and might do it three times on our March summit cruise, we have a royal suite so specialty restaurants are free. Of course Luminae the suite restaurant is also on all 3 classes. 
  Jealous of those cat pictures our cat Joebob refuses to watch tv with us on Sunday during football season since we make too much noise , specially when Bills are playing.

Edited October 15, 2023 by George C

[jagsfan]

15 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Another sunny Sunday in Sydney.  This morning we took Max to Bayview dog park.

 

 

Then we walked from Bayview to Church Point & back by the water’s edge, in the sun, stopping at a cafe for lunch on the way back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful!

[Keksie]

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

We are having a bit of a lazy Sunday afternoon.

She is so beautiful.

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, mo&fran said:

Our departure yesterday had a slight delay. No reason given. We were in the pub at tht time, but I went back to the room to get something, and when I looked out, saw we were departing and went out on the balcony to watch, and our USCG escort had a guy up in the bow, in combat gear, manning a big gun.  I don't recall that being a normal occurrence. This guy had a helmet and looked like he was ready for action.

 Just sayin.

I have seen this on several cruises out of various ports in FL.  It is kinda frightening to see.

[Keksie]

Coal is relaxing today too. 

 

 

[Momof3gurlz]

Seems like a good time to post my final thoughts on how our first Celebrity cruise stacks up against RC.  I’m going to do this by categories. 
 

Embarkation - very easy, no lines whatsoever. Probably less than 5 minutes from handing over our luggage to walking onto the ship.  Advantage: Celebrity.  
Ship Appearance - the ship is beautiful, very modern and elegant.  We didn’t notice any areas of wear, etc but there are quite a few dead ends and ‘can’t get there from here’ spots around the ship. I loved the Rooftop Garden area but it seems underutilized (see entertainment category below).  Personally, I prefer RC ships with their promenades, they just feel much more open than the atrium style common areas.  Advantage: None, it’s equal to a newer RC ship.

Cabin - Infinite Veranda cabin is controversial. It definitely makes the room feel larger and I loved that.  Cabin was beautiful, again very modern. Plenty of storage, a true king sized bed, the tube style shower is larger than any we’ve had on RC.  Twice per day service.  Advantage: Celebrity due to the larger shower and 2X per day service. 
Celebrity App & Internet - app worked fine. Internet was just okay, sometimes better than others.  Advantage: None

Excursions & Tendering - We had two excursions and the process was very, very organized.  Tendering is done via the Magic Carpet which is lowered to deck 3 for the process.  This was also very organized with no lines at all.  Advantage: Celebrity 

Entertainment - the headliner show was a rock vocal harmony group called Rebel. They performed songs by various artists through the years and we really enjoyed it. There was also a female vocalist and a comedian which we didn’t get to.  They had a musical duo performing what I’d call Top 40 songs, a Jazz band, a DJ, and a male acoustic guitarist/singer.  The two main venues for this were the atrium area and The Club (more on this later).  These performances rotated throughout the night in the atrium, but some of them (esp the DJ) seemed out of place there. The jazz band was best suited for the venue.  Eden usually had a violinist playing in the evening.  The Rooftop Garden area has a large open area which would be a great spot for live music, but I think only the acoustic guitarist was there and only one evening.  Advantage: RC  ( they seem to do a better job matching the performer & type of music to the venue)

Continued in next post. 
 

 

[aussielozzie18]

7 minutes ago, Keksie said:

Coal is relaxing today too. 

 

 

Another beauty.  Love the name

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Another beauty.  Love the name

I agree on both accounts.

[Sea Dog]

18 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

Seems like a good time to post my final thoughts on how our first Celebrity cruise stacks up against RC.  I’m going to do this by categories. 
 

Embarkation - very easy, no lines whatsoever. Probably less than 5 minutes from handing over our luggage to walking onto the ship.  Advantage: Celebrity.  
Ship Appearance - the ship is beautiful, very modern and elegant.  We didn’t notice any areas of wear, etc but there are quite a few dead ends and ‘can’t get there from here’ spots around the ship. I loved the Rooftop Garden area but it seems underutilized (see entertainment category below).  Personally, I prefer RC ships with their promenades, they just feel much more open than the atrium style common areas.  Advantage: None, it’s equal to a newer RC ship.

Cabin - Infinite Veranda cabin is controversial. It definitely makes the room feel larger and I loved that.  Cabin was beautiful, again very modern. Plenty of storage, a true king sized bed, the tube style shower is larger than any we’ve had on RC.  Twice per day service.  Advantage: Celebrity due to the larger shower and 2X per day service. 
Celebrity App & Internet - app worked fine. Internet was just okay, sometimes better than others.  Advantage: None

Excursions & Tendering - We had two excursions and the process was very, very organized.  Tendering is done via the Magic Carpet which is lowered to deck 3 for the process.  This was also very organized with no lines at all.  Advantage: Celebrity 

Entertainment - the headliner show was a rock vocal harmony group called Rebel. They performed songs by various artists through the years and we really enjoyed it. There was also a female vocalist and a comedian which we didn’t get to.  They had a musical duo performing what I’d call Top 40 songs, a Jazz band, a DJ, and a male acoustic guitarist/singer.  The two main venues for this were the atrium area and The Club (more on this later).  These performances rotated throughout the night in the atrium, but some of them (esp the DJ) seemed out of place there. The jazz band was best suited for the venue.  Eden usually had a violinist playing in the evening.  The Rooftop Garden area has a large open area which would be a great spot for live music, but I think only the acoustic guitarist was there and only one evening.  Advantage: RC  ( they seem to do a better job matching the performer & type of music to the venue)

Continued in next post. 
 

 

Great job comparing. I’m really looking forward to my first Celebrity cruise in April. How would you compare food quality?

[Etta1213]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

We are having a bit of a lazy Sunday afternoon.

A really beautiful animal 

[Luckynana]

48 minutes ago, Keksie said:

Coal is relaxing today too. 

 

 

Beautiful!

[Momof3gurlz]

Now on to the stuff everyone really cares about!

 Oceanview Cafe -  Celebrity’s version of the Windjammer. We had breakfast here every day and a couple of lunches. Food was plentiful and they had a good variety of regular items and daily specials.  One odd thing is they would move the regular daily items around each day. For example, the salad bar was rarely in the same spot twice.  Breakfast featured a made to order egg and omelette station. There was a decent amount of seating and the usual crowding at breakfast and in our one sea day. There’s a pizza station at the very back with 3 or 4 varieties and a daily calzone special.  Advantage: None

Main Dining - There are four main dining rooms, each with a theme, Tuscan, Normandy, Cosmopolitan and Cyprus. To be honest, I’m still a little confused about how the different menus work!  There are rotating menus each night with dishes shared by all four dining rooms.  Plus, each place has their own signature dishes. BUT you can order anything from any one of the restaurants (assuming you’ve looked at the other menus).  Anyway, the overall dining experience is much better because there are no lines, no frenzied waitstaff, etc. You show up when you want to; they either seat you or give you a pager if a table isn’t immediately available.  What a concept!  Let’s face it, Royals My Time Dining is a broken system. There’s just no excuse for the long lines every night.  As for the food, I will say the menus seem a little more interesting, but I’m not so sure anything was better executed.  We only did one specialty dinner, Rooftop Garden Grill, and it was very good.  Advantage: Celebrity 

due to the atmosphere & experience. 
Bars & Lounges - this was kind of a disappointment. We didn’t find any bar staff to be particularly friendly or engaging. In fact the bartenders on the Magic Carpet were borderline rude and the drinks were just, not good.  Those at the Martini Bar were slightly more friendly.  I just expected more from these two signature venues.  The famous ‘show’ put on at the Martini Bar felt forced and staged.  There’s no sports bar on the ship but they have TV’s and show some sports in the Casino bar.  This venue called The Club is where they do all the games and trivia and they have musical performances there each night.  Late night it becomes the nightclub.  There’s a very large bar and two levels of seating.  We actually spent no time here because it’s very dark and there are no windows.  I called it The Cave instead of The Club, lol. Advantage: RC

Pool & Solarium - the Solarium never appeared crowded and the main pool was crowded only on our one sea day.  Piped in music was relaxing. There were no crazy games, just a guest vs staff pool volleyball contest.  Serve yourself towels, no checking them in and out. Advantage: Celebrity 

Continued next post