LIVE with Georgia Peaches on the Brand NEW Ascent...B2B November 22-29 Pre-Pre-Maiden Voyage!

[hcat]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I enjoy looking around in the shops. Rarely, if ever do we buy anything. I especially like to look in the boutique to discover what my clothing options might have been if my luggage somehow didn’t make it on board ship. The shops are lovely and super high end and super impractical for my day to day. But we still looked!  And looking took us into the Effy store with spectacular pieces of jewelry. As DH and I strolled around the store we overheard a sales meeting occurring in the watch shop next door. The gist of the meeting was “up sell” and I should have known then…

 

DH suggested we look for a piece we could give our daughter for her 30th birthday coming up in a few days. Ok, I think, that idea has merit. A sales associate showed us a few pieces before we settled on a very nice necklace made of small diamonds…let me try that again….very small diamonds, made to look bigger, in the shape of an open circle. A very pretty piece. 
 

Our sales associate sought her manager who was the only one authorized to give us “the very best Black Friday deal”. In the meantime she asked me if I wanted to look at anything else. I asked to see the earrings that matched the necklace….my mistake. I handed them back to the associate thanking her and she insisted that we get the manager to give us a “bundle deal”. “No, thank you.  Just the necklace.” I say. But she brought them over to a table where we sat in eager anticipation of the manager’s super secret “best Black Friday price”. 
 

When the manager returned, he tapped on a calculator and presented us with a number. It was for the earrings and necklace. I told him we only wanted the necklace. “Why not both?  Price too much?” he asks. Now I’m getting annoyed.  I remained firm with the necklace only but he remained firm with a bundle. Citing:

-it’s an investment

-maybe a better price could be arranged (why can’t I just know your best price from the beginning?)

-jewelry sets have higher value (what?)

 

Anyway, I reached my limit on how much hard sell I was willing to endure. I told him he was too pushy, and turned to DH and said I was leaving. Got up, walked out, won’t return. I was fuming!  Never have I experienced that kind of pressure to buy something. 
 

I realize that the shops only rent space from the cruise line so this isn’t a Celebrity issue. Just putting this out there..the pressure is real, at least in Effy, so buyer beware. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

good for you..check on line for the necklace..you may get a good price from a reputable source.

 

I buy one piece on board....if it is the souvenier from the ship...I have one from EDGE &  BEYOND...Ascent next! Unless too pricey!

 

the shops on E class are  pricey even for a hat or shirt   And not much for grandkids!

[Margarita Jane]

I am a naturally skeptical person, but on a couple of the first sailings after COVID, my DH bought me some nice pieces from Effy. When we got home, we had them independently appraised and they all appraised for more than we paid. OTOH, the last couple of cruises it seems prices have gone up considerably, so maybe we lucked out because of post-COVID inventory.

[KKB]

6 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

  And looking took us into the Effy store with spectacular pieces of jewelry. As DH and I strolled around the store we overheard a sales meeting occurring in the watch shop next door. The gist of the meeting was “up sell” and I should have known then…

 

DH suggested we look for a piece we could give our daughter for her 30th birthday coming up in a few days. Ok, I think, that idea has merit. A sales associate showed us a few pieces before we settled on a very nice necklace made of small diamonds…let me try that again….very small diamonds, made to look bigger, in the shape of an open circle. A very pretty piece. 
 

Our sales associate sought her manager who was the only one authorized to give us “the very best Black Friday deal”. In the meantime she asked me if I wanted to look at anything else. I asked to see the earrings that matched the necklace….my mistake. I handed them back to the associate thanking her and she insisted that we get the manager to give us a “bundle deal”. “No, thank you.  Just the necklace.” I say. But she brought them over to a table where we sat in eager anticipation of the manager’s super secret “best Black Friday price”. 
 

When the manager returned, he tapped on a calculator and presented us with a number. It was for the earrings and necklace. I told him we only wanted the necklace. “Why not both?  Price too much?” he asks. Now I’m getting annoyed.  I remained firm with the necklace only but he remained firm with a bundle. Citing:

-it’s an investment

-maybe a better price could be arranged (why can’t I just know your best price from the beginning?)

-jewelry sets have higher value (what?)

 

Anyway, I reached my limit on how much hard sell I was willing to endure. I told him he was too pushy, and turned to DH and said I was leaving. Got up, walked out, won’t return. I was fuming!  Never have I experienced that kind of pressure to buy something. 
 

I realize that the shops only rent space from the cruise line so this isn’t a Celebrity issue. Just putting this out there..the pressure is real, at least in Effy, so buyer beware. 

 

EXACTLY why I avoid jewelry stores in general on ships & ports.

I DO NOT DO hard sell--in fact, that behavior makes me LESS likely to buy if I was planning to.

And I have let them know that.

I guess more people are are swayed by that behavior than not...

[ladyjade3]

We did Le Petit Chef night 2. Im giving it 2 stars. Not recommended. Takes 2 hours to get through. Food is good but its not better than in the restaurants. The animation show is cute but you have to wait for everyone in the whole seating to start and then move on to the next course. That's why it takes 2 hours. It would be good for kids but for that. It is a lot of sitting and waiting with nothing going on. 
 

My favorite feature of the ship is the jogging track. It goes in a figure 8 around the top of the ship with an incline up to deck 16 and then back to 15. 
 

I'm currently sitting in Eden watching the dancers rehearse for Shimmerbox. It's going to be an awesome show I can tell. Not to be missed! 

[jcpc]

7 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

 

 

Anyway, I reached my limit on how much hard sell I was willing to endure. I told him he was too pushy, and turned to DH and said I was leaving. Got up, walked out, won’t return. I was fuming!  Never have I experienced that kind of pressure to buy something. 
 

I realize that the shops only rent space from the cruise line so this isn’t a Celebrity issue. Just putting this out there..the pressure is real, at least in Effy, so buyer beware. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've experienced this Effy "hard-sell" onboard Summit.  All you had to do was walk by the shop and glance in the window and they were on you like flies on you know what!  And they never gave up even after you said "not interested".  A real turn-off, in my mind.

 

But I disagree that this isn't a Celebrity issue.  When the Captain of the ship is having nightly events and promos in the Effy shop, and such promo/event is listed in the daily program as an "event", then it is an indication to passengers that Effy is, indeed, sanctioned by Celebrity upper management.  On just about every Celebrity sailing I have been on the Captain did an "event" in the Effy shop.  

 

Loving your review.  E-Class ships are the best!

[ladyjade3]

5 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

A little story about the cruise pier jewelry shops.  My MIL was with us in Coz and we were at one of the cheaper upstairs shops and she just loved what they told her was a real sapphire.  I warned her it wasn't, sapphires that big are rare and EXPENSIVE and they wanted $400 for this ring.  I walked out of the shop and looked for it at some others, there it was...went back in and warned her again not to buy that all the other shops had this ring (NOT a genuine sapphire obviously).  She argued that she just loved it and bought it.  Months later she had it checked at the jewelers and sure enough, simulated.  That ring wasn't worth $100 much less 4.  So be careful with shops at the pier. 

I suspected as much!  They almost got me with an emerald. Glad I passed on it. An emerald that size and clarity should not be $280... 

 

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

People are funny. Does anyone go hungry on a cruise?  I think not. But when the Captain announced that there would be a special lunch in the buffet today, you’d have thought they had been depriving us all week. The OVC was mobbed with hungry passengers. It was pandemonium at the shrimp station and don’t even get me started on the cold lobster station!  In a word, it was simply the BEST lunch buffet we’ve ever seen. I didn’t get many pics due to the vast amount of people but it was special. 
on offer was peal and eat shrimp, crab claws, lobster, crawfish, fried calamari, lobster salad, crab salad, roasted prime rib, duck, rack of lamb, roasted turkey and a whole host of sweet treats!  The best part was when the entire kitchen staff paraded through the dining room to receive a round of applause for a job well done on the first sailing of the beautiful Ascent! 
 

Agree. This lunch buffet was spectacular!!!

[ladyjade3]

The jogging track and the pool area

[Cruise Gopher]

1 hour ago, hozelovr123 said:

Does anybody know if or how you can order the thermal suite ahead of time? If not did anybody order a pass? How much is it? Is it worth it in your opinion thank you ahead of time.

We are in Aqua Class on Ascent on this first sailing so we have it included in our room, but I would not pay even $10 for access to it if we didn’t get it as part of our room. 
 

The sauna is cold, the other two crystal and salt rooms are cold, the hammam room was the only decently warm one, the steam room was meh. 
 

The walk through shower thing was fun and smelled super good though. Heated loungers were decent. 
 

It’s really too bad because it’s a nice space and very relaxing atmosphere but the rooms are worthless. 

[SouKnoMe]

2 hours ago, hozelovr123 said:

Does anybody know if or how you can order the thermal suite ahead of time? If not did anybody order a pass? How much is it? Is it worth it in your opinion thank you ahead of time.

I found this under spa options for my booking: (can’t paste link, but under Spa & Fitness)

 

SEA Thermal Suite - 7-Day Cruise Pass

 

 

[kwokpot]

37 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

The sauna is cold,

E-Class saunas are not the traditional Swedish/Finnish saunas that heat up the room but are instead Infrared saunas that work totally different. With infrared saunas you have to sit directly in front of one of the infrared heaters so that the heat radiates all over your back and thus warms up your whole body. By design they aren't meant to heat up the room itself.

https://thatcherpools.com/infrared-sauna-vs-a-traditional-sauna-which-is-best-for-you/#:~:text=A traditional sauna heats the,up the room around you.

Edited November 25, 2023 by kwokpot

[hcat]

1 hour ago, jcpc said:

I've experienced this Effy "hard-sell" onboard Summit.  All you had to do was walk by the shop and glance in the window and they were on you like flies on you know what!  And they never gave up even after you said "not interested".  A real turn-off, in my mind.

 

But I disagree that this isn't a Celebrity issue.  When the Captain of the ship is having nightly events and promos in the Effy shop, and such promo/event is listed in the daily program as an "event", then it is an indication to passengers that Effy is, indeed, sanctioned by Celebrity upper management.  On just about every Celebrity sailing I have been on the Captain did an "event" in the Effy shop.  

 

Loving your review.  E-Class ships are the best!

I find it demeaning when Captains are turned into " hawkers" for the jewely stores and  pull the raffle tix

 

The hard sell you describe on Summit is sad..EFFY should be above such tactics.

 

   Reminds me of the aggressive vendors in  Mexico, Labadee, Coco Cay (yrs ago) and Pisa..on the way to the Leaning Tower. ( one creep there physically  latched on to me.. that was big mistake on his part.....!)

[hcat]

37 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

We are in Aqua Class on Ascent on this first sailing so we have it included in our room, but I would not pay even $10 for access to it if we didn’t get it as part of our room. 
 

The sauna is cold, the other two crystal and salt rooms are cold, the hammam room was the only decently warm one, the steam room was meh. 
 

The walk through shower thing was fun and smelled super good though. Heated loungers were decent. 
 

It’s really too bad because it’s a nice space and very relaxing atmosphere but the rooms are worthless. 

very disappointing to hear for a brand new ship..we will be AQ..hope it improves!

[kwokpot]

https://drruscio.com/infrared-sauna/

[hcat]

Great article.. thanks

we prefer the steam rooms..if they are working correctly..

[Cruise Gopher]

30 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

E-Class saunas are not the traditional Swedish/Finnish saunas that heat up the room but are instead Infrared saunas that work totally different. With infrared saunas you have to sit directly in front of one of the infrared heaters so that the heat radiates all over your back and thus warms up your whole body. By design they aren't meant to heat up the room itself.

https://thatcherpools.com/infrared-sauna-vs-a-traditional-sauna-which-is-best-for-you/#:~:text=A traditional sauna heats the,up the room around you.

I know, but even the infrared heat is not working properly. They barely warm you at all. 

[hcat]

hope this was all reported!l to spa operator and guest rel!

[Georgia_Peaches]

Glad we passed on the day pass. 

[Texed]

After seeing the pictures, I don't blame the folks for running to the buffet.  😁

[twins_to_alaska]

Happily early arrival of my flight into FLL this afternoon. And no rain. I would have moved quickly to that special lunch.

[CardowMD]

Hoping they have that seafood extravaganza on cruise starting tomorrow!

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were invited to attend a B2B meeting this morning where we received instructions on the process for tomorrow along with passes that indicate that we are authorized to remain on the ship. The process includes reporting to Eden by 9;30 where we will surrender our current sea pass cards and receive new ones. Additionally, we will show our passports and have a new pic taken. We also completed a paper health questionnaire. Seems easy enough. Our stateroom attendant will move our luggage and hanging clothes to our new room. Everything was very clearly laid out in written format. We were confused as to why people were staying for a power point presentation of the same information. I asked one of the officers if we were free to leave if we didn’t have questions. The answer was yes. So not wanting g to waste any time in a meeting, we left… me to the casino….DH to craft social to watch the game. 

[jcpc]

17 minutes ago, CardowMD said:

Hoping they have that seafood extravaganza on cruise starting tomorrow!

The last time I sailed on Celebrity (Summit, July 2023) they did indeed have the "seafood extravaganza buffet" on the last day.  In addition to all the seafood items that were mentioned in Georgia Peaches' post, they also had huge slabs of a beef (not sure what it was......a huge steak of some sort I'm guessing).  They really "did it up big" for the last day (and this was on a 7-night Bermuda cruise!).  The lunchtime buffet was packed.  

[jcpc]

@Georgia_Peaches I'm surprised that they are not having you physically disembark the ship.  I know from my "limited experiences" of doing B2B cruises from Fort Lauderdale (Miami, and Bayonne) we always had to physically walk off the ship and present our passport to the officials at the end of the gangway.  The process you describe sounds wonderful to me!!  Now am I remembering correctly that you are in a SS on this next sailing?

Edited November 26, 2023 by jcpc

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 minutes ago, jcpc said:

@Georgia_Peaches I'm surprised that they are not having you physically disembark the ship.  I know from my "limited experiences" of doing B2B cruises from Fort Lauderdale (Miami, and Bayonne) we always had to physically walk off the ship and present our passport to the officials at the end of the gangway.  The process you describe sounds wonderful to me!!  Now am I remembering correctly that you are in a SS on this next sailing?

Yes, next on deck is a sky suite. We placed a move up bid but it expired. I’m guessing that means it wasn’t accepted though we never got a notification indicating such. TBH, the Luminae menus for the upcoming leg are less than appealing to me…Blu looks good though!
 

Will definitely keep everyone posted on the process tomorrow. As it looks right now, we are not going to have to leave the ship. 

[hcat]

5 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

I'd love to, but have one in March and ICON in September, no dough, if you get my jist.   You're killin me!

 

 

looks like a great lunch!

do they have any special books or gifts ss well?

Edited November 26, 2023 by hcat