Zeashore

No food on a cruise ship is going to be the best ever.  
I eat Walmart frozen pizza.  425° for 13 minutes.  Sorrento's tastes pretty darn good.  

Thank you for the excellent view of what's on the "other side" of the Royal family!

With three days at sea ahead of us, we had plenty of time to explore the ship, relax and get familiar with the Celebrity brand.  Over the course of that time, we:
Played trivia: not huge on Celebrity. Usually light in attendance, and only offered a 1-2 times a day.  Great reminder of how smart you are not. Themes were usually general knowledge, pub style, and on 80s night there was an 80s trivia session. 
Took 2 tours: 
Galley Tour. Complementary and open to all. Another glass of champagne. 
Backstage Tour. Captains Club offering. Not sure what minimum level is to participate.  Another glass of champagne.
Enjoyed time in a smoke-free casino.  We never - I repeat never - gamble on RCCL, as we can’t stand the smoke, even in the non-smoking section.  We will go in, do our free slot pulls, and walk away with smelly clothes and an entry into a drawing later in the cruise.  On Summit, it was fantastic to be able to enjoy time playing, watching and drinking. Drinks are complimentary while you are playing. Bar servers come around to take your order. 

 
Enjoyed live music.  There is live music all over the place, all throughout the day.  This ship doesn’t have a centrum/promenade/esplanade type area. There is the “Grand Foyer” that has beautiful orange marble steps, but the area is very closed in.  The steps lead to deck 3, where you’ll find all your “service desks” like Guest Services, Shore Excursions, Internet Cafe, Captain’s Club host. Those are all grouped together and away from the social areas of decks 4 & 5 like Cafe Bacio (coffee shop), Martini Bar, Gelataria (one complimentary scoop Elite and above), Casino and the main venue Rendezvous Lounge.  This is similar to the lounge in the aft of the Radiance Class ships, but more utilized. But back to the live music. At any time, you’ll find the house band at the pool, the DJ at the martini bar, a duo up at the Sunset Bar. Or any of those groups in any other place.  They move around all day, do sets in varying places, and were all very entertaining. There is no Schooner Bar type singer or performer.

 
Hung out in the outdoor areas.  This class of ship does not offer a lower deck full walk-around the ship, nor does it have access to the helipad.  But up on decks 10 & 11 you can almost make it all the way around. If you are a suite guest, you have access to a special area called The Retreat, which blocks off the forward facing top decks.  In the aft, you can go to the outside seating area of the OVC, called the Sunset Bar (which is open until OVC closes after midnight) or you can go up to deck 12. Deck 11 is aft-facing balconies. Deck 12 aft has a lounge area with the tv screen.  Great place to relax, and it has “quiet hours” from 2-4 daily. Blankets are in holders on deck to use when you’re chilly. They do not require checking/signing out.  They are also available on the pool deck.
Speaking of the pool deck, another major difference here.  You do not check out towels.  When you wake in the morning, each lounger has a towel on it.  You use it, put it in special bins when you are done, and move on.  If you need another, you go to the rack and take one. There are notes about chair hogs but we didn’t experience any of that as it wasn’t a full sailing and we had the conferences on board who spent most of their days behind closed doors.

 
Another amazing towel amenity is that there are beach towels in your cabin to take off ship with you.  You return them to your cabin when done, and the stateroom attendant brings you clean ones for the next day.  If you’re heading to the beach, just put those towels in your complimentary (to keep) tote bag and off you go.  Rainy day? There is a golf umbrella and pocket sized umbrella in the cabin for your use (not to keep).  See something out at sea you want a closer up view? Use the binoculars that come in the cabin.  As an Aquaclass guest, we also received complimentary slippers (to keep), use of robes, and a drawstring bag.  There were yoga mats for use while onboard as well.

 
Enjoyed evening shows.  The production cast performed three unique shows and two theme nights.  One theme night was Motown, and it was held in the Sky Lounge “aka the nightclub”.  They sang, danced, performed, then stayed out on the dance floor for about 30 minutes and engaged with the guests.  The second theme night was the Full Moon Party held on the pool deck, this time with just the dancers.  Again they danced & performed, then stayed around and engaged with the guests. Some changed out of their costumes and came back out to dance some more.  Headliner entertainment was a comedian and a magician.
Attended game shows.  Much tamer than Royal, even the battle of the genders was super tame.  Not hugely attended for the ones we went to.  
Used the App to communicate.  You can use the ship wifi without a package to view your account, the daily activities, make reservations and chat with other guests.  Great feature.

We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Sunday and will be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Staten Island. Cruise package includes parking and shuttle to and from port. Our cruise is 12 nights and the package is substantially less than parking at the port.

Passport and cell phone stay in the safe all week. It`s called a VACATION.

The explosion of fake service dogs and fad d’jour of emotional support animals pisses me off to no end. The pictures of the lady and her “service dog” with the thousand poop bags strapped to her purse proves to me that the vest is pure show. My cousin was paralyzed in a diving accident, and he has a true service dog that has been amazing for him. These dogs are trained to so well that he actually has to command his dog to relieve itself. The amount of training that his dog has, and the immense amount of work that my cousin had to do just to be able to qualify to even be able to have a service dog, and the people that throw a vest on their pet and call it a service animal is so insulting..........steps of soap box.......rant over......back to drinking Thanksgiving sangria.....

In Curacao, we did the island tour that included the Hato Caves, a small museum, and the Curacao liquor factory. Very reasonably priced and enjoyable. It was through RCI.
 

I upgrade to a JS over regular balcony on Indy, based on the bath room alone. A bigger bathroom is worth every penny! I also repriced the booking when it was on sale saving $194 off original price, then did the upgrade for only $200. Basically only cost me $6 to upgrade over original booking price. 
11/27/2019 - Just saved another $75 with the Black Friday instant credit going up to $150! Score!! To bad I am planning way too early to get a discount on anything else #April2021
 

Looks like Cozumel! And to be perfectly honest I do not care where it is, your view beats mine any day of the week!!  Its in the 40's here with high winds, and I have to make my own bed, clean my own room, and cook my own food!!
 

I always bring our own snorkel gear. We know the state of repair of our equipment, we know it fits us and we know it is sanitary. Having been on many snorkel excursions, I was never impressed with the gear that was offered. If I'm paying money for a snorkel excursion, I don't wanted it wasted on crappy equipment. If you're looking to buy, try www.leisurepro.com. 

Just goes to show that everyone is different.  I hated the full face mask. I felt like I had to hold my head in a peculiar angle and changed it out for a regular mask immediately.  

We bought full face snorkel masks from Wildhorn Outfitter via Amazon.
We have used the regular snorkel equipment many times and feel that the full face masks are easier for swimmers of any ability to use.  If you can breathe and float, you can snorkel with a full face mask.
hth

In Curacao, we did the island tour that included the Hato Caves, a small museum, and the Curacao liquor factory. Very reasonably priced and enjoyable. It was through RCI.
 

81 days until Explorer.    
Green with envy  - all you lurkers with multiple cruise countdowns....  The increase in airfare took a chunk out of our vaca budget. ?
 

81 days until Explorer.    
Green with envy  - all you lurkers with multiple cruise countdowns....  The increase in airfare took a chunk out of our vaca budget. ?
 

81 days until Explorer.    
Green with envy  - all you lurkers with multiple cruise countdowns....  The increase in airfare took a chunk out of our vaca budget. ?
 

DH calls it my 'research' - my side hustle now that we are both retired.

DH calls it my 'research' - my side hustle now that we are both retired.

DH calls it my 'research' - my side hustle now that we are both retired.

Out of the nine cruises under our belts we have not had one issue with ANY sort of bugs.  Haven't even seen an ant onboard! Even if there was an issue I know enough to know that it would be handled by the staff onboard.  RCCL does an amazing job of taking care of their guests as well as their brand.  Bed bugs are a hot topic, and if they did have any issues and not take care of them promptly that would create some extremely horrible press for their brand.  You really don't have much to worry about!  Take your cruise and relax! Leave all the stress at home where it belongs! 
 

We were on Grandeur in February 2015 out of Baltimore for a Caribbean cruise - rough seas.  Witnessed a wave come OVER the windows of the Windjammer.   DH and I do not get seasick (thankfully) so it was a wild ride.  Captain's Corner was full of people asking if the ship could handle it.  He said absolutely yes, the ship could handle it and admitted it was the biggest wave he had ever encountered. 
One for our record books. !

We were on Grandeur in February 2015 out of Baltimore for a Caribbean cruise - rough seas.  Witnessed a wave come OVER the windows of the Windjammer.   DH and I do not get seasick (thankfully) so it was a wild ride.  Captain's Corner was full of people asking if the ship could handle it.  He said absolutely yes, the ship could handle it and admitted it was the biggest wave he had ever encountered. 
One for our record books. !

We sailed out of Vancouver, one of the top reasons was that the port fees and taxes were significantly lower. However, we flew into Seattle (from the East coast) as those flights were significantly lower. We did a one-way car rental up to Vancouver.  The drive up was so scenic - unforgettable.  We had a great time sight-seeing in Seattle.  

I was gonna suggest this too ... that we can enlist other members for ports that @Matt doesn't have access to for information, walkthrough videos, tips, etc.

As I was looking at ships originating from non-US ports, I found information about airports and transfers very valuable. 

I’d go even further. Save the money entirely and wait till you get back home and buy the jewelry from Costco. And @ChessE4if you ever want an entertaining read check out the stories about the Park Art Auctions  online when you get a chance.