SebagoSue

You can book one comedy show in the small venue, Comedy Live and a second comedy show in the larger Amber Theater. It will likely be the same two comedians in both venues, but they typically change some or most of their material for the larger theater.You are not able to pre book two shows in the smaller Comedy Live venue.

There are no reservation times for any meals at Luminae. You can just walk up and except for the most busy times, you will be seated right away. We have never had to wait more than a few minutes at any time. You can also ask the hostess for the same table or wait staff area so you will get the same team helping you at each meal. (They won’t necessarily save the table for you, but will get you the same area.) I believe once you ask the first time, they will put it in your record and it will happen automatically thereafter. The entire team at Luminae is amazing and the service top notch. You are also able to order some classic type menu items that are not on the menu. Enjoy!

@Smokey79 You sound just like me! I am always the planner for our cruises and am used to being self sufficient and concise when I respond to the concierge email because I know just what I want. So this first Star class cruise with Nityam was very different for me. By the end of our 3 days, I enjoyed every moment of the pampering and felt confident Nityam would always be there and I could just relax. He will definitely communicate more as you get closer to your cruise. The other thing I would mention is to read the long email he sends at the outset very carefully. I thought I knew the deal, but the day before the cruise when I reread that email I picked up a couple things that were helpful.

We had Nityam as our genie on our first Star class sailing last weekend. He was FANTASTIC! We never received that survey, but found Nityam to be excellent with both pre cruise communication, as well as onboard communication using the WhatsApp app. We absolutely loved every moment of our cruise with Nityam. If Nityam is your genie, rest assured you will be very well cared for and he will make magic happen.

@ScottDAny of the Edge class ships would be a great way to try Celebrity. I would expect the XCel to be most like Beyond or Ascent, which have some changes from the Edge. Also, I would liken Edge class ships more to Quantum class than to Oasis class in size and feel. Celebrity is very adult oriented. While you might see a few children, there aren’t many except for Holiday cruises. Typically there are shows in the main theater at 7:30 and 9:30 each night. There are also shows in Eden around 10:30 and other events, games, etc in The Club throughout the day. You won’t find a pub singer or lots of late night action as on Royal, so for some people it may be too calm. We find Celebrity to have better food than Royal in all venues. if you like to sail in suites, the Retreat experience is amazing. We sailed Celebrity for the first time last year and going forward we will be splitting our cruises about 50/50 between Royal and Celebrity as we love the activities and entertainment on Royal and love the relaxation on Celebrity. @Matt did a great review recently of his Thanksgiving sailing on Apex and talked about the differences between the two lines. if Xcel is a great deal for the maiden voyage, I say YOLO book it!

Not Voyager, but we had an overnight in Istanbul in October sailing on Celebrity Beyond and the gangway was open all night. The port area is beautiful, with lots of restaurants and shops. At certain times in the Fall, they even have free open air concerts at the port in the evenings.

The Edge class ships like Beyond have 4 MDRs with some different menu items in each, as well as some of the same items in all. While it appears that you can reserve dining times, in actuality they are doing it all as walk up. It never takes long to get a table. If you have a large group, you may want to talk to a host in advance. As far as specialty dining, you can definitely make reservations once you board. Try to make them as early as you can once you board. The two that will be the most difficult to get usually are Eden and Le Voyage. I have also had luck asking at the restaurant during the cruise as they sometimes have cancellations.

I agree with everything @SMOKEY0202 said, it’s definitely personal preference. But unless you love going to the spa, $2,600 would buy quite a bit of specialty dining as well as perhaps a one day spa pass. I love all the specialty dining restaurants on Celebrity ships, so for me, I’d go with the regular veranda and add specialty dining.

New 2025-2026 Celebrity deployments are out today for booking.

So would this likely mean Symphony and Odyssey will have northeast home ports in winter 2026 and Wonder would be 3/4 night or longer Caribbean?

We were on Symphony last week and experienced the same as @LLW2683. The shrimp cocktail was the only difference. There was no filet. Some other items at the small buffet were burgers, hot dogs, jerk chicken, watermelon/feta salad, cheesy bread, some desserts and fruit. There may have also been a shrimp salad?

@JasonOasis Suits are definitely not required and you will see a mix of attire, even on chic nights. Most restaurants just require long pants, instead of shorts. Nice jeans or pants with a polo or nice shirt are perfect. (Thats my husband’s standard attire at dinner on Celebrity.)

Yes, another Edge class. The deck plans show cabins only at this point, so not sure what changes they are making in public spaces. They are adding more Sky suites and celebrity suites, while reducing the number of veranda cabins, which is interesting.

New Celebrity ship launching November, 2025.

Hi @Neesa! Just returned from a Med cruise on the Beyond in a Celebrity Suite and have also done Sky Suites on Apex and Beyond, so hopefully I can answer questions you have about those ships. We have only sailed on the Edge class ships. From my experience, you will LOVE the Retreat experience on Celebrity. The Retreat (suites) start with the Sky Suites and move up to the Iconic Suites. Aqua class (not Aqua Sky suites) are not considered suites in the Retreat, but they do have spa benefits as well as a special dining room called Blu that many guests really like. I believe Concierge class are all IV cabins just below Aquaclass with some concierge benefits and some better locations. The Retreat concierge is different from the concierge class concierge. The Retreat dining experience in Luminae is beyond compare and like a specialty restaurant, except with crew that gets to know you. In fact, we had the same primary waiter this cruise as we had in April. I think the food is significantly better than CK on Royal. They are open every breakfast and dinner and lunch on sea days. They also serve a limited menu on the Retreat sun deck. In addition to the changing nightly dinner menus, they have classics like French onion soup, shrimp cocktail, filet, steak and salmon. The Retreat sun deck on Edge class ships is awesome. It’s a full experience, more so than the suite sundeck on Royal. Roving drink servers, crew to set up your lounge towels ( not needed, but wow!), fruit kabobs every morning and sorbet every afternoon delivered to your lounge chair, nice sized pool on Edge class ships, umbrellas when not windy, full bar service. We don’t hang out in the Retreat lounge too much, as there are so many great areas on the ship, but it is a beautiful, very comfortable space. It has 2-3 concierges, full bar, full glass windows for spectacular views, snacks at various times of day. Butler service is amazing. There have been some slight changes initiated recently that affect Sky Suites and Aqua Sky Suites. Their service is now by a Retreat “Team” instead of one personal butler so it’s still TBD how that will work out. But for Celebrity Suites and above, you get a personal butler who may have about 9 suites to service. They will truly do whatever you need similar to a genie. Some people use them much more than others, having a butler walk them to dinner, meet them at a show ensuring a drink server provides what they need, etc. Others, like us, may use them for a special afternoon snack like a cheese plate delivered to the room or coffee and pastry from Cafe al Bacio delivered before an early morning excursion. (One morning this cruise the DH went for our coffee and our butler ran down the hall to unlock the door when he saw him returning, saying please let him always get it for us.) He also decorated the room and brought a special cake when he knew it was our anniversary. The butlers also are at the main theater on chic nights to greet their guests and save a section on the upper floor for the Retreat guests. As far as Sky Suites and Celebrity suites, here are some thoughts. Suites on Edge class ships have regular balconies, not the Infinite Veranda type that is more like a window. Size wise a Sky suite is about the same as a junior suite. But it has full suite/Retreat benefits (other than the butler change noted above). There are different versions of a Sky Suite, like a Magic Carpet Sky Suite or an Aqua Sky Suite, but the room itself is essentially the same. Celebrity suites have a separate bedroom, I believe always with a door. They also have a 2 part bathroom which is helpful with 2 people getting ready. These remind me of a grand suite or owners suite perhaps. The suites above Celebrity Suites are considered premium suites and get some additional benefits like free specialty dining and 2 bottles of alcohol. The Celebrity experience is definitely more for adults than families so we will continue to do both Celebrity and Royal. But the Retreat experience is fantastic!

Hi @theapple477! Congratulations on booking your first cruise! You made a great decision booking it on Royal. This is a great site for asking these types of questions. Yes, the gratuities ($80+$80) are in addition to the port fees and taxes. They will be automatically charged to the credit card you put on file with Royal for onboard expenses. Usually you will see them show up daily as a $16 charge on your onboard account. As @smokeybanditsaid, there is really no reason to pay them in advance, unless you don’t want a bill at the end of your cruise. As far as dining times, many people like My Time Dining because they either like the flexibility of dining at whatever time they want on a particular day or they don’t like how early or late the traditional dining times are. These are typically 5/5:30 for early or around 8:00 for late dining. A big benefit of traditional dining is having the same table and wait staff every night. Even if you have My Time Dining, you can make reservations for a particular time in the app or in the cruise planner. If you decide you would prefer a traditional time, just contact your travel agent or Royal and if they have availability, they can make the change for you.

Thanks for posting @smost. The beach club passes finally dropped today for my 2024 cruises as well. The least expensive was $235.99.

Congratulations! I think choosing to cruise for your honeymoon is a fantastic idea and truly either ship will be great. We absolutely love all the Oasis class ships for all the reasons stated by everyone above. I never thought I wanted to sail on a Quantum class ship until I had a chance to do a 6 night on Odyssey. It was wonderful. I especially liked all the entertainment and early evening music. Enjoy!

@KathleenWhen you are planning your dining times, on most sailings the shows in the main theater are every night at 7:30 and 9:30. On the 2 chic nights, the theater will be packed, often early, as the shows are fantastic. There is a reserved section for suite guests in the balcony and the butlers will be there to assist. The doors open 30 minutes before the show. We found these seats to be fine and it was much easier leaving the show. Even with the reserved section, I would arrive at least 15 minutes before the show starts. The other two venues that have shows are Eden and the Club. The shows in Eden are late, around 10:30 or 11:00. The Club hosts game shows and other random entertainment. Both venues have somewhat limited seating so I would arrive early. Enjoy!

@KathleenI know that feeling! This was only our second Celebrity cruise ( Apex in Nov) and there are definitely some differences. I still love the energy of Royal and will probably always sail Royal with friends and family groups. But the Celebrity Retreat sun deck has me hooked. Maybe it’s the fruit kabobs they bring around in the morning and the sorbet they bring in the afternoon. Or it could be the way they set up your lounger towels and pillow. The staff really is amazing with the friendly service they provide. As far as pre cruise, my understanding is the concierge ( I think shoreside staff?) only reach out to certain levels of suites. Sky suites are usually not included. Although, we were in Sky suites on both cruises and I did get an email pre cruise from the concierge on Beyond, but not on Apex. Perhaps @cruisellama knows? But your butler will definitely find you on Day 1 and you can make any requests at that time. On this cruise we asked for some fruit, cheese and crackers to be delivered at 4:00 pm every day. It was a great snack while sitting on the balcony or getting ready. The butler delivered that as well as coffee and pastries we had ordered one morning. The butler and the suite attendant really worked well together as a team..We didn’t spend any time in the Retreat lounge or use the services of the concierge.

@KathleenYou will love the Beyond, especially in a Sky Suite with all the Retreat benefits. We loved going to Luminae for breakfast and many lunches. The food and service there are excellent. We did a 7 night cruise in April and had dinner in a specialty restaurant each night. Planning a future 11 night cruise on Beyond, we plan to eat dinner in Luminae about 1/3 of the nights. Le Voyage and Eden are exceptional and you should definitely try those. We also really enjoyed Raw on 5, Rooftop Grill and Fine Cut Steakhouse. Le Petit Chef is okay. The show is different, but we didn’t find the food as good as the other specialty venues. However, we did Le Grand Bistro for lunch one day and it was excellent. We didn’t do the Dinner on the Edge on the Magic Carpet. My understanding is they do it just one night each cruise, but it is often cancelled for wind or weather. You can just go out on the Magic Carpet to relax or get a drink anytime. We booked our dining individually rather than buying a package as we wanted to make sure to get the restaurants and times we wanted. My understanding is that either your butler or the concierge can make reservations for you, the only issue being you may not get the times you want. Also, Le Voyage is small and I’m not sure how many slots they hold back for onboard reservations. You will definitely have a butler with the sky suite, as well as the concierge in the Retreat Lounge. Enjoy your cruise!

We’ve stayed several times in grand suites on Mariner port side under the solarium and we never heard any noise. The only time we heard noise was when we were under the towel stand and constantly heard the carts moving the clean/dirty towels.

It’s good to see some sailings are showing the day passes for sale. But $283 and $321 are both a bit crazy!

I haven’t seen any CBC day passes available in the Cruise Planner for 2024. All the normal cabanas and other items are available for purchase. Are day passes showing up on anyone else’s 2024 cruises? Or does Royal have another plan? Like maybe once Hideaway Beach opens they turn the Beach Club into a suites only area unless you buy a cabana there, similar to Barefoot Beach on Labadee? Just a thought.