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SpicyCherry

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Posts posted by SpicyCherry

  1. 59 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

    Check out our new schedule.  No Labadee…Nassau instead.  Emails sent out today

    Got it….I was so looking forward to Labadee for the 1st time. Oh well😤 We’re doing a B2B so will have the exact same itinerary on the 2nd leg. Good thing we love Symphony…looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of her🤓

  2. 30 minutes ago, TexanTwoStep said:

    I just cancelled all of my excursions at Labadee for our cruise in June so I wont get stuck with OBC.  I really doubt that there will be ships going to Labadee any time soon.

    Our sailing is in May on Symphony and we’re thinking of doing the same thing. We booked a Cabana on Labadee and really don’t want an OBC for that.  

  3. Maaaaaaaaaaan!! I have a Hilltop Cabana and the all-day Dragon Coaster booked as a surprise for my husband. Will have been our first visit to Labadee. Sailing in May and haven’t received a cancellation yet but certainly not confident we will actually get to go….not sure we want to at this point either😖😩

  4. In Orlando, we were planning on skipping it, but I decided to book the Daytona Speedway Tour for my DH. He likes everything Fast & Furious and we’ve actually been to 1 Daytona 500. But I figured, if I wanted to continue to vacation in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed (Did anyone say Suite Life?) I should pick something he likes to do every once in awhile 🤭😂

  5. 44 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

    Entertainment reservations are open!

    Thanks….I literally checked last night and it wasn’t open yet. What is missing from the App is anything Dining. I usually like to decide in advance which evening I want to dine at Specialty, CK or MDR. Having those menus is a huge help. Anybody know what’s going on there?

  6. 7 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

    This is pretty fun…counting down on the roll call!  But wondering where are all the cruisers for this one?  I heard there is quite a group on the Facebook roll call but since I am not a social media ‘mogul’…this is all I can do!

    80 DAYS TO GO….

    I’ve got the “Cruise group” coming over this Friday night to talk cruise details.  To keep the kids busy…they will be tasked with making personalized magnets for their doors!  

    I LOVE your countdown…keep it up!! I’m not on Facebook either so this thread is all I got!! Works just fine for me🤓

  7. 4 hours ago, Last2Know said:

    Yep, my favorite place to relax too.  I've often contemplated bringing a packable hammock and getting super boogie like Virgin.  

     

    3 hours ago, Psycho and Barb said:

    We always bring our Hammock...Even on our Alaska cruises.

    Hammocks are such a great idea 💡!! What is the best ways you’ve found to attach it on the balcony??

  8. We just got off Summit for the Inaugural Chris Botti At Sea Jazz Cruise this past Thursday. Once again, the service was excellent….at the bars(especially the Martini Bar), in the Oceanview, in the Main Dining Room, Specialty restaurants. The Retreat Lounge and Sundeck also had outstanding service. Now our only complaint was that our stateroom attendant, for some unknown reason, kept forgetting to leave washcloths in our cabin. Why I ask you, did he repeatedly forget that one item? Who knows but it wasn’t the end of the world, in the whole scheme of things. So not quite sure what went on on the Reflection but it’s too bad you had such a disappointing experience. 

  9. 9 hours ago, Plasticbrain said:

    That I do not know, but I doubt they offer anything precruise. They will probably offer a airport drip off the day of debarkation, but not if you are staying longer is my guess. This is only based on my experience with Royal

    Thanks @Plasticbrain & @SMOKEY0202 That’s what I thought….I think they should start offering CruiseTours in Europe like they do in Alaska. That would be great!! A lot of people from the US tend to arrive in the departure city early and plan to stay in the city of disembarkation a few days so it would make sense. 

  10. You should get an email from the Suite Concierges about 7 days prior to boarding, as long as you are in a Grand Suite or higher. Make a list of the shows and specialty restaurants you want reservations for and they may be able to make it happen for you, even prior to boarding or at least by the time you do board. Usually the concierges are available about 4pm or so on the 1st day. Believe me, they can work some miracles at times.
     

    As for drinks, again as long as you’re in a GS or higher, you can get beer, wine, soda, water and specialty coffees from 11a-11p, without a drink package. 

    Allure is a beautiful ship. Enjoy!!

  11. 3 hours ago, barbeyg said:

    Sorry it took so long to respond.  On our cruise, the stateroom attendant was referred to as the Retreat Host, but he was just an excellent stateroom attendant.  There are also Retreat attendants (concierge and others) that are always in the lounge (not sure what they are called these days) on duty (24 hours) in the Retreat, who are there to resolve any issues, if you are in the lounge and need them.  In addition, the Retreat head concierge should have a card in your cabin to call if you need anything.  That person does not fulfil the requests, but makes sure those are taken care of, if they pertain to something besides the cabin itself, which the stateroom attendant takes care of.  Hope that makes sense.  No butler, but excellent service for us.

    Yes this makes sense...We're used to the Suite Concierges and no Butler on Royal so sure this new arrangement will be just fine.

    3 hours ago, barbeyg said:

    Next two Celebrity bookings are:

    Celebrity Edge, Vancouver to HI, 9/2024 and

    Celebrity Ascent, 8 night Southern Caribbean (great pricing for 11/13/2023 in a SS -- it's up by $200 now, but still a sweet price for a suite)

    Next booked sailing is Beyond in December 2024 but close to booking a 12N Adriatic & Mediterranean itinerary on Infinity for 2025. Trying to get my brother and his family to go for their 1st cruise on a Celebrity ship and 1st trip to Europe. Hope I can!!

  12. On 11/26/2023 at 12:49 PM, Baked Alaska said:

    Hello everyone! 

    EDIT: After reading other reviews and adding costs, it's cheaper, and more allows more freedom to do this on our own.

     

    Has anyone done this excursion? How do we get back down from the Skyride (Paradise Point)? Do we take the Skyride back down, or do they mass bus us to the next stop? I'm considering doing this alone, but I wanted opinions on this excursion. 

    image.thumb.png.fcc7db7506689aa288ca66618095c961.png

    We just did this while aboard Wonder last month. The Museum and the Skyride are both in the same place. You can do one then the other. You will take a shuttle bus from the pier to the Museum/Skyride location. You can then stroll through the museum at your leisure then take the Skyride up to Paradise Point. Up there you will find souvenir shops, a bar and restaurant. The views were really spectacular, as we had a clear day. Then you take the Skyride back down to the Museum level, where you were dropped off. Your bus driver will tell you the time you will be picked up for your return to the ship. We were on one of the later tours and were slightly delayed getting to the location. As a result, the Museum staff made us aware that they were only still open because they were waiting for us. Therefore, we felt a bit rushed and didn’t spend as much time in the museum as we would have wanted. One of the reasons we rushed through the museum is because we were  given the impression that there was a long waiting time to get on the Skyride, which, as it turned out, was not the case. So we rushed for no reason. That was our only regret. Other than that, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon. 

  13. 8 hours ago, cruisellama said:

    On Edge class (pre policy change), we had a butler and a stateroom attendant (now the Retreat host per his card).  Under new operation, the butler is reserved for upper suites and the stateroom attendant (Retreat host) takes on duties that the butler would take on.  So if you want reservation - your attendant (Retreat host) can address (inexperienced attendants may not be comfortable with those tasks yet).   However, you can always go to the Retreat and have the concierge team address reservations and special requests.   On solstice class last month, we only saw the attendant - Retreat host.  The butler left a card in the cabin but stopped by the entire cruise.  The attendant (Retreat host)  took care of housekeeping as well as address any special needs like reservations.   We didn't notice an assistant attendant so he really worked - but still very attentive.  We felt no need to provide additional tips to any of the Michael's club (Solstice class) concierge - just didn't interact.  We have one more Solstice class trip booked.  If you want the "legacy" service experience, you have to book a Celebrity suite or above on any of the classes; however, the Edge class ships seem to have more robust Retreat staffs than the other class ships.  I'm sure what I'm describing may be a little different on various ships.  Sailed Apex (pre policy change) this year, Beyond (post change), and Eclipse (post change).  Reduced service was definitely noticeable on Eclipse.

     

    43 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

    Our cruise on Beyond, our cabin steward took care of things like ice in the bucket, hangers, etc.  He seemed to always be working.  We had the Retreat host's card for anything else, and those requests were handled thru the Retreat.  We don't make many requests, so didn't notice any decrease in service ourselves.  For us, we were happy not to have to meet with the butler from time to time at the cabin.  

    We still got a treat in the cabin for the birthday, had the bottle of champagne waiting, the rose on the table, and chocolates each night, one of which was the specialty chocolates onboard.  

    Thanks @cruisellama and @barbeyg….so what I’m seeing from you both, I think, is that Sky Suites no longer have butlers. To be clear, though, are saying that the stateroom attendants are now called Retreat Hosts or are the butlers now  called Retreat Hosts? Only having one is fine with us because we don’t require much ‘butlering’ anyway. But we loved the additional service for those ‘just in case we need…’ moments. We’re on Beyond next December, in a Sky Suite, so we’ll see if it makes that big of a difference. 

  14. 8 hours ago, cruisellama said:

    We sailed just before the change from butler to retreat hosts.  We observed service on the Edge class Sky Suites  is better than last month's Solstice class Sky Suite with "host".    Retreat on Beyond (and other Edge) "up" the experience on the ship.

    So when we were on Edge last December, in a Sky Suite, we had a Butler and a stateroom attendant. The SA took care of our room and the Butler handled everything else, from room service orders to reservation reminders to any issues that came up to making sure our favorite nightcap was waiting for us each evening. So are Butlers now called Retreat Hosts and do you still have a Stateroom Attendant as well?

  15. 11 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

    I absolutely agree. 

    Right now I'm in no rush to book any Icon class ship, I'll take any Oasis Class over Icon any day.  

    For me it has nothing to do with price its just the fact Royal is really leaning in heavily into families with small children or children in general that is a buzz kill for me when it comes to Icon.  The number of children on an Oasis Class ship is about as many as I'm willing to deal with but Icon appears to take it to a whole different level.  Thanks but no thanks Royal.  I'll still with Oasis Class, Freedom Class, Quantum Class, and Voyager Class ships until project discovery comes to fruition.  I'm hoping project discovery isn't a mega class overrun with children cruise ship.

    Yea Mon!! My sentiments exactly. My brother and family(adult kids) are booked on Icon and invited us but while we love traveling with them, Icon doesn’t appeal to us right now for the exact same reasons you mentioned. I think you’re right about Icon being taken to a whole new level!! We’ll wait for Utopia. We were on Wonder for a B2B starting Nov 5 and there were a ton of kids but not too overwhelming for us. Even in the Suite Lounge, there were more kids than we were used to. And at times there were preteens just hanging out in the Suite Lounge. (I was thinking: With all the stuff for kids to do on this ship, they’re in HERE? What, for the Lattes?)Not causing noise or trouble but was just weird.😵‍💫🤔 That’s another reason we migrate over to Celebrity from time to time.

  16. 11 minutes ago, Vlad said:

    How did you book celebrity to get OBC? Can't really find group rates on Celebrity. Much easier with Royal.

    If can't say it here, maybe private message... 

    I can say….We booked Beyond while on the Edge in December 2022. So we got $300 OBC for booking a Suite while onboard. Then, at that time, booking a Retreat Suite in general, got you a $400 per person OBC and then a Promo offered at the time(probably a non-refundable fare) got us another $200 per person OBC. So we wound up with like $1500 in OBCs. And you can bet your sweet bippy were a-spending it!! If you book now, they’re only offering premium drinks and Wi-Fi, no OBC or gratuities. 

  17. 17 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

    I wasn't very impressed by @AshleyDillo's recent live blog or @Matt's recent review from the same sailing but we all have our preferences.

    I also love Oasis class and don't like change so there's that too. I hope Celebrity works out for you (and hope that I can afford RC in Summer 2025 and beyond, lol).

    Well I wasn’t impressed either with their reviews and I have been on many Celebrity ships. But what you said is very true: “we all have our preferences.” We love Celebrity but it’s not for everyone. We love it because we find it has the atmosphere we are looking for, which is less children. Not everyone would find that appealing which is fine for them. 

  18. 9 minutes ago, Vlad said:

    With prices as such. Thinking more about booking Celebrity for 2025. 

    They're considered premium and used to be more expensive than Royal Caribbean. But now when Royal just wants to double the prices altogether, Celebrity is cheaper on so many itineraries. And new Edge ships are pretty good. Food is better as well. 

    I hear ya @Vlad…we sail Celebrity a lot actually. Sailed Edge last year and going on Beyond this year. Yes, Celebrity is a bit pricier but, IMHO, you get more bang for the buck. For example, we usually upgrade to at least a GS on Royal to get the full suite experience but on Celebrity, the Sky Suite(equivalent to a JS) allows full Retreat access AND includes Premium Beverage package and Premium Wi-Fi(since my Beyond was booked prior to the change, also includes gratuities and  $800 OBC). To me, it’s worth paying more and the Edge Class ships are gorgeous. We find the food better as well.

    Honestly too, Royal is out-pricing itself for Caribbean itineraries. My DH announced while we were on Wonder 2 weeks ago, that he was tiring of the Caribbean and is ready for other destinations. So Europe and Alaska, here we come. Pricing for those itineraries aren’t too bad. Celebrity Mediterranean itineraries are much more exciting and have better pricing too.

  19. 2 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

    Royal thinks they can maximize profits this way. Short cruises are overpriced, 2 stops per week at CocoCay, etc.

    Certainly are overpriced!! Do you think they will offer longer itineraries eventually? 
    And since we’re in Long Island, keep sending those Big Mamas to Bayonne!! So excited Symphony will be here next year. Doing a B2B on her for our 35th anniversary in May and will be a 8/7 Nighter too. 

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