sonoma03

Also the packages like Princess Plus offer a discount compared to separately paying for the gratuities, WiFi package, and drinks package. But if you aren't going to make use of all the benefits, you are probably better off paying for things separately. I did the math on the last 10-night cruise that I took on Princess, and since my husband and I don't drink alcohol, it was far cheaper for us to just pay the gratuities and buy one WiFi package to share, and pay for any drinks individually if we actually wanted one.

My TA was able to book the Americas Sale fare and provide $250 OBC per cabin for an obstructed oceanview cabin for an Alaska cruise on QE this summer. Definitely worth it for me to book with the TA instead of directly with Cunard.

Thanks everyone, and thanks to bluemarble for the suggestion to wait until the second day to buy the package; that's a great idea.

I am booked on the QE for an Alaska cruise in August, and I intend to buy the Essential Internet plan for $18/day, but was wondering if they ever put it on sale. Is there any benefit to buying it before sailing vs. buying it on board? If I buy on board I can use my OBC which would be preferable. Thanks!

In case you haven't found it yet, here is the information: https://www.cunard.com/en-us/advice-and-policies/standard-cancellation-refund-policy

Only for certain voyages. I asked Cunard specifically about the Queen Elizabeth since I'm considering an Alaska cruise on QE. They said there are no dance hosts on Alaska or Australia voyages. They do have them on repositioning cruises and Japan itineraries.

I will be doing the tour on Feb. 20. Hope my experience will be as good as boeckli's. I also prebooked because other excursions were getting sold out. I noted the 24 hour cancellation policy and intend to watch the weather as we get closer.

My husband and I are booked on a tour with Monarch Wildlife Cruises and Tours. The 2.5 hour Cruise to Sea Wildlife tour is NZ$120 per adult, NZ$100 for children 5-14, with pick-up and drop-off at the cruise terminal in Port Chalmers. https://www.wildlife.co.nz/cruise-to-sea-wildlife

Taxi will be more expensive than we want to pay. Not sure about using Uber; I will need to get a local SIM card and set up that phone number in my Uber account which is currently based on my U.S. phone number that won't work in NZ or Australia.

If Celebrity doesn't honor the set dining time, is there any way for me to reserve a time in advance? I don't see a way to do it in the app. When I go to the Web site and try to reserve, it says "Dining time already set" and won't let me make a reservation. Do I have to switch to anytime dining?

I will be on the Celebrity Edge in February stopping at Lyttelton, and I've been reading some conflicting information about transport and shuttles there. My understanding is that there will be a free shuttle to Lyttelton, and paid shuttles from the cruise terminal to Christchurch. The local authorities are strongly discouraging cruise ship passengers from using the local buses because they swamped the capacity of the bus system last season which was bad for the locals. But I have not found a good way to visit both the gondola and Christchurch city center without using the local bus. The ship's excursion to the gondola is a round-trip shuttle so it doesn't go into Christchurch, plus it's expensive. There is a shuttle that goes from Christchurch to the gondola and back, but it only runs once per hour and it wastes time and money since I have to pay for one shuttle from Lyttelton to Christchurch and a second from Christchurch back out to the gondola and then back to Christchurch, and the gondola is far closer to Lyttelton than to Christchurch. Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative besides taking the public bus? Thanks!

During the application process in the app, there was a question of whether you plan to stay in NZ and visit. If you said yes, you are charged the $35 IVL fee in addition to the $17 eTA fee so you should have paid NZ$52 if you are visiting in NZ and not just passing through.

My husband and I are booked on the Celebrity Edge in February and we have Celebrity Select Early Dining at 6 pm. I saw that there are 4 main dining rooms on the Edge and each of them have their specialty starters, entrees, and desserts in addition to serving what's on the daily menu. Since we have the set 6 pm dining time, will we be assigned to one of the 4 restaurants at the same table for the entire cruise like in the old days of traditional dining? If so, can we still order specialty items from the other 3 restaurants so that we can try them, or will we need to do anytime dining at one of the other restaurants if we want to try their specialty items? This is the first time we've been on this class of Celebrity ship so I'm not familiar with how the main dining works. Thanks!

I was just there today, and there was no luggage storage that I could find either in the VIA Rail station or the bus station. I asked the clerk selling bus tickets and he said they no longer have luggage lockers at the bus station.

The FAQ states that the $5 room service fee applies to each order placed by stateroom phone, so if you order using OceanNow, the $5 fee should not apply.