Kj9395

Thank you for the link!  

I recently booked my first Celebrity cruise on the Constellation. My adult children are interested in perhaps joining us, and when looking at available cabins, I noticed a difference from when I booked.  The cruise is after the “revolution” and is now showing an additional suite category; Sunset Suite.  It’s showing sold out on my sailing, but I am curious if anyone knows where the location would be, and what type of suite it is.  

Be sure and pull up your offers on a computer and not through an app on a tablet (ipad) or phone.  The app will narrow the number of items offered, so you might not think it is there but it is.  I haven’t found a way to get my app to show all offers available, so will try and check at least once a month.  

The great thing about AMEX points is you can transfer them 1/1 miles on Delta.  The miles are worth more than $150. I frequently get round trip tickets for 14500- 16000 miles which would cost $225-$240.

Just one of us bought OBC, and our credit was around $550, so not nearly as large as your friends, but fits your theory.  It’s the first time we haven’t used all the OBC, so I don’t know how princess determines how refund is processed.  We were told on board though, that we would be refunded by check, so maybe $500 is the cutoff from check to credit card, and we just didn’t spend as much the last night on board. We also only had 1 credit card for all cabin charges for the both of us, so maybe that played a part as well.

We received our unused OBC as credit card refund.  It was in August on the Royal, and we were told we would be getting a check in the mail, but then saw the credit on our credit card about 3 weeks after cruise.  

I thought I would update our experience disembarking in Edinburgh. It was the easiest I have ever had leaving a ship! We were told we could leave anytime and to let our steward know when we wanted our bags brought down to the tenders. We left at 9:30 am, and there wasn’t any line at this time. Our luggage was loaded after we got on the tender. When we got to the pier, we left the tender last, and our luggage was taken off and given to porters, who were there to take our luggage down the pier to the taxis.

We didn’t pre-book a car, but plenty of taxis were available. The fare was 25£ to our hotel which was across the street from St. Giles Cathedral, in Edinburgh and took about 35 minutes. I really recommend Fraser suites, if you ever stay in Edinburgh. It was an excellent location and very comfortable for the price.

We were just in London, and used American Express contactless cards. You can request the cards from Amex and we had ours in 2 days. They worked great for all bus trips in London, and capped at just under £5 a day. Both my daughter and I had our own cards, so no need to mess with getting an Oyster card. We also found cabs to be pretty reasonable and had some terrific conversations with a few drivers! Very impressed with how knowledgeable they were about London, and gave us some great suggestions as well. We would have missed visiting the new exhibit at Westminster Abbey, which ended up being the favorite thing we saw!

Great to see so many wonderful photos! Can’t wait to see the rest of your trip.

My daughter and I leave in 2 weeks for the same cruise and are so excited! We have also arranged pick up with Blackberry cabs. Which terminal did you fly into at Heathrow and was it easy to locate the driver?

I stand corrected. I asked a similar question on TripAdvisor and was told that where we will be docking is the pier area I am familiar with and an easy walk. I am glad that you all corrected that information given me!

Pier 91 was open for 4 years before I realized it was there! I think, whoever responded wasn’t really familiar with the pier, or because traffic is so AWFUL in the city, was suggesting it because it’s usually faster to walk in Seattle and it would be doable, but not enjoyable.

I have family member’s with mobility issues, so I see “walkable” a little differently than others might. Seattle is very walkable if you are going north or south, but going east is uphill and west downhill, so can be challenging to those not used to hilly streets. The waterfront to 4th Ave is pretty steep, but 4th Ave to 6th Ave not too bad. This is based off of the complaints I get from my family from Phoenix :)!

There is a downtown pier used by NCL that is very easy to walk to different downtown areas, but Princess docks north of the city and it would be much better to take a Taxi or Uber into town. Both are available at the pier. It may only be 3 miles, but isn’t particularly scenic, and a lot of it uphill!

Also, there is the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, which is about 35 miles away, and there is the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit next to the Space Needle at the Seattle Center which is really close. Both are really good, but the Chihuly garden and Glass is probably what you want if you want to do the Market as well. If you do take a taxi or Uber, I would just tell them you want to go to the Space Needle, so there is no confusion, and that is the closest drop off point to the exhibit, at Seattle Center.

After seeing Chihuly, and maybe the Space Needle if a clear day, I would take the Monorail to Westlake and walk downhill to Pike Place Market. A taxi would be $10-15 from the pier and monorail is $2.50 pp.

I only have experience with a couple of airlines and ez air. With Delta flights, I was able to choose my seats at the time of booking with ezair. After receiving my airline confirmation code, I went to Delta’s website and pulled up reservation. It was showing confirmed and with the seats I had chosen. I added my frequent flyer number which linked my e-mail to the booking. I got a reminder to check in for my flight, just like I do with flights booked directly with Delta, so very similar to booking direct. If you are a Delta Medallion member you will only get a small % of what you paid in MQDs, but you do get full MQMs. With my current reservation, I also called and made sure our two reservations were linked, so our seats remain together. My daughter and I each have a different confirmation codes for our flights, so hopefully that works.

With Virgin Atlantic, there was no option to select seats for economy during the booking process. I used the confirmation code and went to Virgin Atlantic, and all seats had to be purchased. Seats get assigned when checking in, and I don’t know how it will work, since it is for my father’s trip. He didn’t want to pay the $40 each, to choose seats, and they seem fine with wherever they are assigned. I did call to make sure they will be seated together, and also found out if you choose premium economy or business class, you can choose your seats immediately after booking.

We are on the July 12th Royal and they said they would be available on board.

That would be fantastic!

I am taking this cruise in August, and tried to do the same thing. I was told that Princess is only allowed to disembark a certain number of passengers at LeHavre due to French immigration. The bulk of that number will be passengers that embarked on the cruise in Le Havre.

At the time we requested a route deviation that number had been met, and I was told I could reapply at a later time to see if space had opened up due to cancellations. We just decided to disembark in Edinburgh instead and stay an extra day there before flying to Paris. Airfare was very reasonable, 90£ each, including seat assignment and luggage fees. Normally I wouldn’t leave so early on a cruise, but it was the only way we could spend three days in Paris. We just changed cabins to an obstructed view balcony, and that savings is covering our hotels in both Edinburgh and Paris so I ended up being happy I was denied Le Havre!

Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities, and now we will be able to enjoy another day. We have booked a couple of Fringe festival performances and will still be able to see the many historical sights.

This probably won’t be what most people would want to do as an alternative, but it is an option if you have limited time, and really want to spend a few days in Paris. It is actually easier to fly to Paris from Edinburgh,than Southampton since there are multiple carriers with nonstop flights throughout the day. We are in Paris much earlier than we would have been had we disembarked in Le Havre, so that’s a plus. It is my daughter’s first trip to Europe, so fitting Paris in was a priority for us!

I’m on the Royal in August, and the Internet by minute packages are showing available for purchase. I was really hoping it would change to the unlimited!

Thank you for your quick reply. That is what I was afraid of. Family cruise using 3 cabins....I do not want my husband or I to have to be in every pic. Thanks.

If you have one of your children assigned to your room, you could have children only photos. They don’t have to sleep in the cabin, they can sleep where ever you had planned, but it will give the option for the photos.

When we travel with our kids, who are adults now, we have room booked as son and husband, and mother and daughter. That way we get loyalty perks in both cabins, but it would work for the photo package and we would have just about every combination covered! I haven’t tried it yet but maybe the next cruise we all take at the end of 2019.

I wouldn’t worry, if the offer shows up again, you’ll be able to add it to your card. I’ve done the same offer each time it comes available.

I tried to use the AMEX offer (three cards) on a cruise booked through a big box store. They reminded me that they do not accept AMEX cards. They also indicated that I could not pay Princess directly because the cruise was booked through an agent. Disappointed.

 

But thanks for all the great info posted here.

You can go to your booking through cruise personalizer and purchase $500 in Onboard credit.

The Uber pick up point at SeaTac is in the parking Garage on level 3. When they come out to main terminal, they will be on the Ticketing Level. The skybridge to the Garage is between ticketing and baggage claim level. To reach there is an escalator just past ticketing and once you cross the skybridge you take another escalator down to the third level. There are signs telling you where to go, in the garage for pick up.

I think Uber premium (select and Black) will pickup curbside at the terminal, but would probably be twice the regular fare.

I just re-fared a cruise with a non refundable deposit. I was told as long as there is a cabin in the exact category as what you have, they will give you the current price. This was the second time re-fared, the first time the promotion perks were lost, but the savings more than compensated.

If your parents are using Uber and are arriving after noon, they might be able to drop off right in front of the terminal, but usually they have to drop off at the same place they pick up passengers. The drop off /pick up point is on the other side the first building you see after the taxi/shuttle bus area. It’s not far, if you prefer Uber, but a taxi is usually about the same price. Unless your parents live in the greater Seattle area, then it probably would be the more cost effective way.

I like Rubens at the Palace. It’s right across the street from the Buckingham Mews, really close to tube stations, and parks. We would have stayed again this year, but have free night at Conrad St. James, which is also a great hotel, but larger more modern design. Rubens is historic building, with unique furnishings, and comfortable but not large rooms. The executive rooms are largest and most have views of the Mews. We had just excellent service, very friendly and helpful. Great buffet breakfast and good afternoon tea.

This is just for the outbound Sea-LHR, round trip (returning from Paris) was around $2800 nonstop or $2300 with a connection. I had enough miles for 2 business class from Cdg-Sea for the return. My daughter is in Salt Lake and I’m meeting her there for the nonstop and the tickets were same price, which I thought was really strange but I agree It is a great price! I’ve checked a couple of times and it has gone up a bit to $1172, but that is still low.

Delta’s DeltaOne is probably more like business class, they just changed the name, when they redid the cabins. I have never flown in a real first class cabin overseas since I usually fly Delta, but it will be nice for the 91/2 hour flight!

Caribill, thanks for info, and Howard thanks for the pics! Nice to have another use for my nail clippers !

Do any ships have 3 prong outlets or are they all 2 prong? I just bought multi usb with 3 outlets that is said to be made for cruises but it does have 3 prongs