emagdnim900

Summit for sure, better itinerary and smaller ships are better in my opinion.

we have a 1 mnt trip booked Europe cruise, that goes to Italy, spain , france (Marseille) , Greece, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, we leave sept 1 2016

 

and more attacks today what do we do cancel?

No, you go on your trip and enjoy it. You let them win if you cancel, go and have fun

Hello all,

 

I’m generally kind of a lurker, so this is my first CC post.

 

I am the primary planner for an Alaskan cruise on the Solstice with the extended family. (Party of 5.) My mom and I have one cruise under our belts, a short 3-day Disney Bahamas cruise. My mom gets seasickness, so we did the short cruise to test the waters, so to speak. Since our only real port day was Nassau, we didn’t even bother looking into excursions. This Alaska cruise will be the first ever cruise for the other three members of the family. Since cruising is new to so many of us I’ve been reluctant to commit to prebooking excursions. I have no idea what everyone is going to think about this new vacation experience. Two of us are definitely interested in doing excursions, but I just don’t know how the others will feel once the cruise is underway. Basically I’m afraid to prebook excursions because of the upfront payments and I’m afraid people might change their minds at the last minute. (Like someone might just want to say onboard the ship, someone else might just want to walk around town, etc.)

 

So what I’m wondering is, how realistic is it to wait until the last minute and book excursions onboard? Since we’re all pretty much newbies I think everyone would be more comfortable booking through the cruise line, even though it may cost a little more than private vendors. The kinds of excursions I was looking at weren’t very fancy. No float planes or helicopter tours. A couple of us were looking at a zipline, Mendenhall Glacier, and the White Pass Rail/bus combo. I'm thinking if we wait until we're onboard we could have some flexibility in our plans, but I know there's a danger that the excursions that interested us could sell out.

 

 

 

Any thoughts or advice?

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

.

If you can hold out and purchase trips once at port it will save you some money! If you go on a private tour just make sure you go early in the day to ensure plenty of time to re-board the ship

Tim

Any restaurant recs for Victoria? Tim, you mentioned fish & chips... Just curious about some places so eat that is walkable from the ship.

Thanks!!

Alaina

Hello! The famous Barbs fish & chips at fisherman's warf is a great spot. It's surrounded by house boats and you can even feed the seals.

If the weather is not the best try going to Bard and Banker pub.

I just received an email from Celebrity indicating that they have cancelled my cruise for September. Absolutely no reason given just a generic line "There has been a change to your cruise reservation or guest status"! Wow is this normal? This would have been my 2nd cruise with Celebrity and now I am rethinking ever booking with them again. This was a Mediterranean cruise and flights need to be booked far in advance with a no refund policy or a large cancellation charge. This seems like bad service; especially with NO info.

Very disappointed with Celebrity

Are you sure its not just a port change?

Hi Tim from Canada here. I worked worked in tourism for many years. Everyone will accept your US Money here in Canada but as said you may not get best exchange rate. I would go to your local bank before hand and get some Canadian just for the heck of it though. Also in Canada your standard Visa/Mastercard will work.

Great advice, Tim! (See you in April!)

 

Mark.

Not problem, go for a beer at the Bard and Banker!

Eclipse 14 day sailing 60 days out on 4/3/16 still has 100 unsold cabins (was over 200 last Friday). Booked my C2 two years ago with all the 123 perqs for $5000 (2 people). Last fall was over $6000, now down to $3500 w/residency discount. Ouch! At least there should be more room by the pool.

With nearly 40% hit on our Canadian $ it does hurt us. We however booked a year ago and it locked in our price, so we were ok.

Can I ask how you found out there are 100 un sold cabins? That's really great information...

According to our schedule the ship docks in Victoria at 5.30pm leaving at 11.59pm - but when I look at the shore excursions available - they are all geared up for daytime.

Anyone been and know whats right or wrong?

If it is evening - what recommendations do you have for Victoria?

Thanks CC folks:)

Hi,

I cruise with Celebrity but I also live and grew up here in Victoria. I would recommend to just enjoy the city and walk Government St and our Inner Harbor. Don't waste time by driving or being on a bus all the way to the gardens. Just enjoy our city and find some good food!

Tim

Hi, Can you book these packages Onboard rather then online?

Just because you didn't notice them really doesn't mean much, there are definitely mosquitoes and all it takes is one.

Not going to stop us. If my wife was pregnant sure but we will take our chances for now.

CNN reported on the outbreak of the mosquito born Zika virus spreading through the Americas and the Caribbean.

 

I cruised during the Chikingunga scare with two very young grandchildren,

We were worried.

We took every precaution and all went well. In fact we never saw a mosquito.

 

What are your thoughts? Are the cruise lines concerned?

That was my first thought, I have never seen a mosquito in the carribean.

You know how they always announce that if you are not back in time the ship will sail without you? Well they will.

 

So disappointed in Celebrity - even though we allotted six hours for a four hour drive, we ran into two long construction zones on the highway where the traffic was reduced to one lane and bumper to bumper on the way to Ft. Lauderdale - panicking, we called the emergency line and let them know that we were on our way. We were checked-in online and when asked, told them we would definitely be there between 3:30 and 3:45 (sailing was at 4PM). We arrived at the port at 3:35 only to be turned away by hired security. No one from the company was there, no one called the ship, nothing was done and we were left behind at the start of an 11 day cruise to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday. $1,200 and two days later, we finally joined the cruise in Cozumel. We asked for some consideration, possibly in the form of a credit for a future cruise, and were turned down flat. Corporate basically said, too bad, so sad, not their fault, have a nice day.

 

It is too bad because we have been sailing with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean for 20 plus years - we are Elite Captain's Club members - but probably never again. We really felt abandoned and dismissed. There has to be a cruise line out there that considers customer service and satisfaction to be their fist consideration and not the corporate bottom line.

 

Obviously,:( Celebrity is great at many things; great food, beautiful ships, excellent entertainment, good service on board - this was not their finest hour.

That really does suck! However I do not think Celebrity needs to compensate guests that arrive late.

yep that's right! no longer required! heard it from Celebrity reps!

I just booked another cruise last week and we have to pre pay still

In anticipation of my upcoming Celebrity cruise, I made a spreadsheet with all of the recommendations (and some anti-recommendation) from a the very informative "Favorite Food on Celebrity" thread. I tallied how many people recommended various dishes and listed that ranking next to the item.

 

I did my best to put each item under its correct dining location, but I haven't been on Celebrity before so I may have made some mistakes.

 

I would be grateful for any corrections and especially any additional picks and pans.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wHV17Gbyz7MLXFEEzNwqWnkAeh3gVJtaKQsb7Fj8SLM/edit?usp=sharing

 

Thanks!

Your mission is to eat one of everything! Have fun!

Does anybody know what types of beer/alcohol are included in the standard drink package? Are there a variety of drinks on the standard package available at CocoCay?

 

Thanks!

It includes lots of choices, for most people its all you need.. I think you will be pretty happy with options

Agree - Almost every TA will provide additional OBC. You can book while on board and cancel the other reservation with your TA if you live in USA. I wonder if with the hassle of then transferring it back to your TA it is worth it. Also dont know if you live in Canada or Australia and what the rules are there. Am sure different regarding cancellation and fees apply with TAs and in various countries.

Great information thank you! I am in Canada and I can cxl up to about 4 months no charge. My only concern is if they try are trying to book me a room on a ship I am already booked on. As I would most likely have to cancel my first reservation when I get home. I know booking on board is always best but with our falling dollar I would like to lock in a price now just in case

Thank you very much. I would be booking through a TA so it may be hard to cxl online while Onboard.

Hello, We have a cruise booked in 70 days and we're planning on booking another cruise Onboard. We have found a great deal on a cruise now however.

Do you know if we could still book on board if it is a better deal and cancel the one we might book today?

OK - help me out here. I am lost on what difference it makes if you booked your cruise in US $ or CDN $.

 

These are meant to be presents.

If I was buying several units at the shown price of $30.40CDN as a Bon voyage present to you, then that is the price I should pay - makes no difference to me, giving you a gift, if the cruise was booked in Canadian or American money. Also I should be able to use my Canadian charge card and see no conversion on it.

 

If it states 30.40CDN - then 30.40CDN it should be.

 

What am I missing here?

website says $30.60 we were charged $34.40.. You can use this option to top up your own obc and at 30.60 it was a good exchange rate.

I booked online for 30.40 but have not been able to check my CC statement yet - Just curious how much extra OBC they gave you to compensate for the error in case it happens to me as well

Because I have a printed statement indicating what the charge was if it is charged higher my CC company would do a charge back

Wondering which would be the better deal and course to take

Thanks

Only the difference of website and what was charged.. in my case $4.00 CAD per unit and I bought 7

Last night I was promised a confirmation email re the offer of obc to cover my overcharge but nothing came. Tonight I am being told I only have the original OBC I purchased online. The rep is telling me I will have to have my TA who booked cruise clarify if I have the additional OBC they gave me last night for the overcharge. Each different rep I have spoken to has a different story. Very frustrating.

 

That's no good. This I why I wanted my darn confirmation. Hopefully they find where it is on the account.... Let me know

 

My new lot form last night went through at 34.40. I called them and they said the rate is 34.40 and they are aware that the website says 30.60. They said the invoice cannot be adjusted so they worked out the difference in C$ for my 4 units and said I will be given additional OBC for the amount.. works for me!!

 

The website will be updated soon

 

 

That's how it went for me today as well. However they said they would send a confirmation after, they did but no mention of the obc on it..

Calling now and just talked to the Celebrity agent who says if you phone it in you get the rate that was on the day you booked the cruise . Funny she quoted me $34.40..

Anyway.. finally through to my credit card company and I was charged $30.60 per unit as on my receipt.

 

Did you book your cruise in US $ We booked in Canadian $

 

I am buying more!![/quote

 

 

We booked our cruise in Canadian dollars. After speaking to a third rep last evening I believe it is resolved to my satisfaction just awaiting a confirmation email. Sorry if I sounded like an alarmist I just wanted people to check their statements and be aware. Our first experience with Celebrity web site definitely they have issues!

 

I just bought some online last night. It had quoted me $30.60 CAD however the amount my credit card has been autherized for would equal $ 34.40 CAD per unit.... grrr.. How did you end up with a fix?

We've never booked a future cruise while onboard and I'm wondering just what the advantages might be. Do you receive a big onboard credit? Cheaper cabins?

Last time we booked onboard we got

$ 300 OBC for next cruise, Free drink package, free grats (123)

$300 OBC for current cruise

What a deal!