ExArkie

The agent we use is not penalized by offering OBC. That is purchased by the travel agency (large agency, many bookings per line) as part of their arrangements. If she offers a discount, that would come out of her commission so I would never ask for one.

In a vain effort to wrestle this back to the topic, let me first say that I never knew that the elevator dings indicated its direction of travel. Good to know. Not specific to M/S class or to any ship, really, but if the elevator is going up and people have been waiting on it, do not get on and push the button for a lower floor. Some elevators will cancel the original direction and take the direction indicated by the first button pushed.

We just recently booked a 2025 transatlantic in a sky suite after they stopped including daily service charges in Retreat bookings. I signed up for the Celebrity card for the 30,000 points (advertisement on the app), which translates to $300 OBC. Combined with OBC from our travel agent, that would be enough “free money” to cover gratuities. I will spend enough on the card to get another small pot of OBC because I expect gratuities to increase again before our trip. There is no other reason to have the card, considering Celebrity Retreat has essentially priced itself out of our comfort zone, excluding a few deals like the one we booked, so we will not be frequenting the line in the future (this will be our third sailing with them). Extra Captain’s Club points would be meaningless to me. Other benefits mentioned in this thread (e.g., insurance) are covered adequately by other cards I already have.

@Lynnewob Thank you for that comparison. Azamara ran a “flash sale” earlier this year and we booked a 9-day westbound transatlantic in Club Continent Suite at a price for two of us that is close to (a little below) the best price per person we’ve obtained in QG for a 7-day TA. It is also well below half the usual Azamara price for that cabin, too. It will be our first time on their ship after several QM2 crossings, so I am thankful for your cogent comparison of the two.

Recharging all at once could be a measurable draw on ship's power...

From my experience, which includes seven or so cruise lines so is obviously a limited sample, NCL is the only one that specifies daily service charges (a.k.a., gratuities) must be paid with refundable OBC only and cannot be paid with nonrefundable OBC. We have been on NCL a couple of times; using nonrefundable OBC for daily service charges was not a problem eight years ago, but was forbidden last summer.

Years ago, I worked at one of the federal agencies housed on the Capitol Mall. Going out at lunch, it looked like the entire city was at a convention because everyone was wearing a lanyard. I prefer not to wear one, either, but I have pockets in everything I would wear in public.

Seems to be some variation here (I know Celebrity IT isn’t consistent…how shocking), since was also able to “reset” my new password to the same as the old one. Wonder what the determining factor is in whether that works?

I have an Android phone. After enabling wi-fi calling and using it once, I have been able to send and receive texts on wi-fi when off the cellular network.

My account also shows an “available” OBC that is not tied to a particular reservation. It looks the same as the first one on your list and comes from linking my AARP number to my HAL account. To apply it to a specific reservation, just book a new cruise and it will be automatically applied (at least in theory). No option to apply it to an existing reservation. That expiration date is related to the time you linked the accounts. Also, the $50 is the smallest amount of OBC one could get with AARP membership. Longer trips are given more OBC. I think our 15-day transpacific qualified for $200. I don’t know about your second OBC item, but with an expiration date for booking and sailing, is it possibly related to credit from a cancelled cruise? If so, I think that would also be applied when booking anew cruise and not applied to an existing reservation.

My experience was different. Prior to the upgrade bidding process, every free upgrade I received (there were several) was when I had a cabin number assigned. Some were a few months prior to sailing, often at or just after the final payment due date. My last Cunard trip was December 2022, so I have no expectation any of my experience is relevant after the bid for upgrades program was launched shortly thereafter.

"Mudbugs" - a term used when I was a child

My wife was also on the SS United States, late in 1958 or early 1959 (she was three years old), returning from Germany at the end of her father's posting there.

Because I hate not knowing things (I’m working on better acceptance of my ignorance, but it is difficult), I ran a search on the code. The only pertinent hits appear to relate to FCC from Global Suspension certificates. While these do not explain your particular issue, and I am fairly certain I don’t understand the explanations, these two links are what I found that offer any explanation:

And, as you imply, but did not specifically state, Q4 and higher all have a shower separate from the bath.