ExArkie

Why is there a scale on the ratings? If anything less than 10 is a failure, make the “scale” 0 to 1 (no fractions). That’s what it has become, either total success or abysmal failure, no middle ground.

24 minutes ago, NE John said:

The PG suite I walked away from was 5002, a larger and more square shaped cabin in the front of the ship. I was actually looking forward to checking that space out but this offer puts us in QG for the first time at a price I couldn’t refuse. 
Maybe Cunard wants us to spoil us with QG so we stay at that level going forward. 

I have long desired that cabin, but never seriously looked at a sailing where it (or its companion on the other side) is actually available. Impressed that you were able to get it in the first place.

A search for Port Canaveral might be productive. 

1 hour ago, doghog said:

Welcome to CC. 🍻

 

The CC search option is only an option to use. Nothing wrong with starting your own thread even on a subject that has been addressed many times. Especially if you can't find a related subject. If that was the case, for example there would only one extremely long dress code thread. I've been a CC member since 2001.😉

Usually, if the topic has been discussed recently, one of the first dozen or so posts in the new thread will give a link to the existing discussion.
 

Having CC search sort by date would be nice. 
 

2 hours ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

My TA will still give the discount in cash off on transferred bookings. Yours is just being rigid when they say “no, only OBC.” They likely have to “buy” the OBC anyways, so they may be getting a discount when they “buy” it, and want to use that transaction to beef up their revenue.
 

It works just the same on the transfer as when you book up front with the TA. They are in both cases obligated to the cruise line for the non-discounted fare amount, but only collect the lower amount from you and have to make up the difference from the commission amount.

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.

4 hours ago, groryjm said:

Not quite  In an upper suite it is actually 4 devices for each and every guest in the suite. So if 4 guests in suite the 16 devices!!!

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

7 hours ago, gvgseg said:

Yes, this is what I normally do. However, I want to make sure that the OBC can actually be applied to gratuities. I ran into a situation on my last cruise (on Norwegian) in which I didn't realize that one type of OBC must be spent onboard and couldn't be applied to gratuities. I didn't realize this until disembarkation day and was then forced into buying a very overpriced picture frame and photo because that was the only thing still open.

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.

1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I apologize that my original question seemed to offend people.  I don’t like wearing a lanyard because I have to for work but I have no care in the world what others do and certainly didn’t feel the question would offend anyone. 

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. 

On 4/13/2024 at 4:38 AM, vadell said:

I tried using the same password and it said you cannot re use the same password, I had to change password to be able to log in.

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?

6 hours ago, billc23 said:

It may be related to having wifi calling enabled. The new iOS 18 will support the RCS standard allowing texting from iPhones via wifi to many other non apple devices.

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. 

11 hours ago, s.s.France said:

A free upgrade is not very probable if you have already your cabin number. It can happen up to the point of check-in at the pier. Usually in the last 1-2 weeks before sailing.

But I wouldnt count on it.

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. 

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Crawdads, crayfish, mud puppies, etc.  by any name properly prepared they are delicious. 

 

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

15 hours ago, Kay S said:

Husband did the USS United States in 1965.  That wasn't cruising.  It was transportation to and from Europe.  (He was in steerage, of course!)

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:

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Q5s and Q6s do not have separate shower cubicles, and the one over the bath is not easily accessible as the bath is high sided. 

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

Post #5 in this thread has a photo of the deck 11 overhang:

This thread came up in my search for "waitlist," so I thought I might add a small bit to the discussion. My wife and I received something from Cunard (I forget if it was a mailed brochure or an e-mail) regarding recently released sailings. In looking at options, we found a round trip TA (NYC-Southampton-NYC) in December 2025 that had a reasonably attractive Grills price, certainly the round trip price was significantly less than the two one-ways that made up the trip. 

Attempting a dummy QG booking on-line gave me error messages regarding nonavailability of the cabins, which I thought strange given they had them listed for sale. For PG, there was a P2 cabin offered near the front of the ship (definitely prefer P1, given that the sleeper sofa in P2 takes up too much floor space). I called and was told that all QG cabins were waitlisted.

Playing around a bit, I identified at least nine QG cabins and several P1 cabins that were available for each of the one way routings. Our travel agent had no more luck than I in getting access to a waitlisted cabin.

We booked the P2 cabin that was offered (they are now showing PG guarantee as the only cabin for sale) and were added to the waitlist. Evidently, we are #5 on the list, if anyone believes that means anything.

It does appear to be relatively common practice to waitlist the longer trip and sell the shorter ones that comprise it.

My entirely selfish and somewhat mercenary preference is QV because the one time we sailed on her, we were upgraded to a Q4 (from PG). Our one sailing on QE, we were left in PG, although given a slight improvement in location within that category. 
 

16 hours ago, Petronillus said:

Last month, on Westerdam, we had the Signature package and were barely grazed by the recently increased prices. My bloody Marys were at or below the cutoff, and same for my Bombay Sapphires. Our Chivas Regals were also within the limit. For a couple of days the Crow's Nest was out of Chivas; when we switched to Johnny Walker Black, the upcharge was something like $0.59.

Just curious - I figure everything will be different by the time of our transpacific next Spring - you mentioned Chivas as included, even though it is not listed on the brochure referenced above. Evidently, it is a “many more” inclusion at the bottom. Are there any single malts available on either package?

Our booking came with the Early Booking Bonus, so we have the Elite package. I was hoping for at least one single malt to be included.

11 hours ago, PinkSandGirl said:

The new webinar link won't work for me either.  Tried multiple computers and browsers.  

 

When you go to the GoTo website it has a top banner acknowledging they are experiencing an unplanned knowledge.  

 

I'll keep trying. 

 

🍹

I know it was autocorrected, but I really like the idea of “unplanned knowledge.” 

In the following thread, Post #21 from January 6 this year says Eclipse dry dock is scheduled following the 2025 transatlantic.