bertrande

On Summit in early December of 2016 I attempted to do this and was told by guest relations they are no longer permitting OBC to be used towards additional gratuities. Brought this up with some fellow cruisers in Michael's Club and a couple others also tried and were denied. Not sure if this is now fleet wide (or even if it is permanent on Summit or was just something going on that particular sailing). Please report back if you are able to use the OBC for this purpose.

This would be a real bummer - we have a huge chunk of non-refundable OBC and with all 4 perks added, we were planning to use at least some of the OBC for additional gratuities. Whatever happened OBC being as good as cash whilst onboard. We sail in a week on Connie so will report back if it can be done. Fingers crossed.

MarLow17 we'll be on the same cruise :). Have you signed up for the Connections party? I'm taking my man on his first cruise and he really doesn't know what to expect, but I just know he'll love it. If the Constellation is as good as the Millenium or Summit, you'll have ball! Look out for the grumpy old Brit wearing an earring accompanied by an Asian guy, in the Martini Bar. That'll be us. Say hello!!

Oops, I guess we are on the same cruise as well, MarLow. Sorry, time warp here..I thought you were on the cruise immediately prior, which I guess is the one Snowy81 is on. See you onboard. :)

Keep it nice for us! We sail the first sailing of February and can't wait. I expect an older ship (but I have sailed the Legend of the Seas when it was really shabby so my expectations are already tempered) but am told it is a classy ship. We're looking forward to Ocean Liners and other meals and a great time of relaxation. Enjoy your cruise.

Below is my reply to a similar question on another thread:

 

 

 

'Before we booked our last Millie cruise, probably nearly 3 years ago now, we discussed our Asian cruise options with a Royal Future Cruise Rep. She was very informative and suggested we stick with X for the type of experience we wanted i.e. the more traditional X food and sailing as opposed to Royal's more immersive cruises. She stated that there was a definite difference and, depending on which we preferred, we should book accordingly .

 

 

 

We were also on the same sailing as Teamflames and were surprised at the amount of South Americans onboard, expecting the majority of pax to be Australian and perhaps a few more from Asia. In fact, it was a great mix of international cruisers :).'

 

 

 

We cruised this past Christmas and New Year and there were many families onboard (including ours), as expected ;).

Thank you! That's good news for us but not so good news for the in laws as they would prefer something more immersive. Oh well, can't please everyone!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Tagging on here, are the Asia cruises on Celebrity "modified" to suit (in the cruise line's opinion) local tastes like what RCL does for its China departures? In terms of food etc, is there a difference in offering (more family sharing style Asian options etc)?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

To all the parents who have sailed Celebrity with the kids, make sure you save the kids sea pass cards. At 18 they can join the Captains Club and get credit for all the under 18 cruises.

Urgh my firstborn has gone on one Celebrity cruise prior to our next and I can't find her seapass card!! I do have the fully paid email invoice from our TA back in 2014 - hope that is enough. I will start saving the rest from now. Maybe they should open club registration to the kids like what RCL does - makes it so much easier than having to keep track for 18 years. Thanks for the tip though.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I would also say book now. I'm on the June sailing and it seems like a popular itinerary - the prices of the S1 started at USD4399 and I think they're at USD4899 now, and itineraries were only released recently. Also, there doesn't seem to be any S2 availability left.

You can use OBC to buy Apple products. They do not come with UK plugs, you would need to buy those separately once you get home.

Thanks for the info!

Ooh can you use OBC to pay? Also, do they come with plugs that can fit into UK sockets?

Sorry, I've really never kept track. Very few reports of Ovation make it back here.

Thank you - will hopefully add to the information once we are back from the trip. I agree - very little information on the Ovation.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

There's no "typical" for when RC opens the various things. Keep checking the Cruise Planner.

Thanks Bob...should have guessed! In your experience, what was the latest these activities opened for booking?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We are less than 90 days out from our sail date and I have been checking Cruise Planner regularly. To date, the only activity that can be reserved is the Dreamworks Character Breakfast. Usually for our other cruises, activities open up for booking way earlier. Is this typical? Shore excursions, dining, internet and spa reservations are all open; it's only the paucity of "entertainment" available to book that got me wondering. Thanks!

I would recommend you make a reservation on most days at the time you desire. You can cancel the ones that you do not want when you are on the ship.

 

Enjoy the RS.

Good tip, thanks! Will look at the schedule again - we haven't really been focusing on the vacation as we have been so busy at work and at home (year end closing, audit begins, school re-opens, and then we have Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year holidays in a span of 5.5 weeks). We certainly hope to enjoy our cabin - we had the RS up until yesterday, when we paid the difference to upgrade to the PH. Can't wait!

On our upcoming sailing, my in-laws, nanny and second-born are in an S1 while DH, DD and I are in a PH. The nanny being the third person in the suite was "perked up" with 40 mins of free internet and a classic non-alcoholic beverage package. Being the second passenger in my booking (disregarding the fact that RS and above guests all get the premium alcoholic package since our very first cabin for this booking # was an S2) makes me eligible for the premium alcoholic package.

I am a teetotaller. The nanny OTOH would appreciate a few beers and some wine now and then. Since we have technically paid to have 1 classic non-alcoholic package and 1 premium alcoholic package, does anyone know if we can request Concierge or Guest Services to swap the package entitlement around on our cards? If not, is her package upgradeable and at what cost?

As DD is 5 years old, she does not need the complimentary internet - I am assuming we get some kind of code for our devices, which code I'll be able to pass to the nanny for her use? If not, is the free 40-min package upgradeable or do we just have to pay for an unlimited package for her?

Many thanks in advance!

The refrigerator is a full size double door Refrigerator/Freezer. You can use it for whatever you wish. I didn't find the butler ever used it except when we were having a party.

 

In addition you will have a full size wine refrigerator in the pantry.

 

One other Item I like is they have a microwave oven. Nice to re-heat coffee if it gets too cool.

Thanks for the tip on the microwave. The suite is starting to sound better and better. :)

Are you a Royal Suite or above that include the Specialty Dining without an extra charge?

 

If yes I would think they have made your reservation. They made my reservations as requested without a confirmation.

Yes we are, so specialty dining is included among the cabin perks. Otherwise we would have made them via the Cruise Planner. Thanks for the reassurance - still no confirmation from them so we will just wait and see!

Very large fridge/freezer. We are currently on the Constellation and we use the fridge as we please. I have my tablets stored in it. It also dispenses ice so it is a proper freezer.

You are welcome to use anything in the kitchen/butler's pantry. Love that space and having a full-size refrigerator/freezer! The penthouse on M class ships is a wonderful place.

That's great to hear thanks! I reckoned this was probably a once in a life time chance (famous last words...) and decided it was worth it for 14 nights with a reasonable number of sea days!

We were contacted by the shoreside concierge last week on our minibar preferences and reading the list of services provided (which included dining reservations at specialty restaurants), I had requested for a reservation to be made on Valentines Day for DH and I. It's been a week and we haven't heard anything from her. Is this typical in that it will all be as it is when we board or should we chase? This is the first time we have had access to the shoreside concierge so don't really know what to expect.

We have just switched cabins from a RS to a PH for our upcoming cruise and one of the things I noticed is that on the M-class ships, there is a full-sized refrigerator/freezer in the butler's pantry. I had previously requested for a medical fridge from Special Needs to store medicines etc but the refrigerator/freezer in the butler pantry would actually eliminate the need for the medical fridge if we can use that. So I guess my question would be whether we can use that fridge to store our own belongings or is that strictly for the butler to put "ship" items for us to enjoy, such as alcohol, cheese etc? Also, how large is the freezer compartment - I have seen blurry videos of it on youtube but haven't yet spied the freezer compartment. Reason I am asking is, my LO is on frozen breastmilk and if we can place all those packets in the freezer, we won't be needing as many buckets of ice from the butler as we would otherwise require over the 14 nights.

In advance, many thanks!

Personally, I would not pay extra for Asian food (including Sushi), but we love Murano and Tuscan. While food is part of it (and it's good), the ambiance, service and personal touch is big part of it.

I agree, coming from Asia where there is plenty of good sushi at good prices, I would not pay for Sushi on 5 and (on RCL) Izumi. I would pay the upcharge for the other restaurants though. Looking forward to lots of Ocean Liners and some Tuscan on Connie next month!

Oh I had no idea that this was the case and that things have changed! In 2014, we had to take turns baby-sitting our two year old while part of the group dined at Murano. It was a shame we couldn't eat together save for lunch (which we did again, this time as a complete group as we enjoyed Murano so much). To me, this is a good change and I'm grateful to this board for highlighting it! :)

Thank you for your review - out of curiosity, how far was Mari Mari Cultural Village from the port in Kota Kinabalu? We are wondering whether we have time to take an independent shore excursion there.

Thanks!

According to Celebrity's website they have (at all bars): Coke, Sprite, Diet Sprite,Coke Zero, Barq's Root Beer, Sprite Zero, and Caffeine-Free Diet Coke.

 

They also have Canada Dry Gingerale and Seltzer (I think it's Canada Dry as opposed to Seagrams or Shweppes. May be Seagrams though. Can't recall).

 

Dasani is not available to my knowledge. They have Evian water or I believe its a private label still water.

 

They also state that they carry Vitamin Water. I don't think they have Power Ade or Gatorade

Thanks Fish Lover! Don't know why it doesn't work when I try to access the link (see my post above).

It does include the other Coke products that are orange, root beer and the sprite or citrus one .

I have seen a list on the Celebrity web site that list them all and also all the other bottled water products.

enjoy your cruise and your suite.

Thanks! I tried looking for the list and the closest I could get was a link to the list of available sodas on the page where Celebrity describes its Soda package. However (as is typical:rolleyes:), the link is broken and opens to a popup that just says CELEBRITY BEVERAGE PACKAGE. LOL.

We just received an email from the concierge in anticipation of our sailing in February and are supposed to reply on how we would like the minibar stocked. I saw one of the options is "coca-cola products" but there is no further elaboration as to what these are. Does the term only refer to the variations of coke (Coke Zero, Coke Light, regular Coke etc.) or does it include items like Fanta orange/grape and Powerade?It's our very first time sailing in a suite on Celebrity so this pampering is new to us. We don't want to make things difficult for the crew so only want to select from the range available onboard. I also don't really want to email them more than necessary as I'm sure they're busy enough with current cruisers so wondering if I can get this information from CC instead.

Thank you!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums