canderson

2 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

Totally agree with you -- so many of the chairs and bench seating in the Retreat Lounges are so uncomfortable.  

We were well pleased that somehow, the pre-restart non-Revolution makeover that Constellation received included new *traditional* furniture!

59 minutes ago, Oville said:

Huh?  You’re talking for a whole lot of people.

Many of whom can't extract themselves from Kelly Hoppen's dreadful 'mushroom' chairs without assistance, yes.

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Are they going for a younger demo on E Class? They would  be wise to, IMHO

 

Someday, perhaps.  My generation (boomer) still holds 3/4 of the nation's wealth, and until we kick the bucket, the tax man goes nuts, or we gift it all to ours kids and charities...

Right turn after Gibralter to Cadiz for some TLC.

17 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

But moved on to where?  I'm researching other lines and I don't see 'nice' balcony furniture ..... however, they're better than the kitchen chairs and dinky table X provides.  Hard to find pics of what other lines are offering on their balconies.

We found the veranda loungers on Silversea (specifically, Silver Dawn, Silver Suite) to be very comfortable - and because this was our annual westbound TA last November, they got a good workout.

26 minutes ago, George C said:

 I bought that Jordan at total wine . Some krogers have better selections than others , my favorite go to red wine ...

Ah, sorry.  Didn't read your post properly.  Think I'd be surprised to find Jordan at Kroger.

23 hours ago, George C said:

Here are the wine a bought from total wine a couple of weeks ago, I buy most of my wine when Kroger offers a 25 percent sale

 

Picture is a little fuzzy, but looks like a 2019 Jordan.  Am curious to know what Kroger normally gets for a bottle.  How often do these 25% sales occur?  We have King Soopers here (Kroger) but hadn't looked at what they're offering.  Wine in grocery stores is a relatively new thing here.

24 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Also, why would anyone want a lounger inside a stateroom anyway?

Probably for the same reason they'd want their 'veranda' in their stateroom 😉

4 hours ago, MLP12 said:

Compared to the other main stream cruise lines, Celebrity has many fewer announcements,

^^^^^ THIS!

We've often said that not being reminded constantly what a great time we're having, but to be sure to attend this next can't-miss event     etc    etc  

is wonderful.  Nice not to have that on Celebrity.  You get an announcement when customs has cleared pax for disembarkation at port stops, a noon report from the captain and CD, and the odd crew emergency drill announcements.  Same applies to Silversea.

It changes the WHOLE tenor of the cruise.

28 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Ships lose money when they are docked.

Shore excursions generate very little profit when compared to the revenue from the Casino, shops, bars, speciality restaurants, bingo/ Deal or no Deal, Art Auctions all of which are closed when the ship is in port.

Exactly.

There are adults, and there are 'adults'.  Have you ever sailed for such a short period before?

8 hours ago, George C said:

I had great steaks on edge right after Covid in fine cut , then on beyond it was terrible . Last year on summit Tuscan grill was terrible this year it was great , unfortunately very inconsistent. 

Our best X meat ever was also right after COVID on the Connie restart cruises.  Inch thick pork chops you could cut with a fork, filets 2" thick you could cut with a fork and tasty.  As good or better than our own butcher.  Since Connie was newly in Tampa at that time, I wonder if they started out with a better (and temporary) purveyor.

Wish it had stayed that way!

1 hour ago, LJJQ said:

Can anyone tell me where Celebrity Ships are now docking in Barcelona? We will be boarding the Constellation on Transatlantic November 6th!

Hoping to be first on board?  Will see you at the dock on the 7th!

Check location for Port of Barcelona D'Adossat Terminal.

Give or take 41.36008 2.18003 (plug those coordinates into Google maps, or ...)

Don't know why, but feel we were at Terminal B last time (2022).

On 6/13/2024 at 12:41 PM, lizinindy said:

I'm curious as to why the price is double on some cruises and more than double on other cruises. Since Celebrity's IT dept. isn't exactly tip top, could it possibly just be an IT glitch that's setting the price incorrectly? I can't figure a scenario where the revenue algorithm selects certain "ships?" or "itineraries?" that would trigger a more than double rate. Just a crazy thought...but we know that IT dept. is kinda wacko!

Here's one variable that, if included in the algorithm, would certainly cause a different result -- number of port days vs. at-sea days.  For example, given that port days generate shorex revenue but at-sea days generate onboard revenue, what's likely the number of $ that a passenger will spend in cruise line bucks on a port intensive 14 day cruise vs. a 14 day transAtlantic?  While those would be at the extremes, certainly there would, on average, be a difference?

I'm sure there are many more, and more subtle ones that have been teased out of the data over the years by all of the lines.

1 hour ago, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

We tried to reprice after final payment. Our TA contacted Celebrity and was told no, no repricing (makes sense) nor could we get OBC because we already had OBC from Celebrity. Really Celebrity??? Guess you can't book onboard and hope to get additional OBC if your cruise price drops after final payment. 

How it worked for us:

It's more or less a cancel-rebook after final.  So if there's an OBC difference between the old and new deals that would hurt, the reprice has to more than make up the difference to be worth doing it.  And it all depends upon any current price guarantee program rules and cancellation penalties...

It's not always easy after final!

10 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I think they are a little more flexible before final payment than after. In my case, it was after final payment. That doesn’t mean they won’t do anything after final payment, it just means that I think there is less flexibility since they know they’ve got you where they want you.

Our experience has been that any possible repricing after final payment is returned as onboard (non-refundable) OBC.  We had two repriced cruises (B2B) that repriced after final soon after the restart, and wound up with $6,500 in OBC.

On 6/12/2024 at 5:42 PM, Schmoe38 said:

Generally, the difference in pricing between a Royal Suite and Penthouse suite runs about $3,500/person.

 

Remember, there is just 1 Penthouse Suite on Reflection, so, depending on how serious you are about getting the Penthouse, if you are going to make a Move Up bid, give it your best shot and don’t look for a low ball offer to be successful. That is not to say that low balls are not successful, it’s just, with 1 stateroom on the block, your chances at being successful on a low offer are lessened.

 

Randy

Yeah, says the guy who snagged my PH! 😉  Right.  No, that was that other lady, wasn't it?

Just wanted to check in, say hello since it's been a while, and confirm that the experience you describe above is ours as well, as is the approximate amount of difference.  On a decently subscribed cruise, the upper suites can disappear fast, and move up bids are often solicited to backfill for cabins that aren't currently available but become available only due to cancellations.

Just do a mock booking for your specific cruise with your daughter as alternately adult and child and check the total.

On 6/10/2024 at 3:50 PM, George C said:

RS and above gets stocked daily , including mixers you also get two liters of liquor of your choice and a bottle of champagne. Sky used to get a bottle of sparkling wine . 

Had a RS butler who kept me supplied with 375s of the Michele Chiarlo Barolo for 15 nights!  Think we went through 8 of them.  Had traded the booze setup for wine.

Have only once been on the receiving end of a repricing.  That was at the very beginning of the 'restart' after COVID.  We wound up with $6500 in OBC (repriced after final) split between 2 legs of a B2B.  Left a fair bit of it with the crew.

Other times, our category gets sold out and there is no comparison price!

30 minutes ago, cbfb said:

That looks amazing! What cabin type is this? 

Royal Suite on an older M class Celebrity ship.  The veranda is a little more to our liking than the S class because the M class hot tub is back in the corner a bit (look far upper right) and not in the way in the middle of the veranda.

I'll be calling tomorrow.

The real crime would be on Constellation.  All of the deck furniture in the suites had been changed out during the shut-down and was all brand new and very comfortable.  There had better be a plan for my veranda to look like it did then.  We've still got a ways to go before final payment is due:

Like George C, we most often eat in Luminae, followed by specialty restaurants when the mood suits, but if you're asking to determine whether people are willing to pay for specialty dining, our vote doesn't count.  Like George C, we have no up-charge for specialty dining.  I just voted "Other".

As a side note, we only sail on M and S class ships, so we are able to watch the MDR menu for gems that don't cross over to Luminae's menu (pulled lamb in phyllo anyone?), and order them from the MDR menu in Luminae. 

48 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

We are in the RS and have the coffee maker.  The one that starts with an “L.”  I don’t drink coffee so I don’t care, but for those who do, it’s still there, at least in our cabin. 

Have lost track ... which ship?

It's been a long time - since we kept having issues staying logged in - that I've had an issue with the boards here, and blessed if I can find anywhere to report them.

In the last 48 hours, I've had an inordinate number of transient server failures resulting in