kike368

I'm not going, my kept woman is going solo. Just kidding, Laura is going solo. Anyway are you on the 11th or 18th? I am planning on attending the pre sail get together on 10th and 17th.

We are on the 11th but we are staying in Orlando because my kept woman is a Harry potter freak and has to go to universal on Sat.

First cruise with no kids and we are going to Universal studios, go figure

DH is a diabetic and only drinks an occasional beer. The premium package is just right for me, I don't do specialty coffees or fresh juice.

Looks like he would have to buy you some bling to hold up his end! Lol

we are sailing on the NAO in October, visiting Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Belize and Roatan appear to have beaches with a variety of bars and restaurants in one area (i.e. West Bay). Cozumel seems to just have "beach clubs" everywhere. Are there any beaches one can visit and just rent a chair, and buy a beer at a bar, without being at a "club"?

Carlos and Charlies beach club. Free admission chairs are free as long as you get a drink first. Food is good too

I've been taking my baby sister on cruises since she was 3.. she's 21 now. I WISH she would start paying for her own! lmao.

I finally cut the cord on my kids this year, they are always invited as long as they can pay! Lol poor little darlings got shorted I only bought them up to emerald! :p

Another like button needed

John we need to have a shot together on Freedom in 2 weeks! Lol

a feeling of

 

You are the one talking about taking over the lounge. I abide by the rules in effect when I cruise. If they take away the extra points for booking suites it would not be retroactive so it wouldn't affect me in the least. It's not a feeling of superiority, it's a feeling of pity.

I'm pretty sure I never said we would, what I said was it's what you fear. The only thing I can think of I need less than your condescending attitude is your pity. Since we do 3 cruises a year, see ya in DL soon program or no program. I'll be easy to recognize I'll be the obnoxious uncultured hick doing shots!;) that's it I'm out enjoy your next cruise

We've been Diamond for many years and we are still not qualified for Social Security or Medicare. We got that status by paying for cruises not over priced drinks and specialty dining. Not worried about the drink package buyers taking over the Diamond Lounge as our experience tells us they are in the regular bars or sleeping it off.

Been in the DL you can have it. Would probably go if I needed a nap and a drink. Paying up for cruises? So if only nights spent are on a ship should count you wouldn't mind giving up the multiple points per night in a suite then?

Look at it this way, now you will have a whole new group of people to feel superior to while you have free drinks in the DL/CL.

So wish we had a like button.

A like button would be great!

Do people really like the idea of buying their status? Just seems strange to me.

 

I can only see doing this in a situation like someone else mentioned, where it'll push you to the next tier a cruise early. I can't imagine doing it every time, at least for us, since it would prevent us from cruising as often.

 

At any rate, I like the idea of the status levels being earned instead of bought. It's sort of like those free-to-play games. You can play them as much as you want but if you want to actually advance past a certain point, you better be ready to fork over some $.

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it though. What is it about Celebrity's loyalty program that people enjoy more?

Exactly how do you think you "earned" your status? Did you mop decks or wash dishes on your way to D+ ? Your status was bought with cash. This is just another way of collecting it.

How would taking advantage of this program alter your ability to cruise? Unless your truly stupid enough to spend money just to get the points because they are there.

Seems to me if your concerned about points being earned and not purchased you would be calling for the end of multiple points for Suite passengers. The extra points there are clearly purchased with money after all.

Or is your real problem with the program that you fear those of us who will gain the 3 points per cruise by buying drink packages will over run the diamond loung while we are still under 80?

I'd rather book a cheap cabin for that kind of money and earn more points and actually cruise.

That's an excellent point, but if I can get 3 extra points and premium coffee for moving up to a premium drink package ($469/person) on a 7 night cruise then yeah why not

Ultimate drink package for 2 would put you over on a 7 night cruise

what sucks is that everyone in the cabin has to spend that much. That means $900 in on board spending for us. We have never spent that much on a ship.

Yeah unless your a buying a drink package it would be hard.

I agree with you about the drink packages but making me obligated to spend another $100 just to get the credits just doesn't sit well with me.

 

But I don't set the rules so I am not going to stress over it. I am about to go on a cruise and that is really all I care about.

I have to kind of agree with you it does kinda suck that they are baiting us into spending more while aboard, but if standing in a line to buy my drink package ( that I would have purchased any way ) and have a couple of nice dinners, (that we normaly don't see the value in ) will get me the same benefit as a 3 day cruise seems like a fair trade off. Just my humble opinion.

Not easy for me either -- even when DH tags along. We're not big drinkers, rarely do excursions anymore, and a few dinner reservations just don't add up to $450. I would be interested in knowing how many frequent cruisers would hit the $450 mark.

If drink packages count we would easily hit the $450/person mark on a 7 night cruise. With the premium drink package it's right at $400 each, and the prospect of extra points would probably be incentive enough to get us into a couple of specialty restaraunts or book 1 over priced excursion per trip. Both things we don't normally do so this could be the closest thing to a win/win promotion they have done in a long time. Probably why it won't happen to though! Lol

On navigator last year we asked to have it opened when we first met our room steward and it was open when we returned from dinner

20 days FOS

my gf insisted that we use her travel agent friend and we received no obc or goodies. i had her call her friend and she hasn't returned the call.

 

i think we got screwed.

Might be time to invest in a new girlfriend! Lol

Our 17y/o son really enjoyed the teen programs particularly in the evenings, pool parties, movie nights, dance parties and much to the dismay of my credit card he liked the game room during the day.

Dance and drink until 3AM... Up at 8AM, Windjammer by 8:30 and pool by 9:00! Sometimes we nap from 3-4PM.

There you go, we will close the casino most nights and the DW apparently, needs a very specific chair on the upper deck at the pool. She hates chair hoarders and refuses to become one so she will be out there bright and early to claim it and defend it for the rest of the day. Me personally I don't need to be out there until the sky bar opens at 10! Lol

Just got off the phone.

 

1 & 2. My primary question/concern was transferring a cruise booked on board. The TA encouraged me to do it that way as the transfer was easy as a phone call or email with the booking number. If they had a deal available for that cruise I would get thier price and any of the "perks" they had to offer. They absolute worst case scenario was that she would have to cancel my booking and re-book the only thing it would cost me is the amount of OBC I got from Royal for booking on board if I opted to use it on the cruise I booked it from.

 

3. I asked about if I found a lower price while monitoring RCCL's board (which I did, $300 worth on our up coming 10/4 cruise) is it just a matter of a phone call/email to get the price adjusted? She said yes, but the phone call/email would originate from her or she isn't really doing her job then. (Great answer, I'll still be monitoring though just to make sure until I get to know her better). She also informed me that any OBC would be reduced as it is tied to the price, and it could eliminate any extra perks like free specialty restaurant or drink package stuff.

 

I will be booking with her for next years cruise, we will see. Bottom line if I don't like it, I can just go back to doing it all myself.

We always book on board and RCI automatically transfers our booking to our TA. We have used the same cruise specific TA for all of our bookings, and would never consider the " on line discount TA" seems like they are more of a ticket broker than an actual TA. We have a personal e-mail and cell phone for our TA and can and have gotten her help on a minutes notice during very non business hours up to and including booking my DW a flight home from St. Martin on the agencies account for a family medical emergency so that the rest of us could continue our vacation. ( cost of last min. flight would've crushed the budget ) No amount of OBC can replace personal service. For the record she also take very good care of us as far as price drops and adding perks.

22 days!

Can I add a random question?

Is there an atm on the freedom?

Thanks. X

If the ATM is off line you can get cash from the casino for a fee. I don't remember what the fee was but I do remember her telling me the ATM would be cheaper. Also it's a good way to get your unused onboard credit ;)

They will give you 2 days, after that they cancel your reservation and If you don't rebook within a certain time frame you will lose your deposit.

4 weeks from today!

Yes I think a suite would be too expensive. Thanks for the help guys but I guess I will just have to call. Cruising is hard for a family with 5. Being the kids are so small I wouldn't mind packing in a balcony room but I guess this isn't allowed per the rules

Connecting state rooms is the cheapest option