GottaKnowWhen

Recently off the Pride. Some have suggested a 6:00pm dinner start time, and those of us who prefer not to rush, we should wait until 7:00 or whenever. The problem is that Amphora is not large enough. In order to get a table-for-two, one needs to be near the front of the line. So if the line starts at 6:00pm, then we would either need to eat too early or wait too long, the early diners would not be leaving their tables by our preferred 7-7:30pm dining time. Cuadro 44 was not a good option, way too noisy. Candles was ok.

You can each choose your own package or none at all. But I can't comment on the Water or other packages, have always had Classic or Premium Alcohol (not alcoholic) package. Stan

I already have All-In booked for my January cruise, at $79/pp per day. I don't expect them to reprice that! And I have asked my TA to buy All-In for my upcoming October trip, again at $79. Any new purchases after October 5 will be that extra $10/pp per day.

Two days before. Boarding Monday, anytime after 12:01am on Saturday. The refund may depend on Booking date; our one cancellation/refund was in May this year, booking originally done in March of 2019. Was your Positive test just a home test, or one done in preparation for travel? How soon is your trip scheduled? If you still have some time before your trip, you may have time to: a) get a PCR test to verify your status; b) isolate/recover for 5-10 days, and c) get a Certificate of Recovery. Which you can use in lieu of a Negative test for up to 180 days after the date of the PCR.

So, I would guess it is non refundable.

You could ask your travel agent. Note that I say that a bit tongue-in-cheek, but also seriously. I was one who often mocked those who would answer most questions with “get an agent.” I have found, however, that a good travel agent can provide a great deal of help in, for example, finding what cabins are available. They have the tools to answer those questions. I have mostly always preferred to do stuff myself, going online, searching, making my bookings. But, sometimes your best options are to either call the cruise line and deal with them directly or to get a travel agent and have her/ him do the work for you. Stan

Why not? Testing is good for them, keeps their population safe. A few $$ to cover admin costs is no big deal. So why would a cruise line avoid them for these requirements? Their requirements are much more difficult if not impossible for transatlantic cruises and thus most/all lines have stopped mid-passage stops in Bermuda. But that is way different.

No, you wouldn’t be eligible for the Concierge Class embarkation lunch, that’s just for those sailing in Concierge class and also b2b passengers. You have Luminae, Sushi on Five, the Oceanview Cafe, one or two burger bar types of restaurants…

By all means accept my apologies for participating in a discussion. I look forward to seeing your list of the "better things" that you would prefer us to argue about...

The Concierge team are 2-3 persons adjunct to the Guest Relations team. I never knew there to be more than one Concierge, but apparently more now on some ships? Doubling with Guest Relations staff? But these are Not the room stewards, they are Not to be confused with the personal attention apparently provided to some Suite guests by the Butlers or whatever their new title is.

Not true. I, and many others, book Concierge because that is the cabin we want, not only if it seems cheap. I like higher up. On M and S class ships, to go any higher than 8 (M) or 10 (S) you need to be in Aqua (up under the overhang, and stuck in Blu for restaurant besides) or in a suite of some sort. Besides location, the amenities are nice. If I were looking at a sailing without a decent Concierge cabin available, I would choose a different sailing rather than a Veranda or Aqua. Stan

Probably never uses room service because of all the work to fill out the menu card to order the food…

All of this filling out forms and answering questions! Imagine what it must be like for students applying to college, loan applications, dorm room selection, and then all of the questions constantly being asked by know-it-all teachers in the classrooms or on line… Fortunately cruising is slightly less stressful.

In the last 8 months I have been on three Celebrity ships, one as a back to back. So, four different embarkation days on three ships, Lauderdale, Vancouver and Reykjavik. Concierge lunch served on all. Like many aspects of cruising, this lunch perk for Concierge was modified or missing for a while during start-up, but now it seems to be as it was before.

Depends on port/country. One scenario we’ve seen is for all b2b to gather in a given spot, we all left the ship together, then from the terminal we were free to go ashore, or go back on the ship. That was in Lauderdale, so we just headed back aboard. On one cruise we were the only b2b, they gave a Transit Pass, and we headed off into Vancouver. The shoreside staff were as confused as we were when we tried to re-board (go there - no you are different, go over there - why are you here, you should be in some other queue…) but usually it is very smooth.

We frequently did laundry, in the hotel or ship’s sink. We carry an elastic clothesline to supplement whatever we might find onboard, and a couple of folding hangers. TravelSmith is your friend for such supplies. In one town in Iceland I noticed the sign for a “hikers’ hostel/shower/laundry/bar” and I was briefly tempted to go back to the ship and get a bag of dirty clothes. I decided to go into their bar instead of into their laundry.

We've gradually gotten better at this. One thing that is quite helpful is that some modern fabrics are comfortable to wear but also quick drying. All of my shirts and trousers will dry overnight if I first roll them in a bath towel to remove excess water. Stan

I would have to dig back into buried paperwork, but my example (two consecutive ports, one were the moderate excursion had an age limit [65 I believe], the next where a strenuous excursion had no limits) actually was from a cruise in the Eastern Med in 2018. Sorry, can't recall which countries. Greece and Malta maybe.

It relates to the larger question of what the policies and limits are, and gets to the real world issues of physical harm, death, liability, and a company’s responsibility /policies as they relate to keeping passengers safe from harm. Celebrity (Royal) do try to look after us, they do try to book our excursions through “accredited “ operators, sometimes those operators are constrained by issues like insurance concerns. I am a fan of independent excursions, but I appreciate that Celebrity may provide an bit more safety by looking after me via their vetting of companies, making sure they are safe and insured.

Our most recent (12 day) cruise was the last portion of a 31 day trip by land and sea. We have the 20-30% (?) Elite + discount. My wife sent one item for dry cleaning, never used laundry service, we washed everything in the sink. One carry-on each, not all that many clothing changes, couldn’t mess with possible wait times or loss or damage with laundry service on board.

Imagine you are a tour operator who just had a customer eaten (bitten and killed not eaten, but you take my point) by a shark. A bad day for everyone and I totally sympathize with all concerned. But it bugs me that Royal is so quick to proclaim that Oh, it was an independent excursion, not one of ours…

On one cruise, we couldn’t book a “moderate” excursion (steps, uneven walking etc) because we were “too old.” At the next port, we booked a “strenuous“ excursion, no issue. As already noted, it depends on the local company's and local government requirements for insurance. Not Celebrity policy.

Maybe, but still not allowed in MDR

Different groups get the sail-in or sail-away helipad opportunity; suites, Elite or Elite+, Concierge… It doesn’t always happen, depending on port, weather, timing, etc. On Summit recently we had a Captain’s Club invite and a Concierge invite, And for one passage, everyone was welcome to go out on the helipad. In general, sailing Concierge, I expect at least one helipad visit each cruise.

I wouldn’t wear a lanyard, was forced to occasionally at work sites, but never by choice. It would be very in convenient to have to stash and dig out a lanyard thingie!