LabGuy64

I am guessing that for the difference in price you could add on the equivalent of a few of those perks and still end up in a bigger suite with Celebrity

If that is the case and not an oversight, we'll be cancelling the cruise. I just got a brochure from Oceania and they sail out of Miami on the same date Eclipse sails. Since our airfare is already booked at considerable cost, we'll be jumping ship and trying a new line after sailing Celebrity exclusively and being Elite +.

on this issue i agree......people are always overcharges for such things in any kind of resort area......you would have been charged the same on an S class ship too....

You paid thousands for a cruise but wouldn't pay $17.99 for medication even though you were both sick?

Let's all wait to see someone that booked with this perk being denied it before we all have a cow

It's like a Carny shell game. Ever since the advent of the 123 type promotions it's been a game of how to raise prices and deliver less. The sad thing is it has worked for them.

Thank you sir....may I have another!!!

As seen on eBay:

 

Celebrity Cruises ... Logo swizzle stix Six total @ $ 1.99 plus shipping

 

I now know how to subsidies my drink package bill. Sell the swizzles!

 

 

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Celebrity-Cruises-Logo-swizzle-stix-from-C-Millennium-cruise-ship-/391299065417?hash=item5b1b3de649:g:V04AAOxyVLNS~TWO

well for mainline perks.....luminae and michael's club...all suites will have equal access so, unless the bigger space and stuff like the premium drink package are really important a sky suite might be fine

Just read a recent Reflection review where the poster who was in a Signature Suite was complaining about how crowded Luminae was because all the Sky Suites were there making full use of their perks. The poster said everyone in Michael's Club was talking about this.

 

Is there really such a pecking order? We've never been higher than Conceirge, so if we spring for a suite someday we'll have to make sure it's not a Sky.LOL

have never been able to figure out why anyone would want to wear crocks

One formal night, DH was wearing suit, tie, looked pretty good I thought, and had somehow got past my inspection without me noticing the black crocks over black socks on his feet.

 

No one noticed until we were in the elevator after dinner, another couple walked in, and the husband turned to his wife and said "See, I told you I could wear my crocks! "

And who are we? Nobody. Just normal cruisers who book regular balconies or Aqua. Why do we get invited? Sometimes we know, but often we have no clue (and could care less).

 

 

Hank

You mean you couldn't care less.....Yes? :)

No.....the playing field is fine...and things are fine as they are

I can only agree that deposits should be non-refundable. In the UK, where they are, people do not book cruises they have no intention of taking. I also believe that "cancel for any reason" offered in the USA goes against the principles of insurance and can only exacerbate the problem.

 

Perhaps if the US market had non-refundable deposits, Celebrity would also not feel so much at liberty to cancel cruises with insufficient compensation for those outside the USA who seem to incur more non-insurable expenses sooner.

 

In these days of global markets, should not the playing field be more even?

how did we ever survive without emergency bottled water!!!! :confused:

I'm going to venture a wild guess and say they did not expect disembarkation to take that long.

Again,

what's the point.....i am sure that most would say that Princess had better entertainment before Perry left.....just a bit of restating the obvious...no offense

I actually started this thread because of recent entertainment comparisons between the Royal Princess and the the Eclipse since Perry Grant debuted on the Royal on 10/11/15 , and because of

negative comments about entertainment on the Royal Princess and Perry Grant.

I have been following a few threads since Perry Grant made his debut.

 

I am not as avid a Perry fan as many others, but am nevertheless a fan. I would not book a cruise just because he is on it as so many others do. However, I will miss him on my 4/3 Eclipse sailing!

The recent comparisons and Perry bashing in some posts got me to do a comparison based on daily planners.

 

For me entertainment is one of the parts of cruising that set it apart from a land-based vacation. There is always something to do if you so choose. When there is a choice of ships with the same itinerary entertainment will factor into my choice,

Having cruised on two small ships where entertainment was at a minimum I realized that it is an important factor for me. Would I cruise on those two smaller ships again- in a heartbeat- for me Tahiti trumps everything else.

 

Judgements on entertainment like those on food are subjective. My attempt was to make a list- no judgements, then state my opinion. I did not expect mean-spirited remarks about Princess or Perry.

 

The point of my thread was to show that there is much much more to entertainment on the Royal Princess than just Perry Grant. One poster said he/she would never sail Princess again because Perry was there. Really? He is currently on one contract on one ship. For me Perry's absence on my 4/3 Eclipse sailing will leave a real void. There will be no option to occasionally sing along to familiar music and laugh heartily to his somewhat too familiar routines So far as I know the Eclipse offers nothing as light hearted as an occasional evening with Perry.

 

That got me to thinking to actually compare the entertainment on the Royal and the Eclipse. IMHO Princess entertainment is better!

Not sure what the point of this thread is......it's pretty well established that entertainment is the weak spot of Celebrity....so Ok...you flogged the dead horse...what are so saying?.....you like Princess because you found the entertainment better?

So much of what we discuss on CC is based on our personal point of view.

I will list some facts in my comparison of entertainment on the Royal Princess vs.The Eclipse.

 

I sailed both ships last year and present here the evening entertainment on both ships as listed in the Princess Patter and Celebrity Today

 

Royal Princess

11/23/2014

 

*Princess Theater

Production Show- Spectacular

7:00, 8:15, 10:15 ( 3 times per evening)

 

*Vista Lounge

Specialty Act Magic and Illusion David Cats 9:15, 11:00

 

*Piazza

Trevor Cole. 6:30

Big Band Ballroom 7:45

High Energy Acrobatics. 10:00

Party Band 10:15

 

*Wheelhouse Lounge

Nadia Smith Pianist 7:00, 8:30

Inner Mood quartet. 10:00

 

*Princess Live

Trivia. 8:15

Are you Smarter than the Cruise Staff 9:15

Pop Star Grand Finale 10:30

 

*Movies Under the Stars. 7:00, 9:30

 

*Fountain Pool

Fountain Show. 9:15

 

*Club 6

DJ. Motown 11:00

Late night dance party. 12:00

 

*Crooners. 11:00

Captain and Kory Simon

 

21 events

...........................................,,

Celebrity Eclipse.

2/21/2015

 

*Eclipse Theater

Celebrity Showtime. Eclipse-The Show 8:30, 10:30

 

*Ensemble Lounge

Classical String. 7:00

Jazz Quartet. 7:45

Jazz 9:30

Guitar, Vocalist. 11:00

 

*Celebrity Central

Movie. 6:00, 9:00

Game Show He Knows, She knows 11:30

 

*Grand Foyer

Big Band Ecliose Orchestra. 7:30

 

*Quasar

Karaoke. 10:30

Tux and dress party 11:00

 

*Sky Lounge

Ballroom. 7:15, 9:30

Dance Party 10:45

 

Cellar Masters

Perry Grant - 9:30 ( can no longer count this because Perry is on the Royal Princess now!

 

The Royal Princess offers 21 events in several beautiful and varied venues.

compared to 16 events on the Eclipse. Take away Perry as he is now on the Royal Princess and there are 15 events on the Eclipse compared to 21 on the Royal.

 

Also Princess offers 4 Production Shows performed 3 times per evening on a 10 day cruise compared to the Eclipse offering 3 Production Shows 2 times per evening on a 14 day cruise.

 

The Eclipse has no cabaret like venue like the Vista lounge to host comedians and specialty acts on a staggered time slot, often after they have appeared in the Princess theater, giving guests a second chance at seeing a performance they may have missed.

 

The Eclipse has no piano bar( they took away Michael's club and have reserved it for suite guests only), as evidenced by the fact that they had to house Perry in a dingy, cramped corner of Cellar Masters in 2014 and 2015.

 

Also Royal's light and bright enormous multi-leveled Piazza hosts lively and varied entertainment all day and night, including the art auctions which are great fun to watch from any level of the Piazza, even if you are not a collector.

 

If you compare the Princess Patter to Celebrity Today you will easily see how much more there is to do on the Royal vs. The Eclipse.

 

The facts support a definite win for the Royal Princess in the category of Entertainment!

 

Now -

IMHO the entertainment on the Eclipse is more somber and sedate than that on the Royal Princess. In fact on one of my Eclipse Cruises there was only one comedian, one show on a 14 day cruise. Whether or not you are a Perry Grant fan, his loss to the Eclipse will take away for me one of the few spots on that ship where guests laughed heartily, sang out loud to familiar music, and listened to a good entertainer play the piano, sing and tell sometimes all too familiar jokes.

 

I am not a one cruise line loyalist. I have been fortunate to cruise on 20 different ships on 6 different cruise lines and have enjoyed all of them, some more than others.

I think you found the best choice for you in Royal....if Celebrity has one bad spot it is the entertainment....they are supposedly addressing the issue but, for now.....Royal should be as good or better than Carnival in all areas.

Hi I would like to get some opinions on differnt cruise lines. We have only sailed once on carnival glory 2 years ago. We enjoyed the cruise but found that service was lacking in a lot of areas. We liked the entertainment but they repeated the same shows at the end of the trip. Food was good for the most part.

 

We are early 40s and looking to try a different cruise line to compare. We like going to shows and to the comedians. We have a cruise booked in 2017 on harmony of the seas as this is a family reunion cruise and we would like to try royal carribean.

 

What I guess I'm asking is what are the differences between celeberity, princess, and norwegian. How do they compare to carnival. All 3 have a iteniary that we would like to try but we are having trouble deciding on which one to try as we have only sailed carnival and would like to try a different cruise line for this February or March.

 

Any information or opinions would help.

 

Thank you

I really thing 18% is MORE than enough.....adding anything more means you are actually tipping anywhere form 30 to 60 % of your bar bill.....totally insane in my book....if the bartender makes you laugh and basically increases your enjoyment of the night...sure toss him a few bucks....but, otherwise keep your money...jeeze...if you have to tip someone extra...tip the guys that clean your cabin....lot's more effort going into that then pouring a drink.

We are long time cruisers and have experienced the industry change from handing out envelopes on the last night, to the option of prepaid gratuities, to pretty universal automatic tips. Our question arises on bar tips. Drinks have always had a gratuity added to the bill automatically and now with the drink package tips are also included in the price. What we'd like to get an idea of is how much people tip over the automatic tips that are included for bar service. In our younger years we both worked at some point in the service industry and tend to always tip over and above the norm, but my other half goes way above what I do. So on average, how much do you tip over if anything for a drink at the bar?

 

I'll admit we're trying to come to happy medium between our two "tipping points" and thought since Celebrity is our preferred line that the Cruise Critic community here would provide a wide array of people to give a general average of what others do.

 

Thanks!

Guessing the fault there to be hers...our roll call has many people doing nothing but talking mahjong...she should have started there....but of course that had nothing to do with Celebrity.

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

.50 is huge......the rant over pillow chocolates was MUCH worse...:cool:

Love Cruise Critic. Over 60 comments on a 50 cent rant. :D

Why make an issue of it?.....if the .50 bothers you get a $13.00 wine....there is an adequate selection......

Prices for liquor are set by management . When management sets the prices they are totally aware of the limits for the premium liquor package . So then why upset a customer for a lousy 50 cents ,if they cared ?

The biggest problem I have with the small ships is entertainment.....the big ships do have the advantage there.....It has been the smaller the ship...the more amateurish the entertainment becomes.

We are very much looking forward to our cruise on the Journey next December. We have cruised on Pacific Princess which is also a smaller ship but also on the Regal. The Regal although big never felt overcrowded due to large public areas. It had a lot to offer for many tastes.

 

I think the biggest plus of a smaller ship is docking at the ports. The smaller the ship the more likely to dock closer into the major destinations.

 

Very excited to try Azamara for the first time.

 

Martha

Really hard to say if Celebrity is right for you.....if you really want an opinion you would need to tell a bit about you...age things that are important to you...like types of entertainment are you into the rock climbing wave rider type thing ....what level stateroom do you favor? etc...

So my cruises for next year were all planned and ready to go...Well, our traveling companions might not be going now, so I'm going to switch things up! Thinking Europe...Torn between certain itineraries, and Celebrity vs Royal. I'm a big fan of Royal Caribbean, but itinerary is going to be most important for this cruise. Should I try out Celebrity?

 

Here are my options, tell me what you think!

 

7 Night Vision of the Seas

Roundtrip Venice -> Dubrovnik, Ephesus, Santorini, Katakolon

2 Nights pre-cruise in Venice. Would love to visit Dubrovnik and Santorini.

 

7 Night Celebrity Constellation

Venice to Barcelona -> Zadar, Kotor, Rome, Livorno, Toulon

1-2 Nights pre-cruise in Venice. 1 night post cruise in Barcelona.

 

7 Night Celebrity Equinox

Istanbul to Rome -> Overnight in Istanbul, Mykonos, Valletta, Sicily, Naples

2 Nights in Rome post-cruise.

 

 

Which would be your top choice? A little bit worried about trying Celebrity, but if the itinerary is better, than so be it. Oh and I should mention that I've never been to Europe before. Decisions, decisions...

Why don't you try to figure out what you might spend on the trip and buy OBC? I hear the exchange rate offered by Celebrity is very good and if you do have anything left over it would be refunded

From these boards, I was able to find out that one can cash American Express traveler's cheques (in U.S.funds) on board.

 

Has anyone ever paid their on board account with them?

Captain's Club rep says "not possible".

This did not seem sensible to me, if people have cashed them at customer relations during a cruise. But I sure do not want to be caught on board having to put the bill on a Canadian credit card for several hundred dollars more in exchange.:eek:

 

Bill

I would bet you were on an M class.....more than one have mentioned that. S class are completely different

Suggest you take a look see before buying. Take a bit of a walkabout when you get on board and decide then. My DW went after a massage and found it dark and depressing. We have passes from being Elite on every cruise. I went once and left after about 15 minutes. Everybody likes different things. Same with the drink packages, MDR food, pillows and lots of other things.

dress for fast food and that is what you will get........people have endlessly commented on the long slide in food quality on Celebrity from the early days....and being part of a corporation...I think they figure that people that dress low will not really know the difference in what they are eating. people that care...care about their dress their car their home...as well as their food....and it shows....

How a group of customers dress may affect the style of food and service they receive but it should never affect the quality. I expect what I am paying for no matter how I am dressed. Any cruise line or restaurant that thinks otherwise will not last long unless they are catering to an elitist market. Celebrity, being a mass market cruise line are not.

 

I've seen some appalling service and food in dining rooms where everyone was dressed to the nines, and some of the best food and service I have received was on a Carnival cruise with more relaxed dress standards.

I have seen so many of these threads on dress codes....and most postings are about how much can i get away with.....what is the least compliance that the line will accept. I just don't get it......You book a cruise on Celebrity because they are more upscale....have elegant ships.....and then want to dress in opposition to what you have booked.....people keep chipping away at what is acceptable ...especially on formal nights...and I am telling you...it will not be long until people are showing up in sweats.

While it's not the end of the world, Isn't a major point of going on the cruise to get out of the ordinary? You can spend all day in shorts or whatever....why can't people make a little effort for an hour or two on a couple of nights......there was a time people used to dress up to fly.....it was much more elegant...people drank their drinks from glass hi-ball glasses.....look at a coach flight now....it looks like a trailer park...nobody want's to put any effort into showing a bit of class and style....And it's not like there are not cruise lines catering to those that want a more casual atmosphere....I find it all a bit sad.

Astoria is not a tender port

We did this cruise on the same date in 2013 on Princess. It was raining in Vancouver the day before and the day we sailed. First port was Victoria and we did Buchart Gardens in the rain. Second port was Seattle and it rained the whole day. Third port was to be Astoria, Oregon, but the seas were too rough for us to tender and it rained all day anyway. Next port was San Francisco and the weather was gorgeous but the Govt shut down that day and anyone who was planning to visit Alcatraz missed it. Santa Barbara was next port and it was also beautiful weather. We disembarked in L.A. where of course the sun was shining.

Maybe you'll have better luck.

I had hoped no one would bring this up again.....Sigh

Well, this a "can of worm's" topic.

 

Earlier this year they stopped squeezing actual oranges on board for OJ, now it's ordered in already frozen fresh squeezed and thawed and served (this is different than the OJ in the dispensers, which are reconstituted from concentrate).

 

I can't answer as to availability in MDR after the change, but wanted to ensure you knew about the little detail about the OJ these days :)

Not really sure what the point of your thread is....a fearful and easily stressed person cancels a cruise?.....all your concerns and stressful events are the fun part for most here......well good luck with whatever you plan to do

This is no doubt a strange post but thought I would share our thoughts after cancelling an October 2016 cruise. We had booked a Venice stay and 11 night X Constellation Venice to Istanbul. It was getting near time to book hotel and flights (planning to use points for both). We were concerned about Istanbul as a departure point, hotel availability in Venice, and trying to hook up with some business class seats (using points) which is always a headache. And cabin location and class, etc. Since I still work there was also minor stressing over 17 days off (I have some other vacations planned next year). Then there was other issues to work out (tours, insurance, limos). Money is always a concern but was not really on the list.

As I starting to get into this I reviewed everything with my wife and asked,

'are you really excited about this trip?' The answer from both of us was 'no' and we agreed to cancel and were happy about it. In analyzing this it was almost a burden to do all of the prep so far in advance. We had just been to Europe a few times and the trips were unforgettable but alot of work did go into the planning. I wouldn't say it was stressful but it did have an element of that and everything is so 'locked up in advance'.

Anyway we are more pumped up about having a few weeks to play in October. Maybe a last minute cruise, maybe a vacation but no 'planning pressure'. We may wind up sitting around the house thinking we could have been in Europe but I don't think so.

 

In perspective we have planned January Reflection cruises over the past few years and we couldn't be more excited about them (including 2016).

 

We have been blessed to take some very nice vacations over the past years but this is probably the first time not planning a cruise was exciting.

 

Anyway know this is an off beat post but felt compelled to share it. Definitely thinking about a major trip/ cruise in 2017 so we are far from 'giving up' our cruise fever completely.