corakari

Since the ship will be cleared the day before, shouldn't you be able to walk off with your luggage as early as you want?

Is this difference in price your gratuities? I changed a bed configuration on our reservation and the price went up. I called to ask what happened and it turned out the gratuities automatically added to the price with the change. When CS rep backed them out, the price went back to the original booking $.

I booked a 2018 cruise for two of us online in April. It included Classic beverage and $300 OBC. I found the same category cabin on a TA website for 2K less than we had paid. I thought it excluded the perks (not listed) but included a cash card and dining credit. When I called last week, the agent told me that she would call Celebrity to see if the TA price included the two perks as the promotion was in effect for May bookings. She came back and told me she could book the cabin for their listed price (they had two cabins left at that price point) with the two perks (plus their cash card and dining credit). She urged me to take the deal as once the two cabins were sold, their price would match Celebrity's, which had gone up even more than we had paid in April. The Celebrity rep told her that as of June 1st, there would only be one perk available. We were able to cancel my booking with a phone call to Celebrity and release my original cabin to the TA's booking. I checked the Celebrity website today after seeing this thread. Our same cabin category is $150pp less today than it was last week. So the online cruise price looks to be reduced by $300 for two people, which happens to equal the OBC that has now been eliminated as one of the two perks (assuming most people will take the Bev package if just one is offered).

I called Celebrity to ask about the perks on my booking (not listed anywhere on the new website). I was emailed a copy of the Booking Confirmation, Guest Copy. It is very detailed with itinerary, cancellation dates, promos, etc. (except it does not list the perks out with the values as could be seen on the old website reservation status page). Not a big deal, I guess. I was told that the new website would be fully functional by next week...

While I was making a reservation today, the website showed the perks currently being offered, but they are not showing up anywhere that I can see now that I have booked and paid the deposit. I have another cruise reservation that was booked on the old website and it showed the perks, but they are also missing from the new website (I cannot locate them). Anyone know where to look?

Thanks all, very helpful. I did try to price it on the old website with other offers to bypass the perks. It automatically added the two perks and priced the same (actually it priced higher as the cabin is already going for more than we paid). It never showed the Go Better, Go Best options, just Go Better with Classic Drink and OBC. Actually, I could not even book the cabin directly. I had to choose Inside, then upgrade. I found this quirk on several cruises I tried to price for 2018.

I have searched threads but was not able to find anything on this. We booked a 2018 cruise directly with Celebrity a couple of weeks ago - the cabin automatically included the Classic beverage and $300 OBC, no other options. I have only booked one other cruise with Celebrity and did it all online. But looking at a warehouse travel site we recently joined, I see they have the same cruise, same category listed for substantially less than our booking. It appears it does not include the perks. However, the price is much much less than the "value" Celebrity assigns to our perks and also includes a nice cash card plus a speciality dining perk. My question is will they be able to transfer the booking, keeping the same cabin, just eliminating the perks to get the better price for us? We have paid a deposit and the balance is still outstanding. Also, if I transfer the booking, what can I do on the Celebrity website - book excursions, specialty dining, etc? Or will these things have to go through the travel company after the transfer? Thanks in advance for any info!

In the past we've had them reprice and keep our category when there were no rooms left. Had to call in to find out the price, but the agent told us that they do keep records of the current price for each category, even if sold out, in case of cancellations. Probably depends on the agent if they are willing to do that though

You are correct. The OBC could not just be added, the booking had to be repriced based on current promos and they can do a mock booking to check a sold out category. Our current deal is better without OBC. I booked the cruise directly on the website and was encouraged to call anytime there is a promo that might price better.

In the past we've had them reprice and keep our category when there were no rooms left. Had to call in to find out the price, but the agent told us that they do keep records of the current price for each category, even if sold out, in case of cancellations. Probably depends on the agent if they are willing to do that though

Was just wondering that, I know other cabins are definitely higher than last week. Maybe I will call C&A, just do not want to lose our current rate, it was pretty good. Sorry OP, did not mean to hijack thread, your cabin price being the same, OBC should be worth reprice.

Yes it will be re-priced and if there are no staterooms left in your category they can not re-price it unless you change categories

Ok thanks, I will call.

Thanks for the heads up on the OBC offer. Just wondering though, will the cruise total be repriced if you ask for the OBC? We booked a 2018 cruise last week with 1-2-Free, no perks or OBC. There are no cabins left in the category to compare prices but other cabins seem to have gone up a bit that we compared before booking.

Hi celebrity cruisers. Have booked a long way out for our New Zealand cruise from Sydney. We have read some very negative reviews of late about the solstice and also the itinerary ( New Zealand ). My wife and I normally cruise Norwegian, Royal and princess and we were waiting for the opportunity to cruise on a solstice class ship from celebrity for a long time hopefully to get a great experience from ( celebrity ).

Does anyone recommend this cruise to nz on the solstice just to put our minds to rest or have we done the wrong thing?????

Kind regards bob and Chris.

You are doing the right thing, reading the reviews and asking questions and researching. It's too big a trip not to plan it in some detail. I researched the heck out of Celebrity and Solstice because I wanted to make sure it was the right fit for us. It was, we had a great trip, and I mostly agree with the positive replies that have already been posted. The ship was clean, the food was decent, the crew was friendly and helpful. I honestly think being prepared for the unexpected as well as the expected is key to your cruise experience, no matter which line you are on. We thought the New Zealand cruise ports were wonderful, but again, we researched the options and planned accordingly. We used a mix of cruise excursions and private excursions and it was just about right. But of course, you will never be able to experience it fully on an excursion, so be realistic with your expectations of what you can see in a day.

Just got off the Solstice. It left from the OPT. It matters if your time in Sydney is short because the circular quay area where the OPT is located is really nice, so much to do and see, the Opera House, etc. We stayed at the Marriott and walked to the ship with our bags. Very short and easy. The Marriott construction is almost finished. Even with the noise in the lobby area, the hotel staff could not have been nicer. Enjoy your trip, ours was fantastic. Solstice did not disappoint!

Captain Zisis Taramas, Cruise Director Ken Mills

Make sure you download the Uber app before you leave and register your credit card also. We have used Uber here in Australia as well as in Europe and my sister has used Uber in the States and we love it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Will do, thanks!

Thanks for the replies. We have never used Uber but thought we might take a look at using it in Sydney if it was a good alternative to the price of a taxi. We probably would not take the train - two of us with our luggage, very long flights from the US and being way off our time zone.

We are looking for an alternative to taking a taxi from SYD to Circular Quay hotel pre-cruise and wondering if Uber is a possibility. Any info is appreciated!

We ended up buying Nationwide Cruise insurance online through insuremytrip because it was one of 4 companies that had a waiver of pre-existing condition if bought before final payment (we missed buying it within 14-21 days of deposit) and was cheaper than CSA for our needs. This does not help OP, but if having a waiver is not important, there are some policies that have a shorter look back period for pre-existing. Definitely helps to shop around. I did contact Steve with tripinsurancestore a while back and although we did not use him, he was very helpful and I recommended him to a family member who bought a policy through him.

Yes, thanks, just wanting one My Celebrity account, will call to register spouse for his CC membership.

I had a similar question recently. I joined the Captains's Club to book a cruise for my husband and me in February. I looked through some older posts to see if their were benefits of dual membership and decided it was worth it, but then I could not figure out a way to add him to my account. My understand is rather than having to set up another online account for your spouse, you can call Captain's Club and they will register her for you, but I have not done it yet.

Thanks for a great and timely review. We are doing your cruise in reverse from Sydney and staying at the Marriott pre-cruise. Do you know if the hotel offers a shuttle to the cruise terminal? We could walk the short distance, just wondering about doing it with our luggage.

As promised - I wanted to post that Nationwide paid our cruise claim.

 

 

The plan was Nationwide Essential. Coverage was comprehensive, but not cancel for any reason. We had the pre-existing waiver which may or may not have made a difference.

 

We were pleased as we were fully reimbursed for our travel expenses except the portion of the airline ticket that was purchased with airline credit.

 

I purchased from an online broker insuremytripdotcom.

Hope this info helps someone else.

 

Thanks for the update, Nationwide seems more reliable than many of the companies reviewed at insuremytrip website. We will probably go with their Choice Cruise plan, slightly more than Essential but it allows pre-existing waiver if purchased before or at final payment and it has the additional cruise only features others have mentioned.

You would get a check back from Citibank if there was a credit applied to a closed account. It takes a little time to issue but it is a routine situation.

 

It sounds like you may be trying to use the deposit toward your minimum spend on the new card?

Thank you, a check would be ok. New card has already received the 50K bonus miles. Citibank kept sending offers for these cards with bonus miles after spending X over 3 months. We plan to keep the second card with more perks on it but no need for the first one. Between the two cards' bonus miles and our old balance, we had enough to purchase award air tickets for the Sydney/Auckland cruise - very excited about the trip, so cancelling would only be an emergency situation.

Yes Corakari...we have done this. We booked a future cruise while on board and did not have the credit card we wanted to use. When we got home, I called the Capt. Club. She was able to change the deposit to the new card with no change to our reservation. At first she wasn't sure she would be able to but she worked her magic and one card was credited and the other the card was charged for our deposit.

 

Hope this helps! Give them a call!

Thanks, sounds like you got somebody who knew how to do it. If everything was the same - perks, price, etc. as when we booked, I would have no hesitation to call and credit deposit to card #1 then recharge it to card #2. My concern is messing with the reservation, not wanting to reset the reservation and losing perks as often reported with changes (or the nightmare in getting them restored). Maybe we will call Citibank and beg for annual fee waiver first!

Thanks for the replies. There is no balance on the card, it is not being used currently. We got it for the AA bonus airline miles and used it until they offered us a better card with more bonus miles...We do not need both cards and that one is going to have an annual fee added to it next month. The thing is the cruise deposit was put on it, so if we cancel the card, then have to cancel the cruise later on, just do not know what happens, maybe not a problem. But the last thing we want to do is lose the perks we got for booking in 2015.