CoconutOne

16 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

To award the points is the least they could do especially since many passengers will get stuck with other expenses incurred as a result of their cancellation.

I agree with that, it would be a nice gesture, especially with the amount of time it's taking to get refunds.

Unless you need the money soon, I would agree that it's premature to cancel. I would wait until it got closer to final payment, unless I really thought the company was going to go bankrupt.

I don't think Celebrity or any other line has "handled it poorly." These are uncharted times, and the cruise lines are doing all they can. They're not doing any worse than the US Federal Government. I don't have any problem cruising in the future. I put more stock in the cruise lines sanitizing than shore based hotels.

I'm sticking with the FCC for now. My fare for the May 9th Summit sailing was $11.90 per night, per person for an oceanview (my first mistake fare booking ever) so my risk isn't very much. If I had over $10K invested, yes, I would pull it too. For 2, including taxes and fees, I paid $800 and some change.

1 hour ago, MISTER 67 said:

November 2020. Here's the thing though,  Covid 19 could disappear in the warm summer months but come back in flu season just like any other flu. It's imperative that a vaccine is found for this virus as soon as possible.

If that's the case then cruising will resume when it disappears during the summer. So if people want to cruise, better do something this summer because they might not get the chance once winter hits.

I have been pleased with travel company responses. One third party who "hides" the name of your hotel until after booking refunded me all my money even though everything was non-refundable. I could definitely feel the warmth, even though it took a while to get them on the wire.

HAL has the same policy right now, both have to cancel to get the FCC. If just one cancels, there's no FCC offered. I think we may see this change in the next few days. After the State Department warning, as well as what seems to be increasing panic, anyone they can get on the ship would be worthwhile.

I haven't read all the replies, but after seeing a video on VV, the line is a complete disaster. It's very reminiscent of Revel in Atlantic City. Without major changes, there's no chance of VV making it in the long run.

Thanks for all the responses and information, everyone!

Sorry for the (I'm sure) repetitive question, but I can't seem to find the answer searching the forum. How do you make an open dining reservation before boarding the ship?

Thank you!

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I have found that it really varies by length of cruise, but also by what nationalities are the majority on the ship.  We have found the longer cruises (10+ nights) do trend a bit older.  Have been on a couple 14 nighters where the average age was 70+.  At the same time, have sailed on cruises with a lot of people from Great Britain, Canada and Australia and generally speaking those cruises were a lot more lively well towards midnight (I never made it up after that so don't know how long the partying lasted).  I know these are broad generalizations but it has been our experience so far.

It's very possible the nationalities do impact it. Normally when I sail it's majority American.

As for the length, you're right, and I know Celebrity realizes it. Most younger passengers can only take off a week at a time. Celebrity's new strategy with Equinox (6 and 8 night sailings) is interesting. They're promoting the 8 night as "Still only a week of vacation time needed." We'll see how it pans out.

The one thing I've noticed is Celebrity's demographics seem to be trending toward an older clientele. That doesn't bother me except the ship goes to bed relatively early. On a 12 night cruise, I would expect it to be pretty quiet by 10:30 or 11 PM. Even on my last 7 night most everything except the Martini Bar (and it wasn't packed) was done by midnight.

Thanks, wrk2! It is definitely confusing and makes it hard to figure out prices without having to contact my TA every single time.

Can somebody actually clarify that "Extra Savings per Person" column?

I booked a placeholder in October and knew the future cruise offer I booked was subject to change since I don't plan on keeping the sailing they booked me on.

But if I were to go use the reservation number today on a 7 night veranda sailing that cost $1000 per person, does that mean I would only pay $800 per person?

Thanks!!

I wonder if Quasar will make it through on Silhouette? It shows it as "The Meeting Place" on the post-Revolution plans, but I'm not sure whether it's a mistake or not.

The Entertainment Court area is a very underutilized part of the S class ships. They really need to liven it up with some activities and events.

Thank you all! This was very helpful!

Thanks to you both! Algebra- discount or additional OBC?

The previous offer was (for a 7 night in a veranda) $150 OBC per stateroom, plus $100 per person additional OBC, for a total of $350 OBC (based on double occupancy.)

Is that still what it is?

Does anyone know what it is? The last one I see on the X Commitment site ended December 18th, but there's been nothing else posted. Anyone know what's up?

Gay or straight, I think Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Barbados are dangerous for everyone. I get an uneasy feeling in Barbados, and in Jamaica (when X did the Falmouth stop) as soon as I stepped foot outside the port gates I was offered to buy drugs.

While a call at one of those islands wouldn't stop me from selecting an itinerary (if it were otherwise good) I would either stay on the ship or book an excursion.

12 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

That sounds good, but unless you live in one of the few cities with direct flights to San Juan, air travel to San Juan is much more difficult than flying to Florida.  Flying to and from Florida turns into an all day adventure because there are fewer flight options which often leads to long layovers.  For my money, I'd rather fly direct to Florida and spend a couple of sea days getting to the Southern Caribbean.  Cruises from San Juan often appear to be less expensive but when the real cost of travel to the port is included it doesn't make sense for most of us.  If time is more important, San Juan is still not attractive.  It's almost impossible to fly in the day of the cruise because of the longer flights so you need to take an extra day of vacation for travel, instead of flying to Florida the evening before departure.

 

When all of this is considered, the cruise lines need to keep their costs down in San Juan to stay competitive with departure ports in Florida.  The cruise lines have figured out the best way to contain costs is to develop the port facilities as a partnership with local governments and not be subject to the decisions of another private company.

My airport is podunk, we don't have a direct flight to San Juan, but to each his own. The cruises depart far later at night in San Juan, which gives people more time to get there if traveling the day of.

On 12/8/2019 at 6:18 PM, ipeeinthepool said:

 

As I understand the situation, the port facilities need a lot of repairs and upgrades and Puerto Rico can't afford to do the work.  Puerto Rico was planning on selling off the port facilities and privatizing them.  Apparently Royal doesn't like that solution and is proposing some sort of solution where they  (and probably some other cruise lines) fund the work.  I think they are targeting making a decision by the end of December.   Royal may be holding off on new sailings until the issue is resolved.

Maybe the work is needed on the backend? While the terminal sure isn't glamorous, it is what it is. I'd rather sail out of Puerto Rico and be closer to the southern Caribbean islands. I'm not there to sit in the terminal.

13 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

While the Canadian website provides pricing in CAD, there are no separate Celebrity offices here and the policies are identical. All communications are with the US offices.

In that case, OP, definitely call back, you can be switched.

A 2D is definitely not the worst cabin on the ship. I don't think it's possible to classify a room as the worst based off category alone. I had a C3 on Reflection that was the worst. Right across from a crew door that was used ALL THE TIME.

I was in a 2C on my most recent cruise and liked it quite a bit. The location made it extremely convenient to everything on the lower decks. While the view was "obstructed" it didn't bother me at all.

I thought I read that people in the UK couldn't switch a guarantee room (even in the same category) so I wonder if that is the same for Canada. Nevertheless, I would call back and see if you can get a different answer. Another option is requesting to be put back in the room pool. In that case you would go back to GTY status.

Thanks so much for the review! The ABCs are on my list, and this just reaffirms they're good places to go!

They have a turkey option, but I've never got it on a Thanksgiving cruise. I was on Eclipse for Canadian Thanksgiving this year and don't remember anything special. Personally, I would enjoy the cruise rather than look for the "traditional" meal.