cruzdude1

Thanks. I booked directly with Celebrity.  No way do I feel like I was upgraded.  Great marketing. I wish I knew the total number of sunset verandas versus the number of customers that booked guaranteed sunset veranda.  

Like I said, the guarantee is for that or an upgrade. To sell someone this when you already have exceeded capacity is dubious at best. 

Fool me once....

The guarantee is for that level of accommodation or above. Unless their is a difference in the room size, I don’t see concierge as an upgrade. I can get my shoes shined. ( Nike’s or flip flops?)

The crusie line certainly knows how many sunset verandas they have available at the time you book. 

We will be sailing 12/09/18. We booked a guarantee Sunset Veranda, an as recently as last wee we were told there was a 90% chance we would get that type of room. Like the stock market recently thigs are not looking good. We were "upgraded" to a concierge veranda on deck 10. 😪

I called Celebrity to confirm and check on any other availability, they quoted me $1200 pp to "upgrade" from concierge to Aqua class. 

Safe travels and see you all Sunday! First stop Martini Bar. I will be that guy. Either the friendliest most outgoing guy you've met, or that guy that you wish would be quiet... for at least a minute. 

I am confused about dining on the Edge. We are on the December 9 cruise. It is my understanding that you can have dinner in any of the restaurants, and the dinner is the same except for 25% of the menu which will be from that specific restaurant.  

How do you choose which restaurant you will dine in? Is it assigned? Does it rotate? 

I just wen t online and the give you the opportunity to book, you have to check individual dates, times, and venues. After 10 attempts the only dining options available were for dinner at 9:00 pm. 

Of course you can pay extra and get a more reasonable time. 

Any tips?

Summit was our worst cruise ever!  I wouldn’t take it for free. 

Does anyone know how close to capacity the December 9 cruise will be? I have a guaranteed Sunset Veranda, I really don’t want to be “upgraded”. I spoke with someone at X who told me they were 90% sure I would get the room I wanted. 

This has me thinking bookings are low on this cruise. What do you think?

Where did you go in the car?

I can no longer find the new post or today’s post button 

Nothing wrong with inserting a link, if you want to, but the itinerary for each sailing is on the first page of every roll call (at least for the line we sail on). And once you're past the page with the link, you'd still be flipping back and forth. Personally, I prefer having multiple windows open.

Thanks Mom!

You certainly can put a link in a post on a Roll Call thread. But I doubt that would be something that would automatically be done once a Roll Call is started.

 

I don't find it a problem to have two windows open at at time and go back and forth between them.

Thanks.

hello. Is it practical to put a link to the cruise in the role call of that cruise? That way if someone is interested in the itinerary or something they won’t have to leave the CC page to log into the cruise lines page and death for that cruise.

Just a thought.

Why I like B2B's.

 

As a retired guy who lives where it gets cold in the winter I prefer to cruise in the Caribbean for the warm weather.

 

Normally I cruise for 10 weeks from Oct. - Dec., come home the first week of Jan. to pay the yearly bills, then head down to San Juan to cruise the southern Caribbean from Jan. thru May.

 

A side benefit of cruising the southern Caribbean is that you're in Aruba (a Dutch island) every other week, which means you can get your prescriptions filled at a vastly lower price. For example, a 3 month prescription that would cost me $470 in the States only costs $50 in Aruba. Saves $1680 annually.

 

My retirement plan initially was to buy a home in Florida and live there 6 months a year and in Virginia for the other 6.

 

However, you can only be in one place at a time and having 2 places means you need 2 of everything. So, from a cost perspective it is much cheaper cruising than being a double home owner.

 

But, the big difference is this. You are sailing every week with about 4,000 different folks who have paid good money to have a good time.

 

To me that is the best recipe for having a good time while you're away from home.

 

Plus, you don't have to grocery shop, cook or clean, especially the bathrooms.

 

For me it all adds up to a nice, simple, enjoyable lifestyle.

My hero!

So there is no financial incentive from the cruise line for booking b2b, you are in reality booking two separate cruises.

Are there travel agents that specialize in b2b cruises?

CD, just noticed we are both sailing on 12/9 from Port Everglades, but I'm on Silhouette. Can't wait to hear about Edge.

I'm back on these boards after about a 10 year absence while I worked with Carnival and RCCL ships as Port Agent. Don't mind if you contact me for help with your bid at hmw608 at aol dot com.

Will do. Thanks

OK, now thinking about the Priceline process to place a bid, there is a step before entering a credit card where it asks you to enter a bid, and then it tells you sometimes whether your bid has a chance to be accepted. Maybe this is what you have described. If that is the case, then you would want to start bidding at around $60 (I think 50 is too low no matter what) and if not accepted AFTER you have entered your credit card, then continue stepping up your bid in 5 or 10 dollar increments using the free rebid process described in Bidding for Travel. There is also Better Bidding to look at for guidance.

 

Once you are accepted after you have entered your credit card, that's it, you have bought your room. If your bid is not accepted then you will be asked to change some of your variables like geographic area or star level. So you can get a free rebid by adding a geographic area that does not have any 4 star properties available. You do this over and over, raising bid each time until you win or reach a price that is not acceptable to you. To find which areas do not have 4 star hotels available you have to one at a time select each area as your are going thru the process to enter your bid.

 

Would also suggest you look at Express Deals to get an idea of pricing for your dates. Good Luck.

Thanks Howard.

Thanks Howard, I will look into that. The site never asked for credit card information.

I am new to Priceline. I named a price of $100 for a 4 star hotel in Miami Brickell 12/16-12/18. It was accepted. I lowered it to $75 a night, accepted. I named $50 a night accepted.

At this point I am thinking something is wrong. Too good to be true. How reliable are the hotel ratings?

3 days post cruise.

No I meant "don't know no better." And i do hope you'll share your experience far and wide. The fewer folks buying Celebrity cabins the more likely we'll see prices stabilize.

Still not sure what you mean-- I've not heard of the "Soltice", but am glad it met your standards.[/quote

 

Solstice...

1. Best and easiest is a stretch limo with a stocked bar! :D Probably not the most economical. An UberX or standard Lyft from MIA to PE will run about $35-40 and should be able to accommodate 2-3 passengers plus normal bags. For 4-5 passengers you'll need UberXL or a mini-van/SUV taxi - expect the fare to be about $75-80+

2. You can stay in FLL or Miami or Miami Beach post cruise - it depends upon what you want to do and see. www.sunny.org has lots of FLL area tourist and hotel info. Cruising as a couple? With kids? Honeymoon/anniversary? With a 7:30 flight you'll be up early no matter where you stay.

 

You could switch to a hotel near MIA for your last night; there is even a hotel inside of the MIA airport - cleverly called the Miami Airport hotel. ;) Budget and more info will help the hotel suggestions to be closer to your target.

I like your style John, retirement cruise just the wife and I. I see people talk about a water taxi?

I thought maybe get brunch somewhere in Miami then ride up to FLL. I open to Uber or a private car. Want to see South Beach, if the Heat is in town take in a game, Cuban food, 1great steak. We like good accommodations and great experiences.

We were on the Summit in August- our room was forward on the 9th floor. We never smelled any sewage ever. We had a great time on a great ship with a super crew.

Dont know why some cruisers didn’t like the Summit. We hope to sail on her again!!

The best chef in the world can cook a bad meal. It happens. I am speaking of on week and one cabin I occupied during the life of the ship. Celebrity gets a do over, I don’t.

Please, please tell all your friends how bad it was, and enjoy any other line you'd like to be on. Leave celebrity to those of us idiots who just don't know no better...

You mean, “know any better.” Doesn’t make you or anyone else an idiot.

Just sharing my experience. Celebrity Soltice out of Alaska might have been the best cruise I have been on.

we are on the Celebrity Edge 12/9/18 out of FLL. Our flight arrives in Miami the same day.

1. What is the best, easiest, most economical way to get from Miami to FLL?

2. We are staying over a couple of days after the cruise. Is it better to stay in FLL or Miami? Flight leaves at 7:30 am from Miami. So I need to be near the airport the night before. Thanks

We cruised the Summit out of SJ December 2016. It was the worst cruise ship we have been on. Smelled, dirty, we called twice to have our room sanitized, there seemed to be a sewage issue down the hall that they were working on during the whole cruise. Veranda dirty, drapes stained.

I really was prepared to rule out Celebrity but alas, I am on Edge!

Last chance Celebrity.