alexandria

24 minutes ago, Tigermad said:

Try finding Gatwick to Venice VCE May 5th returning to Gatwick from Rome FCO on 16th May using celebrity’s flight search. 
 

That's a reason not to use Flights by Celebrity and book it yourself.  Here are your options if you book it independently:

32 minutes ago, Tigermad said:

I looked on the flights section on the celebrity website. I did a search and none from Gatwick to Venice. They are economy flights that were booked in the end but surely I should still have seen these?

My experience with Flights by Celebrity has been very poor each time I considered using them.  Most recently, when I booked a Galapagos cruise, their flight selection was limited to economy seats on just two carriers.  No business class at all and nothing on any other carriers, including AA (apparently due to a contractual dispute between Celebrity and AA).  And to book with Celebrity would have cost me substantially more than the airfare booking independently.

I also have found that much of Celebrity's marketing of included airfare to be quite deceptive.  When they market "Free Air and Savings Offer" promoting "Flights on Us", if you look carefully at the various fare options, Celebrity charges significantly more when they include airfare vs cruise only.  In what universe is that "free" or "on us"?  When I have looked into using Celebrity for flights, I have not found any value to using them.  Others, however, prefer a "one-stop" approach where the cruiseline handles everything, even if there is a premium associated with going that route.

For those and other reasons, I have just stuck with what has always worked for me.  Booking my flights and any pre-cruise and post-cruise accommodations separately.

They don't.  How did you "look online" for the flights you wanted?

If you are flying into Rome or Athens, I found multiple daily non-stops for LGW-FCO and for LGW-ATH and it only took me about two minutes on Google Flights.

29 minutes ago, Liao said:

If you buy a drink package, all tips have also been baked into that cost.  If you do not and decide to just pay as you go for drinks, alcohol or non, I suppose one would tip like they do at home, not knowing your location, this may or may not be your custom.  

Celebrity adds a twenty (20%) percent gratuity to all non-package drink purchases.  They also do that if you pay extra for a premium drink not listed in your package.

Have a great time in the Galapagos!

For those who are following along and prefer to make independent pre- and post-cruise travel arrangements, flying in and out of Guayaquil is always an option.  It is on the coast so no altitude sickness concerns and the flights from Guayaquil to Baltras are two hour non-stops.  There are many well-priced and highly rated luxury hotels and plentiful things to do and see there as well.

But I've heard and read that the pre-cruise experience in Quito is quite excellent so I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Fair winds and following seas...🛳️

When I booked a Galapagos cruise in July, they said they no longer booked AA due to a dispute and on Delta they only book economy class.  However, I don't know whether that is still the case and whether it is impacting what you are finding.

Update as of this morning:  TA advises that his Celebrity BDM finally returned a call.  BDM claims that the hold-up is the Galapagos desk at Celebrity and that as soon as Celebrity's Galapagos staff releases the written cancellation notice with the details, it will be sent out to the travel agents and passengers who booked direct.

Why that process is taking so long is anyone's guess.  Particularly since the phone reps who called the travel agents and passengers nearly two weeks ago to advise them of their cancelled sailing made verbal representations about rebooking options, refund options, reimbursement of certain non-refundable expenses incurred by the passenger up to $500pp and compensation.  If they had a script/memo/email with those details to read from, how hard is it to put it together in the format they want to send out and send it?  It certainly makes me wonder if some of what was said in those calls was not authorized, was incorrect, or is being reconsidered.🤔    Otherwise, I don't know why else there would be such a delay.

Here are a couple of videos that might be helpful/interesting:

Silversea charter train transfer Anchorage to Seward: 

Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic Anchorage to Seward:

1 minute ago, mahdnc said:

 

Well, I hope it works out to your satisfaction.  Good luck and please keep us posted.

Thanks.  I'm sure it will one way or the other.  We'll sail on the Flora in 2025 or we won't.  Either is fine with us!  I'll update this thread when we get something from Celebrity, even if it is two months from now!  😬

2 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I do understand that the number of affected passengers are small.  But the number of available cabins of a particular category can be very very small.  But I see the data on that in your post.  I would still be in hurry though.

I figure it is up to Celebrity.  I'm not willing to rebook with airfare now thousands more for all 2025 Flora sailings until I see the terms and conditions of Celebrity's offer.  (Hazard of being a mostly retired trial lawyer, I'm not going to rush into a decision when I don't even know any of the details.)  Being mostly retired, nearly any date works for me.  But if Celebrity continues to drag their feet and I don't find a future Flora sailing that meets my requirements, then I'll just take the refund and move on to a different vacation option.  There are still many places we want to visit and many ways to get there and enjoy our travels.  Celebrity isn't the only fish in the seas (nor the only cruise line sailing on them).  😁

3 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The OP was notified a week ago, not 2 months ago. 
The poster who referenced 2 months for a cruise in 2020. 

I AM the OP.  I was responding to the poster for whom the written notice of cancellation took two months in 2020.

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

I am very sorry that happened to you, alexandria.

 

To answer your question directly, we've had one non-COVID cancellation of a sailing.  It was for the Jan 31, 2020 Silhouette sailing that was cancelled in mid-May 2019 because of a shipyard accident that affected her drydock schedule.  We first found out about it pretty quickly through our roll call in mid-May.  Our formal email notification of the cruise cancellation and the FCC that came along with it did not occur until mid-July.  So two months later.

 

You do need to act fast because you will want to get rebooked quickly before your choices diminish because of the large number of other affected passengers.  Our roll call had a fair number of people that were disappointed with their remaining choices of sailings or cabin availability.  I was lucky because I already had another cruise booked that I was allowed to use my FCC on.  

Wow...two months between learning of the cancellation and receiving the actual written cancellation notice with the compensation offer?  That's pretty absurd IMO.

There really aren't a lot of affected passengers for the two sailings that were cancelled.  The Flora only has fifty staterooms.  When I checked stateroom availability on our Dec 8 sailing two weeks ago (since I booked a guarantee and was wondering what was still open), about half of the fifty staterooms were still available to book.  So for the two cancelled sailings (Dec 1 and Dec 8), we are talking seventy-five impacted bookings at the most (and that is if the Dec 1 sailing was fully booked).

My TA has reached out to his Celebrity contact/BDM several times over the past week by phone and email and hasn't gotten the first returned call or email reply.  Nada.  He's not dealing with the general reservations department but with his sales rep/BDM who is the person that called him last week about the cancellation.  I'll find out whether he has reached out to the Galapagos sales manager at Celebrity. 

No roll call for our sailing.  Other effected passengers who booked direct have reported on social media that they have not received anything other than a phone call a week or more ago notifying them of the cancellation (with a sales pitch to rebook) and a promise that they would shortly receive a follow-up email with the details.

Since Celebrity has been accused of lying to (or at least misleading) booked passengers for at least a month who called about the rumored Flora propulsion issue (claiming that the ship was fine and no itinerary changes were planned), I can't help but wonder if Celebrity is now telling people one thing on the phone to convince them to rebook instead of taking the refund but will pull the rug out from under them when they finally receive the email with the actual details and conditions.

I'll follow up with my TA about contacting the Galapagos sales manager, but otherwise it looks like a wait and see approach will have to do for now.

Thanks for the input.  Fair winds and following seas to all!  🛳️

It is very similar to what they do for the Silversea train transfer for departures from Seward (but no food or drinks included with the Celebrity train transfer).  You'll check in at either the Celebrity hotel or Egan Center (depending on whether you booked your pre-cruise hotel through Celebrity and what they do for transfers in 2025) and drop all of your baggage except for a small personal item.  Next time you see it will be outside your stateroom.  There is virtually no overhead storage on the train so just a small personal item (purse, backpack or similar) can be carried onboard the train.

The Celebrity buses will transport the rail transfer passengers from the Celebrity hotel or Egan Center to the Alaska Railroad (ARR) station at Ted Stephens Airport in Anchorage.  The charter train typically uses the dome viewing cars with booth seating and food and drinks are available to purchase on board (trains are cashless so credit and debit cards only).  Since it is a charter train, there is only one level of service.  You'll have the dome cars similar to the Gold Star cars on the Coastal Classic route but there is no complimentary food or drink offerings. 

Transfer time on the bus is about three (3) hours vs four and a half (4.5) on the train.  Absent a major highway incident, the train arrives at the Seward Cruise Terminal about two hours after the arrival of the last of the transfer buses.  That's where you'll check in for the cruise and get your Sea Pass.

I don't know what Celebrity is charging for the train transfer; the ARR charges $220 per person one-way for Gold Star Service on the Anchorage-Seward route.  Dome cars like the transfer train but with forward facing seats (instead of booth seating) and an outdoor viewing area.  That fare also includes breakfast, soft drinks and two adult beverages per person.  It departs the ARR depot in downtown Anchorage (not the airport station) at 6:45 am and arrives at the ARR depot in Seward (about 1/2 mile from the cruise ship terminal) around 11:30 am.  If you take the Coastal Classic, you have to get your luggage to the ARR depot in Anchorage and then from the ARR depot in Seward to the ship.

Hope it helps.
 

Just over a week ago, Celebrity called our TA on the phone to tell him that our Galapagos sailing on the Flora was cancelled and that they would be sending him an email shortly with all of the options for rebooking or refunds, compensation (future cruise credit) and reimbursement of certain costs incurred by the passenger.  Now, over a week later, Celebrity has not sent out the email and has not responded to his calls or emails.  There are apparently a number of terms and conditions that apply to the various rebooking/refund/reimbursement options and the future cruise credit but they still haven't said what those are!  😮

On every prior cancelled sailing we've had on other lines, the details went to our TA within an hour or two of their call to him and we were able to make timely decisions and arrangements.  Is this delay between telephone notification of cancellation and providing a written communication with the various details typical with Celebrity?  Our TA has said that in all of his years, he's never experienced such a delay nor such a lack of response to his calls and emails.

Is it unreasonable to expect that Celebrity should have sent this out within a day or so of calling our TA?  If you have had a sailing cancelled by Celebrity, what has been your experience?

If you absolute want the Sky Suite with Veranda and do NOT want a higher class stateroom (or don't want a stateroom with the Infinite Veranda), then book the Sky Suite with Veranda.  However with a guarantee category on the Flora, you will at least have a Sky Suite with Veranda and could be assigned a higher category.

And the ship is very small, just fifty staterooms.  Not a bad one in the bunch.

21 hours ago, alias47 said:

Does anyone here from the sailing know what they are giving as compensation?  My parents are (were) on it but trying to make sure they get what they are owed, if anybody here knows.  

Celebrity said yesterday that an email with all of the details would go out to travel agents and passengers who self-booked. So far myTA hasn't received it.

The December 1, 2024 and December 8, 2024 sailings have been canceled to repair the propulsion system in dry dock.  Once I receive further details from my TA, I'll update this post.

December 1 and December 8 sailings canceled to repair the propulsion system in dry dock.

28 minutes ago, rallydave said:

You are missing at least 2 positives using Flight Ease vs booking direct with the airlines.  First your airline bookings are likely non-refundable from day one while with flight ease fully refundable until final payment plus and a big plus in these days of itinerary changes plus with flight ease Seabourn has to make the required flight changes at no cost to you while with the non0refundable flights booked direct, those changes come out of your pocket.

 

Also with flight ease if you somehow miss your cruise, flight ease is responsible  to get you to the next port while with the airlines that is your issue and out of pocket.

 

Not only the initial price that makes the right decision.

You are assuming that a passenger making their own flight arrangements book non-refundable fares and that they lack comprehensive travel insurance.

Flight Ease is not responsible to get you to the next port unless your flight is delayed or canceled in which case they will rebook you on a flight to your next port of call.  A good comprehensive travel insurance policy provides the same protection.

Be aware that local immigration and/or customs processing may delay your disembarkation depending on where you embarked and whether you are a EU citizen.  On our recent Seabourn sailing, the earliest that we were able to disembark was about 9am as Spanish immigration authorities decided the evening before disembarkation that they would require a personal appearance for all disembarking passengers. 

That process was supposed to begin in one of the lounges at 7am but the immigration officers were reportedly late and did not arrive onboard until nearly 9am.  Once they boarded, the "personal appearance" took just a few minutes...they just compared the passport photo to the passenger and then placed an entry stamp on the passport.  A ship's officer then placed a colored dot on the Seabourn guest pass and the passenger was then able to exit the ship.  Some of those who had early flights or who had made early private arrangements were getting pretty anxious during the delay.

So if you are prebooking transportation rather than relying upon local cabs or other similar arrangements you may want to book it for 9:00-9:30am to avoid any issues if you can't get off the ship before that time.  In the meantime, relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast onboard!

1 hour ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

We are going to be on an Alaska cruise on the Nova that ends in Seward. My understanding is that we will have a train ride to Anchorage and then a (private) transfer to the airport.

 

How does this work? Do they bus us to the train station? Is the train station walking distance from the port?

What time should I plan for my departure flight? I was told 3:30pm, but that seems early, given that it is a 4.5 hour journey between Seward and Anchorage, no? Is 3:30pm a safe time for my flight?

The train transfer from Seward to Anchorage is a charter train which will depart from the cruise terminal (there is a railroad spur that goes right to the pier, just a few hundred yards from the ship) and take you directly to the Anchorage Airport (it has a station there just for cruise passengers on the charter train).  It departs bright and early in the morning and arrives at the airport around noon or so.  (The charter train leaves to take embarking passengers to Seward at about 1:15pm.)

So you should be fine with a 3:30 pm flight, particularly if you are flying out on Alaska Airlines which has a few dozen flights daily from ANC to SEA (from where you can easily connect to your final destination).  That availability gives you many alternative flight options if the train transfer is significantly delayed for some reason.

11 minutes ago, purpleally said:

What on earth is a suite host????

https://www.seabourn.com/en/us/onboard-experiences/suites

For those who have saved screenshots showing the price of their booked excursions to be $0.00, a credit card dispute post-cruise may be successful.  Simply explain that Silversea includes certain shore excursions at each port of call for free as part of your cruise fare (see screenshot below), that the excursions you booked were advertised as free and include a printout/screenshot of your booked excursions under the "My Reserved Activities" link on your My Silversea page showing the price of each of your booked excursions, including the free excursions listed as $0.00 each (example below).  Also attach your itemized post-cruise statement from Silversea showing that the amounts they improperly charged you for each free excursion.

Included Excursions Screenshot sample

My Activities Shore Excursions sample

Perhaps this will be helpful if folks want to play hardball in response to Silversea's less-than-reputable business practices.  Just read and follow the dispute procedures set forth by your credit card issuer.

1 minute ago, Robisan said:

This is ridiculous. They hand you a wide-ranging menu that requires a multi-lingual cryptologist to decipher and then they restrict your choices? Other than chef's prix fixe menu dining there isn't a fine dining restaurant in the world that would impose this restriction. At this price point unless the request is untenable the customer should never hear "no."

I agree and at first thought she was trying to be helpful with a "recommendation" poorly expressed, but later allowed that she may have just been having a bad week or something going on back at home (based upon our other experience with her in Seabourn Square).  I mentioned the Solis experience to another passenger onboard and before I got halfway through, that passenger correctly named the server involved!  So if our experience with her was in fact not an aberration, I suspect that Seabourn will address it appropriately.

I don't like to waste food and didn't have a strong appetite that particular night so the two appetizers would have suited me fine.  Instead I only ate half of the main (and found that it didn't taste nearly as good as it sounded on the menu).  But it was still better than anything I would have prepared at home and I didn't have to cook or clean up!  😄