Jeremiah1212

Premium = a drink containing espresso Specialty = espresso + alcohol that is only covered by the premium package which are listed on the Coffee Cocktail page in the menu. It was mentioned here this weekend that the comparison page is no longer on the website so I would be cautious saying with 100% certainty there are no changes coming.

The main things to know about getting into Chase UR points: Two partners/spouses should not get the same Chase cards at the same time. Never book through the Chase portal. Understand transfer partners. Not that it can't work, but with restrictive timing for cruise arrivals and departures leveraging reward flights can be tough to make work. You have to be flexible to maximize your redemption. I have about a million UR miles and soon will be looking for reward flights for next August. To make it make sense I'm looking at essentially a 3 week window and willing to take a repo flight to get where I need to go. Otherwise you're limited to atrociously bad redemption values.

It varies. There are two dates to look be aware of. The date that you must choose a sailing date and the date the certificate expires. To get the onboard promotional OBC you have to book by the date the cruise has to be chosen. There is also the certificate expiration date where they automatically refund the deposit if the cert has not been used. If you book after the deadline to select a cruise you still get the lower deposit but you forfeit the OBC.

In my experience (I don't deal with MSC anymore FWIW) a lot of people shopping at that price point aren't necessarily deterred by that difference in pricing. They will spend more for Celebrity to not be stuck within the confines or YC. A Retreat booking on Celebrity should walk away with way more OBC than you can get on MSC which narrows the gap. You would still need to upgrade WiFi and pay gratuities on MSC. When you look at the entire product in my opinion it's significantly different.

They're high all over the price and people continue to pay it. Royal Caribbean's are astronomical for what you get, Celebrity is high, MSC is higher and climbing and you have to be willing to be on Carnival 2.0 if you leave Yacht Club, NCL routinely is higher than Celebrity where many itineraries start at 10k for a 7 night Caribbean cruise. HAL and Princess are cheaper but generally not a one-for-one comparable product.

I think a lot of people who enjoy Celebrity, particularly people who are E Class fans, would like Virgin Voyages. Those people make not be represented in significant numbers here, but VV is definitely building a strong fanbase. Now if they would just release 24/25 itineraries...

If you just booked, prepaid or included gratuities will take a few days to balance out. It will happen automatically.

I would completely support cutting ABBA and the endless Bruno Mars covers.

It costs the TA money to offer group space. In this case they are just holding inventory at a specific price. They may have a combination of cabins to offer within that allotted inventory. There are incentives for TA's to sell groups which is where a lot of the OBC comes from. It's best to give them a call. If they know, they know. If they don't, it's potentially costing you thousands in missed savings.

She's been around for 23 years. This isn't new to her. What you're seeing is a CFO becoming CEO after a disaster of a few years due to COVID. *Executive vice president of shared services operations, responsible for Royal Caribbean Group’s safety, security and environment, risk management and crew movement teams. Her portfolio also included the leadership of supply chain, travel services, port services, workplace solutions and real estate. *Senior vice president of product development for Royal Caribbean International where she led the teams conceptualizing the largest global cruise line’s groundbreaking ships, private island destinations, and new experiences introduced throughout the award-winning fleet, including the first island in Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Island Collection – Perfect Day at CocoCay. She also spearheaded the modernization of 10 ships in four years as part of the Royal Amplified program – an investment of more than $1 billion; and the design and construction of six new ships, including Spectrum of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas. *Begun with Royal Caribbean Group in 2000 leading the fleet accessibility program for Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, and she has since held several leadership roles within various areas of the business including hotel and marine operations, sales, marketing, product innovation and investor relations. She was also based in Shanghai as vice president of market development.

They have to be willing to setup or already have a group and you may have to have a little flexibility, but yes. I just looked at one. 2/25/24 Celebrity Ascent in a C2 cabin: Celebrity's price = $6,057 for All Included and a refundable deposit. No OBC. Refundable deposit is adding $969. Group rate = $3,752.20 All Included, refundable and $570 in OBC.

Group rates (and Group X - which are discounted group rates) are typically cheaper than booking direct, All Included by default, refundable for no additional cost and almost always come with extra OBC. The normal deposit rates are required but you don't have to play games to ultimately lose $200. You pick your cabin just like normal.

Group rates…problem solved.

Unless this was pre 2018(?) they automatically refund unused Cruise Later certificates at the date listed on the cert. You only have a few months to book and get the OBC benefit. That date is typically different than the expiration date.

The TA should easily be able to provide a breakdown of the OBC to you.

You should have received an email with an attached PDF invoice with a Celebrity Cruise Later Confirmation. Since the OBC is dependent on the category you actually book, in the Remarks section it says you will receive an OBC of $50-$200. Make sure you aren't passed the booking deadline on page two. If that date has passed you won't get the OBC.

They removed the CEO title for incoming Presidents of both Celebrity and Silversea. That wasn't an oversight. Jason Liberty (former CFO now CEO) has more control over all the brands now as there are no competing CEO roles. If Michael Bayley steps down, I would put money on the new RCI head being President minus CEO as well. My take is Laura's position was awarded after her success with Coco Cay and the RCI and the Royal Amplified program. Lisa is now "chair of external affairs" for RGC. I would translate that as they gave her $300k to do some light legacy consulting work and she hasn't been to an office or answered an email since May.

*Jason

There are definitely some unhappy people in this arena. Much like when MSC customer service was a complete dumpster fire (which it still mostly is), when people stop selling their product it will get attention.

We know.

It's only $500 if you cancel all together. Otherwise it's $200 plus $300 FCC to shift sail dates. And to shift to refundable you move to prevailing rates so there is risk there too.

Or you can book the refundable group rate for far cheaper and more OBC than Celebrity sells directly.

$3700 for two for a week with drinks included is a pretty average fare. Even if you look at Carnival out of PC by the time you add drinks and gratuities you are at that same price point. As you know you're paying significantly for the refundable deposit. I'd risk $200 to save ~$600. At $3200 in a veranda with All Included that's cheaper than you'll find on nearly anything from PC for that timeframe. COVID era prices are gone.

The Eden plant based menu is one of two tasting menus which are separate from the standard menu. I don’t see it talked about often so it may not be offered frequently. The standard menu was dumbed down mid-2022 to make it like any other restaurant so make sure you are looking at the correct one..

E class ships get priority at Terminal 25. Terminal 29 is also commonly used by Celebrity. It's a mile of walking between 25 and 29. Not that it can't be done but the port is not pedestrian friendly at all. I would get a cab. Terminal 21 is across from 25 but I don't recall Celebrity using that one often.