Knixuk

They don’t appear to turn anyone away from the MDR no matter what they are wearing on any night.

Just do you and wear what you feel

comfortable in. 

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

We have this discussion several times each year on this board.  Some people are unwilling or unable to behave in any way different from what they know at home, and they will never be convinced that what they are doing isn't anything but right.  We can tell them it's not done but they will always have a reason, great service (as if they wouldn't get that without a tip), or a really nice driver, etc. and they reinforce that by saying it's always appreciated.  As if the driver would rudely throw it back in your face even if they were insulted.

 

Tipping is not the custom in Italy.  It's rude to export your country's norm to another country, no matter how uncomfortable it is for you to behave differently.  Tipping is a crude way to compensate someone for their labor.  Nevertheless, many will continue to do it and nothing that is said here will change that.

This is a strange reply.

Tipping in Europe is not expected and it isn’t done to ensure people get paid for their labour (which is just odd).

However, tips are welcomed and not seen as an insult. It is a bonus, something additional to their wage. If you feel the service deserves a tip then give one, but don’t feel you have to.

As a European I tip occasionally, when the service warrants it. However if I don’t tip, I don’t feel bad about it because I know the person is still being paid an appropriate wage and are not reliant on my tip. 
 

Personally would not want to return to two set meal times. Much prefer flexibility over dictated times.

I don’t think this letter is that representational.

Currently on a Princess ship and I would say the vegetarian/vegan options are continually disappointing. Most nights in the MDR there are no pasta options available for a vegetarian let alone a vegan.

Even in the buffet area it is difficult. I do not want to eat salad every meal. They also don’t label things vegetarian/vegan in the buffet so you have to ask. Sometimes things that appear on the surface to be vegan/vegetarian are not eg a vegetable based dish made with a meat broth… it is very disappointing that they don’t rectify this. Pretty much anyone can eat vegan/vegetarian food but not everyone wants to eat meat/fish but there are an abundance of meat and fish options at every food outlet. 

Hearing about the secret vegan menu that might be available I will ask about it this evening and see if they have one. It shouldn’t be a secret though if they do have one. 
 

I make do but it would be so much better if they just thought about it a little more. It would not be difficult to correct. 

I used the port testing at Southampton and it was very easy and efficient. You have to wait an extra 20mins to get the result but it wasn’t that much of an issue for us.

We had taken a lateral flow test at home before setting off so were as sure as we could be that we would be negative at port.

It was also $25 rather than $60 as advertised, so that felt like a nice bonus! Not sure if that was a one off thing or is the new price going forward.

If they know a cocktail they will make it regardless of it being on a menu or not. 

I was on this cruise.

you just have missed the trivia on MUTS because it was there. It was definitely on before MIB international anyway. 
 

I thought both comedians were terrible btw - I did enjoy the in house shows and agree that Mark is great and the dining room food was dreadful - especially the vegetarian options, also one of the waiters was pretty rude: “what do you mean you don’t know what it is?” Was his response when I asked him to explain one of the options on the menu...

On 1/19/2020 at 5:17 PM, ccndfw said:

Has anyone heard how the current cruise Is going?  Are they missing any stops?  

I was on that cruise, no issues as far as I was concerned.

We skipped Cays as already warned and the second day was pretty cruddy weather and quite choppy so might not have been good weather on Cays.

After that the weather improved every day and it was glorious on Aruba and the penultimate sea day. We made all the other ports - although it was a little touch and go with Dominica and the ship sat at a list all day. 
 

I was surprised at the speed going back from Aruba to FL but other ships did over take us.

Overall no major complaints - it was a very enjoyable cruise.

It is very strange about the port fee. Ours was refunded the day after we set off away from St Petersburg. I wonder if some people just didn't notice it was there? I say that in good faith because I asked my mother to check on here account to see if she had been refunded and she said she hadn't. I took a look at the account on the TV and she had.

I read a poster mention about Helsinki and why the ship didn't go there instead. The captain was asked this question during the Q&A and he said that they had considered it, however, if they had decided to go to Helsinki they would have been giving up on St Ps and they felt people would rather the ship waited and tried to get in to St P. The weather reports indicated there would be a chance of getting in at 4am the next morning.

I think he made the correct choice. Imagine if he had gone to Helsinki and then the weather cleared at St P? I think people would have been more annoyed at that decision than the one that was made.

The captain was asked about tug boats, he said it wasn't possible with the boat and he had double checked with the pilot.

On the graphic he showed the passengers the channel was 100m wide but due to the wind he said it made it too risky.

Someone also asked if we could get on to shore via a tender. The captain and Sue had a long laugh before replying that it was not a good idea.

I was on the ship and it was disappointing but the captain has to make the decision he feels is in the best interest of the ship and passengers.

It was mildly amusing hearing all the conspiracy theories floating about...

I think most passengers just got on with it and made the best of the situation. I didn't see any very angry people at all.

The captain made three attempts I think, the original attempt, another in the middle of the afternoon of the first day and a final attempt at 4am. He appeared to do his best and he did a Q&A on the first day which was informative and also hilarious.

The only real issue I had was with the lack of day time entertainment. They kept telling us they were going to "pack the schedule" but just repeated things that had already happened or added in a few more "adult colouring" sessions... zzzzzz

I think overall the day time entertainment was pretty poor, repetitive and focused on getting the passengers to spend more money.

OK, currently with a UK agent: Inside £1314, Balcony (same price as outside cabin) £2051. The latter includes the drinks packag and $400 OBC. So thats over £700 pp more to get the drinks package and OBC but in a Balcony. With a discount US cruise agent the prices are £1983 and £2927 respectively with free tips, £300 OBC and the drinks package on the latter price. So currently much cheaper with a UK agent.

 

 

 

 

 

However, the UK prices are IMO high. Eclipse does a lot of Baltic sailings and the prices do come down sometimes. Ive booked my last 3 Eclipse trips in the autumn, Sep/Oct. As an example our Eclipse Baltic trip this May was booked last Sep and we paid £1695pp for a Balcony, drinks Package, tips and $300 OBC with a UK agent. Celebrity's current promotion ends 31st August so I would expect another promotion from 1st Sep and possibly some re-pricing. Just as a final note, Eclipse Baltic sailings this spring/summer were being offered as low as £899 for an inside around March/April and I would expect similar offers next year.

 

 

 

 

 

I would not book direct with Celebrity UK. You can usually get around 5% off from some cruise agents or if you route your purchase from Celebrity via the cashback site Topcashback (not a travel agent so can be mentioned on here) you will get 4% cash back.

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps. If you need more help just let me know.

Thank you - this is all very helpful (and a little confusing). I am stuck to the July dates really (due to work) but figured the early July date would still be in main school time so would avoid the over abundance of children.

I might hold out a little bit longer and see if the prices come down then, it seems a big saving IF i am prepared to risk losing out on the cruise all together.

If you indicate the specific cruise you are looking at I may be able to add more info.

 

 

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That would be great, thank you, Baltic leaving 2nd July from Southampton.

You can book US prices and its best to do so via a US agent as they usually add perks on top. We can't name agents on here. However I currently cannot find any US agent offering a better priced Celebrity cruise than one available in the UK. Mainly due to the exchange rate.

 

Usually to book an inside cabin and buy two drinks packages would make it equal or better value to book an Oceanview or above that includes the drinks packages. I've rarely seen it better value to get an inside if you intend on getting a drinks package.

 

The classic alcohol package would cost $64 pp pd at current prices and with the poor exchange rate I'm sure choosing an Oceanview or above to get the included drinks package will be better value.

 

Celebrity are way above Thomson.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you - that is very helpful, it is difficult to work out what is for the best. From what i can tell on the .co.uk website £2798 for an interior vs £4400 for an ocean view. I can't tell if the drinks package would be more than £1600 in total for two - but i find it quite surprising if it is. As long as the drinks package is less than £1600 then it may be cheaper to do internal + drinks, but then perhaps having the ocean view is worth that little bit extra. We had a balcony on our last cruise (Med with Princess) and just never used it so certainly don't want a balcony option.

So, just to check.

In your opinion is it better for me to wait until the 1st of September to book a cruise for next July or take the current price on the .co.uk website? (UK cruiser)

Thanks

If the price for the cruise is cheaper on .com and you are UK based can you book it on .com?

Also, new to celebrity and I couldn't find any information on the website but how much does the drinks package usually cost?

Trying to work out if cheaper to book an internal room and add on the drinks package or book an ocean view with the free drinks package.

Thanks for the advice (and hope it wasn't a stupid question!) - we usually cruise with Princess/Thomson but fancy a change.