PatandStu

My ta is strongly urging us to use X flights - he says it will save us $$ and guarantee flights if delays happen. 
I’ve read horror stories on other lines’ forums. Of course, with 10 bad experiences, there may be 100 good ones not posted on forums. 
Does anyone have any feedback on X flights from Canada? Specifically Ottawa? Toronto? Montreal? 
 

On 2/7/2024 at 6:47 PM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's the print screen of YOUR cruise on https://www.celebritycruises.com/. 5 days cruises are eligible. I don't know if there is a separate website for Canada....

 

Terms & Conditions:

Cruise must be booked Jan. 17 – Feb. 15, 2024 (the “Offer Period.”)  Upgrade offer applies to select Short Caribbean cruises, 5 nights or less, departing 04/21/24 – 11/30/24 on Celebrity Reflection. (“Offer Cruise”).  No promo code required. To redeem book a veranda stateroom at an ocean view stateroom category price, on an Offer Cruise.

Full deposit must be paid by deposit payment required due date.  Standard full deposit penalty is applied if booking is cancelled within final payment period; see Celebrity’s cancellation policy for details.

Offer is combinable with Standard rates, and other Brand offers named during the Offer Period. Offer applies to new individual bookings and to staterooms in non-contracted group bookings, which must be named and deposited during the Offer Period. All offers are non-transferable and combinable with standard pricing in USD only. Offer is not combinable with interline, loyalty, net, travel agent, and employee rates.  No refunds or credits will be granted for unused options. Offer and prices are subject to availability and change without notice, capacity controlled, and not applicable to charters or contracted groups and may be withdrawn at any time. Changes to booking may result in removal of Offer.

Trade: Group bookings that are named prior to the start date of the Offer cannot be cancelled and rebooked under this Offer.

Refer to celebritycruises.com and the Cruise Ticket Contract for additional terms and conditions. Celebrity reserves the right to cancel the Offer at any time, correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions, and change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice. ©2024 Celebrity Cruises. Ships’ registry: Malta and Ecuador.

There is a separate website for Canada. And that offer doesn’t show. But, I’ve switched TAs so I’m hoping he can find something for me. 

48 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

X is currently running a free category upgrade promotion on short cruises, so the Veranda cabin is the same price as Oceanview. Why don't you opt for the balcony instead? It will definitely have more space.

 

Total for a partially obstructed balcony for 3 ppl is $1,589.69 USD

How short is short? We’re looking at 5 days. We’re booking from Canada. 

On 2/6/2024 at 9:16 AM, WELDON said:

Last week, I was on Reflection in cabin 3170. The last few mornings, I heard some banging but it didn't bother me. 

I sailed solo and the cabin was large enough for me. I can't imagine 3 adults in that cabin. You are going to be on top of each other with little space to move around. Have you seen the picture of the cabin?

Yes, I’ve seen photos. But, budget limitations are what they are & we’ll just have to bump into each other. 
 

We’re looking at 3125 on Reflection. 

I think I’ll give up the small amount of space to have a window, I think. 

For budget reasons, we’re looking at an Oceanview cabin for a November 4 cruise on Reflection. (3 ladies, so an inside isn’t big enough.)
We have stayed in a similar cabin on NCL. 
If we docked on the starboard side, where our cabin was, we were wakened very early in the morning to sounds of metal ramps being moved & heavy doors being opened & shut. 
Has anyone stayed on deck 3 on Reflection that can tell me their noise experience please? 

I found the same thing. I was tempted to follow through with the booking and use a screenshot to justify the lower price. A veranda was cheaper than Oceanview! But, at 1/2 price I’m pretty sure it would not have been accepted. 
Too bad,it was an awesome deal. 
My ta has a promotion starting tomorrow - we shall see what she is offering. 

I have sailed both. MSC was certainly more affordable BUT we weren’t in yacht club &felt a real sense of “them” and us. 
ship was gorgeous. Food was a disappointment. Service was not friendly at all, they all did their jobs but it was as if it hurt to smile. As stated, entertainment wasn’t well shown on daily planner.  
im going back to Celebrity, I leave it to my ta to find me big sales & promotions. 

As mom, I’m footing the bill so 3 to the room it will be! Thanks, guess the daughters can alternate on the sofa bed 

Which is more comfortable for an adult woman? A single sofa bed? Or a pull down bed? 
We have options-just want to make the right choice. 
thanks 

Having just come off the Seashore, I can just say you get what you pay for. The ship is clean & beautiful but we found the layout difficult to manage. We missed being able to stand at the bow - you only get that area if you are yacht club.   And, we were less than impressed with the food in the main dining room & the service. 
But, for the price, we’d go MSC again, especially for a quick 4 day getaway. 

We just returned from a 4 night on Seashore. We did not have a gala night but saw many folks glam it up on the last night. Pretty sure we had 2 tropical nights & one white night but I can’t remember the 4th. 

10 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Went to the thesaurus and found some more apt synonyms. 

"

Synonyms

• cheap
• economical
• low-cost
• low-priced
• modest
• popular
• reasonable

• bargain
• budget
• buy
• cost next to nothing
• cut-rate
• dime a dozen
• dirt-cheap
• for a song
• half-price
• low
• marked down
• nominal
• popularly priced
• real buy
• real steal

I like 'cost next to nothing'.  The price of a weeks cruise on MSC is lower than what it costs the average US city to house and feed the homeless, with or without a drink package. 

I agree with the lower cost in comparison to other cruise lines. However, a smile is free and we didn’t get many of those by staff. 

I don’t mind invisible when I don’t need help. But, we were more disappointed with the lack of smiles or “welcome aboard” from those we did see. 

8 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Take an older ship, ideally the Preziosa or the Divina. You will like it more. 

Are the food & service better on an older ship? If yes, why? 

On the island we were waiting on a shuttle (I have minor mobility issues), 2 empty ones came by. One stopped but would not let us on - driver said “yacht club only”. I’m not sure how she knew we weren’t. 
Another time we were looking to walk outside on the ship & missed the sign. We were firmly told by another guest we were in the wrong place. As we were trying to navigate our way back, a staff member pointed us away from the yacht club. 

I have sailed Disney, RCI, Carnival, NCL & Celebrity. Our ta suggested MSC for a quick (inexpensive) getaway. 
I travelled with my adult daughter, booked a Bella inside with easy plus drink package, wifi, & gratuities. We sailed from Port Canaveral to Ocean Cay & Nassau. Here are our thoughts.

Embarkation: line up outside, then line up inside, then line up some more. Took about 90 minutes all in all. Dropped our luggage in our stateroom & went exploring. 

The ship: it’s beautiful & clean but hard to navigate. There isn’t a deck where you can walk the entire ship outside. There isn’t anyplace at the front of the ship to stand unless you’re paying for the spa or yacht club. The pools & jungle area are great & the slides are fun. 
Speaking of yacht club-there’s a definite “us & them”.  Most of the time it didn’t bother us, but a few times when we accidentally crossed the line, we were made aware of our lack-of-status. 
Finally, the elevators: that system might work in an apartment or office building, but it fails miserably on a cruise ship. We logged 10s of thousands of steps by taking the stairs most of the time. 

Food: disappointing. We didn’t starve, but if you’re going for wonderful meals, this isn’t the place to go. We did not do any specialty restaurants. The buffet is poorly laid out. You have to peruse the entire place to not miss anything. At times, the buffet was scheduled as open but the only station available was pizza. 

Stateroom: we were inside on deck 13, close to stairs. Spacious & clean. Beds are very firm. Attendant was ok, we didn’t request anything so we didn’t see him much. 
 

Ocean Cay: highlight of our trip. It’s beautiful, walkable (lots of walking!). Lots of beaches to choose from, none ever felt crowded. There is a buffet restaurant (double check the open time! It closed at 1:30) and food trucks and bars, all included in our package. We snorkelled & kayaked. We were looking forward to the night light show but it was cancelled due to “technical issues”. 
 

Entertainment: we enjoyed the music shows. Loved the last night when singers & dancers came out to chat with the audience. We did not go see the magician and heard from many folks that the show was high-school amateurish.  There were many venues for varied music in the evenings. 
 

Our last comment is about the staff. They are (mostly) efficient but not friendly or smiling. Service is basic at best. If you like the bartender to greet you with a smile, this isn’t the cruise for you. At our assigned dining venue, after the first night we were told with an arm wave “you know where your table is”.  When asked what time it was open the next morning for breakfast, the maître d didn’t know (or couldn’t be bothered) and told us there was a daily planner in our rooms & we could look it up. We did write a so-so review of the snorkelling staff (they didn’t seem engaged with the clients and bordered on rude).  MSC followed up our review with a phone call from guest services (at 9:45pm!). When we said we weren’t happy with the staff, they said “oh good, not us, excursion folk”. The only staff members who deserved a shout out were the kayaking staff who greeted us with enthusiasm, like they actually enjoyed their job. 
 

Will we do MSC again? Sure, if the price & timing is right. But we’ll know better what to expect. We are happy to answer specific questions. 
 

My agent gets the same error code as me. I tried calling MSC but because I booked with an agent, they would not sell me the excursion, or even tell me if there was availability. My plan is to head to the excursions desk as soon as we embark. 

Thank you. Assume this is US$? And is the gratuity included? 

DD would like to try Teppanaki but I cannot find pricing, other than a dining package. 
Does anyone know if we can just book this once onboard, and what the cost is? 
only 13 more days till we sail! 

Goport gives me the option of waiting at the hotel for pickup between 10:30 & 11:30 or taking the hotel shuttle back to the airport & grabbing a goport transfer there earlier. 
That might be an option for you if you want to get to the port early.  My checkin time is 1:30 so there’s not much point in arriving earlier. 

The only excursion we wanted to do at ocean cay was the glo paddle boarding. It shows as sold out on day 1 but day 2 excursions are not listed. 
Our ta gets the same thing if she logs in.

Is there a number to call for excursions? 
What are the odds of being able yo book onboard? 

We booked with goport. Airport to hotel, Orlando airport hotel for one night, shuttle from hotel to port canaveral, then shuttle from cruise back to airport. Good package deal. Called hotel to get their opinion. They rated goport 9-10 out of 10. 
one stop shopping! 

7 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

NOVEMBER 2023 THEME & HIGHLIGHTS

 

Saturday Dress Glow/casual

Sailaway Party 5:30 pm Marina Pool

“Imaginocean” Chora Theatre 7:30 & 9:30

Free Liquor Tasting 8-9 pm Duty Free Shop

Movie Under the Stars 10pm Marina Pool

Top Gun Maverick

Karaoke 10:30-11:45pm Uptown Lounge

Glow Party 11:15 Le Cabaret Rouge

 

      Sunday Dress 60’s,70’s,80’s,90’s

Comedy 7:30 & 9:30 Chora Theatre

NFL Football from 8:15 pm Casino,

Sports Bar & Marina Pool

Sunshine Party 10:30pm Atrium

Finest Floral Garments

Karaoke 10:30-11:45 Uptown Lounge

 

      Monday Dress Casual

Perfumery & Cosmetics 20% off 10:30am

Master Chef at Sea 11am Chora Theatre

“Premiere” Chora Theatre 7:30 & 9:30

Dancing Shoes Competition 10:30 Atrium

 

      Tuesday Dress Tropical

“Young at Heart” Chora Theatre 7:30 & 9:30

Guinness World Record Game Show 8:30pm

Le Cabaret Rouge

Tropical Party 10:30 pm Marina Pool

 

      Wednesday Dress Rock/Casual

Boutique Clothing Sale 30% off 4:30 pm

“In Concert” 7:30 & 9:30 Chora Theatre

Comedian 10:45 pm Chora Theatre

Karaoke 10-11:15 Uptown Lounge

Classic Rock Night 11:15pm-midnight

Uptown Lounge

 

      Thursday Dress White Night

Special Future Cruise Booking Day up to $500

Shipboard credit & reduced deposit

Clearance Day 7pm up to 50% off

Liberty Plaza

Special Guest Artist Chora Theatre

7:30 & 9:30

Special Doremi Family Party Marina Pool 7pm

White Party 11:15 pm Marina Pool

 

      Friday Dress Elegant

10:30 am Mega Event Valentino 30% off

Liberty Plaza

Effy up to 60% off 11 am

“Dreamscape” Chora Theatre 7:30 & 9:30pm

MSC Factor Guest Talent Show 10:30pm Atrium

Movie Under the Stars “I Want to Dance with

Somebody” 10 pm Marina Pool

Farewell Party 11:15 pm Atrium

Thank you! Helps with my packing.