Bugsy1966

13 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

 

if you got 10 points for the cruise on RCL , you would get 10 point on the new system 

If you get 10 points for the cruise on Celebrity , you would get 20 points on the new system

if you get 10 points for the cruise on Silverseas , you would get 30/40 points on the new system 

or something like that 

no system will be perfect 

Another option would perhaps be 'n' number of points per $500 (or whatever) paid for the cruise fare across all lines? Sail Silversea with their more expensive rates and you get more points, sail in a Sky suite = more points, sail in a last minute deal inside cabin on RCL or Celebrity and get not too many etc etc.

5 hours ago, welshrich said:

We've since booked 3 more cruises with Celebrity but noticed that on their website it only mentions drinks and wifi.

Yes, they changed it a while back because that's "what their loyal customers wanted" (without materially changing the pricing). I'm sure they think we all have single figure IQs. 😉

21 hours ago, StopTheWorld said:

I’m visiting Sri Lanka next year, and have done a quick look at the visas. My understanding was a “transit” visa was only for visitors who were transiting at an airport? I thought that even if you decided not to leave the ship, a visa is required? Happy to be corrected! Not applied for my visa yet. 

That is also my understanding. I hope cruiser7011 reads your post and investigates further. 

11 hours ago, cruiser7011 said:

Hello, I wish somebody can help us out. We are going to take celebrity millennia cruise three legs, Singapore to Mumbai then back to Singapore then go to Tokyo starting February 8 finishing at March 16.
because of a timeline is a rush we just finish another trip back to home, now prepare for this cruise so the Indian visa is still not completed yet .

so #1, could we ask celebrity cruise line to apply for Indian visa at our cost? Or that’s not possible at all?!

#2, so is evisa the way to apply? No visa-on arrival, right?!

 

Appreciated!

 

Brian and Pei

 

Without knowing the country of your passport I can't comment on VOA other than to say that it is available for some countries so it's worth a google. I'm on the middle leg of your trip and recently applied for e-visas for us - for Sri Lanka as well as India. Neither were difficult (albeit the Indian one had more questions/stringent photo requirements) and  both were approved quickly.

9 minutes ago, GREG781 said:

We too will be joining the Ascent cruise! Does anyone know if you have the Premium Wifi, can you log out on one device and login on a different one - or is it tagged, so that you can only use the device that you initially set up with the unlimited internet package? Thanks and happy sailing to all!

You can use as many devices as you like just so long as only one is logged in at a time.

23 hours ago, RRFPresident said:

 

......What dishes do you recommend at Le Voyage?.......

 

I can take or leave lobster but a friend recommended the lobster risotto. He was not wrong. Outstanding. We shared one as an appetiser but next time I'll have it as a main course.

9 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Uggh! So disappointing! One of the reasons we booked SV on Beyond in January. I see a move up bid in our future!!! 

Sounds like an excellent plan. 😂

We were on the Beyond in Feb and requested a lounger - no problem.

Same ship in July - sorry no can do for safety reasons. Clearly a line that the cabin steward had been given to parrot. I asked him to ask his supervisor but he returned with a hard no.

I then went to guest services who gave me the same spiel whereupon I asked to speak to the hotel manager. Eventually his/her deputy trotted up and delivered the same speech. I asked him to explain how a sun lounger on the balcony of an SV was a safety hazard but not one on the balcony of an Edge Villa or various other cabins. He said he couldn't explain but 'Miami' had told them to remove them - no exceptions.

I'd got a bee in my bonnet by now so made it quite clear that I was more than a little unhappy and asked him to convey that to Miami. He said he would contact Miami as soon as the office opened, convey my disappointment and see what, if anything, they could/would do. He promised me he would call me the next morning (it being around 6pm EU time).

I never did hear back from him but around 10.30 the next morning our cabin steward arrived with a sun lounger!

It took a lot of persistence and, frankly, it was so much hassle I'm not sure I would bother again. Onboard for enjoyment not aggravation. Sad, because it does remove one of the advantages of an SV and is yet another nail in the Celebrity coffin.

It's part of any purchased dining packages so it's hard to believe it wouldn't be part of the 'all speciality included' for upper end suites.

On 9/3/2023 at 5:39 PM, RomanH said:

No, I think the guarantee should mention exceptions. I'd never heard of Exciting Deals before I gave them a nonrefundable deposit because I believed the guarantee.

I think this earlier point of yours summed things up perfectly.......

'And what kind of guarantee is that when they can just call something an "Exciting Deal" & the guarantee goes out the window?'

For me, that is the nub of the matter. If they wish to advertise a best price 'guarantee' that is not bulletproof then they need to add an asterisk or two i.e. guarantee**. Then, lower down, list the exceptions where the guarantee does not apply e.g. Exciting Deals.

I rather think you'd win in a UK small claims court (especially as they'd be unlikely to defend, deeming it too much cost/effort for the sums involved) but it's aggro you could probably do without.

20 hours ago, jelayne said:

We asked while on board in October and the answer was No.  Not sure which is correct.

That's strange. I don't know if you were misinformed, they have since changed the policy or we just got lucky. We had a 4 night package in February and 2 of those nights were in Le Voyage.

They have now introduced a Wash and Press option and, as mentioned above, it can be reserved in the pre-cruise planner under 'Gifts and Gear'. Currently 63.99 vs 48.99 for Wash and Fold.

22 hours ago, DingoMom said:

How about dinner at Le Voyage (on the Beyond)? Is it included n the dining packages?

TIA!

It was as of February and nothing I've read/heard suggests that has changed.

On 5/8/2023 at 5:20 PM, Lastdance said:

I am very interested in your Portugal trip, as we are also on both cruises, but not doing a TA to Portugal until 2025, staying in the southern region.  However, we were doing Portugal after theses cruises, but Since I found the TA to Lisboa, changed to Amalfi Coast and staying in Sorrento!

In general, we're no fans of ship's tours either. Even if one overlooks the price there is the hanging around to consider - not least of which is at the meeting point on board.

Where we do sometimes use them is in tender ports. We prefer to be off the ship early and queueing for tenders (if not in the Retreat) can often result in a greater delay than is ideal. Booking a ship's tour can get round that problem.

We dined twice at Le Voyage last month and for us it was undoubtedly the best restaurant on board. 

It is interesting that, generally speaking, Eden gets a lot of love on here and Fine Cut not so much.

We'd eaten at both before (Eden under the old menu) and were looking forward to trying them both again. Contrary to popular opinion, we preferred Fine Cut. Absolutely nothing wrong with Eden I hastily add but for us it was just 'good'. Whereas we thought Fine Cut was very good, especially the USDA Prime ribeye - which we felt was a little better than the Tomahawk we shared another night.

As an aside, we did LPC about 4 years ago and considered it a once and done, with very ordinary food. At lunch on embarkation day our waiter said it was 50% off so we thought why not give it another try? I can report that the food was vastly improved and we'll certainly consider it again - especially if there are discounts on offer. 😉

Superbly presented and extremely helpful. Much appreciated.

18 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

I always kill time by checking cruise prices. Stumbled across some great suite prices for the 1/21/2024 Ascent sailing. Sky Suite for about $5,150 for 2. Week before and after are a little over $8,000. 
 

Similar thing happened when I booked our 1/29/23 Beyond sailing. Prices didn’t last long and soon went up several $K. 
 

I can’t figure out any rhyme or reason, so I booked it 😜.

 

mac_tlc

Nor could I when, like you, I fell upon the 1/29/23 Retreat prices for the Beyond. Around 5.5K all in for an S1 and now over 10K. We typically pay the same per diem for an SV in Europe (at Indulge type rates).

See you soon........😃

I found it noticeable and have avoided deck 12 for my Beyond bookings. Having said that, if deck 12 had the only SVs available then I'd book one again as it certainly didn't spoil our cruise and I much prefer the aft view/larger balcony over the alternatives.

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

With all due respect, this is what the limo service told us it would take for our trip and that information is what I offered to the OP.

Then perhaps commencing your advice with something along the lines of 'we have no personal experience but have been told to allow 1 hour 40 minutes - more in traffic - by our limo company' might have been better. Your timings seemed rather definitive and I was merely pointing out that I have never experienced such journey times in an attempt to give the OP a better idea of when he/she might wish to arrange transport.

Traffic delays can and will affect journeys as you state but without them then the timings suggested by your limo company are conservative in the extreme.

On 5/4/2022 at 7:37 PM, terrydtx said:

You will need to book a private transport like Bob's Limos but it is at least an hour and 40 minutes from the cruise port to Rome, more in traffic.

https://www.romelimousines.com/

With all due respect I think your journey time is a little pessimistic. We've never taken more than 1 hour 15 mins to central Rome and did it in around an hour once. Always around 8.30 - 9.00 in the morning. 

14 hours ago, ehall said:

We booked the "Spice Route" cruise in 2024.  It is 12 nights.  starts in India, overnights in Sri Lanka, goes to Thailand, Malaysia, and then overnights in Singapore.  I think this one is pretty interesting.

 

 

https://*****.com/2p95h9ut

We have done the same in an SV. Great itinerary and sensibly priced - for once!

13 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

I don't know, but I'm just going to say that the RGG was the worst specialty dining I've had on a cruise ship. The food was okay, but not worth an upcharge, never mind $45. My server was pleasant but seemed to forget I was there a few times. I won't be back.

Sadly, I fully concur. Although, as documented elsewhere on this forum, many love it.

I read some time ago that they were planning to replace the (rather uninspiring - especially re appetisers) menu but there is no sign of that happening. If/when it does I'll be straight back because its outdoor location is appealing.

We used the new terminal in September 2019. It's a joy compared to the old tent. Regarding the OP's original question, I can't say if there is a lounge but after entering the terminal you go up an escalator and at the top suite passengers turn left, mere mortals right. So there is definitely a separate area that, in all probability, will include a lounge.

Better internet a la Princess who, it appears, have moved into the 21st century.

In recent years Celebrity's internet has been adequate without being speedy but since the restart it has been lamentable. That may be a short term issue caused by them underestimating the amount of bandwidth required during reduced capacity sailings. However, I fear it is more down to AI and them underestimating the effect that would have if bandwidth was not increased. Hopefully they will do something about it but if not then it'll be time to find another cruise line.