lostchild

I just got off Silhouette a few weeks ago. I was planning to rent a tux for the trip until I read here about the chic nights. Celebrity never really notified us about it unless you go search thru their website. So I decided to just take a sport coat with me. BTW, it is $8 onboard to have your coat pressed if anyone wants to know. And if you want same day service, it's 50% more $12.

On my previous cruise, Disney, about 20% of men wear Tux and the rest suit or sport coat. On Chic night at Silhouette, I think less than 5% of men wear Tux, 60% wear coat or suit, the rest without jacket. About 60% men has a tie. I don't think I see anyone wearing T-shirt or shorts. I think most people are dressing business casual. I only bought 1 coat, so on the 2nd chic night, I didn't wear a coat and I don't really feel out of place.

The main problem in my mind is that passengers in the U.S can book multiple cruises, then decide at final payment which they will cancel. The cruise company is ' covering themselves' by taking more bookings than they have capacity for, so that they won't loose out financially.

This scenario wouldn't happen in U.K, as we loose our deposit if we have to cancel.

It's about time all customers were treated equally.

All my families from UK book thru an US travel agent so they could cancel and get full refund outside of the 90 days. Onboard when they did another booking, the agent tried to do the 80 pounds non-refundable deposit to everyone from UK, they said no, they used US travel agent so everyone got the $100 refundable deposit instead. The celebrity cruise agent tried to tell them that is would difficult to communicate with the travel agent in US. Really? 2017... email, phone, facetime, whatsapp, etc... :p

BTW, we all took a random booking in 2018 or 2019 since we just wanted to lock in the perks. We all wanted to go on the same cruise but it is too soon to figure out the time and place yet.

What the rule really meant was flip flops and sandals are not allowed for men. And women should be wearing heels. But they can't say that because it is politically incorrect. A sandal is basically a low cut female open top shoes. Look at the Oscar red carpet pics, if these shoes have lower or no heel, they are all sandals.

My two favourites were:

Raspberry Fizz (muddled raspberries, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and soda water)

Sparkling Mint Lemonade (fresh lemon juice, mint, agave nectar, and soda water)

I tried those! There are about 3 or 4 more standard ones on the menu. The watermelon strawberry one is pretty good. I think the best part about the premium non-alcoholic package is the big bottle of Evian water. The people with the alcoholic package always ask us how did we get the nice giant bottles of water when they only could get the little one. :p

The home banner actually said "Up to 45% off" but everything I could find so far is 20%. The problem is that our sail date is 4/2 and no more online reservation since 3/30 11:59pm! I would have been really pissed if I wanted any alcohol drink packages because they are 20% off also. But luckily we don't drink. :p Since the sales end on 4/2 11:50pm, I wonder if we would still get the 20% if we book excursions onboard on 4/2.

The banner doesn't really gives any detail. Didn't say it is online only or which sales dates are applicable.

EDIT: Took a closer look, the drink packages were not discounted, but the drink package upgrades are. But the price seems to be actually higher than last night! Upgrade from Premium Non-Alcohol to Premium Alcohol is $50.74. It doesn't make sense when Premium Alcohol by itself is only $52.

Now I am wondering if the excursions that said 20% discount are actually discounted...

Thanks! Good to know ahead of time.

If you have unlimited WiFi on the ship, does it also work on Cococay? If not, any other way to communicate on the island if the group is separated? Thanks!

Thanks for this response! I used extension cord last time no problem for a cpap. Was thinking about bringing the ever popular Belkin next time. Now i know better. :)

I used one last time on Disney cruise too, but after reading the CPAP thread here, I contacted Celebrity special need thru their website and told them I have a CPAP machine. They came back and told me extension cord and distill water will be provided for you for the cruise.

The cloth steamer is probably one of the worst electronics on power drawn. It has to heat up the water really quick to provide steam. When I plug in my steamer at home at the outlet, the light above immediately dimmed. It doesn't happen with the iron.

So if a few cabins next to each other sharing a circuit decided to all steam their clothes right before dinner time....it could trip the circuit breaker.

Pizza is available in the Oceanview Cafe from lunch until 1 am I believe. Pasta is available as well.

Cool thanks! Our son would be happy. That's the first thing he asked when we told him about the cruise.... do they have pizza? :p

Hank,

You're so knowledgeable about Uber, I have a question. I'm disabled and use a mobility scooter when travelling. The one time I used Uber, the driver didn't think he could get my scooter in his car when he arrived, so he suggested I cancel and re-book an XL. When I did this, there were no XL's available, so the driver then helped me break down my scooter and it fit, but I was alone and no luggage, so he told me to re-book him, I did and all was well, except Uber charged me a $5 cancellation fee. :mad: I tried to get it refunded, but to no avail.

 

Having never used an Uber XL, will it be large enough for 2 paxs, 3 pieces of luggage, and my scooter ? There are taxi's in FLL that are minivans with rear ramps equipped, so I just drive my scooter into the back and the driver places all the luggage around me.

 

Thanks for your advice.

Uber XL is basically any 7 seaters (including driver) SUV or MiniVan.

I always pick Lyft over Uber. Uber app doesn't let you tip and if you want to tip the driver you have to pay in cash. And if you don't tip in cash, driver immediately knows there is no tip. Lyft app allows you to tip in the app with your credit card. The tip does not show until the next day and it is mixed in with the other tips so driver does not know who tipped or who didn't. That way you don't feel like you have to tip if you really don't want to and you don't have to carry cash.

And Lyft app even allows you to tip a day later. One time we left an iPhone in the car. We were able to contact the driver thru the app and he drove to us to give us back the phone. So I used that "add additional tip" feature on the app.

We are going to be on it on April 2! Does anyone know if there a pizza place onboard that you could grab a slice of pizza during the day? :D

Does pre-paid gratuity shows on celebrity website or on the invoice? I did a search on the invoice and I didn't see any mention of gratuity or tip. I see the OBC, drink package, and internet, but don't think I see gratuity.

They do exist on Cunard Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, the suite key card gives you access to the suite restaurants and lounge on the top deck. Its only on a couple of the central lifts, and frankly, it was quite embarrassing having to put your key card in the slot and select the floor when the lift was full.

 

p.s. We were in the cheapest suite!

You think that was embarrassing? One time we stayed at a hotel on the top floor (was upgraded to a suite because of loyalty membership) and the elevator has a room card scan for all the guests. When we went into the elevator, scanned the key, it bypassed all the other floors selected by the other people in the elevator and drop us at our floor. We got out of that elevator really quickly and didn't look back. For the rest of the stay, we made sure the elevator was empty before we used it. :p

I think many of the hotel's staff card scan does the same thing (priority elevator call). One time I saw a hotel plumber (he was in work outfit and holding a toilet plunger), the elevator bypassed all the other floors and went straight to his floor. He did say "sorry, emergency" right before he stepped out. :p

A side note; the case is also a great place to store accessories like SD cards, USB thumb drives, etc. It's great having them all in one easy to find container. (Beats the Hell out of the good old days where we had to carry a separate case just for all of our (analog) film and fill up at least one drawer in our cabin with exposed film.

I put credit card and some cash in it with my phone. Took it to water parks a few times and worked great. My wife had to put her inside a locker... when we are ready to leave.. her phone was almost dead... I guess it was trying to get signal thru the thick metal.

I also got a pouch for her kindle paperwhite. She likes to read floating in our pool and in the bath tub.

Thanks everyone so far for the great info. I may get laughed at for this but what is drawing me to the 5100 is the 180 degree tilting screen not that I'm a big selfie girl but I like the added feature and the size. My current camera doesn't have a viewfinder so I don't think it's something that I would miss.

 

My big problem is I just don't know if I want to shell out the bucks for the new camera or if my DSC-WX300 would do the job.

 

Also if you think that the new camera is really the way to go. Could I take great scene pictures with just the kit lens it comes with or do you think I need the 55-210 lens also? I really like pictures from the boat of the islands, etc.

 

I guess I just need advice :D

I have been looking at the A5100 for since X'mas. The selfie screen is one of the best feature, and touch screen is very important for video. It is one of the best youtuber camera since you could see yourself and make quick adjustment to focus. Also if you hold both the A6000 and A5100 you will see there is a huge difference in weight and size. It doesn't look that way on paper but the difference is there when you actually hold them.

If you don't care about the touch screen, the A5000 is actually pretty good...and a lot cheaper. It was at $350 new earlier this year. The other camera you could look at is the RX100 III. According the forums, it takes better pictures than the A5100 with kit lens...does selfie.. and have a built in viewfinder. It is more expansive than both the A5100 and A6000 though.

There is an App for that...

Portinder :rolleyes:

I got the one from Joto and it does work. But the touchscreen won't work when you are underwater. So unless your phone can use a physical button (like volume down) to take picture, you won't be able to take underwater pictures when snorkeling.

Haven't been to Maui for 10 years, but back then, we love the beach near the Black Rock by Sheraton. Snorkeling is great there. But Snorkeling is even better at Lanai island which is a ferry ride away from Maui. Lanai was where Bill Gates got married. :p

I think I got the same one from amazon for the same reason. They didn't check the bottle last time when I went on a snorkel trip. Maybe they don't need to as they could clearly see it on our faces. That thing is super white.. and doesn't seem to rub off. So unless your skin is very white.. it makes you look like you have a white face paint on like those kabuki actors. :D

I don't know if it was the brand or just all biodegradable sunscreen is like that. Or maybe I didn't shake it enough. :rolleyes:

I think the cruise port is close to the ICN airport right? You could just take a limo-bus to downtown and do the hop on/off tour bus with English audio headsets around Seoul. The palace is pretty cool especially the changing of the guard ceremony. They have self guided tour with English audio headsets too. Taxi is really cheap in Seoul although some drivers don't speak English unless your get one of those special Taxi with translation assistance for tourist. The Dongdaemun Design Plaza is really cool too and I think the tour bus has a stop there. We took subway there.

Your booking confirmation should have explained any perks you would receive. Normally no surprises come from the cruiseline.

Generally only "thank you" obc's, wine,specialty dinners etc. from an agent might just show up unexpectedly.

I am suppose to get OBC, unlimited internet, and pre-paid tip but I only see the first 2 on the confirmation email and not the pre-paid tip. On the celebrity website, only unlimited internet shows up and not the OBC. I wonder if they will show up later closer to the cruise date which is in April.

Just to be clear, when someone posted Celebrity cruise took their extension cord or surge protector, they did give you back to you after the cruise right? I know Disney cruise takes them but they give it back to you after cruise. Is it the same with Celebrity? Or it is more like TSA style?

I don't like to dress in formal wear because society has changed and formal wear is decidedly of a different era these days. At this point, those who wear true formal wear on a ship are doing so to attend a costume party. People don't even wear suits to church anymore. Times and customs change.

My last cruise was my first cruise. They have 2 formal nights. I rented a tux for them. I think about 1 in 20 guys wore a tux. About 50% wear a suit or sport coat. I was just about to put in my order to rent tux for my next cruise and I saw the thread here. :p Now I don't have to. Last year I went to a black tie wedding reception and I rented a tux. I was the only guy in tux other than the wedding party. Most of the guys don't even have a jacket. Everyone asked me.. why do you wear a tux? Trying to be James Bond? No.. the invitation said "Black Tie".... oh well.