gg88

Infinity (sailing beginning today)

No, at least one person on the reservation needs to be a current guest. Otherwise, people would book multiple reservations and then "sell" them to others. 

1 hour ago, citruscruiser said:

Wonderman3: Regarding the bath products, the Edge IV's product are also in the large bottles and a different company than Bigelow. No more little tubes of products. This was explained as "cutting back on the use of plastics".

Out of curiosity, can you bring the big bottles home, or are they 'secured', and are simply refilled after each guest? I like taking the toiletries home (assuming their good)... they remind me of being on the ship when I use them in the morning.

The one thing I learned from this thread is that Celebrity is damned if they do and damned if they don't: if they don't shake up their itineraries, the people get mad; while if they try something truly new and unique for Celebrity, people cry that they don't offer the same options as before.

Although I sympathize with those who would like to Bermuda in August and September, I for one am really excited that they put the New York to Dublin, and Dublin to Boston runs on the Summit - it's something new and unique, and an itinerary I'm seriously considering (although the price is a little out there... but, what Celebrity cruise in the 2020/2021 deployment isn't?... Just give it time and they'll all come down as they normally do unless it's a highly sought after itinerary).

3 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

This is written like it's an advertisement or promo marketing.  Is it just me?

 

Agree

No, your friend will not be entitled to any free drinks anymore.

When I was on the Millennium a few months ago, and the new procedures were implemented, they explained that many people were taking advantage of the Elite benefits (for example, if two couples were travelling, one couple being Elite and the other not, then the couples would pretend to be married to each other and gain access to the lounge, or would actually book the other spouse in the room so that al four would gain access). Unfortunately it seems as though people abused this loophole to Celebrity's generosity (which, after all, is nice of them to begin with because after all, people sailing with you who aren't Elite really shouldn't be entitled to these drinks... they haven't "earned" them).

That's why there's the 3 drinks: people who want to have drinks with non-Elite friends can still so that at any lounge of their choice (you get free drinks, but they still have to pay); but if you still want to be in the Elite lounge and have the canapés, then you can still do that too.

I think other factors obviously went into these decisions, such as trying to free up more of the Sky Lounge for other guests, the fact that Edge doesn't have a large lounge for the Elite lounge and they want to standardize the procedures across all ships, etc.

Although this may not pertain to you, but Celebrity is still very generous in their status matching: if your spouse does not have the same CC level as you, they will match it so that your spouse is linked to you and they will receive ALL benefits. For example, I was on dozens of cruises before meeting my spouse, and then once we met, I got them hooked on cruising as well. They're only at, say, a Select level, but I'm Elite Plus. Celebrity has us linked and we're now both Elite Plus. (When my spouse logs onto Celebrity, it shows Elite Plus, it shows Elite Plus on their card, etc.  Essentially, they are actually an Elite Plus member now). So that can be an option for those who don't know about it.  (But, for those looking to cheat this system, the address must match for both people).

1 minute ago, grandgeezer said:

We were on the Silhouette a couple of years ago and went to the duty free shop to price some Jack Daniels, they wanted $25 for a 750ml bottle. I asked the sales clerk if that price was accurate as I can buy it at home for about $19, tax included. He snidely told me the price was accurate and I should buy it at home, and walked away.

I don't price match, I buy from the business that gives me the price upfront even if I have to go to them.

Although I agree that I would prefer to buy from the shop with the lowest price upfront; the problem with a cruise is what if tomorrow's port will be cheaper? Or more expensive? To be honest, I kind of agree with the comments above that the duty free prices in the Caribbean are not significantly better than at home; so being able to buy the cheapest alcohol after I know what the cheapest prices are at least makes me feel like I got a good deal (regardless if that's actually the case or not...)

If I am buying alcohol onboard, I do it on the last night. For two reasons: 

1. I can take the bottle with me back to my room and pack it away. All other days, they keep it from you and they deliver it back to the room. Usually they're good at delivering it fairly early on the last day, while other times it was after dinner (which means you almost have to repack everything if you've already packed).

2. The shops onboard price match. So, if you find a brand onshore for cheaper that they also sell onboard, take a picture of the price (including volume of the bottle), and they will match it onboard. Although I've never had a hassle getting the lower price onboard, I have been tersely told by some shops not to take pictures (because they know what I'm doing and they don't want to lose the business)... just make sure you take the picture discreetly. The benefit of buying on the last day is that you can take pictures of your favourite alcohol at each port, and then get Celebrity to price match the lowest price you saw.

According to the information I've seen, December 11 is the first booking date for CC; whilst the general public can't book until December 13.

1 hour ago, hcat said:

 

We'll be looking...Depending on itins and prices  we will pick APEX or EDGE..Have to remember on Dec 4th...

 

 Do we call Cap Club or will there be a sep place we access for bookings?

I think as long as you are logged into the Celebrity website, you should be able to see everything 🙂

Here's hoping there are some unique offerings with the new deployment!! 

I guess we'll find out on December 4th when the itineraries for Captain's Club members go on sale. 

PS: Apex European and transatlantic sailings go on sale of Tuesday for CC members

Sorry, one more observation: it looks like Apex will also be available for booking beginning Nov 27 for Europe, and Nov 4 for Caribbean.

Not sure if everyone has seen this, but some of the new deployment comes out tomorrow (the "exotics" itineraries). Interesting to note that Eclipse is moving to Australia (as previously announced); and Silhouette is replacing Eclipse in South America.

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/18064325_CEL_Deployment_Opening_Schedule_2020_2021_Flyer.pdf

I think one of two things could be happening here:

1. Celebrity truly hasn't secured any contracts with shore operators yet and there truly aren't any shore excursions yet (although this is doubtful because Celebrity makes a lot of $$ off selling excursions)

2. The excursions they have a limited since they don't visit the port often, and what they have is sold out. I have been on a few "exotic" cruises where I had a list of excursions that would be offered (obtained onboard the previous cruise from the Destination Concierge), and compared it to what was online. Many (and in one case all) of the shore excursions didn't appear online because they were sold out; but after waiting a couple of months before sailing, the excursions were available online again. I think Celebrity just needed to negotiate more busses, but I don't think they really do that until closer to sailing when things are a little more "defined".

On 11/1/2018 at 8:24 AM, kobecat said:

Do you know when Captain Nikolaos next goes on leave.  We are hoping he will be on the crossing back to Vancouver next April but with the refit of the Millennium, I wonder what difference this makes to the rotation.

Unfortunately I don't know. What I do know is that the October 13 sailing was his first cruise after vacation. I wouldn't be surprised if he stays onboard until the refit; but what happens during/after the refit, who knows?

Here is updated info for Millennium (as at Oct 26):

Master: Nikolaos Christodoulakis

Staff Captain: Dimitris Petras

CD: Liam Ryan

HD: Chris Scaliotis

GRM: Alana Abrahams

F&B: Karol Swerdon

Exec Chef: Abdul Nasar

CC Host: Graeme

Entertainment:

Next Stage Dance Band

Flying Colours Acoustic Duo

Fiesta Strings Modern String Duo

Marvellous Quartet

DJ Eddie

Guitar & Vocals: Asher Brown

Production:

Boogie Wonderland

Elysium

iBroadway

Actually, Summit is going into a dry dock in February/March for about 6 weeks. All the staterooms and going to be gutted (down to the ship's bolts), and completely rebuilt. This includes new beds, new bathroom, etc. There are pictures of it on Celebrity's Facebook page of what the rooms will look like.

They are also completely renovating the main dining room, the Oceanview Cafe, and putting a Suites only retreat on the top deck above the sky lounge. I believe they are also renovating Michael's Club and renaming it to the Retreat Lounge.

What is the "M Class Revolution" please?

They are referring to the previously announced Celebrity Revolution updates to the existing ships. All M-class and S-class ships are going through a major refurbishment over the next 5 years or so. All staterooms will be completely gutted and redone with all new furniture, fixtures, colours, etc.

I'm pretty sure the M-Class are the first to be converted. Captain Kate confirmed that the Summit is the second to go for the complete refresh, but I believe that isn't until early 2019.

As well, I read somewhere that the Millennium will be refurbished prior to the Alaska 2019 season.

When your flight is cancelled due to weather issues completely outside the control of the airlines, if you hold elite status, Delta still comps you 10k miles, meal vouchers, hotel vouchers, and upgrade on the replacement flight. That's the model of customer service I am used to. The "YEAH it's not our fault, but we don't want you to be left with a bad taste in your mouth and we take care of our elites" model.

Unfortunately I don't understand your argument? I think you are saying that only customers who are considered brand loyalists with an extremely high loyalty rating should get compensated. But, if that's the case, you wouldn't get compensated? Based on your examples, it would only be Zenith (and maybe, possibly, Elite Plus) that would be compensated... and based on your signature line, you are no where near that level!

So, why would you care?

We were on the Summit on 1/6 cruise. Captain Kate was amazing as was Cruise Director Alejandro, Nearly all the crew were fabulous. Unfortunately there serious (and I mean "serious") food quality issues in Blu. The main meats on two nights were "inedible" and the wait staff tried to get us to order something different. I took the time to write a letter to F&B Manager Cernal Ozcelik and Executive Chef Singh Deoraj (with copy to Hotel Director Danuta Nosidlak) and the last night someone named Renaldo arrived at our table to "apologize" and then just left. I did not receive a guest survey by email and - calling the "Captain's Club" was told it must have been an error but they couldn't send me one! We are elite on X and I have to say that their lack of concern (at management level) has REALLY disappointed me and given me less incentive to book another cruise soon.

 

Is there an email address I can use to reach the top management team on the ship (The Summit) to find out WHY I did not receive the followup I was promised? Help GRATEFULLY appreciated!.

I'm sorry to hear that; however, I can relate. We were on the Summit in December (all the same officers as you mentioned), and the food in the MDR and the buffet was the worst I've encountered on Celebrity (I've been on 19 Celebrity cruises). The cleanliness of the room was also nowhere near Celebrity standards.

It's too bad because the Summit has been (in our experiences) fairly reliable in quality, however, I feel as though the combination in officers has let it slide over recent years.

Got an email today that the Summit will not be going to St. Lucia anymore on the Dec 2 sailing. The alternative port has been announced as Antigua (which I prefer, so it's good news for us!)

They've been calling the upcoming revitalization of the entire fleet (including the complete gutting and remodel of every single cabin on all ships) the Celebrity Revolution, which will take place between 2019 and 2022 (I believe). I know that the Millennium is slated to be complete by the 2019 Alaska season... perhaps it is more details on this?

Couldn't agree more. It's frustrating to see Celebrity unable to fix their website.

The website is down right now (I can't access Celebrity's site through any of my web browsers). Maybe they're transitioning to a new, working site?!? (or maybe I'm being much too optimistic).

Ironic though that the error page has a picture of the Century...

When will the ship be sold? It's getting close to that time, I think. Could it be that this is a factor?

 

- Joel

I was thinking that as well, but they just announced that all ships (yes, all FOUR Millennium class were specifically name) are getting top-to-bottom renovations as part of Project Revolution beginning in 2018/2019. Perhaps that's why? Maybe Infinity will be the first to be renovated....

...That being said, until it's actually at the dry dock getting its make-over, selling any of the Millennium class ships shouldn't be off the table.

Don't really consider myself "lucky" here at all. Puerto Rico is devastated. While I am supportive of restoration efforts and fully understand the Islands and Ports wanting to get back to business - Puerto Rico is not prepared to be a port. Our hotel has been devastated, there most likely will not be power for several weeks or months if that. Citizens are walking around with guns, there is no police protection whatsoever. Anyone arriving in Puerto Rico is a target for these desperate individuals and I don't feel there is any safe way to get to the Port. They have limited transportation. While the Port may be fine to dock a ship - it is the worst possible choice for tourists to come to. In calling Celebrity I was informed that I cannot change my cruise to another itinerary as they want to honor this sailing. I don't think this should be done at the guests expense.

#FakeNews #ChickenLittle