eadien7

So I’ve seen numerous posts that Celebrity offers Fre wine on board, but can’t find the answer to my question. Which drink package do I need?

I agree with most also. As a Celebrity cruiser, i recently did a TA on Royal. Granted it was a smaller, older ship, but here are some of the differences I noticed.

Fake plants

Plastic plates in the buffet

Paper towels in the bathrooms. 

Crew was not as friendly as Celebrity. We are used to almost everyone greeting us as we pass, saw very little of that on RC.

Limited live music. When there was live music in the main atrium, it was LOUD, I couldn't stand to be in the room.

Obnoxious TV screen blaring loudly 24 hours a day on the pool deck. The live piano player was fun. 

Food wasn't as good. Granted, I have eaten in Blu for most of my cruises, so don't have a comparison to the main dining room. The pasta chef on the Vision of the Seas was amazing, every pasta dish was wonderful. Seemed like every main was served with mashed potatoes that tasted like instant. Desserts were pretty much the same every night.

They had a Chef's Table dinner with wine pairing that was wonderful. 

No other wine tasting events. There was one supposed to occur, which I had signed up for the first day - evidently I was the only wine drinker that heard about it. The night before I mentioned it to another couple at the our table. They bought tickets. It wasn't on the daily the next day. I was assured it was scheduled. The three of us showed up and the table was set, but we were told if more people didn't show up they couldn't open the bottles for just the three of us. No one else arrived, so they rescheduled. That day it was on the daily, but no one was to be found.

Other events were good. Had a sushi making class that was hands on and fun. A mystery game, napkin folding. 

We did play a fun game at the Cruise Critic party, but unfortunately it took way too long and there was no time to discuss shared tours or other planned activities.

Spa services were less expensive. Had an affordable sale every day - like Celebrity used to when they Elemis.

No IPA beer available.

RC had a dedicated Diamond lounge with good coffee and tea available 24 hours a day. Very similar to the suite lounge. We were in a suite so could visit both. But the elite perks are much better than diamond.

No butler in the suite. I've never been in a suite on Celebrity, so I don't know if that is a positive or a negative.

No digital photo options, still had all of the pictures lined up.

A lot of these are little things, but I guess that's why we choose to pay a little more for Celebrity.

For my sailing on Feb. 3 and the TA in April, I was unable to book a dining package. I called Celebrity, thinking it was a website error and was told that there were a limited number of packages available to purchase before the cruise. 

Just an FYI, Celebrity does have boarding times listed in the cruise docs. I thought they had for a while, but definitely did in Alaska last month.

Are there only two in suites?

We booked a walking Tapas tour through EATour Specialist which was one of the highlights of our trip. Sean is a Canadian who married a local. Hooked us up with wonderful food and wine.

OP, if you find those questions intrusive, I'm guessing you've never flown out of Israel.

Oops, you beat me to it. It was the day before the anniversary of 9/11. I remember the first time I did it years ago. A young woman traveling alone. Luckily I was warned to keep business cards, meeting agendas, etc.

If that bothered you, don't fly out of Israel. You will end up being stripped searched. Think about it, It was 9/10, the day before the anniversary of 9/11. They are only trying to keep you safe.

Sorry, it won't let me delete this.....

Thanks everyone. My sister will need to decide if she wants to risk it. My flight is at 1:10.

If the ship docks on a Sunday at 5:30 and the passengers are in Business Class (priorty check in and security) on British Airways, we walk off the ship with our luggage and have a private car hired, is an 11:15 flight doable?

We loved eating in Blu on Equinox, but on Constellation, it was way too crowded and there were no windows. Blu on S class has a wall of windows and we were always seated next to it if we got there early enough. On Constellation, the room seemed closed in and was way too crowded. We also enjoy MDR if we book traditional to have the same wait staff whether we are on S class or M class.

When were you on the Connie? There were certainly windows in Blu in January of 2014? Also on the Infinity the fall of 2013?

Celebrity has changed their insurance deal -- it no longer covers the air even if you buy it from Celebrity.

Thanks. Great information.

I've done air both ways. Often I can get the same flights at the same price, but if I have the trip insurance, if I book with cruise line it covers the air and flight. I actually made some money on lost luggage once. But hotels and tours I always do myself. Like another poster said - I looked into a hotel in Miami for my November cruise and it seemed like a good deal until I realized it was pp not per room.

My plan too. :p. Did they close the pools? That must be a major risk?

Make sure you eat something! Not sure about the pools - can't remember. It was pretty late in the year for us, so we didn't use the outdoor pool.

 

I try to never touch the railings nor touch the elevator buttons if I can regardless of the current state of the sanitary conditions on the ship.

 

SAS

If no one is on to press the button for me, I always use my elbow. I'm much less likely to touch my eyes, mouth or nose with my elbow! Another habit I have whether on a cruise ship or elsewhere, If there is a handle to open a door, I always try to grab it from the top or bottom instead of the middle. My logic is that most people grab it right in the middle, so there are probably less germs at the top or bottom.....

Were you able to access your cabin?

Not until right before dinner. And it was our first time with the beverage package (pre-123 go) days -- I think we got our money's worth waiting to get to our cabins! :eek:

We had the same thing happen to us on the Solstice out of Barcelona, like everyone else said, not a big deal, but we did avoid the buffet. It was also raining before departure and they delayed the muster until the next day. That was the November before the Costa Concordia sank -- I bet that doesn't happen again!

Being married to a chef,we certainly hope they will have these on Eclipse in the Caribbean trips.

I think these are special sailings once a year with the real Top Chef contestants. They do have som Top Ched theme things on the other sailings.

I did the Top Chef November 2014 on Reflection.

 

You will have an AWESOME time!!!!

 

If you can figure out a way to find my Cruise Critic Review from last year (date search through to Nov 2015?)... I reviewed the Top Chef part.

 

My daughter and I had a fabulous time!!!!

 

We are booked on Silhouette for Nov 15; and it is so very tempting to change sailings!!!

 

I will say this - Tiffany Derry is one of the most personable people. Book and excursion with her, if you have the choice. I did the private cooking class. I had heard that Nina Compton taught her class and then took off right away. Tiffany, dined with us, drank wine with us, gave autographs, took pictures etc. She chatted with each and every one. Really was a memorable cruise.

 

It's fun seeing them around the ship too. Spent most nights sitting at black jack table with the Top Chefs and all but one were incredibly friendly. It looks like you have a great group on your sailing.

 

 

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION - Chef excursions were not part of the 2014 sailing. THis is new for this year.

Thanks. I was just getting ready to search for your review again because I couldn't remember if you had said Nina or Tiffany. Now we are waiting for the cooking classes and dinners to show up in the website to book. The two shore excursions are not culinary related so we are going to skip them.

I'm pretty good at reading "legalese"...

I wrote this stuff for 35 years in my career as a corporate attorney...

 

"go!big

Choose 1

Classic Beverage Pkg for 2

$150 pp to spend onboard

Prepaid Tips for 2

Unlimited Internet for 2

Included in price

$2,149

avg per person

SELECT

 

go!better

Choose 2

Classic Beverage Pkg for 2

$150 pp to spend onboard

Prepaid Tips for 2

Unlimited Internet for 2

Upgrade for only $195

$2,344

avg per person

SELECT

 

go!best

Get all 4

Premium Beverage Pkg for 2

$150 pp to spend onboard

Prepaid Tips for 2

Unlimited Internet for 2

Upgrade for only $585

$2,734

avg per person"

 

Already included in the "Go Big" price is ONE option--For most, this is the classic drink package. The cost of this has already been blended into the pricing--as evidenced by my recent Alaska cruise where, with the "Pick Your Perk" promotion, I was offered two different prices for the same cabin--one with the perk, the other without...and the difference in the cost of the two was $400 pp--roughly the cost of a drink package for that 7 night cruise.

 

The "Go Better" offer includes a choice of two...BUT it is NOT a choice of two in addition to the already included drink package...It is two INCLUDING that drink package--so, you are paying that additional $195 (in this case) for the $150 OBC or the $168 gratuities...NOT both--unless you give back the drink package--in which case you are really taking a hit...

 

The "Go Biggest" does give you an upgrade on the drink package and throws in both the $150 OBC and the $168 tips plus free internet...but at a cost of $1170 per cabin...So, $636 worth of tips and OBC means you are paying over $500 for that internet connection and an upgrade in what brand of booze you can order for those drinks you've already overpaid for...

 

If someone like donandmelissa were really going to buy all of those extras...and if they drink enough and spend enough of their cruise sitting in front of a computer to make this worth their while, well, MAYBE they come close to break even...

 

For me--an Elite Plus who already had free drinks, free specialty coffees and 200 minutes of free internet--there is no way in heck anything here comes close to making sense...

 

But, as to my original point...

NO WAY paying $195 for a $150 OBC or a $168 in tips can make ANY sense to ANYBODY!!!

It is flat out and straightforward on the Celebrity booking site...

$195 per person for a choice of $150 OR $168!!! NOT BOTH!

Are you sure those quotes are for a 7 night cruise? My 7 night shows $105 to go Better (granted, only makes sense to take the OBC) and $315 for go best?

Remember - not everyone is Elite or Elite plus.....

For us, the cruise price was the same, we only had $50 OBC and the classic. Since we like nicer wine than is available, and like to have it when we want, not just when the free stuff is offered. We like good coffee first thing in the morning, we always upgrade anyway. It didn't make financial sense for the Better, but it did for the go Best. For $30 pp we got unlimited internet.

so my sister just received an email with a brochure with two excursions. If anyone is interested, you may want to contact Celebrity and ask.

Booked on the Top Chef sailing on the Reflection in November. The promo for the cruise states

"Chef-hosted Shore Excursions** Join the chefs ashore! Some chefs will host specially chosen shore excursions that let you experience the destinations with them."

Of course, there are no Chef-hosted Shore Excursions to book on the website. So my question - did they have chef-hosted excursions on last year's cruise? If so, did you have to book on board?

I also had trouble managing my reservation receiving a message "The information provided is not correct. Please verify the information and try again."

 

 

 

SIGN ON ERROR: The information in the My Profile section of your My Celebrity account does not match the information we have in our Captain's Club database. Please update your My Profile area. If you continue to receive this error, please contact us at 1-800-760-0654.

 

 

 

When I looked at my profile I also had a JR after my name. I updated my profile and I can get into my reservation but when I log back on the JR reappears and I am locked out until I edit the profile.

That is exactly what happened to me. When you call Celebrity, there are two places they need to change it.

Just so you know, the Refection cruise on the 14th is a Top Chef themed cruise. There will be special demos, dinners and excursions. If you aren't interested in the themed activities, your cruise won't be impacted. But if any of your group are foodies, they may enjoy it. I think your parents would enjoy Celebrity more than Carnival, unless the are huge party animals.

I had an issue where the kept putting a jr. On the end of my name. Had to call twice. Have no clue where it came from. Considering I'm a female......