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Celebrity’s direct competitors are Holland and Princess. They are watching what those two lines do more closely than following Royal. I know Princess is still twice a day service and I believe Holland is as well. (Royal’s direct competitors are Carnival and NCL. Carnival has been at once a day service since before the pandemic and NCL dropped to once a day just in the last month or two.)

I did not experience pressure on my last RCCL cruise either. This is not the norm. If you don’t prepay, they will be automatically added to your on board account. To pay in cash, you would have to stand in line at Guest Services to have them removed and then pay in cash. But then you would be shorting a lot of behind the scenes crew that share in the general tipping pool.

Yes, you can log in and log out of as many devices as you want as often as you want. I often switch between an iPhone, MacBook, and iPad with a 1 device account. Sometimes my husband and I even share a 1 device account.

Cruisemapper is a great source to figure out how many ships will be in Cozumel, but not necessarily which pier (especially if there are more than two RCG ships). It seems priority goes to Oasis and Edge Class ships for the International Pier. M class ships often dock downtown if there are too many at the International Pier. I've found a good schedule for the Puerta Maya pier but rarely see anything but Carnival Corp ships use that pier. I haven't found a good schedule (except for one the week of) that lists which ships will get assigned to the Punta Langosta vs. International Pier.

In November on the Constellation, the Sunset Bar listed a closing time of 1am. Rendezvous, Cellar Masters, and Cafe al Bacio listed closing times of midnight. The Casino Bar, Reflections, and Martini Bar listed a closing time of Late. I can't say I am ever up that late so have never tested any of these times or know what "late" is in practice (I catch most sunrises on a cruise and need some sleep).

I did not realize that third and fourth passengers could opt out of a the AI rate on AI bookings. The terms and conditions even state, "All guests in the same stateroom must choose the same rate." So if the booking is an AI booking, then gratuities are included for all (and wifi and a drink package will be included for all in the stateroom). If it is a cruise only booking, gratuities will be charged for each passenger including young children.

If all things are equal, we choose Celebrity but we book cruises for all kinds of reasons (itinerary, unique ship experience, how it fits into our schedule, embarkation port, etc.). I'm most excited to try MSC's Yacht Club. Royal Caribbean still ranks pretty high for us. Some day we want to get back on Holland. On the other end, we were not impressed at all with Princess last year so they are very low on our list. We don't completely avoid Carnival but we have to have a compelling reason to book a Carnival cruise as they really aren't our vibe. I really don't like what NCL is doing right now so I'm hesitant to book another one anytime soon. Maybe some day we will venture into more premium lines like Azamara, Oceania, etc. but we aren't at the point to consistently cruise them.

The Prawn Ceviche is the dish I most look forward to in Luminae. I had a moment of disappointment on our last cruise when the day 1 lunch menu was a different menu but fortunately it showed up later on a sea day lunch.

FYI - today they expanded the transatlantic and transpacific cruises that require testing so double check the website if you may be sailing on one. As an example the May 9 Eclipse from Honolulu to Vancouver was added.

Thank you! We booked later in the year so won't get that benefit.

What is the time period of the double points offer you booked under? We booked ours around the time of a double points offer (around Black Friday of 2021) but it clearly stated Galapagos cruises were excluded. We took advantage of it for a different cruise but assumed our Galapagos cruise would not qualify.

That’s not the news I wanted to hear. Delta is by far our best option for itinerary. If we do AA, it is multiple layovers and more than twice the travel time. The only advantage to AA is we wouldn’t have a red eye home when the trip is over.

Thanks for the info. Booking our airfare is next on my to do list for our Nov 2023 cruise. How were your rates through Celebrity Air compared to booking direct? I have been hesitant to call because the prices of the flights I want are not cheap at all right now! And we don’t have many good options.

Your AI package covers standard gratuities for your cabin steward/housekeeping and the main dining room staff. Your included drink package includes the gratuities on any covered drinks (but you do pay the gratuities on any difference if you get a higher priced drink). Any other gratuities for additional services you purchase are extra (specialty dining, room service, spa, etc.).

I have been able to check off that both my husband and I watched the safety video from my app but for some reason the same doesn't happen with the horn audio. So he usually opens his app to make sure he gets credit for that part.

I'm pretty sure it is the day of. On our last two cruises, I kept waiting for it to change to show it would track and the first time it happened about 9am EST the morning of embarkation (we were still in our hotel). The second cruise was a bit later but it was still before our 11am EST check in time. @travelloverontario and @Georgia_Peaches It is the same videos but they aren't tracking whether you watch until the morning of embarkation. That screen will look just a little different that morning and after you watch, you will get a check green check mark after each part (safety video, horn, and then checking into your muster station).

Not before embarkation day but at some point embarkation day morning (so you can do it before you board). At some point that morning, their system will change so that it tracks whether you watch. You will see a check mark once you have done each step.

If you win, you get all the concierge class amenities. The only things that don't come with a move up bid are any drink packages, internet packages, or included gratuities that normally come with that category. You keep whatever drink package, internet package, or included gratuities you already may have (or not have). The one other thing you don't get with a move-up bid is the loyalty points. You earn loyalty points at whatever level of the cabin you originally booked.

Someone currently on the Eclipse just posted in a FB group I participate in a photo of a list they received from Guest Services regarding what is included in each package. The Classic Package lists Canned Soda, Non-premium bottled water, juices, speciality espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes, and frozen drinks. The Premium package lists Evian, San Pellegrino, Perrier, Vitamin Water, Red Bull, and Juices. This matches with what I recall these packages typically covering.

FYI - the video on the app becomes available at some point the morning of your embarkation so you can watch it in your hotel or on the ride to the port. Then all that’s left on the ship is finding your muster station.

They are still included in the classic beverage package. And yes, they are included if you are Elite+.

The app isn't generally very accurate until the few days before your cruise. Any menus that show before that date are likely placeholders based on a current sailing. Menus for my Eclipse sailing in May only show dessert and wine each night.

There is only one non-alcoholic package so there wouldn’t be a comparison of non-alcoholic packages on the website. If you follow the link, it takes you to a comparison of the classic and premium alcoholic packages. The screenshot I included is just the section of what non-alcoholic drinks are included in each of those alcohol packages as that is the part relevant to this discussion.

They are still included. See the link in post #70

If they had eliminated the specialty coffees from the classic package, we would have heard about it already from many cruise critic members. Drink package changes have been in place for at least a month and the website has been been missing a list of the non-alcohol inclusions for the classic package for at least that long. It is only very recently they added them back to the drink package compare page. I personally believe nothing has changed as to what is included in the classic alcohol package except a small increase in the drink limit.