cruisindoogals

I agree I can drink the non alcholic part of the package but cant drink enough to get value for paying for 2 packages.

Why as a solo cruiser cant they knock the price of one package off the price?

Most Celebrity cruises are sold this way in the U.K except transatlantic cruises and a few re positioning cruises.

 

 

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I travel solo, suites, and regularly just buy one drinks package (never two) once I've booked the cruise, so I'm not sure what you mean. I've never been required to buy two, but when i do take the "go best" package I get $300 rather than just $150, so no complaints here. It would be nice for me if Celebrity's market share weakened enough that they needed to reduce the solo supplement, but that's generally not the case.

Certainly not wasted space on the sailings we've been on....packed before dinner every night and on evenings with entertainment you couldn't find a seat....

Not to mention being well enjoyed by those "few" who were in there when it looked nearly empty from the outside....;)

We are celebrating our 25 yr anniversary and my birthday on our Edge cruise in January 2019. When I reserved this cruise in 2016 my TA asked if we were celebrating a special occasion and I said 'no'. As our vacation gets closer I am wondering if I should mention the occasions we are celebrating or if it's even worth mentioning. We are now Select on Celebrity and this Edge cruise will make us Elite (this probably doesn't matter though). Thank you-

What a celebratory trip! After 25 years together I imagine that you've both learned that surprises can be fun and expectations can be risky. If so, you might mention the occasions to your TA and then enjoy any surprises that come along.

As to CC benefits, you'll be able to enjoy Select, but Elite won't come in until the next cruise.

bon voyage!

db

We boarded a ship earlier this month in Vancouver. All the port stops including disembarkation were in the US, so after checking in for the cruise, we had to go through US immigration/customs pre-clearance prior to actually boarding. I didn't see any signs for Global Entry, but we asked a rep who was directing people and she asked if we had our GE cards with us. We showed them to her, and she directed us to an empty line that had no other passengers in it.

That's great to know! As far as I can find, CBP still hasn't posted a listing of GE availability at any seaports (despite the separate line in fort lauderdale), while Mobile Passport only shows availability @ port everglades. MY GE card got me thru the process quicker @ Cap Liberty in April (and no need to complete the declarations form) but still had to stand in regular--and long--line.

We will be disembarking The Eclipse in September in Barcelona and would like to leave the ship as late as possible as we are staying on in Barcelona for a couple of days and want to avoid the large taxi queues. Does anybody know the latest time that we would have to leave? We are travelling in a Suite.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

The "Extend your Stay" option is terrific, and generally available in European ports-- as of May it was $39 per person. You get run of the ship, and as long as you pay for it on the final full day of the cruise, can enjoy a final massage... one last lunch in Luminae, and just need to disembark prior to final boarding call before the ship leaves. During the day you can leave your carryon stuff in Michaels and/or a locker up in the dressing rooms. When you are ready to leave, just show up in Michaels and the concierge will walk you off---with some confused looks from all the people who will be coming on at that point! :)

We did this last month on the Reflection and it was a pretty awesome way to spend a few hours. Just ask the MC Concierge in the first day or two of the ship if you're thinking to do it. If you decide to, you'll get a letter explaining the process of changing out your seapass along with your luggage tags--they won't be the usual "zenith/suites" .

Help me and my feeble mind here. You can get the classic drink package for two for free with go big. You can Go Bigger and get the drink package and $150 obc each for $360 dollars. Explain what I'm missing here and why anyone would pay $360 for $300 obc? I'm perplexed ....

As others have stated, it "just depends" on whether the packages are worth it. This year of 6 trips on celebrity on 3 the "go" packages cost more than they were worth. on one b2b, the 1st leg "go best" was a good deal, on the second leg, none of the "go" packages were worth the cost.

Caveat emptor applies to cruising too!

After vacation I believe he'll serve some time on the Edge before returning to the Summit. He really is terrific.

I can't seem to find much info on celebrities page about deck plans! Does the summit have a basketball court?? Also how do they do there kids clubs?? My son will be 14.

 

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Good morning. Celebrity's deckplans aren't as helpful as they might be! A couple of trips back, the celebrity shoreshipe concierge introduced me to cruiseshipdeckplans where you can even superimpose decks to see exactly what's above/below you. if you click the link you should go to the Summit decks. Bball is on Deck 12 and the teen cllub, X Club, is on Deck 11.

The Summit has a wonderful crew!! Have a great trip!

I was just in Malaga last week, the 3rd visit in the past year and a half and must admit that the city's charms are lost on me.

I did overnight at hotel Illunion, near the water front and a walk from the train station.It's a perfectly fine conference hotel, but wouldn't be a highlight sort of place.

Last week i was on a cruise with a friend who'd never visited Grenada so we joined a small group 8 of us @ 150Euro each, so your pricing is pretty much deadon.

While the Alhambra is an amazing place--and Grenada a terrific little city-- I'd suggest you reconsider the quick visit for the following reasons:

• It is packed to the gills with tourists--when you're on a day trip there's no avoiding the crowds and lots of pushing.
  
• While the architecture is impressive, so much of it is outdoors related that Fall isn't so great a time to visit--blossoms and fragrances really make the visit.
  
• It is so large that on the day trip you will have spent a great deal and experienced only a little.
  

What I'd suggest instead:

Visit the Great Mosque/Cathedral in Cordoba instead.Cordoba is 2 hours by highspeed train from Malaga. The train is quite affordable and the first class compartment very comfy. While you can use a guide, one is not required to enjoy the Mosque/Cathedral--and over the course of day you can really get a feel for it, including how it changes as the light changes over a matter of hours.In addition, the historical center of Cordoba is a delightful place to spend a day.

Another not so humble suggestion would be that you consider overnighting either in Cordoba or even 1 hour further up the train-tracks in Madrid. If it hasn't yet been closed for renovations, the Ritz Madrid is a fantastic grand old hotel and is next door to the Prado. For the $1000 day trip to the Alhambra you could have a night @ the Ritz, dinner, one of the grandest collections of art anywhere in the world at your front door, and a pleasant 3 hour train trip to Malaga.

I apologize for making this both lengthy and not fully on your topic, but if you're interested in either Cordoba or making the most of a quick visit to Madrid, let me know.

db

Haven't sailed Celebrity before, only Carnival. Both ships leave on December 1st.

 

The Summit is not as new, leaves out of San Juan, which we're okay with and goes to some good islands, i.e., St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados. Great veranda price.

 

The Equinox goes out of Miami (simpler) to Key West (never been), Costa Maya & Cozumel (been there twice) and Grand Cayman (never been). But it's a newer ship with presumably more things to enjoy. Veranda is more money on this ship than the Summit.

 

Seems like the Summit would be better UNLESS there is a real difference between the two ships' experiences.

 

Thanks for your help. Haven't been on cruise critic for a while so I'm looking forward to reacquainting myself with the Boards and all of you great people!

I was on both ships this January. I'll be back on the Summit in 3 weeks and again in October, and have no plans to re-board the Equinox in the near future.

Such things are really subjective, so I feel certain that someone could have been on the same trips with me and reach very different conclusions, but here goes:

• Summit has achieved a pretty magical staff climate--it shines thru from stewards and butlers to waiters and restroom attendants. It's been maintained thru 2 hotel managers which leads me to believe it's cultural, but with the recent change in captains it might turn out that it all came from the top. Equinox on the other hand seemed to have a team that was simply exhausted and pretty unhappy. With a couple of notable exceptions, they did a good job but in ways that evoked empathy more then vacation enjoyment.
  
• While the Equinox and other S class ships wow with the open atrium all the way up, they also are echo chambers of noise when in public areas. Also functional elevator use was sacrificed for the atrium wow factor meaning that you have a long time to view the atrium while waiting for a lift.
  
• While there are a couple more venues in which to drink your drink or enjoy your eats on the Equinox, in sailings with both ships full, the Summit never seems to feel crowded ( I avoid the pools on sea days) while the Equinox felt pretty crowded pretty regularly.
  
• Travel in and out of San Juan is pretty smooth at this point. I've done it in Oct 17, Jan & Feb 18 and will be again Apr 18. As more hotels come online the overnight prices have dropped and roundtrip airfares are back down.
  

So that's my 2 cents worth. I love Celebrity and whichever ship you choose, sure hope that you will as well.

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.

I have to admit that I'm curious how recently you experienced a delay with Delta that was not staff or equipment related and received the packet of comps you list. I'm 100k shy of 2million miles with delta, and while i've experienced mixes of those items, never have i gotten them all when the issue is weather related (that is truly not the airline's fault.) Further, on board the ship you have a place to sleep and eat; thus the emergency hotel and meal comps are a false equivalency. ( I think if you check, cruise lines don't tend to charge extra when they end up keeping passengers on board longer as the result of weather-- even Luminae opens for lunch on unplanned sea days.) On their own, 10,000 FF miles are close to worthless. Even $100 OBC is real money.

Finally I'm not sure I would be a happy RCCL shareholder if i found staff were wasting promotional credits on someone as already sold on the product as you. (3 advance bookings suggests that you're receiving all that's needed to seal the deal. any additional give-a-ways would be a disservice to the shareholders, employees and everyone who values the Celebrity/Aza/RCCL product.)

We will be traveling on the Constellation in April. Our last cruise was with NCL and they offered a package where you could use the spa facilities but not the services as much as you wanted. This included use of the indoor pool, hot tub, showers, meditation rooms, lockers, but not free massages, etc.

 

Is there anything similar on Celebrity?

 

Also, NCL had some wine packages for sale on boarding day. They offered three bottles of wine that could be opened at meals throughout the cruise. Is this also available on CCL?

 

I am all apprehension before a cruise, so I'm sure I'll have more questions later. Have been enjoying reading through the forums. Thanks!

As has been mentioned suite class does not gain free entrance to the spa facilities, but a pass for the duration of the cruise is pretty cheap. I always buy one because to me nothing much beats a long steam before prepping for dinner. On embarkation day when you go to Michaels Club, tell the concierge that you'd like to buy a pass to the Persian garden. S/he will then have someone from the spa meet you in the club and you can buy the pass as well as boo any spa services you might want. Several folks on here complain about the persian gardens on M class ships because they're smaller and all interior unlike S class ships whose pics X uses in marketing. I prefer the ones on M class ships especially the small mentholated steam room separte from the main hammam.I find the benches with a view on S class to be a somewhat silly gimmick that results in chatty folks lingering far longer than they do on M class.

I'm not a drinker so can't speak to those packages. And don't have a use for specialty restaurants-- while I gave Murano a try, i really appreciate Luminae and the team's willingness to get me off menu items when i get tired of the menu. ( sometimes a plate of pasta with garlic and olive oil is heaven enough!)

have a great trip.

We have just booked our first suite. We my have overindulged a bit, but I think it's a once in a lifetime thing. We booked a celebrity suite on the Equinox. Anyone have pointers for a newbie. We have cruised on Celebrity many time. Thanks

 

Rollie

Congrats on the suite! Because you know Celebrity and others have commented on the super benefits that go with suite class I won't dwell on those, but will provide some critique of the S class Celebrity Suite in case you might decide to drop to an S1.

The biggest complaint i have with the Celebrity suites on Equinox is the poor design resulting in a tiny bathroom. I am not a huge guy--6ft 36 waist. Pardon the verbal picture, but when sitting on the toilet, my left leg sat on and over the toilet paper. With every use I swore I'd never book one of those rooms again.

More generally my "gripe" about celebrity suites is the interior bedroom. I enjoy seeing/hearing the water from bed and that's lost in them.(and the bedroom is right tight!) Although having the separate living room and the walkin closet are nice, I found that I'm much happier with Aft S1 on solstice class and the deep balcony S1s on M class. Different strokes for different folks, so I don't quibble with anyone who prefers the CS but for me I found that in this case cheaper/smaller turned out to be better when the right sky suites are available.

Thank you for all the tips.

 

I may book Murano for my actual bday in advance; and based on the advice maybe wing it the other nights.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

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If you use the MC concierge to make your reservations they ought to be able to get you in when you want. They really can "open" things up even when the restaurant's staff say they're full. I learned that when i was refused a reservation in Murano then dropped by Michaels and shortly thereafter had my reservation.

Just wondering what is a must see on St Kitt or what excursion did everyone do and liked

The Park Hyatt just opened in Nov 2017 and makes for a fabulous day away from the ship. It's about a half hour drive from the port so you can plan time in on either end for a tour with your driver is desired. The resort itself is quiet and pretty spectacular--2 pools including an adults only, lovely private beach looking over at Nevis, 3 course lunch is included.You also have use of the spa, including m/w separate steam, sauna, outdoor hottubs and private outdoor showers You can book by calling the hotel directly. If you opt out of their car service you can save $100 pp.

Sounds like you have a terrific trip ahead!

As to CC level, yes they'll honor the new level on the 2nd of your B2B BUT you'll need to alert the Captains Club hostess on the ship--the system takes several days to update on its own but allows for human intervention/overriding. This worked for me in January.