phoenix_dream

Sailed to Alaska on Celebrity many times. IMHO Hubbard Glacier provides an excellent glacier experience. I also 100% would recommend cruising one way out of Vancouver. More ports and longer times in port. Definitely add a trip to Denali after if possible. Take the Alaska railroad. Amazing. Consider booking the land trip on your own or via an Alaska based TA. We did that on our first trip and it saved us $300 pp for 3 days post cruise. As to timing, not much difference between July and August. Our preferred times are actually September or May. Just as scenic and less crowded.

It has been my experience over multiple Alaska sailings, including one last summer with premium internet, that at times Alaska reception can be poor. I don’t think they had Starlink back then. But even in port, reception could be pretty bad.

Don't fret. I have sailed in suites a number of times and with a few exceptions (like if they have an Officer's gathering or music) I have never had an issue getting seats. During the exception times I mention it would be crowded with or without extra guests - one only has to do the math to see why. But trust me when I tell you, the Retreat experience overall is really, really nice. You'll have a great time.

I can also recommend renting a car and driving up to the Yukon - awesome experience. But do it early as there are not many cars in town to rent.

With kids, I would pack swimsuits and sunscreen in my carry-on. Drop off your bags, go have some lunch, give yourself a short tour of the ship including the children's club, and then hit the pool.

Celebrity customer service is notorious for giving incorrect answers. You can call one person and get answer A and call again to another person and get answer B. That's one reason people post questions here - to see the actual experiences.

Honestly, I don't think it's a matter of becoming less tolerant, although as I age I am less shy about speaking up for myself - I think it's more that than necessarily being less tolerant. I think there has been a significant drop in common courtesy and manners. This was happening before, but for whatever reason I think the Covid shutdown has resulted in a definite change in human behavior and often not in a good way. It's like - I had to suffer through Covid and it's consequences so now I deserve to do what I want, when I want, and the heck with everyone else. All one has to do is drive around the neighborhood to see this evidenced in driving behavior. Never in my (long) life have I seen so many careless, reckless, aggressive, inconsiderate, illegal driving behavior as I see since Covid. I see it also virtually everywhere I go - in my home area or when traveling. People are more rude, act more entitled, and on and on. It's disheartening.

I also hate when people do that on their balconies, especially when they know we are sitting on ours right next to them. Loud phone calls and video chats, loud music. Sometimes it's a family with children who let their kids make all kinds of noise - but it certainly can be anyone of any age!

Part of me agrees with that thought (cynic as I am) but the other part of me thinks that won't happen. Why? It is my belief (perhaps wrong; perhaps right) that this is not necessarily about casino revenue per se. I think this is more about attracting a younger crowd, whose vice of choice these days is vaping. Just about every 20-30 year old I know (and I confess that number is fairly small) vapes. Statistically, younger people are not smoking regular cigarettes as much as before, particularly if you look at the demographics of who they might care to attract on their ships. Therefore, according to my personal logic, adding smoking would be counterproductive as it would not entice them, and would, even more so than vaping, result in a number of people leaving the fleet.

It took me four days, but ultimately I got a phone call. I'm thinking the canned responses go out quickly, but most of the phone calls are longer. I'm also thinking in particular they do want to talk to Zenith and suite passengers and perhaps want to make sure they allow enough time for the conversation which is why it takes longer. I was getting frustrated myself, but was quite satisfied with the way the phone call was handled. Assuming you left a phone number, you may still receive a call.

I have found an answer to my own question. Our TA was able to get us the discount. Thanks to all who answered.

Does the B2B discount apply to side to side cruises? Transferring ships the same day, both Celebrity. The website wording suggests it would but it could be interpreted differently. Has anyone gotten this?

Four days so far - no reply to my email. Seems odd that some get responses the next day and others like me, are not getting them at all - at least not yet. Don't get it. If they're only sending canned responses anyway why would this be?

I think the bigger ships are usually more expensive because they are the newest ships. I see little price difference usually between M and S class ships with comparable itineraries, even though S class are considerably larger and almost (not quite) the size of E class.

It definitely depends on the cruise. With the July 4 sale, I looked at our prices for several upcoming cruises. Each one was several hundred dollars more than we paid. I know some save money by checking so it's worth doing - honestly I never have.

We have a Zenith FB page where virtually everyone posting is also up in arms about this whole thing. Many say they are contacting head office. But honestly, I'm not so sure our status means a lot overall. The vast majority of us don't fit the demographic being catered to.

Do you mean without an internet package? If so, then you do not want to even try unless you are in port as you will get connected to their very expensive network for phone calls. Remember that they sail a certain distance from shore so they can legally open the casino and stores, so you are not sailing right along the coast per se. Hopefully that clarifies your question?

Yes, definitely, as long as you have a drink package. DH loves his Diet Coke and always stops at bars along the way to pick up a few cans to store in the fridge/cooler. We ask the room steward to clear it out so he can keep it cold in there.

Thank you Georgie_Peaches for your efforts in this. I am also concerned that eliminating the signs but not the practice is not necessarily a good thing (although I am hoping it is!). My cynical take on this is that fewer people will be doing it as many do not read the dailies I think, so fewer people will be complaining on social media, or complaining to Guest Relations or management onboard, so they can then more honestly say it is not adversely impacting people. But over time it will become more of a common practice and people who came onboard without their vaping stuff in the future will bring it and then it gets worse and worse as they sneak it into the sailings. I hope I am just being a cynical pessimist!!

I sent my email on July 3 and have yet to get a response. I am not a big spender per se, but I am Zenith if that matters. Thought by now I would at least get the canned response.

How about because it tastes different than water? I cannot tolerate caffeine due to a medical condition and I don't want to add up calories on soft drinks, so I sometimes drink this.

In addition to what's been said, the usually also have caffeine free diet Coke, although sometimes you need to go to various bars to find it. Usually no problem getting diet Coke or Coke Zero

Wow is right. In my 75 or so Celebrity cruises I have never, ever encountered this type of behavior. Well, actually, I've seen a few rude passengers through the years but never a confrontational crew member. I would definitely have brought this to the Maitre d's attention and insisted to either be assigned another table, or a different waiter.

I have no idea why they kept it for Aqua either and am very, very unhappy that they did. For those of us at Zenith level (and I achieved it after a lot of loyalty to Celebrity - over 70 cruises over 30 years) we feel we are paying a lot extra for benefits we already earned through our loyalty. Since created Aqua Class has always been our cabin of choice when we can't afford suites, which is often. Now we look at the so much higher prices and cringe. We couldn't care less about the spa component, we book it mainly for Blu. With all the current menu cuts in MDR we are really torn between booking a different class, or in essence paying double for our benefits. I hope I am not sounding like a Zenith snob here - it's just that we waited a long time to earn that level and paid a ton of money to Celebrity along the way to get there (and definitely enjoyed the ride!) and now feel like we are in some ways being taken advantage of as we have no choice but to pay for benefits we already earned if we want to sail AQ or higher.

Exactly. The only thing that matters is the $$. As to the OP's post - this is not only disappointing it is bordering on insulting. A canned, and incorrect response. Sad.