poffles

During my interview I was given a scenario where if I'm asked (by Nexus) if I'm bringing any food with me across the border I need to be sure I answer correctly. I asked, sincerely, would gum count as that is usually the only thing i might have and he said (without a smile) if you can eat it then it's food, he was telling me gum counts. He said it matters not if the food or whatever item is allowed, the question as asked needs to be answered for what it is, otherwise it can be viewed as not disclosing and it can be grounds to revoke Nexis. This might be extreme example but it certainly put it into perspective. Since then I either never take gum with me and just buy at the gate or I am sure to tell them (even if they do a little chuckle about my answer.)

As I read this thread, this is what speaks the loudest to me. It seems to not just be impacting an area but impacting a service. I have not sailed HAL yet but looking at one in my future and I was already trying to convince myself that the Signature class ship with the specialty coffee venue being in this area (unlike what I see for the Pinnacle class) would be totally fine. Reading stuff like this is a bit off putting. I am looking at a Panama full transit so I ease my mind that it might be less likely on the longer cruise.

The issue seems to have extended past the fall, my renewal was submitted in Jan (2024) and almost 4 months later still 'Pending Approval' while the other person I submitted the same day (posted earlier) was approved and card received in two months. Good to hear of others with such varied experiences, almost seems like submissions hit different agent offices and luck of the draw what you get. Oh well it's all good since the current one will not expire in the interim. Meanwhile I am easily entertained by the process 😏

I am Elite on Celebrity, it has been my primary go to cruiseline. What drew me to sail them the first time was their version of all in that included the drinks package, whereas my prior (few) cruises on Carnival and NCL did not do that so I decided to give it a try even though I was nervous it might not fit my relaxed style (ie formal nights and such). Even better was that I had been watching prices and when the promo started the cruise cost did not change even by a penny so it was literally bonus perks (they increased weeks later). I have sailed the three Celebrity class ships, Edge a couple times and Apex just last November. I agree with so much being said here, the Celebrity itineraries and cruise lengths getting so short, the Edge class being nice but more glitz than comfort, the infinite veranda (really ocean view), weird transparency with drink pricing, and the crazy cruise prices. As a beer drinker I feel they play with that pricing a bit too much and things that used to be included in their equivalent to Holland signature package are now often priced just above so you have to pay out of pocket one way or another. A major thing that has kept me sailing with them was zero smoking anywhere inside the ship, casino included but now I discover that some Holland ships do too. I am here lurking because I have been very interested to try Holland for the first time. Looking at Panama full transit sailing and likely do Early Booking Bonus HIA though right now it appears that the Early Booking cruise further out is pricier than one that has just lapsed that window so it does seem they are just padding that cost to that pricing to encorporate the 'bonus. More research needed 🙂

I have android samsung galaxy and the other party had iphones and same experience for us all.

The guest WIFI is free and enables one to use the features within the app as they state. The WIFI is internet restricted so you only have access to internal use ... ie the app. The chat with family friends is those that may be sailing with you and I would not consider it texting, it's chat feature within the Celebrity app. My cruise Dec 2023 the Celebrity chat feature was not the best and we found it required one to actively be watching for messages and it was spotty. We used it but would not rely on it, we also found messages to be out of chronological order at times, wonky. We never did figure out a pattern to it's behavior, maybe it's improved in the last 4 months 🙂 Access to the internet or any other type 'external' communication would require purchasing a WIFI package.

The rooster (chicken?) part of this looks like a painting, especially the darker bluish feathers on it's back. Love this picture! I keep looking at it again thinking maybe you did actually take a photo of a picture LOL

So excited to follow along with you Jim, you do such awesome reviews. Interestingly I had just started considering this exact itinerary that you are doing, both cruises, in a few years (2027) when they release those dates as a retirement celebration trip. The flight still gives me pause from my far east location (2+ days) but the cruises look so enticing and it would bring me back to Canada at least a bit closer to home. Meanwhile I will drool following and have a better idea what I could expect on this crossing, mine would be minus the lovely suite you have. .

Not sure why you are pointing this out to me. I know there are other threads on this, there are many thread on just about everything on Cruise Critic, but I didn't feel the need to point that. I responded to what the OP was asking in the here and now, showing my current experience doing a fresh new login. I definitely know Celebrity has many 'days', we go back many years. I also work in IT (for too many years) so I know how both the user and the back end role play in the cause. Also have to consider that in this case it was the weekend when many organizations do backend maintenance.

I just tried and was able to login without error, laptop using Edge browser. Doesn't mean it still isn't a Celebrity back-end issue. As others have said, I would definitely try clearing cache as that at least gives you a clean slate to retry login.

When I've booked an offer through BCC, free or otherwise, I have never felt any pressure to spend any amount of time playing in the casino, they would not make me pay it back if didn't gamble on that cruise. I've done so if i wanted to and the only gain aside from just wanting to play is perhaps getting future offers. Is there something I'm missing? That said, an inside or similar cabin with no perks becomes extremely unappealing on short cruises that (not Celebrity's fault) cost a fortune to fly to so that is my reason for not being so quick to jump on offers.

The offers have some value which is known on 'their' end so this could be done based on that value and of course other things like availability. I recently booked (subsequently canceled) an offer which somewhat mimics what you are asking. My offer was concierge, my friends was ocean view (for same cruise/sailing) and I inquired with the BCC agent who looked and said sure we can do that ... we got an aqua room. The value of my friends ocean view must have been sufficient to bridge the 'current' difference in stateroom cost. Similarly, I've inquired another time a bit further back when we both had lower class staterooms and it was not the same experience, an upgrade of any sort still resulted in difference in cost that would have been applied. Definitely inquire if booking. Even if you don't fully get a 'free' upgrade, the cost might be reduced enough to make it worth it to you. Alternatively it might be better to utilize the other half's offer to do a B2B 😉 Happy sailing!

I extremely dislike Celebrity's use of 'Have It All' in recent promotions and also totally viewed it as pulled from HAL's use of this same verbiage (that they've used for ages). Upon reading, it totally felt like bait and hook knowing that HAL uses it in the context of included packages and gratuities and such. To use 'Have It All' in reference to 'why pick one beach, city, restaurant or even one pool' .. really???? I feel this one to be very confusing and misleading. .

For me it's been watching closely, seeing someone share here that there is a sale, logging in regularly online to look if prices have changed, take note if Celebrity is promoting a sale, anticipating milestone sales like Black Friday and watching closer at these times. I've never received an email specifically pointing out a drinks sale (that I recall) and if I have it's definitely not something I would rely on or you will surely miss one.

Let me share my current ongoing experience with the Nexus renewal process to show how varied one's experience can be. Two people same household renewing ... I submitted online for both the same day literally one after the other. Neither had any changes (ie address) within the five years so I anticipated and hoped no interview required. Applicant 1 & 2 application date: Jan 4, 2024 Applicant 1: Still pending review (March 22 as I write this). Applicant 2: Approval notification March 1, 2024 (no interview required) Applicant 2: Card received in mail March 8, 2024 😲 Interesting that the one I submitted first is the one still pending; clearly it's so random you can't rely on any experiences reported by others. I have nothing booked so I'm not anxiously awaiting a new card so it's more interesting observation of processing times. I'm also good knowing the current card is good until the new one is processed. ..

You've voiced what I felt (this one and prior) about the overall vibe of these 'presentation-Q&As'. Feels just too 'great' and the non answers just make that felt even more, all the talk of past and upcoming President's cruises .. going to wonderful ports 🙄 and such great things planned. Questions answered by rewording the question(s) and explaining what it would take to do something and we are talking and discussing and then .. next question. Wait, what was the answer ??? Even a timeline of when the 'assessing' will be done would be welcome. I don't like to hate on things and have been happy to watch these to get the PUPs but I have often liked watching even if off the side of my desk. This one and the prior few have been very disheartening. Upon reflection, talk of the wine additions seemed to be the closest to something specific of all the things she spoke of, but I'm a beer drinker so whatever (low class 🙂)

Laughing at this. Did you respond to ask 'why do you make booking itineraries available so far in advance?' Yep all your fault 🙃

It applies to Elite and up so + not necessary. I just reached Elite before my recent cruises late last year and this was a perk I was able to take advantage for the first time, was pretty nice to have clothing refresh. I wrote ELITE on the top of the laundry list form.

As others have said, recent cruises the 'wine' was not waiting in my room and I just let the room steward know day/time I wanted it and it arrived sitting in an ice bucket. Opposite happened with canapes, they were horrible prior so I requested not to have them (ever) and still received them the first full day but then after that my 'request' must have reached someone as they stopped. There is something about unidentifiable cheese sitting on a plate for heaven knows how long that is off putting for me. Maybe this could be a waiving of room delivery fee for x number of times/days instead .. Celebrity are you there?

This change kicked off Oct 2023. This is still *noted at the bottom of an FAQ page. As others have said, it was a go forward change to newly purchased (AI bookings) after this date. Celebrity's All Included FAQs .

Similar to what others have said. If you are booking a new cruise on the Celebrity website, the prices presented on the front page are now (typically) Cruise-Only fares. As you proceed to 'book', after you select your room you will be presented with a screen much like the one below (just a random 3 night I selected) and it will give you All Included option which will indicate the added cost. This would of course vary based on cruise/length. If you book Cruise-Only fare then you purchase a drinks package later. Drink packages along with many other things are available for purchase when you log into your booking, much like buying excursions or specialty dining.

I did a (pre) pay one on Apex Nov-23 and it was similar to the way others have mentioned but clearly there are variations. Consistence is the predetermined bank of machines setup with a specific 'tournament' type game and your name will appear on the machine assigned to you for your round. Rounds are based on the number that have registered to play so this of course would be unknown ahead of time. The difference for the one I played, scores were captured overall for all rounds and think it was top 8 (or 10) scores qualified for the final round with a single prize of $500 casino credit to the winner. I got in the final round and was doing so poorly almost the entire time with many behind me focused on someone next to me, but the tables turned right near the end and I was suddenly at the top and won. Not sure who was more shocked, me or them LOL. It was fun but it was the only one I played during the cruise, the 'fun money' was an awesome take away! They also had other 'free' tournaments during the sailing where I heard them announce $50 credit prize. One day it was for Concierge guests, another was for first time Celebrity cruisers, thinking there were others but can't recall.

It would appear the 50% off is not exclusive to Diamond. First line item below.

Just did B2B Apex to Reflection in FLL. Was terminal 25 to 28 (think it was) and guest services/concierge was able to accommodate this and it was complimentary. There were 3 other 'rooms' that were doing this as well. It wasn't the most seamless. We were told all arranged, get off (the Apex) with the last disembarking number which I believe was 48 or something and grab our luggage from this area upon leaving. Then to go to the transfer busses, the one identified as going to FLL Airport. This confused us but we were told it would be dropped off along it's route to the airport ... perfect. Where it was a little annoying was when we got to the bus area we are asked our names and the guy looks at his 'transfer list' and none of us are on it. Another guy came over (seemed to be more the organizer of all the bus transfers) and no matter how we all explained what we were told he was adamite that this was not how it worked. This went on for way longer than it should have but we finally got on a bus (which said to Miami LOL) and were taken on our way. So definitely go to guest services but if it were me doing this again I would ask for something in writing or something that can be proof of the arrangement.

As others have said, Mast Grill on Apex definitely has self-serve soft ice, I think on Reflection too but can't swear to that as I didn't get one there. They rotate flavor (think just one flavor at a time) so it's luck of the draw it's one you'll like, I think sometimes it's a swirl of two flavors. Also, I know the Apex had a soft serve machine at the Gelato station, though availability was not the best when I went there as I was told couple times the machine was off for cleaning or ice cream was too soft. I got it there at least once.