Canuker

Just been on the phone to Celebrity, as the prices of the cruise we're booked on have now dropped materially, compared with the price I paid. 1. I asked about a refund of the difference: No: it's less than 90 days to sail date. OK. 2. I asked about paying for an upgrade. The price they quoted me was about double the difference between what I'd paid and what they are advertising for a new booking on their own website. Hmm. 2a. By accepting their upgrade offer I would also sacrifice significant OBCs. Bottom line: I refused their offer. Doing the math, the total cost of the upgrade was not nearly the deal I thought it was going to be. If it sounds too good to be true.... Turns out the devil's in the details. Finally, a question that occurs to me following all that: if I later make a 'MoveUp' offer instead, would I also lose my OBCs?

Seek and ye shall find. good work, iva. I just wish we'd see more posts as proactive as yours. All it takes is to pick up the phone.

The sunbathers on the pool deck have a good tan..

OP: what state are your shirts in? If they're anything like some of mine, it may be the right time to buy some wrinkle-free replacements?

Pros and cons. You might (might) find a better price but how are you with, say, a 6:00 am take-off and/or a change of planes? As for the ship waiting for delayed flights booked through the cruise line, we booked our own flight; its departure was delayed. Not a problem: there were (no surprise) several others there who had booked the flight via the cruise line. Long story short, the airline announced in the departure lounge, before we boarded the plane, that the cruise line was aware of the situation and would hold the ship for the delayed flights. QED.

On our Alaska cruise last year, there were so many people in the forward lounge nattering that we could not hear the excellent onboard specialist describing the marvelous Hubbard Glacier right in front of us. Also the audio out on deck wasn't the best either. So we repaired to our cabin and watched the 'show' plus listened to the audio (via the TV channel) on our balcony. We are very glad we did, otherwise we would have missed so much. The ship rotates so everyone with a balcony can see. Incidentally, quite a few people paid megabucks to board a smaller local vessel, the idea being to get closer to the glacier face than the cruise ship. Compared with how the mother ship maneuvred, I'd say that was a waste of money. By not going on that we paid for most of price of the balcony versus an inside. Lastly, take a good pair of binoculars.

You know, lostchild, conspiracy theories these days never cease to astonish me. But now you've just hit a new low with me.

Right, that settles it. I'm clamping towels to our theatre seats from now on, too. I mean, who do these people think they are, trying to sit in our seats? Come to think of it, I think I'll pack a length rope next time too.

I hope you all enjoy your vacation.

"...horrible....terrible". Can you elaborate?

Why all this fuss about lobster? It seems to be more about the ritual than the (usually rubbery) food. I also confess to being a little miffed when some (head?) waiter I've never seen before comes silently behind me and, without asking, proceeds to dismember my lobster in front of me. What's that about?

If only, as Ol' Blue Eyes sang, "Each day is Valentine's Day". Great pics, OP

I tipped a baggage handler once. He was being stroppy. But they soon fished him out.

"...hubby's dinner jacket takes so much room!" Compared with....?

I'd agree with the assessments above that you should be OK to catch your new flight time. But, be aware that the change in the flight time is a change to your contract with the airline. Rather than worry about the ship and the clock, I would contact the airline and get them (the originator of the problem) to put you on a later flight - at no extra charge to you - to avoid your hardship.

Let's be clear about all this. By using "Move Up", you are in the world of contract law. By doing so, you are making an offer to the cruise company. More specifically, an offer with no expiry date (this is specified in the terms the cruise company clearly stipulates). This means that the cruise company can take as long as it likes to accept your offer. It may not accept it at all. The cruise company is in the driver's seat, once an offer has been made. Your only recourse is to withdraw your offer, which you may do at any time, provided it has not been accepted by the cruise company. Once accepted, you immediately have a legally binding contract, for the amount of your offer. Tread carefully and know the obligations and limitations of both parties.

chemmo, you make a good point. Cruises ships' long-projected arrival and departure times are carefully adhered to, in part because the host port (country) is expecting it. It's also expecting that all passengers will be aboard. A deviation from that (not properly logged, unlike, say, the transport of an ill passenger) gets very messy and the potential for legal issues, should anything go wrong, puts the cruise company in a very difficult position.

If your're going to Heathrow, take the direct bus (be sure to book to the right terminal) unless you're going to Terminal 4, which requires the use of an additional free rail shuttle to get there. For Gatwick, the train is best, hands down. Southampton Central rail station has elevators, if needed. Train leaves around 13 minutes past every hour through the day (but not Sundays, when you must change trains) and goes directly to Gatwick. Take the elevator from the platform and you are on the airport concourse. Again be sure of your terminal; you arrive at the South Terminal. for the North Terminal, there is again a free shuttle train. In terms of navigating the airport, Gatwick is smaller than Heathrow and I find it less of a zoo. Because it's less busy, flights tend to land and take off closer to schedule too. In either case, be sure to use the airport's comp buggy to help you get around, skings, if you need it. Give yourself plenty of time.

I ask because our CC group (Silhouette, April 20, TA) is planning a number of get-togethers and we don't want to clash with the Skipper's welcome do. So, about what time on what day (our first 2 days are sea days) and where on board, please can we expect this, please?

Possession is nine tenths of the law. Leaving a towel on a chair is not possession. These people are betting that no-one is going to do anything (practical) about it. And they're usually right, aren't they?

Neither RCI nor any other business "is entitled to make a profit". The constant business equation is weighing up risk (and it's cost) versus profit (and its benefit). It's the responsibility of governments to provide an environment (taxes, infrastructure, etc) in which businesses can risk capital for a reasonable return on that capital (the fundamental basis of capitalism). They want - plan - to make a profit, otherwise, why bother? But they are not entitled to make a profit. If they were, everyone would be in business. As Kenny Rogers sang, "Know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em". There is no entitlement.

OK, my 2 cents: High Tea includes hot, but light, food. So croque monsieur served in the latish afternoon would be part of a high tea. It is sometimes also given to very young children, ahead of their bedtime, so the adults can enjoy dinner (or supper, if you prefer) later. Afternoon Tea is dainty but tasty sandwiches (e.g. salmon or shrimp )and cakes - usually including scones (which may be warm from the oven), jam and thick (clotted) cream (in lieu of butter). It is generally served a little earlier than high tea - from around 3:00pm onward. It is a very light meal and is considered to be quite sociable - it is not served in the dining room, rather in the lounge or even the library. Both are, of course, served with hot, properly brewed tea, typically Darjeeling and/or earl grey. In NAm, orange pekoe is a common brew too. Boiling water (essential) is poured over the tea leaves, in a warmed pot and left to brew for four minutes. A splash of milk in the cup is optional.

Sounds like you are a perfect fit for the Silhouette, aimcat. Bon voyage.

Chicken & Egg - and Golden Goose. Several posters on this thread have used the word "cutbacks". Have Celebrity indeed cut back positions on board? Or is it a question of not being able to hire enough people to fill the positions? I ask because so many employers, especial those in the hospitality industry generally are unable to fill vacancies. If you don't have kitchen staff, servers become redundant. For whatever reason, people left their jobs at the start of the pandemic. Presumably they were let go by the cruise industry, which shut down completely. All these people need to put bread on their table; it seems entirely feasible that these folk have found alternative employment and have chosen to stick with it rather than return to the ships. I am no insider; can anyone shed light on this issue within the cruise industry? All these sorts of decisions are made, ultimately, by land-based management and the ships have to deal with it all as best they can. Lord knows, a cruise ship employee was busy enough pre-Covid. It must be worse for them now - another reason why people may be reluctant to return to the ships. When things get bad, companies invariably abandon their tried and true product delivery and resort to cash-flow management. Everyone - employees, customers, suppliers - suffers as the business struggles to stay (no pun here) afloat. It's my anecdotal opinion that cruise lines make their profit not so much by selling cruises. They make the real margins from money spent while on board - booze, premium food, excursions, casinos, jewelry, etc. It is no coincidence that marketing of these sorts of things has become much more aggressive of late. But if guests feel this money is wasted, they will not be keen to repeat the experience. Lastly, it used to be that cruise lines were quite competitive. While not a quasi cartel (like airlines and gasoline companies) they seem to be moving in that direction. There are, after all, just three companies that control a large percentage of the cruise market in the West. They can only go so far with this watered down customer experience before folk start to look for alternatives for their vacation dollars that don't involve ships. If that happens, with the kind of debt and assets they have on their balance sheets, the industry is in trouble. Five years ago in 2018, for example, Carnival's publicly traded shares were around US$70. They slid steadily through 2019 when they ended the year around $50. Covid then sent them down to around $12.50. Today, almost 3 years later and out of lockdown they are trading at $12.10. The big difference between then and now is the interest on all the cash they borrowed to stay afloat during the lockdown. So instead of paying on board staff to help enhance your vacation pleasure, they're paying creditors.