tigervixxxen

But did you actually pay for it is the question and the root of the issue.

They are not going to reimburse after the cruise, that’s nonsense. Don’t believe that for a second. Once you sail on that cruise their transaction with you is done, they are just a third party broker, there is no reason for them to continue servicing the booking. Even for those who have a direct issue with Celebrity once you walk off that ship the likelihood of seeing any sort of price adjustment or refund drops dramatically. So the problem is you thought you had all included but they also didn’t charge you for it? And can’t add it back to the booking now, or that you don’t want to pay the extra for it? You can’t threaten cancellation because it’s sold out, right? It’s going to be difficult imo because you didn’t actually pay for AI so they can’t just give that to you free. I agree with the OBC angle for your trouble and that’s something they should be able to manage.

That and Panoramic definitely means bus ride. However on one of my excursions I was literally promised a STROLL and it ended up being a 300 ft. Elevation climb hike. DH still enjoyed it but that was very misleading.

Imo the Celebrity phone reps aren’t really there to help with details, they just aren’t trained to give that level of information. The excursions are set up through a third party even through the ship. I wish there was a lot more detail in them but that’s why CC is valuable to other people to explain their experience is the only way to get that kind of detail.

If the cruise is far enough out the updated menus and prices don’t get loaded in is my theory on the discrepancy there.

Generally yes but there’s some exceptions. Red Bull, Vitamin Water, Evian. For basic items in each category yes it is included.

Agree with what has been stated, often you will have a meeting point on the ship. If you are asked to meet on the pier I’d budget for about a half hour for a non-tendered debark, an hour for a tendered debark (I believe in this case you will most likely meet on the ship though). There will be people standing on the pier holding signs with the name of your excursion (sometimes name is slightly different so check in and confirm with sign holder) and you’ll usually line up behind them until everyone has arrived and then you’ll be escorted to the bus together. If the excursion is early and close to your arrival time you will more likely meet in theater, if it’s a bit later in the day they tend to just ask to meet on the pier.

I have booked a night pre cruise at the Ala Moana hotel as I don’t need to pay to stay for 12 hours on Waikiki and it’s closer to the cruise port and airport than Waikiki. Also, proximity to the mall is good for last minute items and quick meals.

Sure…I’ll preface by saying my last Carnival cruise was in 2019 and I have not been on their newest ships. However, I have not been on any line’s latest and greatest nor any of Celebrity’s E class so the ship itself really isn’t my primary impression of either line. Itinerary is a big draw for me as we take on average one cruise per year so I’m no longer in the market for the 7 day Caribbean or Cozumel turn around which also keep me away from the bigger/newer ships. I don’t repeat itineraries, I’ve pretty much taken a completely different cruise for most of my ~20 sailings. Celebrity’s world itineraries are definitely of greater interest to me but as they are cutting back and Carnival adds more the difference isn’t as large. Carnival’s older cabins definitely have a brighter outdated color scheme, I believe this is better on the newer ships. We tend to book typical balcony cabins so there really isn’t much difference between the lines. We have tried Aqua once as a novelty and the extra perks were fun but ultimately we didn’t find it worth it. Next time sailing on Carnival I’d like to try a corner aft balcony or other special type of room since we are used to paying Celebrity prices can afford it lol. I find the length and itinerary is the primary driver of party crowd. I sailed 14 night RT to Hawaii with Carnival and it was less of a party than the 11 night southern Caribbean holiday sailing on Celebrity which had a very loud group of teenager running around the ship all week. Carnival does have more light/silly activities but they are easy to ignore as we don’t sit out by the pool anyway. They probably have more activities in general and Celebrity has more a relaxing vibe. We don’t care much for production shows in general so not much comparison there but Carnival has more comedians, which we enjoy. Food is a big deal to me and what I like about Carnival is more creative and flavor offerings. Things like a taco bar and sandwich station on the lido deck are a godsend as I am not a huge fan of buffets in general. They also have more make to order stations like stir fry. I’m always wary of MDR food from the galley as it is and don’t expect everything to be fantastic as it is. The extremely limited new Celebrity MDR menu is a big concern to me and DH is not a huge fan of the MDR on a good day I’m not sure how that’s going to go over, though we have liked Celebrity’s food in general. That said we felt like Carnival’s MDR was better than Royal and Princess (DH in particular thought Princess was bland). Carnival’s specialty steakhouse was a standout, I thought Murano was good but not great (I’ll give it a try again) and Tuscan Grill is very good. Carnival also has a sea day brunch which is good. I prefer Celebrity’s pizza, I’m very particular about pizza though. We switched to Celebrity to cruise with DH’s sister and he likes the all inclusive offering so we continued booking with them as the slightly older but not old (we are early 40s) more upscale and relaxed vibe fits us. But considering we could probably package wifi and drinks for cheaper on Carnival at this point it’s probably just perception that’s driving it mostly. I will say with Celebrity we notice a lack of lines and crowds, never have to wait for much, always get seated at dinner, (maybe we just got lucky idk), the 5 minute embarkation feels like a miracle every time we go through it and just have a more relaxed experience in general and a bit more service oriented. We’ve never had a terrible experience on Carnival in this department though but there are noticeably more people around and to serve. Celebrity’s app is better pre cruise and the premium internet is fabulous, I haven’t been onboard Carnival recent enough to know if they’ve caught up in that dept. If I think back to it my two worst experiences have been on Princess and it wasn’t a great fit for us in general, I’d hesitate sailing with them long before Carnival which if the right itinerary came by (or friends family wanted a short cruise) I wouldn’t mind booking with them again. DH won’t take Norwegian or MSC, the nickel and dimining gets to him and he’s not a fan of some of the stories. There’s a bit of it on Carnival which is another reason why he likes Celebrity but if that vibe is there on our next sailing with the new policies he is not going to be thrilled, we’ll see. Not sure about HAL, their itineraries might force us to try. I also wouldn’t mind trying Virgin. We are not retired or wealthy enough for the luxury lines, maybe someday. Hope that answers it?

I will test this out myself in a few weeks but in addition to what Wineaux said I’ve been told you can go the martini bar and tell them you are classic and see if they will make you a smaller martini or with cheaper liquor to keep you under your limit or to order something not one of their specialties such as a simple Cosmo or Lemon Drop. Or they may not and just pay the extra $8.40 for the special martini. It may change by the day and depending who you are asking if they’ll help out which is why there’s no easy answer the the drinks package dilemmas. At minimum you should get the $10 discount tho.

My plan is to ask for the Masala potatoes as an appetizer, hopefully they will portion it smaller. I plan to do this for several veggie and pasta entrees to give myself a proper appetizer.

The difference between Carnival and Celebrity isn’t that vast. We have sailed with Celebrity post covid mostly because my husband liked the all included non-nickel and dime experience. And well that seems to be vanishing so there isn’t going to be a whole lot that differentiates the two.

The app won’t show my reservations so I guess there is a glitch going on.

I’ve sailed enough on Carnival to be Platinum with them, that said I haven’t been on one of their ships since 2019 but I won’t hesitate to make that change if need be. I never expect food from the galley to be fantastic, I’ve always been cautious about what could be prepared well there. I never found Carnival food to be bad and their casual offerings like their burgers and tacos are pretty good. We actually preferred their food to Princess. 17 days of Celebrity’s “new” menus might push us over the edge though . I’m already trying to eat as much non chicken, fish and steak in preparation so I’m not burned out by day 5.

There are no appetizers beyond escargot and shrimp cocktail

The length of the cruise is pretty relevant to determining if AI is worth it or not. If you are under $100 per person per day you are probably doing ok.

Or just swipe to the right where your booking information shows and right under it says select another sailing

What about MSC, can’t you get on at any port with them?

My plan is going to be to ask for the pasta or veggie entree as an appetizer to remedy the no appetizer situation. Also, OP thanks for the pics and review.

$15 per day for premium is the cheapest I’ve seen it

Sometimes the single device plan is cheaper even x2 than the two device plan. So it just depends.

Yes I’m aware of that resource. I know Google is not barren, just saying I know content creators read these boards and if they are making videos on their cruise experience regardless some content on ports of call would be helpful. It’s also nice to see a visual, have someone explain their experience as well, which is why travel content is so popular on YouTube to begin with. Ot doesn’t have to be a guide book, just as simple as which of these 20 ports in Norway or Spain are the best would be a starting point lol. As far as Tom, if all his existing content has vanished then I’d think it was more he sold it than something happened to him.

Yeah I wonder how far south they could get round trip from Florida in around 14 days, if they could get to Brazil in that would be fantastic. I also would like trans pacific to Japan, those are very infrequent. Norwegian has some interesting itineraries, I liked one that was transatlantic from NY that went to Halifax and St. John’s and then down to the Mediterranean. As an aside, anyone notice the Celebrity sailings are starting to cut out ports? The exact same 13 night transatlantic on E class leaving Barcelona this year has 6 stops including 2 Spain and Nassau, next year only 1 Spain and no Nassau (both still do Gilbraltar, Azores, Bermuda). So essentially the exact cruise on the same ship is 4 ports instead of 6. Does this really save them money?

I’d like to suggest to the content creators who put up thousands of YouTube videos to make videos covering ports because it’s a big blind spot when it comes to cruise content. Some of us still cruise for the destination lol. Especially those areas where there’s a ton of different stops and itineraries would be helpful (Norway, Med, Spain especially) to have an idea of what’s best. Also which ports are dock right in city, free shuttle or pay shuttle. I know there’s Google but if someone is going to make the 500th video on a cruise ship review maybe some port content would be nice lol

In the app just click on drinks, the first tab that comes up is “upgrades” and it’s right there.