NevadaCruiser2023

Just now, lenquixote66 said:

How would anyone know if a person swallows a capsule at a port ?

For that matter, I doubt anyone would care. If you were smoking a joint outside the door, maybe someone would say something, but I've seen people shooting up on the streets and nobody does a thing.  In the scheme of things, I'll take someone chewing on an edible vs. someone spiking themselves on a sidewalk. 

Family vacation paid for by my FIL.  It made the choice easy.  

21 hours ago, CrznMyLifeAway said:

I have chronic back pain after more than 5 surgeries on it, and now fused almost totally. I take prescription pain medications but I am also on medical Marijuana, I use the edibles such as gummies and I also use CBD edibles? Other than the pain medication will the cruise ship allow the CBD edibles even if they won’t allow the THC…

 

Suggestions greatly appreciated 

 

 

I find it interesting that Gummie Vitamins and gummy edibles are very similar in appearance.  Almost like someone could by a bottle of vitamins and replace said gummies with edibles.  Of course, I wouldn't know anything about that. 

Hey I like the box of wine with the duck. 

2 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Just did some cruise shopping this morning.  This year and last we were able to swing sky suite cabins. For next year we booked a b2b in Aqua which cost more per day than any of our suites. Very disappointing.  We have 8 cruises booked for this year. Next year so far we have 2 and that may be it. We love cruising but these increases are substantial.  That said,  many of the suite categories we looked into were fairly booked up. So some people are able and willing to spend the big bucks. We'll see how long that lasts. With all the new ships to fill one wonders if this pricing can survive.  And I feel it unlikely they will sell ships anytime soon as there is no market for them IMHO.  And then there is the challenge of ports like Bar Harbor,  Key West, and Monterey and others overseas who want to limit or eliminate port calls.  Wonder how that will factor in over time?

I'll bet that most of those suites that are "booked up" will never survive to final payment.  It'll be interesting to see the prices then. 

4 hours ago, NevadaCruiser2023 said:

With all the, shall we say ineptness, shown by the airlines, I think "day of" arrivals for a cruise is in the past. We're going to San Juan in about 2 weeks - we're getting there 3 days early and will hang in OSJ. 

I suppose I should qualify that statement.  If I'm sailing out of San Pedro, I usually do go "day of" as it's an hour flight and about that same ride from LAX to the pier. Spending a day or two extra in LA isn't my idea of a good time. (stated by someone who grew up less than 5 miles from LAX) 

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

Oh my!  You mean non-refundable really means non-refundable.  Horrors!  We have plenty of issues with X (which is why we have no future cruises booked with this line) but agree with the concept of non-refundable deposits.  In most cases (with many line) this will get you a lower price or more amenities as an incentive to make a non-refundable booking.  If folks do not like that option they can generally pay a higher rate and get a fully refundable deposit.  

 

Low refundable deposits simply encourage folks to "hold" desirable cabins with the likelyhood that they will later cancel.  It pulls the most popular cabins out of inventory and prevents others, who have every intention of taking the cruise, of getting those cabins.  It also means the cruise lines will often find themselves with a large group of available cabins at the final payment date. And they sometimes need to sell those cabins at a much lower price (call it a fire sale).  

 

We actually have some friends who will book multiple cabins (with several different cruise lines) for the same time frames.  They later (around final payment time) decide which cruise they will take and then cancel the other bookings.  This is not uncommon and many cruise lines are now moving towards various disincentives for those false bookings.  

 

 

 

It's amazing to watch and see how many cabins open up after the final payment date for a particular cruise. 

1 hour ago, NevadaCruiser2023 said:

Just read in a post on a site that should not be named, that photographers have been removed from the ships, apparently Royal Caribbean did it some time ago. Anybody seen any truth to this? 

Just found the post again. It was posted by a passenger on the Eclipse and it was posted about 8 hours ago (around midnight PST). The ship is currently off the coast of Australia, so about 2000 hrs. local time yesterday.

With all the, shall we say ineptness, shown by the airlines, I think "day of" arrivals for a cruise is in the past. We're going to San Juan in about 2 weeks - we're getting there 3 days early and will hang in OSJ. 

12 minutes ago, spammie said:

I miss the "welcome aboard" photo which had the ship, the date and the ports.  This was the only picture we ever bought.  Now we buy none.  😞 

Bummer.  We only usually buy those (dependent on how long we traveled to that point of course. Long trip = photo not worth buying).  One time we had a photograph taken for chic night and the photographer was a photoshop genius.  We ended up looking better than we do in real life.  Love that photo. 😁

40 minutes ago, davekathy said:

When is some time ago? The so called photographers were roaming around the ship and off the ship on our March 2022 B2B cruise on the Explorer. Same with our September 2022 Summit cruise. 

Beats me. All it said was "some time ago". 

Just read in a post on a site that should not be named, that photographers have been removed from the ships, apparently Royal Caribbean did it some time ago. Anybody seen any truth to this? 

I'm not sure what people really expected. Non-refundable sounds pretty self-explanatory to me. If you think you might cancel, pay a bit more for a refundable deposit.  The upfront cost may hurt a bit, but it'll definitely feel better if you had cancel due to say, declining health.  

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Yes definitely look around. By your comments it seems that you truly enjoy Celebrity- except prices!  Maybe that 50% increase will be moderated later this year.  Maybe not.   You can reserve a cabin with a refundable deposit and just see if you get a price that is better to your liking before final payment.

It'll be the rocket/feather approach to pricing. The prices will shoot up like a rocket and then float down like a feather until it reaches equilibrium. 

On 6/24/2022 at 7:40 AM, 81Zoomie said:

My brother handled the correspondence.  The original request was pre CV.  We were delayed for 2+ years.  The original request went to an address provided by the Captains Club.  
 

As stated above, you toss the entire e envelope/urn.  It requires a pretty strong push to get clear of the ship.
 

air_sea_cci_web@celebritycruises.com 
 

Forgive me if this sounds callous, but a deck mounted slingshot would be pretty cool to accomplish this. I'd want to be shot into the sea that way.  

14 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Okay, enough already with all the positive stuff, as "real cruisers" need a Debbie Downer once in a while.  Certainly you can find something for those who need it desperately before they go into a tirade.  I am having way more fun watching the snow fall, wind blow and staying inside because it is so cold outside.  How many of you are with me on this...as I know that all this fun stuff is just someone trolling for viewers, paid by Celebrity?  Furthermore, for dinner, we are having Lean Cusine’s spaghetti and meatballs for an Italian Fest. It will be like dining on the Amalfi Coast, but with snow.  

Yeah, that blizzard warning you guys are under should be interesting.  We've got a little snow down here in Reno, but it's supposed to last until tonight. The good news is the wind has died down slightly.  Good Luck up there.  

I know you're trying to be upbeat, but I've heard rumors....and please don't attack the messenger here..that the water the ship is sailing in, is WET!  Yes, it's true.  

16 hours ago, Fastman said:

Staying in a Sky Suite on Beyond Mid-March out of FLL with at boarding time of 1230p. 

 

After reading this thread (and having a hotel checkout time of 11am), anybody sailed there recently to know what earlier time we can safely show up without being turned away? Thanks!

Suite passengers won't ever be "turned away". 

On 2/18/2023 at 1:55 PM, Mark_K said:

The name has changed, and then changed back.  
 

On our last cruise, the butler asked us what our favorite drinks were, and from then on kept the mixers and glass or two of the liquor in the fridge. One day I had a Bud Light and left the empty in the room, the next day there were a couple in the fridge.  The point being, that is you have a really good butler you won’t have to ask them.

My sympathies. 😁

11 hours ago, Shipswap said:

Thankyou on behalf of all of us here for submitting the photo.

 

It’s really no surprise to see that it has been ignored. But oh, wouldn’t it have been amazing if she had stepped up and stated that the lobster entree wasn’t up to Celebrity standards!  
Unfortunately,that kind of leadership isn’t seen very often these days.

Well, technically, you don't really know that she hasn't reacted.  That photo might have already been sent to the F&B head honcho with directions to correct the issue. I know that back in the day, when I was on an executive committee, we'd discuss customer issues together and responsibility to correct, would be given to the specific person in charge of that area. They'd also be responsible (if necessary) to reach out to the customer.  I doubt the CEO has time or desire to respond personally to every email. 

17 minutes ago, the_dylaness said:

We brought many bottles of wine on in ports on our June cruise in the Mediterranean (to take back to the US not to consume on board) and no one at security ever blinked an eye. Doesn't answer your exact question but this is our experience.

We've brought back Rum from ports in Mexico and were never questioned, nor was the rum confiscated.  We weren't hiding the bottles; they were in the shopping bag as it went through the xray machine. 

8 hours ago, DCPIV said:

 

It's a balance, I suppose.  They need to consider how it's diluting the loyalty.  As folks are noting, many have accumulated weeks worth of points for nothing.

 

I expect, though, that they've made that calculation.

I resist your characterization of it being "nothing".  I had to sit through a virtual presentation where one block of the presentation was "city or beach" questions to ship Captains. I should have gotten double PUP for that. 

Maybe Celebrity needs to rethink who sources their lobsters.  The folks here, apparently, can get them for a buck and song. Perhaps they should ring up the CEO and offer their services. 

On 2/18/2023 at 5:11 PM, mahdnc said:

Lobster Risotto at Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas tonight: 

 

I had the lobster Risotto in HK Lake Tahoe and I don't recall it looking like that.  Of course, I was  few drinks in, so maybe it did.  

On 2/16/2023 at 2:41 PM, PineappleTraveler said:

 

Surely you at least fill it with vegetables so the meal doesn't look so tiny on that huge plate.

It does look kinda weird. And stop calling me Shirley.