omeinv

1 hour ago, Orator said:

Why do they take you room number when you enter any restaurant?

Allocation of gratuities with the advent of anytime dining.

Harris

Denver, CO

If you're a scuba diver, it's very nice.

Harris

Denver, CO

Since the question seems to come up with every webinar, I timed this one.  It's a tad under 43 minutes from when I pressed "Start" to when the "Webinar Ended" message appeared.

Harris

Denver, CO

There is no laundry benefit with either Concierge Class, or a Sky Suite.  You get one free bag as an Elite Captain's Club member.

Harris

Denver, CO

1 hour ago, Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin said:

Like you, I was planning to apply my shareholder benefit early, but the website says 3 weeks prior.  Didn't know I could do it before then, or I would have!

Yes, you can.  I do it as soon as I book a cruise, so often over a year in advance. 

Harris

Denver, CO

3 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I'm not up to speed on the casino aspect at all, but I would call Celebrity directly and see who (or if) they have an agency on record to verify the Blue Chip rep isn't wrong. It wouldn't be totally unheard of for Blue Chip to use Expedia to service casino bookings either.

This thought occurred to me not because I've heard of Blue Chip using an outside travel agency, but because internally Blue Chip Club bookings are coded as if Blue Chip is a travel agency.  New agents sometimes don't recognize that Blue Chip bookings are actually "Celebrity" bookings, and will try to tell you to "go through your travel agent", when it's actually a Celebrity booking, albeit handled by a different department. 

However, in this case the fact they provided a number for Expedia, AND Expedia can actually see the booking, I strongly suspect it was a case of fat fingers when the booking was being accessed for service - most likely for the addition of the Shareholder Benefit. 

Harris

Denver, CO

34 minutes ago, kasowell2 said:

My evil side says someone got a kickback for “accidentally “ transferring it but that’s just me being suspicious 

Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

It's most likely that in processing a stack of Shareholder Benefit requests someone put something from one reservation onto a second.  For there to be monetary gain, and thus the potential for a kickback, the customer would have to remain unaware, and keep the booking with the travel agency.  Not likely. 

Harris

Denver, CO

@AbbyCruiser45

While this is certainly a strange occurrence, the resolution would be to have the travel agency release the booking back to Celebrity.  Starting with Captain's Club would be as good a route as any, but you will need the Resolutions Department to correct this.  Normally releasing a booking back to the cruise line is because a customer has a specific complaint with how the agency is servicing the booking. In your case, it would be the agency was given the booking in error. 

While I would be curious as to what happened, questions along those lines will not help in resolving your issue, so I would focus only on getting the booking released from Expedia back to Celebrity.  This generally takes an agreement by the travel agency to release it, or a total lack of response from the agency.  In this case, presumably Expedia would have no issue in authorizing release, but of course there are two large corporations involved, so it may take a bit of time. 

The good news is you do have some time for this to get corrected prior to final payment date.  I would NOT make any payment to Expedia, since that would then make it seem you're working through them after all.

Harris

Denver, CO

2 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Last 20 PUP activity was credited in Aug 2022. It was a survey on shore excursions. 

Ha Ha, OK, I was wrong when I said "a few years.  Make a liar out of me over 3 months. 

Harris

Denver, CO

44 minutes ago, Tharkhold said:

 

 

I'm extremely surprised that celebrity rounds UP for any partial points.

 

 

While the terms make that allowance, it has never happened since the beginning of the program.  The offer has always been Power Up Points in multiples of ten, so the Captain's Club Points have been awarded in whole numbers.  10 PUP = 1 CC, 20 PUP = 2 CC, 30 PUP = 3 CC and 50 PUP = 5 CC are the only denominations I can recall.  The 20 PUP activities were early in the program, and I haven't seen those for a few years.

Harris

Denver, CO

You will have the benefits of the retreat, but not the benefits of a suite.  That is to say, you will have dining in Luminae, and access to the retreat lounge and sun deck.  You will not get the perks of the suite (Premium Drink Package, or Premium WiFi).  If you have those from your original booking you'll keep them.

In the Retreat areas, drinks are included, so if you have no package, or only the basic package, you can order premium drinks in the Retreat.

Harris

Denver, CO

(800) 760-0654 for North America

Harris

Denver, CO

@BF3

There are several sites around Kona that you can expect them, Maui and Oahu less so..  In the Caribbean, they're far from guaranteed, but good chances on Bonaire and Aruba.  They're fairly common throughout the Caribbean, but I can't think of other spots where I'd think snorkelers would have very good chances of seeing them.

Harris

Denver, CO

'

@Nike4000

Good question, but not to worry.  There is no time limit on this portion of your training.   There can be issues if there is a delay between the when a student finishes class/pool portion and completion of the certification dives.  Clearly that won’t be an issue for you doing the course on the ship.  
 

Harris

Denver, CO

@LorraineP

No, you should not be concerned.  you had the Classic package with yout booking (CALL), and then you upgraded to the Premium (PALL) so both show on your Xpress Passes.

Harris

Denver, CO

@gerelmx

I don't know, but that's never stopped anyone on Cruise Critic before. 

I suspect the abbreviation is for Future Cruise Credit Redemption.  I remember many issues with Future Cruise Credits coming out of COVID cancellations where Celebrity's accounting people caught errors long after the credits had been applied.  They would then claw back anything they could. 

Was the cruise your on at least partially paid for with credit from a cancelled sailing?  I would certainly call and get some explanation before I paid the additional $100.00. 

Harris

Denver, CO

25 minutes ago, Cruisechick59 said:

 

We are Diamond on Royal. Hubby and I are same status. 

@Cruisechick59

That's why you're Elite on Celebrity, your reciprocal status from being Diamond on Royal Caribbean.  Then, you've apparently cruised enough cruises on Celebrity ships to have 249 points. 

Harris

Denver, CO

If you don't have a package you sign a slip, as you do with any other purchase on board.

Harris

Denver, CO

9 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

No it is not the taxes, it’s tge way tge gratuity is charged.  Post #2 is exactly correct.

That post #2 guy must be a genius.  🙂

On Australia and UK sailings, instead of a 20% service charge per drink, that amount is built in to the price. Consequently, the limit is increased for those sailing.  However, the end result is the same. 

Harris

Denver. CO

You needn't really "sign up", either put your key card in the slot machine, or the dealer at table games will ask for it.  You earn points for playing, but the conversion of points to benefits is far from transparent.  It cost nothing, and I've received several free cruises, although those days are likely behind us, since ships are back to sailing full.

Harris

Denver, CO

There are several issues with full face snorkel masks:

First, they don't allow for equalizing the ears using the valsalva technique (pinching your nose, and blowing out to "pop" the ears).  As that is the easiest method for most people, and particularly those who'd be likely to use such a mask, that precludes diving down.  Of course I know most user of these masks say they never wanted to dive down in the first place.

The bigger issue is safety.  There have been an inordinate number of deaths by persons using this type of mask.  The circumstances preclude a definitive answer, but the most plausible theory is the large volume of the mask, combined with the snorkel placement results in the mask acting as a chamber for exhaled air.  This prevents good exchange between exhaled air and new air.  The result is a build up of carbon dioxide.  Strangely enough, the brain's signal to breathe is not the lack of oxygen, but the presence of carbon dioxide.  Therefore as carbon dioxide builds up, the person reflexively begins hyperventilating.  In short order, this leads to unconsciousness.  Needless to say, being unconscious in water is no good.  This problem is alleviated in the good brands (Head and Tribord are two) by dividing the mask chamber with a system of compartments and valves.  Even in this system, proper maintenance is required to keep the valves functioning properly.  The bigger problem are the cheaper "knock-off" masks, where the entire mask is simply one large chamber, with the snorkel opening near the forehead. 

I've heard people say that "if that happened, I'd just take the mask off".  Alas, this shows a woeful misunderstanding of the physiologic process at play. 

In summary, I wouldn't base the decision on what the policy of the cruise line or the destination is.  Perhaps you could look at your husband's life insurance policy to guide your thinking.  🙂

Harris

Denver, CO

27 minutes ago, omeinv said:

Because the question seems to come up with each webinar, I timed this one.  it's 40 minutes long. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

6 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

How long is the presentation and do you need to do anything at the end?

Nothing to do at the end.

Harris

Denver, CO

Because the question seems to come up with each webinar, I timed this one.  it's 40 minutes long. 

Harris

Denver, CO

It's not uncommon for a course to require students to have their own mask, snorkel and fins.  I can certainly imagine this being a requirement for a ship-based course.  The shop where I teach takes the opposite approach.  We discourage students from purchasing gear until they've tried different options in the pool during their course.  That way they know, and we know, things fit them properly and they're happy. That's easy enough to do when you have dozens of pieces of equipment on hand.  A ship-based program likely doesn't have that luxury. 

I stand by my advice above though, if you're going to spend money buy the right gear, so you only spend the money once.  I wouldn't want to tell you how many times I've re-learned that lesson.  Suffice it to say I could probably outfit you completely with gear I bought, then replaced when I upgraded.  😵‍💫

Harris

Denver, CO