Smmessineo

My husband and I agree with everything you said except we do drink copiously on a cruise.... And use the gym to recover 😀

Thanks for this post, @mac_tlc. And it's not just suite pricing that is great on this sailing. For categories from inside through veranda , something interesting happens when you start a booking. Example : inside shows as $933 pp cruise only, and no pricing option comes up to pick all-included. So you pick cruise-only . But when you get to the invoice part, the breakdown shows all-included, but still the $933 pp. Same for OV and verandahs. You are basically getting AI for the cruise only price. I was going to book a verandah, just to see the IV once ( we are usually insiders) but realized even AQ is crazy cheap so I went that way. The AQ is 1419 pp, where every other 7 night sailing on S class or E class that winter is from 2000 to 3200 pp .

@abbydancerLooking forward to your live thread! I hope everything goes smoothly from here on. You've had one heck of a week !

@forgotmyCCname and @Stealthdog. Thanks for these posts ! I have, since the beginning, recognized and feared covid as a potentially lethal disease. And endured 2 years of frustration, living in a senior community in Florida, watching people we know ignore science and logic , and die . We get our shots ASAP and still take precautions in crowded areas or if anyone near us seems ill. But Covid is here to stay. I have come down with norovirus ( most brutal and embarrassing 48 hrs of my life) and flu ( high fever, delusional thinking, not fun) on cruises. But I don't want everyone to be tested for these before boarding. And the risk doesn't influence my decision to keep cruising. I try to use common sense and good hygiene, I feel the same about covid now. I don't see people linking Disneyworld to covid, but I'd bet the percent of people going home with it after a week's stay there is higher than on a cruise!

Not intentionally, but still the result. I know I'm not "sticking it" to a multi-million dollar company 😀. Just stating that I can spend my gambling money where I have a better chance of getting something back for it ( both with odds and with perks).

I'm another disgruntled regular Celebrity cruiser We visit the casino daily. Since restart we have been considering devoting more of our yearly gambling budget to raising our level in BCC to get a free cruise. But after reading about the people who aren't gamblers getting these offers, while we get nothing, we are pissed. We'll be gambling less on Celebrity. I'll launder my OBC through the slots, but won't spend any more money there. I can't be the only person thinking this way.

On this thread, the OP was nice enough to post photos of the dailies ! It's a great way to see all the varying entertainment and special events being done , which venue they are in, etc. The only theme party that I saw, on a quick look,, was the Full Moon Party. ( some other cruise line calls it White Night party, i think). And Silent Disco. Not sure if these really count as themed. If you mean themed days for food, the buffet usually does some themed lunches.

Thanks for posting this! A good reminder that there are lots of opportunities for free or cheaper drinks onboard.

The M-class ships don't allow smoking at the Sunset bar anymore.. It was changed years ago.

on the Your Upcoming Cruises page when you open the app, scroll down and there should be "browse our ships" . Click that and you can pick any ship in the fleet. It seems like the daily schedule is available to view for the current cruise and next cruise for each ship. After years of the app, I just discovered this the other day.😆

@Phils01 Thank you for this! I also appreciate your posts about the boarding procedure and the wifi on Equinox. It's great to get current info when planning a cruise!

It would be great if you could post them! I'm on this same itinerary in December and would love to see the dailies.

Thanks for this info. My husband and I are cigar smokers. We are huge fans of Celebrity cruises, in part because they provide nice outdoor areas for smokers. I have been looking at HAL and wondering if the Sea View bar on various ships would be a good place to smoke and relax. Is there comfortable seating besides the little tables? Does this area generally have some wind/rain shelter?

I used the online form to request the obc for 6 upcoming cruises, from December 2022 through April 2024. All on 1 form. Submitted on Tuesday, got back individual emails for each on Friday. All approved.

I book directly with Celebrity. If there is a particular large online TA or Big Box Club advertising the same price, but also extra OBC or a Big Box giftcard, I tell my Celebrity Vacation Planner when I book.. It gets requested through a supervisor and Celebrity gives me that extra OBC. I think it's up to $400 . They do not recognize every online TA, but a few of the well known ones. The obc doesn't show up on the account until a week or 2 before the cruise, but it has always been applied.

I guess your post was hyperbole, but there are great deals and OBC even for inside staterooms. I have 4 upcoming 10 night cruises in inside staterooms. All are AI and all booked direct with Celebrity. Here's my OBC per stateroom Celebrity's sale that gave obc when booking 500 Shareholder benefit 100 Book onboard bonus 150 Celebrity matches outside agency OBC 225---350 So I have between 975 and 1100 obc on each of these . I always look to get between 20-35% of my cruise price back as obc. We "launder" it through penny slots and take home most of it .

I'm a smoker and I appreciate having that nice little space 😊 . And we saw plenty of non-smokers there too. It's an area with good air flow and also has seating forward of where the smokers sit.

Haven't been on Beyond, but on Edge ( which is similar) I liked to sit in Eden when there weren't any events going on. Sometimes in the main area, sometimes up the ramp. It's a pretty and peaceful spot

Even buffets like that can be hit or miss. Went to Caesar's Bacchanal for dinner , i think it was 70 or 80 pp. It was awful, no selection, room temperature food, dry meats, to the point we reached out to the manager the next day to ask what happened. He invited us back to give them another chance 3 days later and it was incredibly good! Even a place like that has a bad day sometimes, we were lucky to be in town long enough to experience what people rave about!

In my experience , there haven't been changes over times as much as changes per sailing. With MDR but especially with the buffet, we have had great experiences some sailings and average experiences on others. I think so much depends on the chefs , food managers and other staff. Example..We sailed on Edge for 2 7 night cruises. First time, the buffet had great options and special one-day-only stations, at lunch and dinner. And the dessert station had delicious options, like a day of cream-filled cupcakes. Second cruise, only 4 months later, buffet had only 2 special themed lunch days ( Italian, American) and did not carry over to dinner. Desserts were the usual Celebrity options , no WOW factor. Food was still good, just uninspired.

The Celebrity website is showing it sailing all those dates. It's RT out of Seattle to Alaska. I would be surprised if they don't do some refurbishment before the President's cruise, but >shrug< I dunno how.

Thanks for the info! Definitely good advice for anyone who hasn't done Alaska..But don't worry , you're not bursting my bubble 😀. Our first cruise to Alaska was our first cruise ever, back in 2003. We did a one-way northbound Vancouver to Seward. Definitely an itinerary that will sell a newbie on how great cruising can be . We live in Florida and I look at this President's cruise in '23 as the chilly equivalent of us taking our 7 night sailings in the Caribbean. And we'll be up in WA visiting our kid and hiking around Olympic NP before the cruise too. That's part of the excitement!

Personally, i like the idea of going on a unique cruise. From what I've read, there are some special events and shore excursions, small gifts for the passengers. And if I get to see the CEO or other executives, that's cool too ! I booked it quickly and my interior stateroom was the same pricing as the cruises before and after it.

Thanks. Good insight!

Any reason you think the Celebrity president might be leaving?