cruisestitch

If your cruise is over Christmas, know that formal nights are sometimes adjusted on that itinerary. When is your cruise?

Celebrity's marketing department loves the word premium, (almost as much as the word specialty). In this case, as reported by one of our Zenith members, premium apparently doesn't mean much:

"Scaled down Elite breakfast offerings offered in Tuscan.

Continental breakfast with juices, same drink options such as bloody mary and mimosa."

No, but it can mean some very early calls -- to have your passport cleared by Immigration. Sometimes this is done early in the morning, quite early.

small correction -- Bistro on five is now $7, not $5

It's all explained in the article. Of interest mainly to travel agents and those who book with them.

"The average person has no idea what it takes to make changes to a working website that must serve different nationalities with different expectations, government rules, and corporate requirements"

True enough but I know of no government or nationality that thinks that spelling mistakes are acceptable (see President's Cruise page). Nor one that believes that Rangoon is in Thailand (look at the map accompanying Celebrity Century Feb. 8, 2015 cruise). Or that European cruises visit Alaska (earlier threads noted this blunder). Celebrity's website has out-and-out mistakes throughout. These shouldn't take that much corporate thought to get fixed.

Somehow they managed to add information about the Gastropub, a new offering. Why can't they fix existing mistakes?

Priority boarding at embarkation is probably not much of an issue. There are so many groups that are promised priority boarding (suites, Aqua, Concierge, Elite, Elite +, Zenith, handicapped) that well over 50% of the ship will have priority boarding. Meaning, in essence, that nobody will have it. Just pick the shortest line when you get into the terminal.

As to getting on and off the ship at ports, Concierge Class doesn't have any particular priority there, so you won't be losing anything.

On disembarking, again, all the subgroups mentioned above will have a designated meeting place to wait until your number is called. Concierge Class doesn't rate anything particularly special.

Maybe, sort of. You can adjust certain tips upward and the specific person will get it. If you are thinking of giving extra to your stateroom attendants, for instance, you can do that. But you couldn't pick some person who wouldn't be part of your auto tip and have OBC credited to that person. Let's take a specific -- recently there was a female attendant in one of the restrooms who was always pleasant and cheerful and friendly. Not a person who was in the "tip pool". I couldn't assign part of the OBC on my SeaPass account to her. But I could give extra to my waiter and assistant waiter, if I understand the system correctly.

Apparently, at Celebrity, is nearly impossible.

There is a word spelled incorrectly on the webpage advertising the President's Cruise. It's been pointed out to Celebrity numerous times. It never changes.

A misspelled word isn't as important as the error on the price of drinks offered in the packages, I know, but it's a symptom of the systemic problem Celebrity has with communication.

Yes, there are, but the fee is fairly steep, around $6 per transaction. The machines dispense US dollars.

Yes, the Captain does have final say, but unless something very unusual comes up, night 2, rather than night 4, should be your first Formal Night. That's a great itinerary!

Try posting on the Ports of Call board -- also separate out your three destinations so you'll get targeted answers to your questions there

None of us is happy with the mess that is the Celebrity website. We feel your pain!

They should coordinate this with the Maitre D at Blu -- he will set it up. This is the preferred way rather than just having them show up at the Main Dining Room, as this is the way that the gratuities will be properly assigned. If Select Dining is severely overbooked, you may be asked to eat very early or very late to accommodate your group.

It's on an honor system. Yes, you can take books to your stateroom. It's always a variety of books, but don't expect lots of current best sellers. There is also a "bring a book, leave a book" section. Those books you can take off the ship with you, and you are encouraged to leave books behind for others.

Here you go -- it's a long thread -- a bit complicated to follow -- the pilot program was being tried on two ships

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2046629&highlight=pilot+program

Sorry I haven't been back to thank your for the summaries. I really did get a headache from thinking about this and of course, there's yet another "new" booking program -- the "pilot" program that was reported here a few days ago, the one with the non-refundable deposits.

Calgon, take me away…...

Because prices are in the process of changing, (at least the alcoholic ones are) you may find that your best option is to wait until you are on board, look at the prices, and then decide whether or not to buy the package. You don't need to do it ahead of time.

I think it's irrational and confusing to use the same terms "Premium" "Classic" "Specialty" over and over again. The Classic beverage program includes Premium Drinks. The Premium program includes Specialty Drinks.

It's also irrational and confusing to use the same terms over and over for different promotions "1-2-3 Go" "Pick Your Perk" with different rules in different years. It would have been so much better to name them something like "2013 Cruise Packages" "2014 Cruise Packages" so we wouldn't have to try to keep track of which particular T&C applied to each booking.

OK, I'm getting a headache now.

Two programs with the same name.

I could wait until I'm on board next month to book two upcoming cruises. One is Europe, one is Caribbean. Standard verandah cabins, not suites.

If I wait until I'm on board, I only put down $100 pp, yes? If I book now, it would be $225 pp?

What other differences would there be between the two programs (book now, or book on board)

Yes the normal on-board deposit is $100 pp. The 123 says "reduced deposits". Does it mean that the deposit would be less than $100 pp?

I think the Soda package is $8 plus 15% per day. Packages do not include room service or the mini bar.

I'm confused about this new offer -- it says that it has "reduced deposits". The on-board booking already had reduced deposit -- it isn't reduced even further, is it?

There is no Elite + Lounge, the OP was in error.

One problem is that while there are many "wasted" spaces there aren't a lot that would make a decent lounge with sinks for a bar. Running new plumbing isn't an easy task.

The problem is, as noted above, that there are no bar servers at the Elite breakfast. The galley is stocked with the sparkling wine and the vodka needed for the drinks they offer, but the rest would require someone walking to the nearest bar (Cafe al Bacio perhaps?) to get you your drink. They might be able to do that, but you might consider just stopping off there yourself to get your beverage before you come to the Elite lounge.