wrk2cruise

29 minutes ago, GabbyRose said:

My question is really not cruise related so I hoped I don't get in trouble for posting this. I planned get to Amsterdam 3 days before my cruise starts. I booked my flight with 1 connection in DFW. The connection was supposed to be a 90 minutes stopover in DFW. Now, it's been changed to a 34 minutes stopover. I'm really worried I won't make the connection in DFW.  I booked the flights through Iberia Air which partners with American Air. I tried calling American Air. I had no luck as the wait time is over "8 hours" to talk to an agent. Also I booked a non-refundable flight. Should I be worried? Please no negative comments. I'm worried enough. Thank you!

If you booked through Iberia you should call them.  They should have access to the AA flights to make an adjustment.  I wouldn't think 34 min would be a legal connection time since the door closes 15 minutes prior to departure time.

Even with a non refundable fare they should make the change for no charge.

I wouldn't believe the 8 hr wait time.  I'd just put it on speaker and wait while doing something else.

And the red/white/bubbly wines in the Retreat Lounge and in-suite.

39 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Sort of off topic, can a booking be changed to AI after the original booking?  Not AI originally…we have an SV and are looking to convert it to AI..no current SV’s showing on our cruise on Ascent..Jan 2026.

 

not booked as a guarantee originally..

Yes but at prevailing price and promo.  Maybe even has to be before final payment.  I think Celebrity would have to be called to find out the prevailing rate as I don't think TA's can see that data on sold out categories.

^^^  This  ^^^ It's 30 days.

Even outside of Blue Chip if you get a reduced cost upgrade you don't get CC  points for the upgraded cabin.  This changed about 10 years ago even before Move UP.    I was offered a reduced price RS upgrade on my Veranda GTY booking.  Even though I paid $3000 for the upgrade I only got the 3 pts/day.  That was in 2014.

If you cancel once onboard and you paid with credit card they generally refund to your seapass account as refundable OBC providing you are still within the cancellation deadline.

That's correct if you have a non refundable deposit you can make any changes to the current sailing at no-charge (price drop, change rooms etc).   If you cancel you lose the entire deposit.  If you change the reservation to a different ship or sailing date they just charge a $100/pp admin fee and you pay the prevailing rate and get whatever perks are available on the new sailing.

When we visited Zadar last May on Constellation the hotel director Paul was credited with providing free shuttle in all the ports where required.  When I read it was $15 return on this one I thought that was greedy.

That's a really good price for about an hour transfer.  When we did the reverse in 2023 it was $35.  Are you sure it's not from the Ravenna train station to the port??  That used to be around $10.

I'd make sure you have something in writing.  It should be listed in your "my reservation" under transfers.

1 hour ago, Sun Lover said:

I’d love to read a review after your May cruise.  Do you mean May of 2024 or 2025?

2025

That itinerary only has 1 tender port Kotor, depending on how many ships are there it can be a pretty long tender ride but once you are at the tender dock you are right in town.  We did something similar on Constellation in 2023 and if they were docked away from town they provided a shuttle to town.

We are booked on this itinerary in May.  Constellation is one of the oldest ships in the Celebrity fleet and has not been totally refurbished.  The public spaces have been updated but the cabins are pretty dated.  That said we have been  on Constellation many times and have no issues returning.

7 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

In this case, they would have no reason to charge a penalty for modifying one of the reservations

Agree

7 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

but they may treat the second reservation as a cancellation

Yes.  NRD lose the whole deposit if booked in the last several months

7 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

nd charge a change fee for those passengers.

Nope that reservation is being cancelled change fees are not applicable.  100% loss of deposit if NRD booking.

7 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

they don't really have any reason to charge either reservation

The cancelled reservation will lose the deposit if NRD.

13 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

There are early booking bonuses, gap points, promotions, etc

Just wondering do these sources generally pass through as refundable OBC?   I know with my current TA there have been cases where part of what comes from him has been some sort of joint marketing so a portion was OBCN and some OBR.

14 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

If your OBC was deposited by you, a family member or friend, or a TA, then as a third party OBC you will receive that back.  Also credit card sponsored points OBC are refunded back to the CC.

I think you would need to confirm this with your TA.  In my case I cancelled 2 days prior to departure due to death of my father.  The TA OBC was not given to me, I assume it either hadn't been processed yet or was returned to the TA.   One of several reasons I moved away from that TA that many use.

Edit: So in my case the TA received full commission plus the additional $400 they were supposed to provide me as OBC.   My current TA reduces my final payment by the OBC amount.

You can also pre-purchase laundry bag in cruise planner.  Watch for the flash sale with a discount.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Well we are getting back to normal -   I had a big surprise in the Mail --- Got summoned for Jury Duty on the week of May 20th... ugh.

 

I had accidentally tossed it in the  junk mail stack, luckily Iain went through the stack and said ---you've got mail.

 

 

I also have jury duty on May 20.  Just glad it doesn't interfere with any cruise plans.

On 5/7/2024 at 2:32 AM, Oracle Light said:

I am going onboard Connie this Fall and flying into Bologna a few days prior. The cruise starts in Ravenna and I have to somehow make my way from Bologna to Ravenna. Spoke to 2 different Celebrity reps who told me that they do not provide shuttle service to Ravenna from Bologna for folks who fly in before the embarkation day. Is this correct or is there actually a paid shuttle provided from the Bologna city center or airport? Any advice you all can provide would be very much appreciated. 

Last year we took the Celebrity shuttle from the ship to the Bologna train station.  I believe they  were loading it with arriving passengers to go to the ship for the next sailing.

I believe they provide this transfer service so be persistent asking for it.   I believe it was just over $30 pp.

The Retreat Lounge is open and welcoming passengers as soon as the ship starts boarding.  If you arrive early before boarding begins there is a Suite Lounge in terminal 25 in Port Everglades where you will be checked in and can wait for boarding.

Since the OP is new I'll just point out that if you haven't paid the gratuities as part of you cruise fare they will be charged daily to your onboard account.  These gratuities cover room steward, dining staff, butler (if in a suite) and other behind the scenes staff.

Tips on drinks are automatically added to each drink.  If you have a drink package the tips are included in what you paid for the package.  If you order a drink over the package limit you will be charge the difference and 20% of that difference will be added to the slip you sign.

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

Sorry for the hijack, but could you please enlighten me on how one shares a link to another thread on Cruise Critic?  Thank you!

Once you find the thread just copy the URL from the address bar of your browser and paste it into the post.

44 minutes ago, Dsciorti said:

I always charge back to my Seapass(no OBC) right at the slots and have never been charged 5% when it goes to my credit card. 

I know at one point the fee was waived for suite and Zenith guests.  I suspect maybe some levels of Blue Chip as well.

I've never been charged the fee either but most times I'm doing OBC.

Years ago there were no fees and people were taking the daily max to run up points on their credit cards and not really spending in the Casino, just taking the cash home.

Since the booking is created at the time you purchase onboard I'm pretty sure it's 30 days from that point.

43 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I also noticed that the military discount was not applied when I did mock bookings with the Zenith cruise only pricing.  

This policy should really be questioned with a query to the executive office.  I don't believe there is any restriction on military discount on any other cruise only booking in other categories.  It really doesn't seem right.

The reduced OBC doesn't sound right either if the single is paying the 200%.

@Sam.Seattle  That is an interesting detail.   In the past the common understanding was that you could change to another stateroom in the same category assigned.

I had one time where the very experienced Celebrity rep refused to change my GTY assignment saying that's why it was a GTY and if I wanted to change I had to pay the category prevailing rate.  When my TA came in on Monday he changed without issue.

Now I guess with them trying to up occupancy with 3&4th guests sailing free they need to keep the higher occupancy rooms available.   There are some sailings where the higher occupancy cabins aren't shown when you are booking for 2.

Anyway thanks for the data point.

And remember they are running the 3&4 sail free quite often now.