PSU

We are on that voyage too. Maybe they will add another night to Bali? The have already eliminated Newcastle Australia so we can have an overnight in Sydney.

I am so impressed with the helpful suggestions from posters. If the people on our Jan 21 cruise to New Zealand, Australia and Bali are half as nice, I will be happy. We are in a Penthouse Suite and have a butler. We are used to a butler on Celebrity so we will see what is the same or different.

My husband and I just booked a Regent cruise Auckland to Bali for January 2020. We are longtime Celebrity and Royal Caribbean passengers.  We had a Celebrity cruise booked for New Zealand and Australia in February 2020, but the Regent cruise, although more expensive, covered anything including business air fare and three suite upgrade. Also the pre-cruise land tour in Auckland was included.

I am sure that all of you who regularly cruise Regent can give us some pointers. I already know that it is wise to pay the air deviation fee to get the flights that you want.

Thank you for any help that you can give us.

Luminae’s menu is very different from Blu. 

Looking forward to reading the next installment. We were in a Celebrity Suite on Equinox and didn’t meet our butler until the second day. I had to ask the Michael Club concierge to find out what was going on. He met us in Luminae and gave the excuse that we were never in our cabin.

6 hours ago, groryjm said:

Slightly concerned as we are in an RS on Shilouette in Aug. What where the misses? 

I guess everyone one’s experience is different. We were in a Celebrity Suite on Silhouette and just disembarked. My husband and I thought it was the best cruise in regards to the butler (Orlando) and the MCC (Vannessa). Our stateroom attendant was out of this world. Maybe it is the luck of the draw, but Orlando would make sure I had my caffeine free Diet Coke and Evian water every day, brought tons of apps every afternoon and make sure our laundry and pressing were done promptly.

We were on the Mariner of the Seas the week before in a suite and there was a big difference.

The suite manager is Sarah from Portugal and she has only been in her position a month. Thank you for all your replies. I think Vanessa set up our meeting with Sarah (we didn’t ask for it).

Has anyone tipped a suite manager? We are on the Silhouette and the suite manager resolved a problem for us.

By the way, Vanessa is the concierge and she has to be the best we ever had. It is funny how each ship is different in regard to what the concierge does. This is the first time any concierge walked you off when you are in a docked port. In the past, it was tendered ports.

Our Butler Orlando is also a gem.

19 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

We normally join others on our Roll Call for private small group tours - 6-8 persons, but our RC for an upcoming cruise is not very active.  I have been looking at a tour sponsored by Celebrity for the port city of Montenegro.  Having been there before, and seeing the winding roads, I think DH and I would be more comfortable doing a tour through Celebrity this time. However, we do not want to be on a large packed bus.  We want to explore more of the villages along the mountain sides.  Celebrity is offering a small group tour.   Does anyone on here have experience with either a small group tour in Montenegro, or any small group tour that is offered through Celebrity?  How many passengers does Celebrity consider small?

I just checked for our upcoming Adriatic cruise from Venice and the small group tour says it could be a maximum of 20. I guess it depends on the sailing and country. Although We have taken a few Celebrity small group tours and there were never 20 people. Hopefully in your case there will be 12 or 14. 

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

How did prices compare to a non-Celebrity group tour?

 

We try to do Celebrity small group tours if we aren’t doing private tours. It depends on what country you are touring. From what I remember, the one in Italy was $140 a person on Celebrity, but the private tours were in Euros and were at least $90 Euros per person. In Spain, the private tours were cheaper, especially with Spain Day Tours. Sometimes I don’t want to bother organizing a private tour, but if we do use Celebrity, it is a small group tour or just transportation to a city like to Seville on your own.

We were on a small group tour on the Amalfi Coast. We really enjoyed it and there were 12 people on the mini=bus. 

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

 

I guess it depends on where you are flying from because we have never had good luck with finding reasonable flights with Choice Air.

 

PSU - Would you mind sharing your flight details...where you leave from, and stops in between ...both ways (not dates or times?) 

We are flying to Barcelona and back from Zurich.  Booked on-our-own, in Business Class, for $3600pp (cruise ends in to Venice. The flight price was the same from Venice, as well.)

 

 

Definitely fly in at least a day before!  And remember that you arrive a day later than when taking off.  There are great services that pick you up from the airport and take you either to a hotel or the port in Civitavecchia.  Rome Cabs is one that we have used often.  The last time we were there, we used Domenico with  www.romashuttleairport.it . Very reasonable and efficient!

 

If you book air through Celebrity (Choiceair), they are suppose to help you get to the next port of call if your flight causes you to miss the ship. However,  lately have read otherwise with stories from passengers being left to figure things out with the airlines.  I'm sure there are good and bad stories out there! 

 

 

We are flying direct to Venice from Newark and back from Barcelona to Newark. We live outside Philadelphia but flying American direct was so much more from there. We are flying United.

We are also flying business class to Venice and back from Barcelona. I called choice air and they found us a flight for $1900 round trip. On the airlines website it was $3600.

The cost for Murano is $50 even though it says from $30.

The only way that you can have beverages put in your minibar is if you are in Star Class. I have been cruising since 2005 and I have never heard of what you are suggesting.

I don’t believe they do. We were in a Royal Loft and it only had Two huge showers.

Upgrade to the sky suite. You get Luminae and Michael’s Club. They are priceless.

They have been doing this for a few years. I am sure that if something happened you would hear about it. If you feel so strongly, then don't cruise on the ships where they have this.  I believe that the smaller ships, Radiance Class etc. don't have smart boarding. I am not criticizing you, but maybe when you are on a ship that uses this, you should ask the Hotel Director why they use this procedure.

I don’t think you you can email her. If you are in a Celebrity Suite or above, the shoreside concierge will contact you.

I submitted claim from Chase Sapphire Reserve card before.The Max is 5K per person for travels cost.For medical you need to purchase separately.

 

I use Geo Blue annually for medical and evaculations.I also submitted claim once before while was hospitalized oversea with no problem.Just give your Insurance information to Hospital and they do the rest. with Zero problem on either side.

The max is $10,000 per person. We used it twice in the past two years when we had to cancel because of a health issue. They were so easy to deal with. We also get an annual medical policy that covers evacuation.

The Chase Sapphire is an excellent credit card. Especially when you can transfer points 1:1 to your hotel loyalty program such as Hyatt.

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I’m sorry but I have a question about tipping.

 

I know it is a personal choice but the amounts you list seem very high at least to me. Especially since tips are supposed to be included with star class. I have cruised on other all inclusive cruise lines where tips are included and never felt any requirement it tip. It also seems quite high when compared to other lines which have butler programs such as MSC Yacht Club. So can anyone else provide alternative amounts that were tipped for their genie?

 

Thanks. DPR

 

 

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Tips are not included for the genie. Just for everyone else.

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I'm one of those that come from a culture that thinks that tipping is abhorrent and nothing more than a bribe. However, when travelling in countries that has shifted the wage component from the base product to the customer, I play along and tip on top of the bill.

 

 

 

But still feel ripped off when I have to pay extra just for people doing their job. Comment above, the Genie making reservations - that's their job, holding seats for shows, that's their job. Telling them I don't want a reservation then half an hour before show time, saying yes I want to go and they make it happen - that's above and beyond.

 

 

 

In Australia, if you want something in a Restaurant, such as a top up of a soda or water, you ask anyone walking past with a jug and get it done. In the US, with a full jug they say hold on, I will get your server! Nothing gets done until your server turns up, in case they do something for you that won't get compensated, I mean bribed, I mean Tipped.

 

 

 

According to the Royal Caribbean Web site - the FAQ's for Star Class state that Gratuities are included. To an Australian, if something is Complimentary it means its FREE - nothing extra, no more to pay. If you supply a complimentary shuttle service, what do you mean you have to tip the driver, it said it was complimentary, they did their job and drove us there.

 

 

 

This was so much of a problem in Australia, that there is no such thing as a daily gratuities charge now. Nothing can be removed as its included in the base cruise fare.

 

 

 

Doing a Star Class Cruise out of Australia, the Genie is likely to get not much if anything as Gratuities are included and you may tip if you feel like it. The Genie would need to something pretty special to get a tip.

 

 

 

Doing a Cruise out of Miami at the end of the year, yes we will tip our Genie as this is expected from this location, but I can tell you now, it won't be US$700.

I have been in star class and when it says gratuities are included that means the regular gratuities that you would pay if you were paying them. My understanding is the genie is not included in those gratuities.

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Normally it has only taken two days for me.

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Michael’s Club is open all day and until 10 or 11 at night. Because you are in a suite, you will be able to get water, sod, beer, wine and alcohol all day. It also has high tea in the afternoon.

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Thanks so much for the replies.

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