edgee

Executive office staff who called me this morning told me that they have made no decisions...the test is not even over yet and they have received many negative comments about whether to allow vaping which they are considering. I have a cruise on Sept. 2 and have it in writing from Celebrity team in Miami that no vaping will be allowed on my cruise. Not saying it won't happen at some point but not sure your source at Celebrity which says it is definitely happening is a reliable one.

My mistake. You are correct. Here is quote from email Celebrity sent me: "The current Casino Vaping test is for a limited time only for Celebrity Equinox (June 24, 2023 – August 19, 2023) and Celebrity Eclipse (June 25, 2023 – August 20, 2023)."

Funny. The person I spoke to at the executive offices indicated that they have received much negative feedback. But they will look at the revenue as the main decider I am sure.

Pic of sign indicating no smoking but vaping permitted was posted earlier on Cc. Celebrity offices told me the trial period for Summit and Eclipse ends this weekend and they will evaluate.

True. I cruise with Oceania which has NS casinos at times and get some casino discounts but not significant.

HAL bans casino smoking on their older ships (except Zaandam) supposedly because of the way smoke drifts to entertainment areas. The list includes Zuiderdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam and Westerdam. All ships newer than these allow casino smoking.

I sent email to Celebrity Executive complaining about any plans to allow vaping. Within 72 hours had phone call from someone in the Executive Office asking me to describe my concerns on a recorded conversation that would be shared with the decision makers. I worked hard to state my concerns in a calm clear way but did state that I absolutely will not sail with a cruise line that allows smoking or vaping in the casino.

It is ridiculous to think of Blu as a healthier restaurant than others on the ship. Cute marketing concept when AQ class was first introduced...that's about it.

Could happen for Marina during April/May 19 day major drydock work.

My TA has a dedicated air department which handles cruise air. Member of that team told me that Regent no longer requires travel agency permission for guests to speak with Regent air directly. She also suggests calling earlier in the day and definitely not close to closing time so that agents are usually are less overwhelmed and tend to be more patient and willing to more fully work with you on flight options.

You are so right. Flying into the most delayed air space in the U.S. apparently with a connecting flight is so risky. On the other hand, when folks ask for advice regarding plans which are already set in stone, it is not very constructive for others to point out it is a bad idea in the first place and pointing out the error, or at least high risk of the decision.

Fortunately I am seeing a difference from Oceania's Mickey Mouse timing games for my March 2024 and February 2025 Regent cruises. Received an email with copy to my TA accepting my request for shareholder benefit for both cruises just one day after I submitted. It says my invoices will be updated immediately. Still waiting to hear from Oceania for my February and July cruises for which paperwork was submitted at the same time as the Regent ones.

I had same experience. I read closely the terms of the shareholder benefit. Those terms require that the benefit can only be used after the cruise embarks. Seems to me by classifying the benefit as a gift order this assures that the credit cannot be used in advance of the cruise to purchase excursions.

Yes, I saw that in an earlier post. See you on board!

Oceania has confirmed to my TA that effective Oct. 1 every cabin will get two log ins, regardless of the fare they paid. So I converted 3 upcoming cruises to Simply More from “cruise only” thinking that it was an advantage in order to get two wi if logins. It is not. So, I recalculated without that advantage and my conversion to Simply More is about an even proposition for us.

Yes, well I really am testing them. Of my upcoming four cruises I put in requests for dates are January (Oceania)..likely no problem, March (Regent), July (Oceania), and February 2025 (Regent). Will be interesting to see if I get a "too early" turndown on some of them, and whether Regent and Oceania treat the timing issue differently.

If the six month window is the rule, would be nice if they stated it on the form. IME they are not that strict with timing. My credit was approved using an April 30 statement for a November Oceania cruise... a little past the six month window. I just submitted for four future cruises, all farther out than six months. Will see if they grant the credit or tell me to wait.

Owning 100 shares or more of NCL stock entitles you to onboard credit on Norwegian, Oceania and Regent cruises. Following are the amounts taken from the NCL corporate website. And, yes, it is okay to own it within an IRA. NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE HOLDINGS LTD. IS THRILLED TO OFFER OUR SHAREHOLDERS THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS: $250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 15 Days or More. $100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 7 to 14 Days. $50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 Days or Less.

I have two Oceania and two Regent cruises coming up. Does anyone know if I need to send four different emails with proper documentation requesting shareholder on board credit...one for each cruise? Or can I send one to each cruise line with two booking numbers contained in one email and one copy of brokerage statement page showing that I own NCL stock attached?

Sorry she has messed you up. She has done fine helping me, however I use her only to apply the casino benefits to bookings made through my travel agent. I also then get benefits travel agent offers like rebates, gratuities, and Amex Platinum onboard credit in addition to the casino discount off of the cruise. BTW I assume she will be replacing herself by hiring a new person because her former position will report to her in her new promoted position managing casino bookings for all 3 NCL owned cruise lines.

If it were a last minute change, I would agree. However, I assume when you booked the cruise, you knew it arrived in Trieste, and if not, you certainly had time to cancel with no penalty if the switch is that bothersome to you. Oceania's pricing is often way high for excursions and transfers, but in this case IMHO this charge is reasonable.

AFAIK the person (who goes by her 2 initials) has been promoted but has not replaced herself. In my experience if you contact her she can either take care of you as she has in the past or refer you to her replacement if one exists.

Sorry, I meant to say 210 says. So the cost of 75 bucks is for any form of request ..phone or in writing in addition to the 175 pp deviation fee?

I reach the 120 day ahead of cruise point in about a month. Is there a way to request custom flights from Regent without playing 75 bucks for a phone call by me or my TA, such as me or my TA requesting flights by email? If I contact Regent myself, do I need to get my TA's permission for them to deal with me either by email or phone?

I converted 2024 Norway Iceland Greenland cruise (25 nights) on Marina to Simply More. Went on line on last week when excursion booking period opened and reserved $4700 worth of excursions. Very easy to do. Got every excursion we wanted and used all $1800 Simply More excursion credit plus another $400 in other onboard credit. Nice to not have to front that money a year in advance. Shore excursion credit benefit works especially well for cruises like this where you are traveling to very remote locations and ship excursions are pretty much your only option. Not always great for others like 11 night Caribbean cruise on Vista we have planned for next January. A bit of a challenge to use all of our shore excursion credit for that one.