TMLAalum

Just curious as to how many days the suite gty became available before you cruised. How many days was you cruise? That was a great deal for the suite.

 

Our cruise departed 10/31 for 13 nights. I recall that the Suite GTYs were offered @8/25, so 9 weeks out. Final payment was due a week or ten days prior. The suite GTY may have been offered initially as a Tuesday special, which at that time was for new bookings only and we weren't eligible. Sometimes what's offered as a Tuesday special morphs into regular pricing after that if there aren't enough takers on Tuesday.

So, does that mean it's possible to adjust your rate (and switch categories) AFTER final payment?

 

Or, is it more of an option for people who are doing last-minute booking?

 

Thanks!

 

You can switch to a higher category for the same or greater amount after final payment. However, no rebates or OBC if the price is lowered for your paid-in-full cabin. On our October Silhouette cruise, we were booked in AQ class. Someone on our roll call posted about availability for Suite GTY cabins. Although we were paid in full for our AQ cabin, we called our warehouse TA and for $100 more per person made the switch. It was well worth it as we ended up with a Sky Suite 1, got $45 more OBC from the TA and 2 "free' nights of specialty dining!

 

I've been hoping for a similar opportunity for our upcoming cruise but so far nothing that works for us:(

A backstage tour was offered to us on the Silhouette last fall as a Captain's Club "select" member event. No charge.

Via roll calls, I've organized 6 private tours and participated in 4 organized by others. I've also organized private transfers to/from port. Each time, I've learned from experience. While it does entail work, it's something I enjoy doing for many reasons- getting a quality experience, meeting and becoming acquainted with cruisemates and saving money!

 

If you are the organizer, decide on the itinerary that works for you and then invite others to participate, giving a full description including degree of difficulty.

 

Have interested folk email you as suggested by others already. A response via a post on the roll call isn't sufficient guarantee that the poster is committed.

 

Offer to forward the tour provider's documentation to participants for their records (and peace of mind that you're legit!)

 

Obtain full names and cabin numbers of participants so that you can contact them once aboard. Try to meet them at Sailaway, or meet & greet if possible.

 

Set up a meeting time (no later than 20 minutes before disembarking)

via email pre-cruise and make reminder calls once aboard. Choose an area that's little used at that hour, a lounge maybe.

 

Have participants bring the monies owed in an envelope, collect it and count it out in front of them. Some operators want payment at the outset and that's okay with me so that I'm not holding all that cash. Waiting to collect from participants til the end of the tour could lead to shortchanges as described in other posts

 

Leave the ship en masse.

 

Allow for some deviations- e.g. one on tour I organized some participants preferred not to eat lunch and that was fine with me so long as we agreed on a time and place to meet up.

It always throws me for a loop when I check a thread only to find it's been resurrected from long, long ago. The OP has probably taken numerous cruises since she first posted FOUR & A HALF years ago.

We didn't feel motion or hear noise from the theatre below on the Constellation last year. Our SIL/BIL were in 6028 and loved the cabin so much they've booked that #cabin for the Millennium! The only drawback that I can think of is that the balconies on Deck 7 above do look directly onto the "Sweet 16s" because they are only half as deep.

However, our cruise is on the Millennium with an itinerary from Hong Kong up north to Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Tianjin port (Beijing). We have 5 sea days.
Early on we could have upgraded to a regular veranda for a minimal cost but opted not to because the cabin size is smaller than 7003 and figured that the weather will not be conducive to sitting outdoors.

This will be our 1st non-veranda but I'm looking forward to the space of 7003! That's not to say we might not make a switch if the price of a Concierge or Suite comes down;). (Won't switch to AQ because DBIL & DSIL who are sailing with us are not interested in trying Blu.)

I hope you mean Celebrity does not have 1As with bunk beds and not that they don't have a 1A category as we are booked in one for 6 weeks this Spring.

 

Celebrity's S-class ships all have Category 1A (the M-class ships do not). The 1A's are considered by many to be the most prized of the veranda category cabin because they are located on the angle where the ship juts out and the balconies are double or triple those of other veranda cabins. It can get confusing because Celebrity's AquaClass categories have the reverse designation of A1 for the "best" located cabins in that class followed by A2 & A3.

 

I don't believe any cabin on any Celebrity ship has "bunk" beds unless they are in the 2nd bedroom of S-class family verandas. There are cabins with beds concealed in the ceiling that can be opened if the cabin sleeps more than 2.

My wife and I have booked for the above cruise and would appreciate any advice on making shore excursions on own instead of the ship's tours, particularly in ports like Taipei (Keelung), Nagasaki, Busan and Jeju Island.

 

Hi- here's the link to our roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1633552

 

Please sign up for the Celebrity-sponsored Connections party- there's a link at the top of the thread!

 

I keep a running list of roll call members and will be happy to add you both.

 

I do have room for 2 for a private Jeju island tour. Details are found on the roll call with my contact info.

 

See you soon!

This is a very good reason to get good quality travel insurance. A good policy will make you whole if the travel supplier goes under.

 

Our corrupt agent offered optional trip insurance for a fee. I wonder if we had taken it, would she have forwarded the premium to the insurance company....

 

We've purchased an annual trip coverage policy prior to last year's Italy trip & Silhouette cruise so we will be good for our next journey, too.

Using the cruise competition site, found a terrific deal on our first Celebrity cruise. The agent we spoke with was delightful, and promised all kinds of perks including a pay-in-full-now huge OBC. I bit because my cc was offering a huge mileage bonus for charging a certain amount within a given time frame. The 3 couples with us followed my lead and also booked with this agent.

 

Long story short, learned about this agency's deceptive practices from a HA poster whose around-the-world paid-in-full cruise was not paid to HA by the agent by the due date! She couldn't reveal the name of this agency per Cruise Critic rules, but thru research online, lo & behold it was the same TA we'd used. And of course, only our deposits had been transmitted to Celebrity.

 

I did everything I could to get the agency to forward our full payment immediately to Celebrity but it didn't happen. Then 10 months prior to our cruise, the agency went belly-up and filed bankruptcy!

 

We all did get our monies back via our various credit cards, but it was a stressful time for me because I was the one who chose this agency and encouraged our cruisemates to book with them, too.

We sailed her in the Adriatic from 10/31-11/13. Our second time on the Silhouette and I must say this was even better than the first. Started a review but the holidays interfered.

While we've not sailed on Solstice or Reflection, we've sailed on Eclipse and Equinox once and Silhouette twice. The increased pax # on Silhouette was not noticeable to us at all. The big difference is that the earlier S-class ships have the hot glass show which was replace by the Lawn Club Grill on Silhouette & Reflection.

 

Oh and BTW, we did sail Connie for a 4-night cruise just after New Year's last year. It had a party hearty atmosphere that 20 somethings might be looking for!

I have no complaints about my 3.5 years of being an RCL shareholder- $500 OBC for 3 of 5 cruises and a profit of nearly 95%....

 

Of late, we've not been able to use the shareholder benefit due to other promotions and with the rise in share price it was time to sell.

In the hot Roman summers, dresses/skirts have it over slacks/capris for comfort!

We were in 6306 last fall on the Silhouette, thanks to a lucky GTY assignment. The veranda was tight with a skinny section along starboard that could hold a deck chair facing aft between the hull and rail. The table was aft and I think dining for 2 al fresco would have been a trick.

 

We loved the interior space and the two-directional view. Our cruise was so port-intensive that the veranda configuration wasn't an issue for us. I would go ahead and book the SS1 on Deck 6 and monitor availability so that you can switch to a higher deck cabin if possible.

DH & I are "seniors" who've been to Venice pre-cruise (10/13) and overnighting aboard ship at the end of our cruise (6/12).

 

Unless you prefer being part of a tour, as other posters have said, Venice is an eminently DIY city. Vaporettos and your feet can get you to wherever you want to go. Planning is key to deciding what sights are most important to you-I recommend Rick Steve's guides as they are geared to independent tourists.

 

A similarly-aged friend traveled with us to Tuscany this past October and stayed in Venice at the BW Olimpia in Piazzale Roma while we overnited aboard ship. The next nite, as we sailed off, she was on her own. She enjoyed her independent time in Venice very much!

 

You could book a few tours as agabbymama did. We used Artviva for Florence and they also conduct tours in Venice. People here on Cruise Critic will be more than happy to guide you in your planning!

 

Oh, and even though you are sailing with an alumni group, check out the ship and saildate on the roll call forum here on Cruise Critic...if it's an active one, there will be great advice found there!

We took a tour with SicilyLimousineService out of Catania that began with time at Mt. Etna that allowed us to hike around the small crater (Silvestri?) with lovely views to the sea from there. We then went to Taormina for lunch and options to visit the Greek Theatre.

 

There is a lift that goes further up Etna and options for 4-wheeling to the top of the crater.

 

We were there in June and both places were quite crowded. I was glad to get close to Etna but equally glad to have time in Taormina for a nice lunch and some shopping.

My vote would be that each ship would have a choice that is bespoke and unique to that ship.

 

The menu could even be tailored to the region in which it is sailing to offer local specials.

 

Great though the S class are, they could be better....

 

Having menus reflective of the region the ship is sailing is a great idea, IMO.

I'd have loved to have tried Russian cuisine on our Baltic cruise, Colombian specialties on our Equinox voyage, Greek on our 1st Silhouette cruise and Croatian specialties on our second. For the Caribbean, each island has a specialty that would be worth offering.

 

The restaurant could be called something like Taste of the World. It could even offer theme evenings by bringing aboard entertainment to accompany diners with music/song of the country featured.

Although itineraries for 2015 for Celebrity's Europe cruises won't be released until this spring, here is an offering for this year that should suit your needs and is likely to be available for next year.

It's a 7 day on the Silhouette (a great ship)

Departing-Venice, Italy

Sailing to:

Kotor, Montenegro

Santorini, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Katakolon, Greece

Returning-Venice, Italy

 

Venice is amazing and Kotor is one of the most beautiful ports we've sailed into. Plus you'll have three great Greek ports.

Our female butler on the second cruise, Nalan, was exceptional. In addition to the normal butler duties she went over and above doing constant nice little touches for us and even offering to take care of something for us after her shift was over.

 

We had Nalan as our head waitperson on our Equinox cruise. My BIL, who's sailed on numerous lines and many cruises, said Nalan was the best ever! We mentioned to our Turkish waiter on our recent Silhouette cruise, who was also excellent, that there was must be something special about staff from Turkey, and asked if he knew Nalan. He told us she'd been promoted to butler which we were delighted to hear. And it's so nice to read about your exceptional experience with Nalan as your butler, STLCRUISIN!

 

Our butler on the Silhouette was a male, Keegan. He took very good care of us. Don't know if we'll ever sail in a suite again, but I'd be thrilled to have the services of a butler again, regardless of gender!

Reading your detailed review has me longing to be able to repeat our fabulous cruise! As usual, Monica, you have gone above and beyond (ala your most excellent website) in recapturing the ports and shipboard experience.

 

We enjoyed our second Silhouette sailing even more than the first, and not just because we upgraded to a SS1;). The staff, food (mdr, Blu, Qsine & Murano) and hilarious captain were all great.

 

So happy that you, Tony, Carol & Glenn had those very special experiences!

Flying at T-giving my boarding pass was checked TSA approved but DH's wasn't (same booking and he's even more senior than me). He beat me through security because there were several lines for him to use and just one for me (CLE-United concourse). We both had it on the return flight for that trip.

 

Just got back from a SWA r/t. Outbound no TSA approval for us, but homebound there was.

 

Our first experience with the benefit of TSA approval was in October at CLE when we were given yellow cards by the TSA agent checking our ID & boarding passes, and sent to the pre-approved line.

So hot that our shoes stuck to the pavement in Rome (July non-cruise). For our mid-June Med cruise, Rome was pleasant but when we got to the Greek ports on our cruise, it was very hot. In Athens, the wind was blowing atop the Acropolis which didn't cool us off, but added dust/dirt to the heat/humidity!! Ephesus was also very hot, but our guide found us shade whenever possible.

 

Our most recent Med/Adriatic cruise in early November of '13 had surprisingly beautiful and warm weather. Only one day of rain out of 12 ports! Fewer crowds, too.

 

But if the only time you can take a Med cruise is summer, then go for it! Just prepare for the temps and you will be fine.

Since the majority booked early dining, I'd change to that. It's one less decision to have to make aboard that works for all 8 of you. With select dining, unless you agree to meet at a specific time each evening, you'll be trying to figure out a dining time on a daily basis. Plus the others in your group may not be wanting to pre-pay gratuities as required if you choose select dining.

 

Do link your reservations together ASAP. It is a hassle if you've used different agents and a function that Celebrity needs to add to its website:mad:.

 

Even after having your reservations linked, it still may not work, so I suggest that as soon as you are in your cabins, check with each other as to your table assignment. If it differs, have one of you head to the maitre'd, to arrange for you all to be seated together. Tip optional.