bighairtexan

OK no change fees and I've upgraded through the casino several times.

My cruise this coming Sunday in the 2 bedroom Grand (Liberty) was originally a free cruise. I've also merely called the casino and asked "is there anything you can do for me? I'd like to go on XYZ ship on ZYX date." Usually there's SOMETHING they can do but not always. Also if I haven't cruised (gambled) in over a year, there tends to be a NO GO. In other words my discount is based on my casino action within the year before the cruise date that I want to book (I hope this makes sense).

I don't usually have a gap over a year but I also mostly cruise Celebrity so it happens. I tried to book a cruise via the casino for NEXT year in November and since that's over a year out there wasn't much they could do; I booked anyway. I was told to call if I gamble on a cruise between this November and Next and they could retroactively apply the discount to my already booked 11/2019 cruise.

Now we all know ANYTHING could change between now and then but so far this is what I was told.

And all my "changes" have been cabin category rather than date or ship, hence no change fees.

I'm here. :D I read this every day on an empty stomach. Couldn't you hear it GROWLING?

I got the Ultimate Dining package for my Liberty cruise starting Sunday and I'm committing to memory which to try and which to avoid.

Keep up the lovely photos!

It's a dirty job but SOMEONE'S GOTTA DO IT! ;)

I just checked my original invoice. I booked April 1 2018. I originally booked a balcony through the casino. At that time there were no suites available. I kept checking and when a 2 bedroom grand became available I called ASAP to ask what the upgrade cost would be. Total price was half of what I could have booked it for on the RCI site.

My B/F and I are in a 2 bedroom Grand Suite on Liberty, leaving this coming Sunday, and I paid approximately 50% of the going rate.

I assume she has total custody? B/c my g/f was divorced and she had PRIMARY custody but she had to get a notarized permission from the ex husband/the father to travel outside of the country.

I can't recall if the was RCI or another line.

I recently cruised on the Equinox out of Miami (few weeks ago). I injured my hip right before I sailed, so decided a limo/car service was the way to go. I used Guillermo from Miami Vice Limo and he was FAN-TAS-TIC! He was always waiting for me well before I got there (from airport to hotel, hotel to cruiseport, cruise port to airport). Not inexpensive but worth every penny and then some.

https://miamivicelimoservice.com/

Elite + on Celebrity. I also cruise once or twice a year on RCI as well as twice/year on Celebrity, and every year or so on Princess (March will be my next Princess). I'll give you some sweeping generalities.

I'd say the MDR is about equal on both. Service and food are similar. Both have some hits and some misses but basically consistently good, if not great meals.

In my opinion the suites only restaurant on Celebrity, Luminae, blows Princess' "Club Class Dining" clear out of the water, with it's totally separate menu and separate kitchen. But you pay for it with higher fare, especially for anything bigger than a Sky Suite (which equates to Jr. Suite size wise on Princess).

Specialities, I'd give the nod to Celebrity (except their Silk Harvest which 2 weeks ago was the worst cruise meal I've ever had. Period).

Buffet and Room Service: Slight nod to Celebrity. Both fine for what they are.

Where Princess really stands out to me is the International Cafe. Celebrity really doesn't have ANY 24 hour venue. Maybe the closest comparison is Cafe al Bacio which closes at maybe midnite IIRC. I'd say the offerings in the IC are better pretty much any time of the day.

I'd say not to worry. You'll be fine.

Sometimes too you just have to keep scrolling down the page to find the various internet packages. It wasn't immediately apparent when I looked.

re: the flu shot. I have a cruise coming up in 2 weeks so decided to get my shot yesterday so my arm won't be so sore.

Two things. First you're not going to "get the flu" from a flu shot. And second: this flu shot is different from most which take 2 weeks to take full effect. The pharmacist administering it to me said that this one is fully effective w/in 5 days. So it starts working almost right away. My arm was SUPER sore the first day but 24 hours later it's not sore at all.

I believe it's no charge for Grand Suites and above. A charge for Jr. Suites though.

HAHA DANG IT ROYCE! I thought you'd moved to the PH!! Will do and I look forward to meeting you and your DW.

Thanks awhfy! I'm all packed and actually for the first time in a week I'm getting PSYCHED!

Currently I mostly cruise Celebrity but also a few RCI cruises out of Galveston for a quick getaway. So while I like both lines very much, I prefer Celebrity. ANd I feel your pain on my most recent Carnival Cruise (this past January but never again).

My kids are now adults and NOW prefer Celebrity, however they much preferred Royal Caribbean or even Carnival. More than the kid programs, my kids liked meeting and socializing w/ other kids their age and there just weren't as many children/teens on Celebrity by a long shot.

Now if your children are very "self contained" and happy to hang out with each other, that's a different ball of wax.

PS I remember telling my kids (11 and 13 at the time) that we were going to Italy on vacation and they immediately said "But there won't be other kids there." I said yes there ARE kids in Italy and they said "BUT THEY SPEAK ITALIAN!" We didn't go but went on a cruise or an AI instead. They say happy wife happy life. Well unhappy kids? Fugedaboudit.

Thanks for the comments! :-) Have a great trip. On another thread I've been following the challenges your friend is having. Very sorry for her and that she won't be able to make the voyage, but as a regular solo traveler I can assure you that you'll still be able to have a restful and enjoyable,albeit different from what you'd planned, time!

bon voyage!!

MERCI BEAUCOUP and trust me, since I've realized I'll be solo, I have REREAD your review. You're my INSPIRATION. **CUE THE HARP MUSIC** :halo:

Thanks ladies and gents.

I'm going to give a FINAL UPDATE:

Judy has been diagnosed w/ "acute transverse myelitis" and while it can be a symptom of MS, 60% of the time they really don't identify a cause. The infectious disease specialist did isolate a virus in a nasal swab, and she did have a sore throat last week. Related? Coincidence? Brain scan negative. No tumors anywhere. Apparently not MS. YAY.

She'll start on IV steroids tomorrow. We've laughed and cried a lot on the phone today and yesterday. She's doing great. CONSIDERING.

OTHER BREAKING NEWS: I'm 90% packed. VICTORY IS MINE!

Thanks for positive thoughts. Y'all are the best. BHT OVER AND OUT!

Thanks MIZ. At this I'm ,what's the saying? Hoping for the best, preparing for the.... I know... for the better! :D

hahaha KEN so what you're saying is: Look for someone my POLAR OPPOSITE. I'm an older, short, redheaded, quite zaftig woman. So we could always be Mutt and JEFF!! LOL

And sorry your wife is going through this along w/ her close friend. I mean our good friends become our extended family. Heart rending.

UPDATE: my friend is in the hospital and so far all her possible prognoses are kind of ....not great. The leading contender being MS or an MS like "autoimmune transverse myelitis." But nothing positive yet. She still has another MRI and a lumbar puncture to go. Then probably a course of IV steroids. They're also going to consult w/ an infectious disease specialist. Not sure what they're looking for there, nor is she. SHe's mostly in shock.

All I can say is if this HAD to happen THANK GOD it didn't happen on the ship. When she goes home her DH and adult kids and her sister and brother in law (both retired RNs) live very close by so she'll be well taken care of.

ANOTHER NOTE: I called my TA w/ a hypothetical IF she cancelled and IF I still wanted to go and was told the BEST THING (in case this happens to anyone else) to assure the reservation isn't cancelled accidentally by Celebrity, is to call and email the TA and have her ask "TO BE REMOVED FROM THE BOOKING" so no one will think she means CANCEL the booking. She will do this tomorrow. Then she sends in the email to the TA, invoices and doctor's document that she's unable to travel.

Again thanks for the well wishes. I told her it could be a lot worse. She's almost 70 and I said "You COULD be pregnant!" OY VEY and stuff.

My update: I'm right at 4 days out and no one on our r/call has yet heard.

Since my travel mate is unlikely to be able to travel b/c of a sudden serious health issue, I cancelled my bid. It gets too complicated on the off chance that we should win the bid. My card would be charged for 2 people and then what? Besides we booked a R/S and if I were purposely cruising solo, even that would be more than I needed or wanted.

But my prediction that we'd hear at 72 hours (stated on the moveup as the latest notification) is probably going to be accurate as we've heard nothing at 96 hours.

Kitty, how true how true! As nurses it's too easy to go right to the more dire possibilities. Either that or pretend we're BULLETPROOF!!

PROCRUISE, Since I worked for several years on a Neuro floor in Los Angeles, my brain also immediately bypassed all other possibilities and went right to GBS especially since she DID have a sore throat and mild cold a week or so ago. I didn't want to tell her and scare her even more, but I did STRONGLY suggest she get back w/ her primary (they're trying to get her into a neurologist but you know managed medicine today) and maybe let her know about the sore throat. The PCP didn't ask, so Judy of course didn't volunteer it. Viral issues don't precede ALL occurrences of GBS but a fair amount.

MY PLAN: is still to wrap myself in bubble wrap and an astronaut helmet until I board the ship. That should make for an interesting photo.

Once again to everyone, thanks so much for the good wishes for both myself and Judy. I do pass them on to her and she's very touched considering she never posts here (but she does do the Connections and has met many CC folks over the years.)

MAGGIE thanks so much. I immediately DID think of contacting a cruise buddy but then realized he just got off a cruise a couple of days ago. The hard part is someone taking 2 weeks rather than just 7 days.

NANCY to support what you said, EVEN THOUGH Celebrity has our money IN HAND and they won't be refunding the money (insurance will), I called the owner of the trip insurance store for an entirely different cruise, and while on the phone I asked him about the issue next week.... and HE brought up (I didn't ask) "In the event that you are charged a SINGLE SUPPLEMENT, your insurance will cover it." So that single supplement, EVEN THOUGH it's after final, may in certain circumstances pop up or why would he have even said anything?

Now maybe I wasn't clear enough when I asked, that this was well past final payment, but he DID mention the single supplement so all I'm saying is.... YA NEVER KNOW! I have 4 cruises currently insured thru that company so he may have confused them. Y'all best believe that if it DOES come up, I'll be coming back here to WHINE ABOUT IT... (OK as long as I'm not out any $$ I won't actually whine) :D

We are inside of 100% penalty because the cruise leaves on Monday. But Celebrity HAS all the money for the cabin. They were paid by us, and our respective credit cards were charged in full months ago. So for Celebrity to try and add a single supplement would mean they were getting paid for an extra person. Judy. Me. Single supplement.

But as mentioned above by NANCY, we're well inside final payment so Celebrity has all the money they charged for the sailing. They'll just have one less mouth to feed. I don't know if they'll reimburse her for the port charges and honestly she and I don't even care about that. We pay for super duper insurance and don't cheap out on that. (we go thru the same insurer but pay for separate policies).

I believe I"m correct that Celebrity will NOT be refunding her a penny (hence 'final payment'). It comes out of the insurance company pockets. So Celebrity will have payment for me. Payment for her which they'll keep. That won't change. The only thing that will change is that there will only be one head in a bed in that suite instead of the 2 heads that we paid for.

Any reimbursement she gets is from the insurance company (not Celebrity) unless I'm mistaken. Hitting me w/ a single supplement would be essentially payment for THREE passengers which doesn't make sense. But HEY I've had things that make LESS sense happen, as we all have.

As an update, things have gone from bad to worse. I phoned her this morning. Her numbness has now ascended to her groin area. Saturday it was just feet, yesterday it was lower legs, now it's her entire legs. She did say she'd be happier knowing I didn't cancel my cruise. I'm still on the fence but leaning toward going.

PS: CHARLES thanks for your good wishes. That is exactly my hope. In fact she even asked "Can we do this together NEXT YEAR?" Dang skippy! :D

You know sometimes Cruise Critic can be snarky and contentious (as can anything involving human beings). Things like this when people offer such good information and rally around with well wishes... this is an example of CC at its best. Just sayin'.

HIHILO gosh yes you're right. As bad as cancelling would be, cruising with something like ascending numbness of legs... obviously SOMETHING neurological.... is 1000 times worse. She could wind up in some little Caribbean island needing to be on a respirator or something. That's definitely a concern of mine if she WERE cleared for travel (I'm thinking she won't be).

CIRDAN yes on the suite being charged for 2. Since we'ere WAY after final payment, Judy has already paid her fare. She has her charges on her credit card where Celebrity billed her months ago. So Celebrity has that money and that won't change. (I don't think)

What should change (assuming I have this CORRECT) is in the days/weeks to come she and insurance will hammer it out to get her reimbursed for flights, hotel, independent excursions and cruise fare. Celebrity probably won't even need to be involved. AFAIK they HAVE their money. She will just provide her invoices to the insurance company along with necessary medical records. But that will be up to her and her DH to muddle through (he's an attorney so she's in good hands).

GERARDO I will definitely be checking my reservation repeatedly should Judy have to cancel. And I will ask her to Make SURE she lets the TA know that ONLY SHE is cancelling. Not both of us.

Again thanks ALL for your concern and advice. Fingers crossed this is NOT going to be an issue.

haha thanks JCPC and I agree whole-heartedly.

TAKING DEEP ZEN BREATHS.....Getting dizzy.... passing out......:eek:

My move up stipulated we'd hear no later than 72 hours prior to sailing. How accurate that is I don't know. A bit over 5 days out and so far nada zip and zilch.

I booked through a TA. I got the Move UP offer and it came DIRECTLY from Celebrity Move Up.

I even called my TA assuming I'd have to do it through them and though they were completely aware of what it was, they said I would be able to do it on my own and would walk me through it if needed (it wasn't needed).