leaveitallbehind

Interesting. @cruisestitch the reason I mentioned that is on Summit a couple of years ago they definitely were taking our cards and limiting our drinks to 3 during the HH. I challenged that as it had not happened in prior cruises but was told that is now "the policy". Don't recall that on an Equinox cruise since then, but we spent little time at the HH on that cruise, preferring the other bars instead. Wil be on Eclipse this June - I will see what happens then in the hope that you are correct and it was just a misinformed bar crew on Summit. Editing to add: From all I have been reading here and on the Celebrity website and remembering of previous Celebrity cruises, I have to think you are correct and this was a singular incorrect experience with Summit. But as it did occur as I described, it left a rather strong impression that it was now the way of things.

The biggest difference - and IMO advantage to us - is that instead of the feeding frenzy that you accurately describe in the DL in the days past during the few hours of the free cocktails, you now have 24 hours to have your drinks anywhere, anytime, on board. We are D+ and I have to say that the 10 combined complimentary drinks my wife and I have through the vouchers all day more than make up for the loss of the freebees at the DC during happy hour. Just my opinion. And as you mention, left over vouchers can be converted to unopened cans of beer, truly seltzers, water, or sodas, which we take back to the room for another time. And, in case someone should ask, yes, she can use hers on me and visa versa during the day or when we cash out the extras - we do it every cruise.

By comparison, that seems somewhat long. Our typical gangway opening at OSJ has been about 30 minutes after docking. Different experiences, I guess.

Great minds think alike and frequently share good timing!

You don't transfer anything to RCCL. You just are made available to the Diamond benefits when on board. You should join the RCCL Crown and Anchor Society so that your cruise points earned on your RCCL cruise get credited to your account. You can ask to see the Loyalty Ambassador on board and they can assist. Or you can call the RCCL Crown and Anchor Society at 800.526.9723 and they can assist pre cruise. The cruise points earned while on board RCCL remain with RCCL, and are not counted as part of your Celebrity CC points. But you will partake in the Diamond level benefits as mentioned. Here is a link to the Crown and Anchor tier benefits for your review: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf I think you will see that they exceed the benefits that we enjoy on Celebrity as Diamond Plus - LOL. By the way, once you join C&A, your benefits will be automatically loaded on your RCCL SeaPass card on board.

Gratuities was removed from the AI fares last fall. It now only includes basic wifi and the classic beverage package. That significantly reduces its value, but also should be a reduction in total AI package price. But I agree that should still be of good value v a la carte purchasing at the OP's reported daily beverage levels. And to my understanding the Elite Happy Hour, which is from day 2 on, less the Captains night (to which elites are included) only allows 3 drinks maximum during the scheduled hours from a somewhat limited menu. We usually just go to any bar on board as they tend to be less restrictive on the ordered beverages. But you are correct that those beverages being at no charge would benefit the OP.

If you normally have 7-9 beverages per day each, including port days, then typically the AI beverage package would be of good value. The rough overall breakeven typically is around 6 -7 or so beverages per day. The way to find out the cost for sure is to do a mock booking on your desired cruise, first with standard no perk pricing, then with AI to see what the total difference is. In your comparison, remember that basic wifi will be included. Usually the AI "package price" is lower than purchasing both separately, either through the planner or on board. As I'm sure you are aware, depending on CC tier level, the included wifi is not 24/7 as it would be with AI, but some level of total time usage. For overall a la carte planning, the information presented by @cruisestitch will provide a good guideline. But, based on your described 7-9 beverages per day, my guess is if you construct a mock daily beverage total from that times your cruise length, it will compare similarly to the AI pricing. If not, then you have your decision.

They also typically have published daytime hours as well. Of this information I am certain....LOL

Well from all of the contradictory posts I guess my information regarding the restrictions to Diamonds with the Crown Lounge access is incorrect. I apologize for what now appears to be inaccurate information. However this is how it was explained to us on our NYE cruise when Diamond level friends of ours who were sailing with us were denied access during the cocktail hour. And what seemed unusual about that was the lounge was never more than half full, but perhaps that was the reason. But it didn't seem to be because of an excess of D+ and PInnacle. Again, I don't like conveying inaccurate information and appreciate the experiences provided by those who challenged it. Live and learn.

...which is true of virtually any cruise line - even those where families with kids are their primary demographics.

Well there's your answer....LOL

The vouchers are pre-loaded daily on your SeaPass card but are recorded by the bartenders in the Crown lounge as well as any bar on the ship. No more unlimited Crown Lounge drinks. (Hasn't officially been for some time with the vouchers). Diamonds are no longer permitted in the Crown Lounge during the cocktail hour. They can (and must) however use their vouchers at any other bar on the ship (other than the Bionic Bar) during those hours. It is now a lounge reserved during those hours for D+ and Pinnacle - regardless of numbers on board. D's still have access to the Crown Lounge and the Concierge at any other normal lounge and Concierge hours during the day. And this is on all sailings, not some, and was being enforced on our recent NYE Oasis cruise.

Nope I take you at your word and stand corrected. My TA does not charge a change fee and that was not what motivated my comment. I was just unsure of the impact, if any, (by Celebrity) on a category change with an on board booking booked with a NRD. You enlightened me.

I am sure that your sailing is still selling, but you may not hear on your assignment until close to the sailing date. We have booked a number of GYT's and the process is as I described it. And if they accepted a deposit from you and issued a reservation number to you, then you will get a stateroom. When GTY's are offered they allocate a certain number of staterooms to that GTY and will only accept deposits when there are still staterooms available in that allocation. Once closed, assignments will be issued. BTW - nobody was sailing during covid as the cruise lines were shut down - LOL. Congrats on your sailing career! Keep cruising.

Not challenging you, but in our experience with both lines as indicated in my first post I have to say we have seen that exact issue on a number of RCCL ships as well. Target demographics are one thing, and they do accurately describe the tone with each cruise line. But extended families and older couples traveling by themselves also are present on the RCCL itineraries - in particular the longer 9+ day ones. Every line - the two in this thread included - will have a range of demographics. But I have also seen younger couples (in particular with the EDGE class ships) on Celebrity and typically not an over abundance of elderly. That would more likely fit HAL. Just another observation.

What @Jim_Iain is on track, but I will try to further clarify the comparisons. We have 50+ combined cruises on RCCL and Celebrity. As mentioned, they are not sister ships. They are two separate cruise lines owned by the same parent company - Royal Caribbean International. As such they operate independently and are very different from each other. RCCL (Royal Caribbean) has a primary demographic focus with families (with children). As such, their main focus is now with their mega ships (Oasis, Quantum, and Icon classes) that are heavily oriented in venues for that demographic. (Aqua theater, Ice Show, rock climbing walls, water and dry slides, zip line, bumper cars, IFly, flowriders, etc. - sometimes referred to as a floating amusement park). They also have very good entertainment to include Broadway based shows and high tech performances (Quantum class - Two70 theater), as well as a very well managed kids club. Passenger load on board these vessels ranges from 4,900 (Quantum class) to 7,600 maximum capacities. (Icon class) In short, Celebrity has none of that. Their primary demographics is adults 50+. Polar opposite of RCCL. The ships are smaller with their larger Solstice and Apex class ships at 2,850 to 3,400 maximum capacity. The on board atmosphere is more serene with a more "pure" cruising atmosphere and none of the amusement park venues. Dining is very good, entertainment not on the same level as RCCL but good with headliners and special acts. They also offer a kids program, but as there are far less children (very few on most cruises we've been on) than RCCL, their program is not as robust. Both lines offer very good European itineraries, with Celebrity offering similar 7- day itineraries as with RCCL, but Celebrity seems to offer more in the 7+ day range for longer cruises. Consider the differences between the two and go with the one that fits your preferences the best.

I thought the RCCL / Celebrity policies were the same and RCCL has always been 2 per stateroom, not per person. Which I thought would also apply to Celebrity. (We are not wine drinkers so we don't bring any on board, hence my uncertainty). So your information would seem right, although the information was stated - whether one or two - as per person. Confusing. But whether it is one per person or two per stateroom the net is the same (with double occupancy).

Not sure I follow your bluechip reference, but with Celebrity, the GTY's are typically assigned within the general Category in which you book - Inside, OV, Veranda, Concierge, etc. While it is not uncommon for them to assign a higher subcategory within each general category, it is very rare for them to jump general categories with the assignment as each has their own GTY fare. In other words, if you are booked in an Oceanview, then you are likely to receive an OV 02 or 01 assignment. I would think it would be very unlikely that your OVY GTY would wind up with an XC (Concierge GTY) stateroom assignment. That would be a 9 subcategory jump across two general categories! Not sure why you were given that advice. If you booked your OVY GTY with a non-refundable deposit you would lose that to rebook any higher GTY category. Maybe they were thinking of that when they advised against it. Whatever happens, good luck and I hope you are ok with the stateroom assigned. And again, that can be changed, but only into another stateroom as the category and subcategory assigned.

The GTY process is the same regardless of ship. The assignment window can be anytime after booking to day of sailing. But in reality, and in our experience, it typically occurred 10 days prior at the latest and about 30 - 45 days out. But the important thing is if for some reason you are not happy with the assigned location, contact your travel agent if you used one, or Celebrity directly if you did not, and they can move you to any other available stateroom within the category and subcategory that was originally assigned. No hassle and no charge to do so. That being said we have generally been happy with the assignment, but on those few occasions when we preferred a different location, we were moved to one without any issue.

Why can you no longer get the All Included fares? The only thing that changed in 2023 with that option was the elimination of the gratuities from AI. Basic WIFI and Classic beverage package are still offered with AI, both which can be upgraded to Premium. Most itineraries are offering Standard and this revised AI fare structures.

You must have started your reply before I edited my response. I realized exactly what you meant and if you go back to that response you will see I was able to completely eliminate my mistaken CL reference. Oh well senior moment followed by slow typing skills.....

PA guidelines: While there is no age limitation to participate in jury service, citizens who are 70 years of age or older, upon receipt of a Qualification Questionnaire or Summons, may request an age-related excusal that will permanently remove them from the Court's list of prospective jurors. Kind of odd in away in that you would think they would be the more older and wiser of the pool....

And as I'm certain you are aware, the new "guidelines" for the Crown Lounge is D+ and Pinnacle only during the stated cocktail hours, D can have access anytime before or after based on Crown Lounge hours - and this was enforced. They also still have full access to the Concierge, just not during the cocktail hours. This was the situation on our recent Oasis NYE cruise. I don't know how far back your "wayback" machine goes with our posts, but at one point a number of years ago when they first introduced the drink coupons for D and higher, I "suggested" that the ultimate result would be the current D restriction to the Diamond Club as a way to "thin the heard" in the crowded lounge.

I understand completely. Just passing on our experience with RCCL / Celebrity since they started the check in slot thing. Earlier on it was a bit more frantic, but not so in the recent couple of years. All I was trying to convey is that it is not necessary to stand guard at your computer (or phone) to be the first to hit the queue when the check in opens. But, again, I understand your motives.

I agree with, understand that - but as @doghog correctly points out, the OP is looking for this information in advance of the next sailing.