leaveitallbehind

That's actually a point I was just about to make. Comparing costs between booking two standard staterooms and suites with 2 bedrooms is like comparing apples to oranges - they may both be staterooms but they differ significantly from each other in terms of total size, included benefits, and perks. To add to the general discussion, there are cruise lines that offer family staterooms that are not suites but have a separate (generally a bunk room) sleeping area apart from the main bedroom. They typically will hold up to 6 and are priced in a comparable scale to standard staterooms.

That's very unusual indeed! Can't answer regarding your hotel experience other than to suggest you were dealing with a "misinformed" hotel employee. But with regards to the cruise industry, "connecting staterooms" is the correct terminology. And with your booking confirmation the stateroom(s) will be shown, which can, as you indicate, be confirmed by looking at the website ship's deck plans and checking for the connecting door icon. And, as with any problem, guest services will have a supervisor on duty to talk with, and failing that, the Hotel Director has full on board authority with issues. The only problem is - as you suggest - once on board, stateroom change options are extremely limited. But you are correct that confirming with your booking, with several terms of clarity, early on is a good idea.

The most correct terminology to use with the cruise line representatives when desiring two staterooms next to each other with a common wall with an interior door opening between them is to ask for "connecting" staterooms. (And as @Essiesmom indicates, on certain classes of Celebrity ships this is done via an outer private vestibule, but would still be referred to as "connecting" staterooms).

To answer your original question, RCCL and Celebrity, for two, have suites that have separate bedrooms, with a convertible couch as well in the living room.

I don't know from direct experience, but It would seem to me that by the description of "drinks included while playing in the casino", the expectation is you would be playing at a table or a slot machine in order to qualify for the drinks. I would guess that the free drinks is an enticement to get you spend money gambling. This thread will likely be moved to the Carnival thread for better answers.

If you are unhappy with an assigned location, many cruise lines will allow you to switch to a different one as long as there is availability with the original assigned category. (Ex: RCCL / Celebrity). Their websites, direct representatives, or your TA can assist with confirming availably of alternate locations and making the change. We have done this a number of times via a GTY booking if we preferred a different location post assignment. Many times the pricing of the GTY is worth the booking knowing that alternative choices may be available. Occasionally you might receive a higher category than the base code in a GTY offering, which can be a pleasant surprise. While infrequent, this has happened to us as well with GTY bookings.

Agree, and to your example you have documented data to support the claim. My curiosity is to whether of not the OP has anything similar with their claim.

Not to challenge your perception, but define "a ship full of sick passengers". Other than your subjective observation, what quantitative information do you have to define your experience? Were general announcements made specific to these illnesses on board - in particular covid? High levels of passenger illnesses would generally result in that. Typically, by regulation when 2% of the ship population is reported as ill, that data is reported to the CDC. On a ship of 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew, that would only be 60 people, as example, which is a very small total of those on board. Measures - which are mandated - are then clearly taken on board to mitigate that: obvious extra cleaning, buffet restrictions (typically no self serve, staff serve only), quarantining of ill passengers, limiting of certain venues, etc. Did any of that occur in your experience? While I am certain you saw a number of passengers that indicated illness, the statement of the ship being full of sick passengers can potentially result in an exaggerated interpretation of the situation. I'm just looking for clarificaion.

Possibly. It would depend on the terms of coverage. Different policies have different terms of coverage defining what is included or excluded.

BTW I enjoy your posts! I hope you realize that I am only trying to clarify my points when I respond - not always as clear as I would hope, I guess. To your comment, no they are not paying out more than they receive. I don't know the pricing you are getting or where you are getting it from - and that doesn't matter. But the mass market cruise lines do not negotiate their fares with TA's - the fare you would get directly from the cruise line is the same fare they would charge through a TA. And any non-cruise line perks or benefits further offered from them would come from their commission. How they manage that internally is up to them, I guess. That being said, there are fares that the public doesn't see and ways that TA's can offer more favorable fares. The most common as I mentioned is with block pricing where a TA has typically a large number of staterooms held that then results in a lower group rate which is not published publicly. There are also incentives offered by the cruise lines to the TA such as one individual fare for every 8 staterooms booked at double occupancy from this block. This can further reduce fares. The TA then provides this lower rate to their individual customers as their reduced rate, and you would be booked into their block. Larger volume TA's can also receive more attractive commission rates based on their volume which can then be used towards more favorable fares and perks as give backs. One last thing on fares. The cruise line's fare to you is made up of three components: the commissionable portion (the amount on which the TA's commission is based), the non-commissionable portion (no commission is paid on this), and the port fees and taxes. The customer does not see that split and any fare confirmation to the customer will simply indicate the total of these two amounts as the cruise fare, with port fees and taxes separate. Some TA's will juggle the numbers and advertise their cruise fare by showing only the commissionable portion, with the non-commissionable portion not indicated. This other amount will be then included in the port fees and taxes portion later as a separate fee. In this manner their fares will always appear to be lower than the published rate - and without doing direct exact booking comparisons with the cruise line it would be hard to decipher what is what. This can be further complicated if they do this with block fares, which are not published and lower to begin with. But at the end of the day, the net combined total will equal the issued cruise fare. This is why it is always advisable to ask the TA for their full and final total invoice with your booking along with the booking confirmation from the cruse line to assure they match.

Which cruise line - Celebrity? WIFI programs run for a period of a few days - also typically consecutively - or for the duration of the cruise. I don't believe Celebrity would allow you to upgrade for a limited period of time from a basic to premium service. If you are going to be using WIFI frequently and you will have the basic service, it may be best to just upgrade to premium for the whole cruise it that will be needed critically at some point. You may want to check with Celebrity or TA (if you used one) for clarification on this, but I don't believe you can.

It's possible that the poster you were addressing is expressing concerns or experiences on some of the smaller lines on which they typically cruise? I don't know. But I do know the policies both with carrying the wine on board and with then consuming it on board with Celebrity, which is the line of concern with the OP and his post. And as pointed out several times by you, me, and others, there is no corkage fee assessed for bringing it on board or consuming it on board outside of bars and dining venues, where if you bring the bottle, they can assess the fee. And on our number of cruises with Celebrity, consuming it anywhere else in a glass is fine - and in our past experience that has included the dining venues.

Note also that new bookings on Celebrity via the Always program no longer will include gratuities - just the classic beverage package and basic WIFI. The elimination of gratuities is a very recent change.

My understanding is you can consume it in your stateroom and anywhere on the ship with the exception of bars and dining venues, which would then subject you to the corkage fee. Your stateroom is not the only area you can consume brought on board wine in our experience, unless this is a very recent change. Not sure how they can monitor or enforce passengers with a glass of wine in their hands that could just as easily have come from any venue. As mentioned previously, although not big wine drinkers, we have done this in the past - including taking a glass of wine to dinner with no issues. And to your other point there is no corkage fee just for bringing it on board - only if it is opened, served, or stored in one of the bars or dining venues.

Seeing as how it is an Eastern Caribbean itinerary in question, I would guess that most of those ports of call are likely to have multiple ships in port on any given day, so the diluted experience would likely be several fold of the one ship and would have a similar affect on any smaller capacity ship in port at the time. And to your point, both cruise lines in question have mega ships, so the choice in that regards becomes rather moot IMO.

You are correct and my mistake regarding Amber Cove. Thanks for pointing this out clarifying. As a generalization, I also consider T & C's as part of the Bahama's - at least in terms of climate v the Caribbean, based on their location at the southern end of the Bahama's chain. But as they are on the southern end, they certainly will have the better climate from the Bahama's in general, but are still north of the Caribbean - which was the reference I was making in that post.

I think RCCL's Liberty of the Seas is the only remaining ship in their fleet with a cigar lounge, although that may have changed. Cigarette smoking is permitted in all of their casinos and on one outside pool deck. IMO all of the RCCL gyms are good.

Once again I may not have been clear and did not mean to imply that commissions are on top of fares - their commission DOES come out of the cruise fare. And if you book directly through the cruise line, the fare is the same amount normally charged through the TA, but the commission is just kept by the cruise line to cover their internal representative's costs. It works like this with TA bookings: you are given your fare - part of that fare is the commission to the TA - if a TA perk to you is offered, they issue it in advance from that commission amount out of their pocket - once the cruise is actually completed they receive their full commission as a rebate to the TA - that amount less whatever perk they gave you is their net earned commission, but the full fare amount to the cruise line is paid up front. What TA's will frequently do is reserve a block of rooms on a given cruise (or cruises) which results in a % discount to the full fare based on the size of the block. This reduced fare is NOT published to the public as it is the fare provided to the TA's based on that given block. And there will also be cruise line sponsored perks for the customer based on the block size. The TA will then sell to you and me those blocked rooms individually which then will show that reduced price on their booking confirmation. With each room booked, the customer's cruise line booking confirmation will then also indicated the reduced fare. It works the same if, as example, you want to book a group of rooms for your family, or an organization, etc. But everything else regarding the TA commission works the same as with individual bookings.

I think you are correct with your thoughts. The Caribbean is in its high season in the winter and as such is extremely nice for cruising as you indicate. But since the OP's cruise is entirely in the Bahamas, while the weather should be very nice, it will not be as nice as the conditions of the Caribbean as that is about 500 miles south of Nassau and about 300 miles south of Grand Turk. And as you indicate, it wasn't until Grand Turk until you felt it was warm enough to suit you. We have also done winter cruises that included the Bahamas and always felt very comfortable, but it can also be hit or miss.

Not likely they would be noted at embarkation as typically they are carry on bottles - which is most cruise lines preferred manner - and are checked along with all your carry on items by security at check in. Those who man the security lines are port employees, not cruise line employees. All they care about is that you are within the cruise lines policy for carry on bottles. And in our 30 years + experience they have never been noted in any manner that is reported to the cruise lines. Typically anything outside of the policy or over the allowance is kept at security and likely "disposed of" by them. Items in your checked luggage are things that would be noted by the cruise lines and then held by the cruise lines until the end of the cruise to be returned to you if not within their policy. Besides in our experience corkage fees are typically only charged if a bottle is opened, served, or stored by a dining or beverage venue - not as it is brough onto the ship. If you open it yourself and enjoy it anywhere else on the ship, no corkage fee applies.

It's a matter of semantics, I guess. What I am saying is if a TA gives you back a portion of his commission, that is indeed a somewhat lower rate. But THEY are still conveying (from your payment through them) the full published website fare to the cruise line. Any reduction to you is coming out of their pocket - and not the cruise line, as they are still receiving the full published rate. The only other reduced fare option is through group rates issued to the TA from the cruise line. While that may not be a publicly published rate, it is the rate THEY must pay so any savings to you are a direct pass through to the cruise line.

The pools on the ship will reflect the weather and air temperature that the ship is in, so I would think they would be relatively comfortable as you will be in the same basic climate the entire time - and likely warmer as you reach Grand Turk.

Drink packages and loyalty tier coupons all apply on CocoCay.

This post will likely be moved to the Princess board, but what is happening currently in that region is something that the cruise lines monitor very closely with passenger, crew, and ship safety as their main priority. You would have to confirm what the late date cancelation penalty would be, but likely the cruise line will either alter the itinerary so as to avoid any risk or if they cancel it, advise as to what rebooking or credit options you will have. Unfortunately this may a late decision on their part due to the complexity of the situation and to reschedule. I would reach out to them directly or my TA for any guidance that may be available.

Each cruise line can be different but typically (at least with the mass market cruise lines) there are on board booking credits in the form of OBC, welcome parties, private venue events, excursions, etc., that are tiered with the number of staterooms booked that apply directly to that group. There is also a reduced fare for each booking issued by the cruise line based on the size of the group that is usually based on blocks of 8 staterooms booked, with 8 as the typical minimum required for a group rate. Also typically for every 8 staterooms booked at double occupancy, there is a one person's fare credited to the host. This can be used as a nominal rate reduction spread across the booked staterooms or as as fare benefit to the host. It is up to the host as to how that particular benefit is applied. The size of the group and relationship to the host may influence that decision.