Phxazzcruisers

25 minutes ago, RealBatman said:

We are doing our first B2B (Back-to-back) Celebrity sailing in February! 😁 👏🏻

Rather than create a new thread perhaps someone will offer advice about tipping on a B2B? (I've noticed a few folks have some opinions! 😁 )

 

Should we tip at the end of the first week? Or wait until the end of the cruise (second week). 

(This will be in addition to our prepaid gratuities which we always subscribe to).

We have always tipped extra to the staff in Blu, and our room steward... but it might be uncomfortable to not tip at the end of the first week. TIA.

We have done it both ways.  We usually keep the same suite and ask if the butler and room steward are staying for the next cruise as well as the wait staff.  If anyone is leaving or changing stations we will do the additional tip after each leg of the cruise.  If it a staff member we know from before and they are staying with us, we will sometimes also wait until the end of the 2nd or 3rd leg.  But again, we mention them, by name and position on each of the surverys and mid cruise questioners !

There is no downside that we know of.  We always boo our cruises on board a current cruise to get the benefits of the perks for booking on board and then transfer to our TA.  As davekathy said above, the only is that this transfer must be done within 60 days of booking. 

When dining in Luminae, except for the newest ships, Edge and Apex, you can always just ask your waiter for the MDR menu and order off wither one.  It is not a problem at all.  They do not put the everyday items on the Luminae menu for that reason.  Enjoy your cruise

Agree 100%.  The auto tips make life easier.  Is we get special service from butler, room steward, waiter, etc, we always give them an extra tip at the end of the cruise.  They individually get to keep these extr tips, we have verified this with them.  Most important for them is to have their names mentioned on the survey you will receive right after the cruise.  That is how they are rated and get rewarded.  We also mention them, by name, on the survey we receive mid cruise and know that management lets them know as they always thank us personally for the kind words.  ENjoy your cruise

Yep, they are a total fraud.  They were sued years back and we do not understand how they managed to get back on the ships.  BUYER BEWARE !!!

1 hour ago, varoo said:

 

You just expressed exactly what I was thinking.

Besides, most of us already have a lifetime supply of robes in our closets at home, more than we  could ever want or need.

 

A collection box by Guest Relations where we could leave extra items to be donated to charity would be nice.

I bet they could accumulate a huge collection of those white Frette cloth slippers that way.

  

LOL. We actually take the slippers.  We have a beach house in Belize and give our guests slippers to wear when they come visit. Those fit easily in the suitcase !!

They actually were too bulky and heavy to even think about taking home.....Usually not tht much extra room in luggage

12 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

There was a little card with them saying they were yours to take home.

Strange, in the many times we had the Penthouse and RS, we never saw a little card.....

That is very interesting.  We always book the penthouse or RS and have never thought of taking the robes. We always thought they were just there for our use on the cruise.

1 hour ago, Mr&MrsBee said:

Wonder where X buys the romaine lettuce with the problem of ecoli.wrong word Will be on board on the 13th.  We have no Caesar salad.  Publix here has taken most lettuce off the shelves.

Not to worry at all.  They source their food products very carefully.  If any of their lettuce was from the California crop, be assured it is gone.  They would not serve anything that would knowingly badly affect the guests.

26 minutes ago, oddjob16 said:

Go to bottom of the page. Change the flag to your country. 

OOOPS.  I dont know how it changed to Denmark.  Maybe wishful thinking????

Thanks.  That worked

Whenever I try to use the website, even though I am in the United States and use my logon, all prices are quoted in DKK.  This is frustrating and I cannot seem to be able to change this anywhere.  Does anyone know the secret? Thanks

24 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Sadly the formal spaces known as libraries both on land and sea are a victim of technology and are disappearing all over.  Cities and towns still have them but for how long?  Who knows.  Many places where I have worked used to have beautiful libraries but in recent years they were hardly used.  Now closed.  People can get access to everything from their desks on their computers, and on cruises people take eBooks loaded on Kindles and iPads.  I still love a good hardcover!  But even I will admit that on cruises I take my own books and very rarely if ever visit a ship's library.

When we are on land we live in Phoenix and our libraries are beautiful and used by many, always full of people.  I do have an iPad and read most of my books on it, but loved to scour the library on the ships to see if there was anything interesting in a read that I was missing.....

19 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

You're kidding right? This is not really the library on the Edge? (obviously I have not sailed on Edge)

Unfortunately they are not kidding.  That is the "library".  VERY disappointing

Yes, this is extremely sad.

Yep, it is the new procedure.  The seapass cards are right by your cabin door and you can drop off your carry ons immediately.  I would not immediately start unpacking, as the room stewards are busy getting all of the cabins ready for the guests.  The idea is just to be able to safely leave your carry on's in the room and go explore the ship or have a bite to eat.  Enjoy your cruise

12 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

Did something happen to the charter? I see cruises are for sale again.  

Journey is available again, but the iteniery has changed.  The original one we had booked for November 8 is no longer there, it was replaced by a longer cruise from Greece to Dubai....

We have been in the PH on Infinity several times and have ALWAYS had excellent service from the butlers.  When not in PH but in RS we have also never had any issues with the butlers or attendants.  The PH is always our first choice, especially on the M class.  Not so much on the S Class, the RS does just fine.

24 minutes ago, Xcelsior said:

Yes agree.  We were assigned the cabin and the questions is whether or not I should switch it.  Problem is the cabins that are left are on Deck 8 aft and everyone mentions that they are noisy due to public areas above.

 

We always book suites on Azamara and they are all on 8.  Never really had a big problem with noise  They only time it was noisy was after the White Night party, but it really did not bother us too much.  

I must agree with above posters.  CASH is king.  They have limited space in their rooms and limited space in luggage when they go home at the end of contract.  They do not have the space to carry a bunch of nick nacks.  If they want magnets as souvenirs, they can easily use the cash you give them to pick out something they would want.  Also, a personalized card along with the cash from you says it all.  

We have traveled extensively on Azamara and Celebrity and all of the crew we know well agrees with this.  Enjoy your cruise and thank you for thinking about the crew.

We did not have any issue.  The only issue we have is booking one when someone with accessibility issues may actually need it.  WE only book one when there is not other choice available.  We request to be notified if a regular suite opens up so the accessible room can be used by someone that actually needs it.

Yes, definitely they can and will change to suit dietary restrictions.  My partner has had the crab cake appetizer for the main course on several of our cruises.  They brought him two servings.  Enjoy your cruise

We have been in Suites for our birthdays and the butler knew from our reservation tat it was our birthday and decorated the room.  If not is a suite, you can probably bring some balloons in your pocket and a sign that you can sneak into your luggage and nicely ask your room steward if he/she would put it up while you were on the excursion.  Or, if you meet some nice people, I am sure they would do it for you !!!  Enjoy

Yes, you are definitely allowed to bring water and soft drinks with you when you board.  Enjoy your cruise

That seems strange.  Most OBC's from TA's are refundable.  The non refundable ones are usually the ones from the Cruise line itself.  We have never received an OBC from our TA that was not refundable.   Just our experience....