djneph

I have done it before on Solstice, in dec 2022, so hopefully things are still the same. You pay the fee, its usually 20% off if you purchase pre-cruise. If you buy it pre-cruise go to casino cashier and tell them you bought it pre-cruise and they will give you slot tournament voucher, if not you just pay them at that time. It is really simple. You hit the play button over and over again, touch the screen to pop ballons for bonus. Your score goes up and up. It is two minutes and if you are lucky you win. There are qualifying rounds first, then the top 10 go to "final". They usually split the $500 prize (1st $300, 2nd $150, 3rd $50). The winnings are casino credit not cash.

Celebrity doesn't have cruise cash, but you can 'gift' yourself some OBC. Go to the gifts & gear section of the website and enter your booking information. You can then purchase OBC as a gift, but you are just sending it to yourself. I do this all the time. Not as easy as cruise cash from Carnival, but the good part is that unlike Carnival cruise cash, if you don't use it all, the OBC you gift yourself is refundable.

This happened to me recently. I have upcoming Feb 2024 sailing that I was going solo. Wanted to add a second person. Called twice and both agents said prevailing rates would apply and tried to reprice and increase by $2k. I thought it was odd, because I did not get solo discount or anything, paid the full solo supplement. I called a 3rd time and was said it would take him a bit because he would need to work the system to keep my pricing but just add second passenger's taxes. he did it and I only paid for the extra taxes. Not sure if the other agents were lazy and didn't want to do the work or didn't know. I had other people comment that this has happened to them to, one agent reprices and another agent doesn't.

Just out of curiosity what are the possible problems? I have never had any and prefer to do this than have to call. I can do the gift certificate to OBC at any hour of the day, but if there are problems with it, I may have to reconsider.

You can purchase OBC online, they will send you codes for redemption, then you go online and redeem it for your sailing. It odd Royal does it that way, but on Celebrity you can enter all your sailing info and "gift" yourself OBC. Everyone does it for different reasons, I do it so when I get onboard, I have a nice little cushion for expenses and if I don't use it, I get it back. I have a side hustle for fun money (trips, video games, and random crap I don't need), so leading up to my cruise I add $50 to $100 every couple of weeks. I know I could just save it, but if it is in my account, there is a good chance I could spend it on random crap.

Looks like the Australian website FAQ says you can, but the USA website says you can't. So not sure. You used to be able to, so might still be able to

They use to allow this, you had to contact RCI ahead of time so they could notify the ship. Depends on which port you want to get off depart ship and the rules (ie you can't get on in Seattle and get off in Alaska port). I actually used to do this when I worked for Royal when I was in college in Miami. I thought I read somewhere that Royal was no longer going to be approving these. Edit: Just did a quick google search "Royal Carribean Downlining" and Royal's FAQ came up saying they don't approve these anymore for any of their ships. So the answer is no.

Apparently, it is a game of agent roulette after all. I called back, got another agent, ready to cancel and switch to a Carnival sailing. The agent took his time, but got it done and the pricing was the same and it only added the additional taxes for 2nd passenger. YAY!! Also, my sailing inside rooms are sold out and have been for a couple months now. I wonder if the other agents were just creating new bookings and placing me in a balcony or something. Who knows.

Hey everyone, Thanks for the help. I called Celebrity this morning and the agent quoted me the price and it went way up. The agent said that even though I paid double as a solo, when you add someone to the booking, go from solo to double, the room is repriced to current rates. Is this correct? Should I try another agent?

Hey Everyone, Hope you can help me, not confident in reservations agent and hold times have been terrible, so before I call again wanted to pick your brains. I am booked on a cruise sailing solo (final payment is a few months away and there are plenty of rooms in all categories) a friend wants to join me. It is a regular double occupancy room (not a solo cabin), and I paid the typical solo cruise 100% surcharge (no solo cruiser discount). Also this is a non-refundable fare. If I add a friend, do they reprice the room to current double occupancy rates, or do I keep my rate and they increase the taxes/fees to cover the second guests. The agent didn't seem confident in the answer and was just like "make a fake booking and whatever the current price is, is what you will now pay". It might be the right answer but just want to make sure before I call back and be on hold forever. Thanks for your help.