El_Rolfo

Haven't been in one, but looking at the perks relative to the price I see no reason booking one.

14 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

We have seven flights out of Rome under our belt and have never made it from the port to FCO in less than an hour and a half.  If I wre you I would add at least one hour to your "wiggle room".

I did go ahead and change it to 7, hopefully that works out ok. Can't go much earlier or we'll have to grab a shuttle from open sea!

On 8/27/2022 at 11:06 PM, Loracpin2 said:

I was about to reply to your post but decided to read the rest before I did. You might want to consdier changing your shuttle pick-up for 7:00. Read post 33. This response saved me from typing the very thing.

Ye, just read it... might have to wiggle a little and get it earlier.

We have an intra-eu flight at 10.50, have booked a shuttle for 8.00. Should leave us about 2h before the flight and that SHOULD be ok in normal circumstances. Just hoping there aren't any surprisingly long queues then.

9 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

....as long as you do not make a stop in Greece.

This one's weird, looking at the greek government site there is no such requirement but still seems to be here for cruises stopping in Greece. And the test taken almost 10 days before arriving in Greece most likely is of no use anymore (as for example Apex stops at most ports before arriving in Greece).

I'm hoping Celebrity follows suit before our cruise in almost exactly 2 months, but I remain sceptical.

My oh my, only two months to our eastern med cruise with apex. Looking forward to it even more now! Ty for the pics!

I have a 10.50 Lufthansa to Munich booked (in Sept). The travel agency said these are still ok times to book according to the cruise lines. And this is actually one of the Celebrity deals where flights are included so it shows as a Celebrity addon on the invoice. Planning on getting on a shuttle/ride at 8ish to be at FCO at 9.

Have stayed at San Giorgio. It's ok, a little outdated but one of the better ones in Civitavecchia afaik. They also have a shuttle (at least in 2019) to the port for a fee.

Isn't additional tipping like a "front-of-the-line pass"? You pay to get better service than the average Joe? This potentially could start a bidding war where, firstly, the ones who don't tip additionally get abysmal service and the ones tipping the MOST will even bypass the ones adding a dollar per drink? Hypothetically this could lead to that albeit in practice it doesn't happen as only few tip additionally? Based on my experience following the bar service I'd say 90% don't give additional tip, at least much less than the 75% figure mentioned here.

Bought a sixpack of water on the cruise two months ago, VAT was charged. Was surprised of the charge so actually went to Guest Relations to clear it up and that's when I was told it's the tax.

On our cruise in June the CD told us no comedians performing because of multi-lingual audience in the Med. Riiiiight.

On our western med cruise on the Epic in June the excursion prices were so inflated we got identical excursions via third party providers for 40-50% of what NCL wanted.

You guys feel okay with paying $129 (at least on paper) for drinks per day?

Is that the speed the races are driven at? Not exactly fast, but maybe safety first here.

It seems the prices are not competitive when compared to other cruise lines however they still sail close to full by dumping the prices just before teh cruise then? Too bad, as from the other side of the pond it's close to impossible to snatch deals like that last minute.

Really feel bad about having to dump my certificates on something like Ebay, but whaddaya gonna do.

Ye, I tend to book via a couple of big "outlets", either via one with a UK office or with a big one on the US east coast. Still, the prices are high (even higher booked through a local agent).

Hey, been monitoring the prices for some time now as I have two certificates expiring in Dec. Seems all prices are heavily inflated vs. what they were a couple of years ago. Is this just because of demand? Are people still happily paying 200/day for a balcony on a "been there done that" cruise to the Eastern Caribbean? The Just Cruise prices are also just plain wrong imo. Over here in Europe NCL is now promoted as an all-inclusive cruise and then quoting the just cruise prices. Argh, makes me so mad.

For the first time I'm actually having a hard time finding a cruise where the price is "right". I don't see this equivalent rise in prices for other lines, though? Or at least not as significant rises. There are more and more ships competing for the same markets, but still NCL succeeds in keeping the prices high. Cruises the Caribbean in March -15 and the total price for a good mid-ship balcony with tips and drink packages was below 900, now the prices start from something like 1200-1300?

Just curious whether the ships sail full still or not?

8 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Good, let them beg! I hope nobody books at their new ridiculous pricing. Those who do are simply suckers..... Teach them a lesson that their empty specialty restaurants are a result of their own greed. Remember, you pay for your MDR meals in your cruise price PLUS the cost of the specialty dining prices which means not a  good deal by any means. 

We had a close to 10-rating on our Murano visit a couple of weeks ago, but STILL I would not pay the full price in any case. We did the 30 dollar first night visit which is basically the deal-breaker amount for me. And yes, they were trying to get people to book both the dining package and one time visitors every day. I'm guessing you could easily have negotiated a similar deal later on in the cruise.

$300-400/night/pp for a "standard" balcony? Dayum, celebrity is making money on the Edge, as the cabins are getting sold at those prices also.

Then how come the extra long world cruises of over 100 nights sell out so fast, even though they are crazy expensive?

This one should be simple, supply and demand. There are only that many people who can afford 100+ days and have the time for it (read retired), you can ask pretty much anything as there are only a few ships every year doing that itinerary. Not like there would be hundreds of choices when you want a round the world cruise.

Maybe you can sell them on eBay or here on cruise critic, at 2 for $250, the price you paid on board

Yup, that's a possibility. They are valid until Dec next year, so I'm hoping to find something interesting before that. :) I'll start investigating after my next Reflection cruise in November.

Prices overall have gone up a lot since, let's say, 5 years ago. Prices will also stay up as long as there are people willing to pay the asked amount for it. Edge is a complete no-no it seems for the incoming few years, ridiculous prices imo. I also have a couple of cruise certificates that need to be used before 2019 with NCL, but I can't seem to find any suitable cruise with a price I'm willing to pay. :)

I’ve stayed at Hotel Arlecchino. It is next door to hotel Olympia. Great location. Convenient to airport and ship. Easy to get to st marks also.

 

 

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Ditto on the Arlecchino. Small rooms, but cheap and "good enough" overall. Easy access to everywhere.

That used to be the Celebrity Mercury, which we went on for our first cruise. It was such a small, gorgeous ship! (Of course back in the 90's it seemed huge.)

Actually: The old Mein Schiff 1 has already been replaced by a brand new ship, and the old MS 2 will be replaced next January (replacing one still being built in Finland).

From Wikipedia:

MS1: Marella Explorer is a Century-class cruise ship owned and operated by TUI Cruises previously sailing at Mein Schiff 1 until 2018. Before joining TUI she cruised as MV Galaxy with Celebrity Cruises before

MS2: In 2008, after some eleven years in operation as Mercury, she was renamed Celebrity Mercury. In 2011, she was transferred to the fleet of TUI Cruises, a joint venture between TUI AG and Celebrity Cruises' owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. At the same time, she was renamed Mein Schiff 2.