publicpersona

No. There is no Elite benefit of happy hour on the first night. Never has been. Nothing has changed. It makes perfect sense. Would I rather have some more free drinks? Sure. But they aren't there.

Cheeseburger. Wait .. too soon?

I mentioned in my comment above that we were doing Concierge class on our next sailing because the delta in price was insignificant. That was an understatement. They are basically paying us $4 to get the concierge benefits. In that case, I don't mind the daily banana.

This fairly recent YouTube video does a good job of describing the benefits. Although we are doing Concierge on our upcoming cruise, it was because the delta in price was insignificant. I don't put much value into having a banana left in the room every day. But if you see benefits of value to you, go for it.

You may be looking at old deck plans on another site. Celebrity shows 9360 as C2. There are no C3s. Celebrity Equinox Deck Plans | Celebrity Cruises

Read my comment above. The answer is often "whatever is open." Celebrity doesn't really commit themselves on what wines they will have for classic package, describing it as "A selection of vintages from around the world" or some such. So yes, the wine they will serve you came from some winery that exists on this planet." They make contracts to purchase table wines in huge quantities at as little as $2-$3 per bottle. That's the La Terre(ibble) and similar wines. I'm not saying you can't get a good wine on Celebrity. I'm saying you have to be vigilant and keep an eye out for what they are really pouring. Also, you are much more likely to get what you order (and have paid for) in MDR than at the pool bar.

I knew that for several years, they seemed to be outside the norm but still happened occasionally, but I did not know that they were categorically ended fleetwide. Anyway .. hence the "if".

If you have a drink package, the Elite HH drinks are moot. Order what you want from the drink package of which the HH drinks are a subset. If there is a HH event in the Sky Lounge (with hors d'oeuvres, etc.) bar service may or may not allow you to order package drinks. I've been told no problem at all, and I've been told that I had to order from the HH list. Depends on phase of the moon, etc.

Wine drinkers don't fare very well with drink packages. The bar staff generally don't know the first thing about wine, and you are lucky if you get the same varietal of wine, much less the same winery. The standard seems to be whatever is open at the moment. Ask for a premium level champagne and you probably get that prosecco in the refrigerator, the same as a Classic package guest would get. The MDR can be a little better in this regard, but not always. I've ordered a Mer Soleil when it was on the Premium list and been poured La Terre. One time when I inquired about the discrepancy, I was told at the Sky Lounge bar that the wine list was just "examples", not something you actually ordered from. So if that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that you ordered has all the characteristics of one from South Africa instead, you're probably not wrong.

That is how I usually look at it. However, I don't mind there being an option to get a specialty dining entree in MDR. Perhaps we couldn't get a reservation or didn't want all the accoutrements of the specialty restaurant .. just hungry for a steak and the closest thing to it on MDR menu that night was pork and cabbage. I've done it once or twice I think. So I said no evidence exists that any such thing was being considered, and you asked me where I saw that there was. This is what makes Cruise Critic so special.

What is the point from whose perspective? From the cruise line, it's just another revenue enhancer by removing the main option for complimentary dining. They might argue that the buffet remains available. Besides, I was just explaining what I perceived the person was thinking about, not there exists any evidence whatsoever that X was considering anything like that.

I think from the context the person you were responding to mistakenly believed that there was an upcharge for eating in MDR at all. That wasn't true during the test, though the argument could be made that if you wanted a decent meal, you'd have to pay an upcharge. Fortunately (we hope), that is moot since the orphanage-style food is gone, and the more familiar MDR entrees have returned.

Looks like for our Aug 27 sailing the menu is back to more normal. That’s good, although I know it could change again.

A practical on-topic question for the thread: When making a booking, adding pre-paid gratuities is an option before reaching the payment page. It also says "You can always add this later" or something to that affect. But how? Yes, I want to go ahead and add the pre-paid gratuities but only partially so I will get the rates that were in effect when I booked. Actually, we ended up with much more OBC than expected and I want to go ahead and pay for things now because I can. I don't see any option in Cruise Planner for adding pre-paid gratuities, even in Gifts and more .. or whatever.

Wine drinkers don't fare very well with drink packages. The bar staff generally don't know the first thing about wine, and you are lucky if you get the same varietal of wine, much less the same winery. The standard seems to be whatever is open at the moment. Ask for a premium level champagne and you probably get that prosecco in the refrigerator, the same as a Classic package guest would get. The MDR can be a little better in this regard, but not always. I've ordered a Mer Soleil when it was on the Premium list and been poured La Terre. One time when I inquired about the discrepancy, I was told at the Sky Lounge bar that the wine list was just "examples", not something you actually ordered from. So if that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that you ordered has all the characteristics of one from South Africa instead, you're probably not wrong.

She may have already done this, but being Diamond on Royal by itself will get you nothing for you onboard Celebrity. She needs to status match Diamond to Elite prior to the cruise. Then by being Elite with a Captain's Club number on the reservation, she will get some perqs.

Understood, but I was more interested in all inclusive drink as well as the lunch. Reason .. not so much that I want to chain drink, but the drinks by the each are quite expensive $16-$20. Also, it isn't clear that the cruise shore excursion includes access to the resort's pools such as the infinity pool on the 5th floor. The resort day pass does, I think. The problem is that I've been searching the resort's website and no where can I find a place that describes the various day pass options. They just say "Check at front desk".

For those that have recently been to CocoCay and have formed your opinion, I respect that. But for those that have not recently been, don't rush to judgement. I first visited CocoCay back when it was an island with beaches, and that was it. In recent years, the marketing of CocoCay has focused on the amusement park aspect and I hated that. I've posted many a "not going there" response on CC. But then through a change of plans, I had the occasion to go in March of this year. I was very pleased. Yes, the central core with all the amusements can get crowded and noisy, but it serves as a nice kid magnet. There were so many beaches (with plenty of nice loungers and umbrellas) that we had no trouble finding several quiet spots. Now true, we were there when there was only one ship and it was a small one. But there could have been 3 or 4 times the people and I think it would still have been nice. And above all else .. it wasn't Nassau.

It absolutely is related to CocoCay. Perfect Day® is registered intellectual property of RCL. No one at RCL would keep their job if they misused that marketing term in any other way.

I'm hesitant about booking through an unaffiliated third party site, although I know that ValueTrips is mentioned by many in this forum and nobody has posted anything negative. How long was it between the time you requested a reservation through VT and you had a Hyatt reservation that shows on the Hyatt website?

Although the ship is offering a day pass to Resorts World, I understand there are day passes including all-inclusive food/drinks. Mention also of a VIP pass. Anyone have details?

About 15 minutes according to Google Maps, depending on which terminal and any port congestion maybe a few minutes more.

The quoted text isn't on their website. It's what they emailed me today. I note also that their app provides a way to tell it that you want to move your VTP from one vehicle to another.

I didn't have the same result. According to VTP ... Unfortunately, the Visitor Toll Pass program is intended for airline travelers who are picking up and returning their rental vehicle onsite at the Orlando International Airport. Per our FAQ section, Visitor Toll Pass will not be held liable for any additional costs that may arise from off-site car agencies. Their website (at least the part of it that hasn't been down for several days) says only that you must pick up and return the VTP at MCO. It doesn't say anything about being restricted to a vehicle you rent at MCO. Of course, the FAQ may say that but that's part of the website that has been down for days. Lesson learned: Don't use VTP if you are doing two one-way rentals between MCO and a port.

We've used them many times. No issues to report.