markeb

Airplane mode. Wi-Fi on. That lets you use the Celebrity app if you choose to, even without a Wi-Fi package and avoids any cellular use. Posting pictures is either going to require using data minutes from E/E+ or a Wi-Fi package.

I'd qualify that buying a bottle of a wine that's available by the glass only makes sense if you do not have a drink package. With a premium drink package and the 20% bottle discount, there are wines on the wine list that can be had close to retail. You're going to have to go to $75-80 and up a bottle for that to work, but you may get a much better wine than is available by the glass. That's not a change. The better wines were always by the bottle. And that's pretty much the case in any restaurant around the world. What is a change is that in the past Celebrity had a nice selection of "other" wines that were in the package. You could have for instance a nice Spanish Tempranillo that paired well with food instead of an OK at best California cab. A lot of those don't seem to be there today. Our last three cruises came with a PDP. I'd watch the math a lot closer today on whether soda, water, coffee, cocktails, etc. came close to paying for the package. But in November I would have been hard pressed to justify the package for better wine. EDITED: Oops. These threads are running together. This one was at least originally specifically about the Retreat Lounge. Not sure that bottle pricing really applies there...

With their pricing system, and frankly the quality of current offerings, it would be crazy to buy a bottle of anything available by the glass. On the other hand, buying a bottle opens up an entire range of wine. We would definitely be buying bottles.

I suspected that, but it’s irrelevant. It could happen to many combinations. Too many blended families out there today. At one time, it was very common for US Servicemembers, regardless of their own race or ethnicity, to adopt children while stationed in Korea. You see a lot of blended families on and around military installations. It probably doesn’t help that much of the trafficking training uses young Asian women as the victims. It’s supposed to emphasize behavioral indicators, but the visual is what implants.

I've followed this for the last day and a half. One thing I'm finding fascinating in the responses is the assumption that the OP is white and the daughter black. Nowhere in his posts does the OP say that. There was one place where he replied and could have corrected the assumption and didn't, so maybe that's true. He only stated in the original post that they were of different races. What if the OP is black and the daughter Asian? Or the OP is Asian and the daughter is white (or black)? Would people recognize that as racist in this case? Just an overall bad situation and a bad look on Celebrity. The employee/contractor needs some serious training. The OP met all of Celebrity's requirements for boarding. Making up new ones is insane. And other than the racial difference nothing in this situation would suggest trafficking and in 2023 that should hardly be sufficient. Hope they get some resolution.

And I've commented on this on many posts and will once again. If Celebrity was on the market in 1997, even quietly, and hadn't been bought by RCCL, would you have preferred Carnival had bought them?

This is another one where you can't find a good list online easily. It's on older lists, and is common enough I'd expect it on all ships. It's going to be at or above the Premium package limit. It was in the premium package in the past.

We've only cruised Oasis once, and it was her inaugural season, so 15 years ago. Other than the whole aerator thing, we had none of that. The neighborhood concept on Oasis split people up and at the time the ship never felt crowded. Maybe it's changed; it's been a long time. RCG, the holding company that owns Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises, bought Celebrity in 1997...

Yes. You can disable roaming as well, which should prevent the phone from roaming and accumulating any charges, but airplane mode shuts off the cellular service and is the preferred method. Before the thousand "I just turn it off and put it in my safe" replies, I assume when someone asks this question they actually want to use their phone, but don't want roaming charges!

I still can't tell if there's anyone on this thread who's actually encountered this yet to know. I believe way back when there was a second hand story off of a social media post. There appears to be a lot of assuming the worst... Although the non-answers from X make that easier.

I'd agree with Globalizer, but if you're specifically going to the War Rooms, you may have more than a passing interest, so I'd allow a little more time just in case. Are you planning to visit any other IWM sites while in London? Specifically the HMS Belfast? I see the USNA in your signature. It's a fascinating floating museum, even for an old ground pounder. If so, price out an IWM membership for two. It will get you into both attractions with front of line privileges (for a year). Back in 2019 we decided kind of late to go to the War Rooms, but couldn't get a reservation. But we were able to get a membership online and used the confirmation number on our phones for admission. Something to research.

Music to my ears... Another hotel to consider, especially if you do chose Le Bernardin, is the Michelangelo. It is literally across the street from Le Bernardin. It's a somewhat old school "Italianate" hotel, but it's very nice and rooms are typically larger than most in Manhattan. Le Bernardin opens reservations at 7:00 am Eastern time on the first day of the month for the following month online and through the Resy app. So for instance, on Monday at 7:00 am, they'll open reservations for the month of February. Reservations for weekend dinners will probably be gone by 9:00 am. Keep that in mind if you seriously want to book it. Dinner reservations in Manhattan are a competitive sport for the better known locations. And, yes, I absolutely love Le Bernardin. You pay for the experience, but it's an amazing experience. Aldo Sohm's wine bar next door is also very nice. The only time we've been there, we were sort of shocked to see Eric Ripert (chef at Le Bernardin) and Aldo both walk by. I've not eaten at the other two, but they have great reputations. H&H Bagel in Moynihan Train hall is surprisingly good for bagels (OK, I'm not a native New Yorker, but I really like them) and they're accessible.

Troll on a hacked account? Last post before Tuesday was in 2018 on Disney. Just saying...

Probably not this specific question, but a huge number of posts on the so called “Royalization” of Celebrity. It’s probably more the people jumping in than the original question. With no thought of the actual corporate structure and positioning. But the answer is still no. If Celebrity becomes Royal it goes away, and a 7600 passenger ship, if it happens, can’t be Celebrity in the RCG structure.

OK. That supports a device or individual logon issue. I can dive into a lot of things on a Windows device, but iOS can be a major black box!

Okay. Can we please just stop??? Of course not. If RCG decided to do that (Does anyone here believe Celebrity could actually make a capital investment like that without the RCG Board's approval? If so, I have a very nice suspension bridge I'd like to sell you.) And unless the entire RCG Board is made up of morons, they've seen this movie. Anyone remember Pontiac and Oldsmobile? They're gone. They cannibalized GM customers upmarket from Cadillac and down market from Chevrolet and Buick. And they had their own overhead. When the financial crisis hit, they went away. If RCG starts approving ships on that scale, they'll be labeled Royal Caribbean. There would be no reason to continue to have a Celebrity if Celebrity ships were directly competing in the same market. They would cannibalize each other. RCG would sacrifice Celebrity (sell or absorb into Royal Caribbean) before doing that. Celebrity is a subsidiary. They're not making that type of decision themselves. And all the "nickel and dime" changes everyone complains about suggest strongly to me that Celebrity may not be pulling its weight corporately anyway...

If it works on the desktop, it actually sounds more likely something wonky on the phone. But it could be something wonky on their backend not behaving with your iOS device. iOS is great until it isn't, then it gets really frustrating...

Have you signed out and back into the app? If this is an iOS app, do you have it on another device? If there's more than one Captain's Club member (recognize you could be sailing alone, just asking) on the reservation, can the other member logon and perform tasks? That's my first level general troubleshooting. Sometimes deleting and reloading apps on iOS will leave "crumbs" for lack of a technical term. If it looks like it's an iOS thing, look on Apple's web page for how to completely delete an app. If it's Android, sorry... 😁

I was getting ready to write a reply, and got beaten to the punch completely! @princeton123211 is too fast. And I agree with pretty much everything they said. I'd add to look at flight options that go into LGA and leave from EWR. You're kind of making a steady westward progress that way and the NY-NJ and/or NJ-NY only happens once if you fly out of EWR, which will be your closest airport on return. And sometimes it's not much of a price difference. Food is crazy. There are, for instance, 70 Michelin starred restaurants, 4 with the top 4-star rating, in Manhattan. Along with 92 Bib Gourmand restaurants. And then there are the literally thousand or more really good places to have a great meal. All price points and all cuisines. So a little more information would help. And don't ignore New York pizza! Also agree on the hotel thoughts, other than there are hotels that nibble at the edge of Times Square that get you very close to the theater district and some of well known restaurants but aren't "in" Times Square.

What are your dates and what's your budget? Mid-February can be kind of hit and miss on weather. There's also a holiday weekend, which can complicate things as well. With kids, if you can splurge, I'd stay in the middle of things. That doesn't (necessarily) mean Times Square, which can be a total zoo and the costumed characters offering to take pictures want tips! Rockefeller Center can be a fun visit, watching skaters on the ice rink for instance and is a short walk. Beyond that I'll defer to those who've done this with kids. Manhattan is a big place and I'd expect a 1 and 3 year old to tire out fairly quickly! And if it's wet and cold, which is entirely possible, all bets are off!

Pretty sure Celebrity has historically adjusted the package limit up when prices increased. They didn't this time. But all their marketing includes key phrases. "Such as" being the most obvious.

Your best bet is to go to your cruise in the app. Click Dining. Second icon on the lower left. Select Main Dining, then Main Dining at Dining Room. Click Menu. That brings up a grid by meal (Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) and day of cruise. You have to go to each meal you want to see individually. If your cruise is too far out and there are no menus, Click the calendar icon at the top (it will say Today) At the bottom of the screen click on “Change Ship/Dates”. Click “Browse Our Ships” Select your ship and either the current sailing or one in the near future of approximately the same number of nights. Follow the steps above to access the menus. It’s a little clunky but it works. Haven’t tried Edge class, but it should be the same, just four main dining rooms.

What's included: Champagnes and favorite wines such as Conundrum White and Red Blends, Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon, J&H Selbach Riesling Kabine, Mouton Cadet Bordeaux Blend, and Edmeades Zinfandel The advertising gives no guarantee of actual availability. Nor does it define "such as". Any Cabernet Sauvignon could be considered "such as". They have better lawyers than we do...

I believe the language is “such as”. And the ticket probably has an exclusion for clear errors. That’s how airlines cancel tickets that were sold for $10.00 instead of $1000. Substituting wines may not make the common sense test, but it might meet a legal standard. And your remedy would probably be $2.40 for each glass of wine you actually bought, not the ones you refused to buy. So $240 if you actually bought a 100 glasses on your cruise. Figure that’s 1/3 of the hourly rate quoted in this thread. It can be wrong but legal…

Yeah. We're spending three nights at the Michelangelo next week. What I consider a "good rate", $288/night with breakfast. But then the locality fees and taxes kick in... Didn't look at Marriott on this one. We're eating on the other side of 51st Street one night and in spite of the cost really like the Michelangelo. It was $1400/night for three people on the 6th of December 2024, so I didn't recommend it. It wasn't long ago that you could just check back every week or so and rebook Marriott properties as the prices dropped or the offers got better. Not so much anymore.