Xport

You don't earn cruise credits until you've completed the cruise so any movement in levels would be achieved after the cruise is over and any new benefits would apply to the next cruise you take. It's always been like that.

I suspect that we've both experienced more than a few membership tier shifts along the way and--like the original poster--it's always nice to have those past personal experiences/recollections validated...

Azamara [Le Club Voyage], Celebrity [Captain's Club], and Royal Caribbean [Crown & Anchor Society] have never awarded Cruise Points [or predecessor Cruise Credits] until cruise completion... And membership tier changes that are earned during a cruise have never been acknowledged from a benefits perspective until the next subsequent cruise...

If you are doing consecutive cruises and earn a new level of membership during one segment, that new membership tier will be acknowledged at the start of the next segment but it is wise--given the natural lag in posting Cruise Points to your account landside--that you advise the onboard Loyalty Ambassador of your impending change in status prior to conclusion of the leg in which your status changes so that he/she can be sure that you are recognized at your new membership level during the next leg... I was aboard Azamara with friends who had just such an experience while doing a back-to-back sailing last year; their new membership status became effective for the second of their two cruises...

I wish I could provide you with an insight more to your liking but honestly do not believe that your recollection of predecessor "Terms & Conditions"--if I'm understanding your question properly--is correct [and I can't imagine that there was ever variation such as this one based upon country of origin (I am an American; the friends to whom I referred above are too)]...

I tend to doubt that anyone here knows that information and would venture to say that Celebrity likely doesn't know with certainty either...

Staffing is dynamic and plans--both at crew and Celebrity need--change... I've seen a Cruise Director flown in--half-way around the world--at the last minute to cover a single sailing... And I've also been aboard when the CD changed three times over four consecutive sailings...

I'd suggest that you either follow the "Who's On Board?" thread here on the Celebrity Forum or ask again much closer to your sailing date...

We all have our "favorites" but I suspect that you'll have a wonderful time no matter who the Cruise Director is...

Replaced Captain Leo--who went on home leave--as of the 5 October Canada/New England sailing...

The sign-up systems interface--shared by Celebrity and Azamara; it's not a Cruise Critic process--has been temperamental/uncooperative in recent months [as has been widely criticized/discussed on the Celebrity forum] but a rep from Celebrity has posted that they are aware of the systems problem and hope to have it fixed by month-end...

You asked this on 3 January in a seperate post and you were directed to the spreadsheet that provides reviews of many--but not all--cabins on Solstice-Class ships with a note that 7101 and 7104 [the closest to the ones you've asked about and similarly positioned] have been reviewed... A few days later, you posted that you were unable to find those reviews on the spreadsheet... But they are there...

Once again, following is a link to the "sticky" post that can be used to launch the spreadsheet... You will find the link to launch the spreadsheet in the first post...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=911018

Once the spreadsheet opens, use the tab at the top to maneuver to the page that contains records [rows] #751 through #1000... The spreadsheet is so large that not every review can be listed on the first page...

Once you have reached the proper page as described above, tab down using either Column A [cabin number] or the leftmost column containing record/row number... Reviews for 7101 will be found at records #960 and #961...

For other information, use the link to Cruise Critic's Search feature found at the top of each webpage, choose the "Advanced Search" option, type in the cabin numbers you are interested in [one at a time], choose "Celebrity" in the drop-down box provided to narrow your search, and launch the search... You'll be provided a listing of posts that have mentioned that cabin... Scan through them to be certain that they apply to Solstice-Class rather than Millennium-Class ships and read the related commentary to see if it is pertinent in satisfying your specific curiosity... Your search term [ie; "7103" or "7105"] will be highlighted in red...

Cruise Critic is a treasure trove of information but it's unlikely that you'll get different responses to the same inquiry raised on the general forum within a matter of a few days [and those who responded before are not apt to reply a second time]... With all due respect, much of the information sought here is historical--but still valid--and requires a bit of research on the member's part using the tools available to facilitate that research...

Welcome to Cruise Critic... You'll get the hang of it in no time...

I don't usually troll around Cruise Critic quite so widely--typically, I look at the Celebrity and Azamara forums as those are the lines I tend to sail--but I had a bit of insomnia this morning, read far more extensively than I usually do, just happened to see your post, and suspected that I might have some insights for you...

If you are too tired after travel to go to Red Lobster [i assume that you are referring to the one at 133rd and Biscayne; if so, I think it might be a bit further--but not materially so--than the five miles that you cite], know that there is no shortage of restaurants in the Aventura area either [in the residential area in which you are staying, along the Biscayne Boulevard corridor through Aventura which is a major/very busy commercial area, or within Aventura Mall (not suited for the type of shopping you want to do but huge; you'd pass several stores of the type you seek in route)] that are all within a mile or so of Turnberry... Though not Red Lobster, there is a Cheesecake Factory and a Luxe Cafe--both American chains; I believe they're commonly owned--within Aventura Mall that provide vast menu options, consistently good--but surely not gourmet--food, wonderful desserts [especially if you like cheesecake!], and fairly reasonable prices by local standards without resorting to the Mall's food court fast food places...

The residential area of Aventura is both lovely/upscale and Turnberry [though I was last in there for a wedding several years ago, I was impressed] is still regarded as such too... I suspect that--however brief, however jet-lagged you are--you'll enjoy your pre-cruise stay...

Travel well!

We will be boarding Oasis in a couple of weeks and fly in from the UK the day before. Royal C are putting us up at the Turnberry Resort prior to transferring us to Fort Lauderdale on the Saturday and I was wondering if there are any stores near or at the terminal where we could buy a few items such as large bottles of water, crisps (aka chips!) etc? There may be something near the resort but we will probably be a little shattered to start hunting about! Any thoughts would be great. Thanks.:)

For the type of shopping that you are planning to do [or any sort of shopping for that matter], there is certainly no shortage of shopping venues in the Aventura area where Turnberry is located... Such items can be readily picked up at grocery chains like Publix, Winn-Dixie, and Whole Foods, at Target, or at a full service pharmacy--they offer much more here than their descriptor implies--like Walgreen's and CVS... All have a presence in Aventura; upon arrival, I'd suggest that you inquire with the resort concierge as to which is most proximate and that you make your purchases before being transferred to Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades on Saturday...

If your transfer is a private rather than a group one, you may ask your driver to accommodate you with a stop in route from the resort to the port [about a twelve mile trip]... Again, there is no shortage of places to make the purchases you want to do but--truth told--the most convenient are likely those closest to your hotel given the route that you are most apt to take...

Port Everglades itself is vast and entry is subject to very tight security [you will likely need to present your cruise documents and a photo ID (in your case, likely your passport) as your driver--who will also have port entry credentials--passes through one of the entry gates]... Once inside the port complex, there are--again out of security considerations [it is the center for arrival, storage, and delivery of virtually all petroleum-based products used from Key West to north of Orlando] , even locals need present photo identification to enter--no shopping or other commercial venues [burt Reynolds' restaurant at the port needed to close post 09/11]... You would need to take a taxi--and again go through security upon return--to do your shopping after you've checked-in/boarded the ship as none of the shops you seek will be closer or more convenient [the airport occupies the port's westerly border] to Terminal 18--where Oasis docks--as those situated near Turnberry... Once at the port, you'd need to go north to Fort Lauderdale's Seventeenth Street Causeway, south to Dania Beach Boulevard, or north/south on Federal Highway; none of those options are particularly walkable and there are few sidewalks inside the very busy port complex...

I've sailed in/out of Southampton several times and have routinely walked the short distance--using an unmanned gate--between The Holiday Inn and Celebrity Eclipse... Trust me, this is not remotely the same!

Hope this is helpful... Enjoy your trip/sailing... And welcome to Southeast Florida; the weather has been terrific!

Oh, and "frequent flyer" points don't combine. You get your Celebrity status on Azamara for things like internet minutes or whatever they are offering these days, and vice versa, but you collect separate points on each line.

Cruise points earned on Celebrity [Captain's Club] and Azamara [Le Club Voyage] do cross-accumulate and have since Azamara was first established as a separate entity [initially, Azamara was envisioned as part of Celebrity but never did operate that way] in 2007... That said, it is necessary to enroll in both Captain's Club and Le Club Voyage--it is not automatic--for the cross-accumulation of Cruse Points between the two lines to occur [though to the best of my knowledge, one's membership number in each of the programs is the same]...

Royal Caribbean does provide some level of reciprocal loyalty recognition to Celebrity/Azamara cruisers--and vice versa--but points earned with Royal or Celebrity/Azamara do not cross-accumulate with the other [again, one must enroll in Royal's Crown & Anchor Society to receive reciprocity benefits when a Celebrity/Azamara cruiser sails with Royal]...

As you've pointed out, the terms are clearly outlined at any of the three cruise line websites...

But in my experience, muster drill is conducted an hour or so prior to sail-away--rather than on embarkation day--under the circumstances you describe...

When a cruise starts with an in-port overnight, embarking passengers are typically a bit more relaxed about being aboard by a certain time or, if flights are necessary to reach the embarkation port, a bit more casual about arrival time than they might otherwise be... And then, consecutive cruisers--who still must attend muster after doing so on the prior sailing--often use the turn-around day for touring...

Earlier this year whilst on the Quest we were diverted to this tiny port. The photo was taken from the ship. What is the name of the port and where is it?

"Earlier this year" implies that you boarded Quest for her last sailing of 2014 [singapore to Hong Kong] and that you snapped the photo since 2015 was ushered in last Thursday... Quest's first trip of 2015 departed--or will very soon depart--for her first sailing of this year [5 January, from Hong Kong to Singapore]... If true, I'd guess that the photo was taken somewhere--but I can't identify the specific port--in Vietnam...

If "earlier this year" instead implies "within the past twelve months", my guess--and again, I can't be specific--is that the photo was taken in Panama or Costa Rica...

Excited, but a little wary.

 

Our cabin number is 1205 (deck 10) and I am a little concerned that our cabin is one of the cabins where the bed is closest to the window and the lounge is the first thing you see when you first walk in the room.

 

Anyone have any photos of this cabin?

 

Am also concerned about the size of the balcony.

Have sailed Solstice six times--never in 1205--so I obviously love the ship [as I do all five of the Solstice-Class ships]... Just looked at the Deck Plan and 1205 is nicely located mid-ships and closer to the mid-ships [larger] bank of elevators which are, to my mind, super convenient to the common areas--like the dining room--you are apt to visit most often...

There is a thread [a "sticky" found at the top of the Celebrity Forum Home Page here on Cruise Critic] that provides guest feedback relative to cabins... You'll find it here...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=911018

While stateroom 1205 has not been specifically evaluated, adjacent cabins 1203 and 1207 have [the area is generally regarded as quiet]... Since both of those staterooms seemingly have the bed by the bath, your cabin will have the bed by the balcony [they alternate]... While your mileage may vary--we all have preferences--I'm not sure that configuration would serve as a source of concern to me and it's actually the one I prefer... I like the fact that those cabins seem more roomy--to me--as one enters, I like the fact that access to the closet seems easier when the bed is not immediately adjacent, I like that the desk--where the electrical outlets are located--and with large mirror above are closer to the bath when dressing, and I like the fact that I can open the drapes in the morning and loll around in bed with a more immediate view of the passing sea or port [once ready for the day, that's what balconies are for]... That said, I book either with my primary concerns being quiet [cabins adjacent and above/below with no significant exposure to noisy common areas] and a preference for mid-ship locations [smoother ride if seas are rough; quick access to elevators]...

Virtually all of the non-suite balconies on Solstice-Class ships are exactly the same size and--by standards on most ships I've been on--are quite generous/comfortable... The non-suite balconies situated on the forward or aft-facing angles are larger [deeper, not wider] but feature exactly the same interior space as any other veranda cabin on the ship; on Deck 10/in Concierge Class, 1120 is an example for reference purposes only... Often, those are the first cabins to be reserved/sold... There is also a single balcony cabin on the aft [generally more pricey; some prefer that view] of each deck that features a veranda that is slightly wider but no deeper; an advanced search of the Cruise Critic website will help you to identify those if interested [it has been discussed here often]... I generally choose cabins with expanded balconies if available [i tend to book years early when new itineraries are first released for sale] but they're nice/not necessary; I surely don't choose my sailings--for me, it's itinerary, experience, and pricing first--based upon my ability to secure one...

The cabin photos on Celebrity's website are--aside from some very minor decor differences between some Solstice-Class ships and bed position relative to bath versus balcony--quite indicative and accurate as to what you should expect within your selected cabin category [cabins for the disabled have slightly different configurations, particularly in the bath]... You can also do an advanced search of the Cruise Critic website if you seek more photos but, again, interior area/furnishings for all non-suite veranda cabins is the same/only placement differs...

As the previous poster noted, Celebrity's US website does provide "shoppers" with a sampling of--but not a full listing of--available cabins within each cabin class... And the US website does permit one to inquire about the availability of any cabin by ship/sailing date [if reserved, one will be told that it is unavailable; if available, related pricing will be provided]...

I don't diminish your concerns--if they're valid to you, they are valid--but I'm not sure that I'd be so concerned about them so as to perhaps lose focus on your primary reasons for cruising... Don't know the "rules" in Australia but I'd be inclined to do my thorough research--both the Celebrity website and Cruise Critic website are treasure troves of great information--and inquire about changing cabins to one you might like better if such issues are of continuing concern to you... To my mind, your cabin assignment is quite a good one and is a selection I might make for myself [i've occupied similarly positioned cabins on other decks]...

May your Celebrity vacation bring you fun and fulfillment... That--and not consternation--is the ultimate goal...

Are shore excursions typical of mass market lines excursions or better?

I have organized private tour shares and I have participated in private tour shares organized by others when sailing with Azamara; in general, those are my preference... That said, I have found that the Cruise Critic Roll Calls for Azamara cruises can sometimes have rather minimal participation in terms of the number of participants/posts--I attribute it to being aboard a ship with a smaller number of guests who tend to be highly traveled/have very specific port plans in mind--so as to make organizing or participating in private tours more difficult and, from a financial risk perspective, sometimes inadvisable as compared to my experience when creating my tour plans while sailing a mass market line [in my case, Celebrity; I've sometimes filled tours overnight after posting my offering and have had waiting lists/needed to turn interested cruise mates away]...

For instance... For my 7 February sailing aboard Journey in South America, there are five cruise mates participating in the Roll Call [not including two non-passenger "guests" who contributed] with fewer than 25 posts [ten of them mine] in total... If I had attempted to pull private excursions together during that trip--fortunately, I decided to hold off until I got a sense of the Roll Call dynamic--I'd have never gotten the critical participant mass to make them economically viable and/or lost deposits as some tour operators require [the same thing happened during my Azamara cruise in Europe during 2010; in Asia--during 2014--I filled the groups I organized]...

To my mind, private tour sharing is possible when sailing with Azamara but is not necessarily a "sure thing"...

My experience with doing Azamara's "Land Discovery" offerings--and I'm only doing Azamara sponsored excursions for my upcoming trip--have been quite favorable but have not been materially different from a quality or content perspective [though Azamara groups may be modestly smaller and they sometimes offer boutique experiences consistent with their Destination Immersion/Night Touring concept] than I've encountered with Celebrity... In fact, most of the offerings in South America are identical to those offered by Celebrity when I visited several of the same ports with them in 2012 [as suggested above, I suspect that proven tour operators are commonly used across the Royal Caribbean family of brands]...

Where do I find the Tuesday Specials?

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Exciting_Deals/XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf

No direct experience with Azamara but, to the best of my knowledge, they handle such situations as Celebrity does or [at least in my past experience and assuming it hasn't changed] did...

Best I know--you may want to confirm with Azamara--the practice is...

If you pre-purchase things--like excursions, specialty dining, and/or beverage packages--and cancel several days prior to sailing [don't remember the limit for doing so but it did correspond to the deadline for making those purchases online pre-cruise], refunds are immediately [in my experience] made to the credit card used for those purchases...

If you cancel items pre-purchased online once aboard, the refund [if cancelled prior to the time deadline for doing so and, on a pro-rata basis, for beverage packages], is applied to your SeaPass account as Refundable Onboard Credit... If totally or partiallly unspent at cruise conclusion, unspent Refundable Onboard Credit [but not Non-Refundable Onboard Credit; use it or lose it] is credited to the Credit Card--takes a bit of time--associated with your SeaPass account as established at check-in...

Best to you and Shel!

Wishing you and your family wonderful holidays too! Sincerest thanks for all you do!

--Mike

On the ship! The only one i know for sure is that you need to get is China and India. the rest the ship gets for you.

I can only comment from personal perspective...

US citizens are required to secure a formal visa--pre-cruise; it is required from initial entry and in any case is not done aboard ship--when visiting Brazil now... And under certain circumstances, US citizens visiting Turkey are now required to personally apply for an electronic visa in advance of arrival and/or sailing through...

With the US and other countries having tightened up entry requirements in a Post-09/11 world, I've found that an increasing number of countries have adopted reciprocal/more formal processes for--at least--us and that past practice is not necessarily predictive of current or upcoming requirements...

In the US--and as I understand it, in Canada--the CIBT/Visa Central website provides an exceptionally clear explanation of visa requirements/processes without charge and without requiring that one use their services... And if you pop in the Azamara account number [i've lost track of it but believe it is 49975], they will provide a list of cruises/destinations requiring personal visa application action [for instance, when I went to Asia with Azamara earlier this year, Visa Central knew that I needed to get my visa for China on an independent basis but that our visas for Vietnam would be arranged by the ship on a blanket basis]...

I'm not advocating use of Visa Central--their service fees can be high--but their website is a treasure trove of accurate/up-to-date information... I did use them for China and they were the first to pick-up on the fact that the Chinese had completely revamped their application [i needed to do it twice] while disclosing/highlighting differing procedures based upon Consulate [here, one need apply to a specific Consulate based upon state of residence; Brazil has a similar requirement]... I did not use them for the Brazilian visa I secured during the past few weeks--I went direct--but, once again, they were the first to pick up on the fact that the Miami Consulate had moved two weeks prior to my application drop-off [if one searched the web, three different addresses were cited with two out-of-date but it was unclear which were inaccurate]; I finally found confirmation of the move as first noted by Visa Central--it was a minor allusion lost in a paragraph--at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry/Miami website [which doesn't appear as an option if one does a web search for "Brazil(ian) Visa/Miami"]...

Visa requirements are ever-evolving, one size doesn't fit all [requirements vary based upon citizenship/passport issuer], and countries have discovered that--as an added bonus to controlling entry; even for tourism--they are revenue-producing [my Brazil visa--and start to finish I handled it all--cost $160 (payable--in the US at least--by postal money order only; another fact easily missed)]... Brazil's visa fees for Americans are actually tied to the fees that we charge Brazilians seeking a visa to enter the United States...

I understand why cruise lines--many suggest Visa Central; some suggest other third party services--do not keep expert resources on staff to handle inquiries given the dynamic, highly variable nature of requirements with substantial potential repercussion should guests be misinformed... The topic is--to my mind--a minefield...

Can you please tell me if this was resolved? I also have an allergy to down feather and have to remove them or I start to itch.

Dates to May 2010 and the original poster's profile indicates that he hasn't contributed to Cruise Critic since February 2011...

While it is entirely possible that a currently participating member can address your inquiry in contemporary but general terms, the most definitive answer to your specific requirements (apparently some with severe allergies require that a cabin be deep-cleaned before occupying it) will still--as Host Andy noted to the original poster--be provided by a representative from the cruiseline's Special Needs Department. The contact phone number and e-mail address that Andy cited then are, to the best of my knowledge, still valid now...

As I read your description of that TA I was thinking "what a terrible trip" and feeling very sorry for you, but when you mentioned the change in port calls from Cobh to A Coruña (something we encountered on a crossing as well) I looked again at your sailing date and realized that my spouse and I are were on the same TA you were describing, but we would never have described it that way at all. We had a wonderful time!

 

Yes, there was some rain along the way, but it did not put a damper on the crossing, nor do I recall it being quite that cold. I remember one afternoon in the mid Atlantic when it was in fact pouring rain, and we were sitting in a hot tub with a friend, with the rain pouring down, and thinking what a marvelous thing to be doing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

 

As for the unplanned port call at A Coruña, we immediately booked a ship's excursion to Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to a very famous Cathedral, and had a terrific day.

 

Travel experiences certainly are subjective, as our differing views of the same crossing underscore! :)

Or that I was eliciting sympathy... Quite the contrary; I'm an avid cruiser who prefers just about any day at sea to being ashore... And as I pointed out, I think Celebrity did an astounding job of trying to keep guests engaged and interested when weather conditions pretty much precluded outdoor activites/fun in the sun--surely it wasn't anticipated--for all but the most hearty and determined during the 2012 eastbound TA... My take on the weather during that trip may be influenced by the fact that I am a Floridian and abhor cold, rainy weather [even people from the UK commented to it] but, given that the line to visit the Medical Department was down the corridor with guests needing assisance, I surely wan't the only one who came down with a severe case of cruise cough... Glad you escaped it...

You are right... A Coruña is a terrific port and Santiago de Compostela is a wonderful/memorable experience but I'd visited/done it justice--in gorgeous weather--less than fourteen months [also while aboard Eclipse] earlier... And so, there wasn't a whole lot to do there during my second visit--I soldiered on/tried--given that the town was essentially shut down [the Ho Ho Bus operated but none of the sights and few businesses were open] for a holiday... Nonetheless, I'm glad that the Captain decided to defer the Biscayne Bay transit as scheduled and skipped Cobh [which I've also visited before and to which I eagerly return next July]...

I never say never when it comes to cruising... And I do enjoy crossings... But I am saying that my experience with a northern route Transatlantic leaves me a bit reluctant--for me, it's never about motion; I've endured far worse without difficulty--so as to rush to book another...

Enjoy Anthem! It looks like a terrific ship that will provide unique/fun experiences!

Other years, people have had great experiences from what I've read. I've done the Eastbound TA on Eclipse to Southampton last 2 years, and it was practically glass the whole way, the Caribbean was the rough spot.

To have missed the Eclipse eastbound Transatlantic--Miami to Southampton--during late April/early May 2012! It was not a star-crossed sailing...

Surely Celebrity can't control weather but it rained--I think we saw a total of four hours of sunshine [never on a port day] about 10 days into the crossing--the entire trip... In fact, the rain was so torrential that the drains around the pool [Deck 12] became so choked with water as to cause Michael's Club [Deck 5] to flood/to be closed... It was so cold--not chilly, cold--that many were wrapped in multiple blankets when venturing across open deck... Our port call at Cork needed to be cancelled [A Coruña was substituted; sadly we got there on a national holiday with most everything closed] so as to avoid gale force winds and 30 foot seas in the Bay Of Biscay [England and Wales encountered very significant flooding at the time]... Few toured so as to avoid being drenched... Fewer were ready for the weather dress-wise... And the Medical Department was doing a land-office business... It was the only cruise I've ever taken--and again, X did nothing wrong; instead they worked hard to keep guests comfortable and preoccupied with indoor activities--in which I couldn't wait for disembarkation!

Glad to hear about your better experiences and, if that sailing has become a tradition for you, hope that your track record continues... Me? Well I'm an adventuresome traveler but this one leaves me reluctant to repeat [that said, weather on Reflection's inaugural Transatlantic six months later--from Barcelona to Miami--was idyllic]...

As you note... No way to really know... When booking anything, I keep reminding myself that there are no guarantees and that Columbus took a chance! For the most part and aside from a few bumpy rides, that's worked...

The internet coupon was automatically associated with your room, so when you bought the internet package on your device, the coupon was already applied.

It had not yet [per an iLounge Manager]--at least as of early October--been implemented on all Celebrity ships... On some ships, the coupon is apparently still required when signing up for an internet package...

I don't know if the new, easier system has been implemented on Silhouette or not... Don't throw away the coupon until certain that it's not required!

2. We were in Aqua class. The cabin was fine on deck 11, although it's the same as all the other cabins as far as we could see. We liked the shower. The little perks are nice.

The AquaClass 1 cabins on Deck 11 are the same in interior size, design, layout, and furnishings as are the AquaClass 2 cabins on Deck 9 and the Concierge Class cabins otherwise offered on Millennium-Class ships... When Celebrity added those cabins several years ago, that "match" was the goal...

The difference is that those cabins are much newer and tend to show far less wear as they've been far less "lived in"... And some think that the Deck 11 cabins are in a better, quieter, less shaded location than are the AquaClass cabins on Deck 9 [situated under the cantilevered pool deck with more noise potential from above]...

The amenities associated with sailing AquaClass 1 and AquaClass 2 are otherwise identical...

Thanks for the explanation. I went into the celebrity site and saw that I am Explorer on Azamara despite the D+ on RCL so it seems the crossover isn't near equivalent. The Azamara perks aren't very interesting but they are so much more inclusive it doesn't matter. The only perk I would need more of is internet time. On a longer cruise with the slow speed of cruise ship internet it's not possible to check bills and email in an hour.

Then you should--as noted in my earlier post--be recgnized as an Elite member of Captain's Club when sailing with Celebrity and a Discoverer member of Le Club Voyage when sailing with Azamara...

If the Celebrity website is showing a lower membership level in the Celebrity and Azamara loyalty programs [as seems to be the case], that suggests to me that your level as cited is based upon your sailings with Celebrity and Azamara alone and doesn't consider your sailing history with Royal Caribbean at all...

As noted in the web citation in my earlier post, the linkage between the three loyalty programs is not automatic [though it is essentially so between Celebrity and Azamara; membership numbers tend to be the same] and one must enroll in each...

I'd suggest that you first check your sailing history with Celebrity and Azamara at the Captain's Club section of Celebrity's website [it's there on a combined basis] to be sure that you are properly enrolled in both of those programs... If so, you should then contact both Captain's Club and Le Club Voyage--by phone is fine--and provide each with your membershp number in The Crown & Anchor Society as I suspect that you either forgot or didn't know that it is necessary to do so... Once corrected, you will be recognized as an Elite member of Captain's Club and a Discoverer member of Le Club Voyage on a reciprocal basis during future sailings; i have the feeling that you have been "shorting" yourself from a loyalty perspective when you have cruised with Celebrity and Azamara in the past...

As if most of your sailing history is with Royal Caribbean on a stand-alone basis rather than with Azamara and Celebrity on a combined basis... Cruise points earned on Azamara and Celebrity cross-accumulate whereas Cruise Points earned on Royal Caribbean do not cross accumulate with either/both of the other two brands...

Following is from the Celebrity website...

-----

Reciprocity Between Brands

Equivalent recognition is one of the benefits of being a Captain's Club, Crown & Anchor Society and/or Le Club Voyage loyalty member. It offers loyalty members the opportunity to receive recognition and similar benefits with matching tier status–both pre-cruise and onboard–when sailing with one of the three brands. Members of one loyalty program must enroll in a sister program in order to receive equivalent recognition benefits.

Points on Celebrity and Azamara are earned cumulatively in both loyalty programs. For example, 20 Club Points earned on a Celebrity sailing will be reflected as 20 points in both Celebrity's and Azamara's loyalty programs. The total Club Points for the member will reflect all qualified points earned.

Points earned on Royal Caribbean are earned only for the Royal Caribbean loyalty program. Points of each loyalty program cannot be added together. Points are calculated using the applicable brand's program level accrual system.

-----

If I'm correct in assessing your cruise history, a Diamond Plus member of Royal's Crown & Anchor Society is recognized as an Elite--not an Elite Plus--member of Captain's Club when sailing Celebrity and as a Discoverer--not a Discoverer Plus--member of Le Club Voyage when sailing Azamara... The same concept operates in reverse... I am an Elite Plus member of Captain's Club and a Discoverer Plus member of Le Club Voyage based upon my cruise history with Celebrity and Azamara on a combined basis but--when I sail with Royal--I am extended Diamond membership benefits on a reciprocity basis; in order to achieve Diamond Plus benefits with C&A, I must earn all 174 Cruise Points with them to reach the next C&A membership threshhold [160 to go!]...

If you log into your Captain's Club account with Celebrity [and I suspect the same will be true if you were to log into your Crown & Anchor account with Royal], you will find that the rules for reciprocal recognition are clearly set out in the "Terms & Conditions" section of each loyalty program... There is a chart--which didn't cut/paste successfully here; I tried--that spells out reciprocal loyalty recognition across the three brands/programs...

No mentioned this -- but Oceania could buy either of the Princess ships -- especially considering they have a new parent with plenty of $$$.

That NCL has contracted to purchase Ocean Princess to augment Oceania's R-Class fleet... Didn't go to the source cited in the related post but seemingly the transaction is more than mere speculation...