strickers

‘Celebrity E Class, Excellence is Everything.’ How much should I charge for that?

It’s an awful phrase probably thought by some highly paid marketing guru. The fact that it can be used in multiple ways make it ill thought out; Nothing Comes Close to Being as Bad for example.

Thanks, this is our first Celebrity cruise but we have booked SD elsewhere before. As soon as we board it's restaurant booking, muster call then bar which we usually manage in 15 minutes!

Yeah, it's bonkers. Current price is about $200pp for 3 nights including gratuity, if I add $50 for Edge dining I don't think it's worth it. There are 4 complimentary dining rooms so a bit of variety, on a 13 night cruise we could have the lobster/mignon add on almost every night in the MDR for a similar price.

I'm looking at the 3-night dining package for a cruise later this year, the discount is quite small, 7%. In other peoples experience do we see greater discounts or flash sales on special days, Independence Day for example?

@zoepipes I can’t comment about much of Europe but it works great in the UK. It should work in most of Europe too but we tend not to use it much. It tags onto the contactless system here so anywhere that takes contactless for small transactions should work.

For my North American friends, a few things, firstly tap and go is commonplace and possibly up to $120 or more for each transaction. Also, whilst it might be commonplace to hand your credit card over in the US/Canada never do so in Europe, they will always bring the card machine to you. Finally, if you can find a bank that don’t charge overseas fees then use them.

Fair comment and I did say on another thread this morning that from a safety perspective the decision not to sail was the right one. It's just the way in which this was communicated especially after the two cancelled cruises. Maybe Radiance should be rename Emotional Rollercoaster of the Seas?

There's a lot of anger being vented here and rightly so, but looking at the safety situation objectively then the decision not to sail is absolutely the correct one. However, what is totally unacceptable is the manner in which this significant change has been communicated, this storm and it's trajectory would have been know about several days ago. I doubt very much that the decision not to sail was made after everyone had boarded and it smacks of cynical corporate greed, earlier notice would have enabled people to cancel and rearrange their hard-earned holidays. Rant over.

No, not me but I’m due onboard next week. I just wish RC would be honest but I’m not feeling that that is the case. We fly from the UK in 4 days, if they tell me now then I can rescue my holiday, catch the train to Seattle and jump aboard Norwegian, there is currently limited availability. I really feel for those who have either had their cruises cancelled or as this one, completely messed around. We have a Vancouver to Vancouver 7 day, then the ship heads to San Diego before I think heading to the Caribbean. If I was a betting man I’d say they’d cancel my cruise to make sure she’s fit for the winter. Maybe I’m overthinking?

Huge itinerary change down to weather, but from where I sit the weather looks OK, not great, but OK.

It appears it’s sort of happening. After all the angst to be presented with this after boarding is inexcusable.

Back on topic, she’s pottering around, not sure how they are getting on but fingers crossed. Does anyone else think there’s a missed opportunity for an etch-a-sketch moment here?

But that’s why we plan and train for the worst case scenario. You don’t want to be learning the first time you see it. Only difference is I’m going 300Kts but at least I can turn around quickly.

I guess the advantages of multiple generators connected to a central distribution system is not only redundancy but the ability to load shed non-essential services in an emergency? On the Boeing we have 3 generators, one powered by each engine and one powered by the auxiliary power unit. If we lose one of the main ones the aircraft load sheds galley power etc so that essential services are still powered while we start the spare, only takes a couple of minutes. I suppose you could argue on a cruise ship that the galley is an essential service though!!

So are the engines diesel electric, the big advantage of using electrical power is the removal of a need for gearing? That is electrical power used to turn the screw and to move the azipod?

I was being flippant, LEAP is very slow starting compared to the old CFM56.

You can probably start a cruise ship engine quicker than you start a LEAP!

⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️ chengkp75 sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Ask me one on Boeing 737's and I might be able to answer. (Apologies for the thread creep!)

Combining with a sea trial?

As someone about to visit the US and Canada for the first time in a number of years I'm finding that the tipping 'culture' has gotten completely out of hand. What was designed as something to reward outstanding service has become something a reliant and sometimes entitled group expect for whatever service they provide. It's about time employers started paying a fair wage for fair work and employees get the opportunity to shine and take home a little bit more. For servers to become so reliant on tips in order to make ends meet is just wrong, for this to be the norm rather than the exception is obscene and a gross abuse of the situation. Several years I ago I visited Japan where tipping will almost certainly be turned down, the staff pride themselves on providing good service and employers pay them a fair wage. I'm perhaps unusual as a Brit because I do tip, usually 10% if I've had good service but I'm not afraid to not do so if the service is poor or mediocre. I also understand that almost all staff on cruise ships work hard and provide excellent service, for that reason I can accept the daily gratuity but I wish the ships would be more transparent about their pay structure and pay fairly. But with many of the staff coming from poor countries and being reliant on sending money home to support their families there will always be a ready stream of employees willing to do the work. Anyway, rant over. Time to continue working on Plan B just in case Radiance doesn't make it for our 22/09 sailing, (09/22 for my North American friends and 22 Sept which normally avoids all confusion). Sail On.