BosoxI

Thanks! DH will be soooo happy.

 

Topper = sounds like one of the bizarre shows we saw on Anthem of the Seas a few years ago!

It's terrible. If you have nothing better to do so, you might want to suffer through it. Otherwise, Tie One On In the martini bar or go to bed early and find something more amusing.

UPDATE: my friend is in the hospital and so far all her possible prognoses are kind of ....not great. The leading contender being MS or an MS like "autoimmune transverse myelitis." But nothing positive yet. She still has another MRI and a lumbar puncture to go. Then probably a course of IV steroids. They're also going to consult w/ an infectious disease specialist. Not sure what they're looking for there, nor is she. SHe's mostly in shock.

All I can say is if this HAD to happen THANK GOD it didn't happen on the ship. When she goes home her DH and adult kids and her sister and brother in law (both retired RNs) live very close by so she'll be well taken care of.

 

ANOTHER NOTE: I called my TA w/ a hypothetical IF she cancelled and IF I still wanted to go and was told the BEST THING (in case this happens to anyone else) to assure the reservation isn't cancelled accidentally by Celebrity, is to call and email the TA and have her ask "TO BE REMOVED FROM THE BOOKING" so no one will think she means CANCEL the booking. She will do this tomorrow. Then she sends in the email to the TA, invoices and doctor's document that she's unable to travel.

 

Again thanks for the well wishes. I told her it could be a lot worse. She's almost 70 and I said "You COULD be pregnant!" OY VEY and stuff.

Dear Sharon, You are a good friend and she is lucky to have you. My wife's dear friend of many years is going through a downward spiral, so I can appreciate your concern. We probably will not bump into each other, as I tend to disappear on board, but if you see an older man mostly grey, quite slender still, and 6'5" tall, please identify yourself. I would like the honor. My wife is a dazzling natural honey blond and not at all jealous, although I am as studly as ever (almost)

Ken

For that cruise the starboard side will be the sunny side.

And for us that is a consideration on TAs which generally are in cooler weather. But for the right price and cabin location, we'll take the shady side:cool:

I have often wondered what authority monitors liquor on cruise ships. Once at sea anything can occur, of course, but in port does anyone board to check?

Yes, we had him on the Eclipse as well in Luminae in December. Great guy.

 

 

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Yes, we remembered him in Luminae last December. He was very good and we're looking forward to meeting him next week.

I would go on the five day, but with the possible exception of lousy food on a Greek line ship many years ago, the food on our last Infinity cruise was the worse we ever encountered at sea. But that was some years ago and that chef is long gone. Ya never know for sure. I always liked Princess' food better but times change. Cruise food in general is too bland for my taste, incidentally.

Hello,

 

I may be adding two and two and getting five but I think from the OP's user name he/she may be from the UK in which case changing a guarantee cabin (booked under UK T&Cs) is not permitted even within the same cabin grade.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

And the use of "don't" rather than the American/Canadian "doesn't"

In January of 2017 we booked back to back cruises on Silhouette sailings in December 2018. Even that far in advance the same cabins were not available in our category. By checking over the next year and a half, I have been able to move the cabins closer together so now we will have only a single cabin between. Not a big deal to move, but the stewards will have it easier:D

Posters have said they just traded drawers. Is that actually possible?

I would have probably sat down in the open chair and told him that I'm sure we will have an enjoyable dinner together. Being a woman, I doubt he would have done anything other than get up.

Funny. That thought occurred to me too. With the comment "What looks good?"

Several years ago on a Princess ship two people stood in the walkway in front of a group of us, completely blocking the view of the stage. I politely asked them to leave and the woman was particularly nasty. I asked a staff member to have them removed and, of course, nothing happened. Eventually, the man knelt which solved his problem. My wife and I left and I was really hot. To this day I wish I had called security. I don't know why I didn't

At this point booking any cabin on the Edge is buying a pig in a poke as far as I'm concerned. None of us really knows how good it will be and yet we're putting up big bucks for the privilege of finding out. We have a seven day cruise in April and that will be the basis for determining whether or not we keep the November 2019 TA. We got a good price on that considering the high prices being charged but it's still much more than we have paid in the past so the Edge is really going to have to be special. The more I read some of the posts of knowledgeable people, the more concerned I am that the Edge might not suit us

On 14 day Eclipse SAmerica cruise & have a 2B in a location we like, near back elevator. Guarantee Concierge is now priced at same as 2B.

Never been in Concierge and we never book under an activity deck

 

Other info: a C3 is ~$400 more than a 2B for 2 people. There are still lots of cabins available in C3, 50 as of now. I don't want to pay for a C3 at the $400 rate. Final payment is 5 days away and prices have come down $600 since booking in May:). Expect price reductions after final pay with the amount of cabins available.

 

Not sure about upgrading after final pay. Booked thru large online agency & they have been good about price reductions.

Question: would you opt for upgrade to guarantee C?

Any suggestions or strategy?

The only time we ever booked the Concierge was when we were trying to amass Elite points. The benefits seem very slight so if you are happy with the 2B and don't need the points, I would recommend you stay put

Thanks for posting....we do enjoy Indian food. I know the ambiance etc would have been better at Sushi on 5 compared to Oceanview but was the actual food better?

Good question. I always take advantage of the Indian offerings in the buffet, but I would jump at the opportunity to have the sushi on 5 offering if it were available. I don't ever recall seeing this type deal on any of our previous cruises

If they're hawking their goods I'll be very disappointed. I've never had a hard sell while walking past those shops. They've always been friendly and never a problem. So this would be a real turn around from what I've experienced in the past. I am a survivor of the Bazaar in Istanbul before things toned down there and as a New York native, I can tell you some stories in lower Manhattan from certain shopkeepers years ago. I hope there's some exaggeration going on. I shall see in 9 days

We got to the port at roughly 10:30. It took less than 15 minutes for us to make it through security and check in. We stood around for 15 minutes until about 11 and then they started letting Suite passengers on followed by us. I’d say we were on board by 11:05 or 11:10. We always like showing up early and wandering the ship to see if we know any of the staff before it gets too crowded.

 

 

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Thank you for the info. Usually I ignore your type of travelogue, but perhaps because we're next up or maybe because of your style, I'm finding your postings very interesting. Thanks for taking the time

I was the recipient of a MoveUP offer that was successful on the August 6th Eclipse cruise. Some data points:

 

1. I received the original email about 3 weeks pre-cruise. I made offers in all suite categories (Sky Suite, Celebrity Suite, Royal Suite), but none of the non-suite categories. I was booked in a a "hump" balcony cabin. My offers were on the weak side. No inventory was showing in any of the suite categories.

 

2. About 12 days pre-cruise, a single Sky Suite appeared in inventory for sale. It was an aft corner. I revisited my offers, and pushed up the Sky Suite bid to the middle of the range, more or less. The available Sky Suite disappeared from online inventory about 8 or 9 days out.

 

3. Seven days before the cruise, my Celebrity and Royal Suite offers were declined by email. About an hour later, I was notified by my credit card company that I had been billed for the amount I had bid for the Sky Suite upgrade. An hour or so after that, I was advised by email that my Sky Suite offer was accepted, and I was assigned the same Suite that had been available in inventory until a few days prior. I believe it was a cancellation, because when we boarded there was a single piece of "mail" for a person under another name.

 

4. It took about two hours online before the new cabin showed up in our reservation.

 

A bit OT, I have to say that the suite experience was amazing, and made the cruise for us. It took it to a whole new level. We decided we would rather cruise a little less often with this level of comfort and service.

Glad you got it and enjoyed it at a price, I hope, that was under what it would have cost more recently. I'm still a Regent fan but DW and I have five X cruises lined up and we're considering another while on the Equinox next week. But this time we might go for an SV with a dining package, as the S1s are now so expensive. If I have to pay that much, Oceania and Regent are in play. Thanks for the timeline.

At what time did you actually board the ship? We'll be on the 9/3 cruise and usually board around 1 but this time I feel we should try to be a bit earlier for some unexplained reason.

That's a shame because 1599 was open on the 12/9 cruise, I posted it on the roll call. DH and I are your next door neighbors on 12/9. It'll be here before we know it. You should come back to the roll call and say hi.

I can't keep track anymore. We are currently booked on six cruises on three different Cruise Lines. I waste too much time on the computer and the weather has been so beautiful I should be outside:D:D:).

We're on Silhouette Dec. 9 this year. It probably is showing as not available because you put the hold on it. I did something similar. I saw a preferable balcony to the one we had, put a hold on the one we have now and called my TA. While I was on the phone with the TA, I went online and I released the hold and the TA grabbed it. 1603 is also a great cabin with the large balcony. If you're in that one on Dec. 9 we're you next door neighbors! You are listed on the Dec. 9th Silhouette roll call. (I know because I've been keeping and updating the list.) Have you dropped that cruise or are you still on it?

 

1599 probably dropped back in because whoever booked it used a TA. Ours takes final payment about 2-4 weeks prior to when X requires. Sometimes, especially before X started with non-refundable deposits, people reserve multiple cruises and before final payment cancel some or shift reservations. I've seen some prime located cabins show up about 3 months before. Glad you were able to take advantage.

I saw 1599 on the November 30 trip was available but you indicated it had been taken. When I returned to the X site, it was showing as available, so I grabbed it. At that point I figured we were on different cruises. If it had been showing as available on the December 9 cruise, I missed the boat, as I could have switched from 1603 to 1599 and avoided the cabin switch. We've switched before on B2Bs and it's not a big deal, but having the same cabin is ideal. I had been checking fairly regularly, but it is a matter of luck and timing. Oh, well.. We could have moved to 1610 on the 11/30 cruise, which is a very nice cabin we've had before, but that move wasn't appealing. With 1599 we should have the same steward.

I posted on our Roll Call that it was available. It's a great location and the extra large balcony is nice. I hope you grabbed it because I just checked and it's now gone. We love the slant balconies midship. We can get both sun and shade and enjoy the extra room. It's close to the mid-ship elevators and stairs and it's convenient to just walk the flight to the pool deck. Also we like the convenience of being close to the pool deck to use our own bathroom rather than the public ones nearer the pool. We get a bit of exercise that way!

Thanks for your info and good wishes. Fortunately, we must be on different cruises, as I just put a hold on it. We're on a back to back and our next cabin is 1603. It would be nice if the X agent would let me make the switch without involving my TA, but either way it will be ours I wonder why people are canceling 1599. :) :) Which cruise are you on?

But you can’t set up Uber (don’t know Lyft but I assume the same) prior, you have to get through security/customs prior. If you sets up Uber before you get through it all and get hung up, Uber does Not wait for any real length of time, in my experience.

 

Den

The good news is that the call can be made once through customs and the chances are good he'll be there in minutes. At least that's my experience. Cabs are ridiculously expensive and so are gypsy cab drivers. 10:15 is still too early

We are booked in #1597, the first cabin forward of the hump/slant. I just noticed the cabin next to it #1599 has become available. It's the first cabin on the slant and I am thinking it would be a bit better Can someone advise? Thanks

In any event take Uber or Lyft

Coolcruise02, Were the officials American? I had the Machu Picchu stamp on the last page of my passport and had no trouble because no one ever saw it. I'm glad I didn't know I could get a stamp in Tierra del Fuego as my passport was new at that time

I haven't been on Princess in a few years but they used to have stamps for each Cruise. I mean actual lick'em stamps, not to be put in a passport, of course. They would hand out a book to enter them in. A nice idea but I don't know whether it's still done

Tell them you do not want any upgrade and only want an FV cabin. But the internal FV cabins on an M class ship are akin to being in a tunnel as far as I am concerned. Only the corners are worthwhile for my two cents worth but, boy, they are really worthwhile!

No one has come even remotely close to what our favorite thing on a sea day is:D:D:p

I suspect this will be considered heretical, but I get the feeling that the MC is a bit of a carnival sideshow. The Edge looks like a beautiful ship, and I credit Celebrity with innovation, but the MC strikes me as 2018's answer to a merry-go-round.