yorkyred

I can't remember a single person in shorts in the main dining room the last two weeks. Formal nights were ignored by maybe 20% of diners with most men wearing trousers and a short or long sleeve shirt most nights. Met a lot of nice people mixed in with one or two I would be happy never to meet again which I think is pretty standard on most cruise lines. Many of the very nicest people I met were the crew who were pretty much a pleasure in general.

I wasn't even considering the specialties for my upcoming solo on Eclipse due to the high cover charge and being dubious about the value. I wonder if they will offer those discounts to someone who is obviously solo. I would try Tuscan Grille ("The Italian Stakehouse") for 50% off. Murano sounds like it might be a little too long/formal for me and my e-reader.

For us Murano is the outstanding restaurant. Lobster cooked table side was great and if they are quite you would certainly get Tuscan grill as a solo guest as its a big space. At $25 dollars for Murano and $22.50 for Tuscan Grill and Quisine worth it it for the service and extra space and ambience.

How did you get the 50% discount?

We were offered Murano as we boarded the ship and all restaurants both at the entrance to and while eating in the ocean view cafe. I also got it by going to the Restaurant Tuscan Grill and asked for 50% off that night, we ate there twice and even got a third off the last night.

We could have eaten at a speciality restaurant every night at half price I think.

At the end of your cruise you will be given a flier, detailing the customs allowances, IF YOU ARE STAYING IN USA.

My husband bought a 32GB iPad in 2013, but we were only transiting through Miami and left later that evening to fly to LHR. I cannot remember the allowance exactly, but think it was £400. You only had to declare on the form if you were bringing goods for USE in USA.

Certainly this summer it was £390, but we were coming back to Southampton.

Ok, so we board Eclipse today and we we end our cruise are in a hotel for one night before a flight the next day. I take it that's not classed as staying in the USA.

Yes, prices on board re the same as an apple store on land.

 

Difference is there is limited number of options on board they nay only have the lowest memory version or may only have black when you want white, or they may be fully out of stock.

 

The savings is just in not paying the taxes, but your purchase will be reported to immigration authorities (at least they do to the US customs agents) so when you disembark, you better claim it or they will take you for a full search, My friend had this happen they asked if he bought any thing he said NO, they looked at a list they got from the ship, and puled him aside for an hour or so as they looked thru all his things, since he lied to them. Almost missed a flight home.

 

Often time the US authorities will let you pass without paying the duties so long as you are honest with them, though YMMV.

Sorry I'm a bit confused here. As a UK citizen if I purchase an ipad onboard ship I need to declare it to US customs ? Never heard of that before.

And yet they apparently had the same problems in 2012/2013/2014 for starters. I also doubt not having enough staff with a good few not knowing what's going on has much to do with 2015. Strangely Heathrow don't seem to struggle with this 2015 phenomenon.

Ok ,had a decent nights sleep now in a very nice bed. To be fair there were a good few flights in last night all at the same time but the organisation, certainly in the baggage reclaim area was a complete shambles. The lines at passport control were huge to start with and people were split into nationals and none nationals which confused many with not enough staff to direct people. After long flights people were making mistakes and I saw a guy in front of us sent right back to the back of the other line after a full hour in ours. Then the carnage that was baggage reclaim. Oh my god two separate lines a mile long just to leave the building with no staff telling anyone where or why they were queuing, people were cutting into lines that went past one of their carousels in all innocence which of course upset others. This was just to take another look at the immigration form already stamped by passport control. Now I've flown into a few airports in America including Orlando, Sanford, and Tampa last year and we did not have to go through that second process which caused those further delays. Remember to many if the Europeans this was 2-30 am in the morning with a good few having children. Now I'm all for security but all the second guy did was literally take the immigration form and ask us were we were staying. I've always been asked that at passport control. Anyway rant over but for those flying in I would suggest take some water with you be prepared to be patient. On the plus side the organisation of yellow taxi's was great and we only waited 5 minutes with a flat fee of $35 down to south beach displayed by the driver. You just pressed a small button to accept. Pity the weather here is crap though.

Hmmmm... I don't know Queen, I am the same age as you (but maybe more of a fuddy duddy already:D) and I felt like I was maybe a decade or two older than who they wanted on my last X cruise.

 

I did the clubbing thing in my twenties, but then again I was pretty poor back then and certainly did not have the means to vacation three or four times a year as I do now. I'm not really sure who Celebrity is trying to attract??

 

I have several friends who never would have cruised if it weren't for me saying how wonderful it was with Celebrity. I think they are cutting off their nose to spite their face by alienating their current loyal customer base in the hopes that their new desired demographic will magically fill the void.

 

I was always taught that it costs more to get a new customer than to keep an old one, but maybe with the new math that isn't true anymore!

 

Is it really that difficult to provide a variety of styles and volumes? I think that is all people really want.

The point you make about the number of vacations you are able to make brings up a question for Celebrity. It would seem a good number of people on here are pretty well off in average terms and have the ability to cruise a good number of times. Now in Britain that does not apply to the vast majority of younger people who would have one main holiday a year and are certainly not in that income bracket. My understanding is most people in the States get less annual leave than we do and won't have the same level of disposable income next to many older cruisers who may be retired after running successful businesses.

I see many posts stating no problem you can still wear a Tux so nothings changed. That's not correct because a formal night is special because of the overal ambiance which comes from the group dressing up. Half a dozen men in a Tux with the rest in trousers and a shirt will completely change this special night for many of us. I also don't buy this argument of its our money we can dress how we want. Well some of the most special nights we have had on land have been at places with a dress code. So again I guess if you have the money they should also drop, their standards because " you have a right".

How many of the folks who are vehemently opposed to this change are also those who complain of earsplitting music at the (fill in the bar/venue blank)?

 

Is it possible that the same demographic who complain about both are the most vocal complainers onboard and the least likely to be pleased with their cruise?

 

As a business owner, would that impact your marketing? As an employee who would you rather they market that product? The business I am in specifically targets the non-complainer group because they are the least adverse to our profitability.

I don't think there is the slightest correlation. I'm against this but have honestly never complained about one single thing on any cruise. I know people that complain about anything, I don't see anything in the way they dress that plays a part in that. I guess you have the traditionalists like me and my wife still only in our 40/50s who loved everything about cruising 20 years ago and are sick of one standard after another being watered down and others who are either newer to cruising or not really interested in the traditions. It's all about profits, packing more and more people into mega ships, and up selling. But hey I know that's how it's going and nothing will change that. Just think it's sad when even on here you have someone post something that's very fair and a reply is a snide " ta ta" sort of sums a lot up for me.

Yes. I'm 42 years old and leaving on a 24 night Seabourn cruise on 20 December. 3 formal nights, including Christmas and New Years. I'm bringing my tux and look forward to dressing up to celebrate these holidays with friends on a fabulous ship in a very special part of the world.

 

It's sad to see my once favorite Celebrity morf into Carnival, but then again, we all have choices and I'm moving on. One Zenith less to crowd the Captain's Club events.

 

In retrospect, this all started years back. Small, sophisticated ships (Zenith, Horizon) became mid sized ships and then mega ships (Solstice class) with lots of cabins to fill, mass promotions, unlimited booze packages and the clientele that's attracted by all that. Of course the dress code then has to go.

 

F

An excellent posting. This is just part of a bigger picture and everything you mention is part of that. You could add the constant up- selling and the dropping of food standards. It's all about attracting as many people as possible including some who don't care about a top notch product at a cheaper price. You then push everything when you have them on board to up the profits. Dressing up puts many people off so let's just not bother with it when we can make more money.

Celebrity's standard never was "Penguin Suit" only. Those who have gotten their wish can be assured that they will receive a cruise to match. No reason to be anything special to people who don't care. It is what it is and for those who don't know any better, it won't matter.

I guess I agree, it's another step down and of course people will push the boundaries of the lower standard so they then drop another level and you end up with shorts and a tee shirt.

And if the passengers can't be bothered/ don't care about standards why should the crew. It's only going one way I'm afraid and it's not upwards.

Another dumbing down of cruising for me very sad. Oh well, we are on Eclipse a week today and the tux is still being packed and will continue to be packed even after the changes. Really only Cunard are now sticking to many of the old traditions.

Not so much an "alternative" line as it is what disappointed Celebrity cruisers should try instead: Oceania.

We would like try Oceania anyway so that would be are choice.

good grief [emoji33]. you lot will be seeking independence next [emoji32]

No, we're happy with the Conservative government destroying our local authority jobs. We all want to work for private companies on minimum wages.

you are quite right about this little loophole.

 

I was made aware of this by someone from Sacramento which I understand is a hamlet in Strathclyde [emoji32]

Really, we had a Strathclyde region in Scotland which was abolished in 1996.

Well, my Wife and I are 2 Brits who have booked Select for our Eclipse Baltic Cruise and are quite happy to pre-pay our gratuities. When we do book Traditional we have always kept the tips on.

As are we of course, sadly thought there are a good number who don't share our views. Take a look at any thread on tipping on any forum and look at the nationality of the majority who remove gratuities. On another cruise site mainly used by Brits they asked for feedback on the removal of gratuities and around 95% stated they removed them. I took a lot of abuse including being called " a stupid Yank" because I disagreed with the practice.

Also interesting to us was that when we booked our cruise, only Select dining was available and the gratuities had to be prepaid. Our waitlist for traditional dining was "magically" cleared as soon as we made final payment. Now I think I have a better understanding of why we had to prepay if there are that many passengers cancelling their gratuities. I simply don't understand passengers who cancel unless the service was dreadful. The staff work long and hard hours and are dependent on tips to earn a living.

 

By the way, we'll see several of you next week - we are also on the cruise out of Miami on the 16th.

Yep, another trick used by many of the Brits is to book traditional where they don't need to prepay gratuities then just turn up for select dining when they get on board, so avoiding the tips. Seen a few brag about that one.

Can't answer to your drink price question, but we'll soon know as we're on the cruise after yours. We have a drink package and plan to upgrade once aboard so really it's not an issue for us. We've sailed out of Southampton before and the numbers worked out the same either way.

 

What stood out to me in your post was your comment about tipping - your table mates bragging about removing their tips because they think the staff should be paid more.

They KNEW the deal when they signed up for this cruise. This is how the cruise ship runs. So they must have signed up, boarded the ship, all the while knowing they would not tip the staff, while expecting to be served and waited on, and their cabin cleaned, etc. People just figure in the gratuities as part of the cruise fare. That's how it goes.

If they believe the staff is underpaid, how does NOT paying them help the situation??? I wonder if your table mates believe they're smarter and more enlightened than the rest of us, and that by not paying their tips they're going to singlehandedly change a system that works. I do hope they reconsider and I certainly hope they don't complain about one single thing this last week. The staff works even harder on a TA I would imagine.

Have a great rest of your week.

As you know we are on the same cruise as you. We don't cruise out of Southampton as we don't like the attitude of many Brits of removing tips to save money. Don't hold your breath on these individuals reconsidering, it's seen as a badge of honour by many I'm afraid. Honestly if I get anyone bragging about it at my table it's not going to be the best atmosphere that evening.

Does anyone actually pay these prices, the're absolutely ridiculous ?

Does a group Esta cost the same?

You can't save anything, just means you only need one reference number.

... and, believe me, you do NOT want to confuse the ESTA system.

 

 

 

You may now apply for multiple ESTAs as a group, rather than one at a time. I assumed that this is what the OP meant.

Yes sorry, it was a group Esta, think I'm just going to leave it as it is given others have had no problems

No, there is no requirement to change the address. Fine as it is.

 

Phil

Many thanks.

Hi guys, we still have our family Esta valid until next June. Are we ok with it as is or do we need to change anything such as our first day address in the U.S given its a hotel in Miami this time ?

I guess they balance the number of customers alongside profit per customers. Half the price and I'm guessing they double the number of customers but make little extra profit given most people seem to have drinks packages these days. Two thirds full and they make more profit at the higher price. We leave in a week and at say $25 we would probably have booked all three restaurants. At $45/50 we may try one or not bother at all. For me given you should add in maybe $20 already paid in the cost of the cruise the prices are now well over the top, but it's persona choice.