OCA REP

Hello, everyone!

I have a co-worker that will be cruising on the Carnival Elation out of Jacksonville, FL this June with her daughter and a number of other recent high school graduates and their parents.  It has been about 25 years since we cruised Carnival, but I am a member of Cruise Critic and told her I would post her questions and provide her feedback... so thanks in advance!

• Are you allowed to take a Yeti-style stainless cup to use onboard?  If so, can you use this cup to refill with ice and water onboard?

• Will there be a hair dryer in each stateroom... or must she take one with her from home?

• Is the cruise terminal in Jacksonville the best place to park when driving to join the ship?

• If her daughter's passport does not arrive in time, will they accept a certified birth certificate to board the ship?

• Does anyone know if there is somewhere relatively close to the Jacksonville Cruise Port where water can be purchased in cans or cartons?  She is not 100% sure what type of water containers Carnival allows you to bring onboard at embarkation... and the maximum quantity.

4 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

*the lady was extremely hard to understand.

*She confirms that the people can be very hard to understand and that Viking, in her experience, is not easy to work with for air.

*Said she dreads calling them every time cause they "farm out their air department calls" (?) and, again, she can't understand their employees.

All of the above!

Called yesterday and after finally being transferred to Air+, she had a very strong accent and English was not her first language.  After a back and forth, she transferred me to the Air Resolutions Desk and the lady there was great, but again a very strong accent that required most everything being repeated.

We still have no understanding of the fare class the DL tickets supplied by Viking.  They do appear as 'X' fare on DL, but DL insists they are a bulk rate and cannot be used with the DL GUCs for upgrade.  The Air Resolutions Desk insisted that if I asked for a supervisor at the DL Diamond Medallion Line that they should be able to sort things out for us... but that has not been the case.

No one (at Viking) seems to understand that a valid (minimum) fare class is required to use a DL GUC and if I can get the minimum fare class ticketed, DL can take it from there.  This is all so frustrating... there has got to be a better way!

Please do share any insight if you are a DL flyer that might have ever been caught in this quandary.  Thanks!

On 7/17/2022 at 2:34 PM, Peregrina651 said:

IF you are going to be upgrading with points, remember that not all ticket classes can be upgraded -- and not all all classes of tickets are necessarily available through Viking. Let Viking know you plan to upgrade so that they can steer you in the right direction.

Wish I had know this a few months back!

We’re in a quandary now with DL as we’re Diamond Medallion and Viking early ticketed us for no charge and we planned to use DL GUCs to upgrade to D1, only to be told by DL that the fare was a bulk fare even though it displays as an ‘X’ fare on the DL app… which should be upgradable. This is an awful learning curve and we’re less than 30 days out now and availability is getting severely limited! 

On 7/17/2022 at 3:31 PM, keokukjoe said:

1. No cost for early ticketing yesterday.

2. Viking will tell you what booking code you are reserved under - just ask. Some codes allow upgrades (via cash or miles), some don't. These are published and easily accesible  via Google. Also depends on your status with the airline in question. Frankly, I upgraded to Premium Economy (Premium Select) on Delta because the booking code for that service allows us to easily upgrade to Delta One via Delta not Viking. Just need to decide whether to use miles or cash.

Correct; we were not charged an early ticketing fee two months ago. 
We’re rather bummed that we were not aware of the booking code issue and didn’t know to inquire before having the flights ticketed. We’re sitting on DL GUCs and they’re not helping us one bit in this situation. 

On 5/29/2019 at 11:00 AM, molymoo said:

Call Viking Air and they will ticket it early so you can do your thing with the airline ... keep in mind that you will have to understand that there are "no backsies" after ticketing or it will cost you!

We are in this boat now... would like to put a couple of Delta GUCs to use, but our hands are tied until Viking Air tickets our trip, even though we can see everything associated with the trip when logged into Delta.  Viking Air gave us the '75 days before travel excuse,' but I will try again after reading your response.

I'm not familiar with 'no backsies.'  Is that akin to there's no going back?

On 5/30/2019 at 6:19 AM, RStanton23 said:

Thanks, you are correct.  Regardless, I cannot upgrade seats with points or cash despite that the seats are open.

I wonder if you ever received a favorable resolution to your issue?  I stumbled upon this thread just today while trying to locate additional information on Viking Air Plus.  Thanks.

If they made the beverages in the minibar free, there’s no control. You could share them at will, give them to minors, etc.

Re-read what you wrote and you will see that beverages being free (or not) has nothing to do with the consequences you listed. You can share them as you see fit now... at will or with minors, etc. <SMH>

The Oceanview Bar and the buffet are both on deck 10. But it's not close the buffet.

If they have not moved either of these venues, the Oceanview Bar is DIRECTLY BEHIND the buffet.

With DELTA, flights( times, equipment size etc) are changed constantly.. you have to keep watching as they do not always tell you promptly.

You have a large number of posts on here, so you probably travel a good deal. If that is the case, you should be aware that DL is not alone in these types of changes. ALL airlines are guilty of this, but I am happy to see that this has been resolved and things look good now for the OP.

We’ve seen everything, even down to the shorts and sports tops on Chic night.

Hmmm... not sure about this, must have been some extraordinary circumstances involved. When we did the Bermuda cruise, we thought Bermuda 'shorts' might be allowed, but no, they were not.

Not all of us think that that it is so "unfortunate."

Amen on that!

For those experienced London travelers, do you have a favorite London hotel? We're staying four nights in August pre cruise.

We had an excellent stay at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. Five minute walk to the High Street Kensington Tube Station. Large rooms and a great staff!

What do cruisers do, are you guys all just heading up to the buffet until rooms are ready? Always enjoyed the easygoing pace of sitting with a place to put hand luggage, etc and being served.

You did not identify your cabin category.

Our last three cruises on Celebrity have been in suites and lunch in Luminae was very good, as was the service. Passengers either brought their hand luggage with them or left it with the concierge in Michael's Club.

It seems that there is always someone on CC who will make fun of people with disabilities; SAD.

 

I hope the OP finds the help they’re looking for....

Sorry, Cheryl... I don't see where anyone is making fun of a person with a disability. Was that post deleted or are you just being a busy body?

1. Do the merchants that sell the flowers sell plastic vases or something similar? I really don’t want to buy any because I don’t want to carry them back on a plane.

Don't give this a thought. When we visited Seattle aboard the Infinity, we were in a suite and bought a variety of flowers. We gave them to our butler and he came back later with just a gorgeous arrangement in a glass vase. No matter the category of cabin, I would think your cabin attendant would do the same. They are used to this in Seattle!

2. If not, will the staff on board the Solstice have any that we could use?

Yes; this should not be an issue. SO MANY people take advantage of the market there, so flowers are kinda expected.

3. Hopefully I can get some of the chemical packages that keep the flowers fresh. ?

We did not use anything of that nature and our flowers lasted a while.

We are on the November 25-December 9 sailing the solstice from Sydney to Auckland. Any chance Christmas decorations will be up while we’re on board?

I would so yes.

Our transatlantic had them up near the end of the cruise... and I thought that was a little early, but we certainly did not complain.

Enjoy!

please could recent celebrity cruisers advise if the dress code has been changed ?

Ie that there is no longer any dress code and passengers can and do go to the dining rooms for dinner in flip flop and shorts ?

We have sailed with celebrity previously but have just been told that there is no longer a dress code policy.

Personally if this is true I think it’s a shame

Welcome your thoughts and comments

Thank you

Please don't feed the trolls!

I like sailing out of Bayonne as it is only a 10 hour drive

Wow... surprised at the drive-time tolerance some are able to endure!

Four hours is about our limit. Give me the 30 minute drive to DTW and a hop over to EWR over a ten hour drive.

Either way, we'd be joining a cruise, so there is that! ;)

Try this url https://www.celebritycruises.com/flights-by-celebrity

I reviewed that site before I posted.

When I looked earlier, it appeared that both the Celebrity ChoiceAir and Flights by Celebrity links took you to the same page... hence my question.

We received our Celebrity Summer Newsletter yesterday and there is an article touting 'Flights by Celebrity.' Is this the new name for 'Celebrity ChoiceAir?'

Most of the perks/benefits appear to be the same, so was not 100% sure if this is just a marketing change, or something totally new. I searched the Celebrity Forum, but did not see this mentioned yet.

Thanks!

Since there could be a wait for a particular table, they suggested we wait in Michael's Club and called the MC concierge when the table was ready. We were pampered in Michael's while we waited and then pampered in Luminae - a special night!

This was our norm on the Infinity last year during a Pacific Coastal. We had a waiter team that we bonded with during embarkation lunch and dined with them at all meals after that. The hostess was perfect and everyone was just a joy to deal with. We'd go to Michael's just before dinner for a cocktail and social time. We would let Eric know that we would head to dinner whenever our 'team' in Luminae had a spot, with our preference being a window table. We bonded so well with the Luminae hostess, she would often walk to Michael's to summon us... nice touch and a great vacation!

I think the general consensus is that people need to be physically prevented from putting themselves into danger rather than just warned about it.

From where is this general consensus coming?

We are already 'nanny-stated' to the extreme. It is unfortunate that this lady died from her own actions, but I have been there and the signage is very clear. We were able to enjoy take offs and landings from either side of the small beach without putting our lives in danger. As an aviation enthusiast, I do not want to see any type of wall built there that will restrict the view!

It has theater style seating

Unless the seating has been replaced, this is not theatre-style seating... just chairs with some additional padding.

the seats are very comfortable.

I guess for an hour class or presentation... not for much more.

Here is our perspective of this cruise.

Interesting read. What ship was this review of... unless I just missed it, I did not see a ship named.

Thank you.

I don't know about the knowledgeable part...I asked for a Paralyzer in a few bars on my March 2017 B2B Constellation cruise and they had no idea until I finally found a "knowledgeable" bartender midway thru my second cruise. I also asked for a Pain Killer during my 30 days on the ship and no bartender knew how to make one or the desire to google it.

I believe that when ordering more obscure drinks, or something that you might prefer to be made a certain way, you should know the ingredients and be able to communicate that to the bartender. I would not assume a bartender is going to Google a drink recipe. Perhaps a PARALYZER or PAIN KILLER are well known cocktails, but I have never heard of them.

We enjoy a top-shelf margarita made according to a recipe we enjoy at home. A friendly discussion with the bartenders at the Mast Bar and Michael's Club, along with instructions on the proper preparation, got us service with a smile... and a nearly perfect margarita each time.

Enjoy yourself!

M class ships changed the loungers during last dry dock and they are now more comfortable.

Yes... this made a world of difference. Great improvement!

It's very annoying

This is so queer. I stay signed into CC from my work computer, my iMac at home, and my iPad. I have never logged out of CC on any device... and have never been asked to sign in except for the first time on each device. I wonder what the common piece of this puzzle is? I am reading this on the Celebrity forum... have any of you posted this issue under the thread about issues with the updated CC look and associated glitches?

I am sure that many parents (and grandparents) will take note of which ships have lifeguards and it may influence their cruising choice.

(y)(y)(y) ^^^ T H I S ! ^^^ (y)(y)(y)

I certainly hope you are correct!