Tom-n-Cheryl

We had a short cruise on Regal Empress (Imperial Majesty Cruise Line) many years ago. That's really the only time I felt hungry much of the time. Ordering room service, you had to order 2-3 sandwiches in order to have enough meat for 1. The main feature at the buffet was little smokies. Oh, and you could only double your 9-10-11 in Blackjack to top it all off... LOL When it was time to fill out the customs form, I had to go to guest services to use one of their pens. She handed me one, and told me she'd need it back (heck, it might have been the only one onboard)!! I hated that cruise -- and was thrilled when they scrapped that ship! Tom

WOWZA !!

The butterfly effect is a thing ! 🙂 Tom

...and our last cabin steward basically told me, after I asked for evening service, that it was not fixed - and that he'd get to us sometime during the day (morning/evening). After a little more discussion, he then understood that he'd not be able to access our cabin (SNOOZIN) except during the evening. Tom

Yep 👍

We were spotted disappearing into them. #CAUGHT

So - we've taken this tour on Fantasy, Spirit, and Conquest class ships. I'm thinking that there's not much more to see on an Excel class ship (I mean, do they cut the vegetables in a different direction or something .. lol)?

We have not experienced that, not in the Presidential. The only time something close to that occurred (and we showed them around) was when we stayed in the Owner's Suite (S1 or S2) on Fantasy class ships. Tom

OK - I actually found a sailing with a Presidential suite available on the Celebration. My top listed (best offer) was a " PLAY 'N' CHILL " rate of $4,425. I then scrolled down to find the rate for the Elite offering code and it was $8,309. Both included DOUE - so.... I don't think the Elite benefits justify the FOUR GRAND hike in price !!! Tom

As much as I'd like to book through a (GREAT) pvp that we have, with the intervening time between my finding the (rare) cabin which we'd prefer and him getting it booked, it would be gone. So... on my own I often go. Having said that, none of the Elite offerings are tempting enough. There was an ABC sailing on the Celebration I saw this morning, but the only Excel cabins still available were forward. We'll book if there's an aft or presidential. No interest in a forward !! BTW - what's with the CRAPPY offerings ... why would I sail on a ship which goes to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Nassau.... CRAP. Of course, perhaps I need to open my mind up a bit, as I don't sail for the ports --- it's the ship !!! LOL Tom

The only way to fly 😄

Oh - wait -- never mind !! It was actually $2065 I paid (which includes tax/gratuity/whatever!). I went in and did a mock booking of another cabana (at $1750) and the total came out to.... $2,065 !!! So... sale, schmale !!! Tom

Yep - I just called "the fun shops" and was told to do the same. I then pointed out to them that I did the exact same thing for a prior sailing (after already having our preferred cabana) a year or more ago. Thirty seconds later, when I went to rebook at the lower price, the one I had released was not returned to inventory. I kept checking several times over the next hours, and even days - and it never came back up. Thus, I didn't end up having a cabana that sailing, as there's only one we like. So... I'll just let it go - and know that I paid a premium to get our preferred cabana... Tom

What the heck ?? !!! I thought I'd just go in and see how many were left for our 10/22 Celebration sailing. I booked our cabana months ago (same one we had in May) for $2,000. Now I see that they're running a "sale", apparently since there are 7 left (out of 12). I wonder if I can get a refund or some OBC !! Tom

I'll pass on all offerings (again). A couple that I considered didn't have any cabins that we'd want to book. No worries ! Tom

Interesting - I thought that all Elite offers included (essentially) CHEERS. Tom

Try booking a full suite on Celebrity or Royal (yikes) !! Tom

No doubt - 🙂 It's interesting to note that, for years, I was often the only person (perhaps 1-2 others on some sailings) who played at the $25 BJ table on Carnival. Now it's not uncommon to have to wait to get a seat - at least on the Celebration and Mardi Gras. Of course, back then, Big Macs weren't nearly $6 either (aka, $25 ain't what it used to be) !!! Tom

I don't have the data, but are Elite sailings more capacity controlled? The last Ultra I went on was a madhouse (with Ultras). I like a little elbow room myself 🙂 Tom

I should add.... and similar wins too 😁

My guess is that many who receive the offers have probably experienced high 4 to low 5-digit losses at some point. Tom

It starts to get really interesting on your 50th and 75th, as then you can start getting some serious OBC to work with! Cheryl is a couple cruises ahead of me, and used her 50th on a chartered music sailing (VH-1 in 2011). I was surprised that they allowed it to apply to that cruise since the fares are substantially more than regular rates for those types of cruises. So that's something to consider since casino offers don't apply to them. I forget the exact amount, but on the Celebration earlier this year we cashed in our on our 75th milestone credit. Between that and $2,000 on board credit from a casino offer, we ended up with several thousand in cash to use, which we used up easily (steakhouse for something like 13 people the first night as well as jewelry store and casino visits). Tom

Yep - to me, it's just another wager 🙂 Tom

Pretty much all the "good rate" booking codes mean you're throwing some $ into the ring that will be forfeited in cases of cancellation. I've probably thrown away $600 in the last year or so ($200/sailing) on cruises I booked, and then had a change of plans... 😞 Tom

Man, you'd think they'd waive such charges when you're UPGRADING. Tom