Merriem

But with a 72-year with bad knees and luggage....??

I am 72 with bad knees, and wouldn't hesitate , but prefer the taxi the times we have done that. Also recommend the Fairmont waterfront.

Has anyone seen a site which details the Big Box TA's and who may be the best to deal with as names are not allowed on here?

 

In Canada the amount of OBC available booking with a TA is very little if any. The best one can do we found is booking with one large Big Box and getting a cash card which is provided after the cruise is over. In our case it amounted to about 8%.

I get 11% always with an online agent. No problems. Everything is in writing.

I thought it should be open B L D until I went on a cruise and ate there. It was so much food, I wouldn't have had room for 3 meals a day

I was on a Regent cruise, and saw some beautiful Roberto Coin 18K and diamond earrings. I didn't feel I could spend $3000 for them at that time. LAter we were in St Thomas and I saw them in white gold for $1300..don't like white gold..ended up getting them from New York for $1200. There are no bargains cruising or port shopping. The price on Regent was the full retail value.

Lots of Kors bags on Amazon for great prices.:)

I am not of fan off Michael Kors, but there are excellent buys on eBay.......just pay attention on who you buy from. I personally would avoid Amazon as the Chinese have invaded there, and the fakes abound.

One thing you can do is add some cities in chile to a weather app on your phone and compare. It is warm when you start and end and cool in the south. Great trip.

We have gone in March and for us it is just fine. It is a great trip and would not worry about the weather.

I get a nice 10% OBc.

I just came off of a 3 day cruise on Norwegian Epic, a cruise we sailed specifically to try out the Haven. Having a separate area was wonderful. It's not like we consider non-suite people riffraff or anything (although 3 day cruises in the spring tend to attract booze cruisers). It was just so much more quiet and secluded. When we ventured into the regular common areas it seemed very claustrophobic and crowded. Of course the Epic carries over 4k passengers so it was crowded. Still, it was nice to have that area where only people who booked cabins in the Haven could go. Every once in a while there would be someone who would make a snarky comment in the elevator, but then they didn't pay half of what I paid to stay in that area. Given the huge prices for Edge suites so far, I don't sweat people who pay that much for getting their privacy and perks.

We were in the Haven on the Breakaway. Considering IMHO that there is a different crowd on NCL, the Haven was nice. However on Celebrity I don't see that. We would book a suite, but have no interest in the Caribbean , so we most likely will not choose the Edge. So being separate I don't think that is necessary.

Stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront on the gold floor. Very nice. Just across the street from the cruise terminal

I have all Apple products and it works fine

Sometimes TA's have a block of unsold staterooms that they release back to Celebrity closer to sailing. Also, people cancel at the last minute. Very rare is it that you will not get an assignment in the category you booked.

 

Most of the time, if there is going to be an upgrade, a person that paid the 'full" price, for a Sky Suite, will get bumped to a higher suite. And then the person booking the GTY will stay in the Sky Suite category.

This trip from Perth to New Zealand and back to Sydney should be lovely. No doubt they have a method to their madness. We did pay a lot ...and their are no bad s1 cabins. Just dreading the long flight, as we have done it twice before.

Okay I went to the UK site. We have an S1 guarantee on an Australia New Zealand cruise, and they show no availability in any suite category. I booked a guarantee as that was all that was available, but am curious how it works now.

We are doing the 16 day Perth to Sydney via the southern route and around New Zealand March 2018. What kind of weather and seas can we expect in March?

We are too. Amazing itinerary

We have sailed Celebrity enough to be Elite, and NCL twice. NCL never again. Their specialty restaurants are about as good as Celebrity's MDR, it's nickel and diming all the time, and the service is poor at every level -- we were in a suite and the "butler" might have made a decent concierge, but she wasn't trained as a butler.

Well said. There is no comparison. Go on Celebrity

I saw a beautiful pair of Roberto Coin earrings in St Thomas some years ago. Did not buy them, but came back to the US and bought them from a reputable jeweler in NYC, and paid considerably less.

I have used an assortment of TAs, but the one I have now works for a big agency, and I get a flat 10% OBC, no hassles, no cancellation penalties. Very nice, and stays on top of things.

Couldn't be more pleased. That 10% is in addition to any promos with the cruise line and OBC with them also.

And that's because the Go Big/Better/Best promo is offered on that sailing......

Correct. With the exception of one from Valpariso to San Diego there are no perks because it is considered repositioning. That one is in a Celebrity Suite

Highly recommend the Park Hyatt if you can get a good rate. We were there for 10 days and it was amazing. Do take a trip to the wineries. Also, there are small tours...you don't want to drink and drive.

The Sky suite does not come with a premium beverage package. You get that with Signature, royal, penthouse and Reflection suite.

 

It may come with all 4 best perks plus an upgrade to the premium beverage package.

We have a sky suite booked for Australia March 5, 2018 and it comes with the premium drink package

The Sheraton was very nice but it won't compare favorably to the RC. The hotel physical condition was excellent and our room was very nice. We received great service from the staff. They helped us with our luggage problem. We did not use their main restaurant, so I cannot comment about that.

 

The location of the hotel has good and bad points. It is on the ocean which gives you great views. We could see Infinity from our balcony. However the hotel is a isolated and not within quick walking distance to anything. Most times we walked anyway just for the exercise and the sun. During one evening after enjoying a nice restaurant, we took a cab back to the hotel which cost 4 or 5 Chilean pesos.

Actually, we were at the Ritz in Feb, and it was not up to par. Thanks for the feedback

How was the Sheraton in Vina Del Mar? We have done the horn three times..love it, and in 2019 we will be doing VAlpariso to San Diego..will fly down early and stay somewhere on the coast. We have considered this hotel before, but always to stay at the Ritz in Santiago, and want to avoid the city this time. Thanks for your feedback in advance.

Our first of 40 cruises was on NCL, and we are platinum with them. However they have in our opinion really gone down hill, and would never go on one of their ships. We like Celebrity. They have an excellent product, and since we book suites the perks are outstanding. Spending time on vacation is great, but ever cruise isn't . Different requirements for different people.

Over the years we have done around the horn three times. It is an amazing trip and highly recommend it. We have also done the Galapagos twice. Enjoyed it the first time which was when they first started there, but did not care for it at all the second time 10 years later.

Absolutely not..tipping in the US seems to be out of hand. I have never had dealings

with a Captains Club hostess...