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Is the brunch everyday, as advertised?

We just returned from a five night Western Caribbean on the Empress ( 9/3-9/8). Brunch was served in the main dining room on both sea days. Other days MDR was used for the normal sit down Breakfast. Diamond on deck five, pinnacle and D plus in chops.

There were two C & A events. Diamond and above day one on the aft open deck behind Bolores on deck six. Passed cocktails and wine with appetizer. All levels in the theater on the first sea day with an officer receiving line. We didn't attend so I don't know what was served. The events were short, forty five minutes for the Diamond and a half hour for general C&A event.

We both felt that this cruise really offered a lot of value for the dollars spent. If you go with an open mind as to what a ship this size has to offer I think you will enjoy your cruise. :)

I hope not too many people are that stupid.

People fall for this everyday. Just looking for the signs, 50% off. 80% off. The question really is off what?

It is important to interpret value and not get looked on just price IMHO. :)

I would guess that there are far more rooms being held by travel agents than their are by individual cruisers.

You would be guessing wrong.:):)

Normally a deposit on a booked cruise is refundable. There have been times were a deposit on a future cruise certificate is non refundable.

We will be needing Euros for our various ports. What is the easiest way to get cash onboard? I know in the past I have seen large lines by the desk area.

There usually is one euro ATM and one dollar ATM. The exchange rate is the international rate and the transaction fee was 6 dollars. Don't exchange at the guest services desk as that rate is usually pretty bad.:)

is there a site that I can go to price check my cruise on royal Caribbean?? is it our ta responsibility or my own to find those price drops?

Yours.

Using a TA that groups you into a group booking could prevent being able to get a price drop before final

Disagree with this statement.:)

My husband and I typically sail in AQ cabins with standard verandas, so I don't have any direct experience with this.

 

I'm getting ready to book two regular veranda cabins on the Sillhouette for a family vacation and the TA (recommended by a friend) insists that he's been on all those balconies and they are indiscernable in size from regular balconies. Everything I've read contradicts this.

 

My questions - Is this TA speaking accurately?

 

And I guess more importantly, if he's not, should I bother booking with him?

 

Thanks,

Michelle

The cabins actual on the hump have normal size balconies. The Cabrini on the slant have oversize balconies look at a deck plan for appropriate cabin numbers

The booking can be transferred between RCL lines but the credit may vary.

My 16-year-old daughter and I are spending the month of June in Europe, with the intention to go where our hearts and pocketbook take us. We had not planned to take a cruise, as ours is a budget trip, but some of the cruise prices have dropped so much for this summer that many are quite affordable for po' folks like us.

 

I just booked a 12-night Adriatic cruise on the Celebrity Constellation for $920 each for the cheapest stateroom, which includes taxes. I could have booked a 12-night Grand Med on the NCL Spirit for $758.05 each with a Total Rewards discount, and I would have gotten a drink card for the casino. Given the cost of alcohol or the drink packages, I was sorely tempted by the NCL price, but the Adriatic cruise has all the ports I'd like to visit. After all is said and done I figure I'm going to end up spending about $700-800 more on the Celebrity cruise for the two of us, but it's probably money well spent. (My brother will be on a Baltic cruise at the same time; unlike me, he isn't celebrating the price drops as he reserved long ago).

 

Now for some questions:

 

1. FORMAL NIGHT -- I know people get in knock-down fights in discussions over formal night attire. I am just curious how many people wear a tux or suit versus a blazer and tie. The easy thing for me would be to pack a blue blazer and khakis, a seersucker suit, or both. I can bring a dark, pinstripe suit, but it just doesn't pack as well, and we're traveling by train both before and after our cruise. I like to fit in with the crowd, so I'm not asking what I can get away with, but rather what would be at least middle-of the-road dress. No More formal nights, been replaced by CHIC nights. Slightly dressy outfit will be fine.

 

2. CASINO CURRENCY -- I assume the casino uses U.S. Dollars, and to avoid the five percent fee I need to bring the cash with me. Correct? Connie has a US currency ATM on board, and the casino does operate in US Dollars

 

3. TEEN ACTIVITIES -- I am aware there won't be loads of teens on the cruise, and my daughter has never been one to be very active in the youth programs. But what activities do they have and can we expect?Celebrity has a good childrens program but it will depend on who's aboard passengerwsie. I suggest you find your cruise roll call and post there to see if other teens are on the cruise.

 

4. ALCOHOL PACKAGE -- Can I purchase the drink package in the middle of the cruise? I'm not sure I will drink enough to make it worthwhile, particularly since we are going to be spending so much time in port. On the other hand, I was thinking I might buy it for the last half of the cruise just so I could try some of the nicer glasses of wine with dinner. You can purchase the beverage package during the cruise.

 

5. DINING -- I think we will do the Anytime Dining, since my daughter might want to skip dinner some nights, and she isn't much on a schedule. My expectation is that the MDR food will be a notch above Princess. Am I correct in thinking this? I do think I may go ahead and get the three specialty restaurant package. Can I reserve my nights beforehand, or only on the ship? Any advice on this? Food is very subjective, you will get many opinions on this. We are on the Connie now and to me the MDR food is great. Select dining is a good choice and you can dine anywhere between 5:30 and 9;00 PM.

 

My suggest would be wait till you board to buy specialty restaurant dining. Discounts are available just ask!!

Thanks for any advice on these things. I do know some of this information is available through searching, but I've spent a good bit of time poking around and still am uncertain about these things. I figure some of you regulars could answer these questions pretty quickly.

:):)

Really? I can't find them. I don't see any incentive to want to reach the E+ level over what I get in Elite. We don't need more laundry and already always have a drink package, but don't drink specialty coffees anyway. A little extra internet would be nice, but not a deal breaker. What else am I missing?

 

 

 

Actually Oceania's loyalty program is much better than Celebrity's.

 

I'm in both, Elite on Celebrity, Silver on O and get much better perks on Oceania.

Would you elaborate on the superior Oceania program?

Could someone please give me some info. on the classic drink package. Trying to decide if I should upgrade to premium. I have looked at the the info. that Celebrity list's for there drink packages. What I would like to find out is if the classic package covers frozen drinks or martini's. I realize the drinks can't be over $8.00 dollars. What isn't listed or what I am not sure about is our most martini's and frozen drinks over the eight dollar price??? I saw the liquors that are listed under the classic package and I am fine with them, it's just that I want to be able to have martini's and frozen drinks. I saw different postings that you can get a martini on the classic package but it would be a smaller glass. I also saw people post that most drinks are over the price of eight dollars and that if you order a drink over the allotted amount they charge you full price for that drink even though you have the classic drink package. Is there anywhere that list the up to date prices for the drinks on summit. Thank you!

My recommendation is to wait till you are on board. You will then see what's available and be able to make an easy decision to upgrade or not. Another advantage would be using your OBC, if you have any, to pay for the upgrade. :)

Oops, a typo. Should have read 3144. :eek::D:D

Okay, we are still neighbore, neighbor!:D

Stateroom 3120 is one of the new staterooms that they added on Summit during its refurb in 2012 (cabins 3112 to 3144). This area used to be the old conference center so each stateroom has a huge window. It's a connecting cabin, but you will like the location on the ship. It's got it's own passageway, and is in a very quiet area on the ship.

 

We sailed in 3112 and will be in 3114 this coming weekend. We love these OV staterooms.

Wine-o did you change staterooms?

My first with Celebrity Solstice and will be on-board soon on an 18 nights journey from Sydney to Honolulu. RCI big ships has Promenade Cafe on Promenade Deck that serves cafe and pastries all day-24 hours. Wonder is something similar in Solstice. If it does where is it located? Thank you so much.......

 

Born-to-Cruise

Past Cruises

12 RCI and 3 Carnival

(:)funds permitting, always looking forward to great cruises :))

You should be able to get coffee 24 hours a day in the buffet, as they keep a full pot at all times . You will just have to search for the station that has one.

Pastries no, at least I have never seen them. Cafe al bachio opens at 7 AM most days for pastries.

Seems to me that $0.55 cent per day (divided by 2000-3000 staff is minuscule... ) Not even .003 cents per person a day, that may give them a whole extra dollar a year raise... Get a grip in how many people are behind the scenes and make your cruise happen. I'll gladly pay it.

 

 

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I think you missed that the 55 cents per day would be paid bu 2,000 to 3,000 passengers. Plus the staff is less than 1,000 many of whom do not share in the gratuities pool. The increase will be noticeable on a per person basis.

It is a fee. Tips should be at your discretion. Sure you can change them or eliminate them if you are not happy with the service but they know that not many people do that.

Yes I know the poor starving third world employees are hard working people supporting their family back home but what does that have to do with me having to support bad service by some os these same employees.

 

Call it whatever you want but it is fare raise and is a fee. The cruise lines have found a new way to charge you and make ir seem that it is not their fault.

Gratuities are hardly new. I think Columbus started charging them on his second voyage.:)

BRAND NEW to Celebrity going to Constellation? When does this change take effect? Thank you! Is Capt. Tasos still on vacation?

 

 

 

Marie[/Tasos goes on vacation on May 6th. He will go to Solstice after his vacation and his slot on Constellation will be filled by a newly promoted Captain who has yet to be named.

 

 

We were on the Constellation February 16th and the Captain was Captain Mike, Tasos was on vacation. Captain Mike told me that he would be on board through the trans Atlantic and would be leaving for vacation once the Constellation reached Rome.

Hi, I need some suggestions on luggage locks. Are regular tsa locks recommended or can you use zip ties? Thanks for the help, we are cruising for the first time on the Summit in May

If your luggage uses zippers to close any lock is worthless.:)

If not then use the TSA approved lock, a Zip won't stop anyone.

Just a quick question. If I pre purchase an internet package through the X website, will they provide me with the access code upon check-in or do I have to wait (most likely the next day I assume) until the Apple/Internet store opens to acquire it?

Really know of no reason to per-purchase. As soon as you board you can log into the ships wifi system and create your own account by choosing a user name and password. You will be given a choice as to what package you want to purchase and the charge will be made to your sea pass account.:):)

We booked a cruise while on board and received all three perks. We kept the obc for the new cruise. Once home our booking came to our travel agent in the uk. We now want to change our cruise to a different ship. Do our perks move with us???? We have not paid in full yet. We are in the uk which aware is different to USA market with what we can and can't do.

Thanks Susan

The on board booking benefit will transfer but other perks are related to the cruise you take not the cruise you book.

Look at it this way someone could book the penthouse suite for a further cruise while on board and receive a $500 OBC, Premium drink package, prepaid gratuities and unlimited internet . Then at a later date switch to a four night Caribbean cruise, I don't think any reasonable person would expect the perks from the first cruise to transfer to the second cruise. :)

The extra benefits of Elite over Select are nice, but unless it was a cracking deal I don't think I could be bothered with the time and effort of taking a short cruise to achieve it.

 

Phil

Totally agree. With the money you spend on a shirt cruise, don't forget the gratuities and the drinks you will buy, you can easily buy the perks you would have gained.

I'll be sailing for the first time with X in March on Connie. I always like to check out deck plans in advance, especially if the cruise is shorter and I won't have a lot of time to "learn" the ship.

 

We'll be on deck 6, aft. I see Cafe al Bacio is on deck 5, forward. Is it possible to walk from deck 5 aft elevators, straight thru to the forward area of the ship? I remember sailing once on a smaller Carnival ship that had a weird deck layout, where one didn't go through.

The Connie is very easy to navigate. All deck passage go from end to end no need to go up or down Actually Cafe Al Bachio is almost midships on the starboard side.:)

Yes it was a rather poor choice of words lol, no complaints from me, more so concerns about sound. But I did contact them, and they were very helpful, offered me a number of choices but they suggested to stay where I am as its apparently a very quiet deck :) (she also said at the end of the call "sometimes its better to wait until you're onboard") perhaps she was giving me a hint ;)

 

Thanks for everyone's feedback

Would not count on a change once you board, that seldom, if ever, happens with Celebrity. :)

Additional on board credit based on cruise length and cabin category