sunseeker551

18 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

You've found a bad agent.  You just need a new agent/company.

 

We would never book direct with a cruise line.  Do that enough and you will leave thousands of dollars on the table.

 

As far as the "move up" offer, it is only some agencies that do not offer that availability.  Ours doesn't and I have no interest in bidding on anything, but many agencies do offer it. 

Each agent at this TA was the same.  As far as the move-up is concerned, I don't know if we'd use it (we typically book whichever cabin we like best) but we weren't made aware of this limitation until after the fact. I guess if I'd paid more attention on Cruise Critic I'd have realized it as I've since read a few posts about it, but it escaped me.  I guess I should do more research into TAs for future cruises.

23 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

We went through a few TAs.  Have one now who will answer the phone or call me back 365 days a year within 12 hours.  My TA works thru a major TA, but is an independent agent.

Try calling Celebrity today.  They are closed.

I'm not saying I would never use a TA again...but I would definitely not use the (big box store) TA we're currently using.  I would expect everything to be closed today. I wouldn't dream of bothering Celebrity or a TA on New Years Day (or any holiday).

6 minutes ago, Kevinb1176 said:

I don’t see why you shouldn’t be able to but you’ll lose any extra credits from the TA. 
 

We had Edge booked for 3/15/20 which was the first cruise cancelled from Covid and our agent was terrible. They couldn’t get us answers that week and didn’t respond to calls or emails. Recorded messages only said we had to cancel online through their site but didn’t have an option for the cruise with confidence other option of moving so I didn’t want to “cancel”. Celebrity allowed us to dump the agent but I have been dealing with the CEO’s office as the agent failed on other parts of cruise with confidence or lift and shift programs. 

With this TA we get a GC to their store after completing the cruise.  The amount is not worth the hassle of having to deal with agents who know less about cruising than I do.  I know people complain about dealing with the cruise lines but I've always had very positive experiences in all my years of cruising.  And, if I want to change anything, I can call the cruise line immediately myself, not wait for the TA office to open, then be put on hold while they call Celebrity.

Right now we're still leaning towards cruising but in this everchanging environment, we won't know for sure until closer to our cruise date and we see how things are going.

Thank you. That's a relief. This is the first time we've ever used a TA.  The ones I've spoken to so far have been unfriendly and clueless, and we've had nothing but hassles.  Also...little did we know, it prevented us from participating in the move-up offer.

We currently have a cruise booked through a (big box) TA that we haven't been happy with at all.  Should we decide to cancel our cruise on Jan 19th and get a FCC, can we book our next cruise through Celebrity, or are we obligated to us the same TA? TIA

I found a few places that were on our route but, fortunately, we don't need a test to cross now.  That sure makes the journey easier.  Now to see how long the lines will be......

Good luck to all of those crossing on the 8th!

I'm a little late to the party, but we're planning to cross on the 8th as well. We're heading to southern Ontario on the 6th to visit our son & his family, then leaving from there bright and early (6am-ish) on Monday. We're planning to cross via the peace Bridge and we have Nexus cards so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the wait won't be too bad. We have a condo in Fort Lauderdale that we didn't get to last winter so we're itching to go.  

Now we just have to wait for the announcement on whether or not we'll need covid tests to enter the US by land.  They're hinting we will.  That'll be another hurdle to cross...we're leaving Ottawa on the 6th but not crossing until the 8th, so when and where will we get tested?  Calling around Ottawa for appointment information is not encouraging. Right now we're looking at options (Walmarts) along the 401 as we make our way south.  Good luck to anyone trying to cross that day...maybe (hopefully?) we'll all be surprised and it won't be that bad. 

2 hours ago, Lastdance said:

I had issues with them also, and at times could never reach anyone or get them to return a call.  I only tried them because "everyone" said they were so great; I am back with my original TA, as she is wonderful!

They also don't participate in the upgrade program...something I didn't know until after I had transferred my reservation to them. 😞

1 hour ago, jagoffee said:

Is this because of the CWC terms?  Or did you have a Refundable deposit?  
Any idea on how this with work if you have NRD and the CWC terms have expired?

 

Thanks

CWC still applies. 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/cruise-with-confidence?

Yes the CWC made it possible and we had a non-refundable deposit. The port fees were less on the new cruise and Celebrity didn't want to adjust the price so I said "OK, I'll cancel and rebook then".  After speaking with Celebrity, our TA said they figured it would take too long to get the FCC so they agreed to make the adjustment. It took over an hour and a half to do though.

Also be forewarned.  I had to call by (big box membership) TA on Thursday to correct a problem and I was on hold for over an hour and a half. I was told now that travel restrictions are being lifted in Canada, everyone is booking a holiday.  This was my first time using a TA. In future, I intend to deal directly with the cruise line.  Much easier IMO.

Good luck and be sure to post how you made out.

I just changed from a February 2022 cruise to a January 2022 cruise, on Saturday. You simply pay the difference in fares (if any). 

5 minutes ago, willb125 said:

 

I just paid today.  We are fully committed to going, so the 30 days weren't that big a deal.  

I agree.  I did the same.

I just did a mock booking for the cruise on the Celebrity website and it's now showing a final payment due date of November 5th.  On the weekend it was showing today.  Did you get it settled?

We're on the same cruise and our payment is due today (even though we got notice last week that the deposit on a cruise we previously had booked for February 2022 was changed from 90 days to 60 days).  I reluctantly made the final payment yesterday anyway.  It's very confusing.

Ouch...decided to call and check the price to upgrade to a balcony for our current cruise...they want $4,300 more!!! Not happening...FCC it is. 

Edited to add:  I can get a new booking with 4 perks for less than they're quoting. 😞

34 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

You might want to look at the price to upgrade the current room BEFORE Lift & Shift, would probably be less money based on the extremely high prices I'm seeing for next year.  But I'm not seeing and deals now either.   It's a game, but you have to play it.

Good to keep in mind but right now, it would cost $2500 CAD more to upgrade to a balcony room on our current cruise...with no perks. :-(

Our current cruise on the Reflection is more expensive than the one we're considering on the Millennium so we'll probably just take a FCC and ride it out for a while.  Sadly, we're not feeling too optimistic about the cruise industry at this point.  I think it'll be a while before we can sail again and will it even be the same? I can't see it. :-(

Thanks. That's what I figured. We're actually looking to move a Feb 2021 cruise to 2022.  We booked an inside cabin for Feb 2021 (for the first time), thinking we're never in our room anyway so let's give it a try.  I was extremely nervous about it though after we booked, knowing if anything were to happen (like norovirus) we'd be stuck inside a small cabin (I'm slightly claustrophobic).  We had basically decided  to switch back to a balcony cabin so I was keeping my eye on sale prices...and then Covid happened.   We don't want to cruise in an inside cabin so I think we'll just take a FCC and wait it all out....the perks were nice but we can live without them.  We'll see how it all plays out...it could be a very long time before we cruise again. 😞

Once the new cruise date is confirmed for L&S, can you upgrade your cabin category at any point in the future and just pay the difference in price for the cabin category like you typically do?  Just wondering if they'll apply special rules for L& S reservations seeing as the price may be a lot cheaper than the current price (and ours also includes 4 perks).

We did it a few years back on the Silhouette and it was tiny samples of food (cheese, etc).  We really enjoyed it but it's just tasting and wouldn't replace a meal. 

Thanks for this post. I didn't see it on our cruise planner and really wanted to do it again. We did Chukka Beach a few times but when it disappeared from the cruise planner, we started going to Red Stripe. I wonder why it isn't on the cruise planner. :confused: I hope it's still available when we cruise in February.

Perhaps Royal is changing their dress code to accommodate the changing needs/wishes of their cruisers? We don't like to dress up on cruises so we typically eat in the Windjammer. We don't like having to go to the buffet every night but if we don't want to get dressed up, it's our only choice (we do usually go to a specialty restaurant the first night, where we have been told by staff that casual is acceptable). We used to enjoy the Windjammer. The food choice was great, the food was good (often many of the same items as listed on the MDR menus on the TV) and it was very quiet.

Fast forward to the Allure in January where the food was the worst we have ever experienced on a ship and it was packed every night. Some nights we could barely find an empty table. Obviously people don't want to get dressed up. We were so tempted to go to the MDR by night three or four (and our room steward told us we should...that shorts were fine) but we didn't want to to go against the "rules".

Maybe Royal should have one level of the MDR for MTD, one for Casual (not talking ball caps but shorts and casual cruising attire) and one for smart casual/dressy? Either way, as many posters have said, I don't understand why it bothers others if someone wears shorts or dresses more casually. Life is short....enjoy the meal and the company you're with.

Even though in general I prefer RCCL, I would go with Celebrity, much bigger newer ships and I love St Marteen and the other ports

I actually prefer Celebrity (although I think RCCL is going down hill and from what I've read, so is Celebrity, so that opinion may change the next time we go with Celebrity) We've been to St. Maarten several times but we've never been to any of the ports on the Serenade's itinerary.

Life got hectic after I posted this and I just realized I never came back with an update and a thanks to everyone who replied. We ended up going with the Serenade. Although Celebrity offers two extra ports, we've already been to one of them, and after reading posts here and elsewhere, the ports on the Serenade appealed to us more. Although we currently have it booked for January 2018, we'll be changing it (next week when Royal releases 2019 dates?) to January or February 2019. We were originally doing a November 2017 cruise on Independence with two other couples but have since changed it to February 2018. As Canadian snowbirds, we felt cruising in January & February was a little too much when we have a beautiful condo sitting here in Ft Lauderdale for us to enjoy. As long as we escape winter, we're happy wherever we are.

WOW....we tip at least a $1 cash a drink, sometimes more. If they acknowledge me by name and drink, it is $5 cash the first time. We have never had an issue with bartenders during a cruise. It is strange that you tip cash and don't get acknowledgement . Not saying it doesn't happen, just hasn't happened to us and we did 5 cruises last year and we did 33 nights and I like to drink.

My husband was in the hospitality industry for many years and owned his own restaurant. He's very cheery & outgoing....not some grumpy, demanding patron, so our experience can't be blamed on that. I just asked him if I was wrong in my statement above (as he handled the tipping...I just observed) and he said absolutely not. He said if we do take the next two cruises, he'll definitely be more selective with his tipping. It should be given for good service...this mandatory (18%!!!) tipping is getting out of hand, but I'll leave it at that.

You might be spot on but having sailed Allure in April (Divina in October and Silhouette in January) I haven't seen a major difference. Maybe just lucky.

There is no doubt they are focusing on incremental revenues. I find that the auto tip (for our convenience) has degraded the entire experience.

 

 

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The auto tipping and the beverage packages are responsible for most of it IMHO. We had the beverage package but also tipped (cash) for our drinks and we rarely even got acknowledgement, much less a "thank you" (with the exception of a few great bartenders/servers).