Grandmaanne7

I tried the search function.  I really did!

There is a cruise that we are looking at on RCI.  We will be on the Infinity in a few months.  Will we be able to book the RCI cruise as I have booked future cruises onboard Celebrity?  Will they have the same onboard booking perks?  Thanks in advance.

2 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

The more controversial ones are full ship charters, so you don't have to worry about that.  If you share the date, maybe someone would have more specifics.  A lot of times those 2-night cruises are a result of 5-night charters on ships that usually sail 7-night itineraries, so it could just be that it's a public-only cruise in that gap.  The bigger worry would be that those short cruises can sometimes be party ships since people try to make the most of their limited time.

Good to know about the "controversial" cruises.  The one is question is Infinity March 21 - 23, 2020.  If anyone knows, I'd be very curious.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for all the responses.  My main concern is trying to find out what type of group has booked it.  In researching, I have been unable to determine the specific group.  However, I have found several "clothing optional" and "bliss" groups along with many musical themed groups that have chartered the ship at different times.  I feel that my 84 year old father might not survive observing that type of cruise so I just might forget about it altogether and stick with just our original cruise.

14 hours ago, Fouremco said:

We've been on several cruises with groups and have had no issues. For the most part, we wouldn't have even known that they were aboard if I hadn't checked online beforehand. The one exception was a group of motorcyclists who we could see leaving the ship on their bikes at each port but never noticed around the ship.

We have also been on a cruise with a group of motorcyclists and enjoyed their departure and return each day.

How, specifically, do you check online beforehand if there are groups aboard?  As I stated earlier, I am only assuming as the cruise was not previously available and just suddenly became available that it was chartered. I have already googled the cruise with no results.

The 2-day cruise immediately preceding ours has suddenly become available.  My assumption is that the cruise had been chartered but not enough cabins were sold so now it is available to all.  The price is not where I am willing to jump on it yet but, in case it comes down enough, I wanted to have some knowledge as to what to expect and if it would be worth going for it.  Both our cabins (we're traveling with family) are currently available.  I'm not sure I would even look if they weren't.  Anyone been on a chartered ship but not part of the original group?

10 minutes ago, Muffinz said:

I can guarantee you that is not the case.... they maybe considering raising it as a result of this tragedy but as far as I am aware the alert has been at level 2 for about a month

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/11/white-island-s-volcanic-alert-level-raised-to-two.html

That is what our local news reported as well.  A tragedy nonetheless.

7 minutes ago, finny2 said:

So, how do they know it is you? 

If it is a staged photo op, they will swipe your sea pass card.  If not, just take a walk past the photo area each day and pick out any photos that you are in.  Take them to the desk and they will make sure that they are added to your file.

Thanks OP!  I had been waiting for this.  Saved some $$$!

On 11/27/2019 at 12:32 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I think that you should expect pretty much the same experience on a short cruise as a regular one.  Having said that I recently was on a B2B (14 days each) on Edge.    They did not have a CC party on either cruise.   I also took a 4 day cruise and they had both a CC Party and Lobster on one night.

I just tried to register for the CC party.  It was rejected as the cruise is less than 7 days.  Were you able to register online for the CC party?

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

@Grandmaanne7, hi!  I hope you are doing well.

 

I presume that you are organizing the slot pull or is that another thing that will be missing on your sailing??

 

David

 

 

Hi David,

I'm doing great, other than not cruising nearly as much as we had hoped now that we're retired.  I hope you and the family are doing well also.

No slot pull on this one I'm afraid.  Only 3 posts on our roll call and 2 of them are mine.  Only 21 views the last time I checked so not much interest at all.  I believe that I have been spoiled for all roll calls after the marvelous one you led on our last fabulous cruise.  Oh well, we'll be cruising with family so we'll focus on that for 5 days.  Hopefully, Celebrity will provide another cruise, albeit much shorter than we're used to.

Take care,

Anne

5 minutes ago, keesar said:

 

We were on a short cruise and the following cruise was a  private theme cruise.  Staff did spend a lot of time decorating the ship for the next cruise while we were on board.  A drop off in service was noted.  That would be my only concern.  We had a great time with a younger crowd.

This is good information as the cruise before ours is chartered and the one after is a private theme cruise.  I hadn't considered that there would be a need to decorate.  It will be interesting to see how they decorate for the flower power cruise.  Hopefully the drop off in service won't be too noticeable.

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think that you should expect pretty much the same experience on a short cruise as a regular one.  Having said that I recently was on a B2B (14 days each) on Edge.    They did not have a CC party on either cruise.   I also took a 4 day cruise and they had both a CC Party and Lobster on one night.

Well, this is great to read!  Thank you!  I thought that they would lessen the experience on a shorter cruise, but now I am thinking perhaps not.  I truly doubt that there will be a CC party since the roll call is pretty much non existent.  This is not an issue for me even though I have thoroughly enjoyed most of the CC parties that I have attended.  The fun is getting to meet/know fellow CC members who have shared the excitement and planning leading up to the cruise.

It was an assumption on my part.  Am I wrong?

We have cruised Celebrity several times, mostly 14-day cruises.  We did a B2B once (7 days each) and found that the menus and entertainment were recycled in that it was almost identical the second week.  We didn't like that.

We have a 5-day booked as we couldn't resist the deal.  I understand that we won't have the Cruise Critic party and likely not a Captain's Club event or a lobster night.  Is there anything else that I should expect not to have?

I agree with sound_guy, the perks don't ever show up.  I really wish they'd fix this on the website so that we aren't bombarded with ads to purchase items we already have.  Take a copy of your confirmation from your TA just in case although we have never needed it yet.

I currently have a cruise booked that was significantly less than X was selling it for PLUS my TA included all four perks when X was only offering 2.  Even when X eventually offered all 4 perks in the recent sale, our category cabin was $300 pp less than what X was "on sale" for.  That's significant savings in my pocket.

We had no issues with internet on our January sailing on Reflection.  We were in the Caribbean so that lends credence to the poster that states that positioning close to the equator makes a difference.

15 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Ditto my Feb 2020 Edge sailing. 😞
 

I am hoping there might be a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale in a couple of weeks.

That would be so lovely!  Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Having just walked through the smokers is enough for me to never book a veranda on the port side.  We always book starboard, even on higher up decks.  It's not worth the risk of being unable to use the balcony that you paid for.

Congratulations!  Always great to save money.  Is your cruise coming up shortly?  There is nothing on sale on my March 2020 cruise currently.

8 minutes ago, retird said:

Shorter cruises are becoming less economical for me.  As an example for the end of November, 2019, I have been looking at a few cruises out of Fort Lauderdale and Miami.unfortunately airfare from London, Ontario is more than a 10 day cruise

 

Yes, adding airfare would definitely eat away at any potential savings.

Thank you!

18 minutes ago, eguiney said:

Also noticed that as of this morning, that if you choose the Classic Beverage Package as one of your "Free Perks" it cost an additional $280 for the 10 day cruise I was looking at. They even went as far as have "Our most popular choice" flag above it.

The nickel and dimeing of the public continues to grow and one of the reasons, I no longer enjoy cruising as I once did.

Celebrity announced this a few weeks ago.  The Classic package as a perk included a $14 per day fee.  There has been much discussion on these boards regarding this.

6 hours ago, retird said:

I have never found the perks to be financially beneficial.   I always book at the lowest price they have for the cabin I want and pay for things as I go .  So far I have always come out ahead when I do the math.  When cruise lines first started offering free perks, they were truly free.   In later years, they just increase the fare price  if you take the perks.  So they are not free. 

 

I have been  monitoring several cruises on several cruise lines and I noticed that when they offered an upgrade for the price of a lesser cabin( ie: when they offered balcony for price of ocean view, ) they actually increased the price of ocean view to the price of a balcony.   Not blaming them for their marketing strategy, but as in any financial transaction , it is buyer be ware.

I am usually able to find a cruise with perks that are beneficial to me.  For example, my current booking is a 5-day cruise in an OV cabin (guarantee) including all 4 perks for only $409 pp.  I prefer longer cruises but when a deal like that comes along, I grab it!  Hoping to snag a few more like that.

50 minutes ago, mdpa said:

I agree, with what everyone else said since changes did take place. For that reason, please share what the TA told you most recently....albeit at this point as a rumor. Thanks

I'd be interested in reading this tidbit as well.