Shore_rat

Thanks for highlighting this offer. After an hour long wait on the phone to be connected, I spoke to a customer service advisor who quickly applied this offer to our 12 night sailing on Anthem next year.  
 

I didn’t even have to mention the offer, as soon as I mentioned drinks package offer the agent immediately applied the  £43 per person per night rate and as you report, nothing to pay until invoice due date.

😀

It’s 9 days since we disembarked From Silhouette (Norway) and a further 25 days until we board again for Iceland!

We have been successful in switching to better deals on two cruises recently:

Norwegian Fjords on Silhouette - cruise was booked directly with Celebrity. We switched after final payment and received INDULGE Package plus additional $400 credit. A phone call to celebrity and an unusually short wait and done!

Iceland on Silhouette - this cruise was booked via a TA. took slightly longer to sort. lengthy wait to get through to TA but  once done, again had booking upgraded. This one was before final payment so received upgraded drink package, (ELEVATE) wiFI and $600 OBC (3 pax) plus a cash refund of £300.

In both cases a daily painless process and well worth it!

We are sailing in a SS later this month on Silhouette. Received a call from Celebrity Engagement Centre yesterday.  The member of staff simply told me that they had sent me a short questionnaire to complete concerning my stateroom preferences. Very polite call but provided very little information other than to alert me to the email, certainly not an interactive concierge call.

the email asked about welcome bottle preferences (Red / White / sparkling / non alcohol), any special occasions, extra coat hangers / blankets and room temperature on arrival!

today got a second survey to complete asking how I found the customer experience.

we’ve travelled several times on celebrity on both UK and international itineraries. 

Booking from a UK perspective: The is not much difference between using a TA and booking direct. We have done both and have no preference. Usually a TA may be able to offer a slightly lower price but on the other side of the coin, often want a larger deposit and earlier payment of the balance.

One factor to consider, especially for UK cruises this summer, is some of the offers being promoted cannot be claimed under the best offer guarantee if booked through a T A.  We are cruising next on 17 Jul Silhouette sailing and since booking a number of dels have become available. We have been able to claim free parking and later, 10% discount (for being captains club members) by phoning celebrity directly whereas other travellers on the roll call on the same itinerary who booked via T A have been less successful in claiming these savings.

we are also booked to sail in October but there are far fewer offers and incentives available on that cruise (at the moment!! )

My advice, Compare what each offer as sometimes there are differences in OBC and perks. We tend to look at both and decide on what appears to be the best deal.
 

Balcony choice is IMO dependent on the itineraries. Some love hump balconies but theses can be susceptible to winds, others rave about sunset balconies but as previously mentioned these are sometimes overlooked  and largely shaded. Whist they are all different, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one,

hope you enjoy your Celebrity experience……

We too registered for the UK programme but have received no emails.  However, we found that by logging on and going to the ‘manage my reservation’ page on the website and scrolling down, there was an option to upgrade through the move up programme.

the price ranges (in pounds) were quite high. We placed bids on two categories  at D+40 and these currently show as ‘pending’.  We sail on 28th July so siill time!

Been trying to find out about Sprint coverage in Alaska, specifically Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan and not finding out anything definitive but wonder if anyone knows of any free wifi hotspots in those ports?

 

 

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We have just returned from Alaska and my teenage son was very interested in finding free wifi in each port.

In Juneau we found free wifi in the hanger shopping mall next to the float plane dock. It was also available at outside the visitor centre near the mt Roberts tramway.

In Ketchikan, Annabelle's bar had free wifi and there was a small coffee shop about a block back from the port that was popular with the crew which offered wifi if you bought a coffee.

We didn't visit Sitka so can't help there I'm afraid but generally we found a free wifi connection in every port without too much difficulty (we also visited Seward, Skagway and Icy Strait Point).

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Thank you for posting this! That's exactly what we've decided to do in Juneau, so it's great to hear that you had a good experience with Juneau Car Rental. What is parking like at Mendenhall Glacier? I think from there we'll drive to Eagle Beach as well as the hatchery and brewery. Thanks again!

We've just returned from a 14 night back to back. On our first visit to Juneau we hired a car from Avis who have a pick up in the same area as Juneau Car rental.

Our ship docked in town and it was about a 20 min walk to the office to collect the car. We drove to Mendenhall Glacier and were able to park easily. The parking lot nearest the visitor centre is quite small but there is additional parking which you will come across first as you approach the visitors centre ( drive past the bus parking and overflow car park and see if you can park at the visitor centre first).

We also visited eagle beach which was about a 20 min drive from the glacier and visited St Theresa's shrine on the way back to Juneau.

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Nice... next time it leaves Vancouver we will be on it! Looking forward to a great trip.

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we sailed to the Baltic on Eclipse in 2014 and toured St Petersburg with Alla tours. They were excellent! Good service from the moment of booking, good quality tour and flexible guide willing to accommodate wishes of the group.

Whilst I am sure many of the larger operators are good, my vote goes to Alla.

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It is very easy to hire a car in both ports and many hire companies allow you to collect right beside the ship. We cruised to Iceland last year with similar timings. We used Europcar who have offices at each port (some operators have offsite offices).

In Reykjavik on disembarking we collected the car from the tourist office on the quayside and were on our way within 20 mins. A self drive of the Golden Circle is relatively easy and you can avoid the coaches if you are clever. The car hire company provide maps and its easy to get around.

next morning, we drove to the Blue Lagoon arriving at opening time (10.00 i think) returning for lunch. its worth pre -booking as it was busy at opening time,

the 2 days are covered in a 24 hr car hire and the car can easily be parked at the port.

In Akureyri we again hired a car and collected it from the tourist office just outside the port entrance. Myvaten is an easy drive with lots to see and do. Don't miss Krafla. Again it is possible to beat the busses and have a peaceful visit to most of the sites.

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We did a similar itinerary in Iceland last year. It is very weather dependent. We visited Krafla on a beautiful day and ended up spending longer walking around than intended.

would suggest you do Krafla first then head back to Myvantyn (stop off at the sulphur pots for an unbelievable smell!!). AS long as you don't want to spend too long (more than a hour or so) at each site it should be doable.

We loved Akureyri which was the highlight of our trip. Enjoy!

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we waited for the 9.45 local bus when visiting in August 2013, The bus arrived and was quite full. it was only able to take about 10 passengers. However the driver called someone and told us to wait as there would be another bus shortly. We waited nervously but sure enough, about 10 mins later another bus appeared!

it would seem that the bus company will put on more busses if there is a demand.

At the Glacier, both busses parked up and waited, plenty of time to walk up to the glacier, take some great photo's and back for souvenirs and ice cream before the bus back to the ship.

I would strongly recommend the local bus as its much cheaper than the ships tours or the port side operators.

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57 days and counting.....