rodndonna

I think you are thinking about a case if they were flew them somewhere, then cancelled their connection and rescheduled to the next day. That is not the case here.

I know exactly what you are going through ... we purchased a slew of gift cards in 2020/21 at different times to pay for cruises which then had cancellations .. rebooked some ... etc..it was ongoing .. I hadn't really kept good accounting of the cards (didn't realize I would need it, I was so optimistic - haha). To make things more complicated, when refunds were issued back to gift card, they didn't always go back to the original card (which I had wrongly assumed it would). Long story short, I had to bite the bullet and spend the better part of a day going through every HAL gift card purchases and then every HAL invoice in my emails to trace every purchase (you can see the final four codes of the Gif card to identify them) and every refund. It took a lot of time, but was then able to verify what final balance I should have had on the gift cards against what I could see in-line as my balance. Thankfully, on a couple of our cruises, we were able to just apply cards with a large balance remaining and any unused balance was refunded back to our credit card rather than a gift card Was surprised but I think it may be because they seem to have changed the company that does the gift cards from when we bought ours. Anyway - you're right - they can be a headache if you have a lot of then (especially when all the bonus cards were small denominations)

Thanks - after readying all the replies here, we booked 7604 (Brilliance of the Seas) which is on the rounded out part of the deck by the atrium which should limit the obstruction below us. Might be a bit noisier, but we are OK with that (we sleep with white noise playing). It was about $100 total to select the room so like you say, not worth the gamble.

Still finding deals to hard to pass up ... 😎 We just booked for our Hawaii cruise in Sept 2024, and thought the price was good for that sailing. We have 5 others booked before that date, all of which we were pretty happy with what we're paying. I don't think the prices have really made much headway in their much needed climb as yet, but would expect it over the next year or 2.

There is a CC forum topic for insurance - lots of info there as well... https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/

I agree - do you have basic travel insurance through your CC for trip interruption?

I know the changes to 75% are recent, maybe less than a year?

Couldn't edit my post - I was always looking at medical (my biggest concern) and it is 75%. Baggage claims require 100%. Good to know ...

I could have sworn this has come up recently regarding paying in part with gift cards or such, and that the terms were now 75% .

Thanks. I think you are right - there really is not point to booking GTY. I had originally thought we could book it and get upgraded to non-obstructed, but sounds not likely. Have looked at the deck 7 obstructed and they look fine for us! We're not 'sun' people, so probably avoid portside then I guess... starboard mid ship ..?

Thanks Starry, I haven't yet checked out stateroom tour videos and pictures but will do that.

Thanks! It's odd they don't have GTY for Balcony (non-obstructed)- just the whole range of balconies. If they did I would just go GTY for non-obstructed, but looks like I have to select a cabin to avoid obstructed balconies.

We are looking at booking our first RCL cruise and would be booking a Guarantee Balcony. Does anyone know (or suspect) how they are assigned? Does the earlier you book make it more likely you will get a better location? We are looking at Hawaii 10 day Sept 2024 on the Brilliance of the Seas. The available rooms to book are VERY limited which I find odd being so far out. I am guessing they hold blocks for GTY? Could the cruise really be largely booked for a Sept 2024 sailing already?

I'm not that familiar with Celebrity (yet to sail) but as the "All-in" is drink package is Grats and Wifi, I would really think that cost to upgrade to All-in would be very close to Full Cost of Grats + "maybe slightly" discounted drinks package + Wifi thrown in for free. That being the case, assuming you are paying the crew grats, I'd really be surprised if there would be any cost savings to going a-la-carte and buying a drink package.

In the past we had to call in to have gift cards applied by our PCC (with a US$ booking). Not sure if it is because we are logged in through a Canadian location, but we couldn't get it to work either.

We haven't actually sailed Celebrity yet so don't have anything to miss in terms of cutbacks or changes. We have only sailed HAL since Covid, so am expecting it be in-line with that experience. Lots of HAL folks complaining as well, but we hadn't sailed HAL pre-Covid and have been quite happy with those cruises. Ignorance is bliss I guess 🤔

If we book non-refundable, is that still the case?

We have not yet cruised with Celebrity (have our first X cruise in April 2023), and looking for advice on timing for booking another X cruise. We are looking at Hawaii on the Edge in September 2024 and wondering (guessing) if would be better to book now with the current promo or wait to book it when we are on our cruise in April to get whatever typical perk(s) that involves and whatever promo might be there at the time. There are no more Sunset balconies available (would have been our preference), just IV's and there seem to be plenty to pick from now so not worried about cabin selection. Like most lines, I assume the promos vary, but are essentially the same end result, and although I do anticipate fares to start rising in 2023, wouldn't think so by April. Would the potential perks of booking onboard be worth the small risk of prices rising or reduced cabin selection?

This would be us. If we didn't have it, would probably spend a little less than it cost and perhaps save a bit of money. When we have it, we drink a little more (would never normally pay for specialty coffee, mocktail, can of water for room etc) so we 'get' our money's worth. In the end though, we just REALLY just like the convenience of it. Over the last 30+ years we have (and continue) to do annual holidays in warm all-inclusive resort places to get away from winter, so it is a model we have grown to really like. The more we can prepay, the better for us.

I'd never side with "somebody said that somebody told them" over what is stated on the website, especially for something important like this.

I haven't read the review, but the good thing about people posting bad reviews is it gives readers the opportunity to think about what the negatives "might" be (potential pitfalls). In the end, if the reviewer had read reviews, likely the negative ones would have been the ones that would have helped them the most to decide it was a good fit for them.

Plant based meat alternatives like Beyond meat have/are been developed more as a meat alternative more for for environmental reasons. There are a lot of folks who are looking to reduce meat consumption (but not strict vegetarian or vegan), just alway trying to avoid meat or use alternatives when possible.

Any idea when HAL will announce their fall 2024 Hawaii sailings?

If they have enough takers with GoGreen they wouldn't need to. https://mc1wmw0-rflh5n8g9pwr89vxd3c4.pub.sfmc-content.com/fs1s5o251sa

Did you submit reviews after your cruise? I have wondered if these are a kick to generate the welcome back offer. Of course, that was why I though I got a second one, as we just submitted excursion reviews, but now seeing that the multiple offers not so unique who knows.