the penguins

It's been interesting over the last few months and different threads to see how many passengers who, once the compolsary AI was dropped, have been reverting to Sail Only. Compolsary AI never made sense to us and during its thankfully short life we dropped Celebrity in favour of Royal and Princess. Hopefully X will continue this trend and give passengers in Aqua and Suites the same choice.

So now you can just book Sail Only pay per drink and come out ahead - that's a win.

Sharing information is one of the great benefits of CC we have picked up a lot of good advice. We also like the general banter and the way the threads go way of subject.

Didn't know Elite had any priority on departure. Yes we have a separate lounge (Tuscan on S class which is actually a pain due to its location. We prefer to wait in the Al Bacio) but not anything else. What is the benefit? Thanks in advance

Boarding by groups may depend on the port. At Southampton once your docs are checked you walk straight on to the ship - boarding time on our last 4 cruises post Covid 15 minutes from arrival at the terminal to bring in our standard balcony cabin.

So can every passenger. The ship publishes the name and phone number of every port agent in the daily planner and we take the details with us.

That's why it is essential if you book a private tour to ensure that the Operator will pick up the costs of getting you to the next port. One reason we always book with Toursbylocals as this is included in their standard prices.

On a Royal cruise the day after we had a Q and A with the Cruise Director where he said that " the ship rarely left a anyone behind" we left 4 members of the ships orchestra. Crew members were taking bets on wether they would be allowed to rejoin at the next port, be sacked on the spot and be refused boarding at the next port or be allowed to reboard but have their contracts terminated at Southampton. The smart money was on the last option as the ship needed the orchestra. Unfortunately as the incident happened towards the end of the cruise we never did hear the final outcome but they were allowed to rejoin and performed for what was the last night of the cruise.

Yup Alejandro will be even more unbearable than usual about English football.😂😀😭. We love his humour.

An interesting exchange of views and a great outcome all round. Enjoy your cruise and you saved enough to treat yourself to another. Happy Christmas.

But there were other cabins available, not the passengers first choice but non disabled cabins. The original poster asked "can/should I book. I am firmly in the camp of no they shouldn't book a disabled cabin . Others have expressed the opposite opinion. It is up to the OP to decide which course they take. However as they needed to ask I think they know the answer. With regard to parking who can park further away and walk? If it's the able bodied then they have already decided that their need is greater than that of someone who is disabled to use an British phrase "I'm all right Jack". If it's the disabled then clearly that is incorrect.

I believe the analogy is valid. In the UK if you speed you are "liable" for prosecution but it is not a definite as the police have an element of discretion. X cannot use your wording as they have no way to make the Port Authorities force passengers to wait. Clearly different ports are enforcing/ interpreting the rules differently. However so long as X continues to require us to book a timed slot we will continue to arrive within our alloted time. So far boarding on all our post Covid cruises has been far quicker than on any pre Covid ones.

Thank you for the highlights. However I would question your interpretation. As X has no control over how the Port Authority enforces arrivals it has to use "recommend". Similarly as X has no control over how many passengers will choose to arrive outside of their alloted times it also has to use the word "may". Not dissimilar to - if you break the speed limit you may be fined - which I assume you don't interrupt as you are free to drive at any speed you like.

Approved on every cruise.

I have never seen a cruise where the only cabins available are disabled ones. I also don't understand the logic that people with disabilities may not also need to be booking late as they have just the same issues as able bodied passengers. When you first go to make a booking one of the first questions is do you need a disabled cabin. If you don't need it don't book it. We have the same issues with people who park in Disabled Bays on the grounds that "the other bays near the shops were full" or " the disabled bays are nearer the store entrance". We have just returned from a shopping trip where out of the only 6 bays close to the store 4 were occupied by cars without Disabled Badges leaving us to walk nearly a 1/4 of a mile each way. Regrettably this is a regular occurrence.

Being assigned one by the ship as a guarantee is one thing. Choosing one when you know you don't need it is entirely different. My wife uses a Rollater but does not need all the facilities of a disabled cabin. We have been offered a disabled cabin and turned it down. These cabins are so few that they should be exclusively for passengers who really need them. We travel with friends who are more or less permanently in wheelchairs and for whom the wheelchair accessible showers/toilets are essential. They struggle to find cruises with vacant disabled cabins.

Clearly it varies by port - Southampton were checking times and directing passengers to the appropriate line right up to the end of the season.

A pleasure. We thought about Sillie's TA ( we did it in 2019) but have opted for Reflection out of Barcelona as it had more interesting ports of call. Geoff and the boss (Anita).

Correct, but judging by several very heated debates at Guest Relations on Silhouette in May not everyone with Casino comped bookings knows it. Often wondered what % of passengers have this type of booking pressumably fairly low?

Only of value if you have booked at Sail Only prices.

Two points: 1) some ports for example Southampton have no inside space - arrive early and you could well be lining up outside with no cover and no seats. 2) Celebrity doesn't control access to ports or terminals this the responsibility of the Port Authority. Even the check-in staff have no connection with the onboard crew. Arriving early is a risk you choose to take. We are also face with this dilemma as my wife uses a Rollator. My advice is to try to arrive as near your alloted time as possible and once there just go with the flow. Once past security we always select the shortest of the lines which we are entitled to join i.e. balcony, Elite or disabled. Couldn't care less about our status just get us on the ship.

One our favourites particularly when he is "supported" by Jayne Currie - that's Jayne with a Y and Currie with an I. When a passenger asked Eddie if the job of a Cruise Director was hard his response was "Hard? being a Coal Miner is hard."

Totally agree - I know some passengers like her but not us. Mind you when she sings she can empty the theatre very quickly. Sorry in advance to any of her fan club ,😂😂

The laundry is another great perk. Technically " wash and fold " but if you write on the slip " please return on hangers" don't forget the "please" as they don't have to do it, items will be as good as if they were ironed. Wouldn't use it for really expensive stuff but shirts, tops and underwear, socks and handkerchiefs come back just fine.

Good you booked sail only - that also means your 90 mins each internet is also of value. Best tip is for one of you to register use that 90 mins. Then you can decide if the second 90 will see you through or if you should use it as a discount on a full package. You can also get free drinks (sparkling wine, bloody Mary plus lattes/cappuccino) at the Elite Breakfast held in Tuscan Grill 08.00 to 10.00. This is our favourite way to start the day.