Wookie01

I am aware of the auto gratuity, it was the expectation of another one on top of that which I was referring to 😉

I have no experience of other cruise lines over the holiday period so I cannot say. 😉

Increases are understood, but 77%???

I am amazed at how much Celebrity mark up prices for Xmas/New Year cruises. Not only are the cabin costs much higher, they also greatly inflate the services. We are on Celebrity Edge out of Sydney to NZ and return over Christmas 2023 and was looking at the spa services prices. A 75 minute deep tissue muscle massage on our cruise is $296.26 AUD, while for the cruises on either side of ours on the same ship the same massage is $166.99 AUD, hope they don't expect us to leave a tip after that mark up! 😞

Amazing how much the cruise lines mark up excursions 😲 Our December 2023 cruise stops at Dunedin and Celebrity are offering the Taieri Gorge train excursion for a discounted price of $485 AUD, full price is $570AUD. If you look at the Dunedin Railways website you can do the Taieri Gorge trip (The Inlander) for $60NZ or $54AUD. Yes the Celebrity trip does include a light lunch and a bit of extra sightseeing, but wow!

Thanks, I have just been looking up the public bus (#28) and it looks perfect. Goes from Lyttelton Jetty to Manchester St, just near the tram and return, and both go via the Gondola stop, all for the very affordable $5NZ for a day pass. Looks like we have our day in Christchurch planned out 🙂

Thanks for the tips 🙂 Does anybody know if the shuttle (or public transport) between Christchurch and Lyttleton stops at the Gondola please? If not can anyone advise if taxi/uber is available from the City to the Gondola, and from the Gondola to Lyttleton?

We have a booking at the Rydges for late December 2023. When I was looking to book this stay last year there was nothing showing on their website until January 2023. I wouldn't necessarily assume that your desired dates will not be available, just that they are not listed yet. You could send an email enquiry to Reservations_rydgessydneyharbour@evt.com, perhaps they can clarify for you. A news article from September 6, 2022 states "The property will continue to be operated by Event Hotels and Resorts under the Rydges brand for the foreseeable future, until Crystalbrook consolidates its vision to reinvent the hotel."

If the passport stays onboard then what happens if for some reason you miss the ship? How do you get to the next port, which is probably in a different country, without it?

Open the spreadsheet in your browser and click on the dropdown arrow in the C column (to the right of the C), then select sort A-Z and this will arrange the sheet in cabin order. Hope that helps

I received a reply to a query from that email address in late February so it is still current.

I contacted Celebrity recently regarding this question for our Xmas 2023 cruise, here is what they advised. "With a normal sailing, dining is typically loaded about 10 – 15 months in advance. However, with Holiday Sailings like your upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise on Dec. 21, 2023 – sailings that encompass Christmas and/or New Years - the dining is generally loaded much closer to the sailing date. Historically speaking, for the past 2 years our Holiday Sailings are loaded around September/October, so about 3 months before sailing. At this time, we have not received any further updates as to when the Holiday Sailings will become available for this years departures. Please continue to check our website for updates. Also, our Cruise Enhancements team can assist over the phone with dining reservations once available as well. For your convenience, they can be reached at phone # 1.800.722.5941 or 1.316.554.5961 and follow prompts for Captain’s Club." Hope that helps 🙂

In addition to the excellent suggestions above you could also consider a relocation cruise. Typically they are 'end of season' trips around April when the ship relocates from Australia to North America. They usually visit South Pacific spots including those further afield, such as American Samoa/Cook Islands/French Polynesia and finishing in Hawaii.

A bit of info for Aussie cruisers with Celebrity that need to fly to their departure port.We are doing a cruise in the Xmas/New Year busy period and I have been keeping an eye on airfares for Melbourne to Sydney.Not expecting it to be competitive I took a look at Flights by Celebrity and was surprised to find that they offered flights that were very slightly cheaper than I could find online, but the main benefit is that there is no payment required until final cruise payment, instead of immediate payment with the airline. Also the booking can be cancelled without fee prior to final payment.Just thought that I would mention this in case anyone else is looking to secure flights but is wary of making payment too far in advance. 🙂

As an update I recently received this from Celebrity. Hope this helps. 🙂 "With a normal sailing, dining is typically loaded about 10 – 15 months in advance. However, with Holiday Sailings like your upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise on Dec. 21, 2023 – sailings that encompass Christmas and/or New Years - the dining is generally loaded much closer to the sailing date. Historically speaking, for the past 2 years our Holiday Sailings are loaded around September/October, so about 3 months before sailing. At this time, we have not received any further updates as to when the Holiday Sailings will become available for this years departures."

I recently asked about this in an email and Celebrity Dining Operations Administrator replied to say that "With a normal sailing, dining is typically loaded about 10 – 15 months in advance. However, with Holiday Sailings like your upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise on Dec. 21, 2023 – sailings that encompass Christmas and/or New Years - the dining is generally loaded much closer to the sailing date. Historically speaking, for the past 2 years our Holiday Sailings are loaded around September/October, so about 3 months before sailing." Hope that helps 🙂

The only problem would be what will you do for the day / day and a half between when you arrive and when you board the cruise? The airport is about 15 miles out of the city centre and there is very little to do nearby. If you went for a CBD based hotel (there are many at a similar price to the airport hotel) at least you can explore the city. To get from the city to Station Pier can be done by taxi (as you mentioned) but also can be done by tram, and there may even be a bus running to the pier.

Yep, the official calendar will not be released until late 2023 🙂

Can't recommend any particular hotels in Melbourne, but be aware that the Australian Formula 1 is usually held sometime during March. That will have a big impact on both availability and cost if you are unfortunate enough to be here at that time. Any hotel in the CBD should be handy for access to the extensive tram network and trams within the CBD are free. There is a huge range of things to see and do which, of course, depends on your interests.

We took a 'luxury' cruise on Azamara Journey a couple of years ago and were very disappointed with the bathroom of our balcony cabin. As you say, very small - and that awful shower curtain that sticks to you because the shower is too small to avoid it. I don't put up with a shower curtain at home and was very unimpressed that a so called 'luxury' cruise ship would have them. Once was enough for us on Azamara 😞

Thanks, I am aware of that limitation, but I believe that you can make dining reservations without having a package? You just don't get the discounted dining.

There doesn't seem to be any straight answer to this unfortunately. There is another similar thread and some people are talking about having made dining bookings for 2024 cruises, while I cannot access the same for late 2023. I have been told 90 days by Celebrity, 12 months by my TA but none of this matches with what others are saying on these forums?

There are reports that some Sydney taxi drivers are turning off the meter and insisting on a flat fare. This is illegal, so just be alert for such behaviour.

I asked my TA to check with Celebrity and she was told that dining bookings for our cruise (21 Dec 2023) will open 12 months prior, will know towards the end of the month 😉

If you hover your mouse over the person's name/avatar a window pops up, this includes 'Message'. I would assume that this is functional, but have not used it.