20165

7 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

This is the second thread you have made about this.  Perhaps the answers are here

 

 

Right, but the post doesnt address the 3 boarding times i now have from celebrity. 11, 12 and 3pm.  gerelmx indicates that i should listen to the app which says 12 and thats where we are also leaning, but i wanted to see if others have had experience out of this port recently.  Thx

We’re sailing on the Summit out of San Juan on Nov 2, and we're getting conflicting information about the boarding time. The app lists noon as the earliest, but some members of our Facebook group have been told 11 a.m. Our concierge insists that boarding starts at 3 p.m., even though that contradicts what’s on the app. Others in the group who called Celebrity say noon, which matches the app.

Our hotel checkout is at noon, so a noon check-in would be perfect, but I don’t want to show up with all our luggage only to wait around for three hours. If 3 p.m. is correct, I’ll ask the hotel to hold our bags and we’ll find something to do in the meantime—but it would be frustrating to do that and then find out we could’ve boarded or at least dropped off our luggage earlier.

Does anyone have a idea from s similar cruise of the actual boarding time? The ship is arriving at 6:30 a.m., which is similar to other ports like in Florida, so I’m not sure why it would take until 3 p.m. to turn it around.

3 hours ago, canderson said:

Where is the ship coming from just ahead of porting in Puerto Rico?  While 3pm is a bit excessive, if this is the ship's first landfall in the U.S., and while it shouldn't cause boarding delays, there are additional procedures by a couple of governmental agencies that take place under those circumstances.  If the previous cruise started out at a U.S. port, then one would imagine the SSC is just plain mistaken.  The two cruises we've taken out of P.R. have not had such late boarding times - but they weren't arriving from a foreign port, either.

the cruise before ours is the same itinerary. Depart and arrive in San Juan.  So hopefully shes just mistaken because or hotel checkout is 12 and i was hoping to drop off our luggage before we ventured back out to old san juan.  thx

I think its different in Puerto Rico.  We got our email from the land based concierge and it said boarding started at 3, but the app has us boarding at 11.  Anyone know what the real time to start boarding is?  The ship gets in at 630am which is pretty typical for a FL based port so im not sure why 3 would be the boarding time. 

thx

Well we got our email from our retreat concierge and it turns out the boarding time does start until 3pm.  Question was asked above.  Nov 2 summit out of PR.  Blurb from the email.

The Celebrity Summit is scheduled to set sail at 8:30 pm. Boarding for your sailing will begin at approximately 3 pm and close promptly at 7 pm.

1 hour ago, billc23 said:

Interesting approach. Do you plan on using the future cruise certificate on the same sailing or to book a different sailing within a year? Some FCC's state that they can only be used for the cruise cost - not other stuff like pre paid gratuities, etc. - and that you will forgo any value over the amount paid. Also, will they refund 90% of the cost of the insurance and do you plan on purchasing insurance on the trip??  Booking a future cruise on board and then using the FCC probably gets you the best outcome but be sure to review the details. Keeping what you have, and not letting the fact that someone booking last minute received a better deal drive your decision making, may very well be a fine option. 

Were probably going to do exactly what you said and book a future cruise on board with the refund.  Wife is working it out today.  And just so folks dont think we are quibbling over a couple of hundred dollars, its over $3k less so worth our time to recoup some of the on another cruise. thx

I think what some of us may be looking for, or at least what i would like is a cruise concierge type service.  The value of my TA before she retired was not totally the cost savings, but rather her responsiveness and he knowing what we liked and the time of the year we like to travel. So she would keep an eye out for deals that may fit our criteria and send them our way which usually ended up saving us quite a bit of money without her having to give up some of her commissions.  

Now, without her help, we get bombarded with emails from just about every cruise line where 90% of them have no relevance to us.

However, after a quick google search, i dont think such a service exists,  but if anyone knows of something like that, please send it my way.  

Thanks.  we dont have a reason to cancel, i just want to cancel and rebook because even with the 10% i will loose, i will still save money because our cruise has dropped almost 20% since final payment.  

Thanks again

Hi, Does anyone know where to find the details on the cruise care that is bought when booking a cruise on the celebrity website?  My booking document said i purchased it, but i cant find the details as to what it actually covers. In particular, if it covers cancel for any reason. I cant remember if it covered that and i could swear it did and i would received 90% of my money back, but for some reason, i cant find that doc anywhere.

thx

Im not that familiar with group booking so i wanted to see if someone can answer a question for me.  Do the 8 cabins have to be in the same category to get the free one or can they be any 8?  We are thinking about doing a family reunion next year on a cruise and could easily fill up 8 cabins, but some are going to want inside cabins and some are going to want suites.  Can we mix and match like that and if so, what type of cabin would the free one be?  

Thanks

2 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

 

It could depend on the TA, I had one but she left and I was given someone else. Hard to get a hold of/didn't answer questions so really there was no benefit to me having this person.

 

Now I book directly because I can't find a good TA.

Ditto on that point.  We had a wonderful TA years ago that knew exactly what we liked, disliked, etc. however, she retired and we have not been able to find an equivalent or even close.  I would gladly pay someone to keep an eye out for cruise deals we would be interested in and know our preferred travel times during the year, but i think that kind of service is hard to find these days for some of the points made in previous posts.  Lower commissions, having to give part of them up for OBC, etc. 

1 hour ago, Syd58 said:

The problem with this analysis is you’re assuming the process is stagnant. It is not.  As more and more Retreat customers find they possibly might have a better experience on luxury lines like Silversea or Seabourn for less money, they may begin to jump ship. It is at this point that Celebrity would need to make a decision regarding pricing or risk losing these customers forever. With this said, it should be remembered that both Celebrity and Silversea are both owned by the same parent company, so in essence, they would not be losing customers to another company if they moved to Silversea. RCL would likely want to take a close look at its product differentiation and related strategies though. My guess is they will adjust Silversea prices upward - we are already beginning to see this happen. For anyone considering Silversea, I would advise them to take a look and book now as RCL’s current pricing strategy for Silversea may not last long, We have several Silversea cruises booked over the next couple of years at great prices. Prices have increased since we booked and will likely continue to be adjusted upward.

Well said and i think our issue is/was, we didnt even think to check the other higher end lines because they were always out of reach for us.  When we start cruising 30+ years ago, we were on a budget which equaled the mainstream lines, then we had kids which also equaled the mainstream lines.  Now that we are traveling with the just two of us for the most part and booking mainly suites, we need to also include the higher end lines in our searches.  

24 minutes ago, billc23 said:

If you desire a Celebrity Retreat like experience I would recommend MSC Yacht Club. You will be a VIP - escorted onto the ship, escorted to venues on the ship to the front of the line, special elevator access by using your key card/wrist band, etc. - a hierarchy you may enjoy OR not. The class system created on various cruise lines embarrasses some and others expect and enjoy the extra special treatment if paying more for the cabin. 

 

Silversea and Regent tends to treat passengers mostly the same when you leave your cabin. No special pool deck, no special dining room... and the overall experience is great. 

 

I have not sailed on the luxury lines in the Caribbean yet - I do have 3 weeks booked on Silversea late January 2025 - so at this time I can only recommend MSC Seaside class over the Retreat from my experience. 

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of sailing MSC non yacht club a couple of years ago and every time i even mention it as an option, my wife has PTSD...  One of the worst if not the worst cruise we've been on and we have been on a lot.

We have been on NCL in the Haven and that sounds like a similar experience, but it has also gotten very pricy, actually in line with the higher-end lines.

5 hours ago, Syd58 said:

I don’t think seasoned cruisers compare Celebrity to any of those three. Even Celebrity Retreat isn’t comparable. It’s like I tried to describe to our friends, the entire ship on Silversea and Seabourn is a step up from the Retreat, IMO. I like Silversea since it’s all-inclusive, and it has some newer, beautifully designed ships.

Thats exactly what we are looking for.  I poked around on the pricing yesterday and they really arent any more expensive than what we are paying for our celebrity cruise in november. 

Thanks for the info.

19 minutes ago, crusinthrough said:

People always compare Celebrity with Silversea, Seabourn, and Oceania.  Just because it's a cruise ship doesn't mean the experience will be the same.  There is a lot of factors in cruising aside the price.  

 

In August someone posted on here that Beyond Caribbean sailings pricing was atypical. I checked and saw great pricing for the Retreat.  I booked a guarantee for $5400 total.  I was assigned a Magic Carpet suite on deck 12, which I expected.  I called and changed the room number.  I haven't seen Retreat prices less that $6k in awhile.  

 

AQ class rooms are only about $200 more than an IV guarantee or the same price as a non guarantee.  

 

Downside - The Beyond does have the creaking sounds but maybe things would have settled by then and it's quiet. 

 

There are deals but you have to check regularly.  

Of those three cruise lines you mention, Silversea, Seabourn, and Oceania, do you have a preference when sailing in the Caribbean?  We are looking for a good 'upper end' cruise line for the Caribbean and did princess earlier this year which was very good, but probably not going to be our go to line going forward.  We are doing summit this november, but i dont have high hopes for that one so we are looking into the three mentioned above for 2025.  thx

7 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Do you have any OBC you might lose?  Are you just getting a price adjustment or changing category?

No obc and i dont think changing categories is a option so thats why i was thinking of just switching to another ship/date.  We are in a royal suite, all of which are still available aside from ours, but the next level is PH and there are only 2 and they are now booked or at least blacked out.

Does anyone know if transfer our reservation from Celebrity to a independent TA if they would be able to do anything for us in regard to the pretty massive price drop on our cabin?  Yes, its after the final payment, but its over $2k less than that we paid which is really ridiculous.  I can stomach a couple hundred less, but $2k seems like we were taken advantage of. 

Could the transfer the booking to another date and or ship and reprice it?

2 minutes ago, fadeintoblue said:

Would love if they were paying for themselves but they’re young adults still on my payroll so ocean view is as good as I’m willing to pay for 🙂

I would keep checking for price drops before the cruise because we are on the nov 2 Summit out of PR and it keeps going down so you may be able to upgrade them to AQ for very little difference.  Example, our Royal suite is now very close to our original Celebrity suite cost.  Within $300. If yours is as undersold as ours, ill bet you'll find some good deals the closer you get.

I agree with  the posts that state that its all about supply and demand, and i think demand may be coming down a bit.  We paid $11.8k for a royal suite 7 day southern carrib. about 5 months ago and now its down to about $10.5k.  It may be a less popular cruise and sailing date, but clearly the demand isnt what they thought it would be when the originally priced that cruise. 

44 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I've previously purchased a Photo Package and they did singles of both of us as well as together and some with friends.

did you purchase 1 package or 1 package for both of you?

1 hour ago, MrsKC08 said:

I can't honestly confirm with Celebrity, as I have yet to sail on them (going in March), I know that with our other cruises, including Royal (sister company), we only bought 1 package and it was for everyone in that cabin, so me and hubby (would include children if they were sailing in that cabin). So basically it is one package for stateroom.

Thats what we are also use to on other lines, but it confused me that you can add the package to both people in the stateroom.  Thx for the info.

Hi, Does anyone know if i purchase the photo package for just one of us, just my wife and I sailing, if we get all of the together photos?  I would assume we would only get the individual photos for the person we purchase the package for, but would we get all of the together photos? 

Thanks

Turns out i did get an email already, in my spam...  But i think it was for our celebrity suite before we upgraded to a royal.  It doesnt say anything about bar set up and liquor choices.  It does say action needed in the subject line but doesnt say what action in the email, just the amenities. Do you think i will get another one?

Does anyone know about how many days before our cruise the concierge contacts us for our preferences?  We are in a royal suite.

thx

19 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Back to the original question. In 2024, I have noted that many cruises are selling out and prices going way up. We were hoping to find an inside cabin on an eastern Med cruise and inside and OV are sold out and the balcony has doubled in price. You might find a last minute reduction to the Caribbean during hurricane season, but travel is booming!

Thats always what we thought, but we were also traveling with our kids at peak times, Summer, Spring break, etc.  Now that we arent traveling with our kids and out of different, not as common ports, Puerto Rico in this case, we need to be more diligent on checking how booked it is before we pull the trigger our booking. Im so use to the prices going up rather than down the closer you get to the sail date, i didnt even think about checking, although it should have been a clue when every cabin in our category was available when we booked and still is aside from ours...

I dont suppose anyone knows of a website that tracks how booked these ships are?  Its relatively easy on our current ship give its pretty small, Summit, but its a little harder on the larger ships.

thx