di T

3 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Today is our final port day here in Marseilles, France, but after a very port intensive cruise + 3 days in Barcelona full of all day tours, we decide to skip our wine tour of Provence today and simply enjoy the ship.

 

Looking around the ship, we're not the only ones who decided to do this as it's a lot busier than ships typically are on a port day (not busy, just busier). Some of that is probably also due to the fact that Marseilles isn't exactly an idyllic port. In fact, Drew, the Cruise Director, described it during the show last night as, "a working port, not as nice as the other places we've been on this sailing."

 

In any case - that means I'll have an opportunity to catch up on some of these Live reactions that I've been neglecting the past several days, so stay tuned!

Hi, have enjoyed your posts! We will board on Thursday for our b2b just getting ready to go to the airport. Enjoy your last days on board.

19 hours ago, hcat said:

used to be  Captains table..invites as a perk!

Yes we had 5 invites through captains club invites in the past! Lovely experience.But this stopped a few years ago.

34 minutes ago, Banjo said:

 

I was on the Apex 2 weeks ago for a TA. I asked Captains Club hostess at the Elite Morning Breakfast (or what ever they call it) and she said it was like 1200. What shocked me was 28 Zeniths. I knew they had more than 28 but 28 in one place. It took me like 20 years to make just Elite+. 😆

Yea elite plus for the last 5 years but trying other lines, so Zenith I don’t think will happen.

13 minutes ago, hcat said:

more than coffee..

it's a lite breakfast..cold  platters,  bagels, croissants, etc and mimosas, bellinis and cappucino..

I absolutely love the Celebrity elite breakfast! Don’t eat cooked breakfast and my husband just has fruit then goes to gym, even at home.

Just now, doghog said:

No. Celebrity Elite Plus will be Diamond with RCs CAS. As Diamond you will get 4 drinks loaded on your Sea Pass card each day. No vouchewrs. 

So no change? Thanks for letting me know. Happy with the 4 drinks, Dianne

1 minute ago, karl_nj said:

 

Yes, you would get an extra voucher since you aren't just matching to Diamond (4 vouchers) but match to Diamond Plus (5 vouchers)

 

You may also have a better chance of getting access to the Crown Lounge; they now block Diamond on some sailings

Thanks for this, we usually sail celebrity but have booked with RCL next spring. This will only be our 10 th with them. Extra voucher will be nice! 

So, Elite plus gets 5 vouchers now on RCL? 

3 hours ago, RobInMN said:

Just an FYI. That is the first cruise post amplification. She will be in Dry Dock from Feb 23rd to April 10th. You might want to be mentally prepared to switch sail dates. If things don't go as planned, I think this 4 night (and the following 5 night) is the buffer cruise(s) that can be "easily" cancelled before starting the regular 7 night Western Mediterranean itinerary (interporting with Rome). Also note that it's possible that there are some things that might not be 100% complete. Things that they can complete on the move and don't require the dry dock facilities.

 

Thanks for the heads up, Would be a shame if they cancelled! This date was ideal as it’s Easter school holidays and just a short time for him to be away from his parents.We are actually away cruising later in April.I might have to look and see what’s available during the summer holidays.But haven’t booked yet and haven’t looked at flights.The flight are the big risk as they are expensive and non refundable. 

So looking forward to this! We sail from Barcelona on Allure in April taking our Grandson on his first cruise also just 4 days duration, we always  cruise for a minimum of 20 days. He said what if we hit an iceberg like the titanic😂Don’t think so in the Mediterranean lol.Enjoy your time Megan! 

Just wondering if anyone has received a cash back offer for Royal caribbean cruises from the Uk recently.

I have seen this with other cruise lines such as Celebrity,Norwegian etc.

2 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

You should have no problem. I’ve made part payments quite a few times though the app (including twice on this offer) to get Cashback and never had any problem. £300 off our upcoming cruise is very handy.

That’s great news Keith. We have had offers on Amex for Celebrity on two cards and used them as well recently! 

I will try this tomorrow on my Amex platinum card, hope it goes through in the AP ok. Final payment isn’t until next February but might get the offer again on one of our cards before then.🤞

7 hours ago, CruiseDawg5772 said:

We previously sailed Celebrity as our first choice. I know some would disagree, but I would never sail MSC without the Yacht Club. But dollar for dollar inside the Yacht Club is the best deal and experience in cruising in my opinion. 

Celebrity is the line we have cruised the most (40+ cruises) but will try yacht club this October, have sailed in inside, balcony and aqua class on Celebrity.But found the inside yacht club price was good value, looking forward to trying MSC. Have traveled with a lot of other lines and will be good to see how they compare.

2 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

FWIW, my TA just notified me that MCS gave me a 5% discount based on my status match (Gold) on a 7 night YC booking.

That’s great! Did you have your status match when you booked? If I book again hopefully I’ll get the discounts for my next cruise.looking forward to the yacht club, but maybe will look at the non yacht club experience too.We cruise a lot each year now we are retired and are happy to try lots of different lines.

We sail in October from Barcelona, embark the same day we get off Celebrity Accent.Prices do seem higher, but if we enjoy will probably book for next year.then we should get all the perks! Dianne

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

The rules are the same for all, but there is this bit in the T&Cs:

 

4.1.2 The only way to be eligible for the MSC Voyagers Club benefits is to provide
the MSC Voyagers Club Identification number at the time of the cruise booking.

 

We do often see people getting the benefits applied when they status match shortly after making a booking, but it sounds like you booked a few months ago and only recently got the match...

 

Did you get the 5%+5% discount?

Not sure but I was happy for the price offered, it will be our first MSC so decided to try yacht club. We cruise mostly with Celebrity and our yacht club inside wasn’t much more than our usual balcony on Celebrity.Looking forward  to trying this.

13 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Yes, but she doesn't have to wait to join the Voyagers club, she can do that now and just start at zero points, the 'one-shot' aspect is just for the status match.

 

No, that doesn't increase, and you only get it when you book more than 9 months in advance of the departure date. You get that from Silver upwards and she will hit that very quickly even starting at zero...

Mark, we have just had our status match applied and I emailed the travel agent with our club numbers to add to a booking in Yacht club. Received word to say she added the membership numbers to the booking but we wouldn’t get the 50 OBC as the cruise was booked last year.We are in the UK is there different rules? Dianne

5 minutes ago, barneyboy said:

No direct with Celebrity. We did rebook through a TA as we got a better deal. 

5 minutes ago, barneyboy said:

No direct with Celebrity. We did rebook through a TA as we got a better deal. 

I booked direct this time.Though have used travel agents in the past, the 2nd cruise had a much bigger price drop.They let me keep the same cabin but I lost $100 obc which was a promotion when I booked. But the price drop was £400 so a no brainier.First cruise only went down about £80 so I just left it as it was with the $100 obc. The young man I spoke to was very helpful.Dianne

1 hour ago, barneyboy said:

No I had to cancel and rebook with a loss of our deposit when the price dropped substantially. 

Did you book through a travel agent? 

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

Great to hear that you got the lower price as they were refusing to honour the price drops 👍. 

Was pleasantly surprised! We don’t always get them over here do we? 

Just want to say I am a happy bunny today😊

called Celebrity today I had a few things to ask about. Call was answered in 5 minutes lovely guy! I had noticed my husbands captains club number wasn’t on my confirmation for a back to back I recently booked while on the ship, also the price had gone down on the 2nd leg.Wanted to ask if the b2b discount had been applied as well.Howard who answered my call, took care of all my queries.This is in the UK and in less than 10 minutes I saved £400 and added hubbys club number to the invoice he sent a new confirmation right away.Well done Howard lovely polite guy.

I booked last month while on the ship.Asked about the discount for the b2b and was told it would be added later.Been home for 5 weeks and can’t see it.Have always had it before but cant remember how much it is! Also booked in British pounds with Celebrity Uk.

On 4/3/2024 at 12:49 PM, cavaaller said:

On the way back, we wandered through the narrow streets again. Nafplio is really lovely.

We left the ship the day you boarded after a b2b on her.The first leg was the same as yours and we loved Nafflio it was our first visit to this port! Rhodes we have been many times but always enjoy it. We were very lucky with the weather and the ships staff were so friendly, Thanks for doing your review it’s very enjoyable.Dianne

On 3/7/2024 at 4:50 PM, villauk said:

Wise, we have had only one wet day so far, and it has been sunny on most days.Temperature is around 17 though if out of the breeze it has felt warmer.I have to say it’s very pleasant for so early in the year! I brought a couple of light fleece jackets and they have been ideal.Safe travels I’m sure you will enjoy the cruise! Dianne
 

I’m going for layers.

On 3/5/2024 at 11:46 AM, villauk said:

@di T What have your first impressions been of Infinity? Have you noticed any of the recent upgrades to the ship? 

On 3/5/2024 at 11:46 AM, villauk said:

@di T What have your first impressions been of Infinity? Have you noticed any of the recent upgrades to the ship? 

Well it’s our first time on this ship so can’t say much about upgrades, still got the shower curtain lol! But we have sailed many time on the same class so easy to navigate, staff are great as always, old menus are back so better than Reflection in September 2023. 
Having a good time though the weather would of been warmer with the original itinerary, have booked two cruises while onboard for next year so that speaks for itself.I am sure you will enjoy the next cruise we are sailing 2/3rds full so nice! Dianne