RTR 21-0

A few months ago when I was considering Flights by Celebrity I was told by the agent that flights are ticketed once payment for the flight has been received. That would either be us paying for the flights prior to the cruise payoff or paying for flights at time of final cruise payment. I was told that once payment has been received it normally takes a day or two to get them ticketed. However, Seat selection for some airlines such as American were able to be chosen immediately after booking the flights. If there was one leg of the flight that was through a carrier such as British Airways. Those seats can only be chosen after final payment for flight has been made. I believe Delta also uses Finn Air and I’m not sure of the seat selection policy prior to final payment for them.

Good luck with your search. Recently went on a spanx or similar brand excursion that left me exhausted and in much need of a drink and ice pack when I got home. Has anyone ever accidentally punched themselves in the face while trying to get the torture device on 🤦🏼‍♀️ Yep that happened lol. Finally ended up with the Spanx Everyday Shaping Panty. It hugged the lower belly fluff enough so it looked less fluffy and was way more comfortable than the ones that go around the thighs or to the knees - you know, the ones you have to work up a sweat to pull back up if you have to go to the bathroom.

Most definitely. I should have put it was a non-surge protector, cruise approved.

Thanks for the replies! I’m a visual person so looked up the European outlets, prongs and that with your comments helped me understand. Sharkster 77, you mentioend phone chargers and I’m wondering if anyone has had issues with them? We were recently on Carnival Panorama, hubs had every slot taken on the USB port provided by Carnival in the cabin and I forgot to pack our surge protector. Plugged my phone directly into the outlet at the desk and noticed it wasn’t charging but had charged the day before at hotel. Tried it on the USB port and didn’t work. Not sure if it got zapped when I plugged it directly in the socket. Luckily it wasn’t the phone and cord could easily be replaced.

Excuse my cluelessness, but adapters and converters are different things? I thought they were the same? I have a hair dryer/volumizer that is to be used with USA 120v only and not to be used with a converter so I’m assuming I would get an adapter to use in Europe hotels. If I use it on the ship, I would need the adapter if I plugged it into the outlet in the cabin bathroom but could I use the outlets in the cabin or our travel size non surge protector power cube? Obviously I was sleeping during science class 😂 TIA

Has anyone brought a Revlon One Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer on a cruise and not had it damaged? It’s designed for 120v USA outlets only with instructions not to use a voltage converter. Aren’t the outlets in the cabins (except the bathroom) USA outlets? Does anyone have a recommendation for a good 220v plug as we will be traveling to Europe next year and I’ll need it for the hotel I would assume. TIA

I try to pack lighter than our 1st in ‘97 and feel like I’m getting better at it. Packing cubes help tremendously to stay organized and make me feel like I’m packing lighter. Enjoyed reading Cruisemom42’s post. Love all things Love Boat and think it would have been great cruising in the 70’s and 80’s when people put their fancy clothes on - even boarding the ship embarkation day.

We've been on 13 Western, Eastern and Southern Caribbean cruises and were past ready to change it up and experience different ports, so we took our first Mexican Riviera cruise in May on Carnival Panorama. We personally loved all of the ports - Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo - Mazatlan being our favorite and all we did was explore the city by foot. PV we did a food tour in I guess what would be called downtown or old PV and had a great time. Cabo we did what i think is our favorite excursion to date, a 4x4 Polaris desert adventure. However, it didn't leave us enough time to stroll around the port (which looked lovely) as we were leaving early that day. Now, onto the water. This was not our favorite part of the cruise. The sixth night (after leaving Cabo) I wasn't feeling so great, felt a little off kilter and queasy even though I hadn't come close to making my drink package limit lol. The next day I felt worse. Never puked but all I wanted to do was stay in bed and when I finally got up to walk, get some fresh, move around a bit, I began feeling a bit better. Hubs was the same way. Couldn't put our finger on it. Talked to someone on the ship that evening and they said lots of people who have never had seasickness feel it on the Pacific especially after leaving Cabo. Apparently, the ships high tail it to get back to LA on time and the Pacific can be a little rough which makes the sailing no so smooth. Would we do it again, absolute, but would pick a different area on the ship for our cabin. We had an aft balcony on deck 8 which wasn't ideal for feeling the waves. Next time we would opt for middle of the ship, lower deck.

@Marazul, thank you for the info. Decided to go with a room that overlooks the Piazza Navona square from the room and also a terrace for breakfast or cocktails in the evening. Feel pretty good about our selection. I do have a question for you. We'll be staying one night after our cruise, flying out of FCO. Would you suggest staying that last night in Civi or going back to Rome? I've done the cost comparison on transfers and they're all about what and what. Our flight is at 10:00 a.m. so we'll need to be at airport at least by 7:00. TIA

Planning our first trip to Europe next year, looking at hotels in Rome. A look at Google Maps and my mind blew at all of the hotels available. I have looked through the many posts on hotels on this site and they have been very helpful. We are staying two nights but technically a day and a half and will try to visit as many of the must-see sites as possible. Looking for one central location to be able to walk to the major sites. I think (and please correct me if I'm wrong) a good place to centrally stay would be the following areas: Piazza Navona; Panthenon; or Spanish Steps (although this seems to be a bit further out). So, for those who have traveled to Rome and had a short amount of time, which did you all find to be the most convenient? TIA!

It could be quite possible our husbands are related 😄 If I hear "I'm doing this for you" one more time I'm going to tell him, "great, we're maxing out the credit card." Joking aside, he has said he knows about Rome what he learned in school but is interested in visiting, he just doesn't want any part of the planning since it requires a lot of energy and his brain is tired from work. He's super excited about the cruise though......because he didn't have to plan it lol. This thread has been very helpful figuring out which area is best to stay in due to our limited time there. Got excited about Albergo del Senato but they require a three-night stay which unfortunately isn't doable for us so it's back to the drawing board.

We have our cruise booked and airline tickets purchased for May 2023. I've been doing research on our ports including our stay in Rome and Hubs and I are thinking we would like more personalized excursions instead of using the ones offered by Celebrity (yes, I know the drawback to that insofar as making it back to ship on time) and to also work on setting up an itinerary for us in Rome to make the best use of our time while there. I reached out to someone about handling that for us. She said she has a great relationship with Celebrity and the first thing she would try to do is pull our booking into her agency's control. That way she could add their agency's amenities and bonuses for our sailing, operate within the confines of our time in each port and possibly get us some OBC. Sounds interesting to me but I would love to know if any of you have ever booked on your own then switched to using a travel agent? Pros/cons? If our booking is switched over to a TA would I no longer be able to access it online? Who does the checking in, us or them? We have only cruised Carnival and Royal and only once used a travel agent, our first cruise in '97. TIA for your input and advice.

Once again, I am loving your review and pictures. Your sundresses and wedge sandals are adorable, especially the ones worn while you were lounging in the last set of pics Naples will be our last stop on our May 2023 Beyond cruise and I believe we'll stay in Civi one night post cruise before flying back home. Made some much-needed notes on those ports thanks to you. Your dedication to exercise has me wanting to leave my sofa and do the same. Okay, I just slapped myself out of such silliness today but there's always tomorrow, right??? Will miss reading your posts after your cruise is done.

Thanks for that info. Do you recall how far bag the middle row reclined while you were sitting in the back row? I’ve seen a few videos and pics that looks like there’s plenty of leg and recline room in PE. Of course I also know until you’re actually on a plane those videos and pics can be deceiving.

Thanks for and loving your review. Y’all look like a fun bunch to cruise with! We have a deck 11 sunset veranda booked on Beyond next May in the Mediterranean and it cannot get here quick enough. Will be a first on Celebrity and Europe.

A fun and one of the best excursions we’ve been on was Trikes-Aruba.com. Picked up & drop off at the port with about a 3 1/2-4 hour excursion with plenty of time for shopping in Aruba after. They were able to accommodate our pick up time to our arrival time at port.

Ditto what cruzeluver said, early in the morning and I’ve found late at night is a lot quicker.

I’ll try to answer based on what I’ve been able to gather in the last few weeks while booking our flight for next May’s cruise. I originally booked with FBC but cancelled this week and booked directly through American Airlines with a flexible ticket meaning I can cancel and get a refund to my credit card up until the day of the flight or make any changes necessary. If flight cost more I would pay difference. If less I believe I get a travel voucher for difference. Tickets booked with FBC aren’t ticketed until paid in full. I was told by a rep that after making payment (even before final payment of cruise) that it could take up to 30 days to ticket. However, if one needs them ASAP they could put in a request and it could take up to 72 hours. Picking your seat depends on the airline I believe. For instance, two of the legs for the flight I booked with FBC were on British Airways operated by American Airlines. With BA you normally cannot choose seats until ticketed. I was given a cross reference number and was able to choose my seats on the BA website which linked to AA. However a few days later those seats did not show X’d out. Before cancelling I asked the Celebrity rep if she could give me a quote for the exact same flights booked on AA and she said she couldn’t, it would either be booked through Finn Air or BA and those tickets cost more than what I booked with AA. Lots of people on the site will tell you (depending on how far out your cruise is) that the odds of the flights being changed are great. Probably true but I preferred to deal directly with the airline, have my seat choices from the get go. Since we are flying in a few days early I was comfortable with the decision to deal directly with AA. if you choose to go with FBC (which deferring the cost is a great option) if you find the price lower before final payment of the cruise, and it’s the exact same flight options, Celebrity will confirm the price, they will cancel your original booking and rebook at the lower price. If you flight the price lower after final payment of cruise, you will be charged $200 if you have booked a refundable/changeable ticket. Sorry so long but tried to answer your question as detailed as possible.

Disregard my post please. Found it. I really need to make an appointment for an eye exam 🤦🏼‍♀️

Purchased flexible tickets directly through American Airlines but I don’t see anywhere on the trip confirmation/receipt or when I log into my AA account that shows that’s what I purchased. Is this normally left off or am I looking in the wrong place?

Is the martini bar included in the classic package or only premium? If only premium can you just pay the difference for the drink?

Our previous Celebrity cruise we had to cancel and rebook had great fares that the airlines couldn’t touch. I found it hard this time to find a rate that Celebrity couldn’t beat (quoted by the FBC agent) that I found directly through the airline with a refundable fare and no cost to change unless I wanted a new flight that cost more. To me it seems the only benefit booking FBC nowadays is to defer the flight cost to a later date.

Same with our flight to Rome next year. Originally booked with Celebrity but some legs were with British Air which I wasn’t a fan. Booked a refundable direct with AA and was cheaper. I checked with FBC and they could get the same flights (not through BA) but cost was more and non refundable).

I was just on with FBC cancelling our flight and asked the gentleman your question. He said it depends on how soon their computer updates the final payment and ticketing request. For instance, our final payment is next February 6th. Had we kept our flights and paid in full by that date, the expected ticketing date would have been March 30th. That was a surprise to me. He did say if you put in a request for expedited ticketing it can take up to 72 hours. Hope that info. helps.

When recently selecting our seats for our flight next year I started thinking about which side we normally choose seats, whether pre-booked or seat selection the day of flight such as Southwest. I realized we, or rather I should say I as hubby usually follows me onboard, always gravitate toward the right side of the plane (facing the front of the plane). I can't think of no other reason other than I'm right-handed. Even thinking about the times I've sat on the left side, I felt a little off. So strange, but I'm wondering, what side do most of you venture toward and why?