Little Nell

Celebrity is our cruise line of choice now. We will be doing our 3rd X cruise this year and our 4th to Alaska next year.

The service is wonderful and the food mainly excellent. We book a balcony cabin and would never be able to afford a suite. We like the drinks package, the proper coffees, teas, bottled water, wine with dinner and some spirits in the evening. We enjoy the entertainment in the theatre but only go when we think it will be to our taste. Other than that we are happy to be left in peace to read, take in a talk or whatever. We love a dance to the dance band. We do spend a fair amount when on the ship. We always upgrade to the premium drinks package, use the speciality restaurants, book excursions, buy the wifi etc. We like the opportunity of purchasing extras if we want them. We are very happy about the evening chic change. We are in our 60's, not 20's or 30's. As far as I am concerned Celebrity are getting it right for us and seem to be getting it right for their high end customers too. I guess you would say we are the mass market cruisers that people are referring to. For us, Celebrity provide excellent value for money compared to other mass market lines who charge more and deliver less.

Thanks to you all.

 

We have a booking placed on the Northbound on Milennium. If I am going to see Alaska, I figure we are going to go all the way up to Anchorage. And the comments about the weather and conditions are SO right. Most of this area is like Maritime Rainforest.

 

By leaving Princess, we are giving up Glacier Bay. But just feel better and more excited about this Celebrity cruise. We will hopefully see Hubbard Glacier (and Celebrity seems better at actually getting TO the Glacier than Princess), as well as a tour to Tracy Arm with Sawyer Glacier.

 

Little Nell and Chotton: True, the $25.00 and the Package Promo are not offered for 2017, yet. But, we had no worries about booking anyhow. We booked the cabin I want, one of the better Ocean View staterooms on Plaza, at a good price. (Right now, the rates for 2016 cruises have been going up, and they are more than this Early Booking for the same/similar cruise in 2017. Even with the 'free perks'.)

 

If a better offer comes along, any time before final payment date, should be able to re-fare. So, let's say the basic fare goes up $100.00 per person, but then free perks are offered, you would have to look at the end total cost. If it comes out better, call Celebrity. (at least that is the way I understand it)

Thank you for this reply. It would be worth our while to wait for the promo. I think you may be doing the cruise we are looking at. Which date is your cruise?

We already booked Millennium for July 27 and got the drink package included. We then chose to pay to move to the "Best" offer.

Thanks. Haven't seen this available in the UK.

We are looking to go to Alaska in 2017 but would like to book when the drinks package becomes available. At present it is only available on selected 2016 Alaskan sailings. Can anyone assist with advice on this?

We are only in a 1A Verandah cabin, however for our 14 night Baltic cruise in July 2016 we are paying $185 pppn which includes pre-paid gratuities, 14 nights parking at Southampton and Classic drinks package. I am happy with that and the upgrade to Premium Drinks is to us a no- brainier.

May I ask who you booked through?

The disco on the Eclipse was very busy last August and only once was there a disco there. We had a brilliant time in there every evening dancing to the live band. It was a school holiday cruise so the demographic was younger than normal but we are in our 60's and still like to party late.

We have a "holiday" credit card which we use for our onboard spend. There are no fees or conversion charges. If we pay the bill on time (which we always do to avoid charges) there is no interest added. We are given the best rate available on the day a purchase is made. Lots of my UK cruise friends use this card. It saves any trouble.

Yes, you can. I think its a fairly long coach trip though.

Thanks, Sheila :)

Thanks, Sheila, for the pictures and Glenlivet for the review. Could you take a trip from Sete to Carcassonne?

What a great itinerary!

Congratulations on your anniversary, Linda. Hope you have a lovely time on your cruise :)

We actually used the Gastropub on a number of occasions on our Eclipse cruise. We enjoyed it in the evenings when the music was on in the Grand Foyer and had the odd dance there before making our way to the theatre.

I think they could do better with the menu. It was very limited and quite disappointing. We decided not to eat there but may try it next time if it is still there.

We've just booked the same cruise as last year, everything identical except the price which was £400 cheaper. That's a good deal. We could have booked 2 weeks earlier and saved more but we preferred the later date.

We were on the Eclipse in July and the weather was very mixed. You needed a wrap outside in the evenings and a cardigan during the day on the cooler days. I seldom needed anything warm inside and I tend to feel the cold.

We were in 7149 and it was a very quiet cabin with great views. I have tried to book it again but most of the cabins have gone already for July 2016!

We have upgraded to the premium package for the last 2 years. On the Infinity last year we had exactly the wines and spirits we wanted and liked. This year on the Eclipse I couldn't get the wines or spirit that I prefer. The wine waiter kept trying to pass off Bordeaux as Medoc and the only time I managed to get Chianti Classico was in the Tuscan Grill, which shows they did have it but weren't serving it in the dining room (despite the fact they were on the wine list and within our premium allowance). I was disappointed by this. I don't think I will upgrade next year. It was a bit of a waste of money.

Cel X mission statement appears to be to provide Modern Luxury. much debate about towels etc but perhaps a different perspective . the bars and dining are changing,not to everybody's pleasing but hey ho .

 

So why is the Cruise Director's remit still to provide 1970's shows nightly and as for the daytime activities - please : putting on a 'lawn' that is3 inches long . water polo in a tiny pool ,bingo !

 

Cel X need to completely revamp this part of the operation . Current offering is a cross between Butlins & Hi de Hi [emoji14]

What entertainment would you like to see that would fit in with your vision of modern luxury and which shows are 1970's? I am not being critical but genuinely interested in your views.

Nell, I didn't realise you were back. I thought you were away at the same time as Jak.

 

Did you get to see everything, and did you enjoy it?

Hi Happy v :)

We went on 25th July and had a fantastic time. It is the best cruise we've done. We loved the Eclipse! It is a really beautiful ship and the all round product was first class. Our tour in St Petersburg was wonderful and we can't wait to go back and see some more.

That Lochs one looks absolutely amazing! No idea anyone did anything like that. Now that's given me food for thought.............. ;)

Was just thinking exactly the same, Kruzseeka :D

We were on the 25th July sailing and while there were lots of kids, they were very well behaved.

The noise from the pool did stop us going there, however, but for us it wasn't a major issue.

The Scottish school holidays begin some time in the last week of June but there are obviously fewer Scottish children than English, if that is any help with your planning.

Hi Little Nell

 

The 2B balconies are showing @ £3798 for 2 people inc Classic Drinks and $300 OBC atm for June 2016.

 

Are you saying you paid £3500 for the cruise booked in the Jan 2015 sale ? and did you still get the 123 go offer with this ?

 

Current X All Inclusive offer runs out at the end of this month - we go on Anthem of the Seas Sept 1st so may just gamble on X repeating the 123 Go offers in the future as not sure what RCI will offer onboard the Anthem

Hi Barneymag.

Yes we paid 1749 each, with 123 GO included, in the sale in January.

I am not sure what will happen with the new package after 123 GO finishes. I read about the new package briefly before went our cruise and there seemed to be a fair amount of scepticism about it but I would need to read further into it. There is a thread on here about it. If 123 GO is finishing we will need to do that soon. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

We have just returned from the Baltic on Eclipse. It was a fabulous cruise. We booked in the January sale and saved £400. We paid £250 less each for a B2 balcony cabin than you are being quoted. We thought it was excellent value for what we got. Of course, a concierge cabin would be more expensive but I am not sure by how much. The fact you have an additional perk sounds a good deal to me.

A fellow passenger on board, who is a travel consultant, advised us that January sale time is the best time to book Celebrity. We will book with her the next time as we booked direct with Celebrity and didn't receive any additional perks over and above the 1,2,3 Go package.

We enjoyed it so much we are considering doing it again next year!

Yes we very much enjoyed listening to them when we were on, on the 30 May departure. Very good female singer.

Thank you. Someone else said that too. Good news.

I've just got a Halifax Clarity card which Ill only use when abroad, but I understand you can also withdraw cash on it. I know you pay interest on the cash from the date of withdrawal, but wonder what would happen if I paid money onto the card before we left the UK? With a positive balance, I'm hoping there'd be no interest to pay. Any thoughts?

I forgot you pay interest on cash :o Sorry folks. To be honest, the amount is negligible for the small sums we withdraw. We use it mainly to pay for purchases.

Suekay, I don't know the answer to your question.

We have the Halifax card which works in the same way. No transaction fees, conversion fees and best rate available on the day. So long as you pay the bill when it comes in you don't pay interest.

That will be a treat, Nell. I was looking at an Alla or similar tour but haven't made any decision yet.

You have plenty time yet, Jackie, to make up your mind. I am so excited about seeing St Petersburg.