alfaeric

Hopefully it also means they cancel all RCI cruises, too. To lower the demand and cost to the rest of us.

Sometimes they do, not always. But compared to booking as soon as the cabins come out, the price change has not been better for us. If you are sure they will, we normally book a class lower and then upgrade for the fee we were already happy with.

Has happened more than once to us. But we just took the upgrade. Win because the fare was what we wanted, win because we got a better cabin. Lots easier than struggling to bypass the known policy.

Just reading how upset people are. Pretty obvious how some people take looks so very seriously. Of others, at least. For all of the mad posts about dress code, lanyards, and pinnacle pins, I do hope I’m ruining someone’s vacations. I do my part. lol. If it makes you feel better, I did overhear someone talking about shorts when we walked by them in the MDR on a recent cruise. Made me chuckle that they noticed.

It’s fun to see how men wearing shorts can ruin someone else’s vacation. Just like the pinnnacle pin and people wearing lanyard. Hilarious.

Sorry, but how much you pay for a balcony has nothing to do with your service. You get the exact same service as your neighbor who paid less than half of that and probably got a better location for booking at the right time. Let alone have expectations for a 12 seat restaurant in a 3500 seat dining room. As long as people are overpaying THAT much for a basic balcony, there's no financial incentive to change anything.

Well, there is a lot less "stuff" on Enchantment, that's for sure. There's a tiny "Park Cafe" in the solarium, but for dinner, the pay venues, the MDR, and the WJ is it. Being smaller, it's easier to get around, as we see it. But, being honest, I have no idea if you would be disappointed or not. If your expectations are tons of stuff to do, sure, you will be bummed. If you are looking for something quieter and perhaps being able to do other little games, maybe you would be ok. And maybe you will really like smaller ships- some do. I would lean toward you thinking that the Enchantment is a let down. But if the itinerary is more interesting and has a lot of ports- maybe that is attractive. We just did a side by side on the Allure and then the Radiance- and loved both cruises. Granted, the Radiance isn't the Enchantment- but in terms of stuff, they are very close to each other. It could be a interesting experiment. For us, if the itineraries were the same, we would choose the Anthem, though.

If anyone remembers the view from the Viking Crown Lounge- it's that, but a few decks higher compared to a normal VCL (and it actually used to be the VCL back when the Allure was new). On the ship, if you look down, you can see some of the pool deck and Central Park. But being that high, you also see lots and lots of water.

Just looked up one more thing- there used to be a coffee machine in suites, but apparently no more. That we use more than any other suite feature on all RCI cruises, and the loss of that would be a big deal. And calling the butler to deliver some isn't a real answer to me- I'd rather have it on my own time. For that kind of premium cost, you'd think they'd offer at least the same than the base corporate line. Guess it will have to be a real special itinerary.

Ok, I had to do a mock booking to get to those different suites. Guess we have to try it, but since we normally don't spend the money on GS, it's a pretty big jump to do that. Like around $1500pp extra for a cruise out of Boston next August. And I know we won't do a basic balcony. But the spa, relaxation lounges, butler, and more drinks isn't appealing what so ever. Some are kind of negative. So it's tough to see the value. The only thing of value would be the restaurant, and even that has limitations.

Ok, but on the Celebrity web site, all I see are aqua and retreat, not sky.

Better is subjective. For the cost, I would expect more than just equaling what I can get on an Oasis or Quantum ship. Right now, I can't even get though my 6 free drinks per day, so more certainly isn't better. A dedicated swimming area isn't all that appealing- as it might be used once a cruise for a little while. Soda isn't something we drink. What level of cabin has a coffee maker? Sorry if this sounds like a challenge, but after looking into some cruises that go to Iceland, we want to make sure the value is there. And I still don't understand the suites and whatnot. Someone mentioned Sky suites, and I see no mention of those on the cruises I've looked at- just the Spa Suite and the Retreat Suites. 90% of the time, we sail in JS's, the other 10% GS. Even if the suites don't match up, what's the difference between RCI and Celebrity? It's a pretty big step up in cost to get the least expensive suite.

Which ones are the sky suites? All I'm seeing is aqua suite and the retreat suite. When I look at veranda- that's just a balcony cabin, right? And when I do a quick search on their website, I find aqua suites at 300/person-night and the retreat is more like $450pp/nt. I can't even see a ship that has something other than aqua and retreat suites. When I looked into the concierge suite- that seems barely more than a balcony- can't really see how the concierge is helpful- can't get into a better restaurant. As for the perks- how are they different than RCI? Not counting the butler- that's less than appealing to me. Where should I be looking if it's not celebritycruises dot com?

Just sailed on the Allure in Feb- no USB outlets. Just plugs to put adaptors in. The closest thing to a USB outlet are the clock radios that have the older Apple 30 pin dock adaptor.

Where are you hearing that? The issue isn't about the power converters, it's a different safety feature that's the issue. We've been sailing with a 4 USB outlet plug block for about a decade, and have had no second glances at it. And that's probably 30-40 cruises.

We are interested in Celebrity, but it's hard to figure out the booking. First, the whole AI thing is not appealing compared to RCI, as we are far enough into RCI cruises that it's essentially AI as it is. Second, what is the equivalent to JS? Is that Aquaclass? For similar cheap cruises, it's about $100/nt-pp more than a cheap JS. What more are you getting for that $100?

What do you think the alternative would be? And, as I can remember, IF you can see any of the upper decks of the ship, you can also see lots and lots of water. If you are not right along the window, seeing any of the pools isn't exactly a sitting thing. So I'm not really sure it's worth complaining about.

Can always go to the MDR for dinner if you don't like the view. Forgive me for thinking the CK view is considerably better than the alternative.

Seems that not many know about that itinerary- we had that ship for a few days until we changed it to two weeks later for an easier cruise. The more important cruise, to us, is the one immediately after the odd repo- the Grandeur goes to Greenland for 3 stops. Something to really be excited about. OP, I, too, am confused why you will not put together the same package if it's an itinerary you really want. RCI is a line that tries to keep a budget tight for those people who don't want all of those features on a cruse- with the room being cheaper than Celebrity. I guess people have their limits.

We've had great service and food in CK- on the Oasis last May, Anthem last December, and Allure a month ago. It's far better than the MDR for us. Don't give up on it.

Which is to say they give you a luggage trolley that you can hang all of your clothes on. And load up all of the rest of it on the bottom. We've only changed cabins once, and because the stewards were already so busy, we moved it all ourselves- it was just down the hall a little. And then immediately unpacked. This happened after getting off and back on, but pretty much before most people boarded.

The only people who really worry about what you wear is your significant other and other passengers. And I only worry about the former.

If there are any "kids sail free" promos, may want to look into a suite for 4. Then everyone gets 2 points, and the system cost may not be much higher. Some friends of mine did that with their kids- and they got the lounge benefit, too.

Apparently, the licensing for Chicago was too much for them to keep it on. It was also a shorter version of the original as well. And I suspect that the cost of making a brand new Wizard of Oz is cheaper than licensing an existing show.

Many, many years. At least until the next dry dock, but I'm betting it will stay even beyond that. If they show one of the big shows on the short cruise, it will certainly be Mama Mia. (the latter, I don't know)