sofmall

13 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Well some families do think,

 

”Oh you say MY kids can’t use YOUR pool?  I think they can.  I’m on Millie in December so we’ll see.

 

I said already on Eclipse it was crazy during family time.  One father didn’t want us in “their” hot tub.

To my mind it's more a matter of an area that's supposed to be a quiet and relaxing area for adults, now being used by kids. I adore kids, I was a teacher and have much loved grandkids, but I'd still rather see an area that was adults only, remain adults only. Sometimes we value that peaceful time. 

On 2/21/2024 at 5:57 AM, highway180 said:

Couldn't agree More!

It also gives the parents a break, keeping the kids occupied in a fun activity. The parents paid good money for their trip, just like all the old folks here.

And yes I'm one of the old folks

Having tried a Carnival cruise a few months back, and experienced feral drunken behaviour on the part of adults, and kids (not all, but a certain element) running crazy all over the place, no supervision from parents and giving cheek, it bothers me. BUT Celebrity is surely a different style of cruising so hopefully that sort of behaviour won't happen. I quite enjoy the Solarium between 5 and 6pm, and would hate it if during that time it's become a playground for kids whose parents are off having pre dinner drinks and chats. 

I wonder how it would work in the Millenium class ships, as there's a thalassotherapy pool in the solarium, and I seem to remember that children under a certain age, or unaccompanied children, were not allowed to use the pool.

1 hour ago, Stockjock said:

It might be 6129, but I'm not 100%.

That's a start, I'll start searching for pics or videos of that cabin. Thank you!

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I think on the Edge class, all of the Panoramic Ocean View cabins have some obstruction.  To be clear, there are a number where the top of the lifeboat comes up to the floor of the cabin and Celebrity calls that a zero percent obstruction.  We booked the cabin shown, which I think is a 10% obstruction, but we liked the fact that there was no lifeboat blocking the ocean view (first two photos of the same cabin, just more zoomed in on one photo).  The third photo is considered unobstructed.  Some might prefer that, but we preferred the cabin shown in the first 2 photos.

I prefer the one you booked too. Would you remember what number that cabin was please? The ones with the top of the lifeboat look unappealing... all that bright block of orange colour and some seem to have writing on them too. Thanks for your info!

On 9/28/2023 at 11:24 AM, Stockjock said:

We recently booked Ascent and we did the panoramic oceanview for that reason.  It looks just like the "Infinite Veranda" and I think it's the same size, but the window doesn't open.  That's ok, as it saved us quite a bit of money and we know that the air conditioner should always work just fine.

Not a fan of these infinite veranda cabins.  As mentioned earlier, MSC's version is an infinite ocean view and priced as such.  In my mind, calling an ocean view cabin w/a window that opens halfway (if they haven't overridden your ability to open it) is a real stretch.

Wow, the window on the Panoramic is wonderful, and I never even knew about that category. For our Edge cruise I've booked the Deluxe Porthole View with Verandah because the Infinity V. doesn't appeal after reading reviews. Next time I'll be looking at the Panoramic cabins.

On Celebrity Infinity I'd booked one of the oceanview cabins with the huge windows and we absolutely loved it. We had a beautiful view the moment we entered the cabin, no matter where we were. No balcony rail or doors or balcony furniture to interrupt the view and we loved it more than a balcony, which we usually book.
But I read of obstructions witht the Panoramic cabins! Are they all obstructed or is there a secret few that are more desirable. 

On 9/28/2023 at 8:52 PM, gold1953 said:

find a new travel partner! No different than a hotel or any other place that couples go. I am a morning person married to a night person. We accept and make allowance for each other

🙂 A new travel partner sounds a bit extreme. 🙂
I'm a night person married to an early morning person - I also have fibromyalgia so sometimes NEED more rest - and although we haven't travelled yet in an infinity cabin (we booked the porthole verandah) I can see the point of those who say it's harder when one sleeps in and the other chooses to relax on the balcony if up early.  
It is rather different from a hotel, as if it has a balcony it's a traditional balcony so one can be out there whilst the other naps. 

We do tend to get up at the same time when cruising as we don't want to miss out on anything! Can't wait to be back on a ship, and the fact it will be the Edge is an extra thrill!

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

They will show up in your Celebrity account right around the 14th of next month (the 15th for you). 

Thank you! I expected a clickable link to lock it in, but I guess it's the registering that automatically did it? 

I registered and watched the webinar, which I found quite interesting. I thought there'd be something to click at the end to lock in our points but there wasn't; it just said the webinar has ended.

So how do I claim my points? 

On 1/29/2023 at 11:39 PM, momofmab said:

Food is subjective, obviously.  I loved mostly everything I tried on Celebrity.  I have a sweet tooth and felt that they excelled at their desserts and pastries, when compared to other lines. 

 OH YES! Back to back on Celebrity a couple of months ago and those cakes and pastries were heaven! At home I only indulge on special occasions, but on cruises I indulge lunch and dinner time if the dessets and cakes are good... and I certainly did! Came home to find I weighed close to 2kg lighter! So now I know the secret to weight loss I'll keep doing it! 🙂 

10 minutes ago, mstoo48279 said:

 

At least for USA customers you can book a Sail Away package which is cheaper because it does not include any of the free at sea promotions.  You might want to check to see it that is available to you.

Yes, I've seen that sometimes too, but it doesn't allow you to choose your own cabin, at least that's the impression I have. Choosing our own is important, did a guarantee once for the heck of it and ended up very very forward.... couldn't use our balcony at all as the noise was immense, constantly. Not the lovely swishing and slapping of waves, but loud metallic banging constantly! It was on RC Ovation and looking back we should have enquired about it as perhaps we could have been moved. 
So we decided to give Celebrity another go and recently did two in the Mediterranean. Loved it! Have 2 more Celebrity cruises booked, but miss NCL and would book again in a heartbeat if the promotional package wasn't compulsory.

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

Sorry - two other suggestions:

1) raise the matter through TV Consumer programmes ( e.g. Watchdog, Money Saving Expert or Rip of Britain in the UK) it's amazing what happens when Companies are exposed to unwelcome publicity.

2) move to the UK 😀😂😂😂😂😂😂

No. 2 wouldn't be the worst idea, but we do love the beach and warm weather.

No. 1 ... good suggestion but we leave on our month-long trip in 8 days so I think we'll let it slide. 

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

I would think your problem is down to you not using your card enough rather than to your income.

The more you use a card the more the Credit Card Company will like you especially if you just pay off the minimum each month.

We aim to put all our spending on our main card which inturn gives us airmiles for our regular flights to Dallas. We settle the bill in full every month by automatic direct payment thereby ensuring that we pay no interest.

 

No, that's not it. We use our card a great deal, and up until my husband sold his business last year he put a huge amount through on it business-wise too. We also ALWAYS pay it off totally each month. I think it's just a thing with Australian financial institutions, they don't want to give cards to retirees, no matter what. They don't say so, they make you jump through hoops in the application and then don't even give a reason for refusing. As I said earlier, we have a few friends who it turns out experienced the same thing. 

3 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

As far as getting asked for COVID insurance that is so odd, maybe they have stopped doing that. We didn't get asked anything for our upcoming cruise in June on Apex. But then again we only booked a month ago sort of spur of the moment, maybe it's not required any more. But still essential IMO. 

After posting here I went back and sifted through the policies and Celebrity website, and got conflicting information. Does Celebrity even know what they're doing!: On one hand there's this:

"You will be required to isolate onboard if you contract, or we suspect that you have contracted, COVID-19. You must have travel insurance which covers your medical care, quarantine and repatriation in the event that you contract COVID-19. We will provide a future cruise credit if you have symptoms of COVID-19 before you sail. We may refund all or part of your cruise fare if you test positive for COVID-19 during the sailing. Governments and public authorities continue to develop their policies and change their rules. Our own processes and procedures change in line with those policies. This means we may need to make changes to your sailing and/or what we require of you before and during your sailing with us."

And also this (we sail in European Union, on 15 May and 24 May):

COVID-19 Assistance*

Book any Celebrity cruise that’s sailing between April 4, 2023 and May 31, 2023, and you’ll have the following reassurance at no extra charge:

100% refund for you, and your Traveling Party, if any of you test positive for COVID-19 within 5 days prior to the cruise or at the boarding terminal.**

Pro-rated cruise fare refund for anyone who has their cruise cut short due to testing positive for COVID-19 or being suspected of having COVID-19 during the cruise.

If the Celebrity cruise you book will sail from the European Union or the United Kingdom between you’ll also have the following reassurance at no extra charge:

If you test positive for COVID-19 during the cruise, Celebrity will: cover the cost of COVID-19-related medical treatment onboard; you and your Traveling Party may stay onboard the ship for free to complete any required quarantine; and if you purchased Flights by Celebrity, Celebrity will help coordinate homebound travel arrangements for you and your Traveling Party, but without covering the cost.

1 hour ago, arealcheapskate said:

I'm sorry to hear that, it's generally income that they look for and not assets -- it's a pretty common thing unfortunately here in Oz. They generally don't look kindly on retired folks it's not really fair. 

 

What I've always suggested is to get your credit cards while employed and then just keep them into retirement.

 

Amex is pretty flexible though and cater to high net worth folks, might be worth looking into especially if you travel a lot. We get every dollar back and then some -- despite the high annual fee. 

 

As far as getting asked for COVID insurance that is so odd, maybe they have stopped doing that. We didn't get asked anything for our upcoming cruise in June on Apex. But then again we only booked a month ago sort of spur of the moment, maybe it's not required any more. But still essential IMO. 

Good suggestion. Just get credit cards that cover Covid! (who would have ever imagined..!!) We do have credit cards, my husband recently retired from running a business so all that is well in place. Just apparently not the best card for covid cover. 

We do have income, from a few sources which were all provided to the financial institution, just not income from paid employment. So retired is the dirty word, I'd say. 🙂 
 

1 hour ago, arealcheapskate said:

 

Hence why people aren't testing. Out of sight, out of mind. 

 

Plenty of travel insurance provides a confinement to cabin cover where you get a set amount per day, on top of whatever refund you get. 

 

 

Our Amex Platinum Charge insurance in Australia covers COVID no issues including on a cruise. In short.. get a better credit card!

 

https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/au/benefits/Platinum/PlatinumInsurance.pdf

Get a better credit card 🙂  🙂 
Tried that, though not the Amex... will look into that.
Here we are, in our early 70's, self funded retirees, own a beachside home plus investment properties and Super, no debt, and we're not billionaires but we're certainly not broke!! So we applied months ago for a card that does cover covid in its Travel policies. We had to jump through hoops giving them more and more info. Finally.... they rejected us, no reason, said it could be our credit rating (gave us a code to open credit rating docs) or "something else". Well we found we had 100% credit rating. By speaking to a few friends they'd experienced the same thing. Rejection, looks like the something else is either age or being retired. 
Yet a young almost-kid who runs up debts on credit cards can get one at a drop of a hat!

On 4/15/2023 at 5:00 PM, the penguins said:

Ship's have always had the right to refuse boarding, quarantine passengers etc ( we have always had to  complete a health form pre boarding) and the new rules just highlights that Covid is now being treated like other illnesses. We never travel without full  insurance which covers us for any medical issues including covid cover. If anyone chooses to travel without such insurance then it's a risk they have knowingly chosen to take.

Maybe it's different in the US, but here in Australia the travel insurance companies aren't treating Covid like other illnesses! We had our Commbank travel insurance all set up months ago for our upcoming Mediterranean B2B cruises. Then it became obvious, with the email Celebrity sent out including that we MUST have travel insurance covering Covid. We found our travel insurance covers Covid on the land portion but not on the cruise. So I'm trying to find a Medical Only policy that covers Covid AND on cruises (many don't for "multi night" cruises.... can't imagine a single night cruise!!!). I just got a quote for $870 for a medical basic policy that includes covid. Prior to checking it was a cruise, I had a $470 quote. Check CRUISE and wow, $870! 

I'm so over the way Covid continues to dominate thinking. On one hand bureaucracy says to move on, it's a part of life from now on, but on the other hand Covid constantly comes up as a scary dramatic event, as if we're still in 2020. When will Covid be considered another virus. We never had to take out med. insurance against sundry viruses, flu, colds... yet we still have to pay huge amounts to insure against an illness that is now part of life, and in many cases (our's included) milder than the common cold.
Sorry... end of rant!

9 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

You have answered your own question. You spend very little onboard. So Carnival doesn't need to bother offering you any perks because they can get someone who will spend on cabin plus other stuff so they target them. They analyse your spend profiles.

 

Also Carnival having trouble filling the Luminosa out of Brisbane and that were a lot of the cheap cruises are coming from. RCL is struggling to fill their ship too. 

I started this thread not really because I wondered why not us, but because I was puzzled why it happens when I'm reading in the facebook group many saying they got a free cruise and don't go to the casino / don't spend much / don't buy art from the art auctions etc. They make it seem like the cruise fairy just drops by for them every so often. They make the newbie cruisers anxious because they had to pay for their cruise. 🙂

I'm forever doubtful, I've said there that cruiselines aren't being benevolent and that they have an agenda to tempt people to keep cruising with them. They're not trying to "reward" people for their loyalty. But still many seem to think that free cruises are likely, and get upset that the cruise company is rewarding some for their loyalty but overlooking them.

I'm not bothered for a few reasons... we prefer longer cruises, often international; we're fussy about itinerary; I don't want cabin upgrades because before I book I study deckplans and if I choose a specific cabin I don't want to lose it to a so-called-but-often-not "upgrade". Unless we're offered a free suite!!! 🙂 Plus my daughter is a travel agent so we get a fare that's always very competitive.

9 hours ago, staceyglow said:

If you don't spend any money on a cruise ship, then quite honestly, they aren't particularly interested in having you as a customer, and they aren't motivated to give you any deals. All mass market cruise lines are lucky to break even on the cruise fare itself.  All of their profit comes from drinks, gambling, shore excursions, onboard shopping, etc. and they are going to focus on those people. 

 

I am not saying this to disparage you; we aren't big spenders, either. But that's the way the cruise industry works. 

Yes, you're spot on! I came to the same conclusion a good while back. We're not drinkers, we prefer to book independent rather than ship's shore excursions for the cheaper price but also for the smaller groups with personalised service, specialty dining isn't our "thing", we find that the on board shops rarely have something we want and need to buy, unless there's some Sheridan in the alcohol stock. We don't gamble. Before I met my husband he went through a period of playing Blackjack (not on cruises) and was actually quite good at it, but he realised there's better things he can do with his money and hasn't bothered with it for many years. So we're useless from the point of view of the cruise industry!

1 hour ago, Joebucks said:

I tell ya, some gamblers live quite the exciting life They "barely play at all," win big often, and are given discounted cruises and drinks for no reason.

I've wondered too if sometimes the wife or partner, when they say they never/hardly gamble, is unaware that their partner might be having quite a busy time when they're not around. 🙂 

1 hour ago, icft said:

I don't think anyone has the answer as to how Carnival determines what offers to send to whom.

 

The first thing is to make sure you are signed up to receive mail and email offers. To check, sign in to your carnival account, click on your name at the top to get to your profile, click on "contact settings" toward the bottom and make sure you have the boxes checked to receive news and offers.

 

Other than that there is not much you can do other than play in the casino to hopefully get casino offers.

 

Some say you don't have to play in the casino or can only play a small amount and get offers. That may well be true. The casino operation has its own way of identifying and enticing those who it believes can be enticed to gamble. It may be because you once gambled at a land casino, it may be because they have some other outside data about you that often correlates with those willing to gamble. But a sure way to get a steady stream of offers is to actually gamble in their casino and the more you gamble the better the offers. My wife gambles a fairly small amount each day on a cruise while I spend hours each day in the casino. She gets occasional offers for a free interior room (actually, pay a deposit and port fees and taxes and get an onboard credit for the deposit) while I always have offers for free balcony or suite cabins (same deposit, port fees, taxes and onboard credit part) plus a thousand casino cash and free drinks everywhere.

 

So, once you are on the gamble to get perks path the amount you gamble correlates with the size of perks. But there seem to be other paths they take to entice new gamblers that can result in a non-gambler getting an offer.

 

But be aware, if you gamble to get perks, ultimately in the long run you pay more than the perks are worth. You will pay if it be in cash or in casino losses unless you don't gamble and happen to get one of their offers fishing for new gamblers. If you take a couple of those fishing offers and don't take the bait to gamble they will stop fishing.

That was a very interesting post. So I checked in my account and I do have those boxes ticked, so nothing to do there. No remarkable offers there either. I'm obviously not considered a desirable passenger for their purposes.

Neither my husband nor I gamble and aren't about to start as I feel then we pay for our cruise in our losses. 🙂

We're not drinkers either! So we really spend little money on a cruiseship. Never mind, we'll just go on booking. We haven't been on a Carnival cruise in years - we sail with about 5 different cruiselines depending on itinerary - so are looking forward to seeing again what Carnival's about.

We're soon to go on a Carnival Splendor cruise out of Australia. We're Platinum level.

I'm in a facebook group for that cruise and frequently someone starts a bragging thread about the free cruises they're offered. Either free or available for a pittance. They say they're emailed to them, or pop up in their online account deals. Many have booked a few cruises for maybe $200 a cruise, so they say. 

I'm curious... is there a reason some people are targetted with cheapie cruises? It's obviously not loyalty level. They don't pop up in my online account when I log in. The cruises I see there are really no cheaper than regular sale prices that appear in a google search.

Newbie cruisers in the group are getting either exasperated they weren't give a free cruise too, or excited because they think free cruise offers will flow to them once they've done their first cruise. 

Others claim the offers are made to cruisers who spend a lot of time in the casino. Some gamblers agree, others with wonderful offers say they barely spend anything in the casino. There's a lot of bragging. A lot of disappointment from many... "why not us?"

Can anyone throw some light on this free/heavily discounted cruise offer situation? 

NCL used to be our favourite cruiseline and we are Sapphire loyalty level. However, now that the Free at Sea offer isn't an option, we'll no longer be booking. Celebrity is our choice now.

We used to be able to book our NCL cruises minus the Free at Sea promotion. Naturally it's not really free, it's a gimmick. The alcohol package especially... naturally extra cost is built into the fare to cover everyone having free alcohol. But... we're not drinkers! Nor do we want the internet package anymore - now that my husband has retired and won't need to keep tabs on his business we want to enjoy freedom from that technology. The shore excursion credit is worthless as the ship's tours are mega expensive and we always book independent tours. The free specialty dining... don't need, we get enough of that with our loyalty level.

So for us, there's no point. We'd be paying for perks that many might love, but they're no use to us. 

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

Out of curiosity, what is the "benefit" difference between a "Sail Away" rate and a "Just Cruise" rate.  I don't see one.  But maybe I'm missing it.

Speaking only about how that worked in Australia, Sailaway meant you didn't choose your own cabin, but with the Just Cruise option you were able to choose. Just didn't get the perks you get with Free at Sea.

6 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

But what TrumpyNor is showing for the Just the Cruise option is a sailaway rate.  

I see it as Sailaway, Just the Cruise, or Free at Sea all listed. Could be wrong as it's hard to read the details, but that's how it came over for me.

20 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

 

The OP said the location is very important to them so sailaway is not an option.  She is under the impression that not taking FAS will lower the cruise fare but that is not how NCL fares work.  In the US, gratuities are added to the fare after and if we decline, the gratuities are taken off.  She is getting the rate we would see when those are taken off.  

From what I've seen, from viewing US sites vs Australian, our fares are no where near the US fares. 😕  We seem to pay more for our cruises here. Currency exchange rate no doubt! And wow, the price on balcony cabins is very high. It often tends to be between $2,000 and $3,000 pp more than an oceanview. 

 
It is only since cruising has come back (and an NCL ship hasn't yet arrived back in Australia) that the option to book the cruise without the free at sea perks has been taken away. It was always there in the past, meaning here in our country, and apparently in Europe too.