andnosyd

We've done this in the past, it's not a issue at all.

I think the CC news story is reflecting the price increase a few months ago, not that they are raising it again. It said the price increase has already been rolled out to all of the ships. I doubt people would be willing to pay $55 to eat there. Maybe the discounting of pre ordering is really the news piece to the story.

I am reviewing options for a family cruise next spring. Family group will be celebrating my spouse's big birthday. I cruise on many lines. Often my choice would be Celebrity. I am elite plus. However, I have received offers from other lines with 3rd and 4th passengers in same cabin sail free. Pay only taxes. It will save us a lot of money sailing on another line. Does Celebrity ever offer cruises with 3rd and 4th passengers free?

Yes they do. Our sailing in December we have both our kids in our cabin with only paying the taxes. It's not frequent that they do this it seems, and it only seems to happen on 7 day or less cruises. On the longer cruises they discount the rates for the 3/4 passenger, but they're not free. It makes booking a back to back 7 day much more economical than booking a 14 day.

We brought our 18 month old on Seabourn. There was no charge for her except port taxes. It really depends on the line, but of all lines, you would think Seabourn would charge for someone under 2. They don't if they're the 3rd person in the room and she was better behaved than some of the passengers.

Our upcoming Reflection cruise has had the reflection suite and a number of other high end suites open since the cruise was available to book. Then they opened suite guarantees and when I looked today, all of the suites are gone, except for a couple of Sky Suites. Does Celebrity give the Reflection Suite away to a guarantee? Or does Celebrity give them to top travel agents or something like that? Seems like someone won the lottery if that's the case.

We have sailed both on Silhouette and the Eurodam, not in suites though. Even if we found the general service, their afternoon teas , the guest speakers and yes, even the food to be better on HAL, I'd prefer the Silhouette in this case. We found the Eurodam's furnishings etc. dark and drab . Entertainment in the bars was good, but the production shows left a lot to be desired. During our cruise there were a lot of vibration problems on Eurodam as well, sometimes the ship was shaking so hard that we were happy to sail in the Baltic sea where the next port was not too far.

I'd vote differently if it was the new Koningsdam vs. the Silhouette, though!

Thank you, I appreciate the comparison.

You may need to check the price of the Royal Suite since this comes with additional amenities. More expensive than Celebrity Suite, but you may come up even if you add all the extras that comes with it.

Unfortunately all the suites are sold out for the crossing. If a royal suite opened up, then that would be very tempting, but it hasn't happened. Why do all the suites on the crossings sell so quickly? Price?

We were greatly disappointed in our Eurodam cruise. The food in the MDR wasn't nearly as good, and the buffet was much worse than on Celebrity. We did like the Concierge Lounge on HAL, but that wouldn't be a reason for us to book HAL again. We didn't like the smoking in the casino and in the sports bar next to the casino. But the big problem we had was the lack of air conditioning in our cabins. We traveled with friends, so we had cabins all over the place and every single one was terribly hot. Everyone called guest services to complain about the heat in the cabins, and they did send people to look, but the temps never changed. You'd work up a huge sweat just getting dressed each night for dinner. It was not good.

Between this statement and reading about the constant cutbacks on HAL, I think Celebrity is the better choice. Celebrity certainly works to enhance the suite experience, while HAL is moving the other way. Thanks for the feedback!

Sorry, the Celebrity ship is the Silhouette. So the Celebrity Suite is smaller than the M class Celebrity Suites.

First world problem...

I have the Pinnacle Suite booked on the Eurodam for a TA next November and a Celebrity Suite for the same time, both 15 day cruises. I like Celebrity better than HAL, but the Pinnacle Suite is only about $2K more, includes their drink package, onboard credit, so it works out to almost be the same cost. Celebrity doesn't offer their BBB deal on Transatlantic, but we would have free drinks in Michaels club. The itinerary for the Celebrity cruise is a little better as we did somewhat similar TA on HAL last year. We're traveling as a family of 4, so the Pinnacle Suite with the extra space is really nice, but Celebrity Suite is good too for 15 days.

Any input would be appreciated, as I really can't decide.

Great, thank you. It's been a long time since we've been in a Royal suite, our first was our honeymoon 10 years ago way before they rolled out all of these upper suite benefits. Can I exchange the liquor too for wine? Not much of a liquor drinker...

Ask your butler to bring you what you would like. Don't you get the free premium beverage package for being in a Royal Suite?

We do, but when our kids go to bed for the night, someone needs to stay in the room with them, and sitting on the balcony having a decent beer sounds like a nice way to do it.

We're in a royal suite, and I remember reading somewhere that they stock it with just Heineken and Bud or something. Can I request something different or am I stuck with these?

We'll be traveling over a football Sunday and have unlimited internet and we have NFL Sunday Ticket that I can stream via a computer or better via chromecast and watch it in the stateroom tv, if possible. Does Celebrity block streaming video? Is the speed fast enough to be able to do this?

Just a quick question, we are booked in Celebrity Suite for our cruise in about 7 weeks and there are 3 Royal Suites available that have been available for a long time. The price has not dropped at all since final payment, so I'm thinking it won't before sailing. Is it possible to make an offer to Celebrity for an upgrade or ask if they'll offer a deal on the upgrade? Or they don't entertain this type of thing?

Humm only a new sky suite is available :D Royal Suite probably already sold

Yeah, I don't see it anymore. I would keep checking though, there will be cancelations and I bet more higher end suites will open up. That frequently seems to happen, especially getting closer to the final payment. Good luck!

Might not be what you want, but I took a quick look and saw that there is 1 Royal Suite available for your sailing. Michaels Club, and even more benefits than the CS.

We put 3 adults and 1 child in the suite. On the nights where we decide to go to Luminae, the same 3 adults and possible 1 child will go. The other nights we'll go to specialties or a different venue when we all want to eat together. This isn't a gray area in my mind, it just made the most sense. The 3 adults that would go to Luminae would appreciate it more than I would, so I really don't mind not going. Thanks for the feedback though, it's been a good read.

As long as the one person always stayed with the children and the same three adults ate in Luminae, I don't see it scamming the system at all.

It would be the same 3 or 4 (if our 4 year old can handle sitting through dinner there, if not she won't be allowed to go) people going to dinner, we wouldn't swap people out, so I don't see this as scamming the system at all.

I guess the other option would be to just change the names and add one adult to our room and one of our kids to the non suite cabin. This wouldn't change the price and one person would have to stay with both kids anyways. This wouldn't be scamming the system in my mind, the price is the same and we wouldn't have to worry about not getting in or trying to cheat the system.

 

I appreciate all the thoughts, but unless someone explains to me why I pay for 2 and only get benefit for 1, the arguments will be lost. It's that simple.

 

This is exactly my issue. I'm paying full adult fare for my 1 year old, yet getting virtually no benefit from eating at Luminae.

Isn't OP saying they have paid for 4 people in a suite, which means they get dinner for 4 people in Luminae.

 

They want to Take 4 people to Luminae for dinner.

 

yes I know the "rule" is "Dinner for all suite guests occupying the suite", but in reality, they don't scan all 4 sea pass cards, they just ask for room number, see that room has 4 in it and off you go....

 

I think from a practical perspective, it may work, just show up as a group of 4, show 1 seapass card and in you go to enjoy dinner for 4, which you have paid for. Unless they paid a different fare for youngsters as the 3rd and 4th PAX than they would have for adults as 3rd and 4th PAX, I have no ethical problem with this.

 

I can see where the OP is coming from, being a solo traveler who often gets ticked off I paid for 2 yet get benefit for one. I say give it a whirl, and report back.

Yes, this is exactly what I'm asking. We have paid for 4 in the suite, the price is the same if it were kids or adults, so I feel we have paid for 4 but reality is that we won't get the value of it from our kids at all. Just wasn't sure if faces pop up on the sea card and they verify who stays in the room.

We are traveling with another couple (not in a suite) and our 2 kids. Our 2 kids, that are toddlers, won't make it through Luminae dinner so we'd just take them to the buffet. Could our other friends take their spot at Luminae since we have 4 booked in the suite anyways? Just curious, not sure we would still go since someone would have to stay back with the kids, but the thought crossed my mind.

The price difference is about $900 total, which doesn't seem bad since there are 5 of us traveling. Does the Jewel have a restaurant in the Haven?

This will only be our second trip on NCL, we weren't impressed with them the last time we went in 2005, but the additional guests sail free is a huge incentive over Celebrity that we usually cruise.