lovedecruise

17 minutes ago, shipster60 said:

We were in 1616, facing forward, second room from the beginning of the hump. Great view!

 

Did you have any noise from the pool deck above?

37 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

Agree, I'd be walking it too. But given the distance there would be no point taking the train so if you want a transport option, taxi would be the go.

 

Not sure when you're thinking of coming, but if the light rail is operating then, that would also be an option.

Coming early Jan.  When will the light rail be finished and will it run from Town Hall to CQ? Thanks

There seems to be alot of talk about all the road works around the OPT causing congestion. If leaving from Parkroyal Darling Harbour, Day Street, to OPT, would you advise taxi or to take the train from Town Hall. Thanks

I had originally chosen the classic beverage package as a perk pre the extra $14 per day charge but was hoping to  "upgrade" to the premium non-alcoholic on board for an extra $4 per day.  Will I have to pay the new extra $14 per day charge because I am changing drink packages?  If so, will stick with what I've got and pay as I go for extras.

27 minutes ago, mitz18 said:

 

Correct however consider that a classic beverage package as a "perk" cost $14 pdpp vs purchasing the package on board at $59.00 pppd + grat.  Just food for thought.

 

Do the online drink package prices include the gratuities?

Hi, am I correct in my understanding that the new drink charges, ($14 pd),  ONLY apply to perk packages?  In other words, if I purchase  any sort of drink package online, or onboard, this extra charge will NOT be applied.  The price quoted in my cruise planner is the final price I pay, and there won't be any other surprises.   Thanks, just want to make sure I understand correctly.

Many thanks to all you wonderful folk who responded to my question.  We have decided to stick with our original booking in AQ.  Changing to a guarantee cabin just meant more risk than what we could cope with.  Final payment is coming up this week, so we will settle our bill and NOT look at the prices again.

Thank you again for helping us come to this decision.

Happy cruising.

Hi, we will have two "free" perks when we cruise in Jan.  Having booked before Oct, we won't be hit with the new charge on the classic drinks package.

We have opted for the Classic drinks package for 2, and the $150 OBC for two. 

We chose to bypass the internet plan as we can use the $300 OBC to purchase an internet package for one device and still come out with some change.  The reason for this is that being Select, we get 25% off the first plan purchased on board. 

Can anyone please tell me where we purchase this plan from once we have boarded?  Do we go to Guest Relations or the Internet Cafe?

As mentioned above, we also have the drinks package but as neither of us drink alcohol, wondered about changing it to the premium non-alcoholic package giving us access to sparkling water, smoothies and a few other drinks, not included in the CBP. 

Is this change still considered an upgrade from the classic non-alcoholic package, therefore costing an extra $4 per day?

Are mocktails included in the premium non-alcoholic package?

Do we ask for the change at Guest Relations or one of the bars?

Would we both have to have the same package or could just one of us change packages?

Would we be able to change packages part way through the cruise?

Many thanks for your help.

Do Celebrity cap the numbers on children per cruise?  I know some other cruise lines do.

Hi, just wondered if any NZ/Aust cruisers had opted for a guarantee cabin on Celebrity, then been allocated a cabin they weren't happy with, and then managed to successfully change it to another cabin?  I have read if you book in America, you are able to change to another cabin in the same category yet those in England aren't allowed to change.  What is the policy for us "down under"?

We do actually have an AQ booking at the moment, we are just trying to decide if we change it to a guarantee booking. I have been in touch with Celebrity and we are able to change the booking to a Guarantee but as I thought, we lose our two perks but keep our initial $200 OBC that were allocated when we booked on board.  I have checked out the available AQ rooms and roughly only half a dozen out of around 30 rooms showing availability,  would be in an area I would choose.  Just thinking it may be too risky with those odds.

Have calculated that buying two premium non-alcoholic drink packages and the single device internet package would eat into NZ$1000 of the savings we make but we would still save another NZ$1100.00 . The big question is, is it worth risking our present rooms position for $1100.00 saving.

Some have suggested asking for a cabin change if we weren't happy with a guarantee allocation, but I thought it was pretty well a done deal once a cabin is allocated.  Has anyone had success getting a change when they have been unhappy with a guarantee allocation?

That's good to know you retain OBC you received when booking onboard.

Just realised If I do book guarantee and lose drink perk, I could always use savings to buy Premium non-alcoholic package as it makes more sense as we don't drink alcohol.  This would cost us NZ$700 instead of the $1576 I worked out above if just paying as we go.

3 minutes ago, jelayne said:

What perks did you choose?  If you chose prepaid gratuities then your savings are $2100NZ minus the cost of the gratutity.  Same with your 2nd perk if it was the beverage package & you don’t drink alcohol, do you drink the coffees & teas from Cafe al Bacio, or bottled water, juices or soda- if so estimate how much that will cost to purchase those items and subtract that from your saving.

if the savings are still substantial then the question is if you are assigned cabin in a poor location are the saving enough to make you happy with the location.

We chose the beverage package and $300 OBC.  Am just trying to work out our daily cost for drinks package:  between the two of us, probably 4 bottles of water, 4 mocktails, 2 softdrinks, 4 coffee/tea/hot chocolate.  From memory, I think that would be around US$80, (please correct me if I am wrong), and then I guess I have to add the gratuities onto that.  Looks like somewhere round US$100 per day for the two of us.  That would be US$1000 which is about NZ$1576.  Take that away for the NZ$2100 you are left with NZ$524 which is equivalent to about US$332, nearly the same amount of OBC, our second perk.  We were going to use these OBC to buy an internet package when we got on board so when you break it all down like this, the savings don't seem as substantial and fact that you can't choose your room, makes the deal seem a bit more undesirable.   Our gratuities are included in our fare so it wasn't a perk option.

I know ultimately it is my decision but thought I would ask as sometimes others can bring light to things you may not have thought about.

We are fast approaching final payment date for our 10 night cruise.  We initially booked onboard back in Jan '19 and received the $200 OBC and two "free" perks.  The cruise price has steadily risen so we have been content with our choices. 

Yesterday though, I thought I would check again and I see they are offering a guarantee stateroom (AQ) for NZ$2100.00 less.  First off, I'm not even sure we are allowed to change our booking to a guarantee stateroom but if we are, would we take the $200 allocated OBC with us.  I know we would lose the perks but the money saved would more than compensate for this, (we don't drink alcohol so the drinks package isn't a real drawcard for us). 

My real hesitation is stateroom location as there are many rooms available in areas we just wouldn't want to be ie under the gym and pool area.  I guess that is always the gamble when choosing guarantee and whether we can live with it should we get an undesirable location.  I suppose we have to weigh up whether choosing your own room is worth $2100.00.  We have had guarantee before and have been pleased with our location but they were in CC and generally the CC cabins are located between two floors of staterooms on Level 9 and 10.  When sailing AQ we prefer to be under the cabins nearer the end of the ship.

Again, I know it is really only a decision I can make but any thoughts that may help me with that decision would be appreciated. Thank you.

" What must a Celebrity ship look like docked next to other ships in port when the Celebrity balconies have beach balls, blow up cubes, camp stools and shower stools in use for footstools.? What a rag tag, poor image that must show to the neighboring ships! "

Totally agree,  what sort of image is this creating for a luxury cruise line?

We choose to cruise so we can get away from it all.  I care for our adult intellectually disabled daughter who lives at home, and my husband teaches young children.  When we have an opportunity for some respite, we have to travel in school holidays, and a balcony is a must. This is because it gives us the option to escape noisy children and crowds of people.  We love to sit out there and recline in our deck chair with our feet up on the footstool, often falling off to sleep or just reading a book.  Looking at the new set up, this won't be as easy as those chairs don't look comfortable enough, being so upright.  I know it may seem a minor inconvenience to some cruisers but to us, it could well be a deal breaker and make us look at other cruise lines.  Does anyone know if these new chairs will be replacing the reclining ones on the regular balcony cabins or is it just for the CC and AQUA cabins

Can anyone please confirm if the footstools have gone from the Solstice as well? Thanks

Yes, I have been assured from the Celebrity Board that the "Celebrity Today" is being printed daily.   Apparently, it is the daily newspapers they used to print, that have been discontinued.

As another member explained,

Thanks for your reply, yes it was the Celebrity Today I was asking about.  I wasn't even aware they printed the newspapers.  I must have misunderstood what the other posters were referring to.

In a couple of Solstice reviews, it has mentioned that Celebrity has been cost-cutting and don't print a daily newsletter.  Can anyone sailing on her at present, please confirm if this is correct.  Many thanks.

PS I have posted this question on the Aust/NZ board as well

In a couple of Solstice reviews, it has mentioned that Celebrity has been cost-cutting and don't print a daily newsletter.  Can anyone sailing on her at present, please confirm if this is correct.  Many thanks.

PS I will post this question on the Celebrity board as well

Yes, I'm beginning to think the upgrade wouldn't be worth it.  We'll use the assigned classic package for mocktails, soda, specialty coffees, and juices.  We haven't had a beverage package on Celebrity before so it will be great not having to worry about the $$$$ mounting up.  It was supposed to be a free perk but I'm guessing the price has been built into the fare somewhere.  We don't really want to exchange it for another perk as we also got the OBC as well.  We didn't think we'd need the internet and our gratuities are already paid for as we are from NZ.

Thank you for all your helpful replies.  I wasn't too impressed with the smoothies we had with room service on our last cruise so they aren't a big deal.  I know that juices are mentioned.  Does this include the ones from the Aqua Spa Cafe which include a mixture of ingredients, (eg orange, ginger, carrot, and tea), rather than say, just straight orange or apple juice.  Would like to try a few variations if they are included in the classic drink package.  If I do feel like a smoothie or sparkling water, I will just pay as I go, rather than upgrading for something I may not even use.

Sorry to present another drinks package question but hopefully someone will be able to help here.  We have the classic drinks package as one of our perks, for our upcoming cruise in January.  We don't drink alcohol at all so are wondering about the benefits in "upgrading" to the premium non-alcoholic package.  From what I can make out, we would gain, smoothies and more premium/sparkling water, energy drinks. 

"In addition to the Classic Non-Alcoholic Package inclusions, refresh with premium bottled water from Evian, Perrier & San Pellegrino, specialty coffees & organic teas, non-alcoholic frozen drinks & smoothies, Red Bull Energy Drink, coconut water and offerings from Vitamin Water."

I'm guessing the coffee menu available would be the same as the classic drinks package.  Would we still be able to get virgin mocktails on the premium non-alcoholic package, (they are not mentioned in the list of available drinks), or should we stay with the classic drinks package if we want to have these included?  We are on the Solstice.  Many thanks for your help.