Merly

On 1/3/2024 at 6:48 PM, Dr H said:

It's an American slang adjective, meaning "large or respectably sized". From the medical standpoint, yeah, alcohol does raise protective HDL cholesterol levels, but dissolves your liver and brain at the same time, so while I never discourage light to moderate drinking, I don't encourage it either, as in, "sure have two bottles a day with dinner and protect your heart at the same time." The standard bar tender/party planner rule on this side is that 1 bottle of wine serves 6 drinks. You can stretch it to 8 if you try, but seriously, as a rule of thumb, 6 per bottle, and do the arithmetic from there. As for the staff cheating, on Onward in November, I wound up buying a total of 3 bottles of wine. No cheating, very well stored, our sommelier Jun (I think...) was very helpful to this alleged wine maven. Oh, for the newbies, Azamara allows you to bring wine and spirits on board. You can drink in the privacy of your cabin, or there is a modest corkage fee if you choose to bring the stuff into the dining areas. There is no need to smuggle alcohol on board.

I am an experienced cruiser but going on my first Azamara cruise later this year. Can you tell me about bringing wine and spirits on board. Is there a limit like on other cruise lines?  Some are 2 bottles of wine per cabin.  What about spirits?  Also where can I find it on the website please.

many thanks 

We have booked the unlimited dining package for the first time.  Having read the boards I can see that I have to wait until I am on board before I can book the restaurants. My questions are - when will I find out which venue they have booked for the first night?  Do I have to wait until on board? Will they be able to tell me when I book the others?  Can I change it?

TIA

8 hours ago, LilBlackDress said:

this is what it says in mine... The OP was specifically talking about the A La Carte restaurants (Izumi, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, not sure if there are others) 

Overview

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package. For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. Please see Important Details and Advisements for more information.

Highlights

• Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.
• For ships with this venue, Izumi Sushi is a prix fixe menu or $34.99 food credit.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $15 surcharge, and Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

Important details and advisements

• Not valid for premium experiences including: Wine Pairings Dinners, Taste of Royal, Mystery Dinner Theater, Culinary Activities, and Holiday Celebration Dinners.
• Beverages are not included.
• Child pricing applies to children between the ages of 6-12. Children ages 0-5 are complimentary. Children must order from the kids menu.
• A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing.
• All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.

 

Does the lunch on sea days apply to embarkation day ?

4 hours ago, clubcardcruiser said:

Hi @Merly, interested to know what hotel you have been given? We have been allocated Miami Lakes Hotel (like MBandJSinUK above) for our next cruise and that's the same as our previous Princess fly-cruise (also 4 years ago) so left wondering if this is always their go-to hotel. We also really liked that hotel last time.

Yes, we have Miami Lakes as well.  Glad you liked it when you used it before. Not long to go now. 

4 hours ago, MBandJSinUK said:

Hi, We normally book a hotel separately but the prices have shot up (not helped by the £/$ fx rate lately) so the inclusive hotel is now a lot cheaper. On our next cruise - Enchanted on 17 Feb, it's showing under itinerary in personaliser as the Miami lakes hotel which we stayed at 4 years ago and found to be quite nice.

Found it, thank you 

Found it.  Thank you 

1 minute ago, dog said:

Goggle hotel packages Princess cruises.

Ft Lauderdale Embassy Suites, Sheridan Ft Lauderdale Beach .

None for Miami.

This could be out of date.

Thank you. We fly into Miami and they said it would be Miami.

16 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Best way to get this answered is to either call or open a chat session.  I have never been able to find a real answer on the website.  I suspect this is because the hotel list fluctuates as demand grows/shrinks.  Almost every time I have called/chatted I find different hotels/pricing available.

Thank you

Does anyone know which hotels in Miami Princess use for passengers who arrive on international flights the day before the cruise?  We then have Princess transfers to the ship sailing from Fort Lauderdale.  Cruise date 28 th Jan, Enchanted Princess. 

17 hours ago, rjack22 said:

Thanks for all of the ideas!   Question...if you leave your bag at your lounge chair or buffet table to hold your place, aren't you afraid to leave it with your cell phone in it unattended?    I would be.

 

Maybe I will discover that I don't need my phone either.   I think the greatest appeal is being able to order food and drink to wherever you are.

Think about how much your phone cost. Would you leave that amount of cash unattended. A new model I phone is expensive. Also what about photos you have on there, willing to lose them?   What about bank cards, store cards etc.  what about all the hassle sorting it all out.  I know that’s why lots of people leave their phone in the cabin.  I always used to, but it is now very handy to have with me. ( my preference). I use a small cross body bag, just big enough for my phone and a tissue!  

Just hand your medallion over at the table and ask for what you want. 

Can someone please remind me if the toiletries provided are separate body wash, shampoo and conditioner or is it ‘one size fits all?’  ( not in a suite). 
thank you 

Have stayed in M108 on Regal. Loved it. 

4 hours ago, PinkSandGirl said:

 

There is just something about coming back to the cabin at night and seeing the Celebrity Today on the bed and then you sit and look at it to see what's going on the next day and also any important information for the next day.  They are a part of cruising that should stay.  😃

 

 

I agree, I like that as well.  But once I have looked at it it either goes straight in the bin or just clutters up the cabin.  I also used to look forward to the chocolate on the pillow and other ‘ gifts’. (Thinking tings like photo  frames, but never used them either).  New cruisers will only know the app and accept it. The rest of use will get used to it, eventually.

11 minutes ago, voljeep said:

 

 

EDIT - I guess I'm asking what happens if you eat something not vegan/vegetarian?

I would be very upset!

On 8/26/2022 at 5:56 PM, gpnfish said:

Just to close this out from OP point of view.  I took pre-cruise proctored Covid test and am still testing positive.  So I am in the process of trying to contact Celebrity to let them know and get everything cancelled.  I did manage to get my “flights by Celebrity” cancelled, but not without a $200 pp cancellation fee (figures, no more flights by Celebrity for me), but I have had no luck getting the actual cruise cancellation taken care.  It’s basically “Celebrity Hell”!  Why doesn’t Celebrity have a dedicated number for these last minute cancellations?  Terrible!  Oh well, I guess there are options for my next trip, which I will probably explore.

 

Gary

There is a dedicated number, but sorry don’t have it now.  When I tested positive a couple of days pre cruise I called the dedicated number and spoke with a very  helpful lady in the Philippines.  She told me that they couldn’t do anything until the cruise had completed.  Within less  than a week of the last day of the cruise we had a full refund, cruise, flights, transfers.  Full amount  with no deductions.   We were very surprised and very pleased. 

We were the same. The full amount within a few days. Excellent. 

We were told that they couldn’t refund until the cruise had completed. Once it had we received a full refund within a couple of days. We didn’t get an e mail or any notification, I just noticed it had been refunded to my credit card. 

Before we sailed. 

I was told that they couldn’t action a refund until the cruise was completed. We then got our refund of the whole amount, cruise, air fares and transfers within a couple of days of completion. No trouble whatsoever. 

I see many negative comments about Celebrity customer service, and I have been on the receiving end of it -  but not this time.

We were due to sail on the Beyond earlier this month but I tested positive for Covid a few days before so we had to cancel.  I contacted Celebrity and spoke with a very  helpful agent who explained the refund process,  she said that they could not do anything until the cruise was ended and then it would take around 2 weeks to process.  I had my observed test and sent in the positive proof, which was accepted without issue.

I must confess that I then expected a bit of a issue getting a refund, not the right amount or having to keep getting on at them to deal with it or something. But no, no issue at all.  The day the cruise ended flights and transfers were credited to my bank and 2 days after that the full cruise balance was credited.  We had booked on board with an FCC and expected to either lose the deposit or get it back in the form of an FCC, Which would have been acceptable.  But they refunded it cash.

Yes, we were very disappointed to miss the cruise (and lose a stack of obc) but the refund process was excellent and I cannot fault Celebrity on this occasion. 

Both my dh and I tested positive few days before we were due to sail. We were very disappointed at having to cancel. But I am glad we got it before boarding rather than whilst on the cruise.

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

 

You might try to keep scrolling on the times.  I am noticing times out of order for at least two of our voyages.  Nonetheless, there should be times every 20 minutes from 5:00pm thru 8:40pm - unless all filled up in particular slots (and this may be causing the timeslot order issue as this is a new observation for me). 

 

Yes, you need to break up the party - at least until you are on the ship.  Check with the DRO (formerly the MD) and see if they can put together one larger table somewhere - if that is your wish.  You will at least want the two 6-tops (no such thing as a 5-top) in proximity and then it is easy to mix it up in your group for variety each night.  

 

Please understand that you have no control over the table size when selecting Sharing option. 

 

My recommendation would be to have one person in the complete party - you for example - add all of your group as Travel Companions in MC App.  Then add four of them as dining companions for a dining party in DMW.  Then book a Private table for those six people.  Your reservation will show up in the others MC App when they check the dining section.

 

Next, have someone else in your group also setup everyone as Travel Companions in their MC App and similarly create a Dining Party by selecting the remaining guests that you did not already assemble.  Book dining at the same time, in the same DR, using their Dining Party and again book Private table space.  In this way, hopefully, they don't assign anyone to the 6th seat. 

 

Now, there is zero control in your hands to associate the two bookings.  Again, see the DRO soon as possible after boarding and ask him to place you all in proximity and hopefully it all works out.

 

If a group decides to go to Specialty Dining one night, the rest can sit at one of the tables and update the System so the empty table is available for others to use that evening.

 

The key to all of this is to speak with the DRO as soon as you can.

That’s very helpful, thank you. We don’t want one big table, you can’t talk to everyone anyway.  Two tables are the way to go for us. It’s a good idea to make the 2 bookings and then visit the DRO once we board to try and get them close. At the moment there is no later time showing after 7.30. But I will keep looking.   Thanks. 

Can anyone confirm the dining times on Sky Princess please as the latest it is showing on the app is 7.30.

We are also a party of 11 and it says we would be split across multiple tables. We are happy to have 2 tables, one for 6 and one for 5. How can we request this please?

You just have to keep trying.