h2dcruise

Anyone have any suggestions for what to do in the St. John or Halifax? Looking for self-guided walks or other attractions near the boat.

13 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

Not necessarily. We are on a sailing next month and have nothing included 

Do you know why your specific reservation is excluded from "Always Included"? Do you also not have gratuities and WiFi?

3 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

... You do have to pay for those if you don’t have a drink package.

But doesn't everyone have the classic drinks package now with "Always Included"?

No one here has a CVS near them with 15 minute antigen testing? It's free! I understand the worry about closures, but for our December 26th sailing we expect to do it there 2 days before. There are 2 locations near us, one is drive-thru where you don't even need to get out of your car!

We are taking our 7 month old on a Baltic cruise this Summer. A friend told us that they were able to call the cruise line (not sure which one) and request baby food for their infant which was delivered to their room (free of charge) when got on board. It seems the right thing for a cruise line to do for a soul that will not consume any of foods that an adult [paying the same fare] would.

Anyway, we just called our TA to make the request above and the person was told by RC that no they don't supply any baby food, and that our only choice is to purchase it on board.

Has anyone had any experience with this? It really seems ridiculous that they won't accommodate us. We are not flying with baby food from NY to Stockholm where the cruise starts and we certainly don't want to buy 7 days of baby food from Sweden or at whatever inflated prices they have it on board.

Thank you so much!

Bump! Still looking for dailies (especially for sea days) on the South or Northbound Inside Passage cruises on the Millennium.

As far as removing the gratuities, I am curious wondering whether or not you will tell them when you board that you're not paying them for their efforts or if you're not going tell them at all, remove the gratuities on the last night, and try to get off the ship without having to look them in the eye.

You should try to remember what you paid, because if you look it up you will see that Celebrity had a 50% recommended gratuity rate for children until 2005 or so. The was the same for most cruise lines until recently...

We will probably remove them all on day one and pay the recommended gratuity rate for the two adults in the rooms plus whatever we feel like paying for the baby whichever way possible. I won't have any problems looking into their eyes...

Are you looking for support in your decision?.

Please read thru all my posts. I keep saying I just wanted to know how to remove automated gratuity charges and I have figured it out.

Oh no, those babies/toddlers bring in a boat load of revenue what with the formula tastings, diaper shows, the kidsino, and all of the speciality dinners they consume.

This is a new one: Cruise customers are now responsible for ensuring that multi-billion dollar corporations are generating maximum revenue for all passengers.

Your loyalty knows no bounds...

Dear regular cruisers,

I am sorry I don't agree with you. If you didn't want to help with figuring out how to remove automated gratuity charges because you believe it to be morally or ethical wrong, you could have just said so.

I am not changing my mind. Thanks to a couple of you and some searching I have gotten my answer.

Thank,

2nd time cruiser - h2dcruise

Your money, your ethical and moral standards, your choice.

I haven't felt that way in this thread at all...

Just to answer you technical question, not sure they will allow you to remove only one person's tips but will make you do all three in the cabin.

Sure, and then when can I will tell them to charge me the recommended amount for the two adults and whatever I feel like paying (if I do at all) for the baby?

I'm surprised you can sleep at night. EM

I got a great deal on a mattress at Sleepys. I even sweet talked them into giving me free home delivery on top of the unpublished discount...

I think what people are having an issue with is that instead of taking up with Celebrity that you feel you're paying too much for your little one, you are effectively taking it out on the hardworking staff....?

I have already stated that it's mainly about my feeling that a child that age doesn't need to pay gratuities because what little he/she consumes in terms of food, entertainment, etc. I don't go to a restaurant with the baby who consumes cheerios with brought with us and tip for him... we tip on the total bill for what the adults consumed. There are two adults, who take care of the baby in the stateroom paying the gratuity. The fact that we are paying a full fare for him only strengthens my decision.

As someone mentioned, I wasn't looking for all your moral support of my decision. I just had a technical question about modifying auto tip charges.

Good day!

If you can not fully fund your toddlers vacation then do not go or go and leave him at home. To not pay your gratuities in protest because you have to pay full cruise rate is very childish on your part. Toddlers are just as much work as an adult to clean up after and serve.

 

Are you only going to buy one drink package and share with your husband? It's the same mentality in my mind,

On that nice note, I think I am done with this thread.

You enjoy your cruising! :)

Third person rates are always less than the first two.

No, sorry, not always.

I am not trying to pursue an argument with and this will be the last thing I say......I have just done a dummy booking to a last a for August 2015 for 2 adults and 2 children...Both children are charged at half the adult price. Maybe consider ringing celebrity and double check that the correct fare has in fact been charged. Just a recommendation. Good Luck. x x

I know that this is the normal way (cheaper 3rd and 4th) and it was so when we booked the same cruise last year for the first of our party rooms. But they were having some promotion last month when the interior rates were $649 per person instead of $749, and during that time third and fourth passengers were the same price.

And again, the rates for two separate interior rooms with taxes was coming out less than one interior room with four people.

Yes, even our TA thought it was strange but that's how it was and we needed to make the reservations.

3rd and 4th passengers sharing a room? no matter what age,pay a fraction of the adult fare. I am travelling with my 4 children, 1 of which is over 18 and paying full fare for. My youngest is 6 and I am paying less than 500 pound for her and 2 of her brothers. If your toddler is sharing a room with you and your partner/husband then you should not be paying adult fare for him.....As for the gratuities, please leave them be. He will have needs that will be met by the staff with enthusiasm. Trust me.

I am telling you that this was not the case when we booked our August 2015 cruise. In fact, we ended up putting four young adults in two separate rooms instead of one because two interior rooms cost less than putting all four of them in one (with taxes etc. all added).

I will tip for the baby as I see fit.

Again I thank everyone this thread for their opinion... I am not a regular cruiser and I see that people here just see anyone questioning the recommended tipping as someone taking money out of their pocket.

BRAVO!

 

Dear OP: Your post is not really asking for advice other than how to remove tips. I'll just let you discover that for yourself since I really respect the hard work of the crew. You will do what you want to do and what you feel is correct so any comments I might make are useless. Enjoy your cruise.

Yes, I realized my mistake... I should've just googled how to modify gratuities on board. :)

Third person rates are always less than the first two.

Not the cruise we are on. All third passengers were paying full rates... so we ended up with two people per room for most of our party. The TA said it was about Celebrity trying to get more rooms sold.

I guess then why you didn't book on that line knowing that Celebrity does charge?

Sorry, when I meant "charge", I guess I meant a "suggest a recommended gratuity rate". Unless they make it a required service charge on my invoice, it is not a required payment that must be made to take a Celebrity cruise.

I understand the baby will use some service on the ship, but he will be 18 month old at the time, eat barely anything from the ship's food and will share our bed. All the while having paid a full adult's fare for the cruise itself! When he is 4 or 5, I will pay the full gratuity for him.

But thanks for your advice!

Just a word of warning - this isn't going to end well. That being said there are ways to take the gratuities off your account but should you - NO. Your child is no different than an adult in the amount of cleanup and work that the room steward or the waiter has to do. But you already know that.

I would agree with you if we had paid a reduced fare for him. Also, from what I have read, some cruise lines don't charge gratuities for kids under a certain age.

We are a party of 16 adults and the baby in 7 staterooms, and we intend to pay the full recommended amount for the adults. But I have no moral qualms about not wanting to pay for the baby...

We'll be on an Alaska cruise this summer with our 18 month old. It is ridiculous enough to me that we are paying full adult fare for him while bringing almost all of his food and person hygiene products with us, so we don't intend to pay gratuities for him at the regular rate. If we are provided any above beyond services for the baby's need, we may chose to tip an appropriate amount.

Anyway, how would I go about making sure we aren't automatically charged the $12 gratuity for him?

The current sailing is a ten day itinerary, not the 7 day the OP is seeking.

There are no 10 day sailings for the Millennium in Alaska / North and South Glacier cruises.