Just booked and 6 weeks until we sail...help!

[Jrlady]

We just purchased the 3/10 sailing out of Miami on the Eclipse to the Eastern Carribean. Based on every thing I've read, this cruise should be fanastic!

 

We have never sailed on Celebrity before, we were at a vacation expo, ready to purchase a cruise on Royal Carribean (which we have sailed before)...but we were given an offer that we could not refuse on Celebrity. So we took it!! :D

 

So now I am frantically search the boards to figure out what I need to know about Celebrity.

 

On RCI, the daily activity sheet was called a Compass. What is it called on Celebrity? I am trying to find a copy so I can get a sense of the types of activities that are available on a typical day.

 

We are booked in S1 and S2 connected suites. There are four of us traveling - husband, daughter (20), son (18). It is my understanding that we can get assistance with reservations at the speciality resturants. Should I wait to make reservations at speciality resturants until we are on the cruise or should I be doing it now?

 

Can I wait to purchase drink packages or do I need to purchase prior to the cruise?

 

Unfortunately, I do not have alot of time before we sail to work on this...so what should I do as a priority before the cruise?

 

Thanks to all for your assistance!!!

[Orlandocruiser]

One thing you will need to do is go to the Celebrity website and login at "My Celebrity" to do your online checkin. (You will need your Celebrity reservation number to do this - just be sure you are not using a number that your TA may be using for their records) The Celebrity website is very quirky so don't wait to the last minute to do that. When we were doing our checkins for our 2 cruises that are coming up it took about a week before we could get the site to take all of our info - it would take my DH's and then when I put in the info for my self it wouldn't save it. I tried a few times over the course of a week and it finally "took".

 

Then about 40-45 days before your cruise you will want to order your luggage tags. There will be a button for this on the lower left side of your reservation summary on the "manage my reservation" page. The button doesn't appear until the tags are available for your cruise so you just have to keep checking the page at the 40-45 day mark.

 

And finally check the roll call for your cruise - there is a link to it at the top of this board. You will meet some nice people and be able to get lots of info from them.

[Andy]

We just purchased the 3/10 sailing out of Miami on the Eclipse to the Eastern Carribean. Based on every thing I've read, this cruise should be fanastic!

 

We have never sailed on Celebrity before, we were at a vacation expo, ready to purchase a cruise on Royal Carribean (which we have sailed before)...but we were given an offer that we could not refuse on Celebrity. So we took it!! :D

 

So now I am frantically search the boards to figure out what I need to know about Celebrity.

 

On RCI, the daily activity sheet was called a Compass. What is it called on Celebrity? I am trying to find a copy so I can get a sense of the types of activities that are available on a typical day.

 

We are booked in S1 and S2 connected suites. There are four of us traveling - husband, daughter (20), son (18). It is my understanding that we can get assistance with reservations at the speciality resturants. Should I wait to make reservations at speciality resturants until we are on the cruise or should I be doing it now?

 

Can I wait to purchase drink packages or do I need to purchase prior to the cruise?

 

Unfortunately, I do not have alot of time before we sail to work on this...so what should I do as a priority before the cruise?

 

Thanks to all for your assistance!!!

 

Hi Jrlady !

 

Celebrity's Daily program is "Celebrity Today". If you search this forum, you will find links to them. If you cannot find, please post again, and I will post links for you.

 

As for Specialty Dining, you may wish to book in advance, though it shouldn't be a problem making reservations onboard.

 

I'd normally recommend purchasing the Drink Packages when you board the ship, but you can save 10% if you book online by Jan 30th, so you can save some $$$ there. Here's a link to the promotion. http://www.celebritycruises.com/genericHtmlTemplate.do?pagename=beverage_package_promotion&ICID=CEL_12Q1_Beverage_Package

 

If you have additional questions, ask away. I hope this helps. Enjoy your Cruise !

[icemanoneaatl]

Hi- one item I would recommend is to consider your ports of call and what you'd like to see or do on each.

 

We just returned from the Eclipse and once onboard, the excursion options are many- so, having a thought of "I'd like to do a sightseeing tour" will help you narrow down easily. Another option is handling tours/excursions on your own.

 

Since you've sailed on other lines, Celebrity is similar in tour offerings.

 

Specialty reservations can be made onboard, but do them the first day or two. We waited to our 3rd day for reservations at Tuscan and they only had 830/9pm available and none for the final night. I'm sure we could have had our choice, or better choice had we done on the first day.

 

We bought our drink package ahead of time, but as Andy mentioned above some specials do exist. Also, if you wait until onboard you can buy a package 2days in to your cruise and pay for 5 versus 7 days- allowing you to measure/test your drinking style/interests. Personal preference but it's an option.

[debandbruce]

You will love the Eclipse, we sailed on her last April and truly ruined ourselves for any other cruise line. We went On Freedom of the Seas in November, lovely ship but we just couldn't help but compare it to the Eclipse.

There are many things to do so I suggest you study the dailies everynight so you won't miss a thing. The hot glass show is fun to watch and on the last day they raffle off some of the pieces they have made as well as a mini auction of select pieces.

The solarium pool is one of the nicest I have ever seen. I can't say enough good things about this ship and her staff. We had a C1 cabin on the aft, the wake is spotlit at night and we loved sitting on our balcony before bed and just watching and listening to the water. We even saw other ships coming and going beside us. Our first night we had the Allure pass us and The Epic travel with us, they were so beautiful all lit up.

I am going on her sister the Silhouette for 12 nights in April and I can't wait! Have a wonderful trip!

[TeaBag]

I thought I read somewhere that people in the suites get a complimentary dinner in the Specialty restaurant on embarkation day if there is room. Someone can correct me if this is not true. If it is, maybe you won't need to book. Have a great cruise.

[CathyCruises]

I have heard that as well--they are also offering discounts such as 20% off or two-for-one on board if the restaurants are slow to fill up--I believe I'd wait, especially as you'll have a butler who will be able to pull a few strings if needs be.

 

I would consider Bistro on 5 for your embarkation lunch. It is $5/pp cover; they serve made to order crepes, paninis, soups, salads, etc. In the chaos of the first day, it is a haven of calm and a much more pleasant way to start your cruise fighting for a table for 4.

 

Don't miss the Martini Bar for your pre-dinner cocktails. Try to sit at the bar and order a flight (sampler) for $15--then watch the show. Even better if you get together with someone and order two flights. Trust me on this.

 

The Solarium area is lovely with an indoor pool--you may not need that with your itinerary, however. We really liked the big loungers up against the windows by the outdoor pool--best of both worlds. The pina coladas are great too!

[Hapytocruise]

From your post it reads as though you may have cruised on Royal Caribean before, if so depending on how many times you may qualify for Celebrity loyalty benefits as the two lines reciprocate.

I believe (but others may correct) it would have to be a minimum of 5 points from RC to get Select level on Celebrity.

[librarylady19]

I thought I read somewhere that people in the suites get a complimentary dinner in the Specialty restaurant on embarkation day if there is room. Someone can correct me if this is not true. If it is, maybe you won't need to book. Have a great cruise.

 

Yes, that is correct:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard/tabLanding.do?pagename=onboard_dining#onboard_specialty_dining_tab/onboard/asrPanel.do%3Fpagename=onboard_specialty_dining

[librarylady19]

We just purchased the 3/10 sailing out of Miami on the Eclipse to the Eastern Carribean. Based on every thing I've read, this cruise should be fanastic!

 

We have never sailed on Celebrity before, we were at a vacation expo, ready to purchase a cruise on Royal Carribean (which we have sailed before)...but we were given an offer that we could not refuse on Celebrity. So we took it!! :D

 

So now I am frantically search the boards to figure out what I need to know about Celebrity.

 

On RCI, the daily activity sheet was called a Compass. What is it called on Celebrity? I am trying to find a copy so I can get a sense of the types of activities that are available on a typical day.

 

We are booked in S1 and S2 connected suites. There are four of us traveling - husband, daughter (20), son (18). It is my understanding that we can get assistance with reservations at the speciality resturants. Should I wait to make reservations at speciality resturants until we are on the cruise or should I be doing it now?

 

Can I wait to purchase drink packages or do I need to purchase prior to the cruise?

 

Unfortunately, I do not have alot of time before we sail to work on this...so what should I do as a priority before the cruise?

 

Thanks to all for your assistance!!!

 

We had a great cruise on Eclipse in December. I did lots of planning ahead of time but you can certainly be ready to go in a month.

I highly recommend the beverage package!

I do have copies of the dailies if you'd like. Send me an email.

 

Here's my review, with lots of photos:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1533757

[m1celt]

I thought I read somewhere that people in the suites get a complimentary dinner in the Specialty restaurant on embarkation day if there is room. Someone can correct me if this is not true. If it is, maybe you won't need to book. Have a great cruise.

 

We have traveled in an S2 on our last 2 cruises. Actually, people in suites get one complimentary dinner in a specialty restaurant during a 7 night cruise. It can be used on any night, not just on embarkation day. However, you can not book the complimentary dinner online, you must either call customer service or book once you get on board.

[Fixit2010]

Hi Jrlady

 

Calm down dear.

 

You have six weeks still to use Celebrities buggy website and book what you want. Im not sure how far ahead you can book on line but its 4-6 weeks before you sail.

 

A lot of people book specialities on board. I have done so several times and always found a table available for the 2 of us. As a party of 4 that may be a little trickier.

 

Decide on what your days itinerary is and then plan which day(s) you want to eat in a specialty. If you can book in advance that is great, but just because you can't doesn't mean you won't get seated. With a per person cover charge, celebrity would want to get as many people through their doors as they can over a cruise.

 

Having just done the eastern Caribbean, I found the drinks package very useful and it makes a difference drinking unlimited as opposed to trying to stick to a budget. For me I would book another drinks package, I don't know why in the past I didn't bother. anyway as people mention, take advantage of the 10% sale at the moment.

 

By the way it is a fantastic cruise.

[Jrlady]

First off, thank you to everyone for taking the time to provide me your perspective on my questions. It is very much appreciated!!!

 

librarylady19 - I am working my way thorough your review, it is absolutely fantasic! I will e-mail you for a copy of the dailies - thank you!

 

I have been online to "My Celebrity" and have registered for the roll call.

 

I was able to search the forum for copies of the Celebrity Today.

 

I went online today to purchase the drink packages. In my opinion, it was exetremely confusing. I ended up calling Celebrity twice! and each time got a different answer. I'm still not convinced that I am getting the 10% off. The last word that I got was that the posted price on the website is already reduced by 10% ... does that sound right? Regardless, I purchased the packages that I wanted and I will bring the receipts on board, so if I see a decrepency between what I paid and the going rate I will be able to get it rectified.

 

I also decided to wait to reserve the speciality dining. I was aware that the suite that we purchased does include one night at a speciality resturant.

 

Thanks again to everyone!!! I can't wait for the cruise to start!!