Have You Ever Gotten Something For Free On Celebrity?

[dcyonce]

I was reluctant to respond ... but the discussion was nice and some very nice people have been asking. So here goes....

 

"Have we received something free just because we asked?"

Yes. Many, many times. 

 

"Have we received something for free that we did NOT ask for?"

Also ... yes. Many, many times. More often than I can remember !

 

More so on Celebrity than any other cruise line we have sailed on. We have received "non-physical perks" such as free excursions, future cruise credits, tours, Persian Garden access, classes, private entertainment, use of conference rooms, etc.

 

As for "physical freebies and extra perks". Holy moly .. we have to be careful what we mention. A birthday, anniversary, graduation, or whatever ...  Celebrity staff hears all and is always quick to respond. The chocolate strawberries, flowers, wine, champagne, photos, cakes, toiletries, special food and drink orders (that they pick up in port), and such happen quite often. (Maybe too often !)

 

My wife and I have Celebrity shirts, luggage, bath robes (with our initials embroidered on them), socks (yep !), hats, jackets, etc. (Haven't received any Celebrity underwear ... yet !). Our kids also have many Celebrity goodies.

 

And of course the key chains, bags, cup cozys, mugs, models of the ships, hats, goofy little key card holders, some really cool custom towels, wine caddies, and other misc goodies seem to show up all the time. 

 

Now for the complete disclosure 😉 :

We are Zenith ++, always book the Penthouse, and very frequently travel with a bunch of family and friends. We always book top suites for family and friends and my wife and I cover the bill. Celebrity knows this and knows my wife and I very well. Celebrity really excels in the service category. When we call ... many times they will answer the phone with "Hi Don!  How are you today?" (they must have a pretty good inbound caller id systems).

 

Over the years we have spent a LOT with Celebrity. And I'm sure we will continue to do in the future. As with many hospitality organizations. The more you spend over the years .. the better the service and more "perks".

 

  -- Don

 

 

 

[dcyonce]

On 6/22/2020 at 9:09 PM, drsel said:

I don't think the ship's employees are allowed to date passengers. They could lose their jobs

 

It's quite common for a crew member's girlfriend/boyfriend/bride to be, etc to travel on a ship and get special treatment. We have known quite a few crew members and staff who have had "very close guests" travel onboard. This isn't considered "fraternizing with passengers". The relationship existed long before the passenger boarded.

[drsel]

 
It's quite common for a crew member's girlfriend/boyfriend/bride to be, etc to travel on a ship and get special treatment. We have known quite a few crew members and staff who have had "very close guests" travel onboard. This isn't considered "fraternizing with passengers". The relationship existed long before the passenger boarded.

But doesn't the girlfriend or boyfriend have to book a separate cabin?

[Life Buoy]

2 minutes ago, drsel said:

2 hours ago, dcyonce said:

 
It's quite common for a crew member's girlfriend/boyfriend/bride to be, etc to travel on a ship and get special treatment. We have known quite a few crew members and staff who have had "very close guests" travel onboard. This isn't considered "fraternizing with passengers". The relationship existed long before the passenger boarded.

But doesn't the girlfriend or boyfriend have to book a separate cabin?

On most lines it might depend on who's traveling with the crew. Many crew share cabins with another crew member. Officers normally have a single cabin and they can share with a guest.

[phoenix_dream]

Years ago we went on what I think was called an anniversary cruise.  Celebrating Celebrity being in business for 10 years or something like that.  We got a gift in our cabin every night - nice tote bags, wine carriers, travel journals - don't remember all of them.  It was nice.  Early on, we were the most cruised a couple of times (before the merger with Royal) and we got a huge bouquet of roses and a nice picture of us with the Captain in a nice folder.  In recent years, nothing with the exception of a couple times when we had a problem we had to report and got some champagne or chocolate covered strawberries in our stateroom.  Last and not least, a couple of fairly senior staff members have given us things like the champagne or strawberries a couple of times because we have known and sailed with them for years.

[kydems]

not freebies but ....A few years ago we were doing a 35 day B2B2B2B on the Eclipse through Europe and my husband injured his knee on day 4 on a non-Celebrity tour. The kindness shown to us by all members of the crew and medical staff was exceptional. They organized specialist  medical appointments on shore during turn-around days, and managed the injury on board for us, adjusting knee braces etc so we would not have to cancel our holiday. The staff would help with the wheelchair whenever they saw us in the hallways, and special seating organized in the restaurants when necessary. As the injury improved and he progressed from wheelchair to crutches to walking with the brace on, all the crew would stop to chat and comment on how he was progressing. We had dinners in the specialty restaurants to celebrate each small improvement. We really felt that they cared about us. This is one of the reasons that we will continue to sail with Celebrity 

[Quo Vadis?]

3 hours ago, dcyonce said:

"Have we received something for free that we did NOT ask for?"

Also ... yes. Many, many times. More often than I can remember !

 

(Haven't received any Celebrity underwear ... yet !).

 

  -- Don

 

 

 

They are free for the asking for those in need.

 

There is a certain entertainer that used to play in Michael's Club as well as in the theatre one night a voyage.

 

We started the "throw on the stage" stuff for his act.  We asked housekeeping for an old sheet that they turned into oversized underwear as well as a free pair of shorts from guest relations.  They also made up a keycard for Fats Domino and Chubby Checker which accompanied the underwear on stage.

[Gracie115]

We got a free upgrade to a Royal Suite on Millennium back in 2003.......went to check in and we were informed of the upgrade at that moment...... so cool....never wanted to get off the ship...(well we never do, but this time was really hard!!)

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, kydems said:

not freebies but ....A few years ago we were doing a 35 day B2B2B2B on the Eclipse through Europe and my husband injured his knee on day 4 on a non-Celebrity tour. The kindness shown to us by all members of the crew and medical staff was exceptional. They organized specialist  medical appointments on shore during turn-around days, and managed the injury on board for us, adjusting knee braces etc so we would not have to cancel our holiday. The staff would help with the wheelchair whenever they saw us in the hallways, and special seating organized in the restaurants when necessary. As the injury improved and he progressed from wheelchair to crutches to walking with the brace on, all the crew would stop to chat and comment on how he was progressing. We had dinners in the specialty restaurants to celebrate each small improvement. We really felt that they cared about us. This is one of the reasons that we will continue to sail with Celebrity 

 

This is what really matters...A couple of years ago I had three cruises in total with limited mobility and all the staff were fantastic. The pool staff who used the ‘ducking stool’ so I could enjoy the Solarium, the wonderful lady in the restroom by Michael’s who saw me ‘hop in’ and totally looked after me to Captain Leo who remembered from one cruise to the next that life had been challenging!

 

Totally agree that level of care is what also keeps us cruising with Celebrity.

[watertraveler]

Over the years, we have received many treats from Celebrity and Royal. Last year, we celebrated our anniversary and my husband's birthday on a cruise to Cuba. One night, we had the birthday cake in the MDR.  The next night, we had the anniversary cake in one of the specialty restaurants and the following night, another anniversary cake in the MDR! It was overkill but we certainly got a kick out of it.

 

But, the best was back in 2000 on our friends' first cruise, we had a terrific steward in a balcony cabin below the deck where the concierge cabins were. Evidently, he was on good terms with the concierge (plus, he must have liked us) because each night we would receive a bottle of wine and canapes for our enjoyment.  Totally not part of the cruise cost and he definitely earned an extra tip for the service!  Loved it!

[SHIP TRAVELER]

We were given a free dinner for two in a specialty restaurant after attending an on board future cruise sales event.  We were surprised when someone called the next day and asked which restaurant and what day and time we would like for them to reserve.  We chose Muranos (it was the Reflection) because we had never tried it.  When we were seated the waiter thought we were casino guests and offered us a free bottle of wine.  We explained that we were not casino guests but he felt bad for offering and got permission to give us the bottle of wine with our free dinner.  On that cruise that were were depending on our Elite status coupons for drinks so this was to us a great perk on top of a perk.

My dream is that one day I will win one  of the bigger "free play" give away prizes in the casino. I go to a lot of these events and never win.  It would actually not be free if I did win because I have lost that and more gambling.

[Pinboy]

On 6/19/2020 at 10:41 AM, Roger88 said:

I am like the only person in the world who has never, EVER got anything for free from those cruise companies. Not even a towel made like a bird to meet me in a cabin, not even an invitation to anywhere on the ship. Just a smile and welcome on board from some guy or lady before the ship. Please, hear me and give me something already! 

Don't feel so bad-- I busted my butt for 3 days in the putting contest and they handed me a friggin tshirt with a big X on it.

Other than that, on every cruise they give us a beach bag .

Next time you are on a cruise look in the top drawer where you put your socks and the chocolates they leave on your pillow at night and you'll find it.  Lots of room in the bag for the bathrobe that you thought was free until the price appeared on your credit card when you got home. 

 

[Germancruiser]

Oh well- other then the occasionell tote bag, beach bag, chocolate strawberry I can not remember anything special Ah- i forgot- the final bill always arrived on time and at no extra cost.

[benjoon]

We were on the Constellation in 2011. We booked connecting cabins with my husband and 11 year old daughter in one and me in the other. They wouldn't book her in the cabin by herself. My husband paid for a 12 bottle wine package. When we got on board my husband swapped cabins into mine because of this our daughter couldn't have the wine package. They refunded the money. I went to guest relations twice to say this had happened and to charge our cabin. They didn't and when we were at dinner they still insisted that we had the package. We sent them off to check and they still said it was paid for. So we had 12 bottles of wine and all our money refunded. This was a great bonus 

[Alushar]

We usually cruise on my wife's birthday never made a fuss but when booking a future cruise they made some sort of note so we get the cake and chocolate strawberries and wine regularly now and have had our stateroom decorated.

 

The best freebie we didn't ask for but there was a problem on my booking a couple of years back and it hit a lot of us on same cruise but everyone got sorted other than us. It got very frustrating as we couldn't book anything through planner or make final payment etc. I made a myriad of calls to UK and US and eventually lost patient emailed LLP. I had an immediate response and a conference call was set up which included 2 managers and someone who know what they were doing. They fixed the problem in seconds and set it so that if I bought something I got it at the lowest price it had been offered though the booking as I'd missed a couple of sales. They then gave me $150 OBC which I hadn't asked for.

 

Following day I called UK adviser to book something got someone Id talked to before they said they were glad I was sorted and gave me another $100 OBC

 

All I wanted was to book Tuscan for first night and ended up with $250 OBC!   

[iancal]

On two separate occasions Celebrity has sent a bottle of wine to our stateroom.   And then been gracious enough to exchange white for red!

 

We are not loyal to any one cruise line and have cruised on many.  But Celebrity, and most especially Celebrity Solstice class ships, are at the top of DW's short list of preferred cruise lines.

[Life Buoy]

It appears that some spent a lot of money or put up with aggravation to get "free stuff".  

[drsel]

It appears that some spent a lot of money or put up with aggravation to get "free stuff".  

No doubt, those who booked suites would be entitled to get a lot of free stuff

[GeroWA]

The most memorable thing I got for free was a dose of Gastro whilst on Celebrity Solstice - the whole ship was closed down. Luckily we were on our homeward bound leg back to Sydney so it was only 2 days of inconvenience.

[Blackduck59]

9 hours ago, drsel said:

11 hours ago, Life Buoy said:

It appears that some spent a lot of money or put up with aggravation to get "free stuff".  

No doubt, those who booked suites would be entitled to get a lot of free stuff

 

I would suggest that many of the things suite guest get are not "free" they are "included in the fare"

[Life Buoy]

8 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

I would suggest that many of the things suite guest get are not "free" they are "included in the fare"

Absolutely! Some of the perks are just marketing devices to keep them coming back. I expect the current financial condition will eliminate most of the extras that some report receiving.

[chemmo]

10 hours ago, GeroWA said:

The most memorable thing I got for free was a dose of Gastro whilst on Celebrity Solstice - the whole ship was closed down. Luckily we were on our homeward bound leg back to Sydney so it was only 2 days of inconvenience.

 

Or better described as too day’s of being in the convenience....

[gerelmx]

With 0 points

[chemmo]

On 8/12/2020 at 5:14 AM, Blackduck59 said:

 

I would suggest that many of the things suite guest get are not "free" they are "included in the fare"

 

 

On 8/10/2020 at 1:54 PM, dcyonce said:

I was reluctant to respond ... but the discussion was nice and some very nice people have been asking. So here goes....

 

"Have we received something free just because we asked?"

Yes. Many, many times. 

 

"Have we received something for free that we did NOT ask for?"

Also ... yes. Many, many times. More often than I can remember !

 

More so on Celebrity than any other cruise line we have sailed on. We have received "non-physical perks" such as free excursions, future cruise credits, tours, Persian Garden access, classes, private entertainment, use of conference rooms, etc.

 

As for "physical freebies and extra perks". Holy moly .. we have to be careful what we mention. A birthday, anniversary, graduation, or whatever ...  Celebrity staff hears all and is always quick to respond. The chocolate strawberries, flowers, wine, champagne, photos, cakes, toiletries, special food and drink orders (that they pick up in port), and such happen quite often. (Maybe too often !)

 

My wife and I have Celebrity shirts, luggage, bath robes (with our initials embroidered on them), socks (yep !), hats, jackets, etc. (Haven't received any Celebrity underwear ... yet !). Our kids also have many Celebrity goodies.

 

And of course the key chains, bags, cup cozys, mugs, models of the ships, hats, goofy little key card holders, some really cool custom towels, wine caddies, and other misc goodies seem to show up all the time. 

 

 

  -- Don

 

 

 

The level of gifts/service is above what is generally offered to PH guests...Whilst we have no complaints whatsoever with the service level we have never been ‘showered’ with gifts.

 

Free access to Persian gardens and free excursions are not suite perks. Expect to pay to use.

 

Future Cruise credit is only usually only given to suite guests (like other guests) if there has been a real problem with the suite or service.

 

Please note I am not contradicting dcyonce, they are clearly very valued customers. However, I do think future PH cruisers should be aware that the items listed are not the ‘norm’...If you book a PH expect what is on your list of perks, expect the butler and concierge to meet reasonably requests but don’t expect everything listed above!

 

 

 

[excitedofharpenden]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:03 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

I just watched a video on Youtube called 6 Things You Can Get For Free On a Cruise if You Ask.  Of course I was intrigued so I clicked on the link.  There was actually nothing in the video that I didn't already know and most of it was not of much value (to me).  But it got me wondering if there are some things of value that people get for free by just asking. 

So, have you gotten a freebie from Celebrity just because you asked?  Please share your experience.

 

 

Here's the video for anyone who is interested.

 

I have to say that I've watched Gary Bembridge's videos from time to time because they appear on my YouTube profile as something that may be of interest.  For me at least he seems in all of them to state the obvious or tell me something I already know or that I don't agree with so I've stopped watching.  With the current pandemic I think he's struggling to find what to talk about!  I don't really care what other people get or don't get.  As has been said already, you pay for it in some way, either monetarily or with a motive.

 

Phil