All inclusive

[sandancer]

2 minutes ago, jamon said:

I have two questions and  maybe someone can help me...First question is with the new Always included pricing, can you still get a cabin with no perks or do you have to take the Always included pricing? Second question is I have a cruise that I booked last year on the Reflection that includes 4 perks for November 2021, is the price I paid then and the 4 perks still good for this cruise since I booked it over a year ago. thanks for your help....

As I understand it you can only book a cabin without perks 90 days out. We also have a cruise on Reflection next November and I jolly well hope we’re still getting our 4 perks. That was the deal. 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 minutes ago, sandancer said:

As I understand it you can only book a cabin without perks 90 days out. We also have a cruise on Reflection next November and I jolly well hope we’re still getting our 4 perks. That was the deal. 

 

You should be grandfathered in at what you have. My TA checked to see which was better for me - I'm sticking with my grandfathered in benefits assuming I keep the cruise because changing would make my cruise all of $45 less BUT take $225 in OBC away, so changing would have COST me money.

[retired dude]

trying to figure out if we will sail again on X....We are simple folks and don't need a suite, wi-fi, laundry or any of that other ... My wife packs plenty of nice clothes for the entire cruise ..We have a 10 day cruise on x for dec 21 for a nice balcony cabin on a nice deck, midship for $750 pp total....We got enough obc from the ta and the cruise line to pay our gratuities and with elite status the happy hour suits us just fine..We dont need the specialty restaurants, if the MDR food isn't better than what 90% of the folks on this website eat everyday, i would be surprised....After this cruise we will hunt another cruise line that wants to give us the same "simple" package for simple folks. wish everyone well, stay safe......

[ChucktownSteve]

4 hours ago, riredsox said:

I’m glad we did the Lift&Shift for that Apex cruise!  Patti told me you did also.  Hopefully see you in 2022!

 

Looking forward to it.  Weren't you on the last Mercury cruise with us?  I wish Jim and Marylou could've been on this one. I hadn't realized you move a little over an hour from us.  Hope y'all have a happy gobble.

[Banjo]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Not true, you can still come to the Elite Happy Hour and have a drink with me.  That has to be worth something.

 

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

All of our recent cruises we have had the Bev package but we still pop into the Elite Happy Hour most nights.

 

Actually, the wife and I enjoyed those Happy Hours. Not so much for the drink menu 😉 but for the folks we meet. Over the years we met some fantastic couples up in the Sky Lounge that we are still friends with & keep in contact with today. Now, that you can get a drink (during the Happy Hour period) at almost every bar we found Sky Lounge pretty much deserted. Something we missed.

[schiff1997]

1 hour ago, retired dude said:

..We dont need the specialty restaurants, if the MDR food isn't better than what 90% of the folks on this website eat everyday, i would be surprised....

Hahaha this made me laugh, when I meet people on a cruise and they are complaining about the food, my answer to them is "Not sure what you eat at home, but I know I certainly don't eat this well"

[goofysmom99]

1 hour ago, schiff1997 said:

Hahaha this made me laugh, when I meet people on a cruise and they are complaining about the food, my answer to them is "Not sure what you eat at home, but I know I certainly don't eat this well"

And someone else cooks it, brings it to me, and washes the dishes.  And pulls out my chair!  Oh, be still my heart!!

[C-Dragons]

Just now, goofysmom99 said:

And someone else cooks it, brings it to me, and washes the dishes.  And pulls out my chair!  Oh, be still my heart!!

Amen...

Works for me!

[Luvcrusn]

48 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

And someone else cooks it, brings it to me, and washes the dishes.  And pulls out my chair!  Oh, be still my heart!!

And plans the menus and provisions the kitchen! 

[poffles]

54 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

And someone else cooks it, brings it to me, and washes the dishes.  And pulls out my chair!  Oh, be still my heart!!

 

AND gives me lots of choices!  AND I can have a little of this and a little of that.

[jg51]

.

Please excuse our anger, but ...

 

Why in the world is the title of this thread, "All Inclusive"?

Why are there some other threads, on this board/forum, that have "All Inclusive" in their titles?

 

Celebrity has NOT started anything named "All Inclusive."  Have we forgotten (or never learned) the meaning of the word, "all"?  That word means EVERYTHING, so every formerly optional item would have to be included in the new cruise fare for it to be "All-Inclusive."  Will every formerly optional item be included in the future?  HECK, NO!!!  Almost nothing that was formerly optional will be included -- not Spa/Salon services, not Specialty Restaurants, not Excursions, not Laundry, not "Premium" beverages, not Photographs, not [etc., etc., etc.] !!!

 

In fact, only TWO genuine things that were formerly optional will be included (the lower level of Internet service ... and ... the lower level of beverage package).  That is why Celebrity is just using the term "ALWAYS Included" -- not "ALL-INCLUSIVE" !!!

 

Someone may object by saying that there is a third item now included in the cruise fare -- namely, something that Celebrity now labels, "Tips" (formerly known widely as "Gratuities").  At least four comments must be made about this:

 

(1) For most people in the past, this was NOT a "formerly optional" expense that they sometimes or often bypassed (as if it were something like a spa charge)!  It was automatically added to a passenger's account, each day, without being explicitly requested by the passenger!  Only a very small percentage of passengers went to "Guest Relations" and had the daily "Gratuities" removed.  A smaller number of guests tried to decrease the amount of Gratuities (because the service they received was not good enough), but they were told, "Sorry, pal, it's all or nothing!"

 

(2)  Now, by lumping the inaccurately labeled item ("Tips") into the pre-paid cruise fare, Celebrity is REFUSING to allow guests to remove the amount (as they could in the past) once they are aboard the ship.  

 

(3)  In the English language, the words, "tip" and "gratuity," refer to something that is given by a consumer AFTER a service is rendered (not before) AND in accordance with the consumer's FREE-WILL desire to REWARD a job well done.  If a charge is FORCED upon a consumer/guest in advance -- and is therefore not a free-will act, and cannot be reduced (or "backed out" fully) -- then that charge is NOT a "tip" or "gratuity"!!!   The very word, "gratuity," comes from the Latin word, "gratis," which means "free" (as in "free-will").  

 

(4)  Therefore, there will be NO genuine "tips/gratuities," in the future, except whatever a guest may give in cash (in person) to crew members.  And so, what is now being forced on guests, in advance, is the pre-payment of a SERVICE CHARGE.  This is NOT a "perk" nor an "optional expense," but just a phony way to increase the cruise fare itself.  Let us not be naive about this!  The "X" corps are lying to us, expecting us to fall for it like a bunch of "suckers"!

 

Celebrity has messed up this whole "Always Included" thing big-time, and it must make a "course correction" [no pun intended] as soon as possible.  Otherwise, MANY people (including "guess who" and other formerly loyal Elite-plus and Elite folks -- who are the most cheated of all, because of the inclusion of the beverage package) will abandon them.

 

Stepping down off soapbox (with partial apologies to the OP, who had to feel a bit too much of our wrath).

.

Edited November 17, 2020 by jg51

[Fouremco]

5 minutes ago, jg51 said:

Please excuse our anger, but ...

Why anger? And why are you posting this on multiple threads? You've made your point and hammering people over the head benefits no one.

[gerelmx]

It's nor All Included for Mexico, X is charging the gratuities:

[Pinboy]

12 minutes ago, jg51 said:

Only a very small percentage of passengers went to "Guest Relations" and had the daily "Gratuities" removed.  A smaller number of guests tried to decrease the amount of Gratuities (because the service they received was not good enough), but they were told, "Sorry, pal, it's all or nothing!"

Really ?????  Where did you get that info from ?

IMO--- ( I'm repeating myself from other posts ) The smartest thing Celebrity is doing is adding the Gratuity , Tip,  Service Charge or whatever you want to call it onto the price.  Too bad for those who ALWAYS find an excuse to remove the tips. 

 

 

[cantstopingcruising]

3 hours ago, schiff1997 said:

Hahaha this made me laugh, when I meet people on a cruise and they are complaining about the food, my answer to them is "Not sure what you eat at home, but I know I certainly don't eat this well"

I am making Mediterranean sea bass for dinner tonight and the only fish Celebrity has that comes near it is the Branzino. Their other fish is inedible by my standards. Sorry!

[TeaBag]

Just now, cantstopingcruising said:

I am making Mediterranean sea bass for dinner tonight and the only fish Celebrity has that comes near it is the Branzino. Their other fish is inedible by my standards. Sorry!

Enjoy!  I love Sea bass. The secret to good fish is not overcooking.  I like it on the sashimi side!!

Stay safe!

[cantstopingcruising]

6 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

Enjoy!  I love Sea bass. The secret to good fish is not overcooking.  I like it on the sashimi side!!

Stay safe!

You stay safe, too!

[hiccups]

I'm so bummed we requested a refund for our Edge cruise prior to Celebrity allowing Lift & Shift.  When they added that option, even though we hadn't received our refund, we weren't allowed to L&S.  We had a such a great price with all four perks that now it's close to $900 more PP for the same cruise in 2021 with the Elevate package.  To be fair, though, even before X created this new pricing, there was no way we could touch the deal we got during the Veteran's Day 2019 sale.

[riredsox]

4 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

Looking forward to it.  Weren't you on the last Mercury cruise with us?  I wish Jim and Marylou could've been on this one. I hadn't realized you move a little over an hour from us.  Hope y'all have a happy gobble.

Yes I was!  I did 9 Mercury cruises in 14 months.   I really miss Jim and MaryLou.   I’m a Florida girl now but miss Rhode Island very much.   Happy Thanksgiving and can’t wait to get on the Apex!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

5 hours ago, poffles said:

 

AND gives me lots of choices!  AND I can have a little of this and a little of that.

and send it back and get something else if I don't like it.

[GateGuardian]

So I'm trying to figure out if this is just a marketing thing and there really isn't any changes to how Celebrity charges for their room (sorry if this is already covered).

 

When I look at the program changes, they always talk about "those who choose the Always Included", so I'm assuming you can still get the base rate? If so, how is this difference that the perks that they offered before?

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/captains-club/program-changes?anchor=&allowMobile=y&ecid=em_23181000&rid=325458086&mes=Celebrity Loyalty Program Changes NOV 2020 EM&emsc=CCC_SEL_NAN_NAN_ML_CAN_ON_4_TA&empf=Y&emct=S&lnkid=PERKS_CTA#perks-and-benefits

[mikkelhansen]

39 minutes ago, GateGuardian said:

When I look at the program changes, they always talk about "those who choose the Always Included", so I'm assuming you can still get the base rate? If so, how is this difference that the perks that they offered before?

No. Always Included is the new booking program included in all fares (except select sailings from 90 days before departure). All existing booking prior to November 17 do not have Always Included, and this sentence is referring to those bookings. Existing bookings CAN be repriced under the Always Included program, but it is NOT mandatory.

[poffles]

15 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

and send it back and get something else if I don't like it.

 

Can't imagine any of us doing that, everything is always the best ... wink wink!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Made the call to cancel my Feb 2022 cruise on Apex. Even though I was grandfathered in with my original booking (booked on board with an All 4 perks deal), to me as someone who cruises solo it's the principal of the thing - I should not have to pay double to upgrade if I choose to. The deposit was only $100 which is an FCC which will likely never get used, which does stink, but it's small in the great scheme of things.

 

I'll likely move to another booking for Summer 2022 simply because the other future cruise I have (Feb 2021 is already PIF) was booked NOT on board and so has a larger deposit which would hurt more to lose (though given that I've lived without it for about a year now, it would just be bonus running money) - though it was "only" for a single IV stateroom on Apex so not the suite level deposit. But we'll see what happens (if the Feb 2021 cruise is cancelled and I'm not able to convert the FCC used on that - which would be reissued as an unused FCC - to a cash refund, I'll use that and probably just lose the FCC from the other deposit because a PIF cruise is much tougher to swallow losing the amount of though it's been out of my accounts since March-ish of 2020.

 

Either way, I'll definitely be letting them know that they are for all intents and purposes losing a solo cruiser because of their ridiculous insistence that we pay double to upgrade the package.

[mek]

On 11/17/2020 at 11:36 AM, sandancer said:

As I understand it you can only book a cabin without perks 90 days out. We also have a cruise on Reflection next November and I jolly well hope we’re still getting our 4 perks. That was the deal. 

  While I realize it doesn't work for everyone, 90 days out will be just fine for me.