Celebrity Secrets they usually don't tell you about

[canderson]

how do you know the drinking water is perfectly safe? (I have an immune disease.)

Apart from boiling and/or otherwise sterilzing water just prior to drinking it or storing it in sterile containers (preferably with a small bit of antimicrobial preservative of some sort), there's no such thing as "perfectly safe" if your tolerance is at or near zero.

 

What level of assurance/quality are you looking for, and what particular types of bugs are of special concern?

 

If we told you that the ship's tap water tends to be as good or better (depends upon itinerary) as any you'd find in a major US city, would that be sufficient?

 

If not, do you trust bottled water to be any better? It is available on the ship for both cabin, bar and dining room use. If so, what brands?

[Host Walt]

Apart from boiling and/or otherwise sterilzing water just prior to drinking it or storing it in sterile containers (preferably with a small bit of antimicrobial preservative of some sort), there's no such thing as "perfectly safe" if your tolerance is at or near zero.

 

What level of assurance/quality are you looking for, and what particular types of bugs are of special concern?

 

If we told you that the ship's tap water tends to be as good or better (depends upon itinerary) as any you'd find in a major US city, would that be sufficient?

 

If not, do you trust bottled water to be any better? It is available on the ship for both cabin, bar and dining room use. If so, what brands?

 

To amplify on canderson's post, all ships use a desalinization and a multi-stage reverse osmosis system that produces drinking water that is superior to most bottled waters such as Crystal Geyser, Arrowhead, etc.

 

If you are able to drink a purified water like Aquafina, one of the best in terms of purity, the process Pepsi uses in purifying that water is close to that used on board ship, but Pepsi's method is not quite as effective as Celebrity's.

 

With that in mind, you should check with your doctor on the level of purity that you can tolerate.

[tuggers]

I knew there was a reason Aquafina is so much better! I am addicted to it. If I'm on the road and I stop for a bottle of water I'll actually go to another store to find it! My friends are divided - some think I'm crazy and others think they put something in it to make it addictive! LOL!

[CindyinSeattle]

We have never had a problem with the drinking water provided in the silver pitcher provided by the cabin steward! Still can't bring myself to pay for water... Remember, Evian backwards spells naive! DH pointed out yesterday that Beer has now become cheaper than bottled water! Go figure!:rolleyes:

[DonnaMarieNJ]

How do I find out which cabins on which ships have the larger balconies? Someone said that the aft balconies are huge on the Constellation but looking on the deck plan, they all look alike to me. Which ones are they? Which categories/cabins? On another post someone said 6035 had a very big balcony but looking on the Celebrity site, it says the balcony is, I think, 38 ft.

 

DonnaMarieNJ

[canderson]

How do I find out which cabins on which ships have the larger balconies? Someone said that the aft balconies are huge on the Constellation but looking on the deck plan, they all look alike to me. Which ones are they? Which categories/cabins? On another post someone said 6035 had a very big balcony but looking on the Celebrity site, it says the balcony is, I think, 38 ft.

 

DonnaMarieNJ

 

The M-Class deck plans (save one that forgets a row of balconies) all show them as much bigger aft. Where did you see that?

 

Here's the "best of breed" according to prior posts:

 

2A-8161,8146,9173,9138

2B-7049,7080,7163,7166,7171,7173,7175,7177,7174,7176, 7178,7180

2C-6016,6018,6020,6021,6022,6023,6024,6025,6026,6027, 6029,6030,6031,6033,6035,6053,6048

 

CC/1A-9043,9038,9201,9164,9162,9160

CC/1B-8045,8046,8185,8176,8172,8170

CC/1C-6135,6136,6143,6144,7203,7212,7208,7206

[chillerguy2002]

We used the card that you hang outside your room on the doorknob. We even check for the delivery to be between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. That wasn't outside of regular meal hours for breakfast.

 

Still, as I said, it wasn't a big deal to us. We liked eating outside of our room better anyway.

 

Room service refused to send what was on the menu...so I went to the restaurant (1 person) who the hostess insisted that I sit with other people, I am not a "people-person" early in the morning so I asked for a table by myself, she was upset at this request and went stomping off muttering... I followed for at least 20 feet not sure, then gave up and went up to the buffet.

 

Got back to my room and found that room service delivered exactly what I ordered after a heated debate with the room steward...who told me not to complain about room service as it would look bad for him?

[canderson]

To amplify on canderson's post, all ships use a desalinization and a multi-stage reverse osmosis system that produces drinking water that is superior to most bottled waters such as Crystal Geyser, Arrowhead, etc.

Just to be clear, not all water aboard is produced through a reverse osmosis desalination process. On certain itineraries, you can easily tell when that's the majority of available water, though -- it's extremely "soft" and one can't rinse the soap off in the shower! On other itineraries, the water is a little harder, and that's when you know it's from land based water sources. We've seen them taking on water from public water supplies at certain ports where one could expect good Q/A of the supply. However, this is expensive and is typically only done where at-sea days and ports with questionable supplies would stretch the onboard capacity for water production past its limits.

 

We've never heard of a health problem with Celebrity shipboard water consumption.

 

As a side note -- the reverse osmosis process is also used by Celebrity to clean up their gray water before discharge -- cleaner oceans.

[RMSeadog]

Although I have not read each and every post on this board and don’t know if this has been touched upon, I’ll share an unpublished (at least to non stock holders) tip. If you hold 100 shares of Royal Caribbean Common Stock, you are entitled to an onboard credit above and beyond any other credit you may receive (booking on board, etc.).

 

1) To get the credit this year you must have owned the stock as of 15 Apr 05 and book before 1 May 06. There is no limit to the amount of times you can receive this credit. However, there is no guarantee this will continue next year and buying stock to get a room credit my not be the best investment one can make. If you cruise a lot with X or RCCL you make a lot more than the $22.30 a qtr dividends.

 

2) Always book a cruise on board. Any cruise. Your down payment is worth as much $200. Not too many places you can make $200 in a year or less for a $900 investment. Later you can change the booking to a cruise you like better along with the credit or cancel before the final payment and get you money back. Just be sure your TA transfers the booking number as the credit is linked to that booking number.~Rick

[hoover5000]

Although I have not read each and every post on this board and don’t know if this has been touched upon, I’ll share an unpublished (at least to non stock holders) tip. If you hold 100 shares of Royal Caribbean Common Stock, you are entitled to an onboard credit above and beyond any other credit you may receive (booking on board, etc.).

 

1) To get the credit this year you must have owned the stock as of 15 Apr 05 and book before 1 May 06. There is no limit to the amount of times you can receive this credit. However, there is no guarantee this will continue next year and buying stock to get a room credit my not be the best investment one can make. If you cruise a lot with X or RCCL you make a lot more than the $22.30 a qtr dividends.

 

2) Always book a cruise on board. Any cruise. Your down payment is worth as much $200. Not too many places you can make $200 in a year or less for a $900 investment. Later you can change the booking to a cruise you like better along with the credit or cancel before the final payment and get you money back. Just be sure your TA transfers the booking number as the credit is linked to that booking number.~Rick

 

Please note the 4/15/05 date is no longer in effect. You can buy the stock at any time to obtain the credit. Per RCL they just want to know you own it when you request the credit. There is another thread on this board that goes into this in detail and quotes the line.

[RMSeadog]

I was just quoting the Shareholder Benefits form from 2005. Thanks~Rick

[SUE A]

They do not tell you that you can arrange a tour on your own in St Petersburg. You are led to believe that you can only arrange a tour through the ship. If you use a company authorized by the Russian Govenment to handle cruise ship passengers, you can do your tour that way and in a nice small group.

[canderson]

They do not tell you that you can arrange a tour on your own in St Petersburg. You are led to believe that you can only arrange a tour through the ship. If you use a company authorized by the Russian Govenment to handle cruise ship passengers, you can do your tour that way and in a nice small group.

Are the Intourist folks still acting as "minders", or have things finally expanded beyond the paranoid silliness of the old days (70's) of the Cold War when I was there last?

[Host Walt]

Are the Intourist folks still acting as "minders", or have things finally expanded beyond the paranoid silliness of the old days (70's) of the Cold War when I was there last?

Having been to Leningrad in 1984 and 1986, then to St. Petersburg in 1998, the institutional paranoia extant in the 80's is all but disappeared now.

[AFT_LOVER]

when it is 200 sq ft. Same with the 6016-6030 of 2C that are double sized balconies, listed as 41 sq ft (the norm).

 

That is why we talk here about it to clue folks in on getting the best for your buck!.

 

 

The M-Class deck plans (save one that forgets a row of balconies) all show them as much bigger aft. Where did you see that?

 

Here's the "best of breed" according to prior posts:

 

2A-8161,8146,9173,9138

2B-7049,7080,7163,7166,7171,7173,7175,7177,7174,7176, 7178,7180

2C-6016,6018,6020,6021,6022,6023,6024,6025,6026,6027, 6029,6030,6031,6033,6035,6053,6048

 

CC/1A-9043,9038,9201,9164,9162,9160

CC/1B-8045,8046,8185,8176,8172,8170

CC/1C-6135,6136,6143,6144,7203,7212,7208,7206

[RMSeadog]

Having been to Leningrad in 1984 and 1986, then to St. Petersburg in 1998, the institutional paranoia extant in the 80's is all but disappeared now.

 

We were in St Pete in May of this year and the Immigration was as tight as many years ago. Even the tour guides where complaining about the "Old Mentality" present within immigration. The Tour Guides said that they wanted everyone to have a visa. The tour companies talked them into the system that was in place in May. Once “inside” it was much more relaxed. All the street vendors spoke reasonable English and where very friendly.

[canderson]

Having been to Leningrad in 1984 and 1986, then to St. Petersburg in 1998, the institutional paranoia extant in the 80's is all but disappeared now.

Good to hear. Must make things a bit more pleasant, especially for those doing cruisetours. Used to be someone on every floor of a hotel watching the coming/going of all of the foreign (and, I assume, domestic) guests. The "guides" were more like border collies, herding everyone around and assuring you didn't stray.

 

Back to the general topic...

 

While no "secret", it's clear that there's quite a lot of competition between the pre-arranged shore excursions of Celebrity and private tour companies at most ports, and many cruising for the first few times aren't aware of how easy it can be to arrange these in these modern internet days. While it used to be difficult and expensive to make contact with private tour companies in foreign countries, giving the cruise lines a virtual lock on much of this business, it's an internet experience for many of the reputable ones now, and this provides both some price competition and additional variety to the shore excursion experience. In some cases, it's possible to book precisely the same excursion with the same company! The price difference may be negligible or substantial -- have seen it all over the map.

 

While it's true that the lines will wait for ship-arranged excursions when late, it's fairly rare that this occurs, and it really bends the captain out of shape. Mistakes like that can quickly cost the excursion company their partnership with the line and a lot of future business.

 

The private shorex outfits can't afford any major timing mistakes of the sort people mention. While the ship won't necessarily wait for the return of a private excursion - even one with a large number of passengers, one late return that leaves people scrambling to find their own way to the next port can completely ruin a reputable private outfit ... again, the internet is a powerful force in this business! They're careful, and they plan for contingencies. Of course, it's caveat emptor for those who book these. Best to assure a good reputation with CC members here in the "Ports of Call" area. I'd not worry about booking with one with a good reputation, and find that they can be a great deal of fun and more interesting than some of the ship-arranged excursions.

[Char]

OK--inquiring minds want to know! I was looking at itineraries on the NEW, post dry dock Century for 2007. They have the NS (Century Suite) listed at about $800 pp less than the Sky Suite. The brochure shows them as the same size and they both have balconies. So, why the price difference? Is this one of those "secrets"? :p Whose been in one of those? Apparently they will not change in the refurbishment.

[canderson]

OK--inquiring minds want to know! I was looking at itineraries on the NEW, post dry dock Century for 2007. They have the NS (Century Suite) listed at about $800 pp less than the Sky Suite. The brochure shows them as the same size and they both have balconies. So, why the price difference? Is this one of those "secrets"? :p Whose been in one of those? Apparently they will not change in the refurbishment.

No idea why they'd be going for $800pp less. Sounds like a bargain in the making. The shape will be different. If you've ever stayed in one of the FO cabins on the other two boats, picture one of these aft cabins (for size, not layout) on the Penthouse deck, with a veranda out back where the deck across the ship outside the FO windows would normally be. Everyone talks about the C-Class ships, but compared to the identical layout of the M-Class ships, the C-Class have some real differences. You've spotted one of them.

 

Someone has already tried to straighten me out with a cross-chart of the various "category vs. name" differences, so I'll completely avoid my prior effort to continue to confuse this!;) However, I believe these USED to be called Category 1 cabins on Century.

 

While the Celebrity site claims the Century Suite (no more a real "suite" than a Sky Suite, but that's another story) is 244 sq ft, I've seen elsewhere that it's actually 220 sq ft. Not sure why there's a discrepancy.

[Char]

No idea why they'd be going for $800pp less. Sounds like a bargain in the making. The shape will be different. If you've ever stayed in one of the FO cabins on the other two boats, picture one of these aft cabins (for size, not layout) on the Penthouse deck, with a veranda out back where the deck across the ship outside the FO windows would normally be. Everyone talks about the C-Class ships, but compared to the identical layout of the M-Class ships, the C-Class have some real differences. You've spotted one of them.

 

Someone has already tried to straighten me out with a cross-chart of the various "category vs. name" differences, so I'll completely avoid my prior effort to continue to confuse this!;) However, I believe these USED to be called Category 1 cabins on Century.

 

While the Celebrity site claims the Century Suite (no more a real "suite" than a Sky Suite, but that's another story) is 244 sq ft, I've seen elsewhere that it's actually 220 sq ft. Not sure why there's a discrepancy.

I'm looking at a 2004 brochure and they are called NS at that time. They had balconies at that time also. It just may be a really good deal! I'd like to hear from someone who has actually stayed in one of these cabins.

[Host Walt]

...I'd not worry about booking with one with a good reputation, and find that they can be a great deal of fun and more interesting than some of the ship-arranged excursions.

Our prearranged private tour in 1998 was simply outstanding. There were only 4 of us and our guide tied everything together for us.

 

I even asked her if we could make a stop at the Composers' graveyard (Lavra) near the Monastery at the east end of Nevsky Prospekt where Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Artur Rubenstein and many others are interred. No problem.

 

Tchaikovsky's memorial:

 

 

And it's cheaper than the ship's excursions.

[AFT_LOVER]

What a great photo of a great man's resting place. Thanks Walt!

[love those ships]

We were on infinity to alaska and at dinner we could not decide between meals so they suggested why not have both, who could resist.

[ccletzgo]

The M-Class deck plans (save one that forgets a row of balconies) all show them as much bigger aft. Where did you see that?

 

Here's the "best of breed" according to prior posts:

 

2A-8161,8146,9173,9138

2B-7049,7080,7163,7166,7171,7173,7175,7177,7174,7176, 7178,7180

2C-6016,6018,6020,6021,6022,6023,6024,6025,6026,6027, 6029,6030,6031,6033,6035,6053,6048

 

CC/1A-9043,9038,9201,9164,9162,9160

CC/1B-8045,8046,8185,8176,8172,8170

CC/1C-6135,6136,6143,6144,7203,7212,7208,7206

 

 

sure would like to see a pic of the forward part of the ship, close up. webshots has alot, but nothing close enough to see the balconies.

[nu2sea]

If you do a search of this forum on M class ships you should be able to find a thread that has a webshots link to the pictures you are looking for.