Celebrity Secrets they usually don't tell you about

[Cricket63]

Do they serve Diet Dr. Pepper onboard ship? If not, are passengers allowed to bring there own 12 pack?

[canderson]

Do they serve Diet Dr. Pepper onboard ship? If not, are passengers allowed to bring there own 12 pack?

No, and you betcha.

 

The crew either doesn't like the prices or the flavors offered, because they bring back more soda than the pax at port stops (along with assorted munchies -- guess they can't get Cheetos in the crew mess!)

[a1moty]

As for the soda controversey--my soda guzzlin' buddies did indeed beat the cost of the soda package and also learned that their old soda containers worked at the bar once it was established that they'd paid for the new soda package on their current cruise accounts. If it floats your boat' date=' go for it--I'm not a soda drinker and don't care or worry that they might run out of soda on the ships. Even though I'm not a soda drinker, however, I still think that charging for sodas is stupid. It's a nickel and dime thing that can be absorbed into the costs and not be noticed or worried about--and I wrote this in my comment card too. Come on--soda is cheap stuff, don't make an issue over it.

[/quote']

Thanks so much for this great review--you covered lots of topics I have been thinking about.

You mentioned old soda containers--

I have read that some of the other X ships give you an insulated container when you purchase the soda card. Is this true on Mercury as well?

Is it included in the soda package or is it extra? I am really trying to keep my packing to a minimum and if I don't need to take an insulated mug, I surely won't (room for another pair of shoes perhaps!)

Thanks again for taking the time to share your knowledge!!

[JAB8408]

Hi Crusin 'cats

 

Thank you for your excellent review of the Mercury cruise, and your practical advise on many items. Last time we were on Celebrity, my brother-in-law asked for sauteed mushrooms, and they were on the table every night thereafter. Enough for the whole table of four people.

 

Would it be possible for you to somehow upload copies of the Dailies from your trip? We're sailing the Century on March 19th. I've seen copies of the Dailies, but they're six months old, and refer to Mediterranean ports.

 

Thank you, JAB 8408

[golfnkitties]

If you have a TA, Email your TA with instructions to Email Celebrity about your Special Needs. If you don't have a TA, call Celebrity yourself, detailing your Special Needs. In either case, as soon as you board, go to see the Assistant Maitre d' who will be outside the dining room rearranging table requests. Explain your Special Needs to the Assistant Maitre d'. Let him know that you have already attempted to let Celebrity know your needs. With Celebrity it is usually a matter of "Ask and you shall receive".

If you need something more than the Maitre d' can provide, you can ask Guest Relations or the Concierge for assistance. I speak from personal experiences.

Celebrity has always been great, but on our Infinity cruise in October 05, they were phenomenal. The Maitre d' arranged a meeting for us with himself, the Executive Chef and the Hotel Director. They all bent over backwards to accommodate my allergies and medical conditions. Guest Relations and the Concierge were great, as well, making sure equipment needed in our cabin was installed and working properly. On Infinity, communication between the different staff areas (there was some overlap between departments) was exceptional.

Enjoy your cruise.:)

I was reading the last 2 pages of this post and saw your name and really got excited !! After almost a year of only being able to lurk and read and we are now checking out 3 future rolls and one day last week I decided to try one last time to post and WOW I was able to !! None of our logs for upcoming cruises have the EXCITEMENT we all had waiting for Doug to find out ! What a great bunch of C.C. we had !! Just had to say Hi and hope to see you again some day ! Robin #2 & Bob #2

[cruisin'cats]

I really feel flattered that you guys enjoyed my tongue in cheek comments and didn't take offense (as none was intended) at the little pokes. It's nice to be appreciated. I even felt obligated to answer before I go to bed tonight--I don't know about kids' programs, mine are too old (20's) for these programs and were at home slaving at jobs and/or school (one's in the Air Force). There were few children on our cruise because it wasn't the holiday season but there were a few babies that were, thankfully, not problematic to us.

 

Sodas are all Coke product line, that much I know. If that doesn't answer the poster's question, I'm sorry. As stated, I am not a soda drinker. As a matter of fact, I have given up guzzling the deliciously sweet lemonade because I'd rather get my calories from the food.

 

Believe me, there was no shortage of caloric challenges as most of the food was very good. Complaints from my gang pointed to the salads being less than creative to just merely lame and the desserts were OK to good--but that last night they served a CHOCOLATE CHIFFON PIE to die for! (I know that that caps would get your attention.)

 

I'll check the postings and see if there are any other issues that need to be addressed but I think I've got it covered. ENJOY! That's the only directive I need to pass on.

[cruisin'cats]

Sorry, kids, didn't take home the dailies (didn't know you called them that, honestly). After 16 cruises, I finally decided that I was keeping too much junk from each cruise (oh, I kept everything, and I do mean everything, from my first 4-5 cruises--until I had to move and pack it all and then I learned that the circular file made packing much easier and let go of those dailies and ads and information sheets, etc.). Think of it this way--it'll all be a new experience for you!

 

Geez, I love mushrooms--who knew? See? It's all about knowing what you want and what will make you happy! Our bus boy, er, I mean assistant waiter, learned very quickly that our tablemates loved the bread sticks and that I liked limes with my water and kept us well supplied during our 10 days with him. That's what makes a good assistant waiter and that's why we give out tips on our own rather than let the cruise line pool them for everyone and their mother.

 

OH that's another point---TIPPING...

You can go down and tell the purser's office that you don't want to have the tips taken care of by an automatic withdrawl. The PROBLEM is that you can't say you'd like to have this one removed from the list or add that one to the list-there is none of that due to the computer program used (at least that was the line used by the desk attendant). It's all or nothing. As much as I dislike the envelope distribution situation (and the morning after), there were people on the list that would have automatically been included in the tip pool that just didn't make MY list. For example, and we did include this in our end of cruise comments, we don't tip anonymous people like The Assistant Chief Housekeeper whom we'd never met and who never took the time to find his/her way to introducing him/her-self to us on this or any other of our previous cruises. Just who IS this person and what did this person do to deserve a tip for service above and beyond the expected? We also feel that we still want to augment the basic expectation tips for certain people (our wine steward, Lena, and our cabin steward, Antonio Hererra, for example) and pooled tipping doesn't allow for that without returning to the whole envelope in hand passing ritual anyway. Maybe someday there will be an interactive program via your TV where you can enter the amounts you want each person to receive and that'll solve all of the above issues. We even tipped a waiter in the buffet lunch who took great care of us and wasn't someone who we'd normally have tipped and wouldn't have normally have been tipped on an automatic tip pool program. The guy, Ibrahim from Turkey with the great smile, could serve as an ambassador for Celebrity with his generous and caring actions but he wouldn't have gotten an extra tip without the old hand passing maneuver.

 

OK--I'm out of here for tonight.

Happy Sailing!

[CaliforniaDreamin]

in the spaces that are now provided for each person being tipped. I realize this may be too early to tell if you really want to increase a tip to a particular person, but the option is there if you care to use it. I think you have to turn in the forms about three days before end of cruise. Don't remember the exact day.

 

Also you can use the auto tip and supplement it with an envelope of cash to those you feel deserve more.

[Cricket63]

Thank you Canderson for the info.

[AlaskanBorn]

This thread has been a great help. Although I am in the travel business ( I run and Adventure Lodge in Alaska) I have never been on this type of cruise (only on a small ship with Cruise West in the Napa Wine country) My husband and I are departing on April 7 for the Mexican Riviera on the Mercury

Crusin'Cats - your comments have been of great help. I had read almost this entire thread and had not seen much addressing the Mercury.

I have questions about shore excurisons. Any you think are a must do? Anything you must not do? We are plannning on "going it on our own" for the most part.

Since I am one of those contracted operators for the cruise lines. I know small groups are possible, but I don't have any idea if that is true where we are going.

Anyone that has any impute, it would be welcome.

Since 2 weeks ago we experienced -40 below in my home town and then it rose to + 40 a week later, I can tell you we are really looking forward to sun, warm water, beaches, and just plain relaxing. Don't want to miss anything, that is a must see on our 1st time out.

[linda47]

Hi AlaskanBorn!

 

You're going to love this type of cruising! Celebrity is my favorite cruiseline. I did this trip last year and I have one recommendation for you. In Mazatlan, tour with 'Mazatlan Frank'. If you go to the port of call boards, you will find many references to him. He is polite, speaks excellent English, is very proud of his city, and will adjust the tour to what you want to do. He is by far the best guide I've ever had. He is less expensive than the ship's tours.

 

I'm leaving in a few days on a Panama Canal cruise on the Summit. I was disappointed that we weren't going to Mazatlan again. If we were, I can guarantee you that I would have been in touch with Frank again.

 

Have fun!

[flashdog_1]

Alaskaborn,

If you will go to the ports of call boards you will find lots of information about shore excursions, whether the ship's ones or privately arranged ones. Then go to the actual roll call for your particular sailing, make friends with the people there, and you may be able to hook up with some of them on excursions they've planned. Happy traveling.

[tuggers]

AlaskaBorn,

 

By all means follow flashdogs advice and sign up for the roll call and the Cruise Critic Party that will be held on your ship so you can actually meet some of the people you will be chatting with on here.

 

To sign up for the party, go to the roll call board and look up in the right hand corner for a blue box that says 'Join The Party'. Click there and follow the instructions.

 

I must say, it sounds like you have a very exciting life!

[AlaskanBorn]

. . . all for the insight. It is a real help.

[marblemel]

I have read through almost all of the 35 pages of this thread and wow is there some great info. My question is for the soda people out there. Is seltzer considered soda or is that free? I am sailing on Millie in May and while I don't drink the sweetned stuff, I am addicted to seltzer. What beverages are free and what do you pay for - ie fruit juices, H2O, club soda, etc.? I start almost every day with half OJ mixed with half seltzer - should I expect to pay for that?

[cruisin'cats]

I want you to relax, enjoy the sun and the ship, and take it easy when in Mexico, Alaskaborn.

 

Since this was our third trip to most of these ports, except for Zwat, as they call it, we did most of our travels on our own. We also didn't travel with folks who were comfortable going on a tour without the cruise line's approval. Don't get me started! I know, I know. We only took one tour on this trip AC1-Acapulco City Tour and Cliff Divers--and it wasn't a great tour but it was an OK overview and my friends wanted to see the Cliff Divers and that's part of the tour too. I think the tour was more of a very light overview of the town with a bit more emphasis on how many new and wonderful hotels there are there. Neil and I had been to ACA before, for a week, but it was 19 years ago and our impressions from that trip were negative, hence we never went back to Acapulco. This tour was taken mostly for the friends' benefit but the good thing for us was to see that the city has been cleaned up quite a bit in the last several years. Not that we'd go rushing back, but at least we won't gag when someone mentions going there. :-)

 

I do have some recommedations from this trip for you--if you want a lovely and romantic lunch by the sea to to Oscar's in PV. It's in town, down by the river: address is Isla Rio Cuale Local No. 1. You walk through town, and when you reach the bridge to cross the river, go down the steps to the restaurant below. There are two restaurants--one on either side of the bridge but down at the river level. The other one didn't interest us as much as the menu at Oscars and we were quite pleased with our choice. The margaritas are amazing! The food was great! The guitar player was good. The location was spectacular--right at the beach, next to the river (which was a rather sleepy, slow moving body of water when we were there), and the restaurant was beautiful. Prices weren't bad either. At least it's local color and not some chain food that you'll regret later.

 

I don't think you need a tour guide in Zwat. It's a lovely little village and we loved walking around, taking photos and shopping at the shops. The people there are not as aggressive as in the other ports and it was a pleasure dealing with them. I defer to the experts on the cruise critic message boards for recommendations for tour guides. I agree that the tours from the cruise line are usually very crowded and the guides, while decent, can't answer all questions personally. Be careful and use "city smarts" when/if you go off on your own.

 

As for the seltzer drinker--sorry to say I don't know what they would consider seltzer but the rule of thumb is pretty much like this--if it comes from the bar it's charged for. That would make seltzer in the same category as soda. The same as bottled water, I would think, since that's also a charged item. Juices aren't charged for but I never ordered them with dinner, though I would assume you could. Coffee is included (NEVER NEVER say FREE since they've charged you for it already so say INCLUDED) but cappucino are bar items too and therefore cost you. On Mercury (like on Millie) there is a Cova Cafe for coffees and bar drinks and they charge for the plain cup of coffee there. Of course, the coffee at the Cova tastes sooooo much better than what is served elsewhere on the ship. I think Celebrity should improve their coffee service anyway but that's the way it is.

 

Glad to be of help! Enoy!

[AlaskanBorn]

cruisin'cats,

Thank you so much for the info. Thanks of great help! Now as a matter of question to go along with marblemel's. Then the drink card includes sparking water, soda water? I don't drink soda much, but really love my sparking waters.

Alaskan Born

[Joy2]

We were on her last November and just loved the ship! This was our first non-millenium class experience with X - Food was great, people were wonderful, the ship itself a delight.

 

We booked both Summit and Mercury for the northbound Coastal trip and were really hard pressed to decide which to take - finally opted for our fourth year in a row Summit - we had booked our favorite cabin which tipped the scale in her direction - but now we are again booked on Mercury for November - . We'll see if the Port of Los Angeles manages to get their act together by May - our boarding there for Summit in January and QM2 last week was awful - problems existing in January were still there - they act as if they haven't had large ships and multiple ship boardings - if it's no better in May then we stay away from L.A.

 

Loved the review and do agree - as for coffee, we were pleasantly surprised in January to find Summit's coffee much improved - someone must have gotten the word.

[Happy4cruise]

cruisin'cats,

Thank you so much for the info. Thanks of great help! Now as a matter of question to go along with marblemel's. Then the drink card includes sparking water, soda water? I don't drink soda much, but really love my sparking waters.

Alaskan Born

 

Yes, the soda card will get you seltzer, coke, diet coke, sprite, or ginger ale. My husband got the card for the seltzer- and the bars are willing to put in a splash of OJ or cranberry juice to the seltzer at no charge. Once you get to know some of the bartenders, they will try to anticipate your request when they see you coming. (Our bartender at dinner had DH's seltzer & my ginger ale waiting for us when we got to the table.)

Otherwise, I think a glass of soda is $1.25 and a can is $1.95 (& gratuity). The seltzer was poured from a 1 liter bottle of Canada Dry/Schwepps whenever I happen to notice. The other sodas seem to have been "on tap".

Happy drinking!

[AlaskanBorn]

Thanks Susan,

A drink package will certainly be the way to go for me! Appreciate your info.

AlaskanBorn

[RevSmith]

Thanks for all the tips...keep um coming, I learned a lot this morning.:) Happy cruisin' everyone.

[eileeno]

Is there any way around getting a xdeal offered if you already booked?

 

My cruise is around 6 weeks away and they are having another good xdeal on Tuesday. You can get a CC for around $200 less than what I paid for a 2c. Since the sale is for new bookings only they said they could not give it to me. I even called the Capt's Club since I am a Select member and they could not upgrade me to the CC. I booked directly with Celebrity so I could easily change my cabin if prices went down, not realizing that they have these deals to get around this. I really wanted to try a CC but it seems unfair that the person booking late gets the good rate. I would have to pay $400 more per person than the person getting the new booking rate. I kinda would think that they would upgrade people who paid more before giving the breaks to people booking late to fill up the ship! Well I guess you live and lean

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Is there any way around getting a xdeal offered if you already booked?

 

My cruise is around 6 weeks away and they are having another good xdeal on Tuesday. You can get a CC for around $200 less than what I paid for a 2c. Since the sale is for new bookings only they said they could not give it to me.

 

This is an unfortunate but forseable situation. You must always book a cabin you will be happy with for the price you pay.

 

You did not say what ship and length of cruise. That would make it easier for someone to give you advice. You say to upgrade to the CC would cost you $400 pp, is that correct? That would be a lot for a seven day cruise. Not too bad for a fourteen day.

 

My advice, with the limited info given, is to save that money for another cruise in a CC cabin. You allready have a nice 2C cabin. Enjoy it and your cruise. Then start planning your next one in a CC cabin. Consider booking your next cruise while onboard this one to get the shipboard credit to use on the next cruise. Just get one booked, you can change it or cancel it later if you want to. Keep checking prices and have your booking number from onboard assigned to the new cruise when you find one you like. If you wait until after final payments are due, there may be some bargains. Check the happy hour specials each week also. Found here: http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/happy_hour/

 

Good luck and have a nice cruise.

[eileeno]

Hi Cal,

Thanks for taking the time to give me the info! I used to book late but I thought that they didn't get give deals anymore to people booking late. Well I learned a thing or two. It's on the Connie, 9 night out of NJ. They are offering a CC for $1277 where I paid $1429 for 2c and so I would have to pay $1629 pp for the CC Senior rate right now. The other friends wanted to book right away, so I had to book when they did. There are 4 cabins altogether. I called last night and my prices have gone down a little so 3 of the cabins w/senior got $50.00 off per person. (So I could really get the CC for $300 more) I think I will keep my cabin since its 7177. and I was happy with it, just had thought it would be nice to try to get a CC when I thought they could just upgrade. I will take your advice and book something on board for next time. Once again thanks for the info!

[Dick in Falls Church]

Well, the Galaxy Facts and Figures data on Store Supplies shows that the ship takes on a whole lot of stuff, including some 1600 pounds of cookies.

Maybe we can't really attribute the taste to the galley crew. Or to the European lack of sugar.

 

We tried the cookies (on three separate cruises) and decided there was a lot better tasting stuff elsewhere!!!!!!