critterchick

Thanks for the support. Kauai is my favorite place on earth and I hate to think that I was an unknowing participant in causing damage to the sea floor. It was indeed a thrilling view but it’s going to have to be a “guilty pleasure” memory for me.

DH has vast (23 years) experience as a Chief Engineer and Captain (in command of a ship) in the USN. We were on Deck 10 aft and he opined that we too close for his comfort when the stern was facing the shore directly. I managed to take pictures that don’t have any ship structure for a reference point so can’t provide any evidence to back him up but I think he knows whereof he speaks. Were we in imminent danger? I think not, but there was no margin for error. Like you, we are both more bothered by the fact that the Captain appears to have violated local laws put in place to protect the marine environment from harm in excess of “normal wear and tear” (I can’t think the the correct phrase). You should expect nothing. Yes, you are inconvenienced by the abrupt change in plan, but you didn’t miss a port - you gained an extra day on land. For me that’s infinitely preferable to another sea day (making it 6 in a row) off the coast of my favorite place on earth, wishing that Google and Apple Maps were both correct that it was a one minute walk (albeit on water) to the beach. You don’t need to go on a guided excursions in either place, anyway - Kona has loads to do within walking distance of the tender dock - snorkeling, tastings at local breweries, shopping, visiting a fascinating exhibit at the Courtyard hotel (ask a bellman to guide you around; they know about all of what’s on exhibit), geocaching….. There are plenty of places that are a walk or quick ride from the dock in Hilo and tour operators are available at both places if you want to go further afield. If you’d rather have a sea day, then stay on the ship and gaze at the shore.

This phone number might help. I had a question regarding my upcoming cruise on Edge and the regular customer service transferred me over to the Retreat Concierge shoreside. 1-877-RETREAT, according to this: https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_The_Retreat_FAQs.pdf It’s an older publication since it also talks about Zenith not being allowed in the Retreat, and they got their access back some months ago. Good luck and please report back on your success/failure in getting somebody to respond to your questions.

Read again. Our friends’ 20 year old daughter, who has cruise on (at least) HAL, Princess, Royal and Celebrity said that HAL was her favorite. They have some interesting itineraries that the other 3 tend not to. Did the customer service rep consult with the Resolutions department? When the price on our cruise went down by a massive amount we were allowed to upgrade from a Magic Carpet suite to an Aqua Sky Suite, which was priced at less than what we paid. Then a few weeks later the coveted (by us, anyway) Sunset Sky Suites on the stern dropped to below what we’d paid and we were allowed to switch again. Both times I asked for the rep to speak with the Resolutions department - they have a script and zero leeway to deviate from the written policy, but Resolutions can do that if they are in the mood. Maybe I just got lucky twice but it can’t hurt to call again. I assume you were booked one if the Sky Suite classes, which lost their butlers last fall. Apparently the fallout from that decision was bad enough that Celebrity are bringing them back to all classes of suites. They are doing it slowly but the Edge class have them and Solstice/Millenniun class should have them by June (they “should” have them sooner but have to find them).

I check to see if I can upgrade to a higher category for only a few bucks. 🙂 If you ever return to Kahului, rent a car and go explore UpCountry Maui. It’s my favorite place to visit with good restaurants, funky little shops/art galleries/glass blowing studios, etc. We are on the transpacific from Sydney to Honolulu. Prior to final payment, the price of our MS dropped about $4000 -, although we lost the OBC that came with the booking (somehow the prepaid gratuities survived, and I confirmed that twice), we were still well ahead. Well, the day after final payment, he price of the Sky Suites (MS, S1 and AS but not the Sunset Sky Suites) dropped by another $4000 (for 2. Some on our roll call reported success in getting a refund. We had a Magic Carpet Suite and X allowed us to upgrade to the Aqua Sky Suite at no extra charge - the rep initially said that we would only be able to do it if the fare was higher but Resolutions sided with me. The Sunset Sky Suites were deeply discounted about two weeks later, so I called again and “upgraded” (some would say downgraded but we love that wake view), again for no charge. I think they are blocking my calls now, lol. My only quarrel re cancelling Lahaina is that Celebrity waited until November to do so even though it was abundantly clear that it would not happen. Other lines found alternate Hawaiian ports but we have a sail by the Na Pali coast of Kauai. Although it’s stunning, we will likely be too far away to see much beyond a hazy shadow. And now we’ll be clearing immigration at disembarkation in Honolulu, which can be a complete and utter disaster in my experience. I’m glad we didn’t book a noon flight home! We go to Hawaii several times a year and our real target for this cruise was Australia and sailing on Edge, so are not as disappointed as others, for whom Maui was a major attraction. We spent two weeks in Lahaina January/February (the resorts of Kaanapali are in Lahaina; it was “only” Lahaina Town and nearby neighborhoods that were destroyed). The residents were almost universally warm and welcoming and the only ones we spoke with about the situation were our friends.

And sales were down, too….

Hurray! Thanks for the follow up!

Any chance you could ask the Retreat Host when they are coming back and post here? Thanks!

Are you looking at the no perks fare for your Aquaclass booking? Depending on when the group was formed, the AQ cabins may still include all four perks - classic drink package, standard Wifi, gratuity and OBC. If that’s the case and you don’t want the perks, the TA should still be able to change the booking for you to a no-perks fare.

You will stand out in the crowd in a good way. You’re likely to get a few admiring glances and questions about the location of the restrooms - happened to DH every time when he wore his white dinner jacket and red tie/cummerbund (so did the officers), lol.

Yes, they do, for $100 per person.

We did it on Solstice last year. The wines were fair to middling. There were a couple we liked and a couple we didn’t - those went into the spit bucket and they poured us a little more of the ones we preferred. It was a good way to pass a few hours (counting the post-tasting nap, lol). Belle Glos is one of my favorites. It’s about $50USD here in CA but some friends tipped us off to a sale from a place in Virginia and we laid down a case for about $40USD in 2020. We have one bottle left. ❤️🍷 How do you get 2 bottles of wine from X? We are also Elite + and haven’t heard of that perk…. That’s a good way to approach it - enjoy!

Indeed. If I’d been the OP’s TA I would have asked them if they wanted travel insurance, not recommended it to them. If they were interested I would send them information and ask them to let me know if they want it. It’s not for everybody - many working people are covered overseas by their employers’ plans. Others have credit cards that will provide some coverage. TAs have a conflict of interest because they receive a commission on the policies they sell so IMO aren’t the most reliable source for determining whether it’s appropriate. However, it’s also the customer’s responsibility to read their cruise documentation. The Celebrity invoices clearly state on the first page if a deposit is nonrefundable. Not saying that the TA shouldn’t have been up to date on Celebrity’s cancellations policies (for awhile they were offering FCC on the amount subject to penalty, but that went away in 2022 or early 2023), but we all bear some responsibility for knowing what we’ve purchased.

The only time I will book through the cruise line is when the price is significantly lower than booking direct. That hasn’t been the case since the pandemic - it used to be that one way international air could save a couple of thousand dollars (business class) but I haven’t seen it the few times that I’ve looked. All airlines that I’ve used in the past few years have changed their flights at least once. I try to remember to check monthly up until a couple of months out and then I try to remember to check weekly.

We did a 16 night (maybe it was 15) Japan cruise on Azamara in 2019 and it was spectacular. We had one full sea day and two half days. Our only non-Japan stop was Busan, presumably to satisfy their cabotage laws. The biggest advantage of that size of ship was that we could dock in small towns. Tor example, in Hakodate we could walk to the train station in 10 minutes and were able to visit a not-too-distant park, then return and ride the tram up to the top of town. Millennium was docked at the container port and departed at 5:00 while we stayed until 8:00. Most of our ports had late departures and we had overnights in Kobe and Yokohama. We visited some really small towns and it was brilliant in every way. There isn’t much to do on the ship but the days were so full (and we walk almost everywhere) that we didn’t have the energy to do much but have a cocktail, dinner and stumble off to bed. If only their prices weren’t so high I would go back in a heartbeat. I do love Millennium, though, and I’m sure the cruises are very nice. But being in town and not having to take a shuttle anywhere made the experience even better for us.