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Dirk_Pitt

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  1. All I know is when I booked my Cruise to Iceland door to door the airfare upgrade to Sega Class (Bus Class) On Iceland air was $2000 more than my booking the same flights fully refundable my self. I got $1800 back from SS since I did my own flights. If I stayed in Coach, fully refundable would have been $1300 much less than the $1800 credit we got. Plus I would have gotten seats at booking rather than waiting months until SS ticketed it I picked my flights, seats and also know I can cancel anytime as it is fully refundable and don't have to worry about refundable policies through SS. My In laws are in their late 80's so we are always worried about something happening to them requiring us to stay home. We are going in 3 days early to enjoy the capital and rented a car to do the Golden Circle ourselves
  2. what ship is that? I am on the Spirit in August to Iceland
  3. Lots of diverse opinions in this thread. We typically sail Celebrity or Azamara and even though they have gone away from requiring formal attire even on formal nights, I still wear nice slacks, dress shoes and a button down shirt to dinner on formal nights. I would say on those cruises less than half dress up. I am glad those that want to dress up can and enjoy the night. I also am glad that those who don't still wear nice clothes I would categorize as Business Casual (Not jeans or T-shirts) on formal night. I booked this cruise on Silversea aware of the formal attire requirement on the Spirit. It was the best cruise to see all of Iceland is why I selected it. That was my criteria for the selection to ensure we got the best destination experience From what I understand, I can wear nice slacks, button down shirt and a light weight blazer and be in compliance. I saw the recommendation for the Eddie Baur travel Blazer. If they change the dress code then I will skip the blazer and wear what I do on Celebrity, if not I will wear the blazer and maybe pack a tie just in case. For me formal nights only difference would be the blazer. I do prefer to be more comfortable and not wear a suit and tie. I wore enough of those while working, but I will make sure I am compliant with the rules, just leaning towards minimally compliant for formal night 🙂 I recognize everyone is different and I try and do what I want (in compliance) while trying to be considerate of others.
  4. It may seem like I was worrying a lot, but I was also evaluating booking my own air. I had read reviews of people who paid for Business class only to not get it as they were ticketed too late. You really don't know where your seats are until ticketed. I travelled a lot for work so all the other parts of the trip always were a concern making sure I could get were I was going, safely and on time. I did not find a review from anyone who was left in a lurch by Silversea, plenty were unhappy at how they were handled, but they seemed to do their best to make sure no one was stuck. What really concerned me was not having a seat until ticketed which could be as late as 30 days from sailing. The credit back is $900 a person if I book my own. For less than that, I could book two fully refundable seats on the same flights and be ticketed today. SS upgrade cost was $3200 a person for Business class or a total of $4100 if you add in the flight credit allotment. I ended up booking two Business Class seats for $2500 each full refundable ticketed with seat assignments. I elected to stay in Door to Door as it has a better refund policy, it came with $1000 ship board credit, I still get airport shuttles to/from home to the local airport and because Port to Port would have been more as prices have gone up since I booked it We also are now going in two days early and renting a car. Although the liability question is valid based on the contract, it isn't likely something to be concerned about based on how the company handles issues. But It did make me think about ticketing and when flight info is locked in and so I learned something and made something positive out of it. I have always booked my own flights even when working so this was new for me.
  5. I am sure this has been asked before. I searched and couldn't find the answer though. We booked Door to Door for Iceland in August and just received our flights. I know they are not ticketed so nothing locked in until they are. After reading reviews of Icelandair, my wife asked me what happens if the driver fails to pick us up at our house and we miss our flight? What happens if they cancel the flight and we miss the cruise? I read the contract and it states the transportation and airlines used are contractors and Silversea has no liability for any issues they may have. I am sure they will work with you to get you there even booking another airline, but if the airline has issues and you miss the cruise that can be read as you have to eat the cost of the cruise because it was a contractors fault even though it was booked as one package. I know that is the worst case scenario, but am I reading that correctly? I read in other threads they give you a phone number to call if there are issues enroute. My question is more about worse case scenario the air can't get you there in time. We are going in a day early which what we always do for cruises to build margin in case of issues
  6. Great review. We were on the same Cruise on Deck 11 Concierge more near the AFT We also loved the Veranda. I looked at it as a sun room where I spent a lot of time reading. We also thought the shows were the best we have seen. That new screen adds a lot. Normally there are a couple of singers we didn't think were very good. First time I remember thinking they were all good in the production shows. We also liked the non production entertainment. The negative about shows had to do with the Eden productions and those in the Club. There are not enough seats so you need to get there way early. We saw one Eden show and were not able to find a spot in the 2nd Eden or the Magician show in the club even arriving 30 minutes early. This is our 2nd time in Concierge and it normally isn't worth it. I found a Cruise only price on Celebrities web site for $1299 for Concierge Getting on the ship was easy with no lines. Getting off there were lines, but not a long wait. Beautiful ship and had a great time We did have one issue. We were treated very rudely by the supervisor to our cabin steward. She had him come to our cabin the night before we disembarked because we found our refrigerator was locked. We had asked that it be emptied at the start of the cruise because we weren't going to use it as a mini bar and we wanted to put our own things in it. We were surprised to find it locked and our things spoiling on the counter. My wife had some things to make an early breakfast easier for disembarkation since the charge for room service now. We had no warning or explanation for that and it's never happened on any other cruise. Claudio could see how upset we were but really didn't care and basically told us to get used to that because it would be happening on all the ships in the future. Hopefully it was just that manager,. We read about the Oceanview dinner being miniscule on other ships. It was smaller than normal, but there was still Pasta bar, Stir Fry, Salad Bard and several entrees like Beef Stroganoff the night we went. We saw a video review from the Apex were there was much less than that at the same time.
  7. My wife and I played this on the Millennium in October. Sure there is a grand prize of a free Cruise. the rest of the prizes were Casino credit of different amounts. They take a lot of money for you to play and then the prizes are things that don't really cost them much and in fact provide an opportunity to make more money by staying in the Casino or spending on that free cruise. Bingo at least provided a cash prize Maybe it is different on other ships, but based on that we won't be dealing any more 🙂
  8. We are booked in a Concierge Infinite Balcony on the Beyond for Jan 8th. When I booked the options were $1299 nothing included and they pick the room or $2499 all included they pick the room. You pick the room is more. We are Elite so we get the happy hour and discount drink/Internet packages. Obviously, the cost of all included is not worth the extra $1200 a person. I went in after booking and was going to prepay Gratuities and they wanted to charge me another $2000, so I backed out and will pay on the ship. I was looking at doing the Move up to a Sky Suite or Aqua Sky Suite and bidding about $1000 a piece (Says it was a weak bid). Reading the terms and conditions says "by upgrading to a higher stateroom category, each guest in the booking may be subject to a higher gratuity amount. The Offer Amount does not include the higher gratuity. If the Offer is accepted, the difference between the originl and upgraded stateroom gratuities (if applicable) will be automatically applied to all guests (the "Additional Charges")." In other words they could have added an amount and charged me without my having an opportunity to say no. I was concerned by the vast difference the online system wanted to charge for just Gratuities. In the old Move up system, I do not recall potentially being charged for an amount you don't get to approve first. Likely will call to ask a few question after Xmas and maybe go ahead or stick with our current cabin choice which was a nice deal. I was wondering if anyone else was in the same situation and what happened with their bid when approved
  9. We were on the Millennium in October and the basic was fine for us. Web Surfing and email. We didnt do any streaming. I would try it and if it doesn't work to what you need then you can upgrade on board
  10. likely a misstatement on my part to how others would read it. The service (Azamara/Celebrity) seemed better lately, but the ships were also at half capacity, not the situation when we sailed the Vision of the seas. I have been happy on all 3 lines Let me rephrase to say that being Elite Diamond provides options on 3 different cruise lines providing different costs depending on each ship for different itineraries. Having more options to choose from is a good thing
  11. I am a million mile flyer on United so lifetime gold with free access to economy plus and free bags along with priority boarding. I know other airlines may be cheaper, but I fly United because I earned those perks and collect miles for future visits Same with Celebrity, although we sail RCL, Azamara and Celebrity. We got to Elite via Azamara and Celebrity. If the added in RCL we may be Elite+.. However, I see being Elite/Diamond on 3 cruise lines giving me options and I earned those benefits with my patronage. I am also Ruby on Princess. I have sailed Carnaval, Norwegian and Holland America but don't care for them as much as the RCL brands and Princess We sailed the Vision of the Seas on RCL recreantly to Venice and were happy. Typically it is more about the destination than the ship. Although I must admit we are sailing on the Beyond to see the ship. We saw the video on it while sailing the Millennium through the Panama Canal in October amnd the sailing lined up so we could visit my daughter in Miami. So to cut to the chase, I like being Elite as it applies to 3 cruise lines that offer different levels of service at different costs. You want lower cost, go on RCL. They are still nice cruises. Celebrity and Azamara both pamper you. We did B2B Azamra Cruises last march and were really happy even though they are smaller older ships. Frankly, we have enjoyed all of our cruises on all 3 of the lines the Elite/Diamond level applies to. The status level does help retain me as a customer. For example on Celebrity, it doesn't make sense to get the All Inclusive cruise with most fares based on all the Elite Perks. I stay at the Marriot because I am life time Gold as well. These status levels retain me as a customer and I earned them with my patronage BUT, I have gone off topic from the original post. Knowing the there is no happy hour on embarkation day is all we need to know. Paying for one night of drinks still comes out way ahead
  12. I just went through the math on this Booking on Celebrity Beyond. We do like have drinks and Cappuccinos. Going through the match, they wanted $600 each, or $1200 for WIFI,, Drinks and Gratuities Their recommended Gratuities are $245 Combing the Elite discount with the WIFI Presale (You have to call to combine), Internet for the two of us is $165 total You get Free Cappuccinos in the Elite Coffee Breakfast and free drinks as posted from 5-7 every day except embarkation day so $1200 (Asking price for AI) less the Gratuities and Wifi ($410 total) leaves us almost $800 to drink above and beyond what we would get free at the 5-7 Happy Hour. Even without the Happy hour and Coffee breakfast, the standard $69 a day price is 5-7 drinks a day depending on what you order. We almost went with the discounted Non Alcohol Drink package for Premium coffees and water, but decided to see how the Coffee Breakfast is. With the discount, it was $13 a day. We did the All inclusive on our Panama Canal Cruise on the Millennium 2 months ago. It was a great rate on a 15 day cruise and I didn't delve into other options for it. The benefit of the all inclusive is you don't have to worry about it. I will look at each cruise going forward and see what makes sense.
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