Tony UK

I have spotted Norse air out of Gatwick who sell direct one way flights to the USA. Their prices are super competitive. Does anyone know anything about them or anyone used them?

Thanks so much for this. Our cruise is from port canaveral so a flight into Orlando would work best. Sadly BA fly out of Gatwick but shuttle is only to Heathrow so a trek between airports with our luggage and checking in and security twice.... at Easter lol! We are looking at Virgin, Aer Lingus as our Manchester options! There is also Norse air who now fly out of Gatwick. You can book one way and the prices are super competitive.

Good idea re the return TA! Dont you get penalised if you don't use the return portion? It is all so stupid.....the cost of one way is double, sometimes treble the cost of a round trip!

Planning a transatlantic next spring. We will need flights to Florida one way and then back to the UK from Barcelona. Can anyone doing this type of thing this year give me any insight into flight arrangements? One way flights are insane prices. We will need to book in the next few weeks, and we will be travelling at Easter so we will probably need to be quick, hence the research! I wonder which airlines Flights by Celebrity use? Our preference would be Manchester or Liverpool although we can get to London airports also. Any help much appreciated.

We are considering our first Seabourn cruise in September 2024. I'm not sure how this referral thing works. Can you use it if you book through a travel agent?

I dont think so. We travel in many different classes of rooms at different times to different places.

The You tube bloggers are already onto cookiegate! Its making Celebrity brand a joke. The drip drip of changes is damaging the company's reputation day by day.

What kind of suite are you in? Did you speak to the Retreat manager to confirm the changes? Very interested...we sailed Reflection in June in an upper suite and although we didnt dine in suite we had fantastic service throughout.

Before you book ask for confirmation that they take you to the terminal ship side. If you are dropped at the gate there is a shuttle which will take you to the terminal but is is hassle if you have a lot of luggage! Similarly for your return trip.

I think the company are trying and succeeding to attract a younger demographic and yes they need to do that. The design of the e class ships is clearly with the younger cruisers in mind and reflects the way eating out drinking and partying happens in most of our cities and towns nowadays. The days of silver service, cooking tableside, the tray showing desserts etc were nice in their day but now are for the most part gone! I try to keep all this in perspective....when we started cruising we were some of the younger cruisers on board by quite a margin. Now we are in our 70s. Yes cruising has changed quite a lot, so have we! We want to be comfortable, have good service eat good food nicely presented. We like to watch the younger ones enjoy themselves and join in!! We dont want a ship that resembles an elders community. We like the mix of age groups, nationalities, lots of diversity....it makes for a fun time. Companies like Virgin who have come into the market are proving sucessful and popular with their more modern approach. Maybe a little too much for me but never say never!

Or as I have just read...a butler said that guests in a higher suite with included laundry sent the laundry of non suite friends on board who didnt have laundry included! No wonder Celebrity are having to rein in this type of behaviour and the majority as usual tend to lose out!

Maybe restrict the things which we know are are requested / demanded but which push or break boundaries like having your butler to bring alcoholic drinks to suites, having the mini bar stocked when it isnt included in your suite class, having all the dining rooms menus available in Luminae, taking complimentary alcoholic drinks from the retreat lounge into Luminae / other parts of the ship when you dont have a drink package, bringing family and non suite guests into Luminae and the retreat sun deck. I have seen all of these mentioned in posts and reviews and personally witnessed them. Maybe just getting back to delivering what they promise well would be the way to go!

I hope everyone sailing soon makes full use of the facilities they believe their butler or team should provide. Use it or lose it! If it isnt up to scratch then have a discussion with the suite manager / hotel manager. Its the only way we will discover what is happening and whether it is true that we will be getting the same service. I think Celebrity could have avoided all this by being much much clearer in the past about what suite guests should expect in the differing levels of suite. There is a lot of confusion out there. Some butlers provide more some less. Some guests demand more some nothing at all. Maybe this is an opportunity to give a clearer picture so retreat guests have an accurate expectation of what they book.

I recall they changed butler to retreat host in the past which caused much confusion! Then they changed it back to Butler! The retreat venture has been so very successful for Celebrity I am amazed that they want to disrupt the category in any way. I feel so bad for the very excellent staff who have helped Celebrity recover from the covid crisis and now find themselves discarded by the company. I dont know how many will lose their jobs but hope they find a job where they are valued.

We have loved Eden. There are some items we havent ordered but would like to try. I guess thats the beauty of a tasting menu. It encourages me to try some new things. Looking forward to it!