Xrayal

I will happily admit that I was having an excellent evening on Celebrity Constellation which ended at the Martini bar. Had it not been for my husband there's no way I'd have made it back to my cabin.  The hangover the next day taught me not to repeat that and ruin a day of my cruise! Even drunk I'm quite reserved though, so wouldn't be forcing myself on others with conversation or getting in their space.

In 2021, the gentleman we witnessed remove all his clothes at Martini bar on Silhouette was removed by security.  We didn't see him at the bar again!

Changes to reciprocal recognition changed occurred in 2017 which may explain why only some of your cruise history has been taken into account.

https://www.cruise.co.uk/forum/forum/cruise-news/50397-new-p-o-loyalty-points-no-longer-welcome-on-princess-from-13th-december

On 7/14/2023 at 7:05 AM, SCX22 said:

I wish Princess allow guests to program a PIN to go along with the Medallion.  The guest would have to enter their PIN as a verification layer when ever an order or purchase is made.

 

In case you have a lot of time on your hands, here's the link to the patent Carnival filed for the Medallion:

 

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/10037642

 

Low and behold, John Padgett is first on the list for the inventor. On PDF page 47, Column 33, it basically says the only form of verification for the Medallion is the crew matching the photograph on file with the face of the guest ordering.

The credit for Padgett is likely reasonable, he was responsible for similar tech at Disney before moving to Carnival. https://www.fastcompany.com/3066933/how-the-minds-behind-disneys-magicband-are-remaking-a-38b-cruise-giant

16 hours ago, MarkWiltonM said:

 

I have read elsewhere that cruise ships have to go into dry dock at least every three years "by law" but under what jurisdiction was this law created, if anyone knows? Just wondering since cruise ships are registered in various countries around the world.  

SOLAS (International Convention) and adhering to Lloyds Register best practice/guidelines which will affect corporate governance arrangements, including validity and cost of asset insurance.

On 3/6/2023 at 5:31 PM, cruisingrob21 said:

It used to be on the grand class ships that the decks below Lido were alphabetical, other than Plaza (deck 5) and Promenade (deck 7).  It went Lido, Aloha, Baja, Caribe, Dolphin, Emerald, Promenade, Fiesta, Plaza, Gala.  But when the bigger grand class ships were added, they put "Riviera" above Aloha.  Then the Royal class ships added "Marina" above Riviera.  So to your point, if you arent a frequent princess cruiser, yeah there doesn't seem to be much logic to the naming.  I guess as long as you know where your cabin is, and that public areas are on Plaza, Fiesta, Promenade, Lido, Sun, Sky, Star decks that should help?  

 

As others have mentioned, the newest "Sun" princess doesn't have deck names....yet!

When I sailed on Royal Princess in 2016, after muster, I used the central mid-ship staircase, which was crew only, except for after muster.  The crew deck directory in the stairwell had Deck 3 named 'Holiday', which continues the alphabetical order.  I believe this staircase was fitted out and is now open to guests after negative guest feedback.

UK resident here, I'm cashless.

You might find more businesses in rural parts of the country are cash only, but thanks to contract-free contactless payment services most businesses now prefer card.

You can make contactless payments of up to £100 in most businesses now.

Can anyone report if there are any incentives to purchasing fragrance onboard at the moment?  I will be sailing on Enchanted Princess after her TA to Europe.

When I last sailed on Princess in 2021, they had a 10% off offer.  On the receipt this was listed as the Elite discount.  I'm platinum so don't get this deal automatically, yet!

We have made the trip from the port to both Rome airports.

The first occasion was in 2016; we had a private transfer to CIA arranged privately as part of our pre-cruise planning.  The cost was €140.  It was a professional service using a Merc E Class.

The second occasion was in 2019; we purchased the transfer from Guest Services on Infinity to FCO.  We did not know the cost at the point of booking, which was $75 per person; we felt this was expensive.  It operated like a shore excursion and was only suitable for flights departing after 13:30.  Whilst the bus was not full so that one could spread out for more comfort, we would not retake this option because there is no Celebrity Rep involved.  Therefore if anything had not gone to plan, we would have no way of rectifying the situation other than to resolve it privately.  It was just a bus with a driver.  It was a nightmare resolving an errorornous minibar charge after this cruise with Celebrity, I wouldn't want to be negotiating a resolution over a failed transfer where I am out of pocket after the fact.

In future occasions, at Civitavecchia, we will arrange a private transfer.

I'm enjoying reading your review of Silhouette, I can see why attention to details such as milk labelling, could be frustrating.

That being said, Gibraltar is not part of the UK.  It is one of Britain's fourteen British Overseas Territories which are self-governing but reliant on the UK to execute foreign relations and defence.  You can visit the Government of Gibraltar website here https://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/ which details their approach to domestic policy, such as taxation and residential rights.  This independence is why the British Overseas Territories can set favourable tax conditions for individuals and businesses.

Note, British Overseas Territories are different to Crown Dependencies.

More info here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Overseas_Territories for those with a casual interest in governance and devolved administration.

We all know that the Celebrity website isn't perfect.  I often find links that are dead, but I find it humorous that the photograph of the ship on the 'page does not exist' is of a ship that is no longer in the fleet - Celebrity Century.  Is this just a legacy page from when the Century was still in the fleet and is now unintentionally funny, or a deliberate in-joke?

Thank you @FlorenceItaly!

I'll get it corrected.

I have checked in for my cruise next month, and my Xpress Pass has the code CALL.  Can anyone confirm this is the code for the Classic Drinks package?

I booked during a sale which included the Elevate Package as a perk, so I should have the Premium Drinks package, which I believe uses the code PALL.

I last cruised in July 2019 and would prefer to correct an error before embarkation day.  I cannot recall what information usually is on the Xpress Pass.

Hi everyone,

I hope you're doing ok and finding ways to stay positive during this tumultuous year.

Like us all I had two cruises cancelled this year, although made the decision to cancel before the final payment dates.  I have rebooked cruises for 2021 but am concerned about their viability as they're both over 7 days duration.  In Europe we're experiencing a significant second wave of COVID-19 cases and in the UK we've just entered our second period of stay at home orders with non-essential businesses closing for a month.  It currently feels that cruising next year is slipping through our fingers, despite positive news about vaccinations being announced yesterday. 

To try and make some sense of the decisions that CLIA and Celebrity are making I've put together a simple log of the Global Suspension Notices.  I've been frustrated that CLIA have issued updates to notices but with no long term plan disclosed.  I understand there's commercial sensitivities and the industry is not generating revenue at the moment but it isn't supportive for those of us who plan in the longer term.

The log is here Global Suspension Notice Log.xlsx I hope you might find it interesting or useful.

I'm studying for an MBA at University, constructive feedback on how I've presented the data would also be appreciated.

Here's to a more prosperous 2021...

13 hours ago, chicagopaul said:

Return Flights

 

We are flying home September 22nd from Tokyo. We booked American Airlines on their 787 (dreamliner) in Premium Economy to LAX and then switch planes to an A321 to ORD. On our NRT to LAX flight we were able to snag the bulkhead seats in Premium Economy.

 

This was not booked through Celebrity. We used Google Flights to search and ended up booking through the Japanese version of the AA website.

 

Cost: $1289 per person.

Hi Paul

I don't know if you've flown AA Premium Economy before but we did to and from Miami (from LHR) in November last year for our Reflection cruise (we were on the same cruise as you).  We were really impressed and also had the bulkhead seats.  My main complaint is that the drinks service is shared with economy, so same selection and plastic.cuos rather than glassware.  The food was excellent though, I ordered the Asian Vegetarian as a special and it was excellent.

You lose a small amount of seat width in the bulkhead because the IFE screen is in your armrest and you have to have this docked for takeoff and landing.  The leg rest is far better in the bulkhead.  We flew on the 777 and the bulkhead has no window but I think on the 787 you'll get a window.

You paid in line with what we paid for a similar journey.

On the one occasion I had cause to report smoking in a non-designated smoking area I approached an officer and pointed out the lack of ash tray was a fire risk.  He responded appropriately.

Without wanting to turn this into another tipping/gratuities thread I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience.

After a 7 night cruise on Infinity this month we received our invoice by email and noticed a minibar charge of $8.50 for the last morning.  We hadn't used the minibar.  An email to Celebrity One Touch has had this charge refunded without question but my husband thinks it was the room steward being vindictive because we didn't leave an additional tip.  He says this is common in the hotel industry too.  Has anyone else experienced this?

We are British so the tipping culture is different for us, but when we go away we think "their house, their rules".  We always leave the auto gratuities on and consider it to be a - you do your job, we'll do ours relationship.  The room stewards job being to steward the room twice a day at mutually convenient times.  Our job being to pay the auto gratuities, keep the stateroom tidy, accessible and notify the steward of any problems so they can be easily rectified.  We leave an additional tip when the steward goes above their job specification, for example remembering our names, predicting or doing an extra service.  On our cruise on Reflection our room steward remembered our names, always greeted us regardless of where we saw him on the ship and arranged for an inexpensive piece of art (<$100) we'd purchased in Grand Cayman to be wrapped by his friends in the maintenance department so that it'd survive the flight home.  When he left the verandah tap on and water was streaming across the back of the ship we called him and he couldn't have been more apologetic despite the fact it had no impact on our enjoyment of the cabin.  He even arranged for a bottle of wine as an apology.  We felt he was more like a butler than a room steward!

We didn't leave an additional tip on Infinity because the steward didn't do their basic job.  On every cruise we've been on we've met the steward during embarkation day.  We met our steward on Infinity on day 3 and that was because we introduced ourselves.  For the first 3 days we only got the room serviced in the morning, no evening service. He said he assumed we only wanted it once a day.  We had no shampoo for the entire cruise despite asking for it, and leaving a note.  And the wash cloths that they put in an 'X' shape in the bathroom appeared once.  On the last morning he walked past us without acknowledging us.  Other stewards from other staterooms stopped and said good morning.  In fact I'm struggling to think of a single time on a Celebrity ship when I've walked past any member of staff and they've not at least nodded or said hello.

Were we unreasonable not to leave an extra gratuity?  Has anyone else experienced phantom mini bar charges in similar circumstances?

On my first X cruise on Connie in 2017 in the Mediterranean the pool, although quite deep, was used by myself and other cruisers to cool off, chat and relax.  On one of our sea days in the afternoon the pool was busy and one lady was very put out that she couldn't swim laps.  She tried and made it clear she was very frustrated that she wasn't sharing a pool with competitive swimmers!  She took it very seriously with a swimming cap, goggles, special gloves.  The pool was about 10-15 meters long at most, so hardly conducive to swimming lengths!

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/business/peter-max-dementia-cruise-ship-auctions.html#click=https://t.co/U6pDsjT7I9

On Reflection in November I was walking from the pool to the Ocean view cafe on a sea day, however there were a lot of officers in the lobby area and one side was completely closed off.  The AED has been removed and was presumably in use.  It was reassuring that there appeared to be a significant and calm response. It was impossible for the casual passerby to observe what was occurring.

I also witnessed a lady slip in the Ocean view cafe and the staff's response was incredible.  I wasn't far behind but before I could get to her to offer assistance there were a number of crew managing the situation.

Has anyone used Celebrities Private Journeys and can share their experience?  We're they able to accommodate your bespoke requirements?  Was the cost reasonable?

I am cruising to Israel in 2020 and the itinerary has an overnight in Ashdod.  I'm considering contacting the Destination Concierge to see if they can arrange for a tour of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas with a hotel night in Jerusalem instead of returning to the ship.  Would that be something they could arrange?

Your insights would be appreciated.

33 minutes ago, yorky said:

They are more the exception than the norm in the UK if you are compairing  those in their 20s to those in their 60s. Ok there are obviously a percentage of younger people in high paid jobs but certainly over here many individuals are still at home in their 20s as they can’t afford to purchase and certainly don’t have the level of disposable income many people of my age group have.

Completely correct.  I am a 30 year old millennial and my partner is 35.  We both work full time and earn above not only the median salary for our ages but also nationally.  We consider ourselves to be in the extreme of our generation as we purchased our first house when I was 27 and first cruised when I was 26.  Our contemporaries buy houses after they're 30, having lived at home or renting rooms in house shares in their 20s.   If they go away they take cheap RyanAir flights to European destinations out of season, or do one big trip every few years.

We are lucky in that we have minimal student debt, thanks to benefits from our employers and only have a mortgage payment to meet each month.  If we had childcare costs or other major expenses we wouldn't be able to afford to cruise.   The majority of our contemporaries have children, massive student debt and are on temporary employment contracts.  If they own property are either paying to renovate it having bought it from the estate of an elderly person who has died or saving to move into a larger property to fit their needs.

When we choose our cruises we are still price concious, we want an included beverage package and a level of service which means we get a break from our jobs. We like Celebrity and Princess because of this, and especially Celebrity because of the range of speciality dining.  We book oceanview cabins and have one verandah sailing booked next year for our honeymoon.  We are aware of how lucky we are to earn what we do and how our lives facilitate our careers, yet even verandah pricing can be too much for us.  Edge pricing is way outside of our comfort zone, in addition to concerns we have regarding the facilities onboard.

For now we'll be sticking to the M and S class, booking at around £120/pppn and with an included beverage package.   We see no value in aqua, concierge or suite class and to avoid the MDR we instead spend on speciality dining.   On Princess we book the sanctuary too.  We do use celebrity excursions where it'd be difficult to do what we want to do in port and feel we also pay for a level of convenience (turn up and someone else does all the worrying).

We're excited for Virgin Voyages and always shop around between the lines when booking, meaning we're lead by itinerary, price, line and ship.

Thanks for the replies, it's interesting to know each ship can do their own thing.  Although I'm surprised some experienced Celebrity sailors here haven't heard of it.  It wasn't particularly a disappointment on Reflection, the sunset bar turned out to be a poor area anyway because of the constant cigar smoking.  We got wine and cheese and sat on the lawn at lawn club anyway as that was a new feature for us.  Other than themed buffet nights I didn't notice any other special offerings, although we did go to Taj Mahal at Sushi on 5 which was excellent.

I also wonder if this is linked to the location of the ship.  On Constellation we sailed in the Mediterranean whereas on Reflection we were in Central and South America.

We're on Infinity in June, again in the Mediterranean.  Maybe I'll see it again or something else, each cruise is always different.

I wish I'd kept a copy of the Celebrity Today, surely I didn't dream this!

I took my first Celebrity cruise on Constellation in October 2017.  One of our favourite venues on the ship was the sunset bar.  Every evening at 5:30pm they hosted what they called 'Tapas Corner' and it was listed in the Celebrity Today as a food and beverage event at the sunset bar.  The Oceanview buffet brought out two tables with tapas.  Each evening we'd go to the bar, get some wine and some tapas and take in the view before getting ready for the evening.  It was one of the things I really enjoyed about Celebrity and assumed it was a standard feature.

So when I boarded Celebrity Reflection in November 2018 I was very excited about the return of Tapas Corner but there was no mention of it!  Moreover in the buffet they hardly ever had whole olives (that I could see).

So my question to experienced Celebrity cruisers is - did I just imagine Tapas Corner!?  Has anyone else experienced it?  Is it just one of the magical features that come with sailing on Connie?

I sailed out of Southampton in 2014. The progressive check in times were published in the travel summary but we ignored them. We got to the port at about midday, checked in and were given a boarding group. Had about a 45 minute wait for our group to be called and then boarded the ship. Nobody even glanced that we were a few hours early for our decks boarding time. It's my personal belief the port authorities don't want every passenger arriving at midday so insist on the cruise lines sailing out of Southampton stagger the boarding. I can't believe that if i turned up a few hours early they'd make me wait until my 'official' decks boarding time, after all if I'm not on the ship I'm not buying their drinks! They're really a bit of a farse because the Princess transfers from London airports will have passengers all with different boarding times, can you imagine the uproar if they were enforced?

FYI at Southampton I carried on 6 bottles of wine, I asked several agents and ship crew about paying the corkage for 4 of the bottles and everyone looked at me as though I had 2 heads. Similarly when returning to the ship from Gibralter with 2 litres of gin they x-rayed the bag and then I carried it to my cabin, no surrendering.

Im sailing out of Civitavecchia soon and have progressive boarding times. I will ignore those too.

Awesome, thank you. Now if only I could get proper coffee on room service...