GarrenS

Checked in on Royal app

Answered the health questions 

Did the ArriveCan app

Negative for COVID!

I think we're ready for our drive up from Portland tomorrow!!!!  See you all soon!

We just got ours too!  Regular balcony on Deck 12.   So excited!!!!

Glad I found this thread!   We were also invited and were able to make the dates work as well.   We are D+ and live in Tigard, OR.   We'll be driving up Tuesday morning, so see you all there!  It's our first sailing on a Quantum class ship - so I'm excited to see what they are all about.

59 minutes ago, Reijo said:

I did mean to check into this.  I have printed my Xpress Pass and it does show Elite.  Does that mean that all is good or should I call?

If it says Elite on the pass, you should be good to go!  Have a fun time!

So, while I haven't been on Edge specifically - my answers based upon my other Celebrity cruises is below

1.  Suites can dine pretty much anywhere they wish - I would recommend talking with the Select Dining Maitre'd when you board to ensure it's set up correctly.  I am not certain if you can make reservations for MDR in advance if you are in a suite.  Depends on what time you like to eat - it's typically busiest around 7-8pm, but a lot of that depends on the guests onboard.

2.  No

3.  Yes, to clear customs, but they usually let you right back onboard.  There's typically a group of the b2b guests they escort on and off the ship.

4.  I don't see why not - you are going on that cruise too!  It's just called the embarkation lunch because it's embarkation day for most passengers.

Have fun on your cruise!!!

On 1/20/2020 at 2:00 PM, Reijo said:

My husband and I will be going on our first Celebrity cruise in March.  We will be sailing with two other couples.  Two of us (two couples) are Diamond Plus with RCCL, the other couple only has two cruises with them.  Will Celebrity allow us to all board together as RCCL does?  While I'm aware of the dress attire on Royal ships, since Celebrity is more upscale than Royal are men required to wear jackets on formal nights?  I know it's suggested attire but just curious as to what people on this cruise line does.

Don't know if you already have done this - but you need to call Celebrity with your C&A number and have them set you up a Captain's Club account with the appropriate level - it does "transfer" but it's not automatic.

If you have done it - then you are good to go!
 

Excellent! We are doing this one in a few weeks. Question for you - do you happen to know the on-board price for the internet package? I thought they were offering you the discounted price if you were Elite and booked prior to leaving, but the price seems to be high when I checked it out online.

Appreciate it if you know!

Thanks

Garren

 

Lastly - I love DIET tonic water - does anyone know if this is generally available - last cruise it was not. Is this a request that I could make with the Shoreside Concierge prior to cruising or could I bring some on myself? :confused:

 

I am a diet tonic water drinker as well - have had mixed results on if they had diet tonic onboard or not - we now always bring our own - I am picky and prefer Schweppes, so that's what we bring. When we've had it onboard, it's always been Canada Dry, which I think is too sweet.

We have had some success picking a bar (say, the Martini bar for instance) and making friends with a bartender, who would then store our open 1 liter bottle in the fridge (we kept the others in our room) He would usually put a note on it so no one else would use it. The last cruise, they didn't offer so we just showed up with it when we wanted a drink, and they'd pour us vodka and ice in a glass, and we'd add the tonic.

Happy Sailing!

Garren

Thanks for the great review! We did Eclipse last year at a similar time in an S2 - I am glad to hear Maggie is still there in Luminae, she was hands down, the best sommelier we've ever had on a ship. I'd tell her what I was having for dinner and she'd pick an appropriate wine, it was so awesome. We were on Equinox in December and the one in Luminae was not even close to her level - he was not even able to make any suggestions when you asked for them. Made me appreciate Maggie even more!.

Garren

Once I saw someone wearing their cruise provided bathrobe at the breakfast buffet

We once saw a couple wearing bathrobes at muster drill! Crazy!

"sometimes" is the answer I will give. I have been on cruises where they have it (usually at specific bars, ask the bartender, we've usually found it at the Martini bar) and I've also been on cruises where they have not had it available.

I was told (by one of the bartenders) that they "usually" carried it if there were a lot of UK cruisers aboard, as it was more popular with them than Americans. Don't know if this is true or not.

The brand I've seen is usually Canada Dry vs Schweppes (I like Schweppes personally) when they have had it.

Have fun on your cruise!

Garren

First time (on our first Celebrity cruise no less) - made friends with the Guest Relations Manager at the Welcome back party (we were Elite due to D+ on Royal) and he invited us. Christmas Eve formal dinner - a very memorable occasion

Second time - We were in a RS. Enjoyable, but no way as awesome as the first.

Third time - Have no idea. We were in AQ, no special occasion - perhaps we had good marks from our first 2 dinners?

We were in a RS on a 16 day cruise and weren't invited, so the high-end suites aren't always a guarantee......

Interesting note - we've been on Celebrity 7 times and have 3 invites, Royal Caribbean 19 times and no invites (and we've been in larger suites on RCL, so that's not a guarantee either)

Garren

The sommelier on Eclipse (it was Maggie on our sailing) was wonderful. She absolutely *made* our meals with her perfect wine selections.

 

Maggie was our sommelier as well in January - she was the best one we'd EVER had. Always picked us some fun new wine to try by the glass.

IIRC the elite discount on the unlimited package is 30%. If you plan to use it much you are well advised to choose the unlimited option, because (again IIRC) the minute packages are connect time, and on the ship you tend to use most of your connect time waiting for the slow internet. With unlimited it doesn't matter.

This is correct - we got 30% off because we were Elite on our Eclipse cruise. In the past, I had always just used the free minutes and tried to log on and off my ipad/computer really quickly - but the downloads/uploads could take a while if there were a lot of people on the system.

I liked having the unlimited - it gave me the freedom to get on and off my email and even IM my friends & family via apple messages. I even helped my friend book a cruise "onboard" at the future cruise desk via apple messages and me sitting there. I also like to blog my cruises with lots of pictures and trying to upload them with a limited # of minutes was a giant pain. Unlimited - I just set them to go and then let it run until it was complete (or timed out, and then I just started again)

You can find free internet off the ship, but then you are spending port time waiting or working on emails vs doing something else (tour, walking around or whatever) which I'd rather do onboard and in the evening when I've got the time, but that's just my opinion & personal preference.

All about personal preference and what you want to spend your money on.

:)

Garren

we requested one on Solstice from our butler a few years back - they came and hooked it up a few hours later and we had it for the balance of the cruuse.

No taxes when you are not in port (and they won't sell you anything when in port) Technically, I think you would owe duty if you exceeded your tax-free exemption - and I believe the ship reports on board purchases to customs.

Can't comment on the Celebrity transport - but we did the luggage valet and it was $20 per person - we got off the ship and requested an Uber pickup - we did a shared ride and it was about $20 for 2 of us.

The Celebrity transportation are large buses - and the lines were ridiculous. I'd recommend getting a cab or car service, it's not much more (if any) expensive than 2 Celebrity transports and way easier IMHO.

This was back in February.

This is where we were planning on going but Open Table is saying it is fully booked all night for when we are in port :(

Try calling them - sometimes they have tables available for calls and I believe the lounge area is first come first serve and has the same menu.

We try to eat at Marmalade every time we are in San Juan, it is my favorite restaurant. Even with the price.

Garren

Hi-

You can have the "book onboard" obc applied to either your current cruise OR the new one you book. If you apply it to the current cruise, the deposit on the booking becomes non-refundable. If you apply it to the future cruise, the deposit on the booking is fully refundable.

I also happened to have a photo of the flyer from our Eclipse cruise - and it appears to have an asterisk with fine print. "Offer excludes Celebrity Xpedition, Transatlantic, transpacific, repositioning, Asia and South America repositioning cruises"

I'll attach the photo of the flyer for you.

I always giggle whenever anyone pulls the "I am Elite" card. Or the I'm a Diamond member" on RCCL. Like in the history of cruising (or anything else) it's caused someone to stop and give you whatever you want.

Keep up the writing, I think you are hilarious so far. We are going out on Eclipse in 6 weeks, so I am vicariously living through posts until then. :)

:)

great! thank you - I wonder why it wasn't showing as an option on the website.

oh wait. It's the celebrity website..... :D

Hi-

Question, that I hope is fairly quick to answer - do the beds in the S1 or S2 cabins separate into 2 twins vs a queen like in the regular balcony cabins?

I have some family wanting to go on a cruise, and when I was doing some mock bookings, it didn't appear to be an option, only having the option for a sofa bed for the 2nd person.

Just hoping someone who had been in that cabin type can let me know-

Thanks

Garren

I'm always baffled on those offers - we eat out and travel a lot, and all of them seem to be for clothes or other things - not stuff I would buy.....

while on the Solstice in an RS, we did have our butler get a DVD player hooked up in the main room.

I'm guessing......if they can hook a DVD player up, you can probably get them to hook up your device. but don't know for sure, it's just a guess.

Good luck! it's an awesome room to have, we've done it twice.

Garren

Usually, if a TA books you with prepaid gratuities, the TA will make you pay them the amount of PPG in advance and then they will reimburse you with on board credit. Then you or the TA can sign you up for Select Dining. Celebrity requires gratuities to be paid in advance before being eligible for Select Dining. At least this is how it worked on several of our sailings.

I had the same issue one time - it had something to do with being part of a group booking from the TA (they will many times place all of their guests on the same sailing in a group booking, helps with the benefits I was told)

I did exactly what was suggested above - I paid the gratuities and received an OBC from the TA for the exact same amount. Never had an issue getting it, showed up as expected on day 2 or 3. It took a bit of explaining to get her to understand what I wanted, but then I was able to book Select dining.

I have also just waited and booked onboard - haven't ever had it be totally full, but it's something I always hate worrying about.

Good luck!

Garren