Jeremiah1212

The FLL airport area will be cheaper and in a little more comfortable surroundings than MIA. If you're using any of the shared shuttle services, as previously said, the later you arrive into FLL, the harder it is to arrange one. However with a group of 10, I would contact one of the shuttle companies and see if you could reserve the entire van for yourself.

One of the most common 'wants' people post about here is free shuttles and a free breakfast. Considering the overall cost of your trip and the relatively inexpensive cost for both of those things, don't limit your hotel search by those factors.

If you liked HAL and Celebrity that's the low key and subdued environment you enjoy, I would not recommend the NCL mega ships. We are in our 30's (no kids) and thought the Escape was too busy and chaotic. You have to pre-book nearly everything. We had a fun trip but we won't do it again.

There is really no difference between their regular balcony and mini suites except for a slightly larger bathroom. I personally would not spend Haven money to cruise NCL either.

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Domestic first is a crap shoot with any US airline. I would choose based on price and schedule. Neither of those airlines have a substantial edge over the other.

I assume you would be on a mix of A320/B737 or maybe 757's. You can't pick based on aircraft because you never know what you will actually end up boarding, especially this far out.

All in all, I wouldn't expect much difference with any of your available options.

Awesome job. I usually run and hide from anything that opens in Excel when I'm not at work but this is one that is quite helpful!

Our best value once OBC factored in is with Go Best since we got it for the Go Better price through a TA. I came to that conclusion with a sharpie and a legal pad which looks like a complete disaster but it did the job! Your version is much easier on the eyes.

I'd like to know the answer to number 1 as well. I want to book one for a couple at sea days, but afraid either i won't like it, or if it rains etc...

Interested as well. I know I have read reference to a waiting list for an alcove so I assume they occasionally become available on board due to people canceling.

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We are on Reflection in February and there are Alcoves still available every day on the Cruise Planner. I reserved one for a port day that we will not be getting off the ship. I assume we can still cancel on board if we decide against it for some reason. We may not use it all day long but for $99 it will be a fun option to have for the day.

If you book Celebrity through a TA, on the 7 night cruises I shopped, dollar-for-dollar I felt Celebrity was a better overall value. We're doing Reflection in February with all four perks (premium drinks, paid OBC, internet and $300 OBC) for quite a bit less than NCL's equivalent on Escape or Getaway.

We're in our 30's and didn't care for Escape. While we definitely didn't have a bad experience, I won't book again. At risk of offending some of the Celebrity fans here, I will say do not judge the Celebrity experience from the forums here. Some of the complaints and criticism you'll read is borderline ludicrous. I'm not sure where it comes from, but the overall feel I get is people wanting a Cunard experience on a Carnival budget then they complain at all levels when they didn't get what they expected. The 'older' Celebrity clientele is no longer their key target market so a lot of folks are a little burned that Celebrity isn't clamoring for their business. The same group typically doesn't like the changes that have been made, so you get an overall really negative vibe. I have nothing to substantiate it, but if I had to guess I would say the average age of the posters on the X boards are well into their 60's. Celebrity simply isn't a good fit for them anymore.

Celebrity will be overall more reserved and slightly more formal. I had the same reservations as you did, but we chose an itinerary with a sea day at the beginning and end with 4 port days in a row. With that kind of schedule we typically don't stay up late at night anyway. Escape was just too busy for us, too much pre-planning and got little stale despite there being so many activites.

There are several threads comparing RCL to Celebrity that are typically very pro-Celebrity that may be worth a look to get some different opinions too.

We sailed in January of this year. I'm a pretty early riser so I would go sit by the windows and grab coffee from the service area they had set up outside. I was literally the only person ever in there and I never saw any one else get coffee from the setup they had outside either. A real waste of space on such a crowded ship. They need to move on from the co-branded faux 'theme' concept before their ships feel like an airport caliber chain restaurant location.

From the areas of the ship you mention, I think the two ships are very comparable. We like Brilliance a lot. Like previously mentioned, it is a different class ship than Navigator or Liberty and with that comes a lot less kid-centric features. There is a Centrum instead of Royal Promenade. Reflection will have a overall far more modern look and feel. Pool and deck place is very similar. Both have indoor solariums. Both offer a kids club. Brilliance does have a rock climbing wall and mini golf. On a port heavy Med cruise I imagine those lacking other kid features aren't as big of a concern.

Great video with stunning scenery!

I'm sure someone in Celebrity's legal department has looked at this offer.

 

There is a class action lawsuit against Kohls for doing something similar. Raising prices and then offering a 10%, 20% or 30% discount, when in reality there was no discount.

Exactly.

Royal Caribbean has taken this exact same approach for a few years now, especially since they introduced their BOGO, BOGOHO, etc. etc. etc. sales over the past 2+ years. I'm sure if there was some sort of glaring legality it would have been addressed by now.

Book at a price you can live with and move on :cool:

She definitely won't appeal to the more 'traditional' Celebrity cruiser, but it's no secret that they are trying to attract younger passengers. If it's a full concert (which is seems to be) $100 a ticket isn't an exorbitant price.

There are a handful of lengthy video reviews on Youtube...

This one is 26 minutes:

Here is a 45 minute ship tour:

16 minutes of video without any narrative:

You will find many more links to shorter more specific videos in the sidebar. You can also Google "Celebrity Reflection blogspot" and find several links to personal blogs with reviews and lots of photos too.

I would agree the late 90's to early 2000's RCL builds are looking a little dated. Nothing to the extent of the Carnival 'Fremont Street' atmosphere, but the finishes for those ships were chosen in the late 90's and they weren't exactly modern then. Construction of Navigator began nearly 16 years ago at this point so her overall look is a little long in the tooth. I will say that Liberty of the Seas (very similar to Navigator, just larger) was my favorite ship to date. Great combination of open spaces, actives and things to do while still feeling like a ship.

The Eclipse definitely have a more modern and sleep design in the public spaces, but I also feel like the staterooms have a dated apperance that doesn't match the common areas. All of that red/maroon and beige is a little bland in my opinion.

One reason for the early price increases before the 50% is make sure they are all in place and correct. I have previously seen at least one misprice where 50% was on a fare that had not been adjusted or should not have had the 50%.

I'm hoping that's the case with a cruise 2 weeks after our sailing. For some reason the price wasn't increased like the others. I'll gladly pay the TA's cancel fee to rebook!

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Here are the sale details:

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/16052489_CEL_September_Offer_FAQ.pdf

Feel free to delete if posting that is against the rules.

I think some have failed to glance over the previous 10 pages. This will not be a permanent pricing increase. They cannot price themselves this much higher than their competition. RCL has been taking this approach for years. Once the sale expires, unless another sale takes its place, prices will come back down to normal levels.

I don't think it's allowable to post a link to the sale info, but it will run $25 deposits Sept 1st through 5th, Sept 6th through Oct 2nd will be 50% off deposits, half off second guest with Go Big/'Free Drinks' or one other perk, included for select sailings from Dec 1st through April 30th 2018. Over 400 sailings are listed. Only applies to oceanview and higher cabins and excludes repo, trans atlantic/pacific and Galapagos cruises.

Royal is notorious for hiking up prices before a promotion, but I've never seen their friends at X do it to this degree. Once the sale period passes, prices will return to normal.

My guess is also for a 50% off second guest promo during Labor Day weekend. Doing the math for that scenario, it would take the initial fare back to almost what it was on the X site a few days ago for our next cruise. We're also at a ~60% jump in fare.

I've already got a few teaser emails for Labor Day sales from TA's I've got quotes from in the past.

If you are truly flexible on cruise lines and cabin choices, it could work. Even though February is outside of peak 'holiday' time, it's still a very busy time for people escaping cold winter weather. Keep in mind you may not qualify for certain perks booking last minute or low fare cabins.

I've never shopped for a fall cruise, but with school being back in session and hurricane season upon us, I would image there are more last minute discounts available now as opposed to what will be available in the winter. As mentioned previously, you may have better luck with a large travel agent that's looking to dump their unsold inventory than with the cruise line directly.

If you book your air and then end up having to stay a night or two in a hotel, you may negate any savings from the cruise fare too. Something to keep in mind. Hotels in South Florida in the winter are not cheap.

Interesting to see that their current approach may not be as successful as they hoped. RCL seems to have no problem adding significant additional capacity to the Caribbean.

but a 3.5-4.0 foot depth would make much more sense so people could stand and have a conversation. It would also be better when the pool no longer is adults only because the shallower depth would be better for kids.

I always had a hunch that the depth was purposefully meant to prevent exactly that. With such limited pool access, I could see why they wouldn't want the same crowd of people standing shoulder to shoulder in the water the entire day.

Honestly, if it's ON the child there should be no problem. It won't take up room. The little things you just slip on the arms aren't recommended by any reputable swim association. The vests with the arm and chest inflation are better. Many pools will only allow those as they are safer and a better way for a child to be safe in the water.

 

I would hate to see rings and floating things in the pools. But something worn ON the body would be fine.

 

Remember please no swim diapers in the pool! That's just not sanitary.

The puddle jumpers are actually USCG approved just like a traditional life jacket. Much preferred over inflatable water wings.

We had more than a few people on our most recent cruise try to bring big inflatable swans (thanks Taylor Swift) into the pool :rolleyes:

How long is the cruise?

Its a 7 night.

I priced all of the usual suspects and while the 2/25 sailing is priced slightly less than the 2/11 sailing we are booked on, I wasn't able to come up with anything close to the offer mentioned that included perks - barring some sort out discount I don't know about or don't qualify for. I would have changed dates and upgraded cabins with the difference, but no luck for me.

I would definitely book that. For that timeframe I consider anything under $2000 a steal for a balcony.

We're on the same itinerary a few weeks earlier on 2/11 and paid $2,872 for a 1C, Go Best (prepaid grats, premium drinks, internet and $400OBC).

The only time I would suggest a taxi over Uber is for those few airports where it is still a disaster to try to find your driver. Luckily those are becoming more sparse as Uber's popularity increases. Just get two X's if you need to. And with 5 people you can probably find a first time user in your group that would qualify for a free ride coupon. Finding your driver at the port isn't the easiest feat ever, but it's not that bad.