Jeremiah1212

Google One Bag and you will find a very useful site. I gave up on packing cubes and rolling a long time ago. Packing cubes just keep things organized but do nothing for wrinkles. If you're still folding your clothes, they will come out wrinkled. You can also get some horribly wadded up clothes with rolling if it's not done correctly. If there's a crease folded in your clothes, you will get a wrinkles. No way around it. I always do the bundle or burrito method. Clothes aren't folded so there are no wrinkles and you can fit a lot more in your bag. I hate not being able to iron on a cruise but this approach will pretty much eliminate any wrinkles. Unpack and hang stuff up as soon as you can and you'll be good to go.

We always carry our own bags off. Then again I never take more than one 25" roller and a backpack or small weekend bag. And I'm more than capable of carrying a 50lbs bag. I see people with massive amounts of luggage and have to wonder what in the heck they manage to bring onboard. But then I see the 'packing lists' people post here and it makes more sense. We leave our closet organizers, coffee pots, fans, coolers, etc. etc. etc. at home :eek:

I think a lot of new/first time cruisers see the base price of the cruise plus the two 'free' perks and think they have found a deal. But they don't consider or know is the other value/cost variables that come into play. We booked Celebrity for next winter, however if I were to book Escape again for the same time frame, I'm seeing $949 base fare plus drink package. For someone who may not know any different, that's a good deal. We paid nearly $500/more per person than the comparable NCL cruise, yet I personally still find more value in the Celebrity offer we booked. It's all a matter of what's important and what's not :confused:

The July 4 sale is actually good through July 6. ;)

The sale through the TA being discussed offered what was basically the 'Best' package through Monday but the extension of the sale is now equivalent to the 'Better' package now and without the extra $100 OBC thrown in. In my case the Best option was offered at an $800 savings compared to Celebrity's price.

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I've never booked with them online, I always call and talk directly to them to make sure exactly what I'm paying, and what perks I'm getting and from who. When we agree, they send me a pending conformation with everything spelled out in black and white, no chance for a misunderstanding. They don't do the booking until I return the conformation agreeing to the terms. If I don't send it back, there is no booking made.

Did your inlaws receive a conformation? Was there a place to acknowledge the terms and return it?

It wouldn't hurt to call them and discuss it. At the very least, you might be able to get the new deal that started today. That would save them a little money anyway.

She called this morning and they honored yesterday's sale no question asked, even though they certainly didn't have to. Their site does say online bookings will receive email confirmation of perks within 24 hours but I knew just based on the price she paid there was no way it was correct. I haven't received my own email confirmation yet since I just booked late yesterday, but I'm not expecting an issues given most people's positive experiences so far.

My inlaws booked under this promo as did I. She however went through the standard "find your cruise' search and didn't click the link directly to the promo. She thought she was getting a really good deal (nearly $600 savings on a standard balcony), but come to find out no perks were included. Make sure you know what you are getting!

Celebrity does have some great deals out there right now, especially for next winter's Caribbean trips. You can easily get tips/drinks included with $400-$600 in additional OBC with booking a standard balcony cabin. I was one of those who at first wasn't bothered by all of NCL's changes, but I find myself doing an eye roll every time I read about something new that has been cut or trimmed back. They're on a path to becoming the RyanAir of cruises.

I suspect a lot of people who book NCL would be more likely to shop CCL or RCL as an alternative before they chose Celebrity. For us with no kids that don't care about all of the extra activities and features, it's a no brainer. It's been years since I have been on Celebrity. But, compared to our Escape cruise last winter I expect a pretty noticable difference in the overall feel of the cruise.

It's a really easy process. Here's a map of the pick up areas:

http://www.broward.org/Airport/Transportation/Pages/Transportationnetworkcompanies.aspx

You'll basically just need to walk to the curbside area in-between the terminal buildings. If you're coming in on Southwest, you would hang a right as you exit baggage claim and keep walking past the terminal building itself. It's a bit of a trek. It's the same areas the shared shuttles pick up. I would do XL since you may get a tiny little car with regular Uber. Depending on traffic price might be similar to a cab, but split between three people it's really reasonable.

The big 2 gallon ziplock bags are great for not-so-great smelling shoes and clothes if you can't rinse or wash them. On extended trips I always take a little 3 pack of travel size laundry detergent packets for quick washes in the sink. Only pack Dri-fit type material. Sweaty cotton shirts are much harder to wash and dry.

My curiosity is piqued now regarding paying for earlybird checkin with Southwest! We are flying SW out of Seattle post cruise. I have never flown before and it's been 15 years for the hubster. I never would have thought about boarding passes post-cruise so I'm glad I saw this. I was not going to pay for earlybird checkin with our 2 other flights, but I am wondering if it would be better if we did for the flight from Seattle to San Diego? Our flight to Seattle and our flight back home from San Diego, we will definitely have internet access for sure. Have you had a bad experience with earlybird check in?? We don't really have anyone here back home that could check us in.

Unfortunately Early Bird is not a slam dunk. Your boarding position is still assigned based on the time you actually pay for EB. The closer you are to your travel date, the less likely you are to get one of the first boarding positions. Last time we flew from Fort Lauderdale post cruise, I bought EB for our return flight at the time I was checking in for our departing flight. We ended up with positions in the high B's so over half the plane in front of us. It's not necessarily a bad experience, but I don't find it's worth the money in most cases.

I'm wondering if what you saw is a package tour including air in the Celebrity branded plane. I was not aware that these are being offered as far west as Calgary. They have been offering this in the eastern cities (Moncton, Hamilton etc) for a while.

 

This is what I'm referring to:

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/htmlpage/caribbean-all-included-vacation-package.

 

Christine beat me to it while I looked up the URL!

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/c-gpnl

There's the recent history. The plane would have to be used for other lease/charter operations in the off season.

That's just the passenger shuttle they use for the Canadian packages. I'm sure RCI has an actual corporate jet but that is not it. I seem to remember seeing it at one point but I can't place what kind it was.

Reflection for sure if you're doing a full suite. If it's a concern for a March spring break time sailing, Celebrity will have far less kids onboard too. We're actually looking forward to getting back to the more laid back Celebrity experience that some find a bit boring.

There's is no telling how much the increase may be. It can be 3-4x, or more, of the normal fare if demand is unusually high.

The app makes it abundantly clear when the surge price is in effect. Surge pricing also may not be in effect for every vehicle category either. The people who feel like they were taken advantage of and charged an exorbitant fare really can only blame themselves. The app could not make it any more clear.

I believe Miami still has 4 vehicle options. Surge pricing does not necessarily effect all 4 categories at once. Sometimes taking the more expensive base fare on an XL category may be cheaper than paying the surge price on UberX. Or like previously said, you can wait it out and the app will text you when fares are back to normal.

I'm sure they will hold your luggage. Depending on how full the hotel is they may let you check in early. Traveling during low(er) reason when they may not be at capacity will increase your chances too. No way to know in advance unfortunately. I find that being really friendly and polite at check in and usually helps too.

If you still have some time, earn the rewards program and get the IHG card. It's easily one of the best rewards programs out there. If you stay at an IHG property more than once a year it's a no brainer. You get early checkin, room upgrades, late checkout, etc. The perks and ease of using points and reward nights are great.

The TA I used specially told me to watch for price drops and emails about different promotions. Although I don't think I will get a better deal than what we currently have (a few hundred less than Celebrity direct and generous OBC). Unless they have software that monitors all of their bookings, even for a small TA, it would take a huge amount of labor to monitor adjustments for every one of their customers.

If a particular line rolled out a new large scale promotion or perks it may be easier to notify customers in bulk, but I certainly don't except someone to notify me every time the price changes.

Great review so far!

I hope there is a Slush bar on Reflection because that Golden Coconut drink sounds amazing!

You make some very valid points. It's been a long time since we sailed Carnival or Celebrity but are very much looking forward to Celebrity again next winter.

I remember the Carnival Glory feeling like 1980 Las Vegas (oddly enough, I like 'old' Las Vegas way more than the current scene). It was fun and we had a good time, but there were also tons of kids on board. I can't pinpoint it, but there was generally a lot of commotion on the ship. Remember that store Shoe Carnival in the 80's? The flashing lights, the guy screaming into the microphone, the machine with dollar bills flying everywhere, screaming kids, disgruntled parents...We always laughed that Shoe Carnival and Carnival Cruises must have been owned by the same company. Granted a lot changed in the industry since 2007 or 2008 when we took that cruise. Not that we didn't like it, but we knew we wanted something different so we booked Solstice for our second cruise ever. The difference was night and day back then.

Carnival definitely does some things right. Their internet plan is a great. If other lines gave a reasonable price to access a basic rundown of social media and I think it would be a win win. The line gets free social media exposure and $25 is way easier to swallow than $100+ for wifi access that may not be all that great.

I wouldn't be opposed to trying Carnival again on one of the newer ships, but on the cruises we would be interested in would cost significantly more than Celebrity. An 8 day on Vista next winter without a drink package was going to cost us nearly $850 more than the Reflection with $0 OBC compared to $600 on Celebrity. With that kind of price difference it's not going to happen!

I'm a bit of a coffee addict :eek: We have a Breville espresso machine at home that gets entirely too much use. My neighbors probably think I'm running a Starbucks out of the kitchen!

Here's a chart that shows the basics of espresso components of based drinks:

http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/expressodirnk.jpg

Unfortunately if you can't or don't drink milk, your options are going to be pretty limited. You can order with almond milk, rice, coconut or soy if they have it available but they don't froth all that well, especially the soy and rice. I would just ask the barista for something they recommend. Sometimes they will make something creative that isn't all that bad.

We have done it before but won't do it again. We have to take an early 5-6am flight and outside of the obvious risks, the first day is shot because we're so tired from the long day. A 3am wake up isn't a fun way to start vacation!

It's too early to start pricing airfare nearly a year out so I wouldn't let that bother you (yet). A Sunday departure would definitely help or make sure you spend a little on good trip insurance.

is a uber xl good for 5 people each with luggage?

XL is most commonly a minivan or an midsize SUV with third row seats. It's not likely to get a Suburban type large SUV. You could definitely fit your passengers, but luggage would be an issue if everyone has even just one suitcase. Vehicles like a Highlander, Explorer, Pilot, etc. qualify as XL. With the third row in use they will have very little cargo room.

I've only been on the Escape to date but a handful of Royal cruises. Some things we did not like about the Escape was the constant need for reservations ("Freestyle" only if you want to make your dinner plans 3 months in advance), layout of the sundeck and pool areas are bad to terrible and we missed the Promenade space. Food was about neck and neck. MDR service was hit or miss, just like on Royal. The quality and diversity of drink options were far and away better on Escape. The NCL price may seem lower but the extras do quickly add up. We enjoyed our cruise a lot but have no plans to return to NCL.

Since longer cruises do tend to attract an older crowd, something to consider is how often Princess sells their 7 day cruises as part of longer itineraries. They like to combine East and Western Caribbean routes and sell them as 14+ day trips. It's my understanding that a good portion of the passengers are on for the full itinerary.

I'm totally prepared for us (early/mid 30's) to be amongst the youngest on our next Celebrity cruise but that is just fine with us.

I would say with Royal's planned expansion at Port of Miami could result in Celebrity being even more cemented to the South Florida market. Royal moving more traffic to Miami could free up space at Fort Lauderdale, or allow Celebrity more even space in Miami. With the options Celebrity currently has in South Florida it would seem strange to have a ship at PC without making a major shift in home ports.

For those who fly to port, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are much easier options than flying into Orlando and making the trek to the coast. As a whole, the vibe and clientele Celebrity is seeking definitely leans more Miami-esque than Orlando too.

I wondered that myself when we were booking. I always thought Saturday departures would be more popular. We prefer them because we like the extra recovery day on Sunday at home before going back to work. I imagine they have to keep the prices fairly consistent between the two or one would cannibalize the traffic from the other since they are nearly identical sailings.