MamaFej

We're sailing from Hawaii to Sydney on the Solstice, then, after some land time to visit Uluru and the Red Centre, we will be on the Coral Princess for a circumnavigation of Australia. It seems that neither of these cruises will entail what we originally booked and paid for. We've got 5 cruises booked on Celebrity in Asia early next year. I've spent quite a bit of time today trying to figure out a way to replace some of those cruises with better values. At this late date, I am striking out, as we got some pretty awesome prices by booking before the dramatic fare escalations. We will most likely cancel one and replace it with land time in India, partly because Celebrity took away an overnight in Singapore, replacing it with a sea day which they "are confident" will "enhance" our experience. They do not, however, intened to reduce the port taxes they are charging us. To steer back to the topic, our only Suite experiences on Celebrity have been on 2 Move Up bids as well as an onboard move up when Marlene, the Michael's Club Concierge pulled us aside when we reboarded a B2B, telling us she had a couple of no-shows, and worked with Revenue to get us an onboard upgrade at a very good price. Our butler/RH on Constellation in May 2022 was impressive. The two we had on Eclipse earlier this year were utterly delightful. I'd hate to see any of them devalued. However, I do see merit in the idea of a team, especially if there are a few passengers who monopolize one or more butlers' time. It could actually speed up response time in some instances, I suppose.

Absolutely! I must admit, it was enormously frustrating to have booked several cruises years in advance with the understanding that we would have room service included, then have it snatched away from us after final payment. Unlike before, when we used to have room service breakfast fairly frequently (and tipping nicely), we only did it three times on our cruises earlier this year, and only on days when we had early excursions. All three times, we were charged $12. All three times, the order was messed up. All three times, there was no time to rectify the situation, and we weren't thinking about it upon returning to the ship later in the day. It didn't seem right to call and complain the next day. Unlike before the charges went into effect, we never got a call asking us how our order was. I do think that people should be grandfathered into the cruise they paid for. Changes should be announced well in advance, with clear communications when they will take effect. Celebrity (and now, Princess) seem to be doing everything in their power to encourage us away from booking with them and toward booking with Azamara, Viking, Windstar, Oceania...

I understand every part of this response except "Sorry, but." I just can't fathom that part. I respect that you feel that way, and I do not intend to diminish your feelings. I just don't get it. *^*^*^*^*^* Edited to add: I had typed the above, then my phone rang, and I stepped away for a few hours. I had not read the intervening posts upon reopening my computer before just clicking to post. I have now. It seems I am most defintely not alone in my assessment of the arrogance. Upon further consideration, I think "I'm sorry" in this case is a colloquialism, more than an apology. I clearly need to sleep more.

Exciting news! Celebrity is now offering new fitness opportunities* *Fees apply Elite Plus and Zenith members save 15%.

We are retired and travel (including RVing) more than we are home. The majority of our cruises are during trips of 4-13 weeks. I definitely could not pack enough clothes for an entire trip of that sort, even I I owned that many. I think that different traveling and crusing styles lead to different needs and preferences. People do what works for them.

This is so true in my experience. My post in this thread #1971 is just the latest (and strongest) example of why an excellent TA is invaluable. It is sheer, dumb luck that I have him. I went to high school with his sister, he was two years behind us, along with my brother. We have become very dear friends, and have traveled together on 4 continents so far, with a fifth booked next year and a sixth booked together in 2025. However, I have seen how awesome he is to people without our personal connection. During the early months of the pandemic, he and his wife came to our back yard every day so she could swim laps in our pool for exercise. He was on the phone nearly the whole time every day, getting dozens of people home, and losing lots of money in commissions in the process. He even spent a couple of weeks working on getting a 16 year old kid and his racing bicycle home from Europe to New Zealand, via two continents and countless volumes of red tape. The kid was not his client, just someone in need of help. The kid's parents were friends of a client. I wish everyone could have someone as awesome as my TA in their corner.

It would be so cool to follow that with a Panama Canal cruise to get home.

Different strokes for different folks. I like all dirty laundry, including what I will hand wash, to be in the same place. I’d also never dream of taking a cabin laundry bag off the ship and to a hotel.

I also bring a pillowcase, but a pink satin one, as it works better for my hair than most. Pink, so I don't forget it. For laundry, we use one of these lightweight, collapsible baskets. On most lines, it fits, out of sight, between the couch and the balcony. On lines with self-serve laundry, it's easy to carry. We put detergent sheets and dryer sheets in the pocket. No stuffed kitty, however.

I absolutely do NOT intend this to be critical, and I hope it comes off as encouraging: if you ever have the opportunity, I hope you will consider visiting South America. I have very much enjoyed it. Alaska, however is my absolute favorite state to visit, and I've been to every US state at least twice, most several times, Alaska 4 times. Enjoy!!!!!

That's great to know. I'm a malignant melanoma survivor. It is extremely unlikely that I would ever forget or run out of sunscreen on a cruise, but I would pay whatever it took to get some onboard if I had to. Don't tell the cruise lines or their revenue partners that I said that.

Now you have me imagining the Goop people choosing the flavors/aromas and naming them. Imma go hide under a desk for a while.

What an interesting itinerary, and a great opportunity to visit two continents for those folks in the southeast who say they don't want to or no longer fly. Thanks for sharing!

We also used to travel with one. We have found that we no longer need it. Phones and tablets are now dual-voltage. Hubby came up with the idea to get me a dual-voltage hair iron. It was the only thing we still needed the converter for. The converters we have had were both heavy and a bit noisy. We now save the space and weight. We do bring plug adapters, of course. If you don't have too many things for which you need a converter, you might consider replacing them with dual-voltage versions. It made sense for us, it may not make sense for you.

I may be able to provide a bit of hope here. TL:DR maybe, if you are politely proactive, you could have a good chance of a positive outcome. On June 30, I was told I need to get an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) for a rare, progressive, incurable genetic heart disease. I've known about the gene for 7 years, but the disease only now caught up with me. I was supposed to fly to Europe on July 5 for a 57 day trip that included 3 cruises, the first of which embarked on July 10, the second of which embarked yesterday. My TA had me write a letter (email) he could send to Celebrity and Azamara while we waited to get an official letter from the doctor after the July 4 holiday. In my letter, I suggested FCCs, and that the cruise lines could both re-sell my cabins, and insure I would return as a customer. This allowed him to get the ball rolling with his cruise line contacts. In other words, I offered a mutually beneficial solution, not just a problem. Azamara responded within minutes that they felt they could help me. I got the official letter on July 5, as I should have been leaving to the airport, and my TA submitted it to both lines. I had the procedure on July 11, and written approval from both lines for FCCs the next day. We do have overlapping travel insurance, with an annual travel policy as well as Chase Sapphire Reserve, and we could have submitted (and resubmitted after the initial, inevitable denial) claims and have eventually been reimbursed. This way was much easier, even though it meant giving two cruise lines an interest-free loan. However, having cruises already booked on both lines, we decided it was worth not having to deal with insurance for the largest costs of the trip. Keeping my stress level lower is worth it to us. My TA also got Nordic Visitor to give us a much more generous cancellation than they normally do for the self-driving tour of Sweden we had booked with them. We had not yet made final payment (it was due in two days) and they gave us half our deposit back, and the other half as a credit we need to use within three years. On our own, we got airline points credited for the long flights, and taxes refunded. We will submit the change fees to insurance for reimbursement. The shorter flights within Europe are all non-refundable. We will include them on our insurance claim. Thankfully, we keep a budget/planning spreadsheet of our trip costs, so we have an easy way to know what we need to claim. Becuase our amazing TA has such a good relationship with his cruiseline contacts at both lines, and we were willing to go the credits route, our insurance claim is a very small percentage of the total cost. However, it is more than double the annual premium. We have only had the CSR for about 5 years, and we've only been buying an annual policy for two years. I'm not in any way trying to insurance-shame anyone. I'm only saying that an awesome TA is worth their weight in gold, and we are glad we have insurance now. If we didn't travel as often as we now do, the expense might not make sense. Everyone needs to do what works for them. I wish the OP good luck with the costs. More importantly, I wish for good science, good care, and a positive health outcome.

I'm one of those who is so sensitive to them that I tend to smell smoke, vapors, fumes, aerosols, etc. long before I see them, and I'm absolutely not trying to make this anyone's problem but mine: I deliberately avoid walking by the perfume shop onboard, even when it's closed. I've been known to walk through the casino on some ships to make this happen. If vaping becomes fleet wide on X, I guess the casino won't be one of my chosen paths on my already booked cruises. I don't suppose that will bother them a bit, as the only time I ever play is when they put $5 on everyone's sea pass or I'm participating in a slot pull.

I didn't start drinking until a year after my third child was born. By the way, I don't have four children. I'm not saying there is a conclusion to be drawn here. I'm also not not saying that.

If you enjoy crisp whites, consider trying Vinho Verde.

I'm an RV-er and I totally approve this message.

I'll have to wait until the 3rd. Seems like a fun way to celebrate our 32nd anniversary!

Some people love it. Some people hate it. Zero of those people matter. Congratulations.

That's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Yes, they've found that they save quite a bit on alcohol costs with this system.

I sincerely hope everyone gets the points they have earned. I imagine they will, eventually. I just logged in, and my points have gone up by 10. I don't know why. My last Azamara cruise was over a year ago. I imagine these unearned points will go away. I'm not going to call in and have someone spend time clawing back these points when the priority right now should be getting earned points credited correctly, especially for those who are on the cusp of moving up a level. At 884 (874) points, I'm unlikely to ever reach the next level, and I'm well past the threshold for my current level. It's not worth worrying about.

Yeah... that seems weird. I fully admit that, when I am inside, away from a window where I can see our movement relative to the ocean, I have to first think about which way is forward or aft, then extrapolate that to Port or Starboard, on the rare occasions it might be necessary. I'm guessing I'm not alone.