aVacation4me

I have just had to spend 45 minutes waiting on the phone and to complete check in after the online check recorded an error and stopped working.

Could not get into anything all seized up.

What an absolute shambles for a large international company.

Amazing that a for-profit company would make it difficult (to impossible) to TAKE our money! They are literally walking over money. If I were a shareholder I'd be screaming!

While the description is not all encompassing, here is an overview. What perks there are for your chosen cabin class, will happen once aboard. Yet it is nice to have an idea beforehand, I Am sure.

 

I know some knowledgeable passengers will chime in to complete the list.

 

bon voyage

Well the list of benefits on the current Celebrity website for Concierge Class differ from what was on the website when I purchased my September '17 Alaska cruise on Solstice in January. Looks like tomorrow I'll have to have a little chat with my Celebrity rep, I booked directly with X.

Celebrity website, Concierge Class 6/27/17

Personalized Concierge service (earlier said Concierge desk)

Priority check-in

Exclusive embarkation day lunch (in MDR)

Destination Seminar

Exclusive pre-departure lounge

Priority debarkation

Main & specialty restaurant seating time preferences

Welcome sparkling wine and fresh fruit

Daily delivery of afternoon savories

Missing from the current site, but these were listed 1/10/17

Expanded room service menu (reason I booked concierge, along with priority on/off the ship)

Premium linens and pillow menu

Thick cotton robe and towels

Designer bath products (upgrade from non-concierge, but different from suites-didn't capture name)

Massage shower head

Commemorative bottle of sparkling wine

Use of golf umbrella and binoculars (I may have to bring my own, very good but kinda heavy)

Celebrity tote bag, key holder, notepad and pen

you may wish to read this article on the Seattle forum on tripadvisor

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60878-c50949/Seattle:Washington:Cruises.From.Seattle.html

 

There are multiple shuttles to pier 91. Shuttle express is just one of several

Excellent info, thanks Dan. I liked Shuttle Express, but my hotel wasn't on their pick up list, but it was on Seattle Express. Plus, they offered a $5 discount; $13.99 + bags tip is very reasonable. Partnering with several Sea-Tac Hotels, they also offer a free shuttle to the nearby mall. I am now officially booked from flight out through flight home. God willing and the creek don't rise, it's wait for the date, pack, and go.

Not to be confused with Shuttle Express but Seattle Express does seem to have good reviews and have been around 18+ years and started to service the cruise transfer business. They have partner arrangements with many hotels in the SeaTac airport area so are legitimate. Reading between the lines though I would expect many stops at the various hotels for pickups so it might not be real quick and they probably have a set schedule for runs to Pier 91. To the port might be OK but post-cruise to the airport might be better with taxi or Uber - especially if a tight flight. If later flight or staying over post-cruise then getting a round-trip ticket (no discount) would work and is required for drop at airport. They can't pickup at SeaTac so are mostly hotel based heading to the ship.

I saw this and decided it was time to book my shuttle from hotel to Pier 91, it's the last thing I need to book. I went to Seattle Express and saw they have an agreement with the hotel I booked (unlike Shuttle Express). Take off $5 with Early Bird discount, it's $13.99pp, so I was ready to confirm it. But, you have to check that you agree with not only their 'Terms & Conditions' but ZOZI 'Terms & Conditions' as well - all 9 pages. Has anyone else had difficulty just saying 'OK, sure' Seattle Express/ZOZI, or did you have 2nd thoughts like me?

Last Sunday June 11th when we disembarked we had a nice peaceful breakfast in the Botticelli dining room, went to the Crown Grill to wait for our group to be called to disembark. At 8:20 we walked off the ship, got our bags, walked through customs handing him our customs form and showing him our enhanced driver’s license, barely slowed down. Walked out to catch a shuttle to the Cruise ship parking lot, the shuttle was waiting. Got over to the parking lot and was on the road home by 8:45am.

Our friends who flew up to Seattle on Southwest used the new valet luggage program and had no problems at all, got there boarding pass from the ship and their bags were there in Sacramento when they went to pick them up at baggage claim. Worked out pretty slick. I did notice that there seemed to be less bags in the baggage pick area inside the terminal this year than in the past so I believe a lot people are taking advantage of the program.

Thank you for commenting, I too was curious about disembarking, and the new luggage program. It's helpful info like this (I love details) that I value Cruise Critic so highly!

If you are not planning on sightseeing and just need a pre-cruise hotel for sleeping, definitely consider a hotel that offers free pick-up shuttle from the airport and a shuttle to the pier in the morning (usually a small cost of $12 or so pp). There are 2 Hamptons near the airport that I've stayed in multiple times. Both are very clean and comfortable and offer a free breakfast. To me, it's the best deal in town.

I wish I'd seen this before I booked my Sea-Tac area hotel, the only arrangement not made/paid for is cruise day transportation from the hotel to port. Thank you for posting this for people still looking at options.

I just got off the Celebrity Sostice and when I was on board I inquired about this service I was told this was reserved for guests in Suites. I'm sure not all cruise lines participating in this reserve it for only suite customers but Celebrity does,

I am not in a suite, sailing Concierge, but I already booked a shuttle through Celebrity to get from pier to Sea-Tac in September...I'm hoping that will also "qualify" me (if X is only offering it to suite PAX) for this free baggage transfer service. Any cruisers not in a Solstice suite, who were offered this free service, please reply.

........or suite passenger.

Suite passengers may dine in Blu on a space available basis.

Thank you.

I booked C1 through Celebrity and was offered an upgrade to Aqua for $50. We discussed the pros and cons...since I wasn't thinking of a suite, maybe that's why it never came up. (I booked a specific aft. cabin, so I declined.)

I've never heard of this being possible. Blu is the big selling point for Aqua class. Don't know if it would be possible for an Aqua passenger to have a 'guest"?

I asked a Celebrity rep, she said no guests. They check, everyone eating in Blu must be an Aqua passenger.

My husband wore sandals the last 3 or 4 nights of our 7 day cruise. No comments, no stares, nothing. I think a lot of folks here are overthinking this entire MDR/dress code thing.

Yep. Hey, I for sure am not the fashion police, but was offering a suggestion to wearing shorts or dress slacks with sneakers that had not been mentioned.

I am going on an Alaskan cruise in September, the "dressiest" I will be is in comfy princess heels with slacks and blouse. Others can wear sandals or diamond studded heels, each to his own. I am not bringing anything I have to worry about; I bought a cheap watch last week, I may wear earrings (if I remember), because I am on my vacation and that means (FOR ME) laid back and very comfortable. I love meeting new people from all over the world, but (depending on the weather), I hope to eat a lot of meals on the balcony, enjoying the sea (fingers crossed).

I agree, that people should wear what they are comfortable in and not worry about what others are wearing. I contacted a customer service rep at Celebrity regarding the dining room dress code and was told it was totally acceptable for men to wear dress shorts with a collared shirt in the dining room for the regular nights (not the chic nights) My husband does not enjoy dressing up as he has to wear an ankle/foot brace that only fits inside a pair of sneakers, so he cannot wear anything but sneakers, and sneakers look a lot better with shorts than dress slacks. On the chic nights, we will eat at the buffet, or he will be wearing dress slacks with sneakers to the dining room, and I am sure there are some that will comment about that too.

Sneakers look great with a pair of casual slacks like khakis and would make a lot more sense (to me) than shorts or dress slacks.

I forget, can we bring a curling iron on the ship? :rolleyes:

Early June '17 I called Celebrity with several follow up questions about my upcoming Solstice Alaskan cruise I booked through them. I asked if I was allowed to bring a curling iron; she took a few minutes, came back to the call and said yes. (Hoping that was because she asked a "supervisor" for verification.)

Flying nowadays is at best a crap shoot. Yes, we have had issues, but mostly because of the airlines themselves changing and canceling flights. However, we have gotten great prices for business class flying one way. So, you have to take the good with the bad if necessary and "fly with it." It has been much better than United for us!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You did your homework. In some instances Air Choice is the way to go, in others booking on your own may be better. If not for scary short (41 min.) layover times I would have booked with Choice Air. Luckily I found better, longer layover times with Southwest, an airline I like to fly with. I (knock on wood) have always gotten a seat where I wanted to be, at a lower fare, (at even more savings by getting up to two bags checked free). A month after booking I had buyer's remorse and decided flying the morning of sailing was too stressful (after admonishments from fam); so I called S.W. They didn't charge a fee for switching my (no-refund) flight to Seattle to a day earlier. I may not have been so lucky w/C.A. I stumbled onto a bit of luck by catching a flash sale on hotels dot com and saved over $200 on a room for the night. (If I cruise with Celebrity again I will look at Choice Air as a possibility and base my decision on what I find.) Happy cruising and thank you for your information...I love this site, it's a wealth of info.

In our experience (three trips), there have been only pros, no cons, for our one-way overseas flights.

All the airlines, and all times, were available, excluding times which would not work (such as a 7am flight out of Rome on the day the ship got there).

Flights which would have cost us $4,400 each booking through the airline cost under $800 through ChoiceAir.

We were able to choose our seats.

The mock bookings allowed us to mull over the options, and the phone call to lock one in was efficient and pleasant.

We did receive (without asking) notifications of airline schedule changes.

All in all, 100% satisfaction.

Excellent info, thank you! Gee, I thought I got a good deal until I read your post, I'll take your advice if I fly internationally and will look to book one way thru Choice Air. I did want to use them, but unfortunately it didn't work out for my situation. I appreciate that you took the time to post this, I have gained tremendously by reading C.C. comments.

Not so sure about Choice Air. Know they were good about one-way fares but I decided to do a round trip to Miami. Bid mistake. The prices from Choice and the airline were the same but I went to Choice due to the help they are supposed to offer. I chose the Delta Economy with the understanding that I had 24 hours to cancel and rebook to the next class where I could choose my seats. Delta's basic Economy does not allow choosing seats until check-in. In the first booking the Choice Air agent said I could not cancel and rebook, but after asking him to check he said I can within 24 hours. So today I decided to change to change to their Main Cabin level which Delta was showing at $30 more. But Choice Air said they did not have that available and I had to go to Premium at $133 more per person! I asked if I could go to Delta directly and request the change, but she said they would only send me back to Choice Air. At first, this agent did not understand her job either, told me I could not change to the higher grade. She had to go back twice to recheck if I was correct.

 

Live and learn. My suggestion would be to look at the airlines also, and if prices similar, forget about using Choice Air.

I originally planned to book a USA round trip flight through Choice Air, mostly because of their guarantee to get to the ship. After researching what was available date/time I saw 1) no direct flights, 2) at ever increasing costs, for the travel window I wanted, every layover was between 38 and 41 minutes - yikes. I was NOT comfortable with either missing the connection, or as bad, my checked bag missing the connection. I decided to look at Southwest (not offered by Choice Air). I found several good options; layovers from 1-2 hours, and the best? Saving $75 from Choice Air's cheapest offering. Booking SW with free (up to 2) checked bags saved another $70-$120; I booked it. A few days later, after family strongly discouraged me from flying in 11am the day the ship left port at 4pm, I decided to change my reservation to the day before sailing. I did some pre-research for available flights and called Southwest. I was able to re-book the flight in a day earlier, same price, no fee, no hassle. Timing is everything; I started looking at hotels and found a great hotels dot com airport hotel room on flash sale for $113, saving $202. I called the hotel directly to see if they'd match it. The rep said it was a fab deal she couldn't touch, told me to hang up and go book it. With hotel cost, paying for lunch and dinner, I'm still money ahead. I'm glad I looked at layover times, especially related to airport size...Chicago O'Hare, gate to gate, in 41 minutes might be fine, but the stress wouldn't be worth it.

Are the balconies on Aft cabins on S class ships private or will you feel that someone is looking down on you the whole time you are out there?

 

Thanks in advance.

I booked a C1 aft balcony cabin on deck 12 - while the restaurant is above, there is an overhang that will block viewers, and rain, and maybe give some shade (depending where the sun is). I

I'm prepared for soot; if there is any noise, it shouldn't bother me. I'm not sure if any other decks have an overhang above.

Could I bring a refillable water bottle, and fill it up in my room with water to take on excursions and just for walking around ship? I'm not a big soda/alcohol drinker but do drink a lot of water.

I also prefer water and was planning on packing my (empty) Brita water bottle, it's the same size as a regular water bottle, but has a filter. While I understand ship's water is well processed, I anticipated also filling from drinking fountains while on a lengthy shore excursion.