MattnTricia

2 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

You definitely do not have to pack up if you are in the same cabin. Whether or not you have to clear the ship depends on the local government, but they do not care whether you booked two 7-day cruiese B2B or a single 14-day cruise. If they require everyone to clear the ship, that will apply to the people in the middle of a single 14-day cruise exactly the same as to those between two B2B segments.

Thank You

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Will you be booking princess plus? If so, I would book as separate cruises that way you will receive two casual dining credits per cruise instead of two for the entire time. First see which way would be the most cost effective for you. Enjoy! 

Probably not on this one although always have previously 

So the cruise I am looking at is  Rome to Athens - Athens to Barcelona -  There is another leg but the stop in Athens is what I am wondering about. 

I understand the perks and definitely would be better with booking incentives to book separate. Price is about a wash.   Big ? is would we have to pack up if we had the same cabin doing a b2b vs 14 day. 

I know in the US you have to disembark on a B2B. 
 

we are looking at a couple of cruises for Europe in 2025 where there are options for 7/14/21 day cruises on the same ship

we are debating booking separate cruises to get the additional cruise credit.   
 

How  painful would this be vs just booking the 14 or 21 night cruise?

My wife and I are getting to  a point where we feel we want to make sure we have adequate coverage 

for future trips as we are traveling internationally a decent amount now and have just turned 50. 

Our current policy for 2024 will cover our 2 Caribbean cruises for this year and covered a panama cruise last year. 

We aren't concerned as much about the trip costs as much as we are concerned about extreme medical costs while traveling globally.

We have learned that our health provide BCBS Massachusets has not now partnered with Geo Blue for extended medical coverage. 

It is my thought I should start adding this for our trips in the future in place of the Allianz annual plan. 

I see reference to a B of A travel Card and Chase Sapphire Card for additional protection for trip cancelation.  

My question is knowing we will travel at least 3-4 times a year with a decent amount Hawaii / International  what is the current best suggested Medical/ Trip Cancelation bundle to give us good coverage?   As a side note our trip values are not crazy high and obviously would be prepaid so our bigger concern would be medical / trip interruption. . 

Looking for tips as we don't use a dedicated credit card currently but would like to start for our 2025 trips

It was our first time with FCC and we thought it was easier not to transfer and book direct with TA with the certificate.  
 

we were obviously wrong and thst is a very good tip

lesson learned 

I went through the gauntlet today on the phone and ended up with a decent response

After hearing the story and asking  for the phone transcripts of my calls they were a little more open to try and help. It probably helped also I had 2 open cruises with them and they could see I have been on 2 other cruises in last few months to go with my past history with them. 

They  called Celebrity on my behalf and we ended up forfeiting $200 in OBC and having to pay $246 more to get the perks to book a current less than 90 day out special. 

This ended up being about $150 more expensive then initially quoted but $650 less than useless TA who wouldn’t even attempt to remedy his mistake.  We also ended up in aqua balcony vs concierge balcony in thiis cabin move.

Thanks  for the couple of tips as it definitely seemed to help today. 
 

So far no luck reaching anyone else at agency and TA is absolutely 0 help.

Reaching out to Celebrity now but expecting no help

We did not use Celebrity to book and transfer.   We used the TA to book while onboard.  We had the FCC  and just had the TA apply it. 

We have used a specific ravel Agent several times in the past for reservations. 

They are known for good bonuses and are well known for Holiday promotions. 

While cruising over the Thanksgiving we booked 2 separate cruises for 2024 while we were onboard our first celebrity cruise. 

We requested the same AI package from the TA and ended up having to take several calls to confirm information at the TA's request vs doing the booking via email.

It turned out the Agent messed up on one of the reservations and chose a no perks rate vs the AI which we requested. 

The invoice was confusing as it showed 3 separate discount lines on the invoices all with the only description being NRD. 

We took several calls confirming the reservations and perks both before and after the booking.  He even called us to ask if the lwoer price was OK before he put it through. 

 This issue was the agent was swamped with reservations and he used the wrong booking code.

We waited a few weeks for the packages to show on Celebrity as there is normally a delay and it turns out they didn't exist. .  We are now outside the non cancelable window  and are stuck with an ~$700 over the original quote and a $1000 difference over where we currently stand. We wouldn't have booked this cruise  with the current pricing. 

The real kicker is the TA even choose a higher price NRD for the same cabin then what was being offered at that time. 

We booked using $1000 in Celebrity gift cards and the balance with our CC.   

Any suggestions to avoid the 25% cancelation fee?   Transferring to a different cruise due to pricing would probably be our best bet at this point. as the TA says there is nothing He can do and it is all our fault.

We are booked on this tour for Jan 2024 and look forward to navigating the old locks to have the experience as our cruise ship is going through the new locks.  
 

Does anyone know if there is much of a history lesson with this tour?   This is our first time going to the Panama Canal and would like to learn about it as part of the experience.

19 minutes ago, MissiCruzs said:

Certainly... the only true adult area is the Sanctuary.  Overhead there are areas of metal ceilings in places and sun sails in-between.  The pictures I posted may show some of that.  When you first walk in there are 5 chairs under a metal ceiling that stay mostly sun free but the pool is one deck below and there is noise from people talking.  There are loungers around the pool but people get up at 5 a.m. and claim all the chairs with their towels and possessions but they are in the sun all day anyway.  On port days you will hear noise from the port...could be forklifts, buses, etc. I think the best loungers are around the edges looking out at the water but you may experience sun as the ship moves.  If you decide to book it for the whole cruise or just days here and there you need to go directly there after boarding to get a chance at a good location.

 

The terrace pool on Deck 14 is an Adult pool but the loungers are all out in the sun.

 

Skywalkers on Deck 18 is a great place for solitude and views with it's floor to ceiling windows.  Folks go there to play cards, read, gaze out at the sea during the day.  Below that on Deck 17 is a bar called Adagio that is quiet during the day and also used for playing cards and reading by folks.

 

You're probably going to have a lot of kids on your cruise during the time you are cruising.  The Sanctuary really is your best option for an Adult area.

thank you

That is great info

Thank You!!!

4 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

If you book it for the full cruise, it’s $30/day.

@MattnTricia

They had out little numbered slips and take reservations in order, so get there as quickly as possible. 

Thanks

Did they offer a half day full cruise also?

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

Beautiful afternoon in the Sanctuary. 
 

 

 

thank you for sharing your trip.

It will be our first time on the Emerald getting on when your cruise is over. 

Can you comment on how they did reservations?  We know we have to go there immediately after we get on the ship as we are doing a 15 day to Panama Canal. Did they have a full cruise discounted price or is it just the $20/$40 offer per day?  The Sanctuary looks like where we will need to be. 

+

Thank You for Sharing

We are wondering if you could help us with a ?

We will be doing a 15 day cruise on the Emerald in 2 weeks.  

Do you have any feedback on he adults only area in regards to comfort, quiet, shade?

Any other suggestions for areas to enjoy the numerous sea days we will have? We are contemplating a full week Sanctuary Pass but have been very content if we can find shade in the Adult area's o npast cruises. 

I forgot about the Woodford Private Label

it was out our entire last cruise on Discovery. 

I am hoping to come across Blantons.   My local shops it’s almost impossible to come by.   It would be great if they had Blanton’s onboard 

Thank you for posting the wines. By the glass menu’s

that was very helpful!!!

Just curious what Bourbons have been sighted recently. We will be on a 15 day cruise on the Emerald.  
 

I enjoy the “basics” wodford , buffalo trace, bulleit…….

i would like to try some other whiskey / bourbons while on board.  
 

we have the Pre,I’m package and I am willing to supplement. 
 

We have sailed both Celebrity and Princess in the last year and liked both. 

We have 15 days on Princess and 14 days on Celebrity booked over  the next 12 months. 

We will have sailed both old and new ships by the time this year is up for both lines to give us a better feel for both lines. 

We are first time empty nesters and both are delivering an experience we enjoy over our past voyages on other lines with kids in tow. We definitely like that Celebrity does less to cater to kids than Princess and that is a plus for us at this stage in our lives. 

We feel like Princess's flawed Medallion is something we significantly enjoyed despites it's imperfections. It felt like Celebrity is pretty far behind in technology compared to Princess. 

We have preferred the MDR on Celebrity for food quality but felt like Princess a better selection for appetizers and courses although the quality and service tended to  not be as good.  One note is our last Celebrity cruise the dining room dress policy was enforced at all meals which could be problematic for some. 

We preferred the Specialty restaurants on Celebrity as they were a little more upscale but Princess does a good job also. Kudo's to celebrity for creative experiences like Le Petit Chef and Murano which offers tableside prep of several menu items which was top notch. 

Princess has been far superior thus far with their casual dining options that didn't require going to the buffet.  Princess Pizza and Sandwich options during the day really stood out while Celebrity struggle in this regard. Outside the Mast Grill with basically just Hamburgers and Hot Dogs  you have  to go to the MDR or Buffet for lunch which is not something we prefer to do. 

Beverage packages is also a mixed bag  for both.  Although both need significant improvement on stocking what they actually promise I would give Princess the nod for selection but Celebrity the nod  for Bar experiences.   Celebrities World Class Bar, Martini Bar and others deliver an upscale Bar experience with top end cocktails.   I would note though that upgrading to Celebrities Premium package was really frustrating as a premium red glass of wine was almost non existent across all Bars and restaurants on our last cruise. Even utilizing Sommeliers did not improve this situation. One plus for Princess is that they had servers in almost area oft heir ships and offered their app to order drinks on demand also.   Our last cruise on Celebrity over Thanksgiving we received only one drink in the solarium the entire week and servers were non existent.   

As you can tell we like both lines and are working on figuring our which one works best for us long term. 

Entertainment - slight nod to Celebrity for our taste but both are just average for cruises. 

Great info -  Any chance there is an update on Wine availability by the glass on current sailing?  We really enjoyed the premier package wines our last sailing when we could get hem. 

Thanks

Thank You

That is what I assumed since I could not find what  I was looking for

I do not see any specialty multi night dining packages available like what I am used to on Royal / Celebrity.  Am I missing them ?

Some

Also - our upcoming cruise is 15 nights and I know their is self service laundry. 

Is their a laundry by the bag  and if so is their a pre pay disocunt?

Same question of they have a prepay "pressing special" for our wrinkle able dinner clothes. 

We know the answer but are just confirming.  

We live in Northern California and arranged flights from to Long Beach and Back on Southwest

Unfortunately the schedule is not cooperating now and there isn't  a flight out of Long Beach or LAX before 2PM that is non stop. 

We are about to pull the rigger on going back to driving to the port. 

Can anyone confirm for us that even with  hauling our own luggage off the ship that being on the curb by 8:15 is something that is impossible. 

We just saw we are doing customs in San Diego instead of Long Beach so it seemed like there might be a slight chance.