AtlantaCruiser72

Bid $250pp the day the email came (think it was $50pp over minimum). Today received notice of upgrade - 27 days before departure. DW deluxe obstructed balcony deck 8 mid to MB mini suite deck 12 mid. Very happy with price to upgrade and location. For comparative purposes this is an 11 day med cruise on Enchanted.

Catch by Rudi was announced within the last 6 months +/- It was an easy retrofit for Sky, Enchanted, Discovery (only ships featuring it at the moment) as Bistro Sur La Mer was going away. It has done well thus far and Princess want to capitalize on that. The specs for Sun were set far before this concept was implemented, and Sun was not scheduled to have the Bistro so most likely the only option is to make it a pop up.

I think this will be akin to Canaletto on the HAL ships where a section of the Lido will become Catch By Rudi in the evenings but be used for buffet seating during the day. It will most likely have a different décor scheme than the rest of the Lido Marketplace but but be a true stand-alone venue. Think Sterling Steakhouse on Diamond/Sapphire for similar concepts currently with Princess

On 11/1 Enchanted, 38 days out. Put in bid right around 75 day mark when they opened for a mini suite at about $100pp over minimum. No bid acceptance as of today. I have been tracking the number of unallocated minis (can see full inventory as I have POLAR access) and they actually have increased from 43 at time of bid to 59 as of yesterday. Thinking maybe they did some inventory shuffling as our 11 day sailing is also sold as part of 2 different 22 day options with either the preceding or anteceding 11 day sailings.

I would add “yet” at the end of that sentence. I think we will see some changes to the Sorrentos offering, including upcharge items, before too long. Some free items (limited, maybe simple slices of cheese, pepperoni and a daily special) and a good number of a’la carte items may be the direction they go in.

Contact your financial institution first. They may be able to provide additional details. I have noticed several charges remain pending of late even after the hard-post charge has settled, though usually for only 2-3 days maximum after the hard-post. Only happens with my debit card and certain national chain restaurants. May be a merchant service system change of some sort. Princess phone reps will be unable to answer your inquiry as they do not have access to shipboard account information. They are also unable to transfer you to any one who does. You will most likely have to open an online Custer relations inquiry to get any answers, which has a very long response time (6-8 weeks is not uncommon)

On Celebrity you will play upcharge roulette with any specialty dining, wifi, shore excursions, beverage packages, etc as the price for those items is in constant flux. One guest may pay $75 to eat at Tuscan Grill and another $48, and yet a third person might pay $52, all on the same sailing and dining date, just depending on the day of the week and how the wind was blowing when they purchased. It's a real turn-off to me. They have a MUCH harder push for ancillary items onboard than Princess do as well. While the change of Alfredo's/GiGi's is a negative, Princess is still much better about being fair and consistent with pricing of ancillary items, and with fewer upcharges, than many of their peers, and less hard sell onboard. The grass is NOT always greener!

Celebrity used to be my first look and preferred line. After a very substandard cruise in Summit back in 2018 I started looking more at Princess and HAL first and Celebrity last. After all the recent changes to pricing models I no longer look at Celebrity at all. Sad, as they build beautiful ships that suit my cruising personality.

Notice there is no compensation and no option to cancel, thanks Oceania! I have several clients affected and they are none too happy. A cruise to Nassau is a poor substitute for, well anything else, let alone Bermuda.

With United you must pay for the tickets with the card to get the free baggage perk as a cardholder. When you book with Ez-air you are paying Princess. Princess is the one paying the airline. This is why tickets booked through Ez-air do not get the free baggage with United based on credit card usage. Premiere status would be the only way to get free bags on United when booking Ez-air flights (for domestic main cabin tickets). International flights should have at least one free bag, regardless.

@dickinson what time have the evenings shows in the Princess theater been at? Have they been consistent or changed times daily?

All three share the same menu and quality of service. The Coral Dining Room on deck 6 has a section reserved for Reserve (Club Class) Mini Suites and Full suite guests. The decor is minimally different between the three venues. The aft Palm Dining room is larger than the Coral/Island ones midship, and often times is less busy.

I enjoy seeing some of the door decorations, but have never decorated my own. That said I have on more than one occasion takin to "rearranging" magnets on the door of friends/acquaintances for fun when they use them for decoration - flipping upside down, moving to a different spot on door, etc. I would never do this to a stranger though

That makes the AmaMagna a vessel for me to avoid in future (and also to not recommend to clients). The sound of pickle ball is absolutely an annoyance. I feel for the residents along the river having to hear this sound, let alone unsuspecting passengers wishing to enjoy the scenery of the Danube in relative peace.

Celebrity is such a rip off for laundry.(amongst many other things) HAL offer unlimited wash/fold service for $7/day ($9/day in some destinations) for all occupants in the cabin. That’s unlimited laundry on a 7 night Caribbean cruise for $49! They provide generous CLOTH bags to send the clothes out and they either come back hung in a garment bag or in a wicker basket wrapped in tissue with a gold HAL logo sticker seal, and ALWAYS with a hand written than you note from the laundry team. Princess have self serve washers/dryers on all their ships for a reasonable fee and complimentary use irons/boards. Elite members get unlimited wash/fold laundry by the bag service as a loyalty perk.

Travel agent system is also down - seems to be a systemwide issue for Princess and any associated brands (HAL, Cunard, Seabourn)

ever since the inception of bundled pricing for drink/tips/wifi in all it's various guises and forms the booking system has had a line item added 24-48hrs AFTER booking for tips that somewhere down the line gets adjusted with an offsetting credit for the same amount (or is supposed to). Sometimes it falls through the cracks Most consumers do not notice as it does not appear on the initial invoice and does not affect the final balance they pay.

I jumped ship after my December 2018 cruise on the Summit and no longer even consider Celebrity when looking at cruises. HAL and Princess have become my go to's as I feel their pricing, both for fares and ancillary items, is much more fair and consumer friendly, even with some of the recent changes.

Expect no price breaks. This is a back door price increase pure and simple. Removing Gratuity and the onboard credit from the retreat package is really a poor look for Celebrity and devalues the product even further compared to true luxury products like Seabourn, Silversea and Regent

How is it all inclusive if gratuities are excluded form the pricing .... This is a bad move considering one of their biggest competitors is Princess which include gratuities in their Plus and Premier packages

And some of us are more social creatures and tend to drink at bars/lounges/pool rather than in our rooms. I cannot tel you how many times I have brought wine onboard a cruise to “enjoy on my balcony” and end up taking it off the ship home with me. Each of us is different.

My rule of thumb - if it's a "make or break" experience that is integral to your enjoyment of the trip book as soon as you know you want to do it. This is true of excursions through the cruise line or third party operator. If it's a "it might be nice" type of thing, but I could do something else, then there is no harm in waiting.

whichever bid (if any) is accepted first will automatically cancel any other bids she made. Once a bid is accepted it cannot be “undone”. The card is immediately charged and the cabin change is permanent. If she is awarded a Club Class mini does not wish to dine in the Club Class seating area she does not have to.

I wonder if the beds could just be separated by 18-20" instead, like most normal cruise ship cabins. the L-shape, no matter which direction you sleep is suboptimal and feels a bit like summer camp

Just call them - the sailings are loaded into POLAR and TA's can book there easily