kiwichick62

Nothing for my May 2024 cruise. Will check again tomorrow.

Wanted to upgrade our Wi-Fi from basic (included in our AI fare) to premium. It was a lot cheaper to pay for the X-Pass. It includes premium Wi-Fi for two devices each plus the other benefits. NZ $25 = US $15.

Good job and thanks for the info! It's great when you find a big sale on the packages and excursions you want. 😀 Off to see if my cruise qualifies for any sales.

Can you please post the changes you notice when you get a chance to, also can you please report on whether the quality has improved. 🙂 Have a great cruise.

Looking at the website, the "Up to 75% off 2nd Guest" sale is advertised. I priced our 13 night cruise for May. The base fare was pretty much the same but the discount came out to 50% off the second guest. We got the 40% off all guests deal for $2,400 less than todays sale. Maybe they will have a better deal for Black Friday.

I confirm that cruises booked from New Zealand have gratuities baked into the fare we pay. Gratuities are added on to the cost of drink and dining packages. I don't mind paying these and I like to have everything pre-paid before I cruise. Once on board I do no further tipping.

At random times and not for all sailings. It is possible the next sale will be for Black Friday. If you have a classic drink package and want to upgrade many of us recently got the upgrade at 53% off. This sale could still be running.

I recommend booking excursions early as the more popular ones can sell out. Celebrity sometimes offers big discounts during their flash sales. If you see excursions for less than what you paid you can cancel then rebook at the new price. There is a slight risk that your tour sells out in between cancelling and rebooking. (Not relevant to your question though 🙂)

I also got the 53% discount on the drinks upgrade and a good discount on excursions back in August. Now keeping an eye out for a decent discount on speciality dining 🙂 If not for CC I would not have known about the drinks upgrade as I didn't get an email from Celebrity about it.

If you purchase a drink package the person sharing your cabin also has to purchase one. Cocktails and Martini’s cost between $9 - $17. There are no complimentary alcoholic drinks in the MDR.

You always have something kind to say on these boards 🙂

It has gone back up again in my planner too. Originally - 5% off Yesterday - 15% off (what I first paid then cancelled.) This morning - 53.3% off (what I actually paid) This afternoon - 33.33% off. Fat fingers in the IT department? 🤷‍♂️

Yes, thanks so much everyone, I would not have thought to look again so soon! I just cancelled the upgrade I booked yesterday for the even better discount and saved nearly $400. The new price shows on the website as a 53% discount. Very happy as I didn't think they would discount the upgrade so highly. 😁 Looking forward to the Martini bar 🍹 🧉

Seems like people are getting different discounts. If the price drops further later on I will cancel my upgrade and re-book it. The NZ price has the gratuities already added in.

Worked for me here in New Zealand too. The other day the upgrade was NZ $38.50 a day being 5% off. Today it is $29.30 and is still advertised as 5% off, guess the base price has dropped. From what I have heard the upgrade is rarely on special so I upgraded at $29.30.

If you stand on a ship facing forward port is the left hand side of the ship, starboard the right hand side 🙂

Welcome to New Zealand! Enjoy your time here 😀 hopefully the ship will take some of our lovely produce and meat onboard for the MDR. Will be interested to hear where you go for dinner in Auckland.

Will try to turn on some fine weather for your arrival in Auckland. Looks to be a high of 18c/65 and partly cloudy for most of this weekend . 🌤️

A member of my roll call mentioned that Celebrity repriced his cruise after a price drop. I looked at the fare I booked in April 2023 for a May 2024 sailing and compared it to what was on sale for today. Booking price in NZD was $13,000 compared to today $9,000. I phoned Celebrity customer service. They repriced my cruise for the lower amount and sent me a new invoice. I retained my AI conditions and the shore excursions that I got on sale and paid for by credit card. The only thing I lost was $50 on board credit. Was told that if I had of paid for anything with onboard credit I would have lost those bookings and would need to rebook at current pricing. Very impressed with Celebrity customer service for making it so easy and non-stressful to change to the lower fare - something they are not obliged to do. Saved me having to cancel my booking, losing my deposit etc then rebooking.

Just priced our May 2024 cruise and the price has actually gone down a fair bit. What we booked in April for a deluxe verandah would now get us Aqua class! Guess I can't do anything to re-book as we booked on Celebrity's website, non-refundable fare.

"Relaxed Luxury" indeed....Hope your next cruise experience is way better.

Kelly Tarltons is an underground aquarium. Not huge but is interesting, a must see there are the penguins. Sky Tower - Nice views of Auckland from the viewing deck. Also has a few restaurants and a casino. Cruise ships dock right in the city, there are many eateries within an easy walk. Across the road is Commercial Bay mall with restaurants and cafes. You can walk along the waterfront to Wynyard Quarter - more restaurants, bars etc. Auckland is multi-cultural and you will find a wide variety of cuisines available. Have a look around and see what you fancy.

Auckland is my home city, let me know if you have any questions on this port. Still early spring and chilly, hopefully we can turn on some sunny weather for your arrival. 🌞 Looking forward to hearing about French Polynesia, I would love to visit this area.

Enjoy your cruise and please report on the MDR food and service when you can thanks. 🙂

I better check the dates for my cruise too then... 😂 Yep, my Baltics cruise is still departing 24th of May...