cantstopingcruising

Another tipping thread????

I read that some restaurants, post-covid, are experimenting with eliminating tips.  I think that's a great idea and may be the way of the future. For the tippee, it would ensure a guaranteed income, and for the tipper, it would eliminate insecurities, should I this much, that much, whatever.

The  way I see it, there are two camps.

There are the old timers,(like us) who knew how great Celebrity  used to be and now along with all the cutbacks are seeing exorbitant pricing and there are the newbies who don't understand how disappointed we are.  Instead of being critical and even nasty, try to have a little empathy.  I find it very insulting when one poster tells another to "go elsewhere" or not to complain.

All I can say is that our winter cruises for 2022 , b2b, 21 days, booked pre-covid are under $9,000 Cad. and the same thing is almost $17,000 Cad. for 2023.  If you think this is normal pricing, good luck to you!

In the past, we have booked as soon as the new itineraries came out and that worked very well for us. 

This time, however, when I look at winter 2023 fares, I laugh. No way will I pay that.

There are two docks further away. We have done both on Celebrity.

If you are lucky,, you get the first one. If not, there is a free train(like the kiddie ride!) that will shuttle you closer). One time, we were in town and I wasn't feeling well and we easily found a taxi back to the ship.

We have been "insiders"  on 95%  of  our many cruises.  We were always happy with our accommodations. But, now, after reading about what happened to cruisers stuck on a ship endlessly, we will book balconies.  Sadly, at this time, the prices have skyrocketed. If we feel they are too high (as we do, looking at 2003 winter in the Caribbean), we will make alternate plans.

6 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Staying at the Electra Palace next year.  Thanks for the review of it.

Last time we were in Athens, we stayed at the newer Electra Metropole. Absolutely loved it. Also rootop restaurant with view of the Acropolis

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Not much different than the Spa employees offering free neck massages after the shows or in public areas.  Then getting you to sign up.  The purpose of the cruise is to entertain you and relieve you of your money in the nicest possible way.  We all know that.

Oh how I would love to have one of those free neck massages right now!

I don't know what the cruise lines will do, but I sure don't want to go on a ship with unvaccinated people

Just an aside.

Sometimes, the art auction group does an art history presentation. 

Also there is often a Faberge presentation (Nothing to do with Park West).

Both are interesting, if they fit into your schedule.

It's very frustrating.

At the moment, in Canada, many people are very eager to get their second shots (and some are still getting their first shots).

Time will tell how it evolves. Hopefully, we don't have too many anti-vaxxers, but I am sure there will be some. The misinformation is available on the internet in every country.

I felt like I had won the lotto!

23 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I am willing to bet that the percentage of fully vaccinated in Canada will sometime later this year exceed the number in the USA.

You are probably right!

I think that when something is very difficult to get , people want it more!

I hope you are both right!

As I understand it, if a fully vaccinated person is asymptomatic, they ARE contagious. 

59 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I could be wrong but I believe the cruise originated in St. Maarten (the original post itself was created “live from” while the ship was in Barbados on June 7.

Cruising out of St. Maarten would be good, too!

7 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Same here!

What's a ROI?

1 minute ago, Sykes said:

They may try to impose fines, but they almost certainly won't be successful once challenged in court. The only question is whether or not cruise lines, which are so dependent on sailing from Florida, will be willing to go up against them in court.

Or willing to change departure ports if the summer Caribbean departures are successful

If all works out well, and Florida remains a problem, maybe in the coming months more and more cruises would leave from Barbados!

If you check your flights with Air Canada, you will see that there is a choice of fares.  Pretend you are booking and options will pop up.

We just booked flights for next winter (hope we will be going!) and opted for the cheapest fare in case we can't go. We will get to choose our seats when we check in on line.

For overseas, we usually take the roomier seats at the front of economy. Those, of course, cost more and your seats are assigned at booking.

Safe travels!

I AM a snob!

We are inside cabin snobs. Since 1997, 2 or 3 cruises a year, we rarely booked a window and once, on Edge, we opted for the infinity veranda. 

Otherwise, it was always an inside. Sometimes, people looked at us funny and were surprised at how nice the cabin was when I invited them to see it.  We were very proud to be "insiders'.

Now, thanks to covid and what happened to the poor pax on the Princess ship, we will have to join the masses and book a balcony cabin.  I only hope that all goes well, and we will be able to sail this winter.

19 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Sometimes I chuckle when I think about having paid $35 to join the Captains Club back in 1996.  

Didn't we get a refund?

They used to serve free sushi, but it is a few years now that they charge for it in a specialty restaurant.

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

Don’t think so. Listen to Fain again. There will be no requirement and exemptions made here, there, and everywhere. He wants people to believe that “most” people on board will be vaccinated, but doesn’t want to prove it. 

If such is the case, these first cruises will be a disaster waiting to happen.

7 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Thanks for responding.

You are welcome!

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I can see that.  That brings up another question, too.  Who would really want to bring their "under 12 year old" on a Celebrity cruise, when you can do Disney, which is geared towards kids, or NCL which has pool slides, kids pools, arcades, etc?  Same goes for Carnival, who has slides, kids pools, arcades etc, too?

 

I think Celebrity will be fine on the COVID Vaccination front.

Don't kid yourself. Celebrity has a very popular Kids' Club