helen haywood

I have called insuremytrip to ask just this question. The first answer was pick the country you will be spending the most time in. So, if it is predominantly a Greek isle cruise, for example, pick Greece. You will still be covered in all the other countries you visit on the cruise. For our upcoming trans-Atlantic, I pointed out that we were spending the majority of our cruise in the Atlantic. The answer was pick the first country we hit on the cruise. And that we will be covered in all the other countries we visit during the dates of the coverage we bought, including the travel days in the USA.

I haven't been on Reflection, but on Equinox, Eclipse and Silhouette the cabins on Deck 6 forward up to 6121 portside and 6120 starboard extend further out than the rest of the 2Bs further back. This is the forward hump. Cabins 6121 and 6120 specifically are great cabins because all the rest of the cabins behind them step back in and so your balcony has an even greater view.

What, specifically, are you worried about? You will have lifeboats on the deck below you so you can't look directly down at the water; you can see straight out and forward and aft. The only negative I can think of is that the lifeboats are lit up at night which can make it harder to see the stars from your balcony. Otherwise you should be fine! If you could change cabins, the few all the way aft overlook the obstruction of the roof of Blu and therefore don't have the night light factor.

Its always been open on embarkation day on the ships I've been on. There is no fee.

We go to the Sunset Bar and settle in to admire the view....or the Sky Lounge if the weather is cool.... We avoid the Buffet until after the announcement that the cabins are ready because its so crowded up until that time. The times we have tried to get something to eat before the cabins are ready it was an unpleasant experience of walking around and around and around trying to find a place to sit.

Once we can drop our carry-ons in the room and put our passports and money et al in the safe then we hit the Buffet....and after that....back to the Sunset Bar as kampinguru does!

I agree with Larry.

The unfortunate reality is that iPhones supported by AT&T will not work on the Silhouette and the Reflection. This is due to the fact that AT&T does not have a contract with OnWaves. If you must use your cell phone then do not sail those two ships.

Yes, it would be nice if somehow Celebrity let you know about this in advance....but it would be buried in FAQs somewhere anyway. If you are reading this thread, you know the answer.

I purchased OBC for our last sailing on Equinox. Got an email "confirmation" thanking me for my order....but it did not have an order number nor did it reference what I had bought. Watched my credit card. Charge never showed. Two weeks later I replied to the confirmation email saying the charge had never gone through and got a response several days later saying they were sorry they had no record of this transaction.

At that point I decided to forget it. Several more weeks later I see a charge on my credit card. I call the Gifts by Celebrity phone number to make sure this is my OBC, mysteriously appearing more than a month after I "purchased" it. The Gifts Department tells me that, no, my reservation number for the Equinox sailing has no such OBC. I ask to be transferred to another department so I can find out what the heck the charge IS for then. The nice man I get at the second department checks and says the first man was wrong....that the charge was for OBC for my Equinox sailing. He apologizes for the delay and the misinformation. He instantly sends me an official Celebrity invoice that shows my reservation number and the OBC and the transaction number. I take it with me on board if needed, but no need, the OBC shows up right away.

My take away on this is if I were to buy OBC again I would call and order it. Not order it online. That way I could request the email confirmation that actually shows a valid confirmation of my purchase.

Celebrity treats your B2B as two separate cruises. If you bring 4 bottles on board on embarkation, theoretically, they will "store" the extra 2 bottles and give them to you at the end of the first cruise.

Well, if you go to the AT&T website it will list the ships at sea that it supports and all of Celebrity's ships are listed EXCEPT Silhouette and Reflection. So at least you will know that in advance. It is not a case of your phone not being set properly or anything.

I know you can take t bottles of wine per cabin but don't know about the soft drinks. Deciding which benefit to take depends on amount you drink and what you like to drink. If you will be drinking drinks over the $8 limit then they would not be included. If you have an idea what your bar tab was from your Summit cruise then you'd be able to decide.

I am continuing to monitor the prices....hopefully trying to learn something for a future TA. At first, as I would have thought, the prices dropped after final payment. So I was able to upgrade to a balcony from my inside GTY. However, it looks like the drop only held for a few days and then the balcony GTY disappeared for two days, only to reappear once at an even lower price for one day. The very next day the prices went up substantially! Now the cheapest balcony is a C2 for twice what I paid!

ARGH!

It sounds like it is a very narrow window you have to jump into from a fast train. No sure what I've "learned" or what I'll do next year!

Celebrity by all means! And we've sailed on the Oasis. The crowds at times can be overwhelming there. And the Buffet was very crowded. Celebrity's Solstice class ships never feel crowded to me.

Be prepared for your grandmother to book another Celebrity cruise while onboard!

Keep in mind that if coupons are used, you cannot use when "where/when we wish." They are only valid from 5 - 7 and cannot be used at the Molecular Bar, Martini Bar or MDR.

Can't access my reservation on the site still.

The only "benefit" to the search engine being down is you can ask a question and not be told to use the search tool.

Depending on the length of your cruise, figure out what the gratuities will be. For example, on a 7 night cruise, they are 168 for two people. So obviously you would be better off to take either the $200 OBC or the drink package. If you think your alcohol expenses would be more than $200 then the drink package would be the way to go. I don't have the list of beverages and I know the search engine is down but the Celebrity site should have it or google it.

Keep in mind that drinks over $8 you are charged full price for. You can always upgrade to the premium package if you think you'd be drinking a lot of pricier drinks. One thing to keep in mind there is that both passengers in a cabin do not have to purchase the upgrade. If one of you is happy with the classic package and one of you wants to upgrade to premium, you can do that.

I still don't understand how the X was able to move the booking to another cruise WAY after final payment.

Thought I'd post that I upgraded to the balcony GTY on Saturday and received our cabin assignment on Tuesday. So that's pretty quick! We're in a 1C, cabin 8327.

Just thought I'd come back and say that we've received our cabin assignment! We're in a 1C, cabin 8327. No 2D, thank goodness! So I'm happy about that!

But for my next spring TA...balcony GTY is now the same price my original inside GTY was. Prices definitely came down after final so I'm going to wait next time!

Love your review and I'm sure Gambee the Great won't mind keeping his title!

I have a balcony GTY on Reflection in April and I still don't have a cabin assignment yet!

Just to clarify, if there are any cigar smokers reading this thread, that cigar smoking is only permitted on Deck 15 at the Sunset Bar area port side.

Staterooms are generally not ready until after 1:30 pm. Luggage really can vary. It seems to make no difference what time you check in or what deck you are on. It is best to wear something that you wouldn't mind wearing to dinner if your luggage arrives late.

I, personally, am always cold. I find the hallways to be especially cold! I'm fine in the MDR and in my cabin and the theater. That being said, bringing a light shawl or pashmina doesn't take up much room.

You really don't need to tip the bartenders extra....that being said, if you plan on frequenting a specific bar it wouldn't hurt to tip a couple of bucks extra and see how it goes. I always tip in cash because I'm never sure otherwise where the tip goes.

I'm not certain what you mean about clearing customs in Key West. You certainly don't have to leave the ship early...in fact you don't have to leave it at all if you don't want to!

Re departure, Celebrity offers excursions for people with late flights. The transfer shuttles only leave in the am. You could always rent a car for the day.

Celebrity only has tubs in their suite category cabins.

Anne, no I won't mention pricing on the Roll Call! But I think my situation isn't what upsets them....it seems people who want to pick a particular cabin and are happy with the price at the time they booked get ruffled when it seems to them that the people who are willing to wait until after final payment are implying they were stupid. I'm not saying anyone in either camp is "wrong." The situations are completely different, IMHO.

Obviously I must fall somewhere in the middle because I was too chicken to wait until after final payment (still on my Bucket List!) yet also monitored price drops while I could.

You are correct, I was initially going to try an inside. That was when the prices for balconies were out of my price range. I sort of had my heart set on being on Deck 3 and when I got my assignment on Deck 8....AND saw the balcony GTY was about the same as my inside cabin....decided there was no reason to "tough it out" in an inside. Apologies in advance for my wording...I'm only talking about my situation; I realize many people are very happy with insides!

And I really think I would have been one of them. However, if the price for a balcony isn't much more then I'd rather have the balcony.

I'm still monitoring the prices, only to take notes, to see what a balcony cabin finally comes to rest at so for my next one (I'm told X will be releasing the spring 2015 TAs in March) I'll hopefully be brave enough to wait until after final!