sandancer

No chance of getting the lower price and keeping the drinks package. Just been told by Celebrity that we can have the new price or the package but not both.

On our cruise earlier this year there were 3 formal nights and one couple we know were invited to every one. I though they might be in the RS but they were not. They did say however that they cruised a LOT with Celebrity.

My sister and I are both in our 50s, married to professionals, have incomes of about $125K per year and own 4BR/2BA suburban homes in affordable areas, drive "average" cars like a 2010 Toyota Camry, and don't have small children in our households. We put moderate amounts--between $2000 to $4000 a month--away towards retirement. We consider ourselves middle-class.

 

It sounds to me that you have a very comfortable, nice life style that many, many people would love to have. As the song says "don't worry, be happy". Enjoy the cruises you can afford, there are lots of people who can't.

Hello Travelbugs. We are on the same cruise and I see you have found the rollcall. I would say your only chance of an upgrade would be around the time of final payment. Here in the UK and I suspect also in Australia, if you cancel, you lose the deposit. That is not the case in the US so if someone changes their mind it is likely to be when they have to pay the full balance. We met a family once who said they always book 3 cabins on any cruise, all different classes, and when the time came to pay, they decided which one they could afford and cancelled the other 2. I'm not suggesting that this is the case on our cruise but you may just get lucky. We are also on deck 6, not our first choice but it was the only 1A available when we booked back in January.

How much cheaper do want...

 

12 nights on Silhouette, Rome to Venice on 19 OCT, at $599pp with $300 OBC

 

15 nights on Reflection, from Rome on 1 NOV, at $749pp with $375 OBC

 

14 nights on Equinox, from Barcelona on 25 Nov, at $649pp with $375 OBC...

 

14 nights on Infinity, from Harwich on 24 OCT, at $599pp with $300 OBC...

 

14 nights on Silhouette, from Rome on 1 DEC, at $749pp with $350 OBC...

 

27 nights on Constellation, from Istanbul on 14 Nov, at $1378pp with $625 OBC

 

 

Can anyone refresh my memory... Do People in Europe have access to Choice Air, and are the rates the same as in the US???

No, certainly in the UK, we can't get Choice Air. Those rates quoted would not be available to Despegue booking in Belgium.

We did the overnight in HCMC and stayed at the Rex Hotel. It was Tet and there was a real carnival atmosphere. Streets full of flowers and everyone enjoying the holiday. They had a gala dinner at the Rex with lots of live entertainment on the roof terrace. Fireworks at midnight. A night to remember. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

We were on the same cruise as LuAnn and GHstudio. I can assure you that the information they offer is 100% correct. It was no problem at all. We did take our own photos with us. The charge was added to our onboard account. Don't worry.

Thanks Robtulipe for taking the time to post the picture! We're happy with our choice...huge balcony, close to the stairs and one deck down to the coffee bar! (Life is good!) :)

 

Hi Chinook Wind. Would be grateful if you would report on this cabin after your cruise. We are booked in the same cabin on the Solstice in the Spring. Thanks.

We are from the UK and it is likely that this company only covers UK travellers. The company is called Calluma. There is something similar in the USA called Trace Me Luggage Tracker. As I said, we have never had occassion to use this service and I hope we never will but it does give some degree of reassurance when travelling. I hope I'm not breaking any CC rules by posting this information.

Is this just an USA thing? Never seen or heard of similar discount in UK.

Nope - you can get it in the UK, we've had it applied when we cruised with RCCL. You have to keep checking though, we have a great TA in Newcastle who will get right onto the cruise line if anything changes, but we have to let them know, they have too many clients to check each reservation for price drops or perks being added.

Did you have transfers into the city? I don't understand why you were not just picking the bags up in the big area in the terminal? not sure where "put on the wrong bus" plays in to this as obviously you were not going straight to the airport.

 

But good luck! I hope the bags show up before you leave Rome!

The OP said they never saw the bags again after they were put out the night before they left the ship. I'm sure they tried to pick up the bags in the big area in the terminal. I get mega stressed if we can't see our bags in among that sea of bags. Even tried self disembarkation once to save the worry but it was just too much hassle dragging big bags around. No help whatsoever in this instance but we have taken out a subscription to an agency who will trace your bags on your behalf. They supply tags with bar codes and claim (never had to try it, thank goodness) that they will track lost bags. The fee was nothing in comparison to losing our luggage. Really hope Mel and Ken get some help soon.

We have been to Papeete twice and both times bought flowers for the cabin. Really beautiful, exotic flowers and very inexpensive compared to the ship.

Mainly Richard, because the movement of the ship renders them totally unreliable. You could weigh yourself 3 times and get a different reading each time. I know because I have tried.

Hi, sandancer.

6215 on the Solstice is the same location as 6214 (photo) but on the other side.

 

You see the photo and YOU can decide if it's good for you or not.

"Red" does not mean bad (this is a ship, not a labor camp).

Red means that there are much better options.

 

I don't like this cabin because of the location - you'll see various equipment in front/below your balcony.

I prefer pure unobstructed view of the ocean. "Prefer" - to say the least.

Unspoiled views is one of the qualities of a balcony.

 

Potential issue - smoking area nearby.

 

Positive about 6215 - balcony size.

 

We sometimes cannot make choices and have to put up with what is given.

Nothing major. You'll enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

 

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Thanks Cruisetrail. I actually feel better about this cabin now as I can see that whilst there is a lifeboat nearby and part of the white storage area, it still has an open space in front of it. The sticky of the Solstice class cabins has a good report but did not list the ship so I have no way of knowing if the OP was on the Solstice or one of the other ships in that class.

Could you please explain your opinion Ma Bell? I genuinely thought he was being very helpful or am I not seeing things correctly.

I should mention that these cruises were booked with the Future Cruises Desk on our last cruise and were told that this was a great cabin. I think I would have been better off consulting cruisetrail.

Would you put 6215 on the Solstice in the red category? When we booked it was the only 1a available. No way to change now as we are in there for 4 consecutive cruises. Starting to feel bad about this.

Wrong. Very wrong.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38972508&postcount=266

 

My mistake - wrong cruise line. I was told this by a crew member on a Celebrity ship. My humble and grovelling apologies.

Exactly. And there are a lot of us who do just that, I'm sure, and will continue to do so. Including myself and my family.

The crew you tipped in cash would have had to hand over the money to be put in the pool. They are only allowed to keep anything over and above the recommended tips.

I know what you mean Jo. I wish deposits were refundable as they are in the US and then it would make it easier to book so far ahead. It makes me crazy when I hear others saying that they have booked far out as they know they can cancel before final payment. There is a thread on the RCCL board where a poster is actually saying that the prices will drop once people start cancelling.

Crown and Anchor members should have had an email this week inviting pre-registration before these cruises go on sale to the general public. I think we might expect to pay premium prices for this one off cruise experience. Never thought we would see Oasis in Europe. I expect demand will be high for the opportunity to experience Oasis without taking Transatlantic flights.

We stayed at the Rex Hotel on Tet Eve and attended the Gala event at the rooftop restaurant. I would say that it was worth taking this cruise just for that. It was wonderful. The food, the entertainment, the free flowing wine and champagne. And of course the fireworks. Ahhhhh! What a wonderful memory.

We will not book onboard again, but will buy passages certificates and book with a TA in the USA. Unfortunately we made an error by actually booking the cruises onboard and we were then in a situation where the option to use a TA in the US was not available. We were not so bothered as we believed that our UK agent would give us our usual 10% discount. Wrong!! No more discounts either. The US will be seeing our future cruise business, then we will be able to get any of the promotions.

Does this apply to UK? Can't see anything in the small print to say it's confined to US but it seems a bit too good to be true!!

 

This has already been discussed in another thread and it seems that although it does not mention the UK, those that have tried to book it have been told it does not apply to UK citizens. Certainly the recent 123 was denied to the UK. I know this for sure as we booked onboard in Jan for our 2014 cruises and could not get anything other than the usual OBC for booking onboard. The future cruise consultant told us that the 123 offers did not apply to the UK.

The port is definately a good 2 hours from Saigon. We were there during Tet when traffic was lighter and it still took over 2 hours.