Cruising89143

I just checked the prices for our August B2B on the NV. Chops would be $58.99 if we waited to purchase on board. I purchased for $49.99. No mention of a gratuity being added but we have always added a cash gratuity when closing out the check. On Celebrity as of last week they’re now adding 18% on checkout on some ships that have the “old” price. On other ships they simply raised the price by 18% and no added gratuity at checkout. So confusing. I have no idea of what will happen later this year when we dine on the Solstice. We purchased at the cheaper price with no 18% gratuity added. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the clarification. Up until what I read the OP on that thread had stated differently.

We were supposed to be flying to Naples next Saturday spending close to three weeks in Italy including a cruise but we decided even with travel insurance and Celebrity extending Covid assistance it wasn’t worth the risk. Too many things could go wrong and that’s a huge chance with spending so much money. Luckily we could use the CWC on Celebrity and United issued us a travel certificate for the full amount good until 12/31/23. All other items could be easily canceled without penalty. We will either go early next year minus the cruise depending on where we are with the virus. Good luck with your trip.

If you do use the Binax sold by RCI, check with your airline. American was refusing this test in Barcelona and refused those flying back to the U.S with the negative results and American was selling the same test on their website.

Give the below company a call. They’re very good in being able to advise you on what you need for the possibility of a Covid infection. Many on Celebrity had to do this with the recent changes including no longer testing the day prior on board. https://tripinsurancestore.com

Actually the cruise lines were testing those on board who were flying out to another country. The policy changed.

Last week on the NV after we boarded the ship I saw that we had the same steward from early March. I was surprised to see him. He was supposed to have been on vacation. His contract had been extended three times. He was supposed to go home yesterday but he wasn’t sure it would happen. Heard this same story over and over from different departments. They’re short on crew in all areas. We had an issue with room service on our sea day. Could not get through for over an hour for breakfast. No luck. Tried again at lunch, got through to place order and it took one hour and forty-five minutes to be delivered. The excuse was a broken pipe in the kitchen. I found out later it was due to a crew shortage. One of our bartenders told us that there is several issues with getting more crew. The first is some crew got a vaccine that’s not recognized by RCI as valid, health paperwork, former crew who have decided not to return and the biggest issue was getting their visas/paperwork in a timely manner. Seems that needed appointments cannot be obtained. It’s a mess for sure. The cruise lines are currently in between a rock and a hard place. We all just need to pack our patience. Hopefully guests will understand that service issues more than likely is not the problem of the crew members and not take it out on them. Also, new crew still learning. Things will hopefully get better but it’s going to take time and it’s definitely not just an RCG issue. It’s industry wide. 🙂

We were on the NV last week. I pre purchased Chops prior to the cruise and the price was $41.99 pp before we added the gratuity. I have it booked twice (pre purchased) for our cruise in three weeks on the same ship and it was $49.99 pp. Interesting the fluctuation between ships. Celebrity just raised their specialty dining prices last week by 18% so I’m sure that we will see prices rise even more.

The fact that RCI is using the biodegradable plastic straws or at least we had them last week leads me to believe that X will also make this move. And you’re 100% correct. They’re great.

A lot of comments about crew shortages. Article from Seatrader. https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/cruise-lines-pushed-their-limits-staffing-recruiting

Rest snipped for space. Sorry to hear that you’re sick. Glad to see that Celebrity is reacting. I’m sure we will see more safety protocols put back into place. I hope that your symptoms dissipate quickly and that you’re negative on the next test.

Reading the comments here and a few other threads makes me realize that we did the right thing with canceling our trip next Saturday to Italy. We were going to be gone for almost three weeks with time spent in Italy before and after a cruise on the Edge. We worried about testing to board the ship and then testing to come home after the cruise and time in Rome. We have put this trip on hold for two years and waiting for one more year wont hurt. We have decided to do cruises on the Navigator and Solstice. Both are out of L.A and close to home with no flying involved if we get sick. We’re actually enjoying the three and four night cruises on the NV. Have a number more scheduled to get us through the summer. The cruise lines need to step it up and do a better job with handling the cases on board. I feel like they started to run before they could walk. Slow it down.

For someone that did not like others quoting them you sure seem to try and keep it going. Pot meet the kettle.

And looks like three decks of Infinite Veranda staterooms like the Edge class.

That would not help with the Solstice. I watched her sail in this morning to Seattle on a webcam and she has the new paint livery. I think the Eclipse does as well.

We have cruised twice on RCI’s Navigator OTS over the last few months including last week. We dined at Jamie’s Italian two evenings on both cruises. The red wine selection was very limited. They simply cannot get the items ordered. We did end up choosing other red wines and it worked out. We still have problems at our local supermarket with certain brands/items. We have learned to make do with something else.

To us it’s about getting away from the rush and noise of the MDR. We like the smaller venue, non hurried service and the atmosphere. We try to avoid the MDR as much as possible. We always budget in the specialty restaurants.

We cruised on the Adventure out of SJ in 2009 and no issues at all. It’s too far to deal with air now for going back to the same places but we would do it again.

Not sure why anyone would be surprised about getting Covid even with vaccines/boosters. Just like the flu vaccine a person can still get sick but the vaccine is there to help reduce effects. Same with Covid.

Agree 100%. By the way, I just read that the Celebrity Apex is currently placing mask usage back in place. The person posted that the letter stated that they had reached 3% Covid cases. Guess we will hear or read more tomorrow. The poster was short and sweet tonight.

I wonder if the extended wait time for room service is fleet wide? We were on the NV last week and I tried to order room service for breakfast on our sea day. I finally gave up after over an hour of trying to get through. Long hold times and finally a busy signal. Repeat same sequence and same result. Gave up and went to MDR which was another story. Finally was able to order room service for lunch. Took one hour and forty-five minutes to be delivered. The delivery person apologized and stated that they had a leak in the kitchen that caused the delay. I was told later that they had a crew shortage in that area which caused issues and not a leak. Sounds like they’re down a lot of crew. I have my doubts that we had many in quarantine on our sailing due to the length of the cruise. Crew might have been a different story. They should be making room service a high priority for those in quarantine. Even shut it down for those of us who can get out to dine. Fingers crossed that you’re able to debark soon and get back home.

I will be interested to see if X adds the 18% at the end of the meal “if” the guest paid the old price? I purchased our specialty dining for our December Solstice cruise before the price increased. As I have stated before, we always give our server a gratuity in cash when closing out the check but we won’t continue this if they add the extra 18%. I have always been told that if we add the extra gratuity to the check then it’s split amongst the staff. Cash can be kept by the server themselves. We would rather our server get the money.

We love Celebrity’s suite class but RCI doesn’t come close unless you book Star class. The JS is a glorified larger stateroom but it’s the highest I will book on most RCI ships unless they have Star class. Very few perks and nothing close to X. If you book I suggest keeping your expectations in check.

I just checked my next four cruises all on the NV and it’s the same (for now). Celebrity recently updated their website and while “plan my cruise” is different it’s not bad but logging in and navigating is more cumbersome. Hopefully RCI doesn’t move in that direction.

We leave the automatic gratuities as they are regardless. Example. We have been on two cruises within the last few months. On both cruises we dined all but one evening in specialty dining. We had lunch in the MDR one day on the first cruise and breakfast one morning on the last cruise. Other than that, no MDR. I leave it up to the cruise line to disperse the money as they see fit. We do take care of the wait staff in the specialty dining restaurants as we feel that they deserve it. I cannot recall ever reallocating the gratuities. We usually add to them. Now more than ever with many being out of work for so long.