DCPIV

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

I hope this is the beginning of the END of included excursions. Wouldn't that be great? Unless it's an expedition cruise, we'd much rather DIY than pay extra for "included" excursions.

 

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

Considering what is going on throughout the Royal Caribbean Group, you can bet that no price reduction will follow.  There will just be less included.

9 minutes ago, cookiersmom said:

Thanks.  Yes, we plan to use our wifi on shore.  Just curious if we want to check on sea days.  

 

We are Elite so curious what that will get us onboard?   Anyone know? 

Elite gets you 90 minutes (each) on the house per cruise.  Just be sure to log out when you aren't using them.

4 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

Does anyone know how close to a cruise you can call and upgrade with Captains Club discount? We are sailing the week after Thanksgiving and I am hoping for a Black Friday flash sale starting the Wednesday before. 

In all likelihood, you won't be able to combine the CC discount with the flash sale.

I'm not sure how many know.  When I go to my cruise planner, the only options I have are for whole-cruise packages.

If I recall, you could by a day plan (24 consecutive hours, starting when you first activated it), but I also recall that being pretty pricey for just 1 day (especially if you only were going to use it for a short time that day).  I believe the only way you can have a set number of minutes to spend is via a Captain's Club benefit.

I don't think there is any way to selectively upgrade.  You upgrade for the entire cruise (or the remainder of it) or you don't.

If you just want to check in from time to time, your best bet may be to just go to a decent place on shore.  Any crew member likely can tell you where.

11 minutes ago, dcbiker97 said:

The World Class's bar is really limited to a set menu and the ingredients they have are limited to that menu (except for some really nice Scotches). If you ask for something that's not on their menu, they will almost always request that you go to another bar for that drink. I've seen people over the years get extremely loud and upset at this, but that's how that bar has always been. 

They can make about anything they have the ingredients for, but (as you point out) they only carry limited things.  They are sponsord by or affiliated with Diageo and only carry liquors from the Diageo family.

It is something to behold when someone gets all fussy because WCB doesn't have a blender or Tito's or a beer or some other such thing.

The pajamas replaced the robes shortly after the restart.  While I was not particularly happy about that change, I must admit that those pajamas were better than I expected when it came to lounging around.  However, they weren't particularly well received by the average passenger (at least, according to a couple of butlers).  

I'm not surprised to hear that they are just letting them run out.  

14 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

When you first go to your cabin to drop off your carryons, and then you are supposed to physically go to the muster station.

 

 

 

I assure you are ruffling no feathers if you have a bite to eat before going to your station.  There was one time they weren't even ready for us when we tried to go check in physically before we had lunch.  So, now, we don't ask them to rush.

As mentioned, the menus and entertainment schedules vary from cruise to cruise.

Our favorite hangout is a very difficult question.  We'll often be at Sunset Bar during the day, but we might easily move around.  Sky Lounge is very nice during the day when it's open.  At night, we tend to decide based on who is playing in that area, and we wind up in Ensemble more often than not (at least for some portion of the evening) because of the wonderful acts in there.  It's totally a matter of whim, though, and that's the fun of the ship.  Go where the spirit moves you.

They really are finding every possible way to silently increase the cost of a cruise without changing the face rate.

I can't speak for what is going on with HAL, but I can tell that Celebrity typically does not always apply something like that without repricing the fare (unless it is the shareholder OBC).  The only way to know is to ask them.

On 9/1/2023 at 7:33 PM, canderson said:

Perhaps not, but we've been zinged a couple of times when we were on an extended cruise with a lot of luggage, and it was a hassle getting something big enough to hold it.  Yes, I know you can specifically ask for a larger vehicle in some cases - though even then, that doesn't mean that's what is going to show up.

You certainly speak the truth there.  Even if the larger vehicle shows up, there's no certainty that it can hold your luggage.  We had that recently when the driver had two, large car seats in the payload.  That was something of a circus.

9 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

My general observation from a long cruise earlier this year is that the included tours are increasingly the very basic ones - panoramic bus rides.

I'll add walking tours to that list.  They are, pretty much, your less expensive tours that also happen to be easy to expand and organize.  That's no surprise.

If you are interested in how much the included tours cost, just add a tour to your schedule.  The price for each included tour then comes up (as you're limited to one per day).

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We have no plans to roll out to the rest of the fleet. We’re currently monitoring the Nova implementation and then will decide if we make any changes to the rest of the fleet.

That sounds like they are doing what we thought they are doing: try it out on Nova, see how it goes, and then decide on what to do next.  

Yep. You can check in as soon as they'll let you in the terminal. The assigned check-in time is irrelevant. 

We have a cruise that sails in about 13 months, and some excursions are sold out. Yeah, I think that sale did a number on inventory. 

As for whether they add more, that's been pretty well covered. 

We usually watch them while killing time before heading to the port. It also could happen while we're at the port and waiting to board our while we're having lunch on the ship. It's quick.

40 minutes ago, 39august said:

Crew and different music venues and styles. 

I was going to say exactly the same thing.  I love the quality and variety of the lounge acts. 

And I don't know what it is about the crews we've had on Celebrity ships. We always seem to connect with them. 

One of the many mentors I've had in my life taught me what might be the most important lesson I may ever learn:  the only thing in this world you have absolute control over is your attitude.  It's not what happens to you that matters but how you react to it.

A corollary to that rule is: if you are convinced that you will not have a good time, you'll be correct.  By the same token, if you are ready to have a good time, you probably will.

And yet another corollary:  There ALWAYS is a good time to be had somewhere on a cruise ship.  If that good time isn't happening where you are at the moment, then either get up and go find it or tuen where you are into a good time.

Some of the worst food I ever had was on a cruise.  We joked about it, laughed about it, ate it, and reminded ourselves who grateful we were just to be on a cruise.  We also drank a lot.

A lot.

Just to clarify and expand on what's been said here: morning tours usually meet on the ship (usually in the theatre), and afternoon tours usually meet on shore.  There are some exceptions, so always pay attention to what it says on your ticket.  Also make sure you look at the notes that come in with daily mail as times and meeting places may change.

As for how long it takes to get to an onshore meeting place, it really depends on the port.  Some meeting places are right off the ship, but others might be a good 10-minute, brisk walk from the gangway.  If we are meeting on shore, we usually made sure we were leaving the ship a good 15 minutes before the meeting time just in case we have one of those long walks ahead of us.  If you really are trying to time it perfectly, you probably can find a crewmember who is familiar with the port.

As for a tender port, you probably want to get down to the tender at least 30 minutes before meeting.  The tender could take 10-15 minutes to get from ship to shore, and you might have fir a tender to get to the ship, tie up, unload, reload, etc.  The good news is that there almost never is a long line to get off the ship to tender after mid-morning.

One other thing is that the meeting time you'll see on your ticket usually is 15 minutes before the actual start time of the tour.  That's to allow the tour guides to finish whatever paperwork they need to do before starting.

If you are going to book before October 4, and if you were already going to consider buying a drink package, the AI package is almost always a slam dunk "yes."

Once they remove gratuities from AI (on October 4), I'm not sure how good a deal AI will be, but I guess it depends on whether they also adjust pricing.

Fair or not, it is what it is.  The way to use all the free minutes would have been for you to use your minutes and she use her minutes before activating the package.  I don't believe you have to activate your package immediately when you board.

2 hours ago, Chrisclaire said:

Not sure if this is down to the bar tender?

Was she drinking actual Martinis or the (not really a) "martini" cocktails?  If the former, I would think it would have to be the bartender.  If the latter, then it could be the quality of the bartender or the various and sundry ingredients that go into those drinks. 

Either way, that's unfortunate to hear.  We've been on Reflection twice, spent (or misspent) many an hour in the Martini Bar, and we've always enjoyed it.

I've never subscribed to brand loyalty in the first place.  While I very often do return to the same brand, it because I like the product--not because of some sense of loyalty.  We've enjoyed Celebrity a great deal in the past.  It was a nearly perfect balance of relaxation, recreation, and maturity.  We have 1 more Celebrity cruise booked next year, but I don't really know how many more will book with X until we see how everything shakes out with the management and policy changes.

We already were concerned with the direction Celebrity was heading before all these recent changes.  Things like the ridiculously uncomfortable Kelly Hoppen interiors and the Infinite (not) Verandas are not quite our cup of tea.  Add in a noticeable drop in the quality of the product offered along with a staggering increase in price, and there's every reason to look around.  

We sailed Azamara late last year and had a great time.  We've also sailed with Silversea many times (before and after they became part of RCI), and we're about to sail on Silver Nova.  We typically stay in The Retreat, so the cost of those is pretty close.  The quality, though, is at least a shade higher on Azamara (with some tradeoffs).  The quality on Silversea is an order of magnitude higher (except, perhaps, with regard to entertainment).

Honestly, this upcoming 11-night Silver Nova cruise (veranda) is signficantly cheaper (per night) than a 7-night Reflection (Signature Suite) we were pricing about the same time we booked the Nova, and the Nova cruise fare includes all but one of our excursions.  Granted, it's not exactly apples to apples, but it's quite something to be in the same ballpark at all.

5 hours ago, spiff2 said:

I have been researching these as well. So far Silversea seems to be out as a choice. It seems to be the most restrictive on dress codes. My cruise suit and tie days are over.

You might want to keep an eye on that.  They are using a different, more relaxed dress code on Silver Nova, and it appears to be very well received.  No ties required . . . ever, and jackets required only on "formal optional" nights (only 2 of those on our 11-nighter).  I wouldn't be surprised to see it spread throughout the fleet. 

Even on the other ships, you never need to wear a tie.  It's required only on the formal nights and then only in the MDR.  On those nights, we would just eat in another restaurant.  It appears they are working on a bit of a culture change.  My cruise suit and tie days are over, too.

1 hour ago, rollie said:

Can you get speciality restaurants served in you cabin?

 

Rollie

Not typically.  That used to be something you could do in an RS, but no longer.  While I have heard of it happening, that's someone doing someone else a favor.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices.  Grand Cayman might be the best choice if for no other reason that there's not a whole lot else to do there.

On 9/10/2023 at 11:11 AM, NMTraveller said:

Do they pour it with the cheap stuff if you have the Premium package?

Just get into the habit of specifying which liquor you want.  Otherwise, you'll probably get what's in the well, no matter what package you have (unless you have a good bartender who knows what you like).