DCPIV

Thanks for your review! I'm very glad to hear that you got so close the Hubbard glacier. That's quite a treat!

Only if you're dealing with a situation where your speed is being throttled for a particular service (such as Netflix or something like that). Since your "basic v. premium" speed is determined by your login, you're not going to be able to get premium speed for the basic price.

Thank you, yes! I get myself a bit crossed-up when I think of the invoice which shows the gratuities as a line item and then the credit for them as another.

Don't let it stress you out. It really isn't difficult (much more intimidating than it first sounds).

It's true, but I hate depending on the app to function. I do like some of the others above mentioned and have it saved to my phone in a manner that requires no internet connection. I do the same with airplane boarding passes. Also, if you've ever seen a group of 8 or 10 trying to pull up Set Sail passes (and covid test results) on the same dadgum 2 phones while you're waiting in line behind them . . . well . . . you might think about just bringing paper. 🤣

It actually works great as a cheese board! The size and (pan)handle are terrific! You are correct that it's not much as a cutting board, but it comes out for just about every party we have!

Just about every European nation no longer requires a test result if you are fullly vaccinated. That could have been the issue. Remember that the line doesn't employ the pier agents, no matter what uniform they put on in the morning.

We've done the gift exchange that was mentioned above. That was fun, but it all was arranged and agreed upon in the roll call thread. If you didn't want to participate, then don't. We ended up walking out with a cutting board in the shape of the State of Oklahoma! 🤣 The only "gifts" I've ever heard about on a Cabin Crawl was either something like the cookies mentioned above or something VERY token and along the lines of a party favor.

Price points can change depending on room location. As mentioned, they now have a number of subcategories, and the typical difference is location.

I've never understood that they even compare what you upload to what you present at the pier. The pre-board verification seems to be so that they know if they are getting their fully vaccinated numbers in line. As far as the check at the pier, it's still anyone's guess as to why they do it. It could be that they want a hands-on check. It could be that they never put in some infrastructure to let the pier know what got uploaded (because no one ever thought this would go on this long). Regardless, I don't think it'll matter one way or another.

Yes, you will pay the increased gratuities whether you upgrade directly via Move Up.

Right on!

That's not a particularly good recommendation. Those things have over 200 mg of caffeine per bottle. That's a good deal more caffeine than your typical serving of matcha--maybe even twice as much.

You can employ the "sit and spin" method where you sit on the edge of the tub and bring your legs over. It's not exactly graceful, but it beats the heck out of falling.

I believe the upgrade cost still is just the difference between the package prices, that being $15/day + 20% gratuity (so $18/day). You should be able to do that upgrade online for that price if you aren't looking for the discount, or you can wait until you are on board. The only discounts I've ever heard of for the upgrade are as a loyalty benefit. You do have to call for that if that applies to you.

Yes, you are locked in, but keep in mind that the operator could cancel and relist a similar tour at a different price. We've had that happen. In those cases, Celebrity automatically booked us on the new tour at no additional cost, but I don't know that they are obligated to do so. You also have the opportunity to cancel, and we did that once. Of course, the operator could cancel and NOT reschedule something. We've had that happen, too, so we just had to look at what was available at whatever price was there at that time.

I also was able to use a VPN on board (also Nord). There were some things that I could not access while the VPN was active, most notably my account information, personal ship calendar, and some other personal information via the Celebrity app. Of course, it's easy enough to switch the VPN off if you need to get to any of that.

I'll also add that another benefit to the direct upgrade is knowing what your suite is.

I disagree that it's not worth bothering upgrading on anything but E-class. As mentioned, the only real quantitative difference between E-class and other ships is the Retreat Sundeck. I've sailed in a suite on M and S class ships, and I like it! Suites are nice, and the "Retreat" experience is a nice one with a butler and some extra perks! A bath is as good a reason as any to upgrade if you are taking a special trip! That said, when it comes to the actual room, about the only real difference between a Sky Suite and a Celebrity Suite is having the bedroom separate from the sitting/living area. That means a lot to DW and I for a number of reasons. It may not be important to you, though. Probably the only other differences between CS and SS are location (CS get some prime locations) and the potential intangible benefit of getting a little better service because you are in a CS. Keep in mind, though, that a CS is not considered a "higher suite." I completely agree with inquiring with your TA or with Celebrity directly (as the case may be) about the cost of an upgrade. It may be close to or even less than the minimum Move Up bid, and you'll get the full suite/Retreat perks and points if you do it directly. We did have a recent cruise where the direct upgrade actually was substantially less than the minimum Move Up bid.

Well, yes, that would be nice. However, Elite is nowhere nearly equivalent to 100 VS days. If you're breaking it down by days, Elite is is 100 nights in a Veranda cabin. If you're breaking it down by spend, you can get to Elite by spending somewhere around $10-20k per person. Either way, that's a far cry from 100 VS nights. E+ is more like it, and even that might be pushing it.

You can even do it Monday before boarding, if you like. Frankly, I like getting it over with as soon as I can, but the flexibility is there.

You can do a direct upgrade where you contact Celebrity and move to a suite, avoiding Move Up. You get the full benefits that way. Whether it's worth it is entirely up to you. You'll get many opinions on that.

We've had very good experiences with the sommeliers in Luminae. Let them know what you're looking for by profile, region, grape, pairing, etc. The more you give them to work with, the better job they can do.

I don't recall it.

I actually agree. The only Silversea benefits are laundry, discounts on sailings, and complimentary sailings. The programs don't really overlap.