lupa

I think I'm clear on now what will have automatic gratuities! I just wanted to avoid any unpleasant surprises.Good to know that yoga classes may have them added- I had assumed that spa and salon services would but didn't think about the classes.

And I thought it was strange that someone had gratuities added for shop purchases- maybe it was a discussion about another cruise line ? I think the issue was that the person had incurred the charge when they purchased a bottled water in the gift shop (to take off the ship or to drink while they were waiting to disembark). Consensus on the thread was that (if they had a beverage plan) they should have just gotten a bottle of water at a bar and asked that it be left unopened. But again- this must have been another cruise line!

Thanks everyone for the info!

I'm sailing on Celebrity for the first time in about a week (!). We booked through the 123 promotion so have the classic beverage plan and daily gratuities included in our fare.

Reading some threads here, I see that gratuities are automatically added to gift shop purchases and room service. Are there other transactions that result in automatic gratuities being charged to your shipboard account?

Thanks!

Good question! I was wondering the same thing. We ended up with a lot of OBC for our upcoming cruise and already have bev plan, gratuities, etc. I thought that would be a good karma way to utilize any extra we have at the end of the cruise.

Yes there are mats and props but I will say the quality of the yoga class varies considerably you pay per session plus a gratuity charge

Thanks Hapytocruise!

Hi!

I want to keep up my yoga practice while on my cruise but don't want to waste suitcase space on anything but clothing and shoes. I'm wondering if there are mats and commonly used yoga props (blocks and belts) available for use in the gym on the Solstice.

I've looked on the Celebrity site but haven't been able to find much info about the gym, although it looks like they have some yoga classes and some free fitness classes. Is the gym itself free to use or is there a user fee involved? I haven't sailed with Celebrity before, but I think another cruise line I was on required a $20 daily fee to use the gym.

Thanks!

Lisa

(2 weeks till my cruise!!!)

What is the cabin #? You're right, I don't see any CC cabins on the 9th floor forward, only in the aft. If you booked a CC guarantee, there is an error and you need to contact your TA ASAP. You ARE guaranteed at least a C3 cabin or higher. It is very unlikely that they'll change your cabin once assigned.

 

However, once you receive your CC cabin assignment, you can change into any other available cabin in that same class, i.e. C3, C2, etc.

 

Please come back and let us know what happens.

Today someone from Celebrity called, saying that my TA had asked them to contact me about my issue of being assigned a 1B stateroom for a C3 booking. Here's what I found out-

Regarding the recategorizing of the Deck 9 1B staterooms to C3, they said there is 'such a demand for C3 bookings' they opted to change that block of staterooms for some of the Alaska cruises this Spring on the Solstice and one other ship ( I assume this must be due to the big sale last month offering gratuities and beverage plan for Concierge bookings and higher and they want to sell as many cabins as possible at the higher price).

They said they deck plans have not been updated to reflect changes of cabin categories because this change is only temporary.

They said every Concierge amenity and perk will be the same for the reclassified cabins, the only difference is that the cabins are usually offered as 1B without the extra amenities we will be receiving.

I explained to the representative that when I considered booking Concierge Guarantee, all of the available C class cabins shown on the Celebrity website deck plans were mid-ship or aft. I made it clear I understood that part of booking Guarantee means that you don't get to pick your location but, being assigned in a different area of the ship than typical C class staterooms seemed a stretch the Guarantee concept that you will be assigned to at least the category cabin or higher. (We had been assigned to a 1B cabin located at the front of the ship on Deck 9 ).

The representative offered to move us- and I accepted. We'll still be in that 're-categorized block of cabins' but will be about 20 staterooms further back which will be a little better- especially because the very front cabin we had been assigned to also shared a wall with either crew quarters or a service area. There was no review posted for that cabin (9102) but 9101 had reviews saying there was crew door slamming 24/7 in the area immediately adjacent.

So I agreed to the offer to moved back 20 cabins and I made sure to confirm that the move doesn't affect any other aspect of our reservations or amenities.

I do think that people should be aware that Celebrity is opting to change categories of staterooms as they 'run out' of available staterooms in the higher categories. I would not have booked Guarantee if I knew about it in advance and I will definitely keep this in mind in the future.

You're right, I forgot about that thread!! The lady who suddenly had to pay $900 more or move. Do we know the date of the sailing? I can check for other C3s, but shame on celebrity for not updating the website.. Duh, what else is new!

 

I just checked the German site and it is showing all those Deck 9 cabins as C3, so this is probably correct. There are a few available cabins a little farther back, maybe 10 cabins or so but no good C3s on any of the May sailings I checked. The good news is that the ships are so stable that there won't be much extra motion.

Waiting for further word from the agency we booked through. I got a call from someone this morning after a day of phone tag yesterday- not the same agent I booked through. They said what some here mentioned earlier, that apparently Celebrity is reclassifying the block of cabins in the fore of Deck 9 and that it does not show on any of the deckplans but if you go on to book now, it shows those cabins as what's available for 3C on that deck.

I understand that the main difference in Concierge Class is different linens, priority boarding/dining, and champagne and flowers upon arrival- that the cabin itself is the same as a regular veranda stateroom. It was the amenities AND the location of the CC cabins that enticed us to book in that class.

Having Celebrity slap a new category on a 1B state room after we booked CC feels like a bait and switch. Especially b/c this particular cabin is at the very front-no review for it but a review of the room across the hall says it is next to the crew quarters entrance and has a man overboard camera projecting from the top of the veranda.

I know there is a risk in booking Guarantee but this feels like paying to upgrade to Business class on a flight and then being assigned the seat in front of the rear restrooms and being told that since you get a free cocktail and a blanket the airline is calling it Business class.

The agent says he's going to contact Celebrity and see if we can at least be booked to farther back in this newly recategorized 1B block of cabins. I will share the outcome when we find out.

Would it be worth starting a new thread about stateroom re-categorization so others take this into consideration when booking Guarantee?

What is the cabin #? You're right, I don't see any CC cabins on the 9th floor forward, only in the aft. If you booked a CC guarantee, there is an error and you need to contact your TA ASAP. You ARE guaranteed at least a C3 cabin or higher. It is very unlikely that they'll change your cabin once assigned.

 

However, once you receive your CC cabin assignment, you can change into any other available cabin in that same class, i.e. C3, C2, etc.

 

Please come back and let us know what happens.

Hi Cathy-

The ticket says stateroom 9102 :(

It does say category C3 as well.

I have a message in to the agent that booked us. Got an out of office message- out till tomorrow, then another agent sent a message offering to look into it, but I only got their voice mail and now I think they may be gone for the day.

Trying not to get upset and let it ruin my day. I booked through this agency about 4 years ago and there were no problems.

-Lisa

I'm a little confused- I haven't sailed with Celebrity before and I haven't booked Guarantee until this cruise.

I booked Concierge Class Guarantee a few weeks ago for a May 2015 on the Solstice. I just checked our booking because I was signing up for the Cruise Critic gathering and saw we had a state room assignment.

Our travel agent said we would have at least a Concierge Class assignment and may be bumped up to Aqua.

Well, the state room is on Deck 9 at the front of the ship and is listed as only a Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom Veranda and shows as a standard state room on the deck plan. On the ticket is says our category is C3.

What's up with this?

Also I'm not excited about being in the front of the ship- I didn't consider this possibility since there were no Concierge cabins shown in the front on any of the deckplans.

Should I call Celebrity or the Travel agent? Will the assignment be changed again before we sail?

Thanks for any advice on this!

Thanks!

We already booked the ground transport with the air, so I think we're set. I think it was $25 each and there's 2 of us. Just glad to have everything taken care of at this point.

It just seemed strange that there weren't any further info after we booked...

Thanks for the info on the location of the cruise vans!

Hi!

I just booked my air travel to Seattle through Choice Air for my Celebrity cruise in May. I opted for the ground transportation to the pier from my flight, but the confirmation doesn't have any details about the shuttle or where I meet it. Nor can I find any info on the website.

Will I be getting additional info from Choice Air? Will there be signs for Celebrity Shuttle?

Thanks for any info you have on this!

did the Double Tree say how much the parking would cost you while your gone, or is it free?

Lee- I called twice just to be sure- it's free to all guests (you don't have to buy the big park'n sail package in order to park there). I would call before you book just to be sure though- since all things are subject to change.

Thanks everybody. I continued my research. Holiday Inn said they didn't have parking available and the other nearby place, Vagabond Inn didn't have very good reviews. I finally checked out Priceline for the first time and ended up getting a Doubletree room for $100! I called Doubletree before I 'named my price' on Priceline and confirmed that, yes, I would be able to use the parking while on my cruise. I'm all set and very happy with the price. I sail on Sat. 12/20.:D

Thanks for the info; I already knew about the Crown and the Doubletree, but don't feel like I need to spend $200 for a harbor view room, since I'm arriving late at night and will be checking out by Noon to go and board my ship. Also I'm traveling with platonic travel partner so we don't need the romantic champagne package.:o

Here's my specifics- driving in late on a Friday night for a Saturday cruise at the San Pedro terminal (Sapphire Princess). We're basically looking for a hotel to sleep in one night and to leave our car during the cruise. Not looking for anything particularly luxurious, just clean, comfortable and with the parking deal.

Thanks!