Straughn

There have been times when Luminae was open for lunch on port days. It is rare. Mostly, it is on days when the scheduled port arrival time is after 12 PM,  The most common port for that is San Juan where often ships don’t arrive until 3-ish. I can think of one other time, when we were delayed getting into a port, and they opened Luminae up for lunch. I have never known it to be routinely open at lunchtime, when the ship was already in a port. 

Happy to report that my solo points were updated yesterday as well. I had four cruises with missing points. All have been corrected but it took almost two weeks for it to happen. I will now be watching my points very closely after returning from a cruise.

I am boarding Constellation on Monday.  All of this is good news, especially about the Elite breakfast.  I travel solo and prefer the Elite breakfast as I don't have to search for a table while juggling my tea, and food. Is the breakfast still being held in Tuscan?

I don't eat a big breakfast so, even though I will have access to Blu, I rarely go there. The servers are always concerned that either I don't like the food and/or that I am going to starve to death if I don't eat more! Like there is a shortage of food on the ship.

Any other tidbits you have to share about the ship?

I am a long time Celebrity cruiser-with my (now deceased) husband and now as a solo. I usually book a Sky Suite as a solo and occasionally Aqua, depending on ship and/or itinerary.  Butlers in the SS are nice, but not a deciding factor in selecting a cabin. Access to the Retreat lounge/Michael’s Club and Luminae are the suite attractions.

In December, I sailed on Oceania for the first time, on Vista. I was in a Concierge cabin. I was very impressed with everything, from the service, to the food, to the staff. Once I left my cabin, everything was equal. There was no restaurant, no bar, no area (other than the interior suite lounge; I had access to the interior Concierge Lounge) was off limits. I  have  two more O cruises booked, both in Concierge. Price wise, the Concierge room on O was significantly less expensive than Aqua on Celebrity.  
 

The solo rate on O was not quite double, while the Aqua class rate (cruise only, no perks) on a comparable X cruise, was 2.5 times the  per person rate for two in a cabin. I paid the $30 per day cost to upgrade to the Premium beverage package on O. Just comparing cruise, beverage package, and Wi-Fi, I saved close to $1500 by sailing on Oceania. I have two more cruises booked on O and one more booked on Celebrity. After, that we shall see which cruise line I choose.

I have this exact same issue. How do the porters know that I am entitled to the so called “priority luggage delivery?”  I started my quest for an answer by calling Celebrity. I was rather abruptly told by the “gentleman” on the other end of the phone that all questions about this should be directed to my TA. So I emailed her and explained the issue. She responded by saying that she has forwarded my question to her travel agency’s guest relations department and they would get back to me.

In the meantime, I needed to talk to Celebrity about an issue having to do with my CC points and spoke with someone who was helpful. The nice, friendly woman listened to my question and said she would transfer me to the department who handled this issue. I spoke with another polite, humorous woman, who listened to my question (w/o interrupting me) and told me the following:

This is a very new program and, as of now, if  Premium Access is booked AFTER completing on line check in, the luggage tags and Express Pass do not update. She took all my info and confirmed that it is on my reservation  and will be reflected on my SeaPass card. For the luggage checkin, I was advised to have a copy of the Premium Access program paid order available to show the luggage porters so they can handle appropriately (we will see how that works!!)

Later yesterday,I received an email from Guest Relations at the travel agency. Basically they said the same thing, which was to have proof of the Premium Access purchase available for the porters. They also confirmed that my record shows the purchase and that it will appear on my Seapass card.

As I said, we will see. I am not overly optimistic. Others mileage may vary!

On 1/18/2024 at 5:16 PM, lv2cruisgrl said:

My husband is a musician.  We always sit in the balcony, middle section, and never in the way back.  Usually no issues then!

This is where I generally sit on most cruise ships (assuming the ship has a balcony.) In an earlier decade/century, I did a lot of community/semi professional lighting design. I also have a reasonable knowledge of sound dynamics in theatres. My experiences is that the balcony is the best place for a reasonable sound blend and to minimize any problems with lighting focus/shadows. 

@4Nathan, Thank you for the answers. The FAQ was especially helpful. One more question- Any idea how long between purchase time and when the Premium Access logo shows up on your sea pass? I purchased it three days ago, and so far it hasn’t shown up.

I read an earlier post outlining most of what was included in the pass. I have two questions:

1. It includes priority luggage handling. How do the porters know that I am entitled to this?

2. Will there be something on the boarding pass that shows I have purchased this and am entitled to priority boarding? 
 

It says there is more info in the FAQ. I have looked thru the FAQ’s and done a search, but nothing comes up about the Premium Pass.

Thanks for the assistance.

I cruised on the Vista, my first Oceania cruise, as a solo in December. I had absolutely no issues sailing as a solo. In fact, I only have positive comments on the program. They have events for solo passengers. I attended two solo cocktail events and one of two solo dinners. Sara, the ship’s hostess, did an excellent job or organizing them. Yes, most of the attendees were women, but we had good conversation. 

When is the webinar?

Things may be changing for the better, albeit slowly. My TA belongs to a large travel consortium. We had been looking for a cruise in late August or early September 2024 to the Caribbean. We were looking at Aqua class, which is ridiculously expensive at double $$, plus whatever they add on to that. She emailed me and said that she had a group on Beyond for a date that was perfect. They had just released a limited number of sky suites to the group booking and she quoted me the price for sailing solo in a S1. The price was way less than booking on the website and just above what I had hoped to spend. I grabbed it immediately. Maybe, just maybe, they are starting to rethink the solo pricing strategy.

 Marriott Renaissance on 17th St. Several restaurants within walking distance, especially the Boatyard just across the parking lot. The hotel is just across from one of the port entrances and has a (paid) shuttle. 

On 1/29/2024 at 12:58 PM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

The solos I know including me are flocking AWAY from them.

I have two Celebrity cruises booked. The first one is this March on the Constellation, out of Tampa. The second is next January, on Equinox, out of Port Canaveral (an easy drive for me). Both were booked before the massive increases in solo pricing. If the March cruise turns out to be a disappointment, which I hope it doesn’t, I may well cancel the January 2025. It isn’t just the pricing issue, it the ever increasing nickeling and diming. Heaven only knows what else will be removed or have an up charge added between now and next January. 
 

I sailed on Oceania Vista in December. Not only was it a great cruise, but the pricing was much better. I paid approximately $500 base fare, at double price, less to sail in the lowest level of Concierge on Vista. The comparable cruise, with one less night, on Celebrity, in an A2, was, as I said $500 more, without AI. On O, wi-fi and beer, wine, and champagne at lunch and dinner are included. I also got some OBC, which could only be used for shore excursions.  When I considered what the cost of the wi-fi and beverage package would be on Celebrity, the savings was significantly more than $500.
 

I am an avid knitter. I always bring two projects: an easy one that I can work on in public, and not lose count with all the “what are you making?”:questions. Second one is more complicated and best worked on in my cabin or on my balcony.

On 12/31/2023 at 6:47 AM, cublet said:

Hello,

 

I think you are crediting the marking team with too much intelligence to dream-up (unfair) ways of extracting more money from solo cruisers. I think they dream-up clever ideas, apply it to couples, and don't even think about solo cruises. When challenged, they have to say something along the lines of 'Of course that's what is intended' and not 'Oh dear, we didn't think of that'.

 

Re LHB & family cruising: I'm sure someone somewhere has got the number of 'families per berth' for US cruisers. I think that the couples with kiddos booking a cruise will be doing so more as a 'celebratory' cruise than one of a flow of bookings and so after a while the pool of 'celebrants' will become exhausted whereas us seasoned regular cruisers will book, book and book aqain.

 

Possible good news for anyone (in the UK) that missed it, Jo Rzymowska has joined Hays Travel as a non-executive director.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

It isn't the marketing team figuring this out.  It is the bean counters, number crunchers, cost benefit analysts, aka the accountants, who are computing the numbers. The marketing team's job is to spin it in the best possible way.

3 hours ago, Diav said:

There was such a glare in Luminae but here goes

$19 for a glass of J Lohr Riverstone chardonnay. You have to be kidding. This belongs on the classic package at $9/glass (maybe).

Sometimes I think Celebrity can’t see the forest for the tree. Which of the following would generate more revenue:

A  couple in a balcony cabin who don’t drink, don’t gamble, doesn’t buy anything in the shops, and just maybe go to one specialty dinner.

OR-

A solo in an interior cabin, who is already paying a double rate, who also buys the premium drink package, the wi-fi, takes a tour or two, goes to specialty dining, and maybe gambles.

Celebrity knows full well who spends more $$, by age range, cabin choice, and various other demographics. They can’t discriminate against a couple who don’t spend anything on board, so they are using the current way of charging for a solo passenger cabin to make up what they perceive as lost revenue, by not having two in a cabin.

Don’ t be surprised if the next thing they implement is a minimum per passenger on board spend requirement (😄). I am a sure, if there was a way to legally do that, they would.

I think there is another factor involved in the solo cabin pricing. That is what the number crunchers perceive as lost shipboard/ancillary revenue. If there is only one person in the cabin, that person will only book for one in a specialty restaurant, only book a tour for one, only book one person at a wine tasting, only gamble for one etc. IMO, this over the top solo pricing is to recoup some of what Celebrity thinks is lost revenue from solo passengers. And, as many of us have cruised before, we may not book anything extra. I often don’t, especially in the Caribbean, where I have been many times. If I want to get off the ship, I just walk around as I don’t need a tour. 
 

LHB has said that she wants to focus on making Celebrity a cruise line for families. Her target market is in the 30-50 age range who, whether traveling as a couple or with kiddos, are likely to spend $$ on the ship. Long time Celebrity cruisers and solos don’t spend as much money as new cruisers do.

Try sailing solo and asking for a table for one in a specialty restaurant. There is an assumption that a solo  wants to be seated with others. This is an issue on all cruise lines, not just O. Table for one in the MDR was never a problem.

When I made my reservations, at 60 days out, I was able to secure two solo and two shared tables. When I received my dining confirmation card, all were shared tables. I was politely told that “most solos want to dine with others.” I politely told that person that “I am not most solos.”   I was able to get the one reservation that truly mattered  switch to a solo table by a very nice woman at the reservations desk. She was unable to change the other three. Interestingly, of the remaining  three, I was offered a choice of a solo table or a shared table twice and ended up sharing a table in Ember.

I am on Vista now. Current captain is Luca Manzi

I haven’t cruised on Oceania yet. That will not be true in a few days as my first cruise is Friday.

My comment is about how to get from London to Southampton. I sailed from there last year. It is important to know that I was a “mature” lady traveling solo.I asked similar questions about the best way to get from London to Southampton.  Since I was solo and simply could not manage luggage on the train, I ended up taking the National Express Coach from the Victoria Coach Station to Southampton. I enjoyed the ride thru the outskirts of London and thru the countryside.  The bus was very clean (including the bathroom),  very comfortable, and about  a 90 minute ride. I went down a couple of days ahead of sailing as I wanted to go to Stonehenge and explore the town of Southampton. The bus drops off in town, and it is a very short cab ride to the port. 

I booked cruise only for my Connie cruise in March. When I compared the prices of AI to cruise only with one classic beverage package and one Wi-Fi added, the AI was almost $800 more. I am glad I went with cruise only as the Black Friday specials are excellent. I got both the Premium Beverage Package and Premium Wi- Fi for $835, including gratuities. There have been times when adding AI was a better deal, but it is usually by on a few $$. It pays to do a cost comparison. 

@ILgirl, Where did you learn that solos would no longer be charged for a second beverage package if we select AI? 

10 minutes ago, DrHemlock said:

 

Yes, and that's definitely what you want to do.  Like any shoreside dive, their "bar pour" tends to be affordable but not so wonderful.  For a buck or two more, you can have Hendrick's or Maker's or mostly whatever brand you want.

And it is definitely what I will do. Makers, Woodford, or Knob Creek would be my choices.

Newbie question here- during Happy Hour, can I order a Manhattan or an Old Fashion hand specify the bourbon used? Or do I  get whatever the “bar house bourbon” is? Thanks.

If you use a fake person, with the idea of having him/her being a no show on embarkation, keep in mind you will have to check them in. This means an address, a passport # and all the other info required for check in.