Jobeth66

We're on the Carnival Pride out of Tampa next Sunday - does anyone know if all 3 terminals at Tampa have CBP facial recognition technology for debarkation? Thanks!

It's not that it's 'deal breaking', it's that it's a degradation of a product. These changes were "announced" (and I used "announced in quotes because they HAVEN'T been 'announced', they've been discovered and disseminated by fellow passengers - I have yet to get anything from X about these changes) after I hit final payment for my April cruise. I booked Concierge - and one of the reasons I did so was for the expanded RS menu, ,which was hyped as a perk. Well, it's no longer a perk, so I'm not getting the product I paid for. One of the main reasons I've booked X in the past IS the OVC, because their buffet cannot be beat, and we use it pretty frequently, including for dinner service. That's also now a thing of the past, which is disappointing. Is $12 gong to break me? Nope. But they whys and wherefores and how this was accomplished have left a bad impression on me, and that is what's going to affect my decision whether or not to continue to book Celebrity, and what cabin type I book if I do. Are you also among those that would have no problem if X starts charging a $20 cover for the entertainment, shows, piano bar, comedians, etc? With the performers putting out tip jars at the various venues? Charging $20 per child for the kids club? How about $50/day for the pool? If not, why not? I also wonder if this means tips are going to drop. When we ordered room service in the past, the person delivering would generally get $5 from me, per day. Now they'll get whatever Celebrity shares with them from the fee + gratuity.

I like the way you think. I think we're on the same Reflection cruise in April. I'll probably still eat in the OVC more often than not. You'll probably see me there (though you won't know it! 🙂 ) And my guy is from Utica/Syracuse, but we just moved down to Florida last year. Sorry about the Bills. 🙂

special_needs@rccl.com They're usually very responsive!

Maybe because there's nothing on those menus that everyone likes? Or can eat? I have food allergies, and my husband will not eat mushrooms, seafood, or anything with a cream sauce. And neither of us wants to get dressed up and spend hours eating dinner every night of vacation. That's just not relaxing or enjoyable for us. OVC is great for those of us with dietary restrictions. I can't do a chef's tasting without messing up the intended experience, so I don't. I can do the grill-to-order station in the OVC with zero problem, so I do (or did). Same with the Asian station. Sometimes simple is best. Heck, keep the Mast Grille open and let us get burgers and hot dogs for dinner if we want. So, that's why. Plus, I don't want to go on a cruise and spend $1000 on specialty restaurants for the week when my meals being included is part of my vacation planning.

Exactly. As someone with significant - and potentially fatal - food allergies, being able to get non-seafood choices and sometimes vegetarian choices (that aren't pasta or wilted lettuce) is important to me. The stir-fry station was fantastic for that, as was the Indian station. Carved meats are good because I don't have to worry about what might be in a sauce or gravy. I let the special needs department know my concerns, and they've always been really great about making sure I knew what was safe for me to have. But there are some things I never have to worry about, and having those as options really makes a huge difference in the quality of my vacation. For my husband, who doesn't eat seafood at all and for whom a simple meal is best (and who doesn't WANT to be served every night or sit for 2 hours for his dinner more than maybe once on a cruise) it's absolutely an issue. I mean, I suppose some people would be happy if the exact same menu was 'available' in the MDR every night with absolutely no variation because hey, it's 'available', and if you don't want to eat banquet grilled chicken and mac & cheese every night, you can always go to a pay venue for an upcharge, right? Oh, and as someone mentioned earlier, good luck getting a reservation. And the only specialty restaurant that really works for us is the Tuscan Grille. And maybe the Lawn Club Grille on ships that have that. So most of those other restaurants are simply out as options for us, pay or otherwise. I'm guessing a lot of passengers would be upset if the only choice for breakfast & lunch was the OVC, no MDR, no Blu, no Luminae, no room service - and only limited options for free for dinner in the evening, but lots that you can pay for! After all, you're on a cruise! So just enjoy.

The MDR is dead at lunch, but I don't see you advocating for closing it at lunch and forcing people to pay venues or the OVC for that time, why is that? In fact, all specialty restaurants including Blu and Luminae should be closed except for dinner, since so few people eat there except at dinner, and there should be no room service available - everyone should have to have breakfast and lunch in the OVC or at Mast Grill. And maybe on port days, the OVC should be closed for lunch as well, since so few people are on the ship. Just leave the grill and pizza open, with a salad bar maybe. Plenty of options. I'm not loyal to any one line, so no, if X cuts too much, I'll just move to a different line, and if that doesn't work, I'll move to a different line. And if none of that works, I'll find another way to spend my vacation dollars. But for you to look at what was available in that video and say 'looks good to me' while not being the target audience since you don't partake of that venue, is a little disingenuous. We do, for various reasons. Especially on port days. So maybe X should do away with dress code as well, so that people who have been told 'Ewww, shorts - OVC ONLY!!' will not be turned away when the MDR is the only place to eat. And it's not about waste - because a lot of what is available is likely going to waste. It's about cheapening a product - and especially degrading it after some of us have already passed our final payment dates. Our money is already spent on a product that isn't what was sold to us. I'm sure you'd be ok if you ordered a $150k Mercedes from your dealership and when they called you and told you that your car was in, it was instead a $60k model. It still drives, it's still a Mercedes, it's still comfortable, it gets you from place to place, and for a lot of people it would be more than adequate. Who cares if you already spent $150k, they just changed the terms but what you got is still good enough, so you would accept it and be happy, right?

Ship: Reflection Length of Cruise: 7 Nights Cruise Sail Date: 04/02/23 Date email offer received: 01/17/23 Captain’s Club Tier: Elite Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Celebrity Current Cabin: Concierge Veranda 1132 Bid? Yes/No: No General Comments (offer details, etc.) Not bidding as ranges are crazy. Min/max bids: Royal Suite: $3,000-$15,000 Signature Suite: $2,500 - $12,500 Celebrity Suite $1,500 - $7.500 Sky Suite $800 - $4,000 Aqua Class $100-500 (Note that AQ is showing sold out on this sailing)

My April Reflection is showing the $9.95+ 18% charge for anything except Continental breakfast.

Agreed on all. And cutting back choices in the MDR (like getting rid of the every day options) means I'd be /more/ likely to eat in the buffet for dinner, not less.

Yeah - it was always listed as a perk, and for Aqua/Concierge, not only a perk but an expanded room service menu and exhortations to tuck into eggs on your balcony, all included! It's one of the things that we look forward to. I have dietary restrictions due to allergies, and my husband prefers to eat simply. No sauces, no rich gravies, no fancy preparations. He's happy with a steak or a burger or a piece of grilled chicken every night. There are things in the MDR that not only won't we eat, but I /can't/ eat, neither of us wants to take 2 hours for a meal, and we much prefer to grab food in the buffet for a quick dinner and then go about our evening. In shorts and flip flops. That's how we cruise. We don't want to get dressed up for dinner every night. This impacts how we vacation, and takes away a large part of why we enjoy cruising. Instead of doing pans full of cheaply prepared foods in the OVC, just have the grill station/Asian station/pasta stations open along with some pre-prepared items, then you actually DO minimize waste, if that's the true concern. You'd only be cooking what was ordered, not throwing away food that was cooked and not eaten. Leave the Mast Grill open until 10 for burgers/hot dogs. What they're doing is forcing many of us to consider other options for our vacation dollars. And we're not alone. I realize they couldn't care less about us, but it's a shame that they want to reduce the quality of their product and offerings. and I realize that a lot of people don't care because they don't use those services - but I'd be just as upset if cruise lines got rid of the kids clubs and arcades and teen clubs and splash pads, etc. Even though I don't use those. would all of those who never eat at the buffet or use room service be just as blase if X started charging $9.95 to see the show? $15 cover for the comedian? $20/day for the kids club. $5 per towel. $5/hour for a lounger and umbrella by the pool. $10/day for pool access. $30 cover at a night club or piano bar. Tip jars for the performers. At some point, we'll hit on something that /they/ would be upset about losing as a 'freebie', and then, I'm sure, it'll be different.

Oops, that's on me. For some reason I was thinking Miami and not Fort Lauderdale - and I'm on the Reflection on 4/2. You'd think I'd know better. [Emily Latella] Nevermind [/Emily Latella]

I'm guessing it was an error and is going to be clawed back - there are currently no 6-9 day cruises searchable for Miami departures.

And I just received a call from the Executive Office in response to my email (and I did not put my booking number, Captain's Club number or phone number in my email, which was sent from a different account than I use for my Celebrity bookings, so someone is taking the time to look customers up). She was very cordial but also stressed that they are just following industry changes, wherein I explained that I understand, but they are making changes that are excessive compared with their competitors, and that the changes are not being communicated appropriately. I found out about these changes on CC / social media - I never received any notification from X about these developments. I also pointed out that the new fees are counter to what has been advertised, and amounts to a degrading of the product and the experience. I also pointed out that the changes in Ocean View aren't going to prevent food waste, but that keeping the cook-to-order stations would do so. I doubt that will go anywhere, but I made it a point. I'm sure that customer feedback is being taken into consideration, we'll see if it makes any difference. Keep making calls/sending emails. They are listening.

Ah, but did they do so after you had already ordered and paid for it, and then said 'hey, by the way, we raised the price after you paid for yours, so you owe us an extra $2 or else give us the sandwich back and we're going to keep the money you've already paid as well?' What would your response be in that scenario? After all, it's only $2, right?

I would argue, then, that they are going about preventing waste in the wrong manner. If the goal is TRULY to cut back on food waste, then making catering pans full of lasagne and chicken parm and other cheap foods is not going to do it, but having multiple cook-to-order stations /will/ in fact, prevent food waste. If the grill station is open, and they are only grilling to order, then there isn't a pan of already prepared meat sitting there with no one eating it - anything that isn't ordered goes back to the main fridge. Ditto for the Asian stir-fry and Italian Pasta stations. Having a few cheaply-prepared items available in bulk doesn't prevent food waste. My guess is that any explanation from the line that argues 'food waste' is disingenuous. It's cost-cutting, pure and simple. They should just come out and say it - 'we don't think you deserve the quality and choice you've previously received when you spend thousands of dollars on a holiday with us'.

I get that for 20 hours a day. But for the 4 hours of breakfast service, I don't - many people are going to order at least coffee even if they don't order food. I guess there is a certain percentage who are going to say 'well,, if I have to go to the buffet or MDR for breakfast anyway, I might as well wait for coffee',, but my guess is that number is not going to be significant - many will get an initial pot of coffee while waking up and then just get more when they go for breakfast. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that's how it'll be for us - hubby will want coffee before he goes out into the world, and I like my tea in the morning - so we'll get that while we are getting ready to go to breakfast. I can't imagine we'll be the exception.

Here's something I don't understand, if it's all about staffing for service (at least as far as breakfast goes). It's free for me to get a bagel, some cereal & fruit, some yogurt and a pot of coffee and tea. No charge. But if I want two fried eggs and a piece of toast, suddenly there's a service component that doesn't exist /without/ the eggs being on the plate? It still requires the kitchen staff to plate and cover. It still requires someone to deliver. It still requires someone to pick up the plates when I'm done. The amount of effort is no different.

Or people who would have ordered room service will now just carry more stuff down from the buffet and leave dishes all over, instead of room service knowing they delivered to a cabin and therefore expecting to go back and pick them up.

Yep - charge is showing up for my April Reflection sailing - not happy about that. Hubby only drinks coffee in the morning and that's still free, but I like to get my eggs & toast and eat on the balcony. We're in Concierge (and we had RS breakfast every morning for my October cruise on the Summit in Concierge) it was something I looked forward to. I'm not likely to pay $11/day just for 2 fried eggs and toast, I'll just go up to the buffet and get it myself. But if I do, there won't be an extra tip - which was usually $3-5 for the person who delivered it. Maybe the Concierge should deliver and cut the fee to Concierge class as well. I wonder what's going to be next to go for-fee. Very disappointing.

Will do!!

good to know - I knew it was the difference between the 2 packages, but I want to upgrade pre-cruise rather than doing it once we board, I just don't want to even think about it. I think I'm Elite in Captain's Club, but I honestly never pay attention to that stuff. I didn't even think about the discount. Thank you!

Whether you want to share or not, the tables are close enough together that you may as well be sharing. 🙂

Thanks for this. My emailed receipt has thec"LOCLXALLINC" code, just have to wait for it to show up on the site. Is there a way to upgrade from Classic to Premium drinks prior to boarding?

Their booking system is definitely crazy. I tried too book online this morning and couldn't get it to go through because they pre-filled my phone number in their form, and it didn't like the dashes that /their/ form added, so I couldn't proceed. So I called and booked through Celebrity directly, and the person I spoke with got me a better deal than I found online, which was awesome. However, I just went to my 'manage my cruise' section and the price of the cruise on the site is double what's on my invoice, and none of the package items are there (I chose AI). It's frustrating, but I'm not going to stress about it until final payment is due. I'll keep an eye on it until then.