publicpersona

There's a party goin' on right here (on Lighthouse beach, actually).A celebration to last throughout the years (or more realistically, from 9-11 PM I think).

That was meant to be an illustration. I was not asserting any specific price was available. That said, WOTS is $1123 for a balcony in the distant future. Also, inside for $1281 this summer (8/27). But don't get me wrong .. I'm with you. My threshold for booking is somewhere between $75/$100 nt. So no Royal cruises currently on the books.

Watching it now. How long was the webinar?

First let me stipulate that MSC is far and away a better value in mass market cruising. I am also someone with 60+ Royal/Celebrity cruises who is now taking the occasional cruise on MSC just because of that value. But there's something else at work here with cruise pricing. Royal uses dynamic pricing with very intelligent retail optimization for hospitality software. This can result is very bizarre pricing. Wonder inside today is $2481 but it could be $1200 next week, or $3800. MSC does the same, though. I booked MSC Seaside 6/8 balcony 3 nt for $550 (w. drinks and wifi) a few days ago, then watched it go up to about $1000, and then back down to $679. Hmmm .. was it the CDC health inspection impact on demand? Maybe. Bottom line is that it pays to watch pricing trends over time before booking.

You certain about that? There is a specific subscription dialog for the Power Up Points program, though I'm sure getting added to that also gets you all the marketing email as well. But here's the thing .. I've been getting Celebrity marketing emails (often twice a day) for 15 years, and also have explicitly subscribed to PUP emails many times. Yet, I have never ever received a PUP email. Many on this thread attest to that .. despite subscribing, no PUP emails ever. If it weren't for this thread ..

I'd like to find the bar on a Celebrity ship that is pouring $40-$100/bottle champagne by the glass. Not saying it didn't happen, but I've never seen anything on a wine list like that.

Did they tell you or provide a way to look at actual prices for the sailings? I am reluctant to submit a request to book a cruise and to get a call back with “confirmation” with no mention of price. FWIW, in terms of figuring out the basis of the offer, I was a high level in MGM’s club years ago but not because I’d ever stepped foot in any of their casinos but because I status matched RC Diamond Plus.

Before commenting, I had searched for exactly that but went to the thread that was most recent (this one). Comments in the other thread say these offers are based in past casino spend, but I feel pretty confident I didn’t get offered 60% off because I laundered $40 OBN through a slot machine four years ago. Then again, maybe so since others have reported resulting cruise fare is close to or more than anyone can book on the website.

There is a link in the email to fill out a form to request someone call you to sell you the cruise. I think we are (almost) all here in this thread to see if we can find out more specifics without having to express interest and get a phone call.

So you called in and they confirmed you would receive 60% off one of these cruises, even though you’ve had minimal casino spend?

OK, so if you’ve ever used your cruise card in the casino, you are Pearl. And from the one data point above, we might assume Pearl get 10% off non-discounted and refundable fares.

Are you sure it was asking for the number? The BCC Member field on the form has Yes/No in the dropdown.

I just received the email as well citing my tier as Pearl. My gaming experience on any cruise has been limited to using the loyalty match play coupons and calling it a day. I therefore get the feeling this type of email was marketing to everyone, BCC or not. Nevertheless, if anyone thinks this could result in a discounted cruise without obligation on my part, I'll look into. Like @TMLAalum, I would prefer to see the cruises and prices without having a phone call about it.

This is true but keep expectations realistic. The low-tier package wines are so generic, they are described only as being "a variety of vintages from around the world" which means it will have been produced in some year and from grapes grown somewhere on this planet. Often these are bulk purchase wines that are $7 or less a bottle in the grocery store, and about $3/bottle when purchased in large quantity. The upgraded tier are better wines and very drinkable, but still ones that are in the $8-$11/bottle grocery store range. You are simply not going to get a $28/bottle wine on either package. And last caveat .. very often, the wine you get will bear some resemblance to what you ordered, but influenced by "what's open". The bar staff really don't appreciate the difference between a New Zealand and Oregan sauvignon blanc, for example.

To be clear, you mean the upgrade from Bella to Fantastica gets that benefit.

I don't doubt that, but the math gets kinda weird. The deposit is already around 50% of the cruise fare, so cancelling after 8/8/23 really means no refund at all already. I was expecting this would be a non-refundable fare so not surprised at that .. just trying to make sense of the details at that link. I've since done several dummy bookings and see that those details are the same regardless of other particulars of the booking.

About to pull the trigger on another cruise and want to make really sure I understand the cancellation penalties. In the pricing details, it shows a non-refundable resident special offer. That seems clear. But when I click on the Cancellation Fees link for details, it says nothing about any cancellation fee if cancelled prior to July 24. Which do I trust (OK, obvious answer - trust the one that does Celebrity the most good)?

Looks like you got some answers from Pinnacles. I'm a mere Diamond Plus that is just halfway to Pinnacle. There was no special lunch or breakfast that included Diamond Plus. The only event we were invited to was to come to the theatre and drink as many mimosas and proseccos that you could down in 45 minutes. I love a challenge. Oh yeah, they had officers on stage too.

It was OK for breakfast and lunch. Some reduction in choices, but acceptable. Surprisingly hard to get pizza. They have it, but bring out just one or two at a time. I did not experience dinner there.

This could easily vary with different sailings/different itineraries, but I never saw any signs indicating Bamboo was adults only, and it always had kids in it. If you do an image search for "Meraviglia Bamboo pool" you'll see many images of the pool with kids in it and none showing any signs indicating adults only. As I said, this would be a great pool to make adults only, but it never has been designated such that I can find.

I've got no data other than personal experience to support this, but it seems fairly clear that most people with drink packages "optimize" the value of the package on the first 1-3 days before settling into a more moderate consumption pattern. Heck, on debarkation day of an 8-nt I just finished, I said to myself "No, I really don't need a bellini this morning". Royal knows this, and doesn't sell packages on short cruises.

Confirming as correct, as recently as last week aboard Jewel. Also confirming that each D+ two days can be done one day at a time. Schedule your time spanning days, and keeping in mind in U.S. ports where you have cell service for hotspotting. Re discussion of hotspotting off a single device. You can't hotspot wi-fi to wi-fi on an iOS device natively, I have no knowledge of Android devices.

Same story here. I've signed up many times and never get any PUP email. Yet, today I'm sure I'll receive multiple emails frantically telling me that the once in a lifetime "Book It" sale is ending and I better rush to book, and also the email tomorrow with Great News! about how it got extended. And then another one in a few days with the same once in a lifetime sale.

The reason they are giving for this cutback is "sustainability." I suppose that they are single-handedly going to save the planet by not emptying my trashcan but once a day. That said, I didn't have much of an issue with it once the stateroom attendant started leaving extra towels. It does complicate things that require brief interaction with the attendant such as handing in a bag o' laundry for the boil and bake. As others have reported, our attendant lowered his voice and told us none of them liked this. He said the number of staterooms he covers haven't changed, so it really doesn't make any sense. I suppose he knows that the other shoe may soon drop when nearly half of them are sent home.

Yes, I wasn't saying this was specific to Jewel. As another comment here said, it had typically been 1 PM pre-COVID, but I can remember when 12 PM was common. During the post-pandemic restart, ships sailed under capacity so it isn't fair to compare, but I did several sailings where the rooms were ready to those who first boarded at 10:30 or so. Then there was the hybrid which was that even though not all rooms were ready, it was OK to drop off carry-ons and put into the closet and lock the door.