markeb

There were advantages to the visitor card at one time. Discounts on Thames cruises, for instance. And I believe you have to buy the visitor card overseas. TFL generally does a great job of laying those out. Yes, I remember the Rosetta Stone. But I really remember Rachel Tucker in Come From Away. And wandering aimlessly through Fortnum & Mason. Or the amazing meal at Benares. I have a vague mental image of glass cases full of swords and pikes at the White Tower. But I can vividly recall a cask conditioned ale at the Burlington Arms. None of which are in that list of “must sees” in London!

I read this much earlier today, and didn't catch all of it. My original thought was that they'd learned from the mandatory AI and were only charging people who wanted room service a room service fee. But the more the day has gone on, I've read comments, and I've thought a bit, I view this as a symptom of a company that can't make up it's mind. Nickle and diming is a symptom. We can argue that Celebrity is really NOT a premium cruise line, but it's tried to position itself there. In business terms, its strategy was to differentiate itself from others on quality and service, and have a value proposition really aimed at customer service/customer intimacy. Provide everything, do it well, charge accordingly. Do AI and proudly charge for it. Be Nordstrom. With this, we're back to concentrating on costs. I'm stuck thinking that Celebrity has got itself stuck in no man's land. Premium products can charge premium prices and basically to heck with those who don't want to play; their niche is those who will pay. But trying to have it both ways is historically impossible. $11.74 * 6 (no room service last day, presumably) is $70.45/cabin. If you go half as many people doing room service lunch or dinner in a non-suite (which I suspect is high), that's $105.67 for six days! Just raise the cruise fare $110/person/cruise and bury the cost. Or honestly go up more to fund the product that matches the price. For close end cruises, I'm pretty sure the cost of fuel allows them to trigger the surcharge, which they've avoided. But that's what this is. Trying to be Walmart and Nordstrom at the same time never works. I don't independently own RCG stock outside of mutual funds (if there). X isn't an independent corporate entity, but if it was, and I owned their stock, this and similar recent actions would have me questioning why (I'm talking beyond shareholder benefits for cruising). Do what you do well. Those who want it will pay for it. You just need to have the analysis that enough customers will pay for it to come out ahead...

Start here https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/ That's the visitor information site for Transport for London. It will give you a great overview of public transportation in London, and will greatly simplify your questions. An Oyster Card is London's version of a contactless transit card. You can buy them in London, or order a visitor version for delivery to the US (all explained on the web page). There are some advantages to the visitor card that could change but are on TFL's really excellent web page! You can also load a pass on the card, although there's a daily cap on the Tube. More later... London Pass is a commercial tourist pass that includes admission to various attractions. More info here https://londonpass.com/en-us You really have to look at the attractions and their prices and any additional benefits, such as preregistering for attractions to determine if the pass is worth it. Honestly, it rarely is because you would never stop in order to maximize value. But look at the web page. Before you over plan, 4 days is great, but you'll scratch the surface at best. Really look at what you want to see and do, and where those attractions are. Allow for a nice meal, a pub break, a West End show, etc. Those aren't going to be on the pass. You CANNOT see London in 4 days, including presumably your first jet lagged day! Please don't try. It's a great city to experience. You may not remember the Rosetta Stone, but you'll probably talk forever about seeing Hamilton in the West End, or the amazing Indian meal you had in Mayfair. Back to the Oyster card and the Tube. For Americans, I'd probably still recommend pre-ordering a Visitor Oyster Card. You can ride the Tube with a contactless credit card or Apple/Google Pay. We are technologically stupid in the US when it comes to credit cards, and I really worry about any specific contactless card working like it's supposed to. I haven't tried Apple Pay on the Tube. It was workable but clunky in Singapore. The Oyster Card "always" works. Where are you staying? That really impacts your first day transportation. Lots of options, depending on location of hotel and amount of luggage. With a hotel selection, there are London based posters who can recommend travel via Tube, Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line, or the National Express Bus. But it boils down to location, location, location... And under no circumstances do you want a rental car in London!!!! Between the congestion zone charges and parking, it would just be a money sink! Edit: If you ride the bus and Tube with a contactless card, each traveler needs their own card! Ditto for Oyster Cards, but if you both have the "same" credit card, same number, etc., it will likely read as the same person entering twice. Again, a reason to look seriously at a Visitor Oyster Card as a first timer. It just works...

I would call. The OP has a different code for Retreat than I've seen before. RETREATBO75. Is that a new master code for Retreat? I don't know what's included under that code. But they normally list the components separately. OP, you understandably cut off the pricing information, but is there a separate charge to the left of the Gratuities? If so, I'm reasonably confident you don't have the standard Retreat package with drinks, Wi-Fi, and gratuities in the price. If you just booked that, it's a good time to get on the phone and get what you want. But odds are the fare will go up...

I only have an "n" of 1 here... On our Equinox cruise in August, our butler restocked water constantly, Diet Coke when needed, and offered, unprompted, to bring wine with our afternoon cheese snacks. Didn't ask for more than that. DW doesn't do cocktails, and I'd prefer to have one at the bar anyway, but she did bring a Pinot Noir (Kendall-Jackson Reserve, I think) pretty much every afternoon for the cruise. It was a nice service that I really wasn't expecting. Kind of surprised by the different experiences here!

Though I'd close the loop. We're home from Honolulu. As is almost inevitable, we only hit a couple of restaurant recommendations. I'd made reservations for Michel's before flying over and had a wonderful meal. Word of advice to other travelers: make reservations early, and book dinner early (with caveats)! We normally eat later, and took an 8:30 slot. The sunset was a little before 6:00, so it was dark at Michel's. My wife had a great view of Honolulu lit up, and we still enjoyed dinner. The caveat from our waiter is they you trade ambience for scenery early. Their busiest times are early dining around sunset, and the place can apparently get packed, and noisy (and probably our wonderful open window view would have been full of people crowding over to take sunset photos...). They offer a tasting menu, but we went ala carte. I had their lobster bisque and lamb chops. She had French onion soup and salmon. Both were excellent. They have an extensive by the bottle wine list; the by the glass was good, and the server's recommendations were good. Turns out we were only a block from Noi Thai. I could have eaten every meal there, but I wouldn't have fit in the seat on the plane home! It looks like nothing on the outside. It's on the third floor of the Royal Hawaiian Center. Navigate through the lines of people waiting to be seated at the Cheesecake Factory on the first floor, up two escalators, and there they are. We made reservations (OpenTable) the day before, which was a good plan. I had their Thai basil chicken (ground chicken with spices and basil with steamed rice) and she had their pineapple fried rice, which is served in a carved out pineapple boat. Both were incredible, and I'd highly recommend them to anyone! Beyond that, hitting a lot of other places proved optimistic! We did grab pizza and beer at Maui Brewing Company (good pizza and beer, but they don't brew beer there) and Waikiki Brewing Company (not as good pizza, good beer brewed onsite). Caught our sunsets beachside at the Hale Koa's bar on Fort Derussy, so we didn't make House Without a Key. Next trip... Had a great time! Landed in Dulles to 29 degrees F...

I would look at all of them, but you'll be doing the equivalent of a cruise ship excursion if you try to visit all of them in a week. I'd visit either Venice or Florence (Florence if you want to go to Tuscany), and Rome, But all three becomes a bad version of "If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium"!

If you've never been to Europe, and always wanted to go to Italy, then I'd agree with the previous recommendations. Extend the land time as much as possible, but pick a couple of places in Tuscany you really want to visit before spending time in Rome. Most of Italy isn't near a cruise port... In some ways, the Greek Islands may be the best cruise destinations, at least for day visits. We've cruised Northern Europe twice, and that's generally also a good cruise destination. In both cases there's a lot to do near the cruise ports. Florence, Paris, London, Berlin, etc., really need longer visits and are quite a ways from the cruises ports.

Quick Google search: Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska. Plenty of others. Pretty much always allowed for religious observances. Otherwise ordinarily a parent, guardian, or maybe a grandparent in a private home. Not your kid’s fifty best friends. Edit: Virginia apparently allows you to provide it in your home if THEIR parent is with them. Taxed by VABC, of course!

It was a long time ago, and we really didn't know where we were going (pre-internet). At the time, you entered Ephesus through some sort of gate into a set of non descript ruins. Then you went around a curve, and THIS!. I believe that's the "library", which was a fascinating story unto itself... To the OP, we're all different, but I can't imagine traveling around the world to one of the most ancient sites on earth, amazingly cared for and preserved, and NOT going to Ephesus. And the "weaving arts" and "carpet presentation" is a sales pitch. Think timeshare. The "presentations" are pushing sales. And I'm sure the winery will explain their delivery program to your ship, or there will be a nice cargo bay under the bus to fit cases of wine...

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Post it as a reply. There's no private message feature on CC. You can tag them in your reply and they'll be notified you mentioned them (type "@" and their screen name).

It's a driver's license that also serves as proof of citizenship for US citizens. They're only issued (currently) by 5 states along the Canadian border. Michigan Minnesota New York Vermont Washington

That's what people don't get when they want to use the USB outlets, or bring on a powerstrip with a 1A USB outlet, etc. Hotels, and now cruise ships, invested in USB charging so long ago that the outlets are all but obsolete. And USB A/C/PD bricks are SOOOO inexpensive today!

My old eyes are having a hard time reading your meter! When I enlarge it to read, it gets blurry. What were the readings?

Absolutely! No way on earth I'm waiting on my devices to charge from a USB-A outlet!

There are parts of this thread I find incredibly fascinating... From the supplier's (Celebrity) standpoint, the Captain's Club isn't a rewards program. It's a customer retention program. Provide a goal and make the perceived cost of switching high enough, and your customers will return to achieve the goal. It's generally cheaper to retain customers than to acquire new ones. But you want to retain customers with the greatest lifetime value. I hate to break it to you, but the folks at the higher tiers who don't stay in suites, don't buy drink packages, count on drinks at the Elite events, don't pay for ship's excursions, don't pay for Wi-Fi, don't buy photo packages, etc., are not high margin customers. They extracted the value from you on your way to Elite. And yes, we're Elite (thanks to the much maligned relationship with the Captain's Club), but we've largely paid for Aqua or Retreat with drinks and Wi-Fi and do sometimes go on ship's excursions (we've outgrown the photos like everyone else). And there are higher tier members on this board who do the same. I'm sure they have the data to know all of that. About members collectively. And each of us as an individual. And no elite drinks on the first night is spelled out in the terms and conditions. Along with the option to change the program at any time.

I'd argue there's no real difference between the two in reality. If DH regularly wears a jacket because he enjoys it, he'll be fine, and he'll see others wearing jackets. If he doesn't normally wear a jacket and feels he has to, he won't see anyone else wearing one. Has nothing to do with how many men are actually wearing jackets. It's a basic concept of confirmation bias and goes a long ways to explaining why people on this board on the same ship at the same time remember totally different dress patterns. You observe and give more weight to information that confirms your expectations. Part of being human. Tell DH to do him and be comfortable.

Thanks, Jim. I think we'll switch to 6. That overhang, especially for Alaska, is a little scary... And most of the Sky Suites are on 6, with Luminae and the Retreat Lounge on 4. The deck plan is apparently wrong for that sailing; Celebrity is offering me 6115 as an S1 and the plan says it's an S2. I'll check with the TA. Any experience with that bank of cabins?

@Jim_IainWould you do it again? Or would you look on the sixth deck? TA came back with this one today, and we're in it for now. I kind of like higher decks in general just don't know the M class. Thanks!

$13 for Blanton's isn't bad. $15 for Whistlepig is interesting. I know they're distilling and aging at least some of their own rye, but they were pretty notorious for using MGP. Not unique to them, but...

Price for a neat pour? 😃 It's kind of weird. In theory, unless there's something unique in Florida, land-based Disney would get its whisk(e)y from a Florida distributor and Disney Cruises would be able to buy from the distiller as an exporter. If Disney also buys export for its offshore properties, that would give them a leg up. X didn't have those even without supply chain issues. THAT I absolutely agree is on X (and probably RCG). Not switching to Disney just for the booze selection, but that's a nice selection...

Definitely believe you! Just trying to remember the flow at check in. You go into the Retreat reception, have a seat, check in, then put your bags through the screener before going to the ship. At least that's more or less what I remember. Or do they screen your bags on your way into the reception area? Either way, odds are the person screening the bags was screening some other cruise line yesterday. And I don't think they work for Celebrity, so it would have to be a Celebrity (RCG; pretty sure they just change polos between ships...) to say it's OK. Although I'd hope the screening folks would be briefed that 2 per person is OK for this ship!

I searched the cabin thread and this one doesn't show up. It's an S1 just forward of the elevators for a SB Alaska cruise in 2024. Curious if anyone has stayed in this cabin and your thoughts. It's right below the pool deck, but it also looks larger than a lot of other S1's. Thanks!

Same in August on Equinox.