bigbenboys

Depends on what you see as the purpose of the Elite Hour. You are less likely to go if you see it as a way to get free drinks. You are more likely to go if you see it as an opportunity to meet old friends and new in a comfortable place. Every Zenith I know goes to the Elite Hour even thought they have the Premium Package as a benefit. The advantage of having the Classic or Premium Package is that you are not restricted to the Elite drink menu.

We travel with a group of friends. The six of us are Elite and Elite+. We enjoy getting together in the Sky Lounge. Having some drinks and appetizers (hot & cold). I see it as a social hour. Then off to dinner about 6:30pm. As to the 123go benefits. We take the gratuities, OBC and drink package in that order. Our next cruise we get 2. Our Aug 2015 cruise we get all 3.

My husband and I will be sailing on the Celebrity Constellation starting October 25. We will need cash to pay for private tours we have booked. Rather than look for an ATM machine at the ports, we would like to use guest services on board the ship. When I called the concierge desk at Celebrity to ask how much cash we can get on a daily basis from Guest Relations I was told "it varies by ship".

 

Can anyone give me an idea of how much money we can get on a daily basis from guest services?

 

Also, will the cash be in US dollars or in the currency of the port?

 

Many thanks

Our friends were able to cash a check for $200 dollars max at guest services. And that was a one time only for the cruise, not daily. I do use my credit and debit cards when traveling. But I always like bring Dollars, Euros and Pounds when ever I travel. I was in Germany, got in the and off we went. I went to pay and he said cash only.

We have done the cruise at least 2 times. Once on Connie the other on the Eclipse. It is our favorite Caribbean cruise. I didn't think much of Bonaire. As to weather, I like Feb or Mar. January is to cold.

I don't think this is true either. I think you must pre-pay grats if you are in Blu, just as any other select dinner.

 

Anyone else confirm?

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

You dont not have to prepay grats. We thought you had to also. But I found out different here on CC. It is their great software system. If you want to prepay pick Select Dining when booking. If you dont want to prepay pick early or late dining. As Blu is your dining room early or late dining does not mean anything.

As to reservations. You cant get them. We had a favorite table of 4. They would save it as long as they could. In 2 cruises we had the same table a but 1 night.

As to Blu. Great service and people. I'm just not that fond of the food. But we have booked another cruise in Aqua. Richard

We have taken 2 cruises booked in Aqua and have 1 more booked. I'm not fond of the dinner menu in Blu. I wont eat game. We do end up eating in Select Dining the 1st night to get Prime Rib. I check the Blu menu to see if they have Prime Rib on the menu on the 1st night. Blu seems to serve filet mignon the 1st night. In 14 dinners in Blu. I had one main course that was so bad. Yes you should be able to find something to eat on the menu in Blu.

The best thing about Blu is that you have choices. I wear jeans all evenings in Blu. I don't even bring dockers. I have jeans in khaki, grey, black and blue.

Wouldn't bother with Blu. We dined there once. I was astonished at the poor service, the limited menu (discouraged orders from MDR). Tables too close together. Shoddy haphazard dress code. Stick with CC or skip to suite for added benefits. Blu is over rated IMO. Dined with friends in MDR and had a superior experience.

I think this person is a bit hard on Blu. I have seen 2 men at dinner in t-shirts and it was not the 1st night. The service has been very good. The food choices not that great. Tables of 2 near the windows to close together. It is like tables of six. There might be 6 inches between the tables of 2. As to getting food from the MDR. We have not tried ordering MDR food in Blu. We have gone to dinner in Select Dining on night we did not like the food in Blu.We have cruised in AQ 2 times so far. Our next cruise we are in CC and then Aug 2015 we are back in AQ.

We did our camel ride in Lanzarote.

Ok this is my take. I real dont care if someone wants to wear white pants. I see the reason for not to wear white after Labor Day in the States. Has to do with weather, rain, dirt and non paved roads and puddles or potholes. White can get dirty so quickly I just would dont bring white pants on a cruise. If you were in Australia in the outback during the rainy season would you wear white pants?

And you also have an option of upgrading (for free) to a 52 page book. We are recent empty-nesters so we figured we needed extra pages!

I'm on my 2nd 52 pager. I just hated getting according pages added to my past passport. You do know that you can have 2 USA passports. The 2nd one will only be for 2 years. This can help when passport 1 is out getting a visa. I came home from China and was leaving for India in 4 days. Had I had the 2nd passport I would have not had to fly to San Francisco to get my visa for India.

I looked online and Hilton does talk about day rooms in Miami. It has been years, but I had a day room at Miami International Airport Hotel. Might check them out out. A google.com search might help also. Richard

If you do decide to switch cabins take a look at the category C2. Currently there are "hump" cabins available on all of Reflection's January sailings. These cabins have very large balconies which you might enjoy as you are traveling with your family. A celebratory toast may be appropriate.

 

And, I'd like to add my congratulations as well.

Yes the C2 cabins are great on the hump. We like them better than Aqua Class.

Thanks dkjretired for the info that they made Blu larger on the Reflection.

The Reflection is the only ship so far in the S class to have a additional floor with more Aqua cabins. They did not make Blu any bigger. I'm not a big fan of Blu, but it has have some very good points.

In your case I would do what it takes to have both cabins together. IE side by side. You can then open the divider on the balconies and have a larger balcony. You will see your kids more. Get your cruise reservations linked.

No priority for Concierge Class

In the past you did get priority tender debarkation/tender tickets for Concierge Class pre S class ships coming into the fleet. You now have to be in a Suite or Captian's Club Elite or above. Yes they are delivered to your cabin the night before. Last cruise we were told to go to the Ensemble Lounge as a meeting place for priority tendering. Suite guess met in Michaels' Club.

This is from the London heathrow website -

• International flights - check in 3 hours prior to departure
  
• European flights - check in 2 hours prior to departure
  
• Domestic flights - check in 1 hour prior to departure
  

Boarding usually begins around 45 minutes before departure

 

I make flight bookings all the time in my work, (for people cruising) so this is nothing new to me. Some airlines are stricter than others about enforcing it, but its always 180 mins preferred - to get through security etc. and get to your gate. (sometimes by a mini train)

If I remember right the 3 hours prior to departure on international flights is that you can't check you bags in more than 3 hours ahead. I'm the person that gets to LHR 3 hours early. I have been told it is to early to check in. T5 is huge. The have some nice shops. I like going to the BA lounge and getting a spa treatment or shower and some food and drinks.

I just took a look at Azamara point system. They don't have any cabins that give you 5 points. As Celebrity gives 5 points for Concierge Class/AquaClass. But the levels seem to be the same on Azamara as Celebrity. It might take you longer to get to the top level only cruising with Azamara. I remember getting 235 minutes free internet as a le club voyage discoverer. (Thank you Celebrity.) Now Azamara has 235 minutes on their platinum level. I'm just thinking who is talking to who. Would not RCL talk to Celebrity and Azamara and make the changes at the same time. If not in this case. Why would Azamara make a change to a point system and add levels if they don't know what they are going to do with the new levels?

Just wondering when they started giving you all 3 perks for booking on board. We sailed in May and booked for next May but only got OBC and choice of beverage package OR prepaid gratuities, but not both. Not complaining, just curious.

We are on a Celebrity cruise May 30, 2014 and they had the Bermuda All In offered. We were planning to book Northern Europe cruise. Then we saw the Bermuda cruise and booked 2 A1 cabins.

I don't care if they know, want to know or share it. Once they've been paid I don't think they really care. When I booked my cruise I specifically told them I wanted the queen bed, but when we got there it was still the two singles. I let our steward know, who was the sweetest little guy and gay himself, and he quickly fixed it when we went to dinner. I guess they "assumed" since there were two men booked in that cabin the beds should be separate, but oh well it all worked out. As far as that information you read in the contract, it must have been very tiny print or I just overlooked it on my way to get a cocktail! :)

What is funny is I ask for the beds to be together. Most of the time the beds are together on cruise lines we have tried. The fun thing is my str8 parents want the beds apart and most of the times they are together. I think most of the info does not get to the people that need it.

I do the E-doc online. They want flight info to and from the cruise. What do I get on the 2nd day of a 14 day cruise. They want to know my flight and info for leaving the ship.

Lately I have left my devices on until I get on the airplane. I then turn them off or put them in airplane mode and charge them while on the airplane. I also carry a charger call ENERGI TO GO. It will charge phones or pads. We are flying on British Airways nonstop to London on Wednesday for a 2 week land vacation. We will see how it goes on the way home to Seattle.

Itinerary...definitely the Med...Naples, Sicily, Rhodes, Santorini, Mykonos,

Athens and Ephesus, Turkey:D....#1, by far over all the others........

#2 would be Alaska.

 

Ship? Whichever one I happen to be cruising on at the moment.;)

This is real close to mine. Eastern Med, really liked Taormina and Ephesus.

The ship has to be Solstice, Equinox or Eclipse. Any Celebrity ship with glassblowing.

For us I think we have done Southern Caribbean 3 times now. 2 times on Celebrity and once on HAL. We did Connie M class and Eclipse S class. I like the S class ships better, more bling. Plus glassblowing on 3 of the S class ships.

We normally book Aqua or Concierge. Blu has great service, many people love the food. What I like best about Blu is no formal wear required and dine when you want.

The must do for us is swimming with the stingrays. We book tour for every other day. Some days we just visit the port town. I do enjoy staying on the ship when so many people are off the ship.

We were on the May 30th cruise out of Seattle. Had a great time. I did see some people in the outdoor pool on the nicer days. Your living in Seattle. I wore shorts most of the time during the day. Have a great cruise.

We are sailing on the Constellation next year. We are booking a C2 cabin. Would you choose cabin 8046 or cabin 8080? Can't decide on the slanted/larger balcony of 8046 or better location of cabin 8080. We've never been on an M class ship, so just curious.

Thanks.

We always book Center Aft. For us it is more about food and main pool. If your more into the spa, indoor pool and gym then forward is for you. So I would pick cabin 8080

We book Aqua or Concierge. Blu is very nice. The service is great. The food is good, but I'm just not that fond of fowl. Yes I do find something to eat and fowl is not the only thing to eat. For anyone that wants to try quail, pheasant, duck and pigeon then Blu is the place for you. The tables of two near the window are my least favorite. You are so close to the next table. Most people would have to walk sideways to get between the tables.

This is a website problem. What you need to know is you can pick early or late dining. But since your in Blu you can dine when you want. If you do want to prepay your gratuities then choose select dining. That is fine. Our 1st cruise in Aqua we had select dining. I called after final payment and had it changed to early dining and my credit card credited back the gratuities. The reason was to use OBC that I had received from Celebrity.