ChucktownSteve

The fruit plate is just apples - anyone can get fruit in the buffet and bring it back.

That's not necessarily true. On the Connie this past February we asked our Aqua class steward to bring oranges instead of apples. There were three fresh oranges daily on our 14 day cruise.

Since the "road" to Bermuda is two lane, they do that to let Breakaway go first because they dock 1/2 an hour earlier on Wednesday than Summit does. :D Yeah that's the ticket!

But look on the bright side. With that charter, the bars were probably not overly crowded and I'll wager service for libations was fast. :D

what do you expect GS to do? I know putting them off at the next port would solve the problem, .

There's a Brig on board right? Throw them in it with only bread & water.

Or how about since they have so much energy, build a diving board over the side of the ship. But do it on Starboard so they don't go through the smoke on their way down.

I have never booked through a travel agent only thru celebrity and have had gotten good deals. Going thru a TA brings in another person to go thru. So not comfortable on going thru them or transferring to a TA. People do and speak highly about getting more perks.

Besides getting the extra perks from the TA, if there's a problem and you've booked thought a good, large TA, they go to battle for you with the cruise line. Sometimes they reach a different level of customer service. Otherwise you're on your own.

Hi all,

 

Just back from our first cruise on the Celebrity Equinox from Rome to Barcelona and my wife and I loved it so we are thinking about where to go next.

 

I have a few questions which I hope you experienced cruisers may be able to help with:

 

Firstly, I see many of you refer to price drops between the time you booked and the time you sailed – did you book directly with Celebrity or via a Travel Agent? I ask because I booked with celebrity direct last December, but I hadn’t received any communications regarding price reductions.

 

Is there a benefit to booking early, or is it better to wait till last minute.

 

I suppose with offers on OBC and drinks packages, its hard to compare like with like.

 

Essentially, Im wondering who is best to book with, to ensure guaranteed price reductions as prices fall closer to sailing time?

 

Thanks in advance.

Generally speaking neither Celebrity nor a TA will monitor your price and alert you to a reduction. That's your responsibility. Regarding the price of cruises, if you're looking at a very popular itinerary, the sooner you book, the better the price because those only increase as cabins sell out. Earlier is better if it matters whether you want a specific cabin.

Itineraries that have a lot of capacity and competition are the ones which usually have price reductions. A good time to check for price reductions is when pre-booked TA cabin blocks are released back to the cruise line as being unsold.

The cabin price will be the same whether you purchase directly or through a TA. You will receive the Celebrity promotional perks whether you book directly or through a TA. Where the difference is, the large online TA that offers additional perks and OBC. Not all TAs are created equal so shop several.

It's been my observation that Celebrity isn't doing many price reductions lately. But since I'm in the U.S., YMMV in Ireland.

Hello! For anyone that has been dropped off at the port of Charleston for embarkation recently, we are noticing in pictures & on Google maps something different. Before we would always be dropped off, check our luggage, then wait to board a shuttle that would drive us up to the embarkation building. Now we see a footbridge that looks like people are getting dropped off & walking to the building instead of boarding shuttles. Is that correct?

The foot bridge has always been there. When we cruised out of Charleston, we walked to the street after retrieving our luggage for a friend to pick us up.

Without seeing the pictures you saw, it's impossible to know the source. I went to google maps but could only find the empty footbridge. Sometimes the cruise terminal is used for a function when there is no cruise ship on that day.

Did you see people walking towards or away from the terminal and did they have carry-ons or luggage?

Can you post pictures of what you are referring to? I highly doubt the TSA has weakened the security by allowing walk ups down to the terminal.

There is no link available for me to order the luggage tags. Does anybody know an email address to contact Celebrity and order them that way?

Your cruise document needs to be available, usually about 45 days before sail date, before the order luggage tag button shows. Calling before that will get you no where because they'll tell you the same thing.

If it's sooner than 45 days and no cruise document, then the call is in order.

There are at least three "free restaurants" on X ships. If one is not available choose another or get in early to get a seat. There is nothing to prevent you from taking your meal out to poolside where there are generally plenty of space around meal times.

 

Order room service and eat on your own table on your balcony.

 

Or you could stay at home and be sure of a free table

Let me see if I understand you correctly. Because table hogs will sit in the most popular restaurant venue during peak serving time playing cards with no other tables available, you should eat cooped up in your cabin or carry your food out to the sun drenched, non air conditioned pool area where the chair hogs have taken up all the chairs anyway? :confused:

The problem boils down to people who are inconsiderate will continue to be so regardless of what is written here.

We always invite people walking around with trays to join us if we have empty seats. We always get up when done during peak times to allow others the seats.

Nothing I or you do will alter the actions of someone with the me, me, me mentality.

A few months ago people were having trouble getting their luggage tags when requesting it on line. Is this still the case? I am wondering if I need to call the Captain's club again to get them or whether the website follow through has improved. Thanks.

Not a problem for several people on my upcoming roll call and me. I ordered online once about two weeks ago. The luggage tags arrived in less than seven days. I don't check my PO Box every day. :-)

But that doesn't mean there won't be a glitch. ;) I suggest ordering them and seeing if they come withing a week. Then call Captains Club if they don't.

I almost wish all guests were randomly assigned chairs at certain times each day to relieve the pressure! Maybe the sooner you book, the more desirable time you get, Idk, just an idea :P

OMG with all the complaints about the X website not working correctly for probably over a decade, you want them to add another non-functioning reservation drill down to it? :eek: But you were kidding, right?

so what would happen if some mischievously demented person (like me) went around the pool about 9am collecting just towels to be deposited in the towel hamper and left without taking a chair for themselves? Who would they be able to blame? Then come back a little later and observe from the upper deck the confrontations between the hoggers and the unbeknownst chair residents. :D

Mast Grill burgers are not bad, taste good - not sure how fresh the meat is though. Wish they had a Five Guys on board!

How fresh do frozen food service beef-like patties have to be. Regarding the Five Guys, unfortunately with staff cuts, there are only Two Guys left. :D

Maybe they should raise their programmer's pay to $15/hr. :rolleyes:

I'm taking my mother on her first cruise in over 10 years. She is 80 and uses a rolling walker. I have heard that Charleston's port is quite different from what I am used to in Florida, so I need to know what would be the easiest way for us to get from the airport to the port on sail day. Should we book the transfer through the cruise line or just take a taxi? Are there other options that would start off her vacation more comfortably being that we cruise in August? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Usually a cruise company transportation is more expensive than a regular company but many people at various ports prefer the "convenience" of such.

The Taxi/Limo from the airport is a flat rate. They are located just outside the baggage claim area. You shouldn't have a problem. Once you get to the port, if you prefer, request a wheel chair transfer to the terminal. That should also get you better clearance through to the ship.

However I don't have personal knowledge since I've not needed the service.

I also wish that the Celebrity Cruises official poster would clarify the situation.

You are kidding about the copy and paste from the Celebrity website Celebrity Cruises official poster right? :rolleyes:

As you know, there's no consistency between ships. .

The only thing consistent about Celebrity is its inconsistency including the food. Not only between the ships but the same ship at different cruise times. :rolleyes:

The casino is a bit confusing. You actually have to lose all of the chips you purchase because you can't cash them in. Let's say you bet $5 on the blackjack table and win...you get a cashable $5 chip and you still have your non-cashable chip. Next hand, you lose so they take the non-cashable chip. You want to play those non-cashable chips every time until they are gone (you will always lose some hands or some rolls of the dice).

That's not the case when I was on the Connie in February. I used OBN to get promo chips in the casino that I used on the craps table. If I won, they gave me the winning in a cashable chip and replaced the bet promo chip with a cashable chip.

There was no fee to convert OBN to promo chips at the cage.

a day trip to Savannah? You do know that depending on what day you do this is could be up to 3 hrs each way down there and back. Traffic at the SC/GA boarder backs up ALL the time on I95 and those 100 miles each way can feel like an eternity. But anyway enjoy our fine city as November will be a nice time of year, the temps will be a bit below blast furnace level. :D

Wow, I'm sure glad I haven't driven I-95 when you did. I have never experienced the 1.5 hour trip taking twice as long. Is this a recent occurrence or has it been going on for years?

U.S. 17 from I-95 MM35 to Charleston is delightful compared to what it used to be.

I remember when it was only one lane each direction with an occasional passing zone. Now THAT was backed up all the time by one slow driver. Since the widening, it's absolutely wonderful. Two lanes each direction the whole way! OMG

This is what was posted on the Celebrity web site this morning; Linked top of the page.

"After reviewing all of the available information and discussions with our Global Security team in Miami, we have decided to cancel all of Celebrity Cruises’ upcoming turns in Istanbul, Turkey, and replace them with Athens (Piraeus), Greece."

"This decision was made with the safety of our guests and crew at the forefront of our minds and in an abundance of caution. We realize this may have an impact on your travel plans and our team is working now on available alternative arrangements from this new port of embark and debarkation. We sincerely apologize for the impact on your cruise and will revert throughout the day with more details. We understand how important your vacation is and we did not take this decision lightly."

Well now Celebrity has posted a notice on the top of their web site, "We are monitoring the situation." So glad they publicly got on the "monitoring" bandwagon.

But what does "monitoring" really mean?

The terrorist activity has only been increasing in and around Istanbul. How many more "monitored" events targeting tourists are needed before Azamara decides to alter the embarkation port?

We were so looking forward to our first Azamara Quest sailing next July but I am afraid we're going to have to cancel if the embarkation port isn't changed soon. As we get closer to sail date, good cabins on other ships get booked and prices rise so we probably won't have time to wait long for Azamara to finally make a decision. We're not last minute planners.

Sorry Bonnie, nothing personal.

you know what would be fun? At 6:30am get about two or three dozen towels and lay them on the best chairs. Then come back at 11:30 to see how many remained.

Gimme one of them MG burgers with double patty on a bun and all the fixin's (I bring my own bread (focaccia) and cheese from the buffet). Then gimme a double order of fries with them grilled onions on top and slathered with steak sauce! I've never had a better burger on any of the four cruise lines we have tried! If that beef was any fresher, it would still be "mooing" and swimming in the ocean. :p

So is that fresh beef like the latest version of fresh squeezed OJ? :rolleyes:

I have found that food across ships or staff contracts is not consistent on Celebrity. It really is the luck of the draw at the time you sail. That's why I suspect there is such a diverse range in opinions on the dining venues.