ChucktownSteve

I scanned a passport photo on my printer as a jpg. Scan it at 300dpi. Then I cropped it to size in Paint. Right click on picture file and select open with paint on the drop down menu. Just save it and upload it as needed. However now you have a picture on your computer you can reuse over and over that is assured to be accepted.

I'm curious. Has anyone calculated what percentage credit equals? I receive 3% cash back on one of my credit cards for booking travel without jumping through these hoops for OBC. Is the BoA credit more than 3% spent equivalent?

I usually price between Friendly Duty Free on Front Street. They have three locations. I also stop at Captains on the water taxi pier at the beach. Depending upon their promotions, either one could be better priced.

I can't speak to wines since I don't usually drink it due to glucose. However when it comes to spirits I prefer smoother liquor. When I sailed in a P1 last December on Quest, I had four 375ml bottles of what I consider close to bottom shelf but others thought they were good brands. Stoli, Bacardi, Beefeater and JW red I consider them bottom because I drink on the rocks and those need to be mixed with something. I upgraded to get the brands I enjoy. I found supply chain better shelf liquor issues on AZ, Celebrity in Feb and Regent in May as did others regularly. So it's not just AZ's fault. On two of the cruises, since we were in suites, they reserved my preferred brand to follow depending upon where we were dining that night. That surprised me. The bottom line is I felt all of them were trying to be as accommodating as possible but were restricted by provisioning. Beamafar if your husband enjoys JW Blue, the best place I've found pricing for that is St. Maarten. This past December I bought eight 200ml bottles for $120 per four at my regular liquor stop there. It was on special. The 750ml bottle was more expensive than the four. But then you have to book a Caribbean cruise lol I consider a cruise including St. Maartin to be my liquor run. Since I drive to the port, I can bring back six liters per person without duty tax. My local Wines and More has the 750ml for $230 and the 200ml for $68 each.

they'll need to fill out the referral bonus form and know your booking number. I had my TA do it. She had a client that she used for the referral. I received my Ambassador $250 off the fare on my first cruise. There is a very short window to submit the form.

I'll do that on your January Panama Canal cruise We spent 40 years in Charleston. Recent transplant to FL.

It's not just the menu in specialty restaurants but the higher caliber service level and the ambiance that makes it more enjoyable.

That's exactly what I did if I didn't like the special menu items. Oh the ignominy.

Its horrible to have to order lobster, scallops and filet off the everyday menu in Compass Rose. 🤣

mrlevin is correct. We did the navigator last month, booked our pre-reservation the first sea day. We had no trouble getting two additional Prime 7 reservations once on the ship. We shared. One of the reservations was a little later than we prefer but it was still excellent.

Celebrity has been doing Power Up Points (PUP) which add captain's club points for doing stuff. They co accumulate on AZ until the split Those helped put me over the Discoverer+ before my next AZ cruise. It's a hassle but if you're close to the next level you might want to check it out. Most of the quizzes equate to five club points. There is a huge thread on Celebrity for it. Someone usually posts a link to the quiz and someone else usually posts the answers. lol Free points.

Miaminice, Thank you for the positiveness making the best of a less than desirable situation. I was surprised on our February Apex cruise how much more elevated the food and service was than my previous Celebrity cruise pre-covid. Frankly I feel Celebrity stepped up by upgrading y'all when they didn't have to. Then giving your friends the option to quarantine in a hotel or stay onboard for the next cruise certainly shows a strong improved customer service attitude. I hope those crew attitudes continue. It would make me consider cruising Celebrity more frequently.

One of the perks of the Club veranda over the ocean view or inside cabin is the Balcony! If you go to the P1 category, you get a great panoramic view of the horizon.

Another key contributing factor is how much rainfall there is. We sailed several years ago to Quebec in the first week of October but because the previous rainfall was lacking, the colors were very delayed. Too difficult to predict if you're booking far out. Maybe the Farmer's Almanac can help?

cwn, I concur about the friendliness of the Regent passengers. We found that very prevalent during our 16 night Navigator cruise last month. It didn't matter if you were in a lounge, restaurant or on an excursion. As first time regent cruisers, I found other passengers much more open to that than our Oceania cruise. When I sailed solo on Azamara last December, several people invited me to join them.

Chris, Thank you for this excellent report and other linked stories. I am following closely since we'll be doing this cruise in three months. I'm also enjoying the pics. We were given Monopole when we embarked the Navigator last month. Then we were given a bottle of Veuve Clicquot for the first two bad evenings in Compass Rose. We gave the two bottles to the hostess for taking very good care of us the rest of the cruise. Chris, my question relates to your statement about speaking with other passengers on their experience and if they feel they are getting value for their money. Do you feel that you are getting your value for the money on this cruise?

I received my five for the webinar as well which also put me over into E+ on Celebrity and Discover+ on Azamara. They're still co-earning. Guess I can stop this now that I reached 750 club points. I'll never get to Zenith at three tiimes the number of E+ points required. BTW I didn't actually listen to the webinar. I had my speakers turned off. Just let it play. lol

Thankx for venting. You confirmed my decision to take the Regent Air credit was correct. Delta changed my flight from direct to a non direct. However I was able to immediately select another direct flight online and not be on hold. No deviation fees. No extra charges to select my airline. I wouldn't dump the cruise line because their air stinks. Just deal directly and get the flights/airline you want without as much hassle.

I concur re: Celebrity laughingly luxury. We sailed Regent a couple of weeks ago. No charge for liter bottles of Grey Goose, Seagram's VO and Johnny Black premium liquor in the suite or anything ordered for that matter. All excursions included at no additional cost. So were WiFi and gratuities. (yeah I understand the cost was built into the cruise price along with the air and hotel room. lol) However when I booked this cruise the beginning of last year, I priced a Celebrity suite with the same square footage as the Regent suite. Regent actually came out a little less PP/PN with all the Regent extras included. Our bill at the end of the cruise was $0. Even left about $8 NF OBC on the account. The whole amount was spent on overpriced stuff in the ship store.

We're sailing from "Venice" in May 2023. We booked August 2021. I presume that is prior to the chance so we would be given the free transportation to Ravenna. Is that an accurate presumption or does someone know differently? Is there an official port change date?

"Our iconic "X" is the mark of luxury, the mark of contemporary spaces that are at once coolly sophisticated and warmly inviting. Where the culinary experience is influenced by global cuisines and designed by our Michelin-starred chef. Where our staff provides seamless and intuitive service that’s both personal and unobtrusive. Where everything is designed to provide unparalleled luxury cruise vacations for travelers of every age. Our fourteen award-winning ships offer unique experiences in more than 300 destinations on all seven continents."

All the cruise lines you mentioned are mass market. Celebrity marketing claims to be luxury. Luxury lines don't charge for room service delivery. Do they?

Practice makes perfect; as they say.

Absolutely. Looking forward to the view!

Well I for one was on the verge of changing our Greek intensive next year to a much lesser cost Caribbean cruise to use the deposit. However after hearing a lot of good reasoning, watching the video and seeing comments here, I decided to keep the booking as is. Hopefully AZ will keep improving and growing by the time we embark. Thankx