DYKWIA

I'd be wary making assumptions of availability based on a drinks list, even one from the ship you're on at the time.  On the Eclipse last year in Australia many wines and spirits on the Premium list were not available and attempts were made to get me to have poor substitutes

I'm guessing that we are reaching the point where everything will be cut out or back so that they can add it all back in again....in one of 1001 promotions and enhancements 

In the warm weather it's got to be a Negroni>

Looking forward to trying something new in the World Class bar on the Eclipse in Feb
 

Phew, the relief when you find out you're not the only one who can't sign in

I suppose there's no longer any Casinos on board?  My wife and I lost about 25% laundering our OBC through the fruit machines on Celebrity - $100 in at a time, cashing out all wins (not playing our winnings), with money to take off ship.

The option to book flights doesn't appear on the Celebrity site (UK) until about 330 days - From memory I think my online TA had flights showing from 365 days.  Some high street TAs offer to get prices in excess of a year out. 

Anyway at about 330 days from your cruise this will appear on the Celebrity UK site under "Manage Your Trip" tab and the "manage reservation" subtab this will appear

On a previous cruise with Celebrity we wanted early dining, booking quite late, all they could offer beforehand was later dining.  We were put on the waitlist and it cleared about 2-3 weeks before we sailed. 

The main dining room is huge and some people who are assigned early will want late or select, some people will choose never to dine in the main dining room, each night a number will also be eating elsewhere, some people will want to move from their table to another,  and so on - as others have said if it doesn't clear beforehand, go to the MDR once you've boarded and ask if anything can be done - I think it is highly likely  that something will be worked out - assuming everyone else doesn't have the same idea 🙂 

I think the main choice is whether you go non stop with someone like BA, JAL or ANA  (all probably at a premium price) over a direct flight via the Middle East or mainland Europe.  Generally, of those 3, ANA is best regarded.  Lufthansa / Swiss have been offering some very good prices recently to Australia .  With the direct flights (as opposed to non stop flights)  that does open up the option of other local UK airports if that works better for you.

I found, for Business class to Australia, Celebrity were about £500 per person more expensive compared with the same flights bought via a UK travel agent and the flights didn't open up as quickly as they did through a UK agent.  I suppose the advantage is that with Celebrity it is a package deal so if the flight or cruise is cancelled you can cancel the whole thing.  With our slightly cheaper tickets it is not a package.  If the cruise is cancelled we still have to fly.  If the flights are cancelled Celebrity will still expect us to get to the cruise port.

I was monitoring flights and prices for ages beforehand and literally bought the flights the day they were released as I knew the price being offered was a great price, trust your own research - I've had TA's tell me in the past that £2000 for a return Premium Economy ticket from LHR to JFK was a "great price" - when I knew that it was anything but.

5 months after booking, and 7 months out,  minimum prices for our flights to Australia have gone up by about £1100 per person, our specific flights have gone up by almost £2000 per person.  It usually pays to book early, but my advice would be to do your research and work out what is a good price and grab it when you get good flights, with a decent airline and times that work for you (flight times can vary form 11.5 hours non stop, to over 40 hours in some extreme cases).  Google Flights  is pretty good for this.

For November 2022,  £500 - £600 for a one stop flight is about average in Economy - £2200 in business but this might rise to about £800 - £1000 for a non stop flight,  to £3000-£4000 in business

We sailed on Infinity Summer 2019, after several cruises on the Eclipse.  Yes, the infinity is smaller than the Eclipse (Solstice class) but not massively smaller - it seems to have all the main things you associate with slightly larger Solstice Class ships.  Infinity is still a big ship by most measures. 

Upkeep was good but maybe not quite as good as on Eclipse, we didn't like the hot solarium pool, it's cooler on the Eclipse (but many love it) but we were in a Med cruise in the summer.  Buffet is not as good as on Eclipse, it's set out differently, but was still fine.  One thing we thought was not as good (which annoyed my wife who  goes to bed early) is the in the room TV and film choice was very poor., with a small low quality TV.  Overall, we loved our cruise on Infinity and would sail on her again but We both agreed we prefer the Solstice class ships 

Hi

We are booked on a cruise from Sydney on Celebrity Eclipse next year (Feb 16th) in a veranda.  I have noticed for a couple of months  now  the cruise is showing no availability in Verandas and above  but is only showing availability for Inside and  Outside and nothing else.

Seems a long way out to be fully booked in all these cabins.  Cruises either side seem to have availability in all cabins.  In a few weeks time we'll be thinking of flights but aren't keen to commit to expensive J flights if there's possibly something happening with this cruise.

Anyone know why this might be the case?

Side question - is it possible to upgrade just one package of 2 of is in the same cabin?

I enjoy the better quality wine and spirits and usually find myself paying the modest supplemental difference when I order a drink above the classic price limit,  but my wife is teetotal and is more than happy with the classic package.  Financially, it makes sense to upgrade my package but if I have to upgrade my wife's as well it probably is not worth it and will be cheaper to pay the supplement as we go.  

Brilliant, thank-you.  I suspected the usual  "Don't you know who I am" might not work

Does Celebrity currently offer onboard PCR testing for travellers who may be flying home after the cruise and require a negative PCR result as a condition of flying?  If so what is the cost?

Wondering if we can fly home the day we disembark or as a  precaution we should delay our flight by a few days to get a PCR test locally

Its quite straight forward, Ralph Lauren Polo for Smart Casual, Ralph Lauren Purple Label for Evening Chic

First couple of cruise they seemed fairly strict making you check stuff in if brought on board during the cruise, then drinks packages became the norm....and it them seemed to become considerably more relaxed. 

Wine drunk in your cabin from a bottle you bring on board is a drink you pay for and they don't have to give you for free (if your on a drinks package - also saves them the costs if staffing a table to collect and record, store booze and then return it.

Cheers, many thanks.

I'm familiar with ITA and Google Flights (particularly like their "explore" feature - which is great for spotting cheap places to start your journey from)

Thank-you, i tried the link, and it works but there is no option to search for flights - it is quite a way out at the moment and airfares haven't officially opened up yet, so I guess if they were offering flights they'd be very expensive to edge their bets

We are in the UK (not sure if that makes a difference)  and we are exploring whether it might make sense to package our airfare  with cruise, to offer a bit more protection in the event of one or more parts getting cancelled in these uncertain times.

Celebrity seems to steer you to the Flights by Celebrity website, which appears to be a Choice Air site with Celebrity branding and then we hit a problem..... You are given the option to search by reservation, or make a general search but additionally you must select which Cruise line and Ship, but there is no option for Celebrity, just RCL and Azamara

Anyone have any ideas?  Is it out of date have they stopped doing the flights?  I don't want to waste a travel agents time if Choice air is significantly more expensive than booking elsewhere (we are looking at F/J fares from UK to Asia / Australia)  don;t mind paying a small premium for a packaged option but don't want to pay a lot more money (the hotel add ons always seem way more expensive than can be found elsewhere)

This Green List is a load of nonsense - it only applies to coming back to this country and nothing to do with being let into the country on the list, they might have well put Narnia on there.  Also, as we have seen, they can change their mind and move a country to Amber and Red with little notice.

Loads of great hotels in Sydney and many very close or on Circular Quay - The transport hub of Sydney and one of the two cruise terminals.  A quick glance at Celebrity indicates they are looking to charge significantly more than other reputable on line agencies - I think they wanted about £300 a night for an unnamed 4 star hotel.

Top of the tree - Money no object is the Park Hyatt, location is fab but the prices are extremely high - pretty much always twice the price of anything else.  The entry level rooms don't even have a view - but 90% of the other rooms do

Around the Rocks and Circular Quay 5-10 minutes walk from the port you have The Four Seasons, Shangri La, Pullman. Langham, Intercontinental (not one of my favourites), Marriott, and Sir Stamford (used to be The Ritz Carlton), to name  a few.

Slightly further a field you have a plethora of Hiltons, Sheratons, Sofitels in the CBD and Darling Harbour.  

Public transport / connectivity in Sydney is excellent - regular buses, trams, trains and ferries run pretty much everywhere regularly. 

We too will be in Sydney again in Feb 2023 for a Celebrity Cruise (all being well), we were going to book the Shangri La or Four Seasons nearer the time but may cash in some Hilton Honours points as we have about a Million and the Hilton in Sydney usually has a good exchange rate.

The indoor pools on the Eclipse were definitely not as warm as those on the Millennium Class (Infinity) the latter was just too hot to use on a Med cruise.  Not sure whether the indoor pools on the Solstice class are heated.  Apart from on one occasion where they were cold they just felt tepid - could be they're slightly heated, could be that a lot of use, sunshine shining in, lack of a breeze to cool, and a warm solarium meant the water was a couple of degrees warmer and noticeably warmer as a result

On our last Med Cruise (2019),  it was port intensive (Venice to Barcelona) - it was a late August / eary September cruise and was very hot during the day.

In the evening pretty much everyone was dressed Smart Casual - I can't recall anyone wearing shorts or baseball caps.  We also didn't notice any discernable difference beween normal nights and Evening Chic. One or two might have been wearing a Suit or Dinner Suit but it was very much in the minority

1 minute ago, iancal said:

It may depend on where you live.  We have done 2  one month trips to Australia as part of our winter travels..   We find that because of our currency  (Canada) Australian travel actually less expensive than the US   In fact, we have bypassed the US for the past three or four years in favor of other destinations.  

 

We have found car rentals and domestic air to be the same.  Gas and hotel accommodations more expensive.  Restaurant meals the same when you factor in taxes and tips.  At first we thought it more expensive.  When we returned home and calculated what we spent we found that this was not the case.  As a winter destination we prefer it.

Yes, in Australia the price you see is pretty much the price you pay in my experience - tipping really not expected

36 minutes ago, drsel said:

This is the proof

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.worldatlas.com/amp/articles/12-of-the-most-expensive-countries-to-travel-to.html

Ha Ha and England is third above Norway and "Ice Land" ...hotel accomodation in Australia (with the xeception of a few outliers e.g. Park Hyatt) is way cheaper than many of those countries

4 hours ago, drsel said:

Wow, that's really strong language.
Of course, Australia is the most expensive tourist destination in the world.

Australia most expensive tourist destination in the world, really? Am I misunderstanding something, never dound it that expensive, once you get there