jael001

It is annoying, but i wouldnt worry about, i am sure everything will get sorted out. I tend not to trust anything that is listed on the website, and only what our personal vacation planner sends. The website is always showing incorrect OBC, i do have it in writing the correct amount and will make sure to have it with me on the cruise. I plan to use every penny of our OBC on drinks in our cabins (sometimes you just dont feel like leaving the cabin to get a drink with your bev package) and specialty restaurants or the spa!! 72 days until we sail!

It's not just on the website though, the new documents they sent me are over £1000 more than I the final balance I was due to pay.

I just got another set of documents emailed to me and the rate that's listed is completely different to what I've had up to now and it now reckons I owe over £1000 more than I do. It's not even the original rate before I got the price reduction a few months ago, it's less than that, but still a lot more than I should be charged. I checked online and that's changed to what I was emailed too. I can't call until tomorrow as Celebrity's UK offices are closed now. So frustrated that I'm going to have to spend precious time on my weekend sorting out this problem.

edit: I've just checked against the amounts on the website and they're different to what's been emailed to me this evening by about £115 too, nothing's adding up and I'm so annoyed by this. I was going to make my final payment this weekend (although it's not due til 12th June) but obviously I can't do that until they sort this out.

I managed to get a price reduction here in the UK (losing my original deposit) on a standard balcony cabin when the 2nd passenger at half price deal was on, which saved me almost £1000 for the 2 of us (around $1400), even after losing my original deposit. I keep comparing current deals but none have worked out better than that one.

It might also be worth contacting dialaflight as I've used them and they've been fantastic at finding me the best flights in the past.

In the UK we dont have the same promos as in the US. The current promo is the free Classic Drinks Package and "up to £500" savings but no option of any other perks. The last promo (when I cancelled and rebooked) was the drinks package plus 2nd passenger at half price. That offer was cheaper for me than the current one. The original offer I booked with last year was the drinks package plus $150 OBC. I lost the OBC when I cancelled and rebooked.

You could have a condition come up any time before your next cruise and it would then be considered a pre-existing condition should you have to later cancel because of that condition, or have problems with that condition during that cruise or any cruise thereater. ;)

Yes I could have a condition that I dont know about now or may develop before I travel but since I didnt have anything when I took out the insurance, I dont think that they can discriminate against me on that basis. That's the whole point of taking out insurance. Also it's an annual policy, not one specific to the cruise I'm taking, covering any and all travel within Europe for the next 12 months. A pre-existing condition surely has to exist prior to taking out the policy, not just prior to taking a trip?

If you have pre-existing conditions and have problems with anything that stems from them the insurance will not cover you

 

:( sorry to put a damper on your reasonable travel insurance

It's fine, I dont have any pre-existing conditions that would cause any problems for me on a cruise.

I'm 44 and at no point was I asked about my health when I took out the policy.

Hi

Would love to know how old you are and who this is with?

I will be 44 next month and travelling with my 15 year old daughter.

The insurance is with Debenhams. I didn't even know they did insurance but it came up on a comparison website and it was a good deal. They do 3 tiers of travel insurance and I went for the Gold as the price was good and it included so much.

We always have travel insurance, I wouldn't even consider leaving the UK without it. All it takes is one fall with a broken limb, or an asthma attack or even a broken tooth, for it to be necessary. I took out an annual policy that gives up to £10m for medical emergency and repatriation plus a ton more benefits all for £25 a year.

You can if you're willing for forfeit the deposit you've paid and cancel and rebook. That's what I did when I sailed RCCL and now on my cruise for this summer. I did lose the original £300 deposit but still saved nearly £1000 on the price I originally had.

No it's not fair, but apparently it's down to the fact that we have ABTA and ATOL protection, whereas in the US they have no protection at all. If something goes wrong that's too bad. I personally dont think the so called protection we have is worth losing our deposits and not being able to take advantage of the deals that the US has.

If you book directly through Celebrity UK or through a UK travel agent then no, they wont honour price drops, you would need to cancel and rebook (losing your deposit) so it would only be worth it for a significant drop. If you book via a US travel agent then you can get the price drops.

I get the same problem when I try to join too, and we're not doing a B2B and booked directly with Celebrity.

I've only sailed RCCL before and only in the Med but we didn't have lobster on formal nights and no escargot or some of the other specialities that are seen in the Caribbean itineraries since those ingredients are not local.

Does anyone know how much the menus change when the ships move to the Mediterranean? I would assume they do change a fair bit.

Check it out https://www.celebritycruises.co.uk/learn/south-hampton

:D:D:D:D

As I understand it, approximately 38% on top of each drink if you pay as you go and don't have the beverage package as a perk (there would be X's grats on top as well as the 20%).

There shouldn't be VAT on the gratuities, that's a separate thing.

I'm clear the VAT is charged on goods purchased, but I thought I'd seen something that made me less sure about whether the tax is applied to specialty restaurants. I was researching details on Italy's VAT rules. Did I misunderstand?

VAT is usually charged on both goods AND services, so I'd assume that restaurants, shore excursions, spa treatments etc would all fall under that.

The difficulty is that in Europe prices shown include VAT, we dont pay it on top of the prices we see, so if it comes to it and we have to add the VAT on top of the prices shown on the ship it's going to take a bit of working out. And what rate would be charged? Each EU country has it's own VAT rate. Would it end up being Italy's VAT rate because the cruise we're on starts and ends there? That would be 22% (compared to 20% in the UK).

I'm starting to feel anxious and would feel more comfortable if Kusadasi and Bodrum were removed from our itinerary completely. I still want to go to Ephesus sometime, it's on my bucket list, but it can wait. In fact I'd be happy with a couple of extra sea days as our itinerary is so full at present. A cruise is supposed to be a fun and relaxing trip (for us anyway) and right now it's feeling very stressful. I don't have the option of cancelling since we'd lose a second lot of deposits (already lost 1 lot when we took a price drop) and our flights are non-refundable linked to the booking.

You can get the price drop if you cancel and rebook but since the saving is only £400 and you'd lose £300 on your original deposit (assuming there's 2 of you) it wouldn't be worth it in my opinion. I managed to get a huge price drop (almost £1k) even after losing my original deposit.

I live on the outskirts of London and am extremely nervous of an attack on our doorstep. Everytime my daughter asks to go into "town" with her friends I feel my chest constrict, but then I let her go, because what's the point in staying cooped up at home? Years ago when the IRA was a threat there was a bomb diffused a couple of hundred yards from my office and we were holed up in the corridor away from windows for a few hours while they worked on the bomb. Once we had the all clear life went on as normal. While I do think it's important to be aware of your surroundings and situation, I dont think it's worth putting your life on hold in these situations, anything can happen at any time.

I managed to get a price drop and still keep my drinks package, but I lost my deposit and my OBC from the original booking. I still saved nearly £1k so it was worth it for me. It was all a bit complicated as I had flights booked through the original booking that couldn't be cancelled so they agreed to let me keep my cabin and booking reference and give me the price drop, which they didn't have to do.

I would be ok with them removing the remaining Turkish ports from our itinerary and maybe just having an extra sea day, as the intinerary is so port intensive as it is. I feel very uncomfortable with the situation over there at the moment, and while it would be disappointing to miss the ports, I'd rather skip them this time and try again in a couple of years or so.

I'm departing from Rome though, not Southampton. My flight has been booked via Celebrity but it's Monarch since I wanted to fly from Luton, so I will print out my tags and attach them once I get my luggage in Rome.