WonderMan3

Okay, thanks. I assume that Elite Plus discount cannot be combined with a sale price for beverage package or WiFi in advance, right? So if not then I guess I mind as well just wait to book onboard for those things if I don’t see a price online with a greater discount than what I get with Elite Plus.

I am Elite Plus and may be considering a cruise with a companion who is not Elite Plus (never cruised Celebrity). I get discounts for things like beverage package, wifi and specialty dining. Questions: (Replies only from those who have actual experience with these issues as opposed to guesstimates please) 1. If I go and book those things for the cabin (meaning the two of us) will the Elite Plus discount be deducted for both of us or only for me? 2. When booking any of these extras in advance on the Celebrity website will it deduct the Elite Plus discount at that time or do I have to wait to book onboard? I recall having issues before (2019 and prior) with getting the Elite Plus discount for specialties in advance; I think I had to go to guest services onboard and have some adjustment made. I will obviously monitor sales for the extra items where the discount may exceed the Elite Plus discount I get.

Great information, thanks.

Oh, so at any time you can get a duplicate card for your cabin to say give your family access?

Can you switch cabin names once onboard when cabins are in the same category? For instance, if my husband and I each book a comped cabin and have a friend booked with one of us, once onboard can we switch names to move my husband and I into the same cabin and have our friend in the second cabin solo?

Yes. I’ve been to Orient multiple times before and after the hurricane. This excursion stuck out to me because all the other beach related excursions they are offering say Orient Beach specifically but this one does not so it stuck out to me.

As I said before, the Sky Suites saw reduced benefits because butlers were removed. I think that happened sometime early last year. But there was such an outcry against it that they decided to reverse that policy. They were starting with the newest ship and working out from there. That was a few months ago that I was reading that so not sure if the butler restoration continues for Sky Suites as I’ve been traveling and haven’t been reading the Celebrity boards. Sounds like your relative got caught in that unfortunate period of cutbacks.

Not always. I was a solid Celebrity cruiser from 2013 to 2019 and did one NCL Haven cruise in that time. Prices were comparable for Haven and Celebrity suites. Since Covid though Celebrity prices have increased astronomically (even above NCL and others who were also raising fares) to the point that I had to start looking at other lines like NCL and Oceania.

So basically what I stated except for "behind-the-scenes support staff".

So if you are paying gratuity on your drink package which covers all the drink servers for the drinks you may order, and you're paying gratuity at the specialty restaurants, and then you are choosing to pay a gratuity to the room steward, butler and concierge on top of that, then who exactly is your standard gratuity charge going towards? I guess just the staff at the Haven restaurant if you choose to dine there or a pool attendant if you order food at the Haven pool?

Does anyone have any experience with this NCL excursion, specifically to know which beach they go to and which beach club/restaurant they set you up at for lunch/beach lounger? The excursion description doesn't say and there are no reviews nor can I find any discussion about this tour in the St. Maarten forum.

It doesn't help when they included misinformation in the story saying that the ship was docked when it actually was anchored which is what complicated getting the passengers back on the ship.

OMG, now this story is on the NBC evening news. It just won't die. 😄😄

My Vista cruise for September 2025 that I booked in late December has gone up by $700pp since then

Just to refresh your memory, this is what you posted earlier: “They returned when the gangway was still down and the captain refused to let them board, but anyhoo.” Why would you mention a gangway being “down” if you were only referencing an “opening in the bulwark of a ship” and “nothing about a ramp up into the ship a person can walk on”? 🤔

They’re docked with a gangway. The other situation involved an anchored ship where all lifeboats had been restored to the ship before the late passengers showed up. Totally different situation.

I thought it was a tidal issue that caused them to miss Gambia? Someone on the ship posted about it here and it was announced the day before they were to even arrive there so it must have been an issue that was impacting the port for days.

Claiming that highly touristed African countries should be avoided by Americans for fear of folks being kidnapped and murdered certainly helps exacerbate those flawed perceptions…

Alexa, play “Let It Go” from the movie “Frozen”

Ignorance is bliss…

Eagerly awaiting for someone to come here and tell us how NCL failed these late passengers. 😂😂

Huh? The ship was anchored out in the water. There was no gangway.

In all of this that is the one thing that I found concerning. I used to work for a travel company and occasionally we would have a traveler get injured and have to go to the hospital. In every situation that I can recall, the trip guide would go to the hospital and make continual check-ins until either they were released, a family member could show up (if that serious) or another representative from our company or from a trusted local associate company could be there to continually check on them (because the tour often had to move on to another destination). This sometimes meant a disruption to the itinerary for the other travelers. I would read feedback from other travelers who would always be praising the guide and our company for putting the needs of the traveler over the trip despite it causing them to miss things in the itinerary. Now who knows what the truth is. Maybe NCL did have someone local there who they worked with who was keeping an eye on the hospitalized passenger. I wouldn’t necessarily trust everything the disgruntled “stranded” group has to say about it.

Because you’re afraid the ship will sail away at its scheduled departure time when you choose to take a risk and go off on your own on an excursion that if delayed a bit can cause you to miss all aboard time? Okay. But I’ll guess you’ll have to forgo cruise ships altogether then since they all have the same rules. 🤷🏻‍♂️