Ellaleah

The American that wrote the book started in a very low level ( I think waiter) and moved up. He did it for a non American girl that worked on the ship. It tells of the hard work and long hours. That is why you will not find Americans working on ships.

That probably depends on where “home” is for them! Have you encountered any Americans working on ships that say it’s better than the job they could get at home? Doubtful. There was one American that worked on a cruise ship and wrote a book about it. It was very interesting, but it certainly did not sound glamorous or lucrative. The book is Cruise Confidential.

I will be going on my first Celebrity next year. I always give a cash tip in addition to the auto gratuities. I assume that each employee I tip gets to keep theirs. What would be the point of tipping dining room personnel in white envelopes? Can I get confirmation?

The conversation on here seems to assume that all these AI prices are the same. They are not and some are so “out of whack” that it defies math and or logic why anyone would do them and I would not do them for the good of the cruise line as they are not adding some of these crazy AI’s for the good of the customers. They need to be looked at individually.

It makes no sense. I have seen them makes other errors the other way and there are discussions on here about them not honoring the price that was initially booked.

Thank you very much

Sorry, but I will not have that situation until 2024. I wondering who you booked for the private tour as I will also be in search of one next year. Thank you.

I’m only very slightly impressed with the response because of the extremely poor manner in which our Apex 11/3/24 cruise was canceled. Nobody knew nothing and it was next to impossible to convince them that the cruise was canceled even after I told them that I got the letter from Celebrity. That being said, it is sad that they have set my expectations so low. Here is my communication……

It is not better than buying a drink pkg. I did the math. It is pretty insane!

If you back out premium Wi-Fi and gratuities. That leaves about $1800 for drinks if they do give you $400 OBC. Maybe some could drink it, but hard to believe too many would find this AI price enticing.

I did the math. It would have to be very heavy!

This is from an email offer I received today for a16 nightTransatlantic11/23. It has an additional $400. OBC. Who might buy the AI? It makes no sense to me, but I am very curious if anyone else find this appealing.

I will be in Lisbon, Porto, and Ponta Delgado 11/24. I know that there are steep cobble stone type streets. Being that we are both seniors I’m thinking we might be best off with a private tour. I am not fond of cruise ship excursions. Has anyone used an excursion operators in any of those places?

Very scary that nobody there knows nothing. Fortunately, my cruise is not for over a year, so I can see what happens. Thank you fo4 the news!

I have just had a poor Celebrity experience regarding our Apex cruise which was to be 113/24 and was canceled. We are now rebooked on the Apex, 11/9/24. They insisted for days that our cruise was not canceled after Celebrity sent out letters stating that it was. The lack of knowledge of what was happening by Celebrity employees was astounding and although I am happy about this gift card news, I am skeptical. Be careful!

The service would have to be below ordinary for me not to tip some cash. Most knocking themselves out waiting on you and working long hours. It’s a little “personal” Thank You!

That is certainly possible, but it is fishy at the least. The same letter that said there would be no Apex cruises 10/23/24-11/23/24 showed our 11/3/24 cruise being substituted with a 11/9/24. No one at Celebrity knew anything. Btw, when I called Celebrity several weeks before to see why our cruise was no longer showing on it’s website I was told that they must being doing maintenance. I called again a few days later and was told it was sold out even though it was so very far out. That was not believable in itself. This whole deal was anything but normal!

I’m pretty sure that I have seen many cruise ships that do not go into dry dock every 3 years or anything near that. I am also pretty sure that there were errors made in the pricing o& the 11/3/24 cruise. I’m not sure there is any dry dock.

Am I correct? I keep looking. Princess, NCL, Celebrity, and Holland all offer AI rates that include drinks, Wi-Fi, and gratuities (Holland does not include gratuities, but I think give some excursion credit.). Am I right that RCL offers nothing included in their rates?

Any recommendations for a good Tuk Tuk company in Lisbon?

I tried to pull up the Apex, 11/9/24. Nothing came up.

I agree with both of these posts.

My cruise that I am looking at is 11/3/24. Is it possible that they don’t discount the ones that far out because I do not see prices like that?

I’m pretty sure that what you are referring to as “Sale Prices” were the discount as the pre cruise prices before the Memorial Day sale.

That’s a pictures of Vacations to Go. They are never current or up to the minute. 11/3/24 is gone on Celebrity ‘s site.