Silhouette missing cruise on Dec 16 solved Coachella cruise

[cruisestitch]

Here's an interesting note:

 

No illegal substances or paraphernalia, alcohol, non-alcoholic beverages, food, weapons or pets. The use of illegal drugs is strictly prohibited on S.S. Coachella and all local, state, federal and international laws pertaining to drug use and/or possession must be respected. There is a zero tolerance for this and immediate action including possible ejection of the ship at the next port could be the penalty.

 

No non-alcoholic beverages, no two-bottles of wine at embarkation, hmmmm.

[ecslady]

It was me that originally asked who was chartering the ship since we were supposed to be on this cruise and instead got moved to the Reflection on the 15th. .

 

I think you made out pretty good with this. Enjoy the Reflection.:)

[ecslady]

My husband and I are planning on going on this cruise and I am excited as it will be my first Celebrity cruise (we have done mostly Royal Caribbean). I will make sure I post more about it as I learn, and a review afterwards.

 

Will you please do a LIVE FROM or at least a REVIEW of the cruise?

[cruisestitch]

I'm trying to figure out the logistics. Each band has to have at least, what, four or five back-up guys/roadies. Plus space for equipment. Plus there are extra speakers/wine tasting/fashionistas/Coachella staff, whatever. That's a lot of non-revenue rooms. I see that suites are not available for booking, so presumably those are set aside for the musical acts. Just curious how many pax they will be able to accommodate. While they advertise 3 & 4 person rooms, there is a limit to how many of these bookings there can be. It will be interesting to see how many staterooms sell and what the total number of pax turns out to be.

[RumRunner01]

If I can get online from the Internet cafe I will do that. I don't pay for service to use my phone internationally so it would have to be from ship computer. Otherwise I will make sure to do a review when we are back,

 

 

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[RumRunner01]

I am wondering the same about cabins. You can call for suite pricing but I am betting they are for performers. Cabin sales start Saturday morning and we have already set up our account, so after we reserve I will let everyone know how the process went,

 

 

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[BirthdayGirl30]

I am wondering the same about cabins. You can call for suite pricing but I am betting they are for performers. Cabin sales start Saturday morning and we have already set up our account, so after we reserve I will let everyone know how the process went,

 

 

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I was just reading the Coachella boards and Facebook. I think you are right that this event will be attracting a different kind of festival-goer. There's still going to be lots of alcohol, drugs, and partying, and I'm still glad we're on the cruise before and not after. Hopefully, the 21-and-up crowd will be less reckless and wild. I have lots of friends that would be interested in going too.

[elena7seas]

If I can get online from the Internet cafe I will do that. I don't pay for service to use my phone internationally so it would have to be from ship computer. Otherwise I will make sure to do a review when we are back,

 

 

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I notice you have had a lot of cruises on Royal Caribbean, so do you have a reciprocal Captain's Club loyalty number on Celebrity?

 

If you are Elite (by reciprocity) on Celebrity, you will receive a coupon for free internet when you board...it is usually for 90 minutes free internet time for Elites, but I don't know if that is the same on a 3 or 4 night cruises.

 

It will be interesting to hear your report!

[cruisestitch]

If you are Diamond or above on C&A, and thus can get a reciprocal status (Elite) on Celebrity, you may be eligible for 90 minutes of free wi-fi and if your phone is set up for internet, you could set it to not receive calls but be able to access the wi-fi and not need to use the ship's computers.

 

Which brings up other interesting points -- as you posted in the other thread. Will they be doing Elite events? Will they give you cruise credits toward your Celebrity Captain's Club account? and so forth. Good question to ask the Coachella people, as it will depend on what arrangements they made with Celebrity when they chartered the ship.

[cocobakerchica]

Exactly, this is what I was wondering in my earlier post. If you go to the message boards on the Coachella website they are all complaining about how expensive the cruise is. Well, I think it's a good value considering what you get. I am 44 and love this music, I know many of the bands and would jump at an opportunity to see them in a setting where there are not tens of thousands of people and it's hot and dirty. And the cruise is 21+. I would hope that this would be a different caliber of festival goers and not the ones who trash everything. I think the stereotypical festival goer won't have the money for this, and I bet a lot of them won't even have passports.

 

My husband and I are planning on going on this cruise and I am excited as it will be my first Celebrity cruise (we have done mostly Royal Caribbean). I will make sure I post more about it as I learn, and a review afterwards.

 

I definitely look forward to reading your review of this cruise, and I hope you have a great time!

[RumRunner01]

Lots of questions for us to ask the organizers, such as the $200 fee. I guess it depends on how you read it but I will double check that. And I do have emerald C&A on RC so I will set up a CC to get the reciprocal status. I did not think about using ship wifi on my phone, that is a good idea. I guess I'm leery of any Internet service on ships since it always seems slow and spotty.

 

All great info, thanks everyone!

 

 

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[RumRunner01]

Ok, we verified that the additional $200pp does include taxes, gratuities, and booking fee.

[hcat]

all these special cruises booked through outside orgs usually cost more--good thing here is they chartered the ship ..better than travelling with a large group on bd that one is not associated with, IMHO

 

large group cruises that do not take the entire ship create two cruises on one ship....some say they are not impacted but our experience with various large groups has been different..they are catered to by mgmnt & kind of take things over!!

[ORV]

I'm amused by the presumptive attitudes here that just because people are young and like rock music they're going to trash the ship. I was young once and loved rock music, and never trashed anything. Now I'm getting old and still love rock music and have yet to trash anything.

 

Having said that I don't think I'd like to go on this cruise, I'd be much more inclined to go on the Blues Cruise which has the Trucks/Tedeschi band.

[cruisestitch]

Coachella is known for some pretty outlandish behavior, so it isn't necessarily that the fans will be young or will like a certain kind of music, more that this particular festival has its own reputation.

[RumRunner01]

Ok, we bought our tickets (cabins) for SS Coachella this morning. I made a list of cabins I wanted (we were going for a Concierge Class aft). My husband had created a log in on the Coachella website earlier in the week. Tickets went on sale this morning at 10am and right at 10 on the dot my husband logged in. There was then a screen to select Bahamas or Jamaica, then your category and he selected Concierge Class. Then another screen for C1 or C2 or C3. I had him select C1 and then a list of cabins available in the class showed up. He clicked on one that was on my list, cabin 1676, on deck 11 Penthouse. He then was taken to a screen of terms and conditions and then a reservation confirmation. It was all very simple and quick. We had an email confirmation immediately. I will be getting our Captains Club number this weekend and using our Royal Caribbean status for this cruise.

 

About an hour and a half later a friend stopped by and she was interested in the cruise. We went back to the website and the cruise for the Bahamas itinerary (3 nights vs. 4 nights Jamaica) showed as waiting list only... so, I take it the Bahamas cruise itinerary sold out in an a hour and a half. I guess a lot of people were quite interested in the 3-nighter.

 

Now, on to airfare and hotel.

[cruisestitch]

We're lucky to have you to report to all us curious Cruise Critic posters! Hope you will consider updating us every so often.....

[BirthdayGirl30]

Wouldn't it be awesome, since I'm getting off the ship as you get on, if I could stash a few bottles of liquor for you? Like behind some books in the library, or under a pillow in the Hideaway?

 

You're going to have a great (if verrrrrrryyyy interesting) time!

 

I'll be taking great care of the ship for you and looking forward to updates.

[RumRunner01]

Cruisestitch, it will be my pleasure to report on what happens. BirthdayGirl, it would be totally awesome if you left something special behind. wink wink. LOL I'm sure you will take excellent care of the ship! I'm so excited to go on this cruise since it is also my birthday present from my husband too! Yay! I just love December.

 

So I called Captains Club and got my RC status transferred to Celebrity and got Elite status. Yippee. The gal I talked to was so excited about the Coachella cruise and she wanted to really go but couldn't.

[TravelingPeg]

We are also booked on the Bahama leg of this cruise. We are seasoned cruisers and will probably be one of the older couples on this cruise, we are in late 50s/early 60s. We are excited to see many of the bands. We will drive down from Georgia. I am sure there will be some excessive behavior on the cruise but after been on a few spring break time cruises on Carnival and RCL I doubt it will be any different from them. I do plan to watch to see if passengers all make it back on in the Bahamas.

[Allie-Oops]

My husband and I will be doing the Jamaica cruise and staying in an Aqua class cabin. I'm looking forward to reading, swimming, dancing and utilizing the steam room. I suppose there may be more partying than usual by some fellow cruisers but if it gets overwhelming we'll go enjoy our balcony or have a nice steam.

[Xenu]

Hello. Short time lurker, first time poster. This will be my first cruise.

 

In regards to the ship getting trashed, I've been to Coachella several times, and the only real "trashing" that happens is litter. Since the dining at this event isn't of the takeaway variety, that will make for less trash, and I imagine that considerable efforts by a cleanup crew will be made to pick up all the discarded cups of beer. People are creative, so expect some drug smuggling.

 

I have some questions, and I'll start with the most pressing one. Is the pool deck large enough to support a crowd of 2800 people? It doesn't look like a very large area at all.

 

I ask because I am trying to figure out where the headliners will play. Pulp confirmed they will be doing two sets on each cruise, and I know there's a seated theater on the ship, but it apparently only holds 1115 people. Multiply that by two and you come 600 or so short of the total capacity, which would make the advertised guarantee of getting to see everyone at least once an impossibility.

[Chigirlcruzin]

I am having one of those "I am SO over 50 and am such a fuddyduddy" moment. I took a look at the link provided by dkretired, and have to admit that I don't recognize any of them. But as a shareholder I think this is an excellent idea.

 

I'm 35 and don't know any of the bands!

[RumRunner01]

Ooooo, I'm so excited we have a few more people going! I'm 44 (will be 45 by the time of the cruise, my birthday is right before the cruise) but I love this music. And we can't wait for the people watching. I figure if we need peace and quiet we can find it on our balcony too. Thought about going cheap and getting an inside but we ruled that out and decided to go Concierge Class aft balcony and live it up a bit.

 

Peg, my last two cruises were on RC Liberty and Allure (consecutive) over spring break in March and those were CRAZY. I'm guessing if we can make it through those this one will be awesome. And, yes, I hope we can see the dock and watch pax run to the ship as we leave Bahamas, I know it's got to happen. That was a great past time of ours on our last two cruises, to get back to our balcony, fix a cocktail, then watch the show at last call. LOL But I"m not sure we can see the dock from an aft. I guess I will find out.

 

Allie, I bet your Jamaica cruise will be awesome. We considered that one for the extra day but decided Bahamas for timing and we need to get more Ricardo coconut rum that is only found in the Bahamas. LOL

 

Xenu, I'm glad to hear about litter being the biggest problem. I really don't think that the people going on this cruise would "trash" stuff even if they are partying really hard. I'm so excited to make my first Coachella at sea. I've wanted to go for years but it has never worked out for us. Regarding the pool deck area, I have never been on this ship but have been on ones of similar size and I'm guessing that you could probably have several hundred people at the pool deck for a performance. I'm betting that they have some sort of ticket you get to go to one of two sets or something, or they are betting on not every single passenger would want to see that band. For example, while I like Pulp, they are not a favorite of mine and if there was another band or dj playing that I liked better at the same time I'd go to that one. I"m betting the same goes for the seated theater, that they are counting on not every single person wanting to see all bands, or see a band that is playing at the same time. My #1 to see is Hot Chip. I gotta get in for that one. LOL

 

I wanted to let those on the Bahamas cruise know that I have set up a roll call thread on the Celebrity Connections message board. We can chit chat about the Bahamas cruise there. Here is the link.. go check it out:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1675423

[Allie-Oops]

RumRunner,

I actually like the itinerary of the Bahamas cruise better, but the timing of the Jamaica cruise works better for us. My in-laws are in Florida so we we can go directly from the cruise to their house for the holidays.

I'm a little worried because our room is under the pool deck so I might be investing in a pair of ear plugs. Love the roll call idea. Hope someone does one for the Jamaica cruise! If anyone want to sample the lineup the link below has two songs from each artist.

 

http://ilovethisbeat.blogspot.com/2012/07/ss-coachella-listen-to-lineup.html