New Celebrity Promotion (1, 2, 3 Go !) Returns March 15, 2013

[Ex-Airbalancer]

They are on the last page of the cafe al bacio menu. The croccante is an espresso drink with granola and caramel syrup. Here is a link to the menu that shows what exactly is available, they are under other favorites and more favorites.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard/level3Type1.do?pagename=onboard_celebrity_restaurants_cafes_cafe_al_bacio&parentpage=onboard_celebrity_restaurants_cafes

 

IGLU (Caffe Frappé)

Espresso, ice, milk and the Iglu powder mixture

(your choice) café, chocolate or vanilla

$5.00

These are to die for mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[george8]

celebrity are not being entirely truthful with the 123 go offer. We have just come back from a cruise on the Eclipse.

We had a flyer delivered to our cabin when this offer was made, there was no mention in any part of the flyer that any nations were excluded.

Some people from the UK booked on the first day of the offer and were told the following day that celebrity would not honour the booking.

After 24 hours the future sales manager said this offer only applied to US and Canadian customers,24 hours later this was extended to all nations except UK and China.

We have cruised many times with celebrity over the last 12 years but feel so annoyed with the shabby treatment received that unless this is rectified we will not cruise on celebrity again.

Chris

[AlbertaCruisers]

I will read the rest of the thread but so far haven't seen the answer to this question:

 

Is the 'upsell' from the classic drinks package to the 'premium' $10 pp per day? (That is the price difference between the two packages on their website.) Thanks.

 

Yes, the upgrade to premium is $10 per day plus the 15% gratuity on that difference, so it works to $11.50 per person per day. The upgrade isn't a deal per say, just the listed price difference between the Classic and the Premium. So you get the Classic for free and they let you upgrade to the Premium for the price difference.

[Jade13]

Hi Jade,

 

That's very interesting. It was my understanding they would not allow the reduced deposit offer onboard, if you desire the 123 Promotion. If you wish, I will add it to my list of questions, or ask when I'm onboard Connie this weekend.

 

Hi Andy, well a Rep this morning says they will not, so I am still clarifying with my TA, who was told something different yesterday. I understand we can't get the OBC, but I wanted the low deposit.

 

I was told the 123 Go! promo has a reduced deposit, but it is not as low as $100.00 for booking onboard. It is $250.00 per person, and I was told it could be placed in one name only for now and the rate for the second passenger, "TBD" is guaranteed.

 

So, that may be the misunderstanding/confusion.

 

I don't have a problem with a $250.00 deposit for a cruise next year. I just didn't want to place a $950.00 or $1,000 deposit (I am not sure what it is by cruise length).

 

If someone is ready to book Cruise Air or Choice Air they will of course have to pay the deposit and name the second person. But, if booking your own air or not booking any air right now the 123 Go! promo can be booked in one name only for $250.00.

 

The exception is if you are in a group with your TA it will require the full deposit, but sometimes you can be added to a group later.

 

I am finding the Open Passages almost useless. We did use one for Galapagos booked in 2012 for 2014, and although no OBC, only has to pay the $100.00 per person deposit.

[BEAV]

Hi Jade,

 

That's very interesting. It was my understanding they would not allow the reduced deposit offer onboard, if you desire the 123 Promotion. If you wish, I will add it to my list of questions, or ask when I'm onboard Connie this weekend.

 

Andy, for what it's worth, we sailed Connie Jan 7-12. We made two future bookings on board, each with the reduced $100 per person deposit combined with the 123 Promotion. As expected, however, we did give up the on board OBC in lieu of the 123 Promotion. I hope you find the same to be true when you board. Have a great cruise!

[Iamthesea]

We booked our first cruise using the 1-2-3 promo. Although we are not huge drinkers, we are going to try out the drink package, too. :D Figured "what the heck!"

 

I think we are going to book a second cruise to Alaska for this Fall. We wanted to book a European cruise for next spring, but there are none before the April deadline. :(

 

Not seeing the extended date for this promo anywhere on Celebrity"s website. We wanted to wait a couple of weeks before booking the Alaska trip. Also will be able to put down only 50% deposit which will help.

 

keels81 - Are you taking the Solstice that does not go to Hubbard Glazier? My TA says we need to take the Century, as the Solstice would not go thru HG and we would miss out on the most spectacular sites of Alaska.

 

I just wanted to thank everyone on CC that posted about the 123 promotion. We are cruising in the med in August, a trip that we booked back in April. I would never have thought that we would have been eligible to get these benefits as our cruise had been booked a long time ago. Thanks to everyone here, I called my TA this morning and by this afternoon she called back to let me know that she was able to get us the deal. We are so excited! You guys are the best:)

 

I want to thank everyone, also, for answering all my questions ...especially Host Andy!

 

I did ask my TA about getting the promo for my existing cruise to Europe. It will cost us another $1000+ to switch, plus we would lose our $200 OBC. Yes, if we were heavy drinkers, we may come out a little bit ahead with the addition to a second promo, like gratuities or the $300 OBC, but we cannot see paying more just to be able to drink. At least I don't think so. Maybe I need to go do the math. It's a 12 Night cruise. Hmmm :rolleyes:

 

While on board Constellation two weeks ago, we booked one future cruise (w/drink package promo) on January 8. Then, two days later, we went back and booked another voyage, also with the drink package. Today, the first booking we made two weeks ago displayed the drink package when viewing our reservation on line (it didn't yesterday). The second reservation shows nothing. I'm certain in a few more days it will display on the second booking.

;)

 

I am assuming that you got nothing else as an incentive when you booked onboard this time? WE will be on the Connie is three weeks. That's the cruise we booked. What did you think of her?

 

Oooops! I was typing when you posted on the other page about your getting the $100 deposit, only. That's great! We may wait to do that while onboard if the promo is truly extended.

 

 

BTW- I think it was addressed earlier, but does the 1-2-3 beverage package include the gratuities? So all we do is tip the bartender separately if we wish?

Edited January 23, 2013 by Iamthesea

[upwarduk]

celebrity are not being entirely truthful with the 123 go offer. We have just come back from a cruise on the Eclipse.

We had a flyer delivered to our cabin when this offer was made, there was no mention in any part of the flyer that any nations were excluded.

Some people from the UK booked on the first day of the offer and were told the following day that celebrity would not honour the booking.

After 24 hours the future sales manager said this offer only applied to US and Canadian customers,24 hours later this was extended to all nations except UK and China.

 

Chris

 

I have just been investigating prices on the Celebrity.com web site. I get a message in RED, to say 'they are unable to deal with my request,' even though they have converted the prices to GBP (£)

 

Hi, I understand that UK cruisers have very different protections as consumers. Perhaps that's why they do not get the same offers as the US cruisers.

 

If a company has to provide a different level of protection for consumers then the rules probably will be different.

 

So what is the 'wonderful' protection that we get:

 

1) we loose our deposits if we cancel- I certainly cannot afford to have a handful of cruises booked, enabling me to decide which to take when payment time arrives.

Edited January 23, 2013 by upwarduk

[keels81]

 

keels81 - Are you taking the Solstice that does not go to Hubbard Glazier? My TA says we need to take the Century, as the Solstice would not go thru HG and we would miss out on the most spectacular sites of Alaska.

 

BTW- I think it was addressed earlier, but does the 1-2-3 beverage package include the gratuities? So all we do is tip the bartender separately if we wish?

 

Yup - we're on the Solstice that does not go to Hubbard Glacier. We've had many friends who have done both routes and said that either one you choose, it will be equally impressive.

 

We picked the Solstice for the ship and sea days - we've been on Century twice and I was ready for a change. I don't envision this being our only trip to Alaska in our lives, so it made it easy for us. Plus, the first sea day falls on our anniversary, so we will be able to relax, get pampered and enjoy time with each other without having to race around to excursions and see sites.

 

As to your question re: gratuity on the beverage package, it does include gratuity (one of the bonus points of the beverage package is you don't have to wait around for receipts to sign). We always tipped servers we saw often - especially as they moved from lounge to lounge during the course of the day. I know people say that there is some "lock down procedure" in the system that keeps you from ordering drinks too quickly - I don't exactly know that that is always true. By our second or third day, our favorite server would bring us buckets of beer on the pool deck as soon as we sat down. Now, that's service! :D

[Iamthesea]

Yup - we're on the Solstice that does not go to Hubbard Glacier. We've had many friends who have done both routes and said that either one you choose, it will be equally impressive.

 

We picked the Solstice for the ship and sea days - we've been on Century twice and I was ready for a change. I don't envision this being our only trip to Alaska in our lives, so it made it easy for us. Plus, the first sea day falls on our anniversary, so we will be able to relax, get pampered and enjoy time with each other without having to race around to excursions and see sites.

 

As to your question re: gratuity on the beverage package, it does include gratuity (one of the bonus points of the beverage package is you don't have to wait around for receipts to sign). We always tipped servers we saw often - especially as they moved from lounge to lounge during the course of the day. I know people say that there is some "lock down procedure" in the system that keeps you from ordering drinks too quickly - I don't exactly know that that is always true. By our second or third day, our favorite server would bring us buckets of beer on the pool deck as soon as we sat down. Now, that's service! :D

 

Thank you! We have also been on the Century. A very nice ship, but I love the Solstice class staterooms so much better and my thinking is that we would be spending more time in our stateroom for a cold cruise. Oh, decisions. I guess I should look at the schedule before deciding. The Solstice may not work out for DH.

 

Good to hear about your beverage experience. We are not the type to order one drink after another, unless it's coffee/tea/hot chocolate or juice. Where do you get the fresh squeezed juice?

 

How do servers know you have the package. Is it on our seapass cards? Can we take advantage of the pre-mixed drinks that the servers bring around deck, especially that first sailaway day?

 

And one last question, and I think I am done. :D Does anyone know the whole Classic beverage package value (gratuity included) for a 12 Night European cruise? And the value of the Crew Gratuities for a 12 Night?

[keels81]

Thank you! We have also been on the Century. A very nice ship, but I love the Solstice class staterooms so much better and my thinking is that we would be spending more time in our stateroom for a cold cruise. Oh, decisions. I guess I should look at the schedule before deciding. The Solstice may not work out for DH.

 

Good to hear about your beverage experience. We are not the type to order one drink after another, unless it's coffee/tea/hot chocolate or juice. Where do you get the fresh squeezed juice?

 

How do servers know you have the package. Is it on our seapass cards? Can we take advantage of the pre-mixed drinks that the servers bring around deck, especially that first sailaway day?

 

Yeah, we went ahead with the Sunset Veranda on the Solstice. I know there have been reports of soot, etc., that make the SVs undesirable - but I'm excited.

 

On Century, we always got our fresh-squeezed juice at the bar (Sunset Bar?) behind the buffet. It was never crowded and they had a fun little machine that you could watch the oranges roll through en route to squeezing (yes, I realize how nerdy that sounds ...)

 

As far as the SeaPass cards - we always bought the package as we boarded the ship and they just put a little sticker on our cards (now, this may have changed as it has been about two years since our last cruise). When we'd order drinks (usually outside), they would look at our cards, right down what we wanted on a sheet, hand us our cards back and serve us our drinks.

 

We were able to order the pre-mixed drinks passed around by servers on the pool deck. We did not have to have the same packages as the rest of our stateroom (I always had the Classic Package, my husband had the Premium).

[Iamthesea]

I saw the promo on a TA website. I have attached a screen shot. The TA is saying that THEY (the TA) pay the gratuities for the drink package, which leaves me to believe the gratuity is up to the passenger to pay. It also gives the value for a 12 night. :D

[SeaCBear]

For our Reflection cruise a few weeks ago, we had pre-ordered the Premium Beverage Package. When we checked in for the cruise, our sea pass cards indicated that we had the package - it was printed right on the card.

 

But, during the cruise, we all had trouble with our cards suddenly not working to open the door to our room. We had to get new cards at Guest Relations, and this time they just put a sticker on the card to indicate we had the beverage package. This is what they also did for anyone who purchased the package on board - so yes, that's still the process.

 

 

As far as the SeaPass cards - we always bought the package as we boarded the ship and they just put a little sticker on our cards (now, this may have changed as it has been about two years since our last cruise). When we'd order drinks (usually outside), they would look at our cards, right down what we wanted on a sheet, hand us our cards back and serve us our drinks.

[stanjj111]

My TA says that drinks such a pina colodas are not covered by this promo. However, I heard otherwise from some folks. Can someone tell me the correct info? Thanks,

[stanjj111]

Hi Jade,

 

That's very interesting. It was my understanding they would not allow the reduced deposit offer onboard, if you desire the 123 Promotion. If you wish, I will add it to my list of questions, or ask when I'm onboard Connie this weekend.

 

Going on Eclipse in Feb. The promo is now extended until Feb. 17 so I am interested in what you find out about booking onboard vs. before with a TA.

[Andy]

And one last question, and I think I am done. :D Does anyone know the whole Classic beverage package value (gratuity included) for a 12 Night European cruise? And the value of the Crew Gratuities for a 12 Night?

 

 

Hi Iamthesea,

 

Thank you for your kind comment in your earlier post. Much appreciated !

 

As for this question, Celebrity values the beverage package at 44.00 per person, per day - so if you multiply 44.00 X 2 X 12, that comes out to 1056.00.

 

As for the gratuities, It varies from like 10-12 dollars per person per day - depending on cabin category. I may be off a bit on those numbers, but it gives you a ballpark idea.

 

I hope this helps !

[stellarose]

The list on the website shows frozen drinks.. Aka piña coladas. What is on question are smoothies.

[Andy]

Going on Eclipse in Feb. The promo is now extended until Feb. 17 so I am interested in what you find out about booking onboard vs. before with a TA.

 

Hi Stan,

 

FYI - The offer has been extended through 2/18. Are you asking about if you can obtain the reduced deposit when booking onboard ? I've asked that question, and awaiting a reply.

[Lsimon]

...Where do you get the fresh squeezed juice?

 

How do servers know you have the package. Is it on our seapass cards? Can we take advantage of the pre-mixed drinks that the servers bring around deck, especially that first sailaway day?...

 

Fresh squeezed OJ is available from the waiters in the buffet or dining room, although waiters are sometimes hard to find in the buffet, or you can go to the bar located in the buffet area where you can also get your premium espresso based coffees.

 

There will either be a pre-printed code on your seapass or a sticker. But this is all verified when they ring up you beverage on the ship's system which they do each time you order. It also helps if you mention to the waiter that you have the package both for the waiter's sake and yours to make sure that what you are ordering is covered by it if you are at all uncertain.

 

The pre-mixed drinks on sail away day, or at special parties, are sometimes served in souvenir glasses for you to keep. These will NOT be included in any package so be careful about this and if there is any question in your mind then confirm with the waiters if the drink is included.

 

My TA says that drinks such a pina colodas are not covered by this promo. However, I heard otherwise from some folks. Can someone tell me the correct info? Thanks,

I think your TA is wrong based on what I've read and seen but I also have to admit I've never ordered a pina colada, nor any other frozen drink, on board at all let alone on a classic package so I can't verify one way or the other based on personal experience.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Lsimon

[wednesday]

IGLU (Caffe Frappé)

Espresso, ice, milk and the Iglu powder mixture

(your choice) café, chocolate or vanilla

$5.00

These are to die for mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Hoping they are available with the classic alcohol package:) Didn't order it last time because we were in the Baltics and it was cold everyday, but I love Frappes here at home, where it is hot even in December. My upcoming cruise is in the Med so I want to be able to order them.

[keels81]

My TA says that drinks such a pina colodas are not covered by this promo. However, I heard otherwise from some folks. Can someone tell me the correct info? Thanks,

 

With the classic package, as long as the drink is under $8, it is included. So this would include pina coladas, as long as they aren't in a souvenir glass and are using house (not call) rum - ie. requesting something at a higher price point than $8.

 

As for non-alcoholic drinks (sodas, juice, bottled water), I believe the price point was $5 or $6. Red Bull was not included in the Classic, but was on the Premium. So, I imagine smoothies are not included in the Classic, but are in the Premium. We had to problems getting smoothies with breakfast for free in places like the AquaSpa Cafe with the Premium drink package.

Edited January 23, 2013 by keels81

[koolforkatz]

I tried to make a booking under the 123go promotion using an open passage, strictly for the reduced deposit advantage, and was told no. This was by a Celebrity rep a couple of weeks ago. However, not to say that's etched in stone :rolleyes:

[Andy]

My TA says that drinks such a pina colodas are not covered by this promo. However, I heard otherwise from some folks. Can someone tell me the correct info? Thanks,

 

Hi Stan,

 

I think Lsimon has it right. As long as the alcoholic beverage is $8 or less, and I'm fairly certain a Pina Colada would fall in that category, you should be ok. Larry made an excellent point, in that some drinks come in special glasses (or plastic ? lol) that you can keep. Those specialty items will likely be above $8, so be very careful on that.

 

If you are unsure, it's always best to ask the server. They will be happy to answer your questions. I hope this helps !

Edited January 23, 2013 by Host Andy

[Andy]

I tried to make a booking under the 123go promotion using an open passage, strictly for the reduced deposit advantage, and was told no. This was by a Celebrity rep a couple of weeks ago. However, not to say that's etched in stone :rolleyes:

 

Hi Koolforkatz,

 

The 50% reduced deposit offer was recently added to 123 GO!. You may wish to calll them again, and give it another try. I hope it works out for you. Good Luck !

[mrpacker03]

I saw this cruise on Celebrity's 1-2-3 Go sale for $1499 p.p. for a balcony. I went to their website and found the same cruise for $809 p.p. I called Celebrity and they confirmed both prices were accurate. Guess which one I chose? We're not big drinkers and we're Elite, so we get enough free drinks now.

[mrpacker03]

I forgot the best part, I called my online travel agent and booked through her and got a $200 obc.