We leave in just over a month and have a few questions...

[Joel&Hall]

Hi,

 

We are leaving on 25th May on a Baltic cruise on Celebrity Eclipse & have a few questions as this is our first ever cruise.

 

- How long should we allow to leave the ship? Say we have a tour at 9:30am how long will it take us to get off the boat? & what is the process for doing this?

 

- Can you bring non alcoholic drinks onboard? & if so is there a limit to how much?

 

- We would like to hire a baby sitter for a few nights as we will be travelling with our young daughter, is there a time limit that they can be booked for? Also does anyone know the price?

 

- How much is the photo package on board? I had a look on the Celebrity website and couldn't see anything, though I could've just missed it...

 

- I have read that when you board they link your seapass card to your credit card however we dont own a credit card and wanted to use cash, how does this work?

 

- I have read that you can do online check in as soon as you make final payment, we have booked through a travel agent so would they do this for us or would we still do this ourselves? Also how so we get the luggage tags?

 

I think thats all for now, Thank you for all your help!! I hope that all made sense!

[rwr235]

Hi...

 

Great cruise on a great ship !!

 

A few answers...Reference the port debarkation times...depends on the specific port. Most Baltic ports are an easy debark...just walk off at your leisure, once the announcement has been made that the ship has been cleared. StP on the other hand can take awhile, even after the ship is cleared, to get thru Immigration...so be prepared for that.

 

Yes, you can leave a cash/travelers check deposit...if the balance goes below a certain amount, you will be called to Guest Services to make an additional deposit.

 

Babysitting info from Celebrity website:

 

 

Babysitting Services

Parents, enjoy a night out. Use our babysitting services, in both the Fun Factory and in individual staterooms. For a fee of $6 per hour per child, children ages 3-11 can participate in the Afternoon Party from noon-2PM on port days and/or the evening Slumber Party from 10PM-1AM. For a fee of $19 per hour, for up to three children within the same family, parents can arrange for a private, in-stateroom babysitter, subject to availability. Children must be 12 months or older to be eligible for in-stateroom babysitting. Please arrange 24 hours in advance.

 

There is no published prohibition on bringing soda/water onboard...many people put a luggage tag on a case...or more...and drop it off with their luggage to be delivered to their cabins.

 

No idea about photo package costs...though they might offer a "special" once onboard...you'll have plenty of time to decide and talk to the Photographers.

 

Hope this helps as a start

 

Enjoy...and if I made any incorrect statements, I am confident someone will correct me...as well as provide other answers to your questions.

 

Woody

[kitty9]

When you do your online check in, there's an area where you request luggage tags. Just click on that and follow directions. It will take 10 to 14 days to receive the tags.

 

Yes, you can put cash on account. I believe the amount is $250 USD per person. When you run low, they will call you to bring more cash or they will freeze your account.

[wallie5446]

WOW! You brought back memories of our 1st cruise 25 yrs ago, thanks!

The simple joy of watching the days click down till you set foot on the Ship for the first time, sigh :)

Most of your questions can be answered in the 'My Cruise' section of the Celebrity web site.

[Joel&Hall]

Thanks for all your help! I have looked on the celebrity website a few times but haven't found what I'm looking for, I may need to go back over it more carefully. Not long to go now, we are very excited for our first cruise :D

[wallie5446]

A few links from the Celebrity site that should help;

 

Already booked: http://www.celebritycruises.com/planAndBook/beforeYouGo/tabLanding.do?pagename=before_you_go_gateway

 

and you will find the online check in on the drop down.

[Lsimon]

...

 

- I have read that when you board they link your seapass card to your credit card however we dont own a credit card and wanted to use cash, how does this work?

 

- I have read that you can do online check in as soon as you make final payment, we have booked through a travel agent so would they do this for us or would we still do this ourselves? Also how so we get the luggage tags?...

 

To clarify: Except for the casino, you can not use cash directly on board. All your on board purchases for food, drink, shopping, photos, etc is charged to your seapass account. You need to establish a payment account when you board, which can be cash or credit card, and will be used to back up your seapass account and settle it at the end of the cruise. Most people use a credit card. The only thing one should NOT do is tie a debit card to their on board account. I've never used cash so I can't comment on the procedures but I've read differing accounts with some asked for a deposit and some not.

 

Even though you booked through a travel agent you need to go to the Celebrity web site and do the on-line check in. This will enter all the info needed in advance by the cruise line and at the end it will generate an "Xpress Pass" which is the document that is a boarding pass for you and your traveling companions to enter the port, the cruise terminal and do final check in at the pier. You'll need your Celebrity booking number from your TA to do the online check in. If you've completed the online check in then two links will appear on your reservation page (the same page where you print out the xpress pass) about 4 or 5 weeks before your cruise. One of the links is for ordering luggage tags and the other is for viewing your cruise documents in electronic form. You can download an abbreviated version of these E-docs but the full version can only be viewed online.

[CathyCruises]

To clarify: Except for the casino, you can not use cash directly on board. All your on board purchases for food, drink, shopping, photos, etc is charged to your seapass account. You need to establish a payment account when you board, which can be cash or credit card, and will be used to back up your seapass account and settle it at the end of the cruise. Most people use a credit card. The only thing one should NOT do is tie a debit card to their on board account.

 

Why not? I've never heard this before and have used a debit card multiple times.

[dwhe]

To clarify: Except for the casino, you can not use cash directly on board. All your on board purchases for food, drink, shopping, photos, etc is charged to your seapass account. You need to establish a payment account when you board, which can be cash or credit card, and will be used to back up your seapass account and settle it at the end of the cruise. Most people use a credit card. The only thing one should NOT do is tie a debit card to their on board account.

 

Why not? I've never heard this before and have used a debit card multiple times.

 

I think that's more of a preference than a rule, a lot of people I know don't like using DC's for a lot of things.

[Karen@Steve]

To clarify: Except for the casino, you can not use cash directly on board. All your on board purchases for food, drink, shopping, photos, etc is charged to your seapass account. You need to establish a payment account when you board, which can be cash or credit card, and will be used to back up your seapass account and settle it at the end of the cruise. Most people use a credit card. The only thing one should NOT do is tie a debit card to their on board account.

 

Why not? I've never heard this before and have used a debit card multiple times.

 

The reason many people do not use a debit card is that the cruise line put a hold on the card which may take up to 2 weeks after the cruise to be removed.

[vickykay]

You might want to pre-pay the gratuities (unless youbalready have or have it included) before you leave and have less thing to bring cash for. They will automatically add this daily to your account.

 

This a a tr of a lifetime cruise. Enjoy!

[Lsimon]

To clarify: Except for the casino, you can not use cash directly on board. All your on board purchases for food, drink, shopping, photos, etc is charged to your seapass account. You need to establish a payment account when you board, which can be cash or credit card, and will be used to back up your seapass account and settle it at the end of the cruise. Most people use a credit card. The only thing one should NOT do is tie a debit card to their on board account.

 

Why not? I've never heard this before and have used a debit card multiple times.

 

The ship treats a debit card like a credit card. On most cruises they make multiple "authorizations" in varying amounts during the cruise. Often the frequency and number of these authorizations make no sense at all. In the case of credit cards most people don't even notice these as they never appear as charges on your card. But in the case of debit cards they result in the bank taking funds from your bank account and putting them on hold for some time. This may tend to duplicate the charges that will ultimately appear on your account at the end of the cruise resulting in a reduction of available funds in your bank account for days after the cruise ends and even before your cruise ends the authorization holds might exceed the amount you intend to spend on the cruise.

 

For some this is not an issue as it just doesn't happen to them and/or they have enough funds in their account that this doesn't cause any issues. But for others this does occur and it causes them significant headaches until the authorizations expire and the funds are returned to their account. For this reason debit cards may not be the best option for use at establishments which do similar pre-authorizations in a similar way that might not allow the bank system to match the pre-authorizations with the related charges such as some restaurants, car rental agencies, gas stations and hotels.

 

Here are a couple articles that explain further:

 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2008-03-13-debit-cards_N.htm

 

http://lifehacker.com/5815138/why-you-shouldnt-use-a-debit-card-when-paying-for-a-hotel-or-rental-car

[lucinjo]

 

- How much is the photo package on board? I had a look on the Celebrity website and couldn't see anything, though I could've just missed it.

 

Checkout the website mycruisephotos.com for info on photo packages. You will need your cruise date and reservation number. They are the outfit that celebrity contracts with. I believe they have a deal to receive all photos on a disk at the end of the cruise.

 

Have a great trip.

[Joel&Hall]

Thank you everyone! That is such great information!! We had heard that about debit cards that's why we thought we would use cash so that it is all taken care at the time. We are anytime dining so have already paid all our gratuties but thanks for the tip! Lucinjo thank you for the information about the photo package I was able to find out exactly how much it will cost us, since it is just myself, my husband and our 2 year old daughter it is so hard to get any good family photos!! We are soo excited about our first cruise :D can't wait!!