A few Celebrity questions

[txflood33]

Hello fellow cruisers...

 

I really only use this board when planning a cruise as there is a ton of valuable info in one spot. My wife and I are looking to try to use a FCC from the pandemic. As I haven't even opened the X site for a year, there seems to be some new things and I was hoping someone might be able to explain easier and faster than a phone call to X.

 

I see the promo Always Included that appears to be nice. I am assuming this...and the fact of a year in lost revenue.....the prices are higher. Tips - is this the standard amount they used to charge just built in now? Drinks - are there still classic and premium tiers or does this include a premium tier? Wi-fi - I never used it so I have nothing to compare it to...basic, slow, email and social media?

 

I saw a post at the top of this page saying the CDC isn't going to lift the cruise restrictions for the US until Nov, '21. I did not read that entire thread. Is this still true? Does this mean my cruise cannot start or end in the US? Has this changed or is there talk of it changing? The thread is only a week or so old.

 

Has anyone done S America/Antarctica? There is one in March and I'm wondering about the weather that time of year. 

 

My wife and I are in our late 40s and will both be fully vaccinated by cruise time....not sure if this info helps. I really haven't read anything about cruising or travel of any kind.

 

As always, thanks in advance for any advice and info

 

[ATXBecky]

12 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

Hello fellow cruisers...

 

I really only use this board when planning a cruise as there is a ton of valuable info in one spot. My wife and I are looking to try to use a FCC from the pandemic. As I haven't even opened the X site for a year, there seems to be some new things and I was hoping someone might be able to explain easier and faster than a phone call to X.

 

I see the promo Always Included that appears to be nice. I am assuming this...and the fact of a year in lost revenue.....the prices are higher. Tips - is this the standard amount they used to charge just built in now? Drinks - are there still classic and premium tiers or does this include a premium tier? Wi-fi - I never used it so I have nothing to compare it to...basic, slow, email and social media?

 

I saw a post at the top of this page saying the CDC isn't going to lift the cruise restrictions for the US until Nov, '21. I did not read that entire thread. Is this still true? Does this mean my cruise cannot start or end in the US? Has this changed or is there talk of it changing? The thread is only a week or so old.

 

Has anyone done S America/Antarctica? There is one in March and I'm wondering about the weather that time of year. 

 

My wife and I are in our late 40s and will both be fully vaccinated by cruise time....not sure if this info helps. I really haven't read anything about cruising or travel of any kind.

 

As always, thanks in advance for any advice and info

 

We haven't cruised with Celebrity in a number of years. We booked the St Maarten cruise for Aug. Tips included is the standard charge you would normally pay so yes built in. We don't buy drink packages but think it is the classic built in to the price. Can't tell how good their wifi is since we haven't tried it. Hopefully someone else answers that for you.

 

Currently, if you want to cruise you have to fly out of the US to do that until the CDC changes the Nov 1st date. No one knows when/or if they will lift the ban before that date.

 

We have not cruised S, America or Antarctica so no advice from us on that.

 

I did call Celeb about some things and it is easy to get someone to answer all of your questions. The are very polite and very helpful.

 

Happy sailing!

[TeeRick]

We did S.America on Eclipse last January before cruising was halted.  It was mid-summer there.  But still pretty cool in some areas as we got further south.  So in March it would be early autumn and you would likely need warm weather clothing for a good portion of the trip.

[cruisestitch]

46 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

Hello fellow cruisers...

 

 

 

I see the promo Always Included that appears to be nice. I am assuming this...and the fact of a year in lost revenue.....the prices are higher. Tips - is this the standard amount they used to charge just built in now? Drinks - are there still classic and premium tiers or does this include a premium tier? Wi-fi - I never used it so I have nothing to compare it to...basic, slow, email and social media? 
 

this is their new pricing model where those three things are bundled into the base price and cannot be removed.  Prices went up accordingly.

 

 

 

Quote

 

I saw a post at the top of this page saying the CDC isn't going to lift the cruise restrictions for the US until Nov, '21. I did not read that entire thread. Is this still true? Does this mean my cruise cannot start or end in the US? Has this changed or is there talk of it changing? The thread is only a week or so old.

that is still the case and while there is a lot of talk , there is no action and that date remains in place.

Quote

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2021 by cruisestitch

[jelayne]

The internet package is the Surf package which is fine for email, sending photos, checking in for flights, etc and  it works for some social media but not all.  What is doesn’t do is let you stream.

 

We did Antartica & South America in early February.  South American was  cool in the very south  but in Rio it was hot. Antartica was very cold & windy on the deck most ports required  coat.  We used North Face jackets which weight next to nothing so kept the luggage weight down. 

[rvlandandsea]

We sailed on the Infinity out of Valparaiso Chili on March 17, heading north to the Panama Canal to Florida. The weather was great on the western coast and one of our most memorable cruises. We had flown in to Santiago Chili. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

8 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The internet package is the Surf package which is fine for email, sending photos, checking in for flights, etc and  it works for some social media but not all.  What is doesn’t do is let you stream.

 

We did Antartica & South America in early February.  South American was  cool in the very south  but in Rio it was hot. Antartica was very cold & windy on the deck most ports required  coat.  We used North Face jackets which weight next to nothing so kept the luggage weight down. 

We did the same cruise and found the weather very different.  Off Antarctica it was about 40F and sunny.  A weather and light jacket.  Weather in Southern Ocean is extremely variable.  The weeks before our cruise was extremely bad and cruises cancelled.

As to cruising rules in the future - any predictions are just that - guesses.  Nobody knows what will happen this fall.  2022 more likely to be pretty much "normal".

[ockelly]

Premium drink package is an extra $30 per day, per passenger.  Classic is included in the price. 

 

[HskrCrsr]

1 hour ago, ockelly said:

Premium drink package is an extra $30 per day, per passenger.  Classic is included in the price. 

 

A small correction to that $30 figure - that is the cost to upgrade to the Elevate package which includes the premium drinks but also includes OBC earmarked for excursions.

 

You can upgrade just the drinks for $12 per person person, and this includes the gratuity. Certain loyalty levels can get a discount on this.

 

Further, if one wants to upgrade from Always Included to Elevate or Indulge, Celebrity provides this pricing:

To upgrade from Always Included to Elevate is $30 per person per day.

To upgrade from Always Included to Indulge is $60 per person per day.

 

But Celebrity also indicates this:

The approximate per person, daily retail value for a Veranda stateroom on a 7-night sailing is as follows:

Always Included – Wi-Fi, Drinks, and tips of $89.50 per day per person

Elevate – Wi-Fi, Drinks, tips and OBC of $120.90 per day, per person

Indulge – Wi-Fi, Drinks, tips and OBC of $140.90 per day, per person

 

The cost difference from Elevate to Indulge is $30, but the value difference is only $20. It's probably best to just upgrade the Always Included components you really want (drinks, wifi) rather than upgrade the whole package. Your mileage may vary, of course, as different cruise length will change the calculation.