Questions from a Celebrity Rookie

[iujen94]

The hubby and I are going  on a quick 3-day cruise on the Reflection out of FLL in September to "celebrate" our new status as empty-nesters.  I'm also a Type A overplanner, and would love your input/advice on a few things . . .

 

1.  I've read that we can drop our carry-ons in our room upon boarding, even if our cabin isn't ready yet?  Is that accurate?  Since we are just going for a 3-day cruise, we won't be checking any luggage and will just have rolling carryons and probably a backpack.  Would love to be able to leave all of that in our cabin upon boarding instead of shlepping it around, so I wanted to make sure I understood that correctly.  (We just have a regular Veranda stateroom - no concierge class or anything like that).

 

2.  We booked an all-inclusive package that includes basic wifi.  I'd like to upgrade to the premium wifi.  We  are Select Captain's Club members (thanks to our status with Royal Caribbean), which should give us 25% off a wifi upgrade.  When I look in the cruise planner, I can see that a wifi upgrade is on sale for 20% off.  Can I "stack" my Select discount with the sale?  And if so, how do I do that?  I couldn't even figure out how to get the 25% Select discount to show up.

 

3.  There are some food and wine events that intrigue us, including specifically the Food and Wine Pairing Workshop.  I don't see any dates or times for the Workshop.  Do you just blindly signup and hope the time works out?  Or will we be able to pick a date and time when the cruise gets closer?  How does that all work?

 

4.  We are doing Anytime dining, and I've seen lots of recommendation to make reservations for Anytime in the MDR, which is fine with me.  I don't see the option to make a reservation in my cruise planner.  Do those reservations become available a certain amount of time before our cruise?  

 

Thanks so much!  We are so looking forward to this quick little getaway!

[doghog]

2 minutes ago, iujen94 said:

 

 

1.  I've read that we can drop our carry-ons in our room upon boarding, even if our cabin isn't ready yet?  Is that accurate?  

 

4.  We are doing Anytime dining, and I've seen lots of recommendation to make reservations for Anytime in the MDR, which is fine with me.  I don't see the option to make a reservation in my cruise planner.  Do those reservations become available a certain amount of time before our cruise?  

 

Thanks so much!  We are so looking forward to this quick little getaway!

1. Yes.

4. Keep checking. Early times go quickly. 

 

[sofietucker]

2. No. Choose the bigger discount. (I *think*, based on our experiences, that the discounts don't combine.)

3. You'll be able to reserve it--and know when it is!--as the time gets closer. The app is your friend...

Edited February 21 by sofietucker

[Mangrove Snapper]

14 minutes ago, iujen94 said:

2.  We booked an all-inclusive package that includes basic wifi.  I'd like to upgrade to the premium wifi.  We  are Select Captain's Club members (thanks to our status with Royal Caribbean), which should give us 25% off a wifi upgrade.  When I look in the cruise planner, I can see that a wifi upgrade is on sale for 20% off.  Can I "stack" my Select discount with the sale?  And if so, how do I do that?  I couldn't even figure out how to get the 25% Select discount to show up.

 

I believe that you may need to call for the 25% off.  We get 30% and last year I remember receiving an e-mail stating that I needed to call to get that discount. 

 

Even after you purchase, you can always keep an eye on the cruise planner in case there's a sale.  This past Black Friday the wifi upgrade was on sale for 50% off so I bought then.  If it goes on sale for better than 25% off, you can cancel and rebuy. 

[BytownMatt]

Regarding #2 - you will have to call Celebrity's Captain's Club to get the loyalty discount for the wifi upgrade - can't do this through the website. Would also suggest watching for sales/promotions - sometimes those can be better than the loyalty discounts although recently that hasn't been the case.

[iujen94]

Thank you all!

 

 @doghog - any best guess as to when MDR Anytime reservations might open up?  I'm happy to stalk the Celebrity app daily - just wondering if it makes sense to already be looking for that now (cruise is in September), or if it's more like a 30-ish or 60-ish day out thing.  Also, where in the app will I find the reservation times?  I see that I can click Dining at the bottom of the home screen, and then Main Dining Room.  Is that where reservations will show up?  Or somewhere else?  

 

@sofietucker - thanks for the input on the wine events!  Same question as I had for MDR reservations - are they likely to release times any time soon, or will it be more like 30-60ish days from our cruise?  Just wondering when to start stalking.  And will the times show up the same place that I go to book the event?  Or will they just show up in the Daily Planner part?  

 

Thank you all again!

[Mr. Click]

They will often let you stack the wifi discounts when it is just the pre-cruise pricing but you do have to call and ask to book it.   If there is a "big" sale like Black Friday  or July 4 then won't let you stack the discounts.  I have found that I actually get a better deal buying during the big sales when I have time to wait them out.

[sofietucker]

They started pestering us to reserve events for this last time (we leave in 3 weeks) about 2 months out.

 

If you have a TA, they can put in your preferred/reserved dining time. But you don't *have* to have reservations, which is why it's called anytime... The advantage is if you are planning to always attend the early--or late--show, you can align it with your dinner times and not worry about having to wait. The "most popular" time for reservations is 7:30, on any ship or land restaurant, btw. If that's when you want to eat, you might go ahead stalk them... You can also switch from anytime to the  regular scheduled early (5-5:30pm) seating, and attend the late show, or late (8-8:30) seating and go to the early show, If those times work for you and you like consistency. BUT keep an eye on sailaway times in the ports and your excursions. You might not always be back on board in time to make it to a 5pm dinner, sometimes... Another thought: is there a special event that will cause you to want to dine at a different time? Check the daily schedules for parties, shows, celebrations...

Edited February 21 by sofietucker

[doghog]

4 hours ago, iujen94 said:

any best guess as to when MDR Anytime reservations might open up?  I'm happy to stalk the Celebrity app daily - just wondering if it makes sense to already be looking for that now (cruise is in September), or if it's more like a 30-ish or 60-ish day out thing.  Also, where in the app will I find the reservation times?  I see that I can click Dining at the bottom of the home screen, and then Main Dining Room.  Is that where reservations will show up?  Or somewhere else?  

I don't use the app. I use Celebrity's website for booking our ATD reservations in my CP. We usually book our cruises 18 to 24 months out and have been able to book ATD reservations as soon as I book the cruise.  You should see the option now for September. 

[iujen94]

30 minutes ago, doghog said:

I don't use the app. I use Celebrity's website for booking our ATD reservations in my CP. We usually book our cruises 18 to 24 months out and have been able to book ATD reservations as soon as I book the cruise.  You should see the option now for September. 

Oh my gosh - thank you SO MUCH!  Just checked the website and was able to book reservations for exactly the times that we wanted. Thanks!!