billsbrowneyedgirl Posted August 20, 2007 #1 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Taking our first cruise in a few months. Are there any "inside" secrets? Any perks? In another thread someone mentioned the "cruise freebies" that you now have to ask for. What are these, who do you ask. Not to sound totally stingy, but if there are "freebies" that interest me, I would love to take advantage of them. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fud2468 Posted August 20, 2007 #2 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Since we are senior citizens on fixed income, we have the same question! Possibly the first sticky for this forum has some answers, I haven't checked it yet. A TA told us a long time ago that competition among cruise lines is now so strong that they don't provide the freebies they once did, with the result that a lot of things now cost extra that once were included. Ray Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raudacruise Posted August 20, 2007 #3 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Try this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=60920 Very lengthy but informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted August 20, 2007 #4 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Being this is your first cruise, don't look for much in the way of freebie's. Those generally happen once you've cruised. After your first cruise you're a part of the Captain's Club, and that's when you get the booklet with things like casino play, and coupons for reduced prices on things. If you go to the Captain's welcome and farewell party, you get a free drink and tidbits to eat. If you take the time to go to the art auctions, they sometimes give a glass of champagne, but that's about it for the true freebie's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontius Navigator Posted August 20, 2007 #5 Share Posted August 20, 2007 Things like bottled water for a run ashore come at a cost as did ever shuttle bus on Constellation. At three ports we were assured we needed a shuttle bus at between $10-$15 each. The cruise director conceded that a taxi for 4 people would probably be cheaper. Cheaper still was the pleasant walk. In Copenhagen the first tour stop off point was a whole 400 yards from the ship - that attraction was only 200 yards on foot. In Klaipeda the drop off point was about 1200 yards from the ship and 600 yards beyond the start of the old town. If you walked you saw the whole town. If you took the shuttle you probably stayed in the centre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteranddan Posted August 21, 2007 #6 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Sometimes people don't realize that the baked goods in the Cova Cafe are all free!!! YUM...especially the almond croissants... You have to pay for the special coffees (espresso, late's etc) or you can do what we did. Take your goodies back to your cabin and order coffee or tea from room service. We did this out on our balcony mid mornings and it was a nice mid morning treat.... Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morganw42 Posted August 23, 2007 #7 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Wow, I would've assumed that there'd be an extra charge for any items from the Cova cafe. We love coffee, so we'll probably order the premium stuff with the goodies and rationalize the cost by applying it to both the coffee and the baked goods, that way it'll make my odd little brain feel like it is getting as deal. Good to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted August 23, 2007 #8 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Wow, I would've assumed that there'd be an extra charge for any items from the Cova cafe. We love coffee, so we'll probably order the premium stuff with the goodies and rationalize the cost by applying it to both the coffee and the baked goods, that way it'll make my odd little brain feel like it is getting as deal. Good to know! The pastries in Cova are complimentary~the drinks served there are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morganw42 Posted August 23, 2007 #9 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Are they (the pastries) any different from what you'd get in the dining room or buffets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillgirl20 Posted August 23, 2007 #10 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Yes they are. In MHO. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted August 23, 2007 #11 Share Posted August 23, 2007 Are they (the pastries) any different from what you'd get in the dining room or buffets? Hi,:) the Dining Room has more of a variety....cakes, ice creams, custards, even fresh fruit if you prefer and all the item mentioned are delicious (in my opinion). Cova is known for its pastries:D and those almond crossiants are good but those chocolate ones are even better:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty9 Posted August 24, 2007 #12 Share Posted August 24, 2007 And, if you're lucky to be on the same cruise as Lois, she buys martini's for everyone in the bar !!!!!!!! LOL Just kidding !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyleduck Posted August 24, 2007 #13 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I hope this helps. It is from the thread that George gave you a few posts back. It is the list from page 47, post 938 of the thread "Celebrity Secrets they usually don’t tell you about. GENERAL 1 -You can get over-the-counter seasickness meds at customer service or the purser's desk. Free, dispensed a couple of tablets at a time. No need to buy them in the gift shop. 2-Also, if you see that they are doing a Internet class, you an get free internet for 30 minutes (you just have to sit though the class). 3-Yes, there is an area up front above deck 11 for topless sunbathing. It is clearly marked with no photography rule. Hmmm... 4- Re: gizmos, there are some threads you could find, but probably the best point is that there is only one US - style outlet in most of the cabins, so you'll either have to switch things around to charge your camera/phone/iPod/computer, etc., or bring a power strip or at least a "Christmas tree" plug to have enough outlets. Also, there's no clock in the cabins, other than suites, so a lighted alarm clock is a good idea if you want to know what time it is when you wake up in the night. A night light helps to find the way to the bathroom. No "secret", but a tip, especially for those with inside cabins. If you leave the TV set to the channel for the bridge cam, you'll find that it displays the time in white. Typically, it's pitch black out there all night, and all you'll see on the screen is the time (and temperature? can't recall) You can set the brightness on tube as you like. 5- Tons of stuff on the infinity - pictures, menus, deckplans, etc. http://cruiseclues.com/shipstips/infinity.htm 6-I do have some recommendations from this trip for you--if you want a lovely and romantic lunch by the sea to Oscar's in PV. It's in town, down by the river: address is Isla Rio Cuale Local No. 1. You walk through town, and when you reach the bridge to cross the river, go down the steps to the restaurant below. There are two restaurants--one on either side of the bridge but down at the river level. The other one didn't interest us as much as the menu at Oscars and we were quite pleased with our choice. The margaritas are amazing! The food was great! The guitar player was good. The location was spectacular--right at the beach, next to the river (which was a rather sleepy, slow moving body of water when we were there), and the restaurant was beautiful. Prices weren't bad either. At least it's local color and not some chain food that you'll regret later. 7 - you get double Captains Club credits for booking a CC class room. Classic Level Benefits* One-Category Upgrade Complimentary Custom Air Requests Presailing Specialty Restaurant Reservations Priority Embarkation (where available) - Founder Classic Members Only Exclusive Captain's Club Party Benefits for Classic Members, including welcome amenity, gift with purchase at the Steiner's AquaSpa® by Elemis and certificates for the Celebrity casino Preferential Debarkation (where available) - Founder Classic Members Only Reunion Cruises Online Newsletter Double sailing credit on itineraries of 12 nights or more (maximum of three sailing credits per sailing) Double sailing credit for booking a Concierge Class stateroom or Suite (maximum of three sailing credits per sailing) 8- If you own 100 shares of RCL (Royal Caribbean Stock) by the time you cruise, you can get a $200 shipboard credit for a 10 day cruise. You do not need to hold it a minimum amount of time. I actually ended up doing this, so if you are interested, I can give you more info. FOOD RELATED 1- You can also ask for your fruit options in the suite. There's the regular fruit bowl, and a tropical fruit bowl. We didn't find out about this either until after the 5th day....our regular fruit bowl had sat uneated for 4 days with mold on it! The head housekeeper gave us a list of fruit available, and from that point on, our fruit bowl was made fresh daily with our choices. 2-You can order fresh berries - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries -- with whipped cream every night for desert. 3-They also serve NY Strip Steak any night or every night. Another big hit is getting shrimp cocktail every night if you ask for it in advance. 4- On M-class ships, the Aqua Spa Cafe offers grilled to order high quality salmon filets every day at lunch. It's so good I could eat it every day 5 - In the cova you pay for coffees, hot chocolate, etc, but the pastries and cookies are free! (from the threads, I hear the almond and chocolate croissants are super yummy there.) 6-I've paid 3 prices for Martini tastings: $5. $7.95 and $10. You get 5 tastings. 7-Go to cruiseclues.com. They have pictures of all the menus including Cova Cafe. 8-You can get SASHIMI!!! Whoopie!! On our first cruise with Celeb. we discovered the sushi bar. It was a small assortment of sushi and rolls set up buffet style. The sushi chef noticed I picked all the fish off of my rice so he asked if I would like a sashimi platter. Of course I did so he specially made one fresh for me. It was huge portions of tuna and salmon. Yumm..easily $75. at the neighborhood sushi bar. So fantatastic. Of course he was well tipped. 9 -In the very back of the ship, there is also another place you can get sandwiches and some theme/ethnic foods, like Indian & Mexican. In the AM, that's where they make the waffles!!!!!!!! YUM! Lots of people were raving about the belgium waffles. The waffle and sandwiches are in the rear of the buffet restaurant. 10 - Here is an interesting thread on Celebrity Menus: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=4762127&highlight=menus#post47621 27 Post #7 on the thread indicates that there are only 14 dinner menu's for all of Celebrity, and that it is up to the ship's staff to pick from them for a given itinerary. There are also some links to another site with some Celebrity menu's. I believe it was to here: http://cruiseclues.com/menus.htm Menus from the main dining room of the Infinity - has 6 dining room menus plus the SS United States Menu! Everything looks delicious! http://www.thepreismans.com/Infinity%20menus.htm SPA STUFF 1 - a daily pass ($20) to the Persian Gardens if you want to try it out before spending $100 for the entire cruise We haven't cruised in the past year, but on our last cruise the charges were $15 per day or three days for $45 or a week for $99. The Rasul was very reasonable, I believe it was $75 for the two of us. 2. Do Spa services have the gratuity built in? They have an automatic 15% added in. If you want, you can add more. 3. The Rasul treatment is an extra charge that includes use of the Persian Gardens after your treatment. It is a fun couple thing. We have done it a few times. 4 - Embark early and head for the spa. Volunteer to be a spa model for the tours that are offered the first day. Our last 3 cruises, my husband has had a free hair treatment (frangipani massage or something of the sort) and 2 different massages). You have to be willing to be 'on display' (that is the reason I have never done it), but if you don't mind that it is a great way to start the cruise. (More than one person has mentioned this) Many folks do this, as it is nice to get free messages, etc. But you have to be early (by noon I would say to get them). 5 -Speaking of the spa, on our last cruise (Mercury 10-day Mexican Riviera), all spa services were 1/2 price on the last day. It was a nice way to relax after the stress of packing to leave (WAHHH!!) 6- Re the T-pools. This is kind of confusing because the answer depends on the class of the ship. On the C class ships (Mercury and Century), the T-pool is a smallish therapy pool inside the spa. Very strong jets, strong massage, etc. There is a charge for use of the pool unless you are in a suite. On the M class ships (Infinity, Millie, Connie and Summit), the T-pool is outside the spa in large covered pool area. It is the size of a swimming pool and the massage action is not as strong. There is no charge for the use of this pool. Hope it helps. SS UNITED STATES 1- I hestitate to let others in on this one. The specialty restaurants on the M class ships are truly a fine dining experience. When you go for the third time they offer to make you a special meal. The Maitre d' prepares the whole dish at your table -- it's like having a personal chef!! Book early, though because they fill up. 2 -Class ships have a specialty restaurant you can reserve for an extra fee. No children (12 and under) allowed. Enforced. Happy cruising to all! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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