AntjeG

When I tried to buy OBC online today the website gave back a message that my reservation couldn´t be found. When I log into Cruise Planner my reservation is there.

Any suggestions how to buy OBC or how to make the website find my reservation? I´d really love to buy OBC now because the exchange rate is pretty much in favor of me.

Thanks.

 

1) Booking online, impossible.

2) booked by phone, bad experience. Booking agent could have cared less.

3) Got classic drink package, before the changes/drink price increases. Change dictates a very limited beer, wine and drink selection. Now it appears to have a reasonable import or wine, pay for upgrade.

Why let those things have any effect on looking forward to your cruise? I´m also booked on my 1st Celebrity cruise and much looking forward to the on board experience. The on board experience is why I book cruises. And I avoided the problems you mentioned:

1) + 2)

booked at a TA who also handled website issues during online check-in and dining reservations for me

3)

canceled drinks package and got my money refunded to my credit card account immediately

Don´t let some minor pre-cruise issues spoil your vacation. Look forward to a great itinerary you have chosen and a nice time on board.

Thank you all for taking the time to answer.

Terry, I am already waiting for late dinner - as for now it is fully booked. Your pics are great - thanks.

Lsimon I think I will follow your suggestion and step by in the MDR if I´m still stuck in the early seating.

Thanks again everybody - I really appreciate that people here take the time to answer all my questions.

Perhaps a silly question:

I´m booked to the early seating during my Sydney to Auckland cruise. So sail away from Sydney is exactly at dinner time. Late seating has only wait list in the moment.

In your experience, do I have a chance to enjoy at least a little bit of the sail away view during dinner? As I am travelling alone I don´t want to do specialty dining and I don´t think it would be good to go to the buffet the first night. I´d like to meet the people at my dinner table the first night. I also assume buffet might get pretty crowded that night.

Any advice and opinions will be appreciated - thanks.

Thanks

Another question re purchasing OBC:

If I paid my cruise in Euro or any other currency except $ I can pay for my OBC in that currency, too. That´s nice to avoid credit Card charges for foreign currencies. Unfortunately, X only states the cost of OBC in Euro but does not tell me how many $ they give me if I spend 18,60 Euros on one OBC. Anybody here who knows how much $ OBC I get for my 18,60 Euros?

Thanks to you both - the info is indeed very helpful. Interesting infos on Australian life style, too.

Thank you very much, Terry. I appreciate you answer all these questions even months after your cruise. This travel review is really a great source of information. I´m quite relaxed now about the unique tour I booked for Akaroa.

My mother's maiden name is Goeckerman, from Germany!! Probably was originally in the old country spelled as Goeckermann.

 

I think you are right about the spelling of your mother´s maiden name with a double "n" at the end. Most likely it would have been Göckermann as very often (but not always) "oe" is spelled "ö" in German. That creates some trouble sometimes with international travel (my last name also has that damn "ö" in it!) as most other languages including English don´t have that. So in my passport I have two names (the one with the correct German spelling including "ö" and for international reasons an official "translation" to the "oe").

Where in Germany did your mother come from?

With the new Spa Company your OBC will be gone if you treat both of you to a nice massage - I have seen prices as high as $ 145 + 18% tip for a massage.

I can sit and stare at the water for hours, doing absolutely nothing else. It's as relaxing as can be. Many times I'll bring a book up to the sun deck, and hours later realize I haven't even read a page, I've just been looking at the water.

YEAHH! Sea days are my reason for cruising (you could visit all the ports on a land based vacation if you wish).

Here are my sea days:

sleep long the 1st sea day

get up very early the other sea days to watch sunrise at sea

workout in the gym after breakfast

pretend to read a book while looking at the water (maybe nap away while doing so)

if the weather is good get wet in the pool

have a snack and a drink

explore what the ship has to offer (shops, Workshops, art galleries and so on)

have a massage in the spa one sea day

go to the theatre after dinner

have a moonlight walk on the outer decks

When I took my Mum for her first cruise she stated at the evening of the 3rd sea day in a row that she now knows how the rich and the beautiful spend their life :D and she would like to have some more sea months instead of sea days :p

@J Chy:

where does your NCL Brilliance cruise end and your RCI Legend cruise start?

I´m new in this group. Did some solo cruises already. Next upcoming solo cruise Celebrity Solstice Sydney to Auckland Jan 2015 (really alone) and Norwegian Escape Hamburg to Southampton with a group of nice people.

Terry, I understand you took the ship´s tour with the train from Akaroa and therefore should have had priority tendering. But perhaps you met some people with individual tours. Can you estimate how long it takes for individual travellers to get to shore in Akaroa? I plan to be at guest relations or whereever they give you the tender tickets very very early that morning but that won´t help if it still takes hours :mad:

Solstice is scheduled in Akaroa for 8 AM and I want to do an individual tour that starts at 8.45 AM at the tender pier.

Thanks!

thanks

Another question on the Soda package:

Does it also include water / Club Soda? I´ve read reviews here stating that Canada Dry Club Soda is included but the Celebrity website states that Coca Cola sodas are included. Is water (carbonated or non-carobonated) included in the Soda package? I understand it will not be the bottled premium water - but that´s not what I´m looking for, anyway.

That´s what I do, too - book inside cabins. That way you can find affordable cruises on different ships. My upcoming cruise is my first Celebrity cruise and I´m looking forward to it very much.

I have a question about the Soda package to cruisers who finished a Celebrity cruise recently:

Is canned water still included in the Soda package? I´ve read here on cc several times that Canada Dry Club Soda is included but as of today the Celebrity Website states Coca Cola sodas are included such as Coke or Sprite. Can I still get water on the Soda package? I don´t care which name or brand it is - just water, carbonated if possible.

I think you should keep in mind that Internet at sea is a connection via satellite and is quite expensive for the cruise lines, too. Have experienced no cruise line so far who was able to compete with land based Internet rates and connection speed.

Given how I feel about the prices and variety of ship sponsored shore excursions, I might have felt compelled to stand up and say something less than pleasant to the CD in front of everyone.

Yep - you are absolutely right. I´d love to book more cruise line excursions if I could only afford them. Often you get the same itinerary for 50-70% of the price the cruise line charges. Sure, they want to have some money for organizing and printing tickets and don´t want to give the whole price to the tour companies. But if they would maybe charge the price of the tour and 10% or a fixed 5 Dollars per ticket no matter what the tour price is for their expenses I´m sure more people would be willing to book with the cruise line. I find it quite stressfull to organize everything on my own but if I can save more than 300 Dollars on excursions on a 12 nights cruise for the same itinerary in the tours I do so.

thanks

Has anybody been to Mount Wellington from Hobart and can coment?

Thanks.

I´m thinking of booking the Eastern Bays Scenic Mail Run from Akaroa. Anybody here who has done this and can share experiences?

Thanks.

Great review, Mark, thank you.

I was in Giverny when cruising on board AIDAmar 2 years ago. We were lucky to have a sunny day in Mr Monet´s garden.

You´re welcome. Many different opinions about AIDA, as you can see. The only thing that can help is: try yourself to find out if you like it.

Yep, maybe we'll just give it a try and decide for ourselves.

 

We've seen buffets at upscale resorts, that had enough of everything, no lines, waiters that welcomed us and led us to available tables, remembered our preferred drink oders and carried around our baby daughter while we were eating. Whether the Aida experience will be close to that of course remains to be seen.

It will surely not be like that. I just tell you to prevent disappointment. Most waiters are very nice to children but they would not carry around the babies. There will be a nice welcome with a smile and if the restaurant is nearly full they will also help you find a table. But most of the time it is up to you to find a table. There are enough seats. Problem is that some people don´t want to sit together with other passengers. AIDA mostly has big tables for 6-8 people. Small tables for 2-4 people are rare. Drinks are not served except for white wine which has to be cooled. There is water and red wine at the table and

you can order white wine. Soft drinks, juices and beer as well as tea are self service from the drinks station at the buffet. Yes, you will find lines but there is enough of everything - they do refill all the time. And I love their fruit station. Unlike many other buffets I saw at the AIDA ships all the fruit is cut fresh right before your eyes. It doesn´t lay there from start to end.

In principle, we like the concept of fixed tables and MDR service at least for one meal per day, so that we can all sit down togeter and eat at the same time. With buffets, it's often a situation that someone will get up to get something while the others will have to hold the table.

That´s a good point. In my experience if you all leave your table you should make sure your glasses are full and/or some things like bread or so remain there to make sure waiters don´t remove everything and give the table to somebody else. But in many AIDA cruises that happend to me only once. But - as said before - AIDA will not be a good choice for people who don´t like buffet at all.