YYC F/A

You are on board?

What has the CD been telling you?

Thanks for sharing with us....

Had two updates from CD. Right now "entertainment and onboard activities will continue as planned" but no further updates other than that "engineering team is working hard on the issue".

Some people are on twitter venting and getting angry, but really, why?!? We're on a beautiful ship, with GREAT crew, and ya know, sometimes **** happens - make lemonade folks!

Off to dinner... at least we'll make sure we get one Celebrity dinner in, no matter what happens! ;)

They are not far enough out to open the casino and shops, correct?

Almost stones throw from shore, no Casino or shops open.

Currently still stuck in NY area at entrance to Hudson - great view of Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan of the Port Side - some people would pay a lot to spend the night having dinner with that view ;)

Regular updates from the CD but we're still stuck and anchor is down. Been 2.5 hours so far....

Yeah, but it is a minimum discount of up to 20%:rolleyes:

 

To my way of thinking, a travel discount does not interest me unless it is 30%+ off prevailing rates, not rack rates.

Elite members for instance would be comped MLife Gold Status equivalent.

The 20% is off the prevailing rates and does make for a tangible difference. In some resorts such as Monte Carlo, you'd also get VIP Lounge access which is a HUGE perk when you walk in and see a monstrous line and can walk right by it into the VIP lounge, have a glass of wine, and have the concierge take care of you.

You'll also earn ExpressComps faster and other perks.

Elite+ is matching over to Platinum Status which has several significant additional perks including skip the line for taxis and priority for room upgrades.

Breakaway r/t NYC - 7 day Bahamas/Florida. Travelled in a solo studio with a group of friends booked in various cabin types. Some thoughts...

Vibe Beach Club

We all purchased the one week pass. Loved the hot tubs with sea view, and ample lounger availability. Negatives? Poor weather on the winter r/t NYC voyages really cuts into the useability of the one week pass. Vibe was effectively closed on ALL THREE of the sea days (no bar open, loungers all lashed down etc). No credit is given for days that the facilities are not provided.

Bar & Restaurant Service

Had the UBP. Drink selection is good, including some decent quality wines. Hint - there are some outstanding wines by glass available on the Moderno and Cagneys wine menu that are covered by the UBP. I'm a bit of a connoisseur of the various cruise line beverage packages, and I'd put NCL's near the top - second only to Celebrity's Premium Package (which costs more).

Main issue I found is staffing (or lack thereof). Example - Prime Meridian Bar is a huge bar and a popular pre-dinner meeting place. Scheduled to open at 5pm. At 5:10pm a (singular) bar tender showed up, and told a already full bar of customers that he needed time to set the bar up. No drink orders were taken until 5:30pm - and by then he had a large amount of thirsty guests to serve. We gave up and went to another bar. Bar being open at 5pm means provision staff to arrive at 4:30pm so that the bar is OPEN at 5pm. Not that one person shows up and starts setting up and not serving.

Staffing was a persistent issue. We couldn't figure out in the specialty restaurants why there was never any wait staff around. Simple requests could not be made as there were no staff around. In both Cagneys and Moderno, we went up to the bar to order a glass of wine as we couldn't get service from our server. There was only one bar tender that was working, and four restaurant servers behind the bar making drinks for restaurant customers. This is insane. If you can't provide bar staffing so that the restaurant servers in specialty restaurants have to disappear for 15 minutes at a time to go play bar tender, this is just asking for trouble when they in turn have deserted the restaurant and can't serve their customers!!! There were lots of disgruntled customers getting antsy over lack of service - a couple at table next to us finally got up and walked out in Moderno.

Getting drinks during dinner was a long, tortuous affair at every specialty dining venue. By day three we'd simply get up and walk out and find a bar to refresh our sodas/wine/etc. For a specialty restaurant experience, this is terrible.

When restaurant manager/Maitre 'd stopped around, they promised "not to charge us" for the specialty restaurant. Given we'd already prepaid for our dining package this was little consolation. Cabin numbers would be taken down but no one would ever follow up - so what's the point?

Quality of cuisine

Moderno was great, the salad/appetiser bar is always outstanding. Cagney's was mediocre to poor. We watched the open kitchen from our table, and the chef's worked in silence with no communication. I've never seen a kitchen like it. No wonder food came out at different times - with several dishes being luke warm or even completely cold.

Teppanyaki and La Cucina had good quality cuisine, though service was also slow (again - staffing issues). Teppanyaki was the best service out of the onboard specialty restaurants and the chefs at the Hibachi grills were universally great. :cool:

Only visited the MDR's for lunch. Quality was very poor, food served stone cold, took forever to flag down a waiter (staffing issues - again) to get dishes replaced. MDR experience was truly dreadful.

Only visited the Garden Cafe once, and it was such a mob scene that I gave up. The problem on sea days is that 4,500 people try and eat in a two-hour window, yet none of the specialty restaurants are open - so the remaining venues just can't handle the masses. The Garden Cafe looked like a food fight had taken place, there was food and debris and trash everywhere. Staff couldn't keep up with clearing up (staffing issues - again). Just nasty, I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it on over 70 cruises.

Shore Excursions

Booked a Grand Cabana on GSC. Comes with priority tendering. Staff in theatre refused to "honour" the priority tendering despite repeated requests. Instead kept sitting for almost an hour after tendering had already commenced. When reported to the Shore Excursions Manager, he refused to apologise, instead blaming the Entertainment Staff for not doing their jobs correctly. :rolleyes:

The Cabana itself was a nice upgrade when travelling in a larger group, and well located and good access to a nice swimming area.

Cabin Service

My needs are simple, and I keep my room pretty clean. Actually, really clean. I even make my own bed. Yes, I'm one of those people. But I think housekeepers and cabin attendants worldwide find me one of the easiest guests they have. Attendant was cheery and pleasant and my one request (feather pillow) was promptly accommodated, and appropriate gratuity rendered.

Studio Lounge

Don't know why they bother with a bar in here. It's never open. There's no opening hours posted. Anywhere. And when I asked various staff members when it was supposed to be open, no-one could tell me :confused:

Love the bean to cup coffee machine and the nice premium teas. A very nice little perk/upgrade for Studio guests. :cool:

Wifi didn't work in the Studio Lounge (though it did in my Studio).

Entertainment

NCL has the best entertainment at sea and no one can throw a party like NCL, so if this is what you're looking for onboard - NCL continues to deliver. Great live music, great parties, I'm not big on shows but rest of the group raved. NCL really does a great job with the nightlife and entertainment. :cool:

All-In Package

Several of us purchased the ALL-IN package. Concept was terribly delivered onboard. Hassle, hassle, hassle at every turn. My idea of vacation is not to spend hours at the front desk, or onboard credit desk, arguing to get the benefits we've already paid for.

The final day (disembark in NYC) left a particularly sour note. After finally getting to the front of a ridiculously long line to disembark "Express Walk Off" - I was denied. Instead told I hadn't paid my bill and to go to front desk. A long wait at front desk, they referred me to onboard credit desk. Another long wait. Finally turns out that my 8 photos I had taken from my "included photos - up to 20" in the ALLIN package had been charged at $169 USD. I was told to go (with my luggage) up to the photo centre to get the charges waived. Lots of back and forth with the photo manager who at one point blamed me for the snafu for not "telling the photo staff clearly enough that I had a package". Then back to onboard credit desk again, finally good to go. Take my luggage back to the line, and STILL cannot disembark. Back to onboard credit desk for a third time - yep, system issues - still hasn't removed the errant photo charges. Finally, issue resolved, and finally - after 1hr15 minutes from when I first tried to disembark, I was "permitted" to get off the ship.

Final Thoughts

Staffing issues seem to abound on Breakaway compared to other ships in the fleet. Restaurants and Bars in particular just seemed unable to cope. Having to get up and leave a specialty dining room as it's only way to get a drink during your meal is unacceptable.

Onboard service resolution is non-existent. No one seems empowered to fix issues. Everything has to be "emailed to Miami". Department managers blame other onboard divisions when service failures happen.

It's a shame as NCL does many things right (Entertainment, music, onboard parties, flexible freestyle dress code, modern amenity filled ships). But while I fully appreciate it's different strokes for different folks, these positives were overshadowed by major let downs in so many other areas which is really too bad.

I've just reached Platinum level in the Latitudes program after this last cruise, but sadly, I just don't think I'll be enjoying those perks anytime soon. Celebrity just delivers such an incredibly superior experience for the things that matter to me that I can't see myself back on NCL anytime soon out of choice. But that is what is great about cruising - there really is a cruise line and ship for everyone ;)

That's the public sun deck on 17 all the way at the front of the ship, port side. If you look down over the railing in the left of that pic, you will see the bow of the ship and the WINCH ONLY letters above the crew area.

Vibe is on the other side of the ship, starboard side.

The public deck is where we were all day, everyday, last July, away from the pool deck ;)

Oh wow, that looks just as nice as Vibe - and with clam shells too! That's awesome. Aside from having no immediate bar service, I might seriously reconsider Vibe now...

Thanks for the info! :cool:

I have no idea at all what you are talking about with cabanas v clam shells. I never saw anyt8ing but the five cabanas in the vibe area. There are no other structures in the vibe oterh than the loungers, cabanas a bar and the hot tubs. The vibe is almost completely aft. Nothing is there that faces forward. It is a single deck.

Spice is completely Aft, but Vibe is Forward :confused:

I was going from this photo - posted on Cruise Critic from USA Today, that shows clamshells and caption says "Vibe Beach Club Deck 16".

Vibe has been discussed at length but after searching still unclear on following;

Understand that there are two options - purchase rental for one of (five?) cabana's. OR buy a week pass.

My question is regarding the clam shells. I see some clam shells in photos (they appear to be overlooking the front of the ship, versus the Cabana's which are fixed structures with doors and positioned overlooking the starboard side of the ship).

I'm still not sure whether Vibe is on Deck 15 only, or whether it extends to Deck 16?

I'm assuming after purchasing a Vibe pass that there is no additional charge for clam shells, and that they'd be first come first serve?

For someone that does NOT like to bake in the sun, are there suitable amounts of clam shells or umbrellas to provide shade?

Thanks :cool:

Hi,

 

We're going on the Epic in March and wanted to inquire about the UBP! What a surprise... Haha.

 

We're interested in Baileys or some form of irish liqueur to have with coffee in the morning to get the day started right!

 

Can anyone let me know if that is something they offer?

 

Thanks for the help!

Yes, Baileys is included.

While lattes/cappuccinos are not included in the UBP, Irish Coffees/Coffees with Baileys are included. Enjoy ;)

Hmmm. I wouldn't be so sure. I'm not a TA, but I have reason to believe that my TA gets a pretty hefty commission when I book through him.

Without divulging any "state secrets" or breaching CruiseCritic rules... In very high level/general terms, a typical TA commission on a mass market cruise product would tend to range from around 10% to 15%, and only on a portion of your total booking cost (commissions with mass market lines are not calculated on total booking but only on a portion thereof).

Many folks think it's like buying a piece of furniture or a car where there can be sometimes huge retail mark ups. This is almost never the case in the travel business.

Also, the lower the cruise fare, the lower the overall percentage. $399 cruises might be only around $30/pp compensation to the agency.

To the OP, NCL is supposed to send any payment / invoicing to the agency only, and this situation would likely have been avoided.

The math is clearly "fuzzy".

Try Getaway for virtually any date in March or April. 3rd / 4th sharing prices are actually HIGHER than fares for guests 1/2 in many cases.

One voyage I looked at - rate for 1/2 are $899/pp for Oceanview. Yet the 3/4 sharing are $1859 per person. That would mean that the 3rd person sharing rate for oceanview is $3718 per person for a 7-night Caribbean before the 50% reduction.

Called NCL and they said "oh - that's correct pricing, we are charging $3700+ now for 3rd/4th on the Caribbean sailings". How ludicrous. :rolleyes:

Another botched NCL promo that is poorly implemented. Let me rush to book my 50% off 3rd / 4th (at double what it would cost to just book them their own stateroom). :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Thanks for this update!

I have the ALLIN package on an upcoming voyage next month on Breakaway. Kind of poor that you had to push the internet manager to set this up, and that you had to go to guest relations to get the other bottle of wine. Also kind of strange that the Bingo as not reflected anywhere.

Hopefully NCL gets their act together and streamlines the process. While you got all your amenities, it's always a bit annoying when you have to chase them down - particularly when you've actually paid for them up front.

Another thought - maybe Elite and higher folks with Classic Bev Pkg could get a voucher for free upgrade to Premium, while folks without a Bev Pkg could be given the drink chitties (as is current on Elite heavy sailings).

This would deal with concerns about poor wine/drink selections as currently offered, giving folks access (with wines in particular) to significantly more by the glass selections, while still providing "happy hour drink perks" to those without Bev Packages.

While the social aspect may be lost somewhat, there are of course still many exclusive gatherings such as CC Celebration event, CC Elite wine tasting, CC elegant tea etc etc.

What about those who do not buy or get a Classic Package?

What about those that do not drink enough to want to buy a Classic Package?

What about those that buy the package and don't get any real benefit? Playing devils advocate here :p And yes, I completely hear you - there's no one-size-fits-all answer I think.

Though I understand that the figure is around 70% of guests now on a typical sailing these days have some kind of a beverage package (and a percentage of those that don't have it presumably could have had it but elected to take one of the other "choices" instead). Once the pendulum swings to the "majority" - I guess Celebrity will have to take into account the evolution and the fact that more and more guests have a package these days.

The cruise that you got for $869 CAD in AquaClass with $300 OBC, Prepaid Grats and Beverage Package seems to good to be true. Not saying it isn't. However, I check our two Celebrity cruises for 2015 on Equinox and Eclipse and the price difference between cabins was much greater than the price of your cruise.

So, enjoy your cruise. Deals like that are far and few between. At that rate, Celebrity is loosing money. OBC $300+Crats ~$85+Classic Package ~$500 = $885.

I assume that they are hoping that you spend a lot in the shops, etc. LOL

It's a repo cruise, so they usually go for a lower price point, but as of today the prevailing rate is $1629 CAD for same cabin. Booking early and booking on a group rate can yield some big savings.

I won't be doing any shopping. But they always get their pound of flesh from me in the Casino ;)

NCL has a strong focus on their onboard casinos and the new ships have significant floor space devoted to gaming.

Getaway/Breakaway have a vast casino that encircles the 678 Ocean Place or central atrium area and has long arms that run down the sides making it the largest casino at sea IIRC.

Unlike other lines, NCL has several specialty table games, including Let It Ride and even Pai Gow (though the latter is usually by request, $25 table minimum, and some have reported refusal by pit bosses to open the table because it is a converted blackjack table - they "flip" the table over).

What saddens me is that the push for the players club has largely negated the experience for the "casual gambler". I played $25-$50/hand for 6 hours at Pai Gow on Getaway. In most land based casinos, $50/hand for 6 hours will earn you at least some kind of comps, not too mention free booze while playing.

The dealer had to apologise to me that she couldn't even get a pit boss to authorise a free drink anymore because "management took that ability / authorisation away from them" and it's all based on the card now what you can and can't have.

If I'm playing $50/hand, sure - I can afford to buy a drink. But the rigidity of things and taking away the ability for staff to even offer a token gesture to players left a sour taste.

I haven't been to the Elite cocktail hour since the inception of the all-inclusive beverage packages. Even when they had to be purchased before the 123go! promos etc. I saw the value in them, and thus would rather enjoy a martini at the Martini bar, or a Molecular bar cocktail, or even a sip of wine at the Cellarmasters.

Thus, the Elite cocktail hour benefit is largely of no use to me (though exception is noted for transatlantic voyages etc).

While fares have gone up for some cabin categories, you can still get some remarkable deals and I would not agree that you are de facto always "paying lots more" for the 123go! etc. I was able to book a Summit voyage later this year for $869 CAD in AquaClass accommodations, with $300 OBC, Prepaid Grats, Beverage Package, and TA amenities including specialty dining.

At this kind of price point, with this level of inclusions, how can you go wrong?

From my perspective, I'd rather Elite and higher members perhaps be offered an alternate amenity in lieu of the happy hour - perhaps a free upgrade to Premium package if you purchase (or have included from a promo) the Classic package? Just some thoughts. I know that some guests like the atmosphere and social aspect of the Elite cocktail hour, so I do recognise that it's not a one-size-fits-all answer.

There will always be lines with no such perks, and there will be liens that add the perks, and lines in the middle. People who are truly value conscious, truly don;t belong on X due to the cost of onboard amenities. They belong on another line who include more things or offer less luxury, thats why so many lines exist, to provide a nice for each type of consumer, luxury or value conscious. Sometimes the luxury lines can accommodate both, sometimes not. Its why Carnival has no true premium suites on their ships, but their sister brand Cunard is high end and charges a premium for sailing and has several grandiose choices.

Cunard really is a product that is very class divided. I would opine that standard staterooms on Cunard provide a middle of the road experience that is certainly not superior to Holland, Celebrity or even Princess. Douglas Ward also makes this distinction in the Berlitz Guide to Cruising, largely seen as the authoritative independent review guide.

If you book Grills Class accommodations on Cunard, you'll have access to different dining venues (with superior standards of service and cuisine) and even private sun deck and open deck areas that are out of bounds to steerage, oops - I meant "non Grill class" guests.

Ironically, cruising in it's inception largely did away with the old class distinctions of the ocean liner era.

Now we're largely coming back full circle, with certain areas of the ship and certain venues and dining experiences only being accessible to those whom book certain classes of travel.

Celebrity has and is adopting many of these concepts. AquaClass, and now SuiteClass will further delineate the experience for those guests that pay those premiums.

For some time now Celebrity has made clear that guests looking for the cheapest price point (Interior Staterooms) will get the least perks (123go! etc) and now has gone one step further with the differentiation in perks for ConciergeClass and higher.

Ultimately, it's probably smart business to offer choices. Those on a budget can get onboard at the lowest price point - albeit with few perks. Those with more disposable income can elect to buy-up and enjoy more inclusions.

That said, I personally draw the line when a cruise line starts making open deck areas "off limits" for those in "lower classes". This is purely a personal opinion, and I respect that the opinions of others may differ. However Norwegian has already followed Cunard with The Haven and the "ship within a ship" concept, and now one has to make a decision whether to pay for Haven accommodations (with even fairly modest sq. footage suites at a price point equal to buying 5 or 6 oceanview staterooms) - or whether to buy "day passes" for things like Vibe Beach Club in order to ensure that you can access an area where you can get a lounger and a spot in the hot tub without a bun fight. Yet even the passes fly off the shelf quickly, leading to people turning up at the pier at 10am so they can stand in line and then "rush" to grab one of the coveted passes before they sell out. This is not really my idea of a vacation :rolleyes:

By all means, offer options for guests whom want to pay more, but not at the cost of the base cruise experience so that other guests have a degraded experience or find significant parts of the ship "off limits".

As of yesterday, the UBP/FreestyleChoice IS now combinable with group rates!

Thanks Mike, that's GREAT news as I had checked just on Friday for a sailing and it was a "no" but will be back in touch with NCL today!

At 250 points, you receive a small world atlas.

At 500 points, you receive a small picture frame. 4x6 size.

 

We both received the same atlas, and we both received the same picture frame.

No choices.

 

It would have been nice for my wife and I to have received a different gift, maybe even a different color. Blue for boy, pink for girl, anything that would have made it more personal, but no, not even an inscription. Nothing to strive for folks.

 

I for one, sure hope they revamp the program to at least reward long time loyal cruisers.

Eek. :eek:

Over at the big O, they reward with hard dollar amounts that steadily increase through the tiers (onboard credit and prepaid gratuities).

Plus the milestones offer some nice tangible benefits - even a free cruise!

A tale of two cruise lines.... ;)

I'm looking at a cruise for April....and TA has been about $100 less than NCL for 2 people.

 

However, I just checked the TA site...and there's an obvious error (OK is less than OX by about $100/pp).

 

What happens if you book? Does TA catch the error?

 

I don't want to shortchange the TA...but there's a fee for cancellation. I don't want to book and then cancel because I was waiting for the price to come down legitimately.

 

There is also a small possibility that it isn't a mistake.

Quite possible TA has a group on that sailing as group rates can be up to $350/pp lower than prevailing rates. However keep in mind that UBP/FreestyleChoice is not combinable with agency group rates so you'll want to be sure you get the perk of your choice with the listed rate.

Some TA's will have group blocks and if they have early booking group pricing, it can be hundreds less than prevailing rates. This applies to both CAD and USD agencies.

Check with some of the cruise specialist agencies in your area in Canada and ask if they ever have any special booking promotions.

A group fare could save you a lot, still get you discounted CAD rates, and you'll usually get an OBC, specialty dining credit, or some other amenity like a shore excursion as well.

As has been suggested above, make a few calls or send out a few emails and see what you get back. In Canada at least, most of the cruise specialty agencies will have group blocks on a large number of sailings.

I posted at length my experience with the UDP on Breakaway last year but I'm too lazy to find the original thread...

I know this is not the question the OP asked, but as a related side note...

NCL says drinks up to $10 are included. I ordered a premium bourbon and was declined (as when the bartender checked it, it rang through as $11). However it turns out that the $11 was the total after the 15% gratuity. So the base price of the drink was actually around $9.50 (thus included). The bar supervisor (Breakaway) subsequently confirmed that drinks up to $11.50 as they ring through on the POS would be included ($10 + 15% gratuity) as the UBP is also priced at / factors in +15% gratuity.

There continues to be some inconsistency with the drink prices and whether the $10 cap is a $10 cap including the 15% gratuity which in theory you've already paid separately, or whether you can go up to $11.50 ($10 + $1.50).

For most people it won't probably be of any consequence, unless you like the super premium tequila's, whisky's and bourbons.

To the OP - one little secret is to get some $2 bills from your bank before you leave. When you find a particularly good bar tender in a bar you're likely to frequent, the occasional $2 bill tip will not only be appreciated by the crew, it will be memorable for it's uniqueness. You may just find your future drinks are promptly served up before you even have a chance to ask :D ;)

I cannot think of any good reason that the flights booked directly Celebrity and the same Celebrity flights booked via a TA would have different prices. What is the TA saying is the reason for the difference in price? I suspect they are not actually the same flights under the same conditions?

For that kind of difference it might be worth pulsing back a little.

Good luck

In some cases, Celebrity will be using an AirSea contract with specially negotiated rates for cruise guests. Depending on the TA being used, they may or may not have access to Cruise or AirSea rates.

On one way and repositioning cruises, AirSea one way rates from say Europe to North America can be around $450-$500. If you go to Expedia or direct to airline website and book a one way from Europe to North America, you'll likely be quoted a fare 3x or 4x that amount.

It also depends on the TA. Some online / discount type TA's work in volume and don't really get too involved with air, hotel, private transfers. They are great if you are booking a straightfoward cruise and you know exactly what you want and just are looking for some value add or perhaps a group rate that the online TA can offer. They work in volume though - they rebate a significant portion of their compensation and frankly just can't give the same kind of time and attention to detail that more complex arrangements require, and most of the discount/online type TA's don't even have their own air contracts or want to get involved in that.

But if you are doing something more complex, such as one-way repositioning cruises, or exotic cruises to Asia, South America etc. then a cruise specialist TA might be a better fit. They may or may not have as much "value add" and may not rebate as much of their commission back, but a good cruise specialist TA will usually be able to offer savings with their air contracts, their private rate hotel and transfer packages, their options for pre/post or private tours etc. which can all add up to a more complete travel experience and offer better overall value and savings versus booking the air/excursions/hotel packages with Celebrity.

Find the TA that's right for you and for your cruise experience. Just like there are many different types of cruise line, there are also many different types of TA ;)

The SNG tournament structure is pretty terrible on all cruise lines. On ships with the PokerMate or PokerPro tables, they typically do a 8-man or 9-man SNG tournament with 1500 starting chips and blind level increases every 5 minutes. Combined with the time it takes people to figure out what they're doing every hand, problems with the machine, etc. and you basically just need to play these tournaments like an online "Hyper" or "Super Turbo", and find a good spot and apply maximum pressure and get it all in.

There is a strategy for these, but there's a lot of variance and "gambling".

For the cash game, on Reflection specifically, it's a dealer dealt live game. It is 2/5 NLHE. The table is right in the front of the table pit as you walk into the casino so draws spectators and gets good action.

While the rake is usury at 10% of the pot, capped at $20, versus most land based poker rooms which is 10% of the pot capped at $4 - $6, on the flip side I understand the higher cost (crew accommodations, limited opening hours) etc. so I do understand the higher rake structure. I still think I prefer a live dealer dealt 2/5 game with a $20 cap, to say Princess Cruises whom has a $6 max rake, on the 1/2 game on the PokerPro machines.

While a $20 max rake can be difficult to overcome, it IS still possible. I found that the poor quality of some of the players and the pots that would be "gifted" to decent players still compensated for the really high rake.

I have always been able to upgrade after final payment whether or not I use a travel agent and irregardless of whether the promo says for new bookings only. In addition, I travel solo and can always upgrade even if the guarantee cabins after final payment say they are only for double occupancy. This is also true on the exciting deals Tuesday promotions.

 

They key is having a persistent travel agent or, if booking direct, calling CaptainsClub, not the regular agents, many of whom have never even been on a cruise, and go strictly by the book. Also, make sure they call the resolution department and dont take no for an answer.

I'm glad that Celebrity and/or your TA were able to make an EXCEPTION for you and move you / "retro" you onto a rate that expressly states it's for new bookings only.

However if you've been gifted an EXCEPTION, it's unfortunate that there now becomes an EXPECTATION that this will be standard going forward ("Don't take no for an answer").

It also makes it harder for TA's because if Celebrity (and correctly so) refuses to switch someone to an Exciting Deals last minute sell off rate, the TA is often branded as "lazy" or given a bad rap. As a result, I have mixed feelings about whether Celebrity should even make exceptions as it just sets everyone up for failure down the way when people expect it every time.

Exciting Deals rates are explicit, here's the first line from the Celebrity Terms & Conditions for Exciting Deals promo rates:

"The Exciting Deals rate program is valid for new bookings only, is not combinable with any other offer or promotion and does not count towards tour conductor credits."