Luvcrusn

What ship? If you are on an S-class ship (Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse, Silhouette, or Reflection) I'd recommend Murano. It's outstanding with many tableside preparations, and the food is wonderful with a fine dining feel. It's perfect for a special celebration.

27 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

It was just a suggestion.  My belief is the majority want to have grats included in the AI

I agree wholeheartedly. The spin put on this by LHB had me dizzy...in fact still does. Three PUPS won't come close to curing my equilibrium.

37 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Why don’t you start a thread with a survey and you can gather actual data ?

To what end? Each of us can come ro our own conclusion. My conclusion is that this is much like lipstick on a pig....it's still a pig.

1 hour ago, WestLakeGirl said:

What we really want is more Power up Points……

I'd rather have prices from 4 months ago, menus from before the awful new cuts, included gratuities!  Afternoon tea selections in OVC! Previous variety of choices on OVC for lunch and dinner etc. 

3 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Yes and according to Laura, we are the ones who wanted upcharged entrees in the MDR. 

and nostalgic upcharged cookies.

2 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

She never heard from me, but I don't want them. I'd rather pay them onboard out of OBC. That, of course, assumes they reduce the fare by the appropriate amount.

Don't hold your breath on that one lol...unless blue is your favorite skin color!

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Two different things. I would agree with believable but disagree with honest for the most part. 

Especially dishonest was the part where she said she'd heard from loyal Captains Club members that they don't want included gratuities. 

6 minutes ago, Cleoinak said:

@Huddler

check out cruisedecks.com They show the Sky suite as about 100 sqft larger than aft veranda. You can also find pics and video of cabins.

Did you mean to say cruisedeckplans.com?

I have done quite a few video calls on Equinox with the Premium WIFI. These calls were before X switched to Starlink, which should have improved things. On a zoom call I suspect you might get some lagging but I've not done any of those.

23 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

I just watched the webcast so now I will only be 2168 points from Z instead if 2171. 
 

Overall, I thought it was fine, but the rationalization of changes to AI is crazy. They took a package that had three things in it, four for suites, and left in the two profit items and removed the item that people can’t avoid. Numerous people say they don’t need the drink package or wifi. 
 

Over time the prices will “adjust” to absorb the grats and it becomes money for X.

 

Geesh, I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night and can see this one a nautical mile away. 
 

At the end of the day, call it what you will, include whatever you want, but the total cost paid for perceived value received is all that matters. 
 

mac_tlc

The saddest part of leaving out the gratuities from the AI is that the staff will likely suffer. Our TA always included gratuities in the past and we have always additionally tipped many staff members and I think we're not alone in this. I wonder how many will pay the required gratuities and decide that this is enough, or ask that they be removed and tip what they want. I am afraid that many will short change the staff who like likely suffer income loss from this move. Regardless or how LHB spins the video, they will be the ones who suffer.

59 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

 

It's going to be a long wait, there are 2 weeks left before the posts appears

I got mine...I have a DeLorean!

Our acceptance came 2 days before. We never received the email that it was accepted. We found out because we checked our credit card and saw the charge hit. Then we logged into our account and saw the cabin number had changed.

1 hour ago, ziggyuk said:

New opportunity at last.

30 power up points for watching Webinar with Laura Hodges Bethg.
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1057106097314956119

 

To qualify, members must register with their Captain’s Club ID and watch the entire presentation by 10 October 2023.

 

Watching (?) now. So far none of the questions I had have been addressed.  So far the amount of spin in this webinar is making me dizzy!

For the record I don't remember my mother every baking cookies...chocolate chip or otherwise.

Boy is she making me dizzy!!!!!

14 minutes ago, Guera53 said:

How can we find a specialty dining package? Does it include every specialty restaurant? I just haven’t seen it offered as a package in my app.

The packages are offered in the cruise planner on the X website. All specialty restaurants are included. You can also purchase single reservations to specific restaurants. If you purchase a package, the reservations must be made on board. We do it as soon as we board and haven't had issues getting the reservations we want.

Yes. You will be Select on Celebrity. Make sure your Captains Club number is on your booking.

22 minutes ago, Chocolatemom2 said:

Well, my cabin number has changed in the app, but no email yet. I’m not going celebrate quite yet, but I’m much more hopeful now😁

We never got the congratulations email. We saw our credit card charged and the room number changed. I think you're safe to let the celebration begin!🥂

Generally they are nights 2 and 9.

We love Blu on the S-class ships, but with the current cost differential in fares between Aqua and verandah we won't book Aqua. Instead, we book verandah and dining package. 

10 hours ago, tiggypooo said:

I also had this problem until I read somewhere to do a "smart switch"  from your Samsung phone to your Samsung tablet. Worked like a charm.Good luck everyone. 

I did the same, then update it regularly.

1 hour ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Alas, these are apples and oranges. Having one, or losing it, has nothing to do with the other

Sad but true!

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Looked around the website and can’t find the sign up link.  Maybe it faded away 🤔

It's still there. Captain's Club Benefits & Membership | Celebrity Cruises. Perhaps X IT hasn't caught up to taking it down, but it's still alive and well on the website at least if not in present function.

"Not I," said the little red hen.

1 hour ago, DCPIV said:

They really are finding every possible way to silently increase the cost of a cruise without changing the face rate.

They are raising the face rates as well!

19 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

I 10000% do not understand this logic that comes up often. You paid the price you were happy with judging by your willingness to make the purchase. So what if the person who books today agrees to pay a higher price than you did? You paid your price. They paid theirs. You know booking early, especially shortly post-COVID when prices were low, is usually the most price-beneficial time to book. 

Let me explain.  I was looking at booking another X cruise. The pricing seemed way out of whack with what we've purchased previously, so out of curiosity I went back and repriced previously booked cruises. The pricing has gone off the rails IMHO. Charging way more and giving less has us looking elsewhere. Previously!  When deciding on a cruise vacations our no Brainerd go-to has been X. 

We are definitely looking elsewhere. We booked a 2024 cruise with X in January. Booking the identical cruise today with same cabin category, amenities and insurance and $600 less OBC would cost over $5000 more. We have been loyal X cruisers with almost all of our cruises over the last 20 years with X. We are more loyal to common sense! Shopping elsewhere is only common sense. Why pay more and get less? Our last cruise on Equinox showed noticeable cutbacks all over the ship. We'll take the currently booked cruises on X, but are definitely shopping around.