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I went to Niagara in 2015 and strayed in the area (in Buffalo) for a few days, going to do the different falls-related stuff on different days. Boat ride up to (not under) and the walk behind. All of it was awe-inspiring. Hard to get a sense of how majestic it is from just photos. I would highly recommend a visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake when in the area. Very quaint town about 35 minutes away on the Canada side, situated on Lake Ontario (you can see Toronto on the horizon across the lake). Lots of wineries in the area too, if that's your thing. The town hosts the Shaw Festival every summer so lots of theater then.

You're speaking from ignorance on this and it comes across as blaming the victim. This TA gives you paperwork that lists what is included in the transaction between customer and the TA (and in this case, gave it multiple times). Pretty cut and dry that what they sold her was not what was really booked on the back-end. Confirming with X is moot to the issue at hand as the problem is between TA and customer.

I had a car rental issue with them a few years ago in which the car rental company moved my pickup from the airport location to one a few miles away on the day I was traveling. The warehouse people reimbursed me for the cab ride to get to the new location, even though this was not their fault. It came on a store card. So, they do have a mechanism in place to do reimbursements and it was all relatively painless (I just provided a cab receipt and they rounded up to the nearest $5 mark with what they sent me). My guess is that the manager thinks you won't spend more than the drink package costs & it will be easier to resolve by going through this reimbursement route without triggering any additional approval threshold. I can see pros and cons of doing that, the biggest con being that you have to keep up with it and submit paperwork afterwards. I'd probably insist that the manager go ahead and escalate it to see what someone with higher authority can do.

I would ask them to review the call and see what the agent said when you were booking. Doesn't a company have to explain its terms and conditions clearly? It's fine to point to the details online but that assumes one books online and not through a phone agent. If the agent misrepresented what the offer was, I think the company owes some consideration.

@Ferry_Watcher works at the port in Seattle and will hopefully be able to provide guidance on what they've been seeing in practice. Having to board with your full party was a post-COVID requirement that was enforced during the restart (when testing & health assessment was involved). Not sure how they're currently handling it. If they are enforcing it, the policy means you would have to wait for your friends before you could board.

Yes, a lot of what people blame on "IT" is really the fault of someone just not updating content in the systems correctly.

I actually do think the team approach will work better because it can be an inconsistent service currently, especially if you have a butler whose services are being monopolized by one or two cabins. However, I do think they need to give people the option to cancel their reservations and walk away as it is no longer what was advertised. This is a major part of booking a suite and to push a substitute service on existing customers is being penny wise but pound foolish. Tourism is starting to soften and X is pricing themselves out of a lot of the market; now they are taking away the differentiators and making the product less attractive.

I would start taking the Bonine the day before your cruise starts and take it every day. Get it in your system and keep it in your system.

Former smoker here who started in the late 1990s and quit in 2010. Never once in that period of time was I allowed to smoke inside any workplace. Bars and restaurants in VA got rid of indoor smoking around the time I quit, which was 13 years ago at this point. People my generation (late 40s) or younger are used to smoking outside. And vapers have had to follow the smoking rules in every one of these instances, too. If society has moved to that by this point, I don't understand any argument for regressing to allow this on X ships that have been smoke-free for years and years. MGM has a non-smoking casino across the river in MD that by all accounts does very well.

I would not rely on the TV as it could have an auto shut-off feature. The sunrise alarm clock idea is the best I've seen.

Yes, I didn't mean that they only allow smoking in the new ships. You have to look at their list to know. Just lamenting that they do allow smoking in their new ships. I like HAL a great deal but indoor smoking is a big negative that is hard for me to overlook.

I think you fail to appreciate that people are upset that by offering that "one option on one night" that they're downgrading the menu pretty significantly for everyone who doesn't want a hamburger because it takes the place of a more traditional choice. If you want a hamburger, there are already places other than the MDR to get it.

I'd also ask to be put on a waiting list for another Aqua room. I'd also check the website every day to see what's opened. Rooms do become available, even on "sold out" ships. Especially under the Move Up program, rooms in specific categories may become available when people upgrade.

Yes, that's right. They allow smoking in the casinos in their newest ships (unfortunately, IMO). Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam are most comparable to Celebrity M-Class, but they're the same age as S-Class. The others are a little smaller and a little older.

Insisting a front-line person go to a website and read reviews takes it a bit beyond calling to log a complaint, even if you think you're being polite about it. I think it's fine to call and complain but ask that they take your complaint, say your piece, and be done with it. I believe the better way is to contact corporate headquarters, though. As already mentioned, most call center workers are rated on how many calls they take; depending on the job, they're also rated on either how long it takes to resolve issues or how often they turn calls into bookings. In a former life, I worked in a national reservations center for a major hotel chain, and we constantly got calls from people in hotels when they would push the "reservations" button on their in-room phone instead of the "front desk" button. We would try to politely tell them to hang up and try again (couldn't transfer them ourselves) but often you were stuck listening to people you couldn't help while they prattled on about any- and everything. Enough calls like that in a shift would decrease your overall metrics if it kept you from booking rooms.

The bathrooms in Sky Suites have that same tub issue. I don't know why X doesn't do better with their bathroom setups in general, but those high tubs feel really precarious, even without mobility issues. Other lines have tubs like you would find in a house, so it's obviously a design choice on the M- and S-Class ships.

Any truth to the rumor I'm starting that the cheese plate is now just unwrapped Kraft singles? Supplier issue means it's really an off-brand substitute (Krafteez™).

Every few months there is this big blowup because they insist on using paying customers as guinea pigs. Frankly, it makes me not want to book any sailing with them, even if they inevitably roll back the dumbest ideas after the outcry. I don't appreciate paying the current (inflated) prices to potentially be a test subject at their whim.

I've done a few land trips in Europe with carry-on only. It's a fun challenge. I too was skeptical when the friend I travel with made the dictate on our first trip. We were using the train system across Switzerland and Austria, and he didn't want us trying to lug big bags between train stations and hotels. For that first trip, I laid out everything I thought I needed and all of it would not fit! So, I had to edit what I already thought was the bare minimum. It worked! For several trips, we've just scheduled a "down" day in the middle to do laundry and not be a tourist. It's a chance to relax. Also pairs well with a spa day sometimes (a pedicure in the middle of a trip can be a real lifesaver if you're doing a lot of walking). For other trips, we just have a plan in advance to send out laundry for whatever service is available wherever we are. A few tips I've learned are to wear jeans and whatever jacket or coat you're taking on the plane. I also try to wear outer garments at least twice before washing them.

Yes, Infinity's last scheduled update got put on pause due to the pandemic so it's one of two ships in that class that haven't been given a makeover with no idea as to when that will happen in the future. Aqua Class gives you access to Blu for breakfast and dinner, and it's a smaller dining room with theoretically better service. Concierge is a veranda with some extra perks but not many to speak of. Assigned dining for that level is main dining room. The difference in restaurant access is the main difference between those two. Both rooms are the same size. Aqua Class also gets you Persian Garden access but that facility on M-Class (Millennium Series) ships isn't what they tend to show in the brochures (pretty underwhelming). Everything else for both rooms will pretty much be you mingling with the hoi polloi. Neither gives you exclusive priority at general ship facilities outside of the stated amenities. A link to the amenities associated with the room types (keep in mind that Infinity is Millennium Series when reading): https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-ships/celebrity-infinity/accommodations Cruise Critic has a section of ship photos: https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/celebrity-infinity-196/ If you haven't read this recent thread, she gives some good overviews of her experience in Aqua and Concierge as well as food pictures and daily program sheets.

The two items they're keeping can be made from scratch using supplies on hand. Probably cutting a supplier cost for the other two. Pretty soon they'll be having cabbage soup nights in the MDR. Chili for Chic Nights.

My experience a couple years before the pandemic was that if you asked, they would encourage you to come after 8pm or before 5:30pm. They were completely unwilling to do a reservation before 8:30pm any night (we kept asking). We did show up around 7 or 7:30 a few nights and they seated us after a short wait. Of course, someone is dining at 6pm, so it might be you. If you crack the code, let us know!

It is lack of imagination at the management level that there isn't some way for a supervisor to override the limit in the computer to add a single extra package. Have it signed off by someone else, if needed, to make sure it's not being regularly abused. But I agree with OP that it's dumb that a single extra package could not be made available.

"Bad" is in the eye of the beholder. There are certain things that make rooms less desirable to many. Too far forward is one. Limited view is another. Some don't want public spaces above or below them. Lots of factors. I'm sure X knows which cabins tend to be left in inventory from those who are picking their own. Guarantee is the way they fill up the others. It is the luck of the draw, though, since every cruise is different. They are usually good about reassigning within the same category if you contact them, assuming rooms are still available. Other lines handle their assignments differently and have their own rules. Doesn't HAL tend to assign their guarantees closer to the sail date? Easier to see inventory for upgrades at that point. X is really into the paid upgrade scheme.

They will usually switch you if a cabin in the same category is available so call them with some choices from what's available. However, I would note that this is the chance you take with any guarantee booking. You get a lower price because you're letting the cruise line control where you end up. Something to consider in the future.