johnb0529

Results just came in, 21 positive!
 

https://apple.news/A-VsW1BwZSkq78itdcJYOKg

We have set sail...and all seems well! Yes there are lots of kids, but that's to be expected mid-summer!

They did give a ship board credit for the missed port. I would have hoped for 10% of cruise price, but happy with what they did!

Shops were closed , that I noticed but bars, pools and restaurants are open and they adjusted some restaurants to be open for lunch the same as a sea-day.

So far very happy with staff and ship, just disappointed we missed the first port!

That should only happen if someone uses the Credit Card, but makes final payment in cash and the Authorizations are never settled.

If the Authorizations are correctly settled at the end of the cruise (mine always have been) the bank knows that charge is complete and final. But if you settle the account in cash, the bank never knows that the authorization isn't going to turn into a charge, so they hold it open against the credit line for a set number of days...that length can be different depending on your banks policies.

Less then 30 days away, so just bumping up in case anyone else is going!

Down to 2 of us, but still gonna have a great time!

Agree. The average person has no idea what it takes to make changes to a working website that must serve different nationalities with different expectations, government rules, and corporate requirements. There is much more effort needed than simply changing a word here and there. The OP has a history of posting negative comments and starting negative threads, and obviously has zero idea how the world outside his small bubble of opinion actually functions. Ignorance is bliss when the blame game is being played.

that's only true if they are running on an old platform that was custom built or has not been kept up to date. Any site using a modern CMS is very easy for the end business user to enter new content, route for approval and push live across multiple URLs and even server farms at different locations. I have lived in both worlds and the difference in ability to manage a website with a modern CMS is night and day vs. legacy systems... make me think one of they biggest challenges is lack of investment in the proper web platforms!

Generally, something is only headline worthy when it impacts a large number of people, while the news ignores the actual higher impact numbers when it impacts people at an individual level (in most cases!)

Norovirus - Cruise Ships vs. Restaurants

Transportation - Airplane Crashes vs. Auto Accidents

Shootings - Mass Shootings vs. Individual Handgun Deaths

Impact to a large number of people is always more exciting for the news media and politicians! sad but it's what gets everyones attention...

Glad to see someone is at least putting a couple stories out that don't focus on the Cruise Industry being the problem!

Hi

Im a newbie and Im trying to find some information on drinks packages for the celebrity equinox. Need to decide which would be the best option for us. could anyone help or point me in the right direction? thanks

Can you be a little more specific on what information you are looking for?

There is information on the Celebrity Website about costs and rules...and there are numerous (probably hundreds) threads on here about Drink Packages around prices, whats included and not included, peoples opinions on if it's worth it or not, the 123 promotions, increasing prices, etc...

http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/onboard-beverage-packages?pagename=onboard_beverage_packages_overview

As most have pointed out, it's not 'real brewed tea'...

but from a concentrate, same as many US Fast Food Restaurants serve...

it's OK, at best, if you like real brewed tea.

But it's also not sweet tea, which will make me gag on a single sip!

Best recommendation for real tea is to go to the Coffee Bar(s) and get their fresh brewed teas...lots of choices of tea types and the make it fresh when you order it! Of course the cost can add up quickly ($5ish a pot), unless you are on a drink package (we always have been) in which case its an easy decision!

So we have taken 2 cruises on Celebrity in a Royal Suite, so very familiar with the size and perks...

But this summer, we will be going with 3 adults in the cabin, and still trying to decide on the Suite vs. 2 Cabins...we think the benefits of the Suite outweigh the potential down-sides of 3 in the Suite...

The biggest thing we don't know, because we never checked before, is the Sofa-Bed in the LR of the Suite...has anyone slept on it? how is it for 10 days? survivable for an adult (or 2)? and does requesting an egg-crate help?

While we love the idea of the larger veranda, and suite perks, we also don't want 10 nights of misery sleeping on a horrible bed!

Thanks for any input!

Not familiar with the activities on Celebrity for children, as I don't have any, but I have taken a couple cruises in September in the Med and have seen very few children...only a couple on the entire ship.

On our last Med Cruise we didn't see any children the entire cruise, until disembarkation day, when we saw 2...we were kinda like "where did they hide them for 12 days?"

We recently booked this itinerary, just looking to see if anyone else is on it or considering it...

This is our 3rd Celebrity Cruise and 4th cruise out of Rome (2 on Princess).

Now to start the fun of deciding what to do at every port...each of these is a repeat for us, so time to look for things to do outside the normal tourist highlights...

There will be 3 of us...one couple and one single (at least right now ;)

In the end, it does depend how much you drink.

 

Keith

I would say that's 90% true. For many, it's the convenience.

- I don't have to sign any slips

- The Sommelier keeps my wine glass full at dinner without asking

- When i get off the ship, i can audit my bill in 60 seconds because there are only a handfull of rememberable purchases, vs. trying to remember every drink i purchased.

- ordering coffee and tea i would otherwise skip

- having bottles of water in the cabin and for tours without thinking about the cost

What's that premium worth? depends on the person and their disposable income, but for me, i cannot imagine going back to the old system.

Last November we were on the Equinox over my birthday.

After enjoying a nice dinner and a birthday cake in the MDR, we returned to our Suite to find a much nicer chocolate cake and bottle of champagne which had been sent up by the Assistant Head of Housekeeping. so we drank the champagne on the balcony and saved the cake for the next night after dinner.

have eaten at Plane Food at LHR - ok food, terrible service - expected more from a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, even if at an airport!

have eaten at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's. Great dinner, great service, well worth the $$ if you truly enjoy both excellent food and service and don't mind the price. It runs about 70pounds for dinner, plus drinks.

will be eating at The Savoy Grill and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in a few weeks before our next cruise.

As people have mentioned, they can be good if you pay them off every month. If you are disciplined, reward cards can be very valuable!

But you should always do the math on what the Credit Card is really giving you in value, often the reward specific cards (cruise/airline, etc) are not the best bet. It can feel good to get a reward specifically for your cruise, but often other cards give you more $$ back in your pocket that you can use.

The Airline and Cruise cards often equal about 1% reward, although with Airlines you can sometimes redeem for more valuable flights, if you spend time and research. For example on our October cruise, we were able to get 2 Business Class tickets for 120,000 points total vs. paying $2,200 for coach or $10,000 for business. In that case we got about 8% back on the Airline value, but we had to book the flights 9 months in advance and be flexible in our flight schedule (had to fly on a Thursday and could not get direct)

We use Credit Cards for everything we spend money on, that will accept a credit card. But we use different cards for different purposes to maximize rewards.

For example:

AmEx's Blue Card gives you 6% on groceries, 3% on gas, 3% on Dept Stores

Discover gives you 5-20% off online purchases at most major retailers

Fidelity's AmEx cards gives you 2% off all purchases (including our business travel)

American Airlines Mastercard for anyone not taking AmEx for the miles

For the AmEx Blue and Discover, we just leave the Reward Dollars in the account until vacation, then use the Reward Balance to pay the Bill when we get back from Vacation

And make sure you put any major purchases you can on these cards! Buying a car, put the downpayment on a card, doing home improvement projects, put it on the card. We just replaced all the doors and windows on the house, the window/door company was offering financing, but we got them to take the Airline Card instead and that is good for a couple free flights on American.

It can be a fun game to see how much you can save between vacations!

There are a ton of posts on the on the Celebrity forum about drink packages.

For very few people are they 'a value', but for some they are. It all depends on how much you drink (alcohol and non-alcohol).

I don't think we saved a dime with them, but they are very convenient, and we did drink things we normally would not have (especially non-alcohol). For example, they have great fresh-brewed iced tea at the Coffee Shop that is much better than the ships free iced tea. I would not normally go there and pay $5 for iced tea, but with it included in the package, i stopped almost every day after returning from port and enjoyed a fresh iced tea!

We also never drank the ships free coffee, but would always get espresso based coffees because they are included.

We also enjoyed not having to sign a slip after every drink! and getting a final bill that was one page long was nice...it is always so difficult to audit 5 pages when every drink is posted separate :eek:

It was also nice at dinner because all 4 at our table had the packages, so the Sommelier would just bring a bottle and keep our glasses full without us ever having to ask for another glass of wine.

So for us the decision is completely about convenience and not the 'value' of the package.

$ 5812 (523) – Screaming Eagle, Oakville, 2006

 

Seriously? Please tell me that's a typo??? I am definitely not an expert on wine but would someone really pay that much for a bottle of wine?

 

Still agonizing over the plans... have to decide soon!

The average price for that bottle on the auction market is currently $1,800 so by the time you add on the Cruise Lines Mark-Up, that is about the right price...

From a 2006 Article on Screaming Eagle

The wine now costs $300 for customers on its mailing list, but at the few retail stores that manage to acquire it, four-digit prices are common. At the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction, a retired Silicon Valley executive paid $500,000 for just one 6-liter bottle of that first vintage of Screaming Eagle.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/wine-168-2006-screaming-eagle-cabernet-sauvignon-napa-valley-usa

Hi

Just got back from Eclipse and had the greatest time. Thank heavens for the drinks package. It worked out great and we had no difficulty anywhere on the ship except Murano! The sommellier there recommendations were all in excess of our per glass limit, and we had to insist on our own selections - he had to go to the dining room to get our champagne selection! Just stand your ground in there.

 

We had champagne every evening with our appetizer followed by wine with entree and sometimes a sweet wine or digestif to finish!

 

We took vitamin water off the ship for excursions, and afternoon tea with those lovely cakes in Bacchio is a treat!

 

Enjoy without even thinking of the budget!

 

Angie

On the Equinox now with 3 premium alcohol and one classic NA traveling together. They have been great everyplace we go. We generally order what we want and and turn over all 4 cards. No one has ever tried to push a higher priced wine and have always kept our wine full, or left the bottle for us. We have eaten at every restaurant on the ship so far and all have given us the same excellent treatment with the package. At most bars ( where I sit now ) they will usually refill without request too...

I am sure, Celebrity, like most corporations making business decisions has some data behind this decision.

Very likely they know that people using Select Dining 'open' are less likely to tip (have the standard tip removed). Perhaps its because in Select we don't form any type of relationship with the waiters, therefore some people feel its ok to 'not tip'?

I dont know the answer, but have to assume that Celebrity had a valid and measurable reason to put this rule into place, as it requires them to support 2 different tip models and they would not put that effort forth, if there was not a valid, financial benefit.

I just assume i am going to tip...the tips you give Celebrity Staff are a fraction of what you would pay on land for similar service...if service doesn't measure up...i will file a complaint with management.

Sorry - don't have it, but seems like the perfect excuse to book a new cruise so you can write it down this time!