SunnyTodayFL

I booked a cruise directly with Celeb yesterday.  They have a pretty liberal cancellation policy - cancel prior to 48 hours of departure & your money becomes a Future Cruise Credit.  (There are terms & Cond’s, of course).  So I said: I love in Florida and I can go on a moments notice.... has your management suggested restarting what used to be called “Drop & Go” or real “Last Minute” deals?”  She said no because most people actually cancel when Final Payment is due (currently 90 days).   I suggested that COVID might have changed that.....  

>>>>> I’d love to see last minute offers go out, say to eligible Elites & above, for cabins that are going to go out empty in a week or less....  They have all my info and I could keep my COVID test/vax data up to date and have my passport expiration date on file in order to be eligible - it’s not like I could be a terrorist or something and they’d need to confirm that that should let me aboard. They know me well....   I can be at any Florida port tomorrow!

I just put a deposit on the Celeb Silhouette’s 7/17/2021 Scandanavia & Russia trip from Southampton/London.   That one has an overnight in Copenhagen in addition to St.P.    If the trip is cancelled this summer, I figured I would flip to the one next year.   Also, I am thinking that the new “AI” program (booze+tips+some wifi) may be X’s new normal (making cruising ‘all inclusive’ does seem like a very good marketing strategy) but they sure gutted the value of my Elite status.  So - I will wait for better perks when things open up before putting down any more deposits. 

I spoke with some one from the Captains Club yesterday, Feb 15 2021, and he said X is drafting a new set of benefits for Elites (since the new AI program makes Elite status less valuable).   Of course, he didn’t know when they’d actually roll out the new Elite benefit program.  

Dear Not a Mermaid:  

I’ve been ‘lurking’ for months, reading your posts on this marvelous forum, and I just feel like I need to let you know how grateful I am and how much I appreciate the time you spend updating everyone.  

My husband and I have done about 30 ocean cruises since we retired and moved to Florida  5 years ago.... We are doing our first river cruise soon, Viking Rhine Getaway cruise (Basel to Amsterdam) right after Easter...  

Like many other people, my husband and I read and heard (probably exaggerated) tales about recurrent water level problems, so your calm and pleasant comments have given us so much peace.   😄  THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Sue & Bill In The Villages, FL 

SunnyTodayFL

In Coxen Hole area, from where you get off your ship/tender, walk to the left down the ‘boardwalk’ along the water for a while until you find glass doors into a sort of indoor mall on the right with two aisles/hallways of souvenir/clothes/tshirt shops.  In the second hallway/row of shop entrances you will find an area, a few yards down the hall, with some small counters/desks along the left wall selling tours.  Look around that area and you will see some ‘park benches’ and simple chairs in front of the shops and lots of people typing on their phones...  free wifi isn’t super fast but the signal is strong and no one hassles you for sitting there.  It’s a clean and safe little mall.    

Did anyone who cancelled a cruise get their taxes and port fees refunded, even though the base cruise fare was not refunded?

Just cancelled an NCL transatlantic cruise 10 days before departure. NCL’s Cancellation Confirmation showed that NCL will refund ALL our taxes, port fees, and the Service Fees for the Promo Dining and Beverage package, about $1300. Total cost for the cruise was $5800, and we’d a purchased trip cancelation insurance from C&F/TravelInsured based on our total paid for cruise, self-booked air, hotels, rental cars, etc. so we expect to recover all of our non-cancellable/llost costs. Still... as a frequent cruiser, refunding the non-cruise fare costs we’d prepaid impressed us.

(FYI - Our deposit was paid with a $250 NCL CruiseNext credit and that was not refunded by NCL, but insurance should cover this.)

I am wondering if other cruise lines refund unused taxes and fees (even though the ‘fare’ is not refunded)? If yes, I will alter how I select my policy limits.

FYI : TravelInsured has been very easy to work with, clear directions, easy forms. So far, all is good.

Great job- thanks so much! We are boarding the Star this coming Sunday, but staying in Venice for a few days first. I did a number of screen shots of your fantastic reviews so we ca reread the before the ports! Best wishes - Sue & Bill

IMPORTANT! Yes, you can bring a sealed 6/pack or even a case of unopened bottles/cans of water/sodas BUT NOT COCA COLA products (Celebrity lets me bring caffiene free Pepsi, Evian water, etc but not Coke products). I'd call and ask a week before you depart and confirm as rules change... A smile and a 'please' will usually get me an unopened can of Coke , although they are sometimes warm.

We've cruised on Carnival a number of times, and carefully selected our suite/room so we'd be convenient to the "adult pool/area" of the Lido deck. We were totally stunned to find the rear of the Lido deck is NOT an 'adults only' area on the Breeze.

so we trudged up to the front of the ship, Level 15 -- climbed up a lot of stairs to get to the 'Serenity' area (we did eventually find that one front elevator reaches the little 15th level via the Spa).

No pool!! And no available chairs, but lots of people wandering around trying to find a chair and just leaving.

NOTE: people seemed to feel free to lay a towel/magazines on a group of chairs and leave for hours, or in some cases, the rest of the day - After a while, we heard other guests say they'd gone there, left to get something to eat, dry towels, tell friends where they were, get something from their room, whatever... and simply didn't bother coming clear back up. Perhaps that is why no staff 'policed' this in the Serenity area and removed things from chairs that were empty for hours and hours??

Serenity has one tiny bar with a few stools and a small awning but the bar carries only limited items. example, there is no celery or Zing mix for Bloody Marys, and people seemed to not be able to get the liquors they wanted. (Note: the bartender, Mirko, was very very pleasant).

Absolutely no food available - you must leave and walk down a number of levels... Food is far away, on Lido (Level 10).

A number of people complained because both 'sides' of the "Serenity" area are adjacent to the water slide so you hear a lot of screaming...

We went to Serenity a few times looking for chairs, and found two chairs just one time. Others at our dining table (all adults with no kids with them) said they'd checked out Serenity but left as they never found a chair, and there was no pool; they'd all cruised on Carnival before and expected the Lido's rear pool would be the adult area/pool.

Our (new) travel agent said the Breeze is "Carnival's best ship" and we'd be delighted that we'd have easy access to the Lido Deck's Adult Area .... we won't use her again. We read everything we could, but never realized there was no Adult pool on Breeze.

Whoever decided to substitute a remote, boring, foodless little area with a 1/2 size bar as the only 'adult' area SHOULD BE FIRED.