Jeremiah1212

You’ll need to ask around or shop a few TA’s. The only real change is if you don’t use the certificate within 12 months, they keep the deposit rather than automatically refund. It’s really not a big deal if you plan on actually booking a cruise within 6 months. You already lost the OBC benefit after letting it sit for 6 months.

The window to transfer to a travel agent is 30 days from the certificate purchase date. Dropping the form in the box on the last day of the cruise is the best way to do it.

Easy solution is find a travel agent with group rates and you won’t have to pay a premium for the refundable deposit - and you’ll get tips and WiFi. Sorta. Two caveats. You can book a Future Cruise for someone else who is not onboard. You can also change any names as many times as you want on a Book Later Certificate up until you select a cruise.

I'm not up to speed on the casino aspect at all, but I would call Celebrity directly and see who (or if) they have an agency on record to verify the Blue Chip rep isn't wrong. It wouldn't be totally unheard of for Blue Chip to use Expedia to service casino bookings either.

This law dated 1988 outlines the restrictions. The actual exhibit (the diagram depicting the area) is a poor scanned copy of a copy, but it outlines the area. https://casetext.com/regulation/hawaii-administrative-rules/title-13-department-of-land-and-natural-resources/subtitle-11-ocean-recreation-and-coastal-areas/part-3-ocean-waters-navigable-streams-and-beaches/chapter-256-ocean-recreation-management-rules-and-areas/subchapter-2-north-shore-kauai-ocean-recreation-management-area/section-13-256-41-na-pali-coast-ocean-waters-general-restrictions My little 19 foot boat doesn't make me a marine navigation expert, but short of some technical malfunction which is pretty obvious did not happen, negligence isn't an 'out'. You still bear responsibility.

Despite being illegal, Hawaiians are very serious about protecting their environment. That area is full of fringing reef with all sorts of marine life.

That format has always been available to travel agents (who it is intended for). For the public the sailings are easily identified through the link in the email or on the website. However you can't easily identify which stateroom categories qualify. https://www.celebritycruises.com/promo-controller?contentPromotionId=promotion-217.

That does not sound right. Your packages may take a bit to show up if you just recently booked. The issue where the upgrade option was not available in the Cruise Planner seems to be mostly resolved now. Either way, call if you have to and they can sell the upgrade over the phone.

What do you mean by added when you booked? You booked All Included with Drinks and WiFi or you paid separately for the drink package? You can only adjust the price if you purchased drinks separately.

Luckily Celebrity's current promotion has been the same since December and will run through at least June. 75% off the second guest with bonus OBC every day except Thursdays. The base rate fluctuations are drive by demand as always. You can also find a TA that has discounted group rates to avoid the price swings.

Look at RCG's first quarter numbers. They don't need to do offer fire sale rates right now. Occupancy is higher than it was back in 2019, for 2024 they are quoting having ~12% capacity left to sell for the year. Deposits held are up by $770 million since Q1 2023.

The way that process is described is not how most do it. I'm not sure I recall that method even being an option. You select a room charge, not OBC, as the payment source. You load your account with the desired amount and that posts to your account like any other onboard charge. Just like if you purchase a drink or specialty dinner. Your OBC is applied toward the room charge until it's spent then you would have a balance due at the end of the cruise if you deplete the OBC. You can also rack up some serious credit card points this way but it's borderline not the scrupulous use of your credit card program. Despite people often saying this is not allowed and you can't do it, the casino host has instructions available at the desk that explain exactly how to accomplish this. I almost always cash out the $600+ nonrefundable Retreat OBC with no 5% fee.

How far out are you looking? If you shop around you can probably find the Beyond cruise priced fairly close to the Reflection cruise. As of late my preference leans almost exclusively to E class ships. S class just doesn't feel the same anymore.

If you check the airline app almost all of them will automatically rebook you on the next available flight once your original flight get canceled and/or give you an option to change that flight. That's not Flights by Celebrity magic accomplishing that. I'm well aware of the selling features but I am quite certain most people greatly overestimate what they are actually doing in these scenarios.

That part isn't clear cut at all. Most will only pursue that option if the delay or cancelation is their responsibility (like a maintenance issue or crew time out) and they cannot reaccommodate you on their metal and the partner/OAL has to agree to take the ticket and the other airline has open seats. There are also odd rules about codeshares, etc too. If a delay is due to weather or anything else outside of control of the airline (like a strike or air traffic issue) they aren't paying to put you on another airline. In reality there is nothing magic or special Celebrity can offer. If you get stuck stateside in Chicago or Atlanta then have to attempt to meet up with the ship in a place like Santorini, Mykonos or Naples during peak summer travel, the stars better align because it's just likely to happen.

Maybe there were artificially influenced by all of the inevitable commentary like "we turn our phones off and put them in the safe!!!" every time a question is asked about anything phone or app related.....

It really doesn’t matter. Is it on the same ticket or separate? They could have just added the return to your existing ticket. It has nothing to do with forcing you to go pay early so they can make a half cent in interest.

There are no loungers directly in front of a cabana on Apex.

Suite prices across the board for Sept '24 Alaska have fallen considerably since December. As of today for 9/1/24 Solstice a Sky Suite is priced the same as a Celebrity Suite.

It’s pretty easy. I eat basically as I would at home. Portion control, lean protein, lots of vegetables, clean carbs and minimal pastries, desserts and frozen drinks. I don’t really concern myself with butter or sauce on the vegetables. I skip things like the giant slab of fatty prime rib. The vegetarian entrees are usually a good option once you get tired of heavy meals.

No.

Right. However that’s not what I was addressing. Multiple payment methods and Apple Pay in the mobile cruise planner is new to the app. Though it does add a lot of complexity with handling and storing additional personal info.

If you complete a cruise planner purchase in the app like a shore excursion you now have the option for to add a default plus other credit cards that can be saved or can use Apple Pay.

What is your Retreat budget standpoint? Upper suite or Sky Suite level? Explora Journeys and Ritz Carlton Yachts are both worth a look if you (generally) can go a bit higher than the normal Sky Suite range. If you're sticking to mainstream ships with the ship within a ship concept, you just have to weigh your pros and cons. You've mentioned all of the semi-comparable lines. Yacht Club is likely cheaper but that comes with some cons, Haven is typically on par with Retreat prices but you'll find a lot more kids, the Royal Caribbean suite product varies significantly from ship to ship and class to class and generally isn't worth the money in my opinion. Princess offers a 'Suite Experience Manager' but it isn't a butler. Sun Princess is the only ship that would be close for now.

July 28 Eclipse? Nothing to do with groups. That inventory already went back to Celebrity. What happened was they opened triple and quad cabins to book for doubles. If you notice every single cabin except one that is now open can accommodate a 3 or 4.