flviking

As a frequent Celebrity cruiser we decided to try O based on the pricing for Sky Suites becoming similar to PH suites. We know how we’ve been treated by Celebrity when they changed itineraries. We’ll see how this goes. 
if it truly is the case that time needed to be carved out for industry familiarization then some number of people should be fired for scheduling a new ship without that time built in. 

My TA sent me a note that our 12n cruise (11/28/25) is now 7n. No details from O on pricing change, options, etc. all they sent was new itinerary. Any other Allura cruisers seein this for othe itineraries?

12 hours ago, Bill-n-Bob said:

Ship: Millennium
Length of Cruise: 11 Night (11 Night Best of Japan)
Cruise Sail Date: April 21, 2024
Date email offer received: No Email. Found it on MoveUp website 89 days before cruise.
Captain’s Club Tier: Elite +
Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Celebrity while on a cruise then transferred to TA
Current Cabin: Verandah (V1) 
Bid?: Yes

 

Bidding Details:

Royal Suite:                               $2,200min-$5,500max   Bid $2,815pp
Celebrity Suite:                          $1,650min-$4,120max   Bid $2,760pp
AquaClass Sky Suite:                 $  890min-$2,200max   Bid $2,200pp
Sky Suite:                                   $1,110min-$2,750max  Bid $2,750pp
AquaClass:                                 $275min-$960max        Bid $  645pp
Ultra-Deluxe Concierge Class:    $220min-$770max        Bid $  770pp
Concierge Class:                         $110min-$380max        Bid $  380pp
Ultra-Deluxe Veranda:                 $220min-$770max        Bid $  770pp
Sunset Veranda:                          $110min-$380max        Bid $  380pp

 

Notification Date:  Feb 27 (43 days before sailing)
Accepted / Rejected: Accepted – Royal Suite: $2,815pp ($5,630 total)

General Comments: 

The Cruise was showing as sold out for the longest time so I was not sure they would even have MoveUp for our cruise, but some cabins opened up.

For lower category we bid the maximum but for higher we carefully calculated bids. None of our bids would have had the cabin cost more than if we had booked the cabin directly. 

We had such a great deal on our Veranda (V1) cabin with Classic Drinks Package, Basic Wi-fi and gratuities we had flexibility in our bids. We had upgraded our drink and Wi-fi packages when they went on sale. 

At the end the Royal Suite costs just under half of what it would have cost if we had booked it outside of the MoveUp program. You might think our bids too high but we are comfortable with the amounts and very pleased with the result. . 

Congrats on your win! We were on Millennium last month Singapore to Mumbai.  Did a similar move up from a verandah to a RS.  Total cost was about 40% of the selling price on the web so a big win in our book. Alex and Connor in the retreat lounge were awesome.  Only 50 suites so they get to know you vs 200 suites on Beyond.  Different experience.  If Glenn is your butler we learned that we needed to be very specific in our requests.  Example, asked for Coke for the refrigerator.  He didn't replenish until we asked he keep it stocked.  Afterwards perfect so be specific in any requests.  Milly is showing her age a bit but the staff were wonderful.  Enjoy! 

19 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We had two kinds of OBC.  The small amount in lieu of backpack could be used for anything, but the larger amount that came with our suite was restricted to Spa Services.  And they enforced that strictly: spa services only; not even spa products were covered.

That was our experience.  I could not find any such restriction in their contract which is way to hard to find itself.

Last year on Scenic Amber the bikes were three position switch.  Relatively flat for our Vienna tour.  The bikes had no trouble going up the ramps to cross the roadways.

Last year we treated ourselves to Stand (not Stand25) which is a Michelin 2 star.  If you're up for a splurge it was an amazing experience.  While the service was formal in its presentation our servers were quite relaxed and interactive with us.  Hungarian food meets Michelin stars.

Any suggestions for use of OBC on Scenic would be appreciated. Last trip we used it for spa but that will not be possible this trip.  Previously we could not use it in the gift shop or for champagne or upgraded wine.  So what is left to use it?

We got an email Monday that our upgrade was confirmed. Our credit card was charged the upgrade bid plus the difference in gratuities from verandah to suite. Our credit card got a refund for the gratuity difference today.  We still show the new cabin # in our reservation.  Has anyone else experienced this?

On 11/15/2023 at 2:02 PM, flviking said:

• Ship:  Millennium
• Length of Cruise: 13 nights
• Cruise Sail Date: 2/8/2024
• Date email offer received: 11/15/2023
• Captain’s Club Tier: Elite Plus
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA
• Current Cabin: Prime Veranda
• Bid?  Yes/No: Yes 

Minimum Bids per person

• Sunset Veranda - $110
• Ultra Deluxe Veranda - $220

• Concierge - $110
• Ultra Deluxe Concierge - $220
• Aqua - $275
• Sky Suite - $1100
• Aqua Sky Suite - $880

• Celebrity Suite - $1650
• Royal Suite - $2200

 

• Notification Date: 1/9/2024
• Accepted / Rejected: Accepted RS! $3050/pp
• We are very happy with this.  Less than 50% of the price if we had booked a RS

As I'm so certain this could only be about protecting children I wonder why we haven't heard about background checks for all passengers to assure there are no sex offenders on board.

My sister and BIL adopted three young girls to join their family of four. The bigotry so often directed at them as a multiracial family was amazing and appalling.  She got so tired of it her stock response became "i have five children who have four different fathers who are not all the same race or ethnicity. Do you have anything else to say?"  Every "concerned" bigot then walked away.

Hopefully the family can get some legal help to remind Celebrity of these children's civil rights.

Thanks.  That will save $200 on the RS bid.  Every little bit helps 😉

We have bids in to move from a verandah to Aqua as well as all suites accepting bids.  Our understanding is that our classic bev would remain even if we get a RS.  Celebrity has a special to upgrade for $6.99 per day to premium so we bought that. In the past we upgraded from SS to RS so we already had premium drinks.  We did get the 2 bottles in room and unlimited specialty dining.

We are on Millennium in February. The cruise ends in Mumbai. We arrive on Tuesday. Cruise ends on Wednesday.  We were told that we cannot leave the ship for home before Wednesday normal debarkation. Flights from Mumbai to Florida leave late night to early morning. Ours is at 3:30am so we have to spend an extra day in Mumbai.  There are many reports of being permitted to depart early but we just aren't willing to miss our flight and incur the costs to change the ticket and hope we can get seats in business class for the 24 hour journey.

We got off an 11 night Beyond cruise on 12/22.  We hadn't been on Celebrity since January.  We were in a SS.  We were concerned about the cutbacks and negative changes written about so frequently.  We had a very good cruise. The staff were as great as always.  We never got an upcharge for anything less than $25 (so $8 for Veuve) though the Premium package limit is $17. Never a wait in Luminae though suites were sold out and we like to dine around 7.  Food quality and variety were good.  A room service person delivered breakfast rather than a butler who we never met.  Fine by us. We have another Beyond cruise booked for January 2025 in a SS.  From booking until today the price went from $10k +/- with tips and $1500 OBC to $15k +/- and no tips and no OBC.  So rather than booking another SS on Celebrity we are trying a PH on Oceania.  After factoring in gratuities and beverage package we are about $400/day less on Oceania.  For us its well worth a try.  I doubt we will consider it a downgrade.  Suites were full on our cruise so Celebrity isn't losing so far.  For our money we owe it to ourselves to give a competitor a try.

We totally agree.  Loved our Beyond cruise we just completed.  We have two more X cruises booked. We, too, did not purchase the future cruise voucher nor did we book another cruise.  Our third booked cruise is on Oceania. Their Penthouse Suite is lower cost per day than a similar Sky Suite so we owe it to ourselves to give it a try.  Last night was our final night on our Beyond cruise. Our wonderful Luminae server suggested the best dinner option was cannelloni.  I want to be sure to remember that when I see the Retreat pricing.

Just got off an 11 night Beyond cruise in a SS. Never saw a butler. Room service breakfast was delivered by a kitchen runner.

Congrats Njfrank.  How long was your bid locked before the charge hit your credit card?

Beyond 12/11  10%

Millennium 2/8  0% some categories  50% on others

Something just doesn't seem right about locking your bid so you can't change or rescind and then not upgrading you.  Seems even more one sided than usual.

We wanted to do this in Mumbai next February.  Celebrity denied the request to do this.  As we are using miles for our airfare we are staying for the extra day in Mumbai.  Flights from Mumbai to Florida leave between midnight and 4am so we have to stay in a hotel the extra day.

From their email

We understand you wish to disembark early that the scheduled time. We will no longer allow cruise passengers to pre-plan early debark or late embarkation for any of our ships.

Many countries continue to implement travel restrictions like denying non-citizens from entry, closing their borders and requiring mandatory quarantines with little or no advance notice. In an abundance of caution for the safety and security of our guests, all requests for modified guest movement will be denied.

We appreciate your understanding and patience.

Chase is offering a three day package in Milan for F1 for $5k per couple!

Really looking forward to your review.  We are very disappointed in the Luminae continuing to be closed on port days as well as the specialty reservations difficulties.  As our luggage is always in group1 we have no issues with Retreat disembarkation process.

My final update on our recent Scenic Amber cruise issues.

We asked our travel agent to get in contact with Scenic for us.  In less than a week it appears the issue was elevated beyond our TA's usual contacts. Two days later we were offered what we consider to be fair compensation for the issues we experienced.  Of course we would prefer there not be any issues. As they did occur and we attempted to first resolve them on board and then documented the most problematic with our photos we are satisfied that we were heard and Scenic took our concerns seriously.