TravelingCircusof5

I could have written this post. Exact situation. Booked Aqua under the same assumption as celiac before i knew that I should have done extensive research before booking anything. When i finally found the Blu menus, they do not sound good to me at all. I do eat pretty ‘healthy’, but the menu is not to my palate- seems heavy on lamb, duck and quail. Some nights there is not even a chicken or a beef option, so I am a bit concerned. I wonder if I should have saved $800 and booked a regular IV and eaten in MDRs. This sounded like a relaxing getaway when i planned it during a very stressful time in our family, but it is now taking a lot of backtracking to discover if I made the right choices.

Explain?

So confused! I don’t understand this at all. Isn’t OP on the Apex? I thought Blu was a perk in addition to the MDRs. (In our case, will be Beyond.) So i thought we could dine in Blu or just show up to one of the 4 MDRs. Is that not how it works? also, I thought all E class are open dining times now, so I don’t understand about booking dining times, as I thought they were disregarded once onboard. i am not trying to correct anyone, but to understand. I am interested in Blu, but if we want to dine in other venues, should i just change to regular verandah or DPV instead?

I just noticed today that we could do nearly the same Eastern Car itinerary on the same dates on the Reflection as the one we booked on Beyond— but for a good bit cheaper- or go to a suite for what we are payi g for Aqua on Beyond. Now i feel torn. We are new to CC, and thought newer ship was probably better , but maybe not? Opinions?

Ok, yea!!

We’ve only cruised on DCL and not since i have known I am celiac. Disney is good with allergies. That’s my other option for our available vacation week: to go back to WDW, maybe do Animal Kingdom Lodge, savannah views, the signature restaurants, pool, maybe 1 day of parks. Not at all the same as the Caribbean which sounds wonderful, but it is starting to feel ‘safer’. The only vacations we’ve done is past few years is renting a whole home so i had a kitchen, but that’s a lot of work and does not feel vacationy…

That is not good at all. People don’t seem to understand that that gluten free food placed on a tray with regular wheat flour on it is no longer gluten free at all. Yes, celiacs do need chefs and food preparers and handlers who take the disease/ allergy seriously. We don’t ask for special food- just special care with it. . I am getting very nervous about cruising when i read things like this.

Hello, Fyi: First time Celebrity cruiser. We’ll be on Beyond and will have access to Blu. I have celiac disease, so gluten free is a lifetime requirement for me. I am considering booking some specialties for Beyond. Generally, I am going to need a (delicious but pretty plain) piece of meat and vegetables, potatoes that have not been contaminated by pasta, phyllo, breadcrumbs, wheat sauces, or anything fried in shared oil... I am leaning toward Fine Cut because high end steakhouses are usually my best bet for dining out, and I love a good filet and anything gf with Truffle oil. Yum! However, if filets are frequently available everywhere onboard, I may not need the specialty? Also, Le Petite looks kinda interesting (but I am not sure…) but it seems the menu is very limited. Is that the case? It seems pointless for me to pay extra for a more limited choice. anyone recommend these or any others? or should I stick with Blu and MDR? Any experience with GF onboard?

Thanks again everyone. I had no idea that medical issues happening to family not travelinG with us might be covered. Wow. So much to learn, and so little time (since I didn’t know to learn it beforehand.)

Thanks everyone for the advice. i did email the best price and have it repriced a couple of days ago with the Black Friday rate. Any chance that repricing then = new booking? Seems like it used to with Disney. That would reset my 10 days. My new price invoice says Issue Date is now two days ago,. No one is traveling with us, just me 50 and Dh 49, with no known medical issues. The problem is if a grandparent is keeping our youngest son, and something happens with grandparent or grandparent’s spouse, or if that son got ill, then we wouldn’t leave him.

No. You are incorrectly understanding. The family emergency only kept me from being able to look onto it and buy it in the original 10 days. I am not looking to cancel at all, especially not for that. It was a family crisis of elderly parent suddenly in hospital and being put on hospice right after we booked, so I was not worried about researching insurance when that happened. Now, i still have this booking that i made right before that, so i need to either protect it with cancellation coverage in case something else comes up. We are still in the refundable cancellation period. My husband and I do not have any preexisting medical conditions at all. The most likely concern is having to cancel if One of our parents or sons, one is still 14, has a problem. Of course, we could still get sick or injured onboard. thanks for the above information. It almost seems like i would be better to cancel the booking, then rebook a new one and buy the insurance soon afterward. That seems a shame, but the price has gone down not up since we booked.

In general, by how many days prior do i need to have bought insurance to get good coverage for a reasonable rate? i was thinking it was 10 days after booking, but a family emergency needed my attention, and now we are past that. I am 106 days out. TIA

If on your explorations you find more good places to work-from-ship, please do post. My husband will need to delve in for a couple hours each day, and turning the stateroom into an office is less than ideal. Have a great time!

I am wondering too. Our March cruise looks like all other things being the same (All Included, Aqua Class) looks to be $200 cheaper AND $200 OBC, which I got $0 originally. I would like to keep the same room and get those discounts without having to cancel and redo the deposit. I may try emailing the fare change form. No experience with CC at all, so advice is welcome.

Thanks for posting this. Does that mean that the ‘CruiseCare’ is included, or that it is available for purchase? That is not clear to me on the linked page. If it is included, is other Trip insurance still needed?

Thanks

I booked a couple days ago for March. Just now, perusing the website for dining, an offer popped up for $100 OBC if i signed up for email and texts. So I did. I received a text with a code that says ‘new bookings only’. Is there a way to add it to the existing reservation or is it worthless? I don’t see anywhere to input a code on my reservation. Thanks.

Did I read that they are not honoring people’s specialty dining reservations? That they were all lost with the fixed dining times? Hopefully that was an isolated incident, but 🤷‍♀️. Just wondering if it is pointless to make a res or just chance it and wait until onboard.

Did you end up going with the DPV stateroom? what did you think? We are in the same boat (😊) in that we have an Aqua reserved on the Beyond, but i like to be able to get outside. Did you miss Blu? That’s the only thing that concerns me.

Thanks for the info. We are booked on the Beyond in March. I am celiac as well, as have not cruised since knowing, plus have only cruised DCL. I’m a bit nervous. We are booking Aquaclass bc Blu sounds like a good idea, so if anyone has experience there, I would love to know it. Otherwise, we could book a regular IV for much less $... if MDRs are better. Thanks again

Sounds like what’s inside a Disney Mickeyband. Yes, I would love that onboard. I don’t like carrying my phone everywhere on vacation. (Sundresses don’t have pockets 😞) Does the Seapass work for everything? I may have to break out all my old DCL lanyards.

What about if you need to receive calls from shore? Will they come through on the wifi using your actual phone number? If we book, my son will be on a different international school trip (Europe) with chaperones while i would be in the Caribbean. I am worried about being able to be notified if he gets sick or an emergency. I hope i don’t get any calls, but what number would you give?

Since all passengers have access to the spa locker rooms, does this make the thermal suite feel crowded and less of a relaxing escape? This ship is the best option for us for our dates. if we book, i was planning on Aquaclass bc the access to thermal suite and the access to Blu because have celiac disease (gluten free). Blu sounds like an option where i might be able to better avoid gluten contamination than larger dining rooms, but i don't know. Any opinion on Blu or Aquaclass?

Is this common, and how long did it stay locked? That would be very bothersome to me. If i paid for paid Verandah, i want to be all to feel out in the air. I do get seasick at times and the wind in my face is the best salve.