prmetime

Thanks for the review as will be on board the Equinox for the Sept 24 sailing. Can you tell me about wifi in the ports post hurricane? Any recommendations on where to find close to the port (besides asking the cabin steward) Thanks.

Thank you!!

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Visited Vegas this weekend. I tried to get my Mlife and Celebrity accounts linked but the front desk said they no longer partner with RCCL or Celebrity. It seems others on this thread have had some success, but just giving you the latest info from an actual MGM hotel.

Try the Mlife desk not the hotel desk. The partnership is alive .

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Here is what worked for me. I had no MLife membership, but I filled out whatever I needed to fill out, and then brought up my Celebrity account on my phone, showing that I was "Classic." That was all it took to get a Pearl membership instead of their entry level.

 

Then when I went up to "Select" level after our last cruise, I called MLife. They were able to check while I was on the phone to verify my Select level, so they upgraded my membership to Gold level, but I had to pick up the new card in Vegas on a later trip as they cannot mail it out.

 

Tom & Judy

Thanks! I appreciate the information.

We were just in Las Vegas two weeks ago, and I checked this out. We are only "Classic" in the Captain's Club, but this got us upgraded from the entry level in M Life to the "Pearl" level. Pearl level includes free parking, which made it worthwhile to me.

 

Tom & Judy

Just found this post , so a little late to post here but forgive me. What do I need to do to get my MLife level upgraded? Do I take something to prove I'm a Captain's Club member to the MLife desk? We're going to Vegas in November and I'd like to get Pearl status. Thanks for info.

There is free wi-fi at both of the cruise ship docks on St. Thomas. AT&T and Sprint are the main cell providers in the US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, John, Croix) so a lot of people can use their own data too, although it won't work for you. Plus, restaurants & bars around the ports usually offer free wi-fi to their customers. :)

Great! Thanks for the information!

This is my first trip to the Caribbean and will need to be able to access wifi to keep in touch with those at home. I cannot afford Celebrity's price for internet on board. We will be visiting St Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and St Maarten. Is wifi easy to access on these islands, or am I better off renting a pocket wifi device? I do not have a data plan here in Canada, but talk and text only through Rogers. Thanks for any advice!

I am in total agreement with the original poster. I like the idea of buying a couple of hours to last the length of the cruise. I do not need or want continuous coverage. Trying to locate wifi in port, and/or trying to determine passwords from cafes whose primary language is not English is time consuming and frustrating. I've done it. I'm going to rent or purchase a mobile hotspot at a much cheaper rate for my next international vacations. Much cheaper in the long run.

Where is the best place to check on line for the pricing without any promo? I'd love to be able to compare pricing. Thanks.

I actually created a spreadsheet to do just this math and to do it quickly.

 

Here's a link if anyone is interested:

Celebrity Cruise Comparison Tool Excel Link

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing :)

I bring cans of soda. I don't mind the first $3000 for cabins, shore excursions, spa, etc. but the last $5 for a cold drink gets my goat.

:')

I'm really enjoying your posts! I appreciate the amount of detail you've included and it makes me feel as though I'm sailing as well.

The current onboard booking promotion runs through September 5. Depending on the category being booked' date=' two perks are being offered.

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_Onboard_Offer_August_2017v2.pdf[/quote']

 

Thanks. I saw that as well. I'd rather travel more and stay in a more reasonably priced cabin though!

Go Big' date=' Go Better, Go Best has been offered for more than a year. It appears that the current promotion for booking while onboard is very good - reduced deposits, OBC and one or two perks depending on the category that is booked.

 

 

Regardless of the promotion, there are additional ways to collect extras in the form of additional OBC, perks or cash back cards. And, for those booking in places where price adjustments can be made, keeping an eye on the fares is important if you are trying to get the most for your money.

 

 

I booked a future cruise in April while onboard - and opted for the Go Better package. Since that time, the fare has dropped 3 times which allowed me to upgrade from a 2A veranda to AQ with Go Best for a little lower fare than my original booking. While I transferred my reservation to a TA in order to get their perk (a cash back card), I watch the pricing myself. I call them each time I saw a price drop and had them take care of the changes to my reservation.[/quote']

 

I was actually referring to the promo that was this past May where 2 perks were included instead of 1 for oceanview staterooms and higher. Does anyone know how often these promos are offered?

Your dogs look very sweet! I agree it would be very hard. I'll be following along and living vicariously through your vacation! Bon Voyage!

Thanks to all of you who have responded. I appreciate your insight and sharing your own personal experiences. The Go Big, Go Better , Go Best promo was last in May. Are we likely to see it again before the end of the year??

I'm fairly new to cruising and to Celebrity (sailed once, 2 more sailings booked). What is the most favourable promo to book under from your point of view? Does there seem to be a pattern as to when certain promos are released? We are looking at booking another cruise for Sept 2018 when on board our Sept 2017 cruise. Will this be our best bet for pricing/amenities?? TIA.

Thank you for the very useful post. I will definitely use this information for my June 2018 cruise.

Thanks everyone - great options although I don't think the FI Project works with Canadian carriers or without wifi. Please correct me if I'm wrong. It would be nice to start our own list. If anyone is sailing to these ports this year, I'd appreciate the information - I'd be happy to start a spreadsheet. Thanks again.

We are going to be on the Constellation next June for a 9 night eastern med cruise. Our ports are Dubrovnik, Mykonos, Piraeus (Athens), Santorini and Katakolon (Olympia). For those of you who have experienced these ports, is wifi available in cafes/bars in each port? Any locations or iOS apps you could recommend to help me locate these? The unlimited rates onboard are just too expensive given I'm also paying in CAD. Thanks.

I was on the recent Summit cruise June 26- July 7...on the second to last day, my card started failing - couldn't get into my cabin, kept getting red lights.

 

Went to GS and got a new one, and the agent showed me my new card with a new feature (I think he said they were rolling it out slowly, for sure next Summit sailing would have this but not sure about other ships...)

 

It will now have the last 3 digits of your cabin number...so not the deck, just the last 3 digits. He said so many people kept forgetting their cabin numbers they decided to implement this...for security reasons they did not include the deck number. So our cabin was 1138 and the new card read 138...I pointed out that if someone found the card they could, if they wanted, try every deck's cabin that ended in 138, and he said yes, but hopefully the person would report their card missing before (and if, a big if) anyone tried to do that.

Just came off Freedom of the Seas a few weeks ago. They had the same last 3 digits you're referring to. Although we didn't lose our cards, I did find one in one of the lounges. Totally insecure IMHO.

Thanks everybody for the great info. Free wifi at most Baltic Ports...that's good!!. I can 'roam like home" with my Canadian Carrier for a $5 per day fee so that should be helpful when in Port. Now...whether to justify the data costs on board. I'm new to Cruise Critic. So amazed by the outpouring and sharing of info so promptly. Love this community.

I'm not sure which Canadian carrier you use but based on your "Roam like home" terminology I'm assuming it's Rogers. It's $5/day in the U.S. but $10/day elsewhere. I have a 2018 European cruise booked as well that comes in about $340 for 9 days. I'd love to know from others what other packages may be offered on board.

If a large number of suites are available within 90 days of sailing, does Royal Caribbean typically discount the price as the sailing date approaches to try to fill them up and get revenue? Or are they content to let them go unsold and use for top-tier upgrades?

 

The Oasis sailing we're looking at in August seems to have an awfully large number of crown loft suites available, and I think one of the sky suites is available as well. Curious.

I'm fairly new to cruising so wondering what sites you can find the number of suites remaining on a sailing? I'd be most interested. Thanks.

We boarded The Anthem today and I was asked to remove mine! I was surprised because we are Star Class!

Thanks. I think I'll be leaving mine at home to be sure. Too bad because the cruise is only one part of an extended European vacation.

What devices were the 3 people trying to plug in? If it's just to recharge USB devices like tablets and phones, then just use a multi-USB charger like this

 

 

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I was thinking of bring my multi-USB with me on Freedom next week. Has anyone ever had any problem with these being confiscated? Mine is cordless.