WorkerBee74

I've seen people mention this before... how does one get invited to this? Do you need to have a certain CC level? (If so I can forget it as October is our first Celebrity Cruise 😛 )

Glad someone else likes it... I just put in a "MoveUp" bid from our Ocean View to an IV for our Med cruise in October - wish me luck! Should be a bit cooler on that one so shouldn't get the humidity as much. Plus, we're Canadian so we run a bit cooler than a lot of people, we'd love to have the window open if it's on the cooler side.

It's almost like I just posted this above... haha. Rick Steves is THE MAN for travelling light to Europe - he's an expert at it.

The promotion I'm getting is that if I booked my same cruise today - all things considered - it would cost me another $4500. So I'm loving that! (And that's the cruise-only fare, it isn't even the All-Included I have... 😄)

Like Rick Steves says... they DO sell toothpaste in Europe. You take travel size stuff and if you run out, you just buy some in port! Also - if you're travelling with others, have EVERYONE take one of whatever you think you might run out of 😉

Oops - my post got eaten - I ENDED it with an eyeroll haha... However, there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to any of this. I completed final payment two weeks ago - it still says "call to upgrade'. I only have preview status for CC and haven't even cruised with Celebrity before so it seems like it has nothing even to do with CC at all!

I was just laughing about how this is still a thing as well. 😆

We are doing the same... invested in some easy-to-wash capsule wardrobe things (skirt, leggings, this wonder of fabric, merino wool shirt/sweater/socks and t-shirt dress to sleep in). A few different tops to change things up, packing sandals and wearing wool sneakers, limiting toiletries to travel sizes only and will buy anything I run out of in port. I've got a clothesline/sink stopper/detergent to wash, and we're spending a week in Spain prior to our 10 day cruise where our last few days are in an AirB&B with a washer/dryer so will do our first week of laundry there. Planning on sending a few things to wash on ship but will also wash easy-dry items (see above) in sinks etc. We actually were inspired to do this before all the airport chaos since we are planning a Rick Steves tour in 2024 where they only ALLOW carry ons... but now I am super thrilled that I am doing this because not having to worry about losing luggage in this climate is priceless! Many tips on how to do this here: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart

I'd love to take a cruise where I didn't have to fly both ways. 😄

That sounds amazing! Hopefully we get that in Cannes in October 😛

To be completely honest, anyone travelling to the Mediterranean in the summer should be fully prepared at ANY point to not have A/C comfort everywhere you go. It's hot. It's always hot. This year was incredible, but it's almost always +35 somewhere on a summer cruise, that's just the way it goes. Whether you take a fan, a cooling towel... whatever it is to cool yourself down... TAKE IT. I've seen so many posts complaining about the heat - I for one would never travel to the Med in JULY and then complain about the heat. Just like I don't go to Florida in July.

This is a restaurant called Ai Tre Scalini - we have it on our list for October! Enjoying your review - wonderful photos - getting me excited! We were also on a cancelled Infinity Cruise - ended up on Edge instead on an itinerary in France/Italy vs Spain/Portugal but now going to spend a week in Spain prior.

Right? Especially because it's a quote from a completely different thread being responded to.

Why are you pulling a quote over from another thread to this one? 🤨

Thank you SO much for the extensive Cinque Terre coverage! That's gonna be me on Oct 15th... we're doing a DIY train tour too. Good to know about the bus... I'll be on the hunt for bus tickets in the terminal - that's awful that happened to you 😞 We're planning to start with Vernazza and work our way back... I'd rather see Corniglia than Monterosso - it won't be beach weather when we're there anyway!

AMAZING! 🥰

RIGHT?!?!? I know he'd approve of Malala though 😄 I mean....

The Tuscan Restaurant is an "MDR" if you will. Along with Cyprus, Normandie and Cosmopolitan - they have taken the "MDR" concept and split it into 4 'different' restaurants. The decor differs between them, and they have 'exclusives' that remain the same throughout every cruise but that's only a few dishes. Otherwise, the bulk of the menu is identical in each of the 4 restaurants each night but changes every night, just like an MDR menu. The Tuscan Grille is a specialty restaurant and is over and above the 'included' MDR concept above.

Haha! I was going to ask if you saw him - his place is of course down on the water 😉 What an arse that he didn't invite you over for tea! 😄 We're sailing the ship named after the BEST member of U2 😁 in October (at least in my world it's named after him haha) so I am absolutely LOVING your review and pics right now... thanks so much!

TBH there's a lot of logic. I work in IT for a telecom, and I can't even begin to tell you how expensive it is to process a transaction with a human at a call centre vs. automating it and allowing the customer to 'self-serve' online. We count those beans every day, and it's inexcusable that the things @RickT listed among others are not available online.

Spending a week in Spain prior, doing Chef's Table, excursions at every port, international flights from the middle-of-nowhere Canada... I have to cut somewhere lol. Maybe on another cruise but this one is already the most extravagant trip we've ever done... I wish I was part of the 1% but sadly I am not - lol. There's a chance we'll get on the ship after a couple of wines and do a walk up booking though - hahah.

Comparing Celebrity/Royal websites to every major airline site, hotel site and Carnival's site, they surely ARE worse. They absolutely are. Why do you think the call centres are so busy? Because the website is such garbage that people have to call. It matters, and it's a domino effect making the call centre experience even worse than it should be. NO excuse for a multi-million dollar travel provider to have such a poor website in 2022.

/deleted post - you were asking about a particular specialty and I was talking again about MDRs haha - sorry! Probably just too early 😉

What I stand to get from this is saving a whopping $18.00 on my premium drink upgrade, so I don't think I'm asking for much haha. TBH I deserve it, because when I tried to upgrade to premium back in February after they cancelled my original Infinity cruise since they moved the ship to the Caribbean, I had to do lift/shift to Celebrity Edge (which in the end I'm not complaining about at all), the agent tried to reprice my entire cruise with the premium package and told me it would cost an additional $3000 something per person if I wanted to upgrade. LOL as if. I'd expect Dom Perignon all cruise for that price. I've come to realise that she was super wrong and that should never have happened but I didn't bother calling back.... in the meantime they've increased the price of the premium package upgrade too, so yeah, I'll do all the quizzes in the world to claw back that $18 now that I've made my final payment.

Awesome! I just want to get 10 more points so I can get 10% off my premium drink upgrade haha. I think I can make it - I cruise in October. Will be watching this thread for more chances as sometimes my emails get buried in promotion land and I miss them.