jillmoyra

Hi again - I asked my TA about the upgrade for previous cruisers and guess what, she didn't know about that so we have been upgraded free of charge from AQ2 to AQ! and we have got 1599 (on the hump) - didn't know what that meant till I read these boards. thanks so much.

I often see comments about getting an automatic upgrade if you have sailed on Celebrity before. Is just in the USA? We have sailed Celebrity before (and RCI) and have just booked A2 AC but not being offered A1. My TA says that only applied when you have sailed more times.

Cartegena is a most beautiful place and we have fond memories of our visit some years ago. We just explored the town and watched the world go by.

Hi Keith - I am with you. don't quite get why a lot of people only cruise with the same line. I have a couple of friends who do that. But a lot of people choose to go back to the same place year after year on holiday so I suppose it is no different. We choose a cruise first because of the date (as we are limited to school holiday time) then budget then itinerary, There are a couple of cruise lines we don't think we want to cruise with but generally are open minded. We have cruised with RCI, P & O, Oceania, Celebrity and a UK firm who we started off with (and got us addicted to cruising). We have gone on lots of cruises but never enough with one line to become elite (or whatever). Maybe that is daft and we are missing out on benefits. Anyway, have just booked our second cruise on Celebrity for next year - in a AC cabin - and looking forward to it immensely. We cruise every other year because we like other sorts of holidays too. The world is your oyster!

this has made me nervous now as we are cruising from LA to Chile next year (Celebrity) then planning on flying to Rio for a few nights before returning to UK. guess I need to do a bit of visa research.

Hi everyone - we have done quite a few cruises but with quite a few lines so never really got much loyalty wise. We have just booked a 16 night AC for next year and went on a 12 night AC a couple of years ago. Previous to that we had 2 or 3 cruises on RCI with our sons so booked 2 cabins. Do those points get combined? How can I check. re cabins. we have booked 1624 on Eclipse. Do you think one of the cabins with the bigger balconies - such as 1552 - would be better? Also - are they free of the overhang? We def. like the sun. don't get enough of it here in the NE of England. By the way - to the original poster - we have sailed with RCI, P&O, Oceania and Celebrity and find AC lovely. We really like the smaller more intimate Blu restaurant and ended up eating there pretty much every night. We were also celebrating our 25th anniversary on board. will be 30th next year and will be in AC again! You will love it.

Thanks for that Jacqui. Our cabin not on there but one "opposite" and they reported no problems.

You all seem amazingly knowledgeable about cabins. We have booked AC 1624 on Eclipse for next year. Is that ok?

Can you give some examples were an Inside on ship A might be a better experience than a Suite on ship B?

The Edge is still being built thus at this point any comparisons are premature.

Easy answer from here in the UK. I would choose an interior on any Oceania ship rather than a suite on a Thomson or Fred Olsen ship any day.

Can you recommend a US based travel agent I could try? Too late for next year I guess, as we have already booked and paid deposit, but useful to consider for the future I hadn't realised this was an option.

We have 5 star taste but not the budget so I spend a huge amount of time choosing our holidays - whether water or land based. We have cruised on different cruise lines in different grades of cabin. We prefer Oceania but can't always afford it and are booked on Celebrity in Aqua next year as we enjoyed eating in Blu last time. Would we like to cruise on Viking? Yes, of course. But it really is a lot more expensive so we can't at the moment. Simples. We would also like to try Silversea, Regent or Crystal. Maybe one day. We see our current price "level" as Oceania or Celeb Aqua. I suppose we could try Azamara but not sure it would be any better. As the saying goes "you pay your money and your make your choice".

Interesting - but odd. We are from the north of England and fairly frequent cruisers but not loyal to one cruiseline. Have sailed in inside/outside/balcony/suite depending on how much we could afford at the time. "you get what you pay for". Truly have never been aware of being treated any differently by anyone. Having said that - outside of the restaurants associated with the specific cabin - ie price - of cabin; how would one ever know which cabin anyone was in. We have never discussed that sort of thing with people we meet on cruises. Being British we tend not to talk about what we do/how much we earn as it is seen as being rather rude. Because of that, we have sometimes been surprised after a cruise, if we have kept in touch via FB or whatever, to have discovered that people on our quiz team for instance, have been far, far better off than us. So what - it really doesn't matter. Why should it? Also, further up this thread, someone made comment about a British person being disparaging about someone with a Liverpool accent and saying they would not have gone to a private/fee paying school. What utter out-dated nonsense. I work in a very expensive selective independent school in the north of England and both of our sons were privately educated. People who have money in the UK do not, necessarily, speak with an RP/southern accent.

checking with my TA too but having looked at the website it seems that those privileges are not attached to booking a Sky Suite. Unfortunately. :) think we will stick with Aqua and pay as I go for drinks.

Hi - we have travelled on Oceania Nautica and Riviera, Celebrity Summit and are booked on Eclipse for next year. We are restricted on budget and choosy on itinerary. We can only afford inside cabins on Oceania - which are absolutely fine - but we go aqua class on Celebrity because we heard that Blu was good. Enjoyed it last time and booked at same level for next year. We do think that the food is generally better on Oceania and love the fact that all soft drinks and coffees are included and that you have acesss to the excellent speciality restaurants although we do find that Oceania ships are very quiet in the evening. Not necessarily a bad thing. I was interested to read on this thread that if you book any level of suite on Celebrity then a premium drinks package and grats are included. Is that right? On the website it says you have to be Signature Suite or above. We have no benefits included with our cruise next year because it is a long/re-positioning one.

We are going on a 16 night cruise on Eclipse next year. No drinks packAge or OBC included at the moment. We had classic package included on last celebrity cruise which was great but dont think i will buy one this time unless a great reduction nearer the time. Package for 16 nights wouldbe a lot money! Will just pay as I go. Assume there will be a wine package. Might get that. Will also buy a soft drink package for the other half who doesnt driink alcohol as the cost of soft drinks adds up. Last cruise was on Oceania where soft drinks and good coffee are included and i just bought drinks when i wanted. Final bill was much smaller than package would have cost me.

Wouldn't dream of "sneaking" it on. Just find it astonishing that it is so widespread there are special products for sale to do so! Weird that people will spend a couple of thousand pounds (or dollars) on a cruise then won't pay the proper prices for drinks. We are not high earners but I have never felt that cruise drink prices were THAT bad. However, I do want to work out which is the most economic option for me (as my other half doesn't drink alcohol). Have read lots of useful advice telling me just to buy drinks for the first couple of days before deciding whether the premium package is worth it. The house package wouldn't be any use as my (very light) drinking would hopefully include a drink before dinner and a liquor or liquor coffee after but a max of two glasses of wine during.

I have just googled "rum runner" (as a Brit I didn't have a clue what that was) and I have just discovered whole websites about how to sneak alcohol on board cruise ships! I had no idea this was such an issue. I have learned so much in such a short time. ;)

You are leading me in to bad ways you lovely people. It just seems a humongous amount of money to spend on drinks.;) Would have been happier if the OBC would have covered the package and the grats but cruise not long enough/cabin not good enough. We will still have a fab time though!

Thanks to you both for replying to this and my other question. I think the answer might be to take on 2 or 3 bottle of wine for dinner consumption and then buy my other drinks with OBC. Looking forward to cruising again. Last one was December 2014. Acquaclass with Celebrity which was lovely but I think the food (and obviously the restaurant choice) with Oceania is better. It is a little quiet for us in the evenings as we are the lower end of the age range but as we get older and more decrepid that will be less of a problem. :)

Thanks so much for your responses! I hope that it is possible for just me to buy a package if I want one when I get on board. I suspect that if you take it as a part of a package then it has to be both of you. Surely, however, that will be ok. What if an adult is sharing a cabin with a child - they wouldn't force them to buy a package. There must be lots of cruisers who don't drink alcohol

Trying to decide whether to buy a package or whether to take advantage of bringing wine on and paying the corkage and buying other drinks with OBC. Do many people drink their own wine in the restaurants? Is it looked down on? Can the wine be kept for later consumption just like wine purchased on board. My husband doesn't drink alcohol and a bottle of wine will last me three nights. Bit of a lightweight! :) Also is the corkage charged to OBC. Assume the corkage is instead of the 18% service charge.

Hi - look forward to reading the replies on this as wondering what to do about OBC/drinks package. We have $600 OBC - could have had the basic drinks package but assume we would both have had to have it and my husband doesn't drink alcohol. Hoping it will be possible for me to purchase a drinks package with the OBC when on board and guess it is better to go for the Premium one as then one can have a drink before or after dinner as well as with. :) Or I could just buy drinks with the OBC. We also plan to pay gratuities out of it.

Hello everyone - just booked for the Rustic Charms cruise on Riviera next year out of Monte Carlo on 12th August. A whole year to look forward to it. We are loyal cruisers but not loyal to any one cruise line. Maybe we should be as we could be missing out on benefits! We have cruised with Oceania before - on Nautica. Last cruise was Celebrity. Interesting to read all the many comments about OBC and drinks packages. Just wondering what to go for. My other half doesn't drink alcohol so is very happy that the soft drinks are included. I drink a little and was expecting the basic package to be good for me but I see, unlike Celebrity, that the basic package is just for drinks with meals and wouldn't cover for a cocktail before dinner or a liqueur after - either (but not both) I may choose to have on holiday. Looking at the current prices it may be best to buy the Premium package. So difficult to work it out. I can buy it just for me can't I? Also, I have read that one can take wine on board and drink it in the restaurants by paying 20 dollar corkage per bottle. That seems a reasonable deal. Do many people do this and is it accepted - or looked down upon?