AppyAmmer

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What is or who is 'Designed by MPA/HPA/NBA'? (I cannot make out what the wording is). Essentially the question is as Kelly Hoppen is not changing the Suites who is? I assume they will look different to images shown on Celebrity website.

Interesting find, however all it has done for me is throw up some questions that I didnt know needed asking! Sailing after revolution on Silhouette and just assumed all changes were being done by Kelly Hoppen but this says otherwise, so does anyone know what some of the following means?

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1)For clarification, will there be a Hot Tub for the Suite guests only?

2)What is ADA acess?

Looking forward to keeping up with this.

On 11/28/2018 at 9:05 AM, sddsddean said:

At ABParking you turn up, park the car, give your luggage to the guys nearby who will sort out getting it on the ship, pocket your keys and get on the ship. On return, just get off, pick up your luggage as usual, walk to the car, get in and drive home. You keep your keys, so you can get off when you want and just walk, in your own time, to your car. We've never had any problems. 

Thank you, I came on looking for this and you could not have answered it any better. Had seen some people pull up and have a valet park the car (or so it seemed) which confused me.

You need to add in the value of 3 meals a day and entertainment. Yes, my family could have done a 4 day Disney trip way back when instead of a 4 day cruise but to do it for the same amount of money we would have been in a budget hotel, eating at fast food chains, and entertainment at night would be board games/TV/cards. On the 4 day cruise the kids got to eat food they normally wouldn't have the chance to eat (one son fell in love with escargot) and they got to see some islands they wouldn't have seen, a different one each day. So yes, I think cruise lines offer a good value, especially for families.

In this context I would argue you do get some value. As a couple the relevance of this for us, our entertainment will be shows, bars, meals generally relaxing. In regards of the foods, there is no doubt I will personally be trying foods I have never thought to try or had the opportunity to try. Without being worried that I had to finish the meal even if I disliked it. (Although I hate wasting food!) As others have replied, the fact you get to see so many countries really does add value but I supposed it could be argued how much are you really able to see? In that regards, is it value?

It used to be a great value. Now, I feel they've cut quality and services and added enough nickel and dime stuff that it's not really.

 

That said, what's your Disney World breakdown? I ran a quick check and the cheapest I found is $5600 without flights during what I know is one of their slowest times. But that's with hotel, food, and tickets. Cheapest hotel available, which doesn't quite compare to the level of cabin on most cruise lines due to the service you get from having a room steward instead of hotel housekeeping. Food, in general, would be much lower at Disney World as well. If you don't stay onsite (I'm not familiar with International Drive), you don't get the early Fastpass booking times which would lock you out a LOT even if you've got 2 weeks to space things out.

 

Disney is kind of an outlier though. I agree with the general premise that it's getting kind of pricey. But, provided you choose the right line, you'll have entertainment taken care of, travel to multiple locations taken care of, and fine dining all taken care of too. There's a convenience factor that's hard to compare. That's why I still like cruising, despite it's lowering value. Being stuck in one spot is a different type of vacation.

The Disney breakdown is one of the Rosen Inn hotels on I-drive. (My fave hotels as they were perfectly located when I went 20 years ago!) The price was coming in at 3500 pounds/$4700. (I dont appear to have a pound sign on my laptop!) That was travelling out of season in January and one seat up from cattle class. It is a pretty basic room so in that context its comparable to a cabin on a ship.

Celebrity appears to be the right line for us, the entertainment looks good, the fact we can visit so many places is a massive thing but in the end, the convenience is arguably the best selling point.

I'm not seeing the cost of meals for the Italy vacation, or the Disney visit. That's included in your cruise. If you choose to eat in extra pay restaurants, that's not part of the value...EM

Italy was full board and Disney would only require perhaps some drinks at theme parks, parking etc. I think I mentioned that in the OP and that there would be at least 2500 pounds for those extras at Disney. So are you saying its only value if you eat at the inclusive dining options?

It is hard to answer such a broad question with a single stroke. My pp per day cost varies widely with different cruises both by style and destination. Some places are much more attractive as land based trips, but even there costs vary depending on level of hotel, types of meals, etc. My next cruise in June is to the Norwegian fjords. It is incrementally more expensive than my last Caribbean cruise but it is a spot more amenable to cruising than driving for what I want to see. If the cruise you have booked goes to places you want to see then it has value. Only you can decide how much compared to other vacations.

In this context, it is value for money. These are places we definately want to see and in fact this is the only way we will get to visit Madeira (Never flying in!)

I find that I am happy in an inside cabin, and if I can get it for less than $100 us per day I am happy. All meals are included so I don't have to worry about that.

 

You have booked a VERY expensive cruise. Did you look into other cruise lines and see what they have to offer?

Without appearing snobbish, I cannot imagine going on a cruise ship and not having a balcony with sea air to wake up too. Yes we did look into other cruise lines and have changed. We were booked on a Royal Carribean cruise but had not seen the newer itineary on Celebrity which we felt was far nicer. Could you argue that in your reply the amount we are paying is NOT value for money and that it is only value for money if you do an inside cabin?

I think that to determine "value", you have to compare apples to apples. Comparing a cruise to Disney World is not a valid comparison, in my mind. You have to decide what you want to do, and then compare the cost of a cruise to various countries versus flying to those countries, hotels, meals, cabs, etc, etc. If you want to do Disney, then compare it to another theme park vacation, or an all-inclusive resort vacation. Only you can determine which vacation is of "value" to you.

I used Disney as an example for a few reasons. Reason is that it was the last 'big' holiday I went on and used it to compare the amount of entertainment available. There is no doubt that the holiday would be completely different experience but none the less, it is not cheap to do but still cheaper than a cruise. In that context, is it value going on a cruise. I also compared to an all inclusive holiday and that too was coming in cheaper than the cruise, a little less than a Disney holiday in fact. With regards to seeing these countries how much are you really going to see anyway on a cruise? There is no way you could see everything in the time you are in port even if you rush around.

You fail to detail which cruise line, which ship, length of sailing, what type of cabin you have booked.

 

How can we express an opinion with no facts?

Of course, i didnt think as it was just a general question about cruising as my wife adn I are starting to question its value. Its Celebrity Silhouette, 13 nights, consiege class. As I say, it was more a general question about value with cruising

As the title asks, are we getting value?

My wife and I have booked our first cruise which is going to cost us 5200 pounds. It is also slightly out of season so we could face the potential of only seeing the maximum of 5-7 days of sun of the two weeks. While my wife hates flying it is not out of the question for us to do a short haul flight but it would be literally impossible for us to see as many countries as we could cruising. With the extras that we need to pay out for the cruise as well we are looking at least 6500 pounds for the holiday, at conservative estimates.

In comparison I am a big Disney World fan and have priced up a holiday for 2 weeks on International Drive for only 3500 flying premium economy including theme park tickets, meaning even if we spent 2500 pounds on extras it would cost the same. Also in comparison we could go to Italy for 2 weeks in a 5 star hotel to Lake Garda with premium flights in September for 2500 pounds.

Of course with this cruise the 1300 pound 'extras' has to pay for parking at Southampton, hotel stay overnight, exursions, more expensive drinks, tips, gifts, any meals off ship at port and any non main dining options on ship. So really we could be looking at least 6500 for this holiday all in.

So back to the original question, are we getting value for money when compared to other holidays?

So, as the title says, we have just been given some credit for our cruise but as its my wife and I's first cruise we are not certain on where we can spend this. So far we might use the credit for the following in some capacity. Although as we have literally just been given the credit today, its all very fresh as to where to use it and not even certain we can use it in the places we 'might'

So far the options for usage of the credit are a combination of the following:

(1) Speciality dining (Not sure if we can use the credit to buy a meal package, we assume we could)

(2) Bars to top our drinks up, for more specialist drinks. (For example pay the difference for JD)

(3) Room service

(4) Casino

(5) Video arcade

(6) Art gallery. (We may pick up some art at an auction, even though fully aware of the bad reputation it carries)

(7) ILounge. (This I would be very surprised if it was possible to buy anything using ship credit from here, so this is more a question than anythign else, is it possible?)

(8) Shops. (Can ship credit be used in the shops? As in the Michael Kors shop for example, or some Lancome make up)

I know the credit would not stretch to all or most of these items, but having never cruised before and not sure how ship credit really works some advice would be warmly recieved.

Thanks in advance

I will be taking a handheld device that emulates retro arcade games on it, but I will certainly be paying a visit to the on board arcade at least once. I think they look so small that hardly any games are in them and if anything use up awkward spaces on a ship effectively.

If this came across as a Brits V US about tipping that was not the intention. I just wondered if any felt that service was different dependant on who tipped. Perhaps the question should have been written better.

As a Brit if I travel from the UK should any guest tip 'British' and if I travel from USA should Brits tip 'American'. Is there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?

We have pre paid gratuities and plan to tip room steward and baggage porter per case my wife brings (Whether she wears it or not, *SIGH)

I am still not sure whether to use a lanyard or not.

The options I am thinking are Lanyard and carry around my neck (Most of the time possibly), with the advantage being that it might be harder to misplace. (Talking from experience with my MP3 player)

Buy a wallet that does not carry my reward cards, RAC card etc from home that I will use JUST for the cruise. (And obviously will then have a back up wallet) The wallet can then carry any foreign monies I need when at port etc and some absolute essentials such as drivers license for ID. The biggest problem with this could be the security issue.

The final option is to chop and change between the two. When on the ship I may have it around my neck, saving the extremely minor irritation of having to retrieve from a wallet. (Although is that a nusciance, when I would have to remove it from a lanyard anyway, as a first time cruiser I assume it cannot be scanned through a lanyard when buying something on board.) The usage of a lanyard also has advantages and disadvantages to having it around your neck when in port as opposed to a wallet. A wallet is far easier to pinch (Although I am really anal when carrying my personal items around ANYWHERE) but wearing a lanyard in port would surely effect sun tan/sun burn.

Decisions, decisions

Tipping is clearly a thorny subject and there appears to be no right on wrong way to tip.

As a Brit we are perhaps not as used to the tipping culture as our American cousins, therefore are we at a disadvantage if we tip less/not at all?

Would we recieve lesser service for not tipping or would the reverse happen? What I mean is Brits are not expected to tip as much so its expected or Americans had to compete with fellow Americans to tip well?

I dont think for one minute a member of a cruise line would intentially give a lesser service but sub-conciously may be inclinded to not quite work as hard. We are going to tip our room steward almost certainly (Unless they are terrible we wont) but only umming and ahhing at whether we tip at the end of the cruise or half and half. (Start off with a bribe :eek:)

As someone else mentioned, the porters aren't cruise line employs so they don't get the tips you prepay. Give them $1 or $2 per bag and you'll be fine. Also don't forget your excursion operators. Uber drivers as well, but you can just add their tip onto your final payment on the app.

We were thinking about that for the porters or rounding it up (We have never cruised so I dont know how much my wife is planning to take!) But tipping everywhere apart from the ship is something I will do. (I think!)

Thanks for the replies. We were looking at tipping the porters and room steward (if exceptional service) at the end of the cruise. I looked around late last night and tipping is still a hot subject. That also explains why my initial post was partically waffly!

As the title suggests, why should we pay extra? We dont mind paying the extra but when exactly are we paying the pre paid gratuities for. There seems to be quite a few posts on CC about tipping with all different figures and methods of paying for service but as I say,has that not been paid for already?

I feel slightly bad even asking this and feel really mean as well!

How does the pre paid gratuity affect the 18%? Would you still add that on each drink?

It appears to be working, thanks for the replies!

As the title says, if I go to look at a a specfic ship (In this case navigator of the seas) it says sorry, no matches. What has happened, as this is something that has only just started to happen. Has there been an update?

Hi all, I posted this on the new cruisers forum and someone suggested I posted here as well. I will just copy and post my original message:p

Hi all,

My wife and I booked our frist cruise a few days ago via Royal Caribbean and part of the deal was Free WiFi and free on site parking. The latter was sorted relatively quickly but there is no sign of any free wifi on our 'booking dashboard'. Is this normal or should we contact Royal Caribbean?

Thanks in advance

Is this something that your UK Travel Agent provided? or is this some promotion that you received directly from Royal.

Big difference in the answer.

DIrect from Royal Caribbean. They still have the promotion running now