DC1979

On 7/30/2019 at 3:06 PM, friendswithdave said:

There is something wrong with this screenshot. Why would a $25 beverage card be for kids or guests UNLESS the SBP was included in the deal? Don't read too much into this. I predict this is a draft page not meant for public view and the actual Explore4 package revealed on August 1 will not look like this and WILL include the SBP. I think Celebrity is winning over their customers (included me on the last cruise) by including a bev package in deals. We will see.

They won me as a customer as well! I have booked my first cruise with Celebrity, partially because of their package pricing.  I have only sailed with Holland America in the past (currently 3 stars with HAL), and was leaning towards trying something different next time anyways, but the bundled package at Celebrity was much more appealing to me than what HAL was offering, and the pricing was very similar.  With Celebrity we got the elite beverage package, OBC ($300), prepaid gratuities and free internet.  It really was a no brainer.  I do love HAL and look forward to future sailings, but also very much looking forward to trying out Celebrity! 

24 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Looks like HAL is cutting CO price by 50%, tells me that it is not selling to non NS passengers. I didn't know that it had already been expanded to more than the two Pinnacle Class ships.

I’m at work, so can’t really research, more thinking out loud, but curious if they changed the price on Koningsdam/NS as well.  I could see them charging less on the ships that don’t have a separate Club Orange restaurant.  As a perk of staying in a Neptune Suite, I loved Club Orange on the Koningsdam. If somehow I wasn’t in a Neptune Suite, I feel like $50/day is rather steep for what is offered, but at $25/day I would strongly consider it.  

Just to update, I called Celebrity and they were able to select seats for me, and the seat selection now shows up when I pull the reservation up online at American Airlines.  Thanks for your help!! 

8 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

It would be prudent when calling to ask why not. Many discounted fares do not allow free selection of seats prior to online check in.  

 

Most airlines allow you to choose your seats free within 24 hours of flight. 

The agent said that it was because it was booked by Celebrity and was not ticketed yet.  But if someone else was able to select seats that doesn’t make sense.  It definitely is a discounted fare, but I booked first class, and as far as I am aware, even the deepest discounted first class fare allows for complementary seat selection.  

43 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

Our X flight was 300 days out. I got the locator number, called AA and got seats. Flight still shows as on hold, but seats are assigned 

Hmmm I wonder why I wasn’t able to do that then? I’ll try calling Celebrity first to see if they can help me and then maybe I will try to call AA and perhaps get a better/more helpful agent. 

Hello Everyone!

I am brand new to Celebrity so sorry if the answer to this is obvious!  I have booked my first cruise with Celebrity and booked my flight through them on American Airlines. I am not able to select seats with American Airlines, either online or by calling them, and was wondering if there was a way to do this prior to full payment? Previously, I have booked flights with Holland America’s Flight Ease on their website, on Air Canada, and I was able to select my seats at the time I made my reservation.  I did not see that option available when booking through Celebrity.  Is there any way for me to select seats for my booking now, or will I have to wait until finial payment is made in December? I was hoping to book seats earlier so that I can select two seats together. Thanks!!

I was on the Koningsdam in May and had booked the 5 restaurant dining package online.  When we boarded in Civitavecchia, there were cards with the reservation date and time for each restaurant already in the room.  None of them worked for me, so I went to the Neptune Lounge right after boarding and was able to change all my reservations to something more convenient.  The process was fairly easy and I was able to get my first choice in terms of date and time at all the restaurants. My recommendation would be to write down the dates and times you would like your reservations before the cruise so that once you board you can head directly to the lounge and change the reservations to your preference.  That’s what I did and it took less than 5 minutes to get everything straightened out.  Enjoy your cruise!!

Sorry to hear about your experience and that the Koningsdam didn’t live up to your expectations. My experience was the opposite.  I was on a 12 day Mediterranean on the Koningsdam in May and absolutely loved the ship.  I found the staff to be extremely friendly, happy to assist in any way and going far and above my expectations on many different occasions.  I thought the food in club orange was good to very good and the specialty dining to be very good to excellent. I also thought the entertainment was much improved over previous cruises (still not excellent but much improved).  I was in a neptune suite, so I also had access to the neptune lounge and the concierges (who were the best I’ve ever experienced) and club orange so that may skew my view compared to those who did not have access to those venues, but the Koningsdam was by far my favorite HAL ship and I would be very happy sail her again - in fact I would prefer to be on the Koningsdam/NS after my last cruise (having previously been on the Westerdam, Eurodam, and Nieuw Amsterdam several times and the Ryndam once). 

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I still believe that opening up CO to non suites passengers, even for a fee, cheapens the product and amenities for NS and PS. HAL has so few Suites amenities as it is compared to other lines like Celebrity. Celebrity has it's excusive Blu and Luminae dinning rooms which are exclusively for suites passengers. Unless Celebrity has changed, I do not think any non suites passengers can pay an upcharge to access their exclusive venues.

Honestly, I think the real suite amenity that Holland America offers is the Neptune Lounge, which is still only open to NS/PS passengers.  The way club orange is set up, I don’t think it really makes a difference.  I think there were a few passengers using CO who had bought access because I didn’t see them in the Neptune Lounge, but it didn’t affect us in any way because club orange is large enough and with enough staff to accommodate the number of diners that are using it.  Of course, that is just personal opinion, but I wasn’t bothered by it one bit.  

2 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

We also had a very good experience with Club Orange on Nieuw Statendam in April, with a similar experience to the others posting here who have actually used this amenity. The staff was excellent, including the wine steward who far exceeded any one we have ever had on HAL ships. (This was been a weak area for years in the main dining room IMHO.)

 

We could not see the chef at work from our regular table, but enjoyed those hot breakfast items and daily specials.

 

Before sailing, I speculated that the atmosphere should be more elegant, similar to some of the Pinnacles’ decor, but I found C.O. much more cheerfully appealing than I expected.

 Yes!! I agree.  Prior to sailing I was afraid of the environment and thought it would compare negatively to the old Pinnacle Grill breakfast environment. How wrong I was.  It was bright and modern and open and I loved the energy going there for breakfast.  Honestly, I’d pick breakfast at club orange over the pinnacle anytime.  I really loved it!

Yes Naples was the night before.  I think 10AM would be potentially doable if all the stars aligned, but one little snag could create a major headache.  Honestly I don’t think the stress would be the best way to end a vacation.  

I believe we docked around 6:30AM if I recall correctly.  They called for the expedited group first, which was around 7-7:15 and after that they started calling out the groups by color. Honestly I would not expect to be able to disembark prior to 7AM, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable booking a flight that required me to do so.  What time is your flight? 

I am just off the Koningsdam in Civitavecchia and it was somewhere between 7 and 7:15 when they called the first group to disembark.  

I was recently on the Koningsdam in a Neptune Suite and I have to say I absolutely loved Club Orange. The seating was very comfortable, loved the decor and the staff were all fantastic. I had the Club Orange daily special for dinner a few times and it was very very good. Also loved going there for breakfast. The food was fresh and hot and I actually preferred going there than  the pinnacle for breakfast (and I loved the pinnacle). Also contrary to reports of it being lightly populated, it was constantly busy for both breakfast and dinner on the days that I went there. And as the passengers got to know each other, everyone was talking with each other and stopping at the tables to chat. Overall I was really impressed with Club Orange and the Koningsdam in general. In fact I’d pick Koningsdam again in a heartbeat. Easily my favorite HAL ship. 

Thank you very much. Looking forward to it! This will be my 8th HAL cruise, but my first non-Caribbean one, so I am looking forward to a different experience. I’m also looking forward to tying out the Koningsdam and exploring all the new places on board! 

I was pretty sure when I was looking at flight options that I was able to change the airport to something other than the disembarkation point, although it did require flight to be at least one day after the cruise ended.  I definitely was able to change the origin airport to a different one than my address with Holland America with no problems.  

Some airlines make it a little tricky to find the spot to enter the known traveler number for global entry. You can always just call the airline and have them enter it into their system as well. I had to do this for my parents with American Airlines, but with United and Air Canada I was able to enter in via their website. Given the horror stories I hear about reservations getting cancelled accidentally with Flight Ease you’re probably better off dealing directly with the airline anyways!! Once I made my flight ease reservation,  I have refused to log onto it again for fear of losing my very well priced flight!! 

Looking forward to trying it on my upcoming cruise! I booked the ultimate dining package for the 5 specialty restaurants, so between those and club orange, it should be a nice mix over the 12 nights of the cruise.  

Perfect.  Thank you.  One less thing to pack!

Hello all, I had a question for those of you that have sailed on the Koningsdam - are there outlets located near the bed? I am debating if I should bring an extension cord or a power bar.  There are three of us in the cabin so we will need access to some electricity!!!  We will be staying in a Neptune Suite if that affects the outlet situation.  Thanks!!

(I tried to do a quick search but I am at work, so I wasn’t able to find anything in my admittedly semi-distracted search.  I apologize if this info is posted somewhere).  

No

Enjoy the moment. Nothing compares to the very first time!! To this day, I remember everything about my first cruise. The sheer excitement leading up to it. Setting eyes on the ship for the first time from the shuttle. The feeling of anticipation going up the gangway, and the first moment of glee as I entered the ship for the first time. I ran around exploring every nook and cranny and inch of the ship like a little kid in a candy store.  It is a very special feeling that I remember to this day. And while I look forward to every cruise, nothing comes close to the excitement I felt on my first cruise. So enjoy your moment!!! Happy cruising 🙂 

Thanks for the replies everyone!  Unfortunately when I went to purchase dinner for the first night, after selecting the names of the passengers, it said that the selection was not available.  I will keep looking, I have a while to go before sailing so maybe it will be available closer to the sail date!  Thanks again!! 

Hello! Newbie to Celebrity here, all. My previous cruises have been with Holland America.  I have booked a 7 day cruise on the Equinox in a sky suite.  I noticed that they are offering discounted dinner the first night at Murano and the Tuscan Grill.  I was thinking of booking at Murano.  I just wanted to know if there is any difference in the menu offered on the first night versus any other night? Also, would I be missing out of anything special if I don’t dine at the Lumiae restaurant on the first night? It looks like the food at the Lumiae is pretty good, but I did want to try Murano and Tuscan Grill once.  I have poked around the forum here and it looks like it would be better to book the second reservation on board as they may offer further discounts compared to the online price, but the first night discount seemed decent enough to me.   Also anything else I should know? Thanks in advance for your responses!!

Wow that is cutting it awfully close.  Is there no way you are able to go the day before? That would be a very stressful start to a vacation with absolutely no room for any potential delay/complication.