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On 1/31/2020 at 9:42 PM, nyc2pdx said:

can you order things off menu?  I love eggs benedict for breakfast, (I see crab cake benedict on the premium-I am talking about the everyday eggs benedict)...could I order that, or will they charge me?  

They show prices on the menu for extra charge items.

You can  try writing in things you want that are not listed on the menu, and you may or may not get them.

For example, how you want your eggs cooked, or extra ketchup, or what flavor yogurt or type of bread you prefer, or asking them to leave something off that would normally be included.

When we want yogurt for breakfast, we  typically list a couple of yogurt flavor choices on our breakfast menu and almost always receive one or the other.

They will sometimes call you if they have questions about your order.

8 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

To be fair, I have also had the unfortunate occurrence of having my personal space invaded by people who are actually there face to face speaking very loudly to each other. Best-case they were just those people who claim to not have inside voices; worst-case they were arguing or having a heated discussion.

But often they are just people who are hard of hearing and are unaware of how loud their voices sound to people with normal hearing.

7 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

The obc from Celebrity will be nonrefundable, use it or lose it, but this is the first one used when you have charges. All the obc I’ve received from TAs has been refundable, but I’ve read on this board, that people have received obc from TAs that wasn’t, so you can either check with your TA or check it out once you get onboard.

 

Every time a TA has claimed to be "giving" us obc that was non-refundable, it turned out to be obc that was actually coming from the cruise line and that we would receive regardless of whether or not we booked with the TA.

8 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

We also had no issues with unopened soda.

Neither did we.  We bring them back to the cabin all the time.

Unopened water bottles as well.

Here is a link to a previous thread that gives a full explanation

ELITE MEMBER AND CABIN MATE

It looks like you were the one who started that thread as well.

You can also call Guest Relations to request a printout of your account, which can be good to have when you are making changes.

52 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:

We were also booked on the Ensenada-Hawaii cruise and ended up cancelling after all the bad reviews about leaving from there. That’s why the round trip is so nice, a quick stop in Ensenada is well worth it. 

Except that once we get to Hawaii, we want to get off the ship and stay  there  to enjoy a real Hawaii vacation,  not get on a ship that turns around and heads right back.

That is only a teaser, not a true Hawaii vacation.

For whale watching enthusiasts, it is worth spending a full week on Maui alone during the height of the whale watching season, where closeup whale sightings are more plentiful and much lower priced than in Alaska.

Great way to combine a cruise vacation with a land vacation.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

We were not as lucky.   We had a cruise about 3 years ago from San Diego to Hawaii but when we arrived at the port they advised that the ship was sailing empty from San Diego to Ensenada and they bussed us down.   Took us over 9 hours on one of the worst planned transport I have experienced.   We sat on the bus at the boarder for over 4 hours.

That was what we also had to do when we took the one-way cruises from California to Hawaii, which we did a number of times through the years, boarding the ship at Ensenada.

Guess we were lucky because we never had to sit at the border for so long; maybe  1/2 hour to perhaps an hour at most, but we had our long wait up front in San Diego. 

I have no idea of how they assigned the bus priority, but those who got on an early bus had the long  wait at the border,  waiting for all the other busses to arrive there, while those who got assigned to a later bus had the long wait at the San Diego cruise terminal.

At the border they would assemble  all the buses into a convoy for the continuation of the trip on down to Ensenada,  providing armed guards to escort us as a precaution because there had been incidents of bandits attacking vehicles along that route. 

Some of the bus ride was quite scenic, like getting a "free" excursion before we boarded the ship.

They did all the paperwork in San Diego before we ever got on a bus, so when they finally let us off the bus in Ensenada, we were able to get right on the ship.

The ship was already down there waiting for us each time when the buses arrived.

If the ship had come down from Vancouver, or across from Florida via the Panama Canal, then any passengers who boarded in Vancouver (or Florida) were able to remain onboard the ship for the ride from San Diego down to Ensenada and they did not need to ride the bus.

 Just those crazy cabotage laws.

It appears that the differences in information we are seeing people post here for the laundry allowance  (i.e., limit on number of bags vs. limit on number of items) are due to the fact that different instructions and restrictions are provided for different cruises and different locations.

Even on cruises to the same location, the laundry allowances may vary from one time to another.

9 hours ago, coaster said:

Have not been on Celebrity for awhile either, but booked for November 2020.  Do they still have trays in the buffet? I thought that was a nice touch.

Sadly, the trays are long gone, eliminated as part of the cutbacks.

We will still go to the buffet for snacks, but no longer find the ambience there appealing or conducive to the enjoyment of a complete meal. 

It is really a shame as they provide some very nice food selections there.

Previously it was easy to gather up your cutlery, food and beverages on a tray in one pass through,   then sit down and enjoy  your meal.

Now the buffet area is totally chaotic and congested at meal times as people constantly need  to keep jumping up and down, making multiple passes  back and forth just to complete one meal.

But think about how much money they are saving by not needing to buy, wash and maintain all those trays.

11 hours ago, smlcruisers said:

..........  Question:  Do I need to wear a sport coat in the main dining room on chic nights?  

Answer:  No, you do not need to wear a sport coat in any Celebrity dining room on any night.

But even doing B2B cruises on the same ship, we have seen huge differences in the way people dress from one cruise to the next. 

If there is a large affinity group traveling together, they may all choose to dress pretty much the same way.

Sometimes a travel agency puts together a large group and advises them on how to dress, so they may all be dressed similarly even if they don't know one another.

It can be easy for someone who is on a Celebrity cruise for the first time to get the impression that Celebrity passengers get dressed up, or that they don't, depending on the passenger mix you happen to encounter on any particular cruise.

On 7/25/2019 at 8:10 PM, late2cruisin said:

 

I did not know that door led to Tuscan Grill, but then I'm not in the habit of entering areas that say "Crew Only"... Why did you transit there? Shortcut to Elite breakfast in Tuscan?

That door did not say "Crew Only" on the Summit .

It is at the end of a quiet hallway, right across form 3125 and 3127

3125 or 3127 would be an ideal location for anyone who does not want a balcony and likes to start the day at the Captain's Club breakfast in the Tuscan Grill.

Just open your door, step across the hallway and there you are.

Another advantage to those new cabins on the port side of the ship is that you don't get the hallway foot traffic like the cabins on the starboard side now do.

Since they re-located the entrance to Tuscan, people coming up or down on the central elevators now walk down  the hallway on the starboard side to get to Tuscan.

Previously they would just get off the elevators and walk only a few steps to reach the old entrance.

  Luvsnorkeling, thanks for sharing this and brightening our day.

On 12/11/2019 at 6:57 AM, cachouonacruise said:

Is the glass door for showers on Millenium available for all cabin categories? 

No, not for the accessible cabins, (at least not the few that we have seen).

23 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

Could this be the result of  overindulgence with the Classic package?🍻

With the Premium package, you get 3 groups of acrobats. 😉

On 7/14/2017 at 10:33 PM, cdn_tbird said:

 

Would X even allow you to book minors into their own room?

Yes, if the cabins are reasonably close to one another. 

Typically parents will book a balcony cabin for themselves and a nearby inside cabin across the hall for their children.

But even if the rooms are not anywhere near each other,  there is a simple work around simply by putting the name of one adult "officially" on each cabin. 

Then the parents actually sleep in one cabin and the children in the other.

That is done quite commonly.  Nobody cares who sleeps where, as long as the children are well behaved and do not disturb any other passengers.

You can request extra keys to each cabin so that everyone in the family (or in fact whoever you wish to give them to) can have easy access to both cabins.

9 hours ago, a.madruga said:

just booked A1 veranda with BLU included and persian gardens

wondering if regular veranda is better deal

 

So as you can see, the differences of opinion vary widely and there is no unanimous agreement here.

Unfortunately, that is not much help to someone new to aqua class who is trying to decide.

About all you can do is  try it at least once and form your own opinion.

But I guess how much extra it is worth would depend on whether or not one is a foodie and a spa afficionado.

We never know with certainty in advance just when we will be arriving, so even if required to select a boarding time in advance, it would be no better than a wild guess.

There can be too many variables involved that are subject to change.

Usually all goes well and there is no problem, but I admit that we have had a few close calls on occasion  throughout  the years.

If you have an emergency and keep the cruise line informed about it, they do try to accommodate you as best they can, for which we are very appreciative.

One thing I have learned is to write down those emergency contact names and numbers using old fashioned pen or pencil and paper and take them with you, not just rely on modern electronic devices exclusively, assuming that they will always be available and functional whenever and wherever you may need them.

4 hours ago, mom says said:

As well they should, since the cruise ship tags may confuse automated luggage transfer at the airport. You aren't supposed to put the cruise tags on your bags until you arrive at your embarkation city.

Right.  The reason that airline employees cut off tags with non-airline bar codes (if they catch them) is that the bar code scanners determine which way the bag will be routed automatically with no human intervention necessary. 

If an unrecognized bar code is detected, the bag is separated out.  That is why  bags with such tags are sometimes delayed and don't make connections.

5 hours ago, XuGator said:

Ive never really understood the benefit of these luggage tags. We always just have the porter tag our bags once we arrive at the pier.

We do the same.

After many years of cruising,  experimenting with trying out all the various suggested ways of ordering or printing and tagging your luggage by yourself in advance,  we came to the realization that the "pros" at the pier do it much more quickly and efficiently than we can do it ourselves.

The various unnecessary luggage tag holders that we purchased and discarded through the years are still probably in a box somewhere in the back of a closet. 😄

Yet there are some passengers who have the free time to spare and enjoy ordering or printing their own luggage tags in advance.  Some even like to put original creative designs on their luggage tags to make them stand out.

Our tags are very plain and humdrum by comparison, but we don't mind at all.

It only takes a second to glance at each tag to see if the number on it is correct and clear.

33 minutes ago, jan-n-john said:

It's true that the extra benefits of going from elite to elite+ are nothing much, at least in the chart.  My question about this is whether there is a difference in benefits outside the chart, like how you get treated if something goes wrong, access to deals that they don't tell others about, and so on.  If anybody has hard info on this type of thing, from actual experience, I'd be interested and I'm sure I'm not alone.   

We have been elite + for years and are not aware of any additional benefits besides the few that are listed.

We do not recall being treated any differently as elite + since we have always been treated very well on Celebrity cruises, even from our very first cruise when we were in an ordinary balcony cabin and had no loyalty status at all.

So if we have been missing out on any additional elite + benefits that we don't know about, I hope someone will tell us about them.

But even when available, it is not worth the hassle except perhaps if you get it for free.

I certainly would not be willing to pay anything extra for it. 

You don't even have access to your own cabin as you are required to remain out in the public areas of the ship for the entire time.

The ship should provide that option to passengers as a courtesy, not charge them extra for it.

When I have an extended period of time to spend after a cruise before my flight out, I would rather book an excursion, or rent a car, or else book a day room at an airport hotel (or a beach hotel, depending on location), where I can stretch out in comfort and have my own bathroom, desk and large screen TV.

Apparently Celebrity uses different types of laundry forms on their ships from time to time, even for the same stateroom category,  and the wording on the various laundry forms will differ as to whether they are limiting us to one bag, or 30 items, or in some situations 20 items.

When sending out bulky items, such as jeans and sweatshirts, it is nice not to have to cram everything into one bag.

We were told that the people in the laundry do separate whites and colors and wash them separately, but I have wondered about that occasionally when white socks came back rather dingy looking.

Sometimes when placing an article of clothing into a laundry bag, I discover that it still has a laundry sticker on it from last year's cruise.  Those things do stay on, throughout several more washings.

We prefer the stickers to those horrible ink markings, but were never offered a choice. 😉

1 hour ago, BDL said:

Call back and ask someone else.   As someone said - once they assign you a category/cabin you should be able to change the cabin within the same category.  Can't hurt to call back a time or two.

Totally agree with this suggestion, but want to add one more thing.

Before you call,  first check  to see what other cabins in your assigned category are available and pick out one (or 2 or 3) that you like.

Then when you call, ask specifically to switch  to stateroom number XXXX.

Worst case in such situations, if you get no resolution from the cruise line or travel agent, you can always contest the charge with the credit card company. 

The two times that we needed to do that, the credit card company got every penny back for us.

For us, the problem was with a different cruise line each time, not Celebrity. 

We have never had a billing problem with Celebrity as the few times when we needed to contest an invalid Celebrity charge,  the amount in question was immediately refunded to us with one phone call and no hassle whatsoever.

By the way, we were using a reputable travel agent each time when we had the problems (a different travel agency in each case), but neither travel agent was of any help.  They just kept stalling and making excuses.

It was the credit card company, not the travel agents, that resolved the problems for us.