prmssk

Do people generally have a lot of problems with the app? Celebrity/Royal's apps are the cruise apps I find work the most consistently of all the cruise lines I have cruised lately. Although I have seen my fair share of IT problems on Celebrity's website, I haven't on the app and I don't generally see posts from people having issues. This is the first that I can recall in a long time.

If you go to a restaurant anywhere (cruise ship or on land) with entrees marked vegetarian, this is the generally accepted definition that is used. Those vegetarians that are excluding dairy or eggs, ask more questions. And vegans look for a vegan symbol (at restaurants/places that have it) or ask more questions.

I've always just confirmed with my cabin steward. They have a list of those who signed up online, at least as it relates to their cabins.

I agree - check his account on the website to see if it shows up there. If not, you might want to double check your invoice (or the booking from your account) to make sure his captain's club number is correct in the booking as well as his name is spelled right and birthday is correct. If his cruise is showing up when he logs into the website, then it's probably an issue with the app. I would make sure the app is up to date and if that doesn't work, uninstall and reinstall the app.

It was more than one icon on my Eclipse cruise. I personally was focused on the dairy free symbols and found a few mistakes plus my waiter caught one I wouldn't have known about. I was really glad to have a knowledgeable waiter.

There isn't much to the helipad on an Edge class ship, I can't imagine it would hold many people even if they did open it up.

The newer (larger) locks actually have retention ponds that are designed to recycle about 60% of the water so even though the new locks are larger, they actually use a little less water than the old locks.

The Constellation is roughly the size of the Radiance Class on RC. She has not be revolutionized and is one of the oldest ships in Celebrity's fleet. I don't expect her to be revolutionized in 2024 but she might get some new soft goods (carpets, furniture, paint, etc.). In my experience, there are those of us (myself included) who love these smaller ships and so really enjoy the Constellation. And then there are those that prefer to have more of the bells and whistles that come with an Edge Class ship and so wouldn't consider a ship like the Constellation. I did not see any really condition issues when I was on her last November but I realize that isn't the most recent review. Generally, I find that Celebrity maintains their ships well (better than some other brands I have sailed) but a ship that old isn't going to be perfect. For your decision, think through how important itinerary is for this particular cruise and how important the ship is. I'm sure you will have a great time regardless of which cruise you pick.

The form I filled out last fall on the Constellation had lines for dining, room steward, etc. and then separate lines to list specific names. Maybe they have changed the form. We didn't have an OBC on our May Eclipse cruise so didn't ask then. A few positions pool even additional tips so in those particular cases I'm not sure it matters if you put a name down - Luminae dining staff is one example I am aware of (unless that has changed too).

I agree you will be charged as if it is double occupancy (so 2 times the goal). And with the exception of upper suites (which doesn't apply in your case related to a Sky Suite), you keep the AI perks and OBC you had with your original booking. A starting bid of $100 (with a max of $500) per person for a Sky Suite seems like a very low bid to me. Are there a lot of Sky Suites still available? There also is likely a lot of demand for your single stateroom which might be driving down the bidding price.

In addition, to the daily gratuities automatically being deducted from your OBC (assuming you don't pre-pay), you can also choose (if you so desire) to add extra gratuities to specific staff or departments by asking for the form at guest services (or the concierge if you are in the Retreat).

Or it could just be a bad 5-6 weeks or maybe some really disgruntled passengers. (That is not to dismiss the negative changes Celebrity clearly has been making. I'm just not sure if 60 reviews on a site that only represents a minority of passengers cruising on Celebrity is enough to truly show a downward trend for cruise line as a whole.) As a data person, to me I need to see much larger trends to draw a conclusion on numbers alone. As a cruiser, I'm more interested in the specifics of the reviews (and how they match with what I want out of cruising) than the exact number a reviewer assigns to their review.

Cruise ships pay a lot of money (quite a bit more than freight), get priority and a daytime slot. I think water levels have to get a lot worse before we see it affecting many cruises (and by that point, we will have much larger issues). Since the one Royal Caribbean ship is the only one I've heard of cancelling, I suspect there was more to that particular cancellation than just water levels. (Now your Amazon order options may be a different story.)

That would be an interesting job. It would be really interesting to see what larger trends emerged and maybe even point to which changes may have had bigger impact than others.

On other groups I am in, I have heard of others calling the Galapagos desk ahead of time with their Marriott number. And so that is what I plan to do in the next week or so.

As someone who is allergic to dairy, I noticed similar issues with the icons on the menus (and the buffet) on my Eclipse cruise in May and my waiter confirmed there were not always right. Fortunately, my waiter was really good about making sure never to serve me anything with dairy and getting my pre-order each night. The only night I had problems was the one night the head waiter decided to take over getting my order (which was a bit odd because that is who I usually work with instead of the waiter). I provided feedback on the ship and in the survey about the mislabeling because I do think that is a huge issue.

All the cruise lines have been making changes on a different schedule. It has been interesting to switch between the cruise critic boards to see which board has the most negative threads at that moment (something that is constantly changing). If you want to truly use data to find some trends both within a cruise line and as a comparison to other cruise lines, I think you need to be looking at a much larger sample over a greater time period. 5-6 weeks of time isn't very much time in the grand scheme of cruising.

Cruise critic represents a fairly small minority of guests sailing. I don't know that it is truly representative of how passengers as a whole feel about Celebrity and other lines. And I agree with previous points that I'm not sure that it is very relevant to compare Celebrity's recent ratings to historical ratings of other lines. It is an apples to oranges comparison that doesn't at all reflect the reality that ALL cruise lines (including Carnival) have been making cuts, changes, adding fees, etc.

Some countries require the ship to get to a zero count in between cruises so they can't start embarkation until after the last guest has left from the previous cruise. Allowing late disembarkation in those ports would delay embarkation for everyone. As others have mentioned, I have seen the option to disembark later for a fee in those ports that would allow it. None of that though is going to deal with unique circumstances like you recently experienced.

How did you prepay gratuities if you have an AI package that includes gratuities? If it allowed you to do that somehow, it is a glitch that I would not assume will get fixed without you (or your TA) contacting Celebrity.

I won't commit to a full live thread but I'll try to find some time to post a bit during the trip.

Since the webinar is over, they are done looking for feedback? I think any business that wants to stay in business is constantly finding ways to get feedback from customers.

I suspect this is because the Galapagos has strict capacity limits on the ships. If they put 3 in one cabin, another cabin either has to sit empty or be left only for a solo traveler.

People keep booking so they can't really be that far behind the opposition. We've never been loyal to one line and have always assessed price, value, and offerings to see how they match with a particular vacation we are booking. And that is what we continue to do. As all the cruise lines evolve, our bookings (and even non-cruise vacation plans) can evolve with them. I also think it helps to understand what is truly important to you vs. what is just the cherry on top when it comes to a vacation. It helps with setting reasonable expectations, picking the right vacation choices, and then going with the flow when the minor things aren't quite what you want.

All shore excursions are included. The cruise/cruise package itself is very inclusive. I don't have any personal experience yet to answer your other questions but we sail away on the Xpedition in 36 days and I cannot wait.