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I realize my experience doesn’t appear to be the norm, but after my last experience of there being limited availability to switch a reservation onboard, I’m not sure I would recommend waiting to book.

Edwin is who I dealt with for my Constellation cruise early this month although someone else on this thread who I believe cruised shortly after me on the Constellation mentioned dealing with a female concierge. If they are shuffling concierges like this it's no wonder they aren't always the most responsive.

A bottle of sparkling wine or champagne is an amenity of all suites (all the way down to SS). It's listed right on Celebrity's website and in a SS last year (and a travel companion in a SS this year), there was a bottle on ice waiting upon embarkation. You just usually get the Celebrity Vintages brand (or similar) in the lower suites instead of a higher end brand.

In the app (click the top right icon of the three), you should see the date listed that your check-in opens (about half way down the screen). It's usually 45 days out. At that time you pick an arrival time.

You still get service twice a day service with Go Green. I believe it just means they don't do as much cleaning (like vacuuming) in the evening. We have noticed very little difference when we opted in.

$18 (USD) is now the regular full-price for an upgrade from classic to premium. That is obviously before any cruise planner discounts pre-cruise or loyalty discounts. The jump in price occurred a number of months ago when they increased drink package prices.

I realize this isn't directed at me but I called today to get the elite discount for wifi and I have no idea how they came up with the calculation. It was slightly more than 30% off the price I was seeing in the cruise planner. It wasn't enough of a difference that it was worth arguing over but didn't match y calculations. There was a long pause as she explained there are a lot of options for them to choose from and she had to find the right one. I'm not sure they make this very easy on the call center employees.

I noticed that as well and assumed it is just repositioning. They want the new ship to sail out of a variety of ports to give people chances to sail on her and it is easier to meet the requirements of the Passenger Vessels Services Act with basic Caribbean cruises, if they keep the cruises as closed loop cruises (no need to find a distant foreign port), hence she gets repositioned overnight with no passengers. I assume that also means they don't allow any B2B passengers between those two legs.

No, you couldn't hear. They were miserable. Moving them inside made them a bit more comfortable but they still lasted way too long (mostly waiting on all of those who didn't show up) and most didn't pay attention, just like most people don't pay attention to the safety presentation on an airplane. I know Disney has gone back to the traditional muster drill. And we have a couple isolated reports on NCL but no official policy change. Are there others that are going back that I'm missing? I don't think at this point we can say many or most are going back to traditional muster drills.

Before the pandemic, they were still holding them out on the deck in front of lifeboats on NCL? I haven't sailed NCL is many, many years so my more recent experience is with other cruise lines. I just went through my blog and the last muster drill I did out in front of the lifeboats was in 2013. All my pre-pandemic cruises after that point (on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity) were held in the theater or a lounge.

Have there been any further reports of a traditional muster happening? This post started with one report (from Emma Cruises) and I think I saw a comment about a traditional muster on the Spirit in September. Are these isolated incidents (that could have to do with things other than a change in NCL policy) or are we actually seeing this implemented fleet wide?

I think like anywhere, you are going to find excellent, well-trained shoreside concierges and others who either lack sufficient training or aren't in a job that matches their skillset. I was in a penthouse on a smaller ship (the Constellation) and although he wasn't bad and most of our requests ultimately were passed on to the ship, it took him over a week and a followup from us before he ever got back to us and he wasn't particularly helpful in answering questions. And then this survey I received this week about some phone call I supposedly had with him post-cruise (a phone call I did not have) was a bit odd.

Link your bookings through the app or website (you will need reservation numbers for each cabin) and then you will be able to make select dining reservations for everyone on the days you want to all eat together (and can make dining reservations for a smaller group if needed). You can also just show up to dining and wait for an open table but with a group that size, it probably would be better to have a reservation. We personally really enjoy the main dining room and find the food to be generally quite good. It is a multi-course meal so it is never super fast. If you all arrive on time, I have not found a table of 8 to be all that much slower than a table for 2. The bigger factor is how overwhelmed the wait staff is.

Just an FYI - AI benefits cannot be shared. So if your sister is in a room that is a cruise only fare, she would not have the benefit of a beverage package (or gratuities), and her husband would not be able to share his benefits with her. The only AI benefit her husband could share with her would be the 1 device internet plan and they would have to take turns, both couldn't be on at the same time.

Emerald on Royal gets you Select on Celebrity. Just log into your Celebrity account online and there is a spot to add your Crown & Anchor number. You may want to do the same on Royal’s website with your Captain’s Club number. The next and last matching status is Diamond on Royal to Elite on Celebrity.

Yes, check out the sticked thread recording people's move-up bids on this board. You will find a number of minimum bids that have been accepted.

You are confined to the min and maxes on that sliding scale. It's always good to know your prices like you clearly do because move up is not always a good deal.

Recent experience? It seems like in the last six months or so they removed the option from the cruise planner. It seemed to correspond to around the time they were raising prices for the drink packages. I remember seeing it for one of my cruises and then it was gone. I haven't heard of anyone being able to do it on the website since then.

Yes, I regularly log in and out of my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. So if you and your wife don't need to be on at the same time, just one of you can buy a 1 device package and share it.

Our e-mail and survey mentioned the specific shoreside concierge that I recall dealing with pre-cruise. And he wasn't all that responsive pre-cruise so I will admit the thought crossed my mind that he may have just checked off in the system that he followed up with us when he didn't really. I took the survey to let them know I didn't have any such interaction in case he was actually supposed to contact us.

I just checked our Hawaii and Canada excursions and they are all each $20-50 more expensive per person than when we booked them a month or two ago! That's with a 16% cruise planner discount right now! And I thought they were really expensive at the time!

For those who have sailed in upper suites, does shoreside concierge usually reach out after a cruise? We sailed in the penthouse on the Constellation the first week of November. This past Monday, we received an e-mail from Celebrity asking us to take a survey on our recent interaction with our shoreside concierge and it referenced a phone call we supposedly had with him post-cruise. This is quite odd as we have had no interactions with shoreside since the cruise and pre-cruise, it was just two brief e-mails (so no phone calls even then).

That is a very black and white view of morals and ethics. I think for all of us our conscious kicks in somewhere in the gray area.

I don't know tax law on casino winnings and we don't gamble so don't know what I (and my husband accountant) would do. My point wasn't to try and tell you where the line is drawn for the decisions you make. I just find it very strange that someone would push back against someone else choosing to follow the law. There is nothing wrong with voluntarily declaring what you know the law requires you to declare even if you wouldn't make the same decision.

Sometimes reports of large purchases made in the cruise line shops get reported to customs. So it is possible to get caught. Sometimes it is also just a matter of one's own conscious and wanting to do the right thing.