AlbertaCruisers

On the Equinox there was a channel in the TV guide called HDMI and when selected it automatically changed to the right input and showed whatever you connected to the hdmi input. I take it there is nothing like that for you?

I recently signed up for Freedom - the $34, 50GB, Can US plan. I paid for 1 month with both my old plan still active and this to test it to see how the service was, as it was bad a few years ago.  I shut off data on my old plan and used the temp number with Freedom for a while.  I’m in north Edmonton and work downtown and the service has been great, so I transferred over fully back in January. I was recently on the Celebrity Equinox and the plan worked great in the US (I just had to toggle data roaming on and off quickly and it found service quickly). I did a prepaid plan, as there is no difference in the plan (other can’t finance a phone) and no risk of overages. The great thing is with wifi calling on I was able to get texts and calls on the ship with no charge through ship wifi (we had premium wifi), which was great (I did have a number of texts and calls to try this out). I did the $30 5GB 81 country roam beyond pass as an add on, I added it after I left the US on the ship to make sure I used the included data first. It worked great at all the Caribbean islands we were at and on our turn around day in Fort Lauderdale on the back to back, the system automatically used data on my plan and not the add on.  I will get the add on again for our cruise in Europe later this year. 

My Shark Flexstyle worked with no issue on both the constellation and Equinox. 
 

I now have the Dyson airwrap, we were just on the Equinox for 38 days and the dyson worked everyday except for 3. For some reason those 3 days (mid-cruise) it would not work when I was getting ready for supper and then did at around 10 at night - very weird. 

I always check in for all back to back cruises and include pictures and my credit card info and it has made the back to back process seamless. It is easy to do. 

45 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Do you know the charge for wine by the bottle, eg Decoy ?

Not Decoy, sorry.  The Freemark Abbey is $110 a bottle and with the premium drink package we were getting a 20% discount, which equates to the 20% tips, so we paid $110 a bottle. There were some decent bottles they brought for us to try in the $80 to $90 range.

As a note, we are red wine drinkers and we have for a long time struggled to find anything we can drink on even the premium drink package and instead have been buying bottles, which feels like a waste when you pay for the premium drink package already, but we really enjoy good wine with dinner.  We don't like Decoy or Conundrum (both of which are now $2 over the premium drink package price).  I saw somewhere on a Celebrity drink menu the Freemark Abbey, which we like at $25 a glass.  With paying the difference over the $17 premium limit it may be better than buying a bottle, if it is available anywhere by the glass.  

16 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Today is check in day but I am unable to check in.  I have tried through the web and the app.  I either get an error message or it just takes me back to the sign on screen.  Celebrity told me to try again later or tomorrow.  Everyone else from my fb group has already checked in.

We are going to end up with the latest possible boarding time.  Any suggestions?

I usually have the best luck with the App.  If you are having issues, I suggest logging out, close the app, delete the app and then re-download and then re-sign in and see if that works (this is what I have had to do on an iPhone sometimes).  Otherwise, if you can't check in it seems like a Celebrity issue.  If you go on the website and select to manage your booking, does everything seem in order and $0 showing owing?

6 minutes ago, aggiejd2000 said:

BTW, if you receive an instant certificate, you don't have to book it onboard.  As long as you purchase a "Book Later" from Future Cruises while on the ship and make the deposit, you can use your instant certificate after you get home.  You'll have 6 months to make the booking.  

The Instant Rewards Certificates that people have posted so far have an expiry date of approximately 30 days (maybe 30 days from issue) and it appears that the cruises you can book go out about 6 months.  The one I saw was from the November 18, 2023 sailing of the Summit and the certificate had an expiry date of December 22, 2023.  I don't think you can book an actual cruise on board, the most you can do is get the book later reservation with Future Cruise Vacations to use for potential extra benefits when you get home and call to book the certificate.

1 minute ago, dleahy4444 said:

Thanks. I’ve called and asked about my play on my January 2023 sailing. It was the same as always and they did send me offers from January until July when they suddenly stopped and the combination with my husband’s email developed. I’ve asked for a supervisor and all they do is say they are going to send an email to their escalation center. Then I never hear from them again 

One of the menu items on that new website is a link that says something about not receiving my offers.  I'm not sure if it will do anything, but it may be worth a shot.

3 minutes ago, dleahy4444 said:

I just tried it. No offers. There is obviously a problem with my account as I was getting veranda offers as recently as July. The reps on the phone are useless. I’ve emailed also. No response.  I think I need the name and number of someone higher up

I'm not aware of any other number.  You could call the regular number and try asking to speak to a supervisor.  As a note, I believe the offers are based mainly on your play on your last sailing, so if your play was lower on the last sailing, that may be the issue.  They should be able to look up your last sailing and tell you the tier credits earned, if that sounds wrong to you, maybe that is the issue.

You can put you last name and Captains club number in the new site and see if you have offers. I don’t know if it is supposed to be out yet, but it works for me and shows all the offers I have received by email. I saw my most recent offers on it before I got the emails. http://www.bluechipcluboffers.com/

36 minutes ago, sixpackeddie said:

Ok thank you. I’m surprised they never removed it from the list of benefits from the website…

There is small print under the chart that says you only get access to the VIP Lounge if you are in a suite, which you get anyway in a suite, so it isn't really a perk at all.

If he logs into the website does it show up?  If not add it there first. Then log out of the app, fully shut down the app (on iPhone you have to do the swipe up thing). Re-open the app and log back in. If he can’t add it at all to his account on the website he may have to call in to Celebrity for help. 

10 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Stop what you're doing and buy the 1 device (see if it lets you buy 2 if you want) for $3.99 per night right now as it could be a price mistake that will get corrected ASAP.  You can cancel anytime for a full refund anyways

Do you know how the deal with it if you have two premium plans on one account - will they switch it to a two device plan?

We were just in 1606 on the Equinox at the end of June, the only bad day was at 5 am after the pool party when they had to put all the deck chairs back in place.  It was loud as they were dragging and dropping chairs back into place. 

Last weekend, our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Toronto was Rouge, we were in business, so I believe that is premium rouge. It was the A321-200 and it was actually nice and comfy. The seats had foot rests that came up from under the chair, ipad holders on the back of the seat in front of you and storage in the arm rest. It seemed like a new plane and was way nicer and more comfortable than our Air Canada flight home to Edmonton on the A320-200, which was older and worn.  

14 minutes ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

I'm assuming it's an American company. Can you give me the email?

From the website: (I always call)

BLUECHIPCLUB@CELEBRITY.COM, or 866-461-7170 

- They will need your Celebrity captains club number to look up your last play.

2 minutes ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

I just have this feeling that it's not applicable to the UK as people seem to get offers for various levels of play.  Hopefully someone from the UK will have had an offer and then I'll know we're just unlucky!

If you played on your last cruise, I suggest you call Blue Chip Club directly and ask, make sure to press #1 for new bookings, (you can try emailing for information about what you might be eligible for but it seems people have varying success by email).  I'm in Canada and we play.  I received one email offer last year and no others for some reason, but by calling in I have been able to get many more offers.  They base offers on your play on the last cruise and they look that up when you can.  As a note, the offers have gotten much tighter this year, they were much more generous last year.

12 hours ago, rxlowry said:

Drinking the Rain water in the cans and I don’t think we like it much.  Some taste ok and some taste strange.  All taste kind of sweet. I think I prefer the ship water but I like having bottles at night.  Any opinions on it?  Is there a different water I could get with the premium package?

 

I agree with the above comment, if you have the premium package ask for either Evian or Aqua Panna.  Sometimes they have Evian but it seems more often now that they have the Aqua Panna, which I like much better than the cans.

We are Elite Plus and I can confirm that our express pass for our upcoming cruise includes "Elite Plus".  I also looked back at a picture of our seapass and there is a place for Captain's Club status and it says Elite Plus also.

Complimentary Blue Chip bookings are now eligible for Move Up (they did not used to be), but from my experience it is never automatic.  Every time so far I have had to email the move up office (CelebrityMoveUp@Celebrity.com), and provide my name and booking number, and ask for access to the Move Up offers, and they emailed me a link.  They respond in about a week. Sometimes they make you wait until the 21 days before you cruise, but once I heard people in my roll call are getting the move up emails, I try and email them at that point (which is often well in front of the 21 days).

43 minutes ago, brennanavery said:

Does anybody know how the 60% off cruise fair is priced? Is it priced off the current offer of 75% off second guest and $$ savings per stateroom? I know, have to probably call Blue Chip. I was just trying to avoid the 2 hour wait time and just see how the discount is computed. I have taken advantage of Blue Chip offers in the past and was lucky enough to get a complimentary veranda. Just had to pay port charges and taxes. Also, I am only Pearl and don’t gamble much at all and have been receiving these offers since last year. Even after taking one of these cruises in December and not gambling a lot we are still receiving them. 

I had priced out a cruise with the 60% discount in an Aqua class cabin.  The quote I received was the price for that cabin currently on the website - the first line before any sale discounts, and then 60% off of that price plus taxes (the cruise I was looking at had a sale that reduced that initial price by thousands, but Blue Chip started with the initial price of the cruise and did not also reduce it by the discounts from the current promotion).  But, since Aqua includes the all included, I'm not sure if you were looking at a lower level cabin if they start with the all included price or the no perks price. 

1 hour ago, SabrinaByrne said:

Thank you so much for responding! My card on the app says Sapphire but not CALL, so I will check the physical card when I get on the ship and go to front desk if needed. 

 Yeah, my express pass has never said CALL.  I believe the hosts are supposed to input the drinks and wifi by the day before the cruise or so.  The one cruise, the host had inputted my drink package, but after cards were printed and put on the door, so all guest services had to do was print a new card.

19 hours ago, SabrinaByrne said:

I apologize that this is a little off topic. I made Sapphire tier my last cruise, and I have a question (many, actually, but I will just ask one😁) about the free classic drink package that Sapphire tier receives. Is the package automatically loaded on your husband’s sail and sign card or is there a different procedure?

I am sailing on Beyond next week. Thank you for any info you can share. 

7 hours ago, sixpackeddie said:

Great question, I have 12,000 points to get to sapphire which should be after my cruise next month. Do you have to go to guest services to load the classic drink package and wifi? Also wondering can you upgrade to premium drink package?

If you are Sapphire, your drinks and wifi may or may not be loaded in advance, I have had it both ways.  One cruise it was already on my card (showed CALL) and an option when I set up wifi (select the casino coupon option).  Other cruises it was not on yet and I had to go to front desk to get it added.  Make sure your express pass shows Sapphire and then go to front desk and they add the drink package no problem and then you go to the internet guy, normally set up by the front desk on the first day, to get the wifi added (if it is not).  I suggest setting up your wifi account (create the log in), but not selecting a package if you don't see the casino coupon option, as in my experience the internet guy needs the account set up to add the casino wifi package for you.  Also, yes, you can upgrade to premium, either with the casino host (who I have heard may give you a discount, but I have never tried) or with any bartender.

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

I think we'll do that when we book. The card implies we have to book it onboard. We didn't confirm if that's the case or if this particular offer will be available after disembarkation. We need to look at our options. I would like to consider around the horn/South America or Spice Road/India neither which we have done. I'll update further when we book. 

Thank you for the updates.  My experience is that the offer onboard has to be booked onboard and you may not get the same offer over the phone after the cruise.  I was able to book cruises further out while on board and the people on the phone could not do anything similar.

Last year I was able to upgrade my concierge offer onboard to Aqua class for $10 per person per day.  It would be interesting to see if they are still doing that.