AnnaNicole

The next port was Ft Lauderdale for disembarkation.

That's good to know. Thanks for sharing.

The cruise director mentioned on stage (7pm) that they did not know what happened to the passengers. Another passenger mentioned that he said they were ok at the 9pm show.

Canned water with the classic package. Which is a "no go" for me, but my husband doesn't mind. Bottled water with the premium package. Vellamo. No more evian.

Waiting for a ship sponsored excursion makes sense to me. I always thought you were on your own with a personally planned excursion. The missing passengers still had not returned by 6:30. That is two hours late, at a minimum!

This past week, as the title states, Celebrity delayed our sail time by 90 minutes waiting on seven passengers who were late returning to the ship. Passengers were due back by 4:30. Sail away at 5:00. We eventually left at 6:30 without the missing passengers. I was a bit surprised they waited that long. I have been on around 30 cruises and I think maybe once or twice we were very briefly delayed. The cruise director stated (on stage) they have no idea what happened to the people. Is it common practice to wait on a late group of people for that length of time? Over a decade ago, we were on a Royal Caribbean sponsored shore excursion (Sting Ray City) in Grand Cayman. A group of us almost missed the ship because RCCL's tour operator *forgot* to pick us up and transport us back to the ship. After waiting two hours on a dock, we were able to secure alternative transportation. There were no available taxis in the area. It wasn't walkable to downtown. A kind angler helped us out. We were a group of about 15-20 passengers. I am guessing if we didn't make the ship, RCCL would have realized the problem. At least, I hope so.

We got a bunch of offers too. We booked three of them. I wish I could book more but the airfare, hotel, packages, etc add up quickly. I am hoping for BCC Alaska specials.

YES! Call BCC. My husband and I both booked offers.

I got my first choice twice and my second choice once. I had two other offers. One is still valid for booking. You owe taxes and port fees. It says they can be paid later but I paid right away. You can do cruise air with X.

Sign up for email correspondence. I had to do that for my husband. He wasn't getting offers and I filled out my form using his information. The confirmation email asked that he kindly fill out the form electing email correspondence. I did and he started getting email offers.

It was a forward location. I couldn't believe how loud the cabin was...all night long! I won't book another guarantee cabin because I learned after that experience that I want to choose my cabin. I like to research the cabin and avoid known issues.

We had a similar experience on a non-Celebrity sailing. The creaking and metal scraping noises were so bad we were unable to sleep the entire week. The weather was fine. I don't know what the cause was. I complained at guest relations but unfortunately, no other cabins were available. It was positively awful. It was a guarantee cabin and I will never do a guarantee again.

They don't even compare to my local Harris Teeter. lol

There were many itineraries offered. We booked the Reflection out of FLL.

I just got another offer last week. This offer was different as it specified only 8 dates to choose from. This is the fourth offer for us. Three for me and one for my husband. Mexican Riviera and Caribbean offers. We gamble a little on cruises.

I agree that tipping has become a little ridiculous in the US. I'm not one who minds tipping but the rate is getting a bit high. The expected rate is 20% and options on pay devices are much higher now too. Counter service often has a tipping option and I have often seen 20%, 25%, and 30% defaulted and/or listed first. It's weird. I have also noticed a tendency of tipping on top of taxes and fees on delivery services and tipping percentage calculator on receipts. I lived in the UK and Scandinavia and I prefer their all-inclusive method. Just give me the total charge upfront. I will happily pay the service charge.

Thanks! That information is super helpful. we were on the Sept 24 Solstice sailing and disembarking was quick and painless once the line inside the ship started to move. We are on the Solstice again in February 2023. It is good to see she will be at the same pier berth 93.

My cruises are still there.

Your bill will be $0 at the restaurant (unless you order an upcharge menu item). 18% of $0 is $0. You can leave an additional tip if you feel it is warranted but it is not necessary.

With all due respect, if a representative of X is misquoting X's product that indeed is an issue concerning X. X bears the ultimate responsibility in ensuring proper communication of its products to its customers. Why would you think X is not at fault if reps giving false and misleading information? Is it X's responsibility to properly train their reps?

I wasn't able to edit my post. But I wanted to clarify that you would take the Blue line INBOUND (Bowdoin) from the airport to downtown. You can get off at aquarium station or you can stay on until state or government center (connect to other lines at either of these stops) or you can continue on to Bowdoin (end of line). If you are going from downtown to the airport take the Blue Line OUTBOUND (Wonderland) to the airport.

Yes

That's what you took from this thread? It seemed to me people don't mind tipping.

I think the intent of the thread was the OP generously tipped on the bill without realizing she was already charged 18%. This happens to my husband a fair amount. He looks for reasonableness on a bill and then adds a tip. Later he realizes he double tipped as gratuities were already included. He pays closer attention to his bills now.

The gratuity is added at checkout when you pay for specialty dining on the cruiseplanner. Is an additional 18% added at the restaurant for prepaid reservations? Your bill would be $0 and the gratuity would be $0 unless you ordered surcharge items.