Whizbank

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Yikes.   They didn't tell you what to do should there be a general muster call?   That is pretty bad.   I think someone screwed up.  

I remember being really surprised at the time at how ignored we were. And it was my first cruise and really my first non driving vacation with my husband, so we were really really green and naive. And it was our first vacation after he really required the wheelchair to go more than a few feet. So we kind of spent the whole cruise feeling a little lost. And, yet, had a great time anyway. 

Back when I did Royal Carribean with my husband, who was in a wheelchair, with the old muster format, they sent us to the area outside of the dining room along with all of the other  mobility challenged people.We couldn't hear the announcements and no one came to check on us or get any other information, though, because we had notified special needs before boarding I assume we were on some list somewhere. I had the distinct impression that if anything were to really happen, we were either on our own, or, they didn't see any reason for us to learn anything since they planned to come get us anyway. Luckily we never had to find out. If I were to travel with someone with a mobility issue again (which I will in December) I think I'll make a much bigger effort to make sure that we all know what we are supposed to be doing.

It's $20 because anything bought from celebrity is double points, 2%. However you have to have $50 worth to cash out for obc. You can buy some merchandise with less, but only on the Royal Caribbean rewards.

That's what I did too, I used it to get the bonus, and I use it for Celebrity expenses since I get double points, but otherwise put things on any of my other credit cards depending on which one gives the best points for any given expense. I did end up with about $500 OBC including cashing in some points from the Royal Carribean card that I hadn't been able to use and almost expired. So it worked out ok.

30000 points is the best I've seen, it's more often 25000. 30000 is the offer I took and haven't seen better. That said, others on here might have other insights

I redeemed on boa website but then called captains club where they immediately applied to my account and I could use them to pay for excursions. I've done it this way a few times and it works fine. Supposedly if you just do on boa site it will show up after you are on board, but I've heard different things so results may vary. Calling captains club and being on website so you can see the obc on your account when they apply it seems safest.

Just to update, I applied for shareholder obc online, never heard from them. Waited 2 weeks, sent an email. They apologized and told me to apply again. I followed up, they said they still didn't see it and just email the info back to shareholder services. That was Thursday and this morning I have confirmed for obc for the June and December sailings. Shareholder services rep was helpful, polite, and did seem to really care. 

I used a photo of my passport on my phone to enter the passport info. Didn't need any info about my friends. Didn't do the picture since it had a bunch of rules so will go back and add later. So I skipped that and was able to pick my check in time and today I downloaded a PDF of my boarding pass. 

Your parents cats are beautiful too. My rescues, no DNA test, say hi!

Beautiful kitties. What kind of cats do your parent's have?  I'm going on this same cruise with friends the end of June and I'm so excited to follow along. I'm totally counting the days until we leave. Thanks for doing a live!

I just called and it was applied and I could see it on cruise planner while I was on phone. I had been told before that if you don't call it will show up when you board, but I agree with Bosjoe that calling will make sure it works, before you find out that it didn't get applied to your account. Plus if you apply it immediately then you can use it for excursions, spa appts etc that you want to purchase before you board. 

Now I'm waiting to see how and when my shareholder obc shows up. I filled all that stuff out over the weekend.

On 5/6/2024 at 10:12 AM, joetop2467 said:

We took out the Celebrity Bank of America credit card and spent the $1000 in the first month to get 30,000 points. We were of the understanding it would convert to $300 onboard credit. My husband called Captain’s Club today and was told 30,000 points only gets $150 onboard credit.  Can anybody verify whether 30,000 points gets you $150 or $300 OBC.

I got $300 once when I did this a few months ago, but, you can cash in on boa website, but if you want to use it before cruise you have to call to get them to apply it. Otherwise it shows up once you are on the ship. I also cashed in some other points and they all converted at points/100.

Just did NOTS with hubby. Rented him a wheelchair from Special needs at sea. He's blind so a scooter wouldn't work. Had very few problems. Cross from forward to aft on either decks 12,11 or 5. Elevators can get crowded so make sure to leave a little extra time. Staff was wonderful about helping. I saw quite a few people with scooters and I'm sure it was easier for them than the manual wheelchair I had to push. Seams in the ship make some places harder to get over so you have to go over backwards. Biggest problem was that some stateroom hallways got a little narrow so if anything was in hall getting past it was dicey. Hope you guys have a great time, it was our 1st cruise and we enjoyed it enough to consider booking another. 

I was just on NOTS with friends all celebrating our 50th birthday and they brought a piece of chocolate cake out each night and sang happy birthday to one of us. My friend in charge arranged so not sure if she asked for chocolate or if that was just default. It was fun. I think we all ended up eating a different dessert in mdr and then eating the cake for breakfast. 

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Couple of problems with this.  First off, the "service" elevators, or crew elevators are not sitting around idle all day, but are just as busy as pax elevators, getting crew and supplies where needed on time to keep your vacation going, and not have the frustrations of waiting for service.  Secondly, this would require passengers into crew areas, which is prohibited for security reasons unless escorted, so each person needing to go to the crew elevator would have to be escorted there, and then a crew to remain at each deck for the elevator to maintain the escort, and further crew to escort the passengers back out of crew areas.

Yet I know they use these when getting wheelchairs to areas that aren't served by the other elevators. People on the boards have mentioned, for instance, the galley tours using the kitchen service elevators. I certainly wouldn't do it all of the time but during peak times, which are predefined I'm pretty sure crew could work around it. I doubt those elevators are being used every minute 24-7. Those elevators are usually larger too.  I've seen this done at the opera, the hospital, older buildings that are less accessible so it has precedent. Obviously couldn't be done just because I mention it, but that doesn't mean Rc couldn't explore the idea. 

So to add to this topic, I was just on NOTS with a husband who is blind and I was pushing in a wheelchair. I observed the following:

1. Muster drill they had us come to the station, scanned us in, then had us go sit down in front of dining room. We listened to the speech but nothing was demonstrated for us. We were in an accessible cabin and had been in touch with special needs numerous times before the cruise. We were never told to check in on board with anyone. I'm not sure why disabled people couldn't get wristbands like kids so any crew member could help to station. In the event of a real emergency we would have been stuck wherever we were and it would be up to a crew member to figure out how to get us where we should be. 

2. Elevators were crowded at embarkation, but because we had a wheelchair pusher who needed to get back to port, the officer directing traffic basically pushed us into first available elevator and others had to wait. Less because we needed it but more because they needed the pusher back. 

3. The stowaway piano player was on the aft elevator every night for at least any hour around dinnertime. So, obviously if he could essentially put an elevator into very limited service they could probably do it at peak times for disabled people. I'm not saying they should, but they could 

4. I wondered why at peak times they couldn't let scooter and wheelchair people use service elevators, thus leaving more room for abled  and invisible disability people. As people have pointed out they are a small percentage of people on ship but they really do have no choice but to take elevators and they do take up more room than a person. 

5. Generally speaking people were very nice, held doors for us, offered to help me get wheelchair in elevator, moved out of our way and the people who were rude were rude to everyone, not just us. The crew was spectacular about helping navigate narrow areas especially in main dining room. 

6. That said, peak times did often have us waiting a long time for an elevator when others who came after us could get on because elevator had room for two people but not 1 person and 1 wheelchair. No one ever got out to let us fit in. So I understand op frustration. I tried very hard to avoid peak times

7. Going to other set of elevators works if you are on decks 11 and 12 or 4 and 5.it works less well on 6-10 because there are very narrow spots in hallways and 1 service cart or laundry bag blocks the hall for a wheelchair though not a person. And the seams on the ship often mean turning wheelchair backwards which was impossible in some narrow hallways. 

8. We too would get into an empty elevator and ride opposite of out direction just to get in and get out of way so others could fit in after us

9. After muster we went outside to watch sail away so by the time that was done elevators were less crowded

This is what we experienced. This does not mean that others, even on the same sailing, experienced the same. 

As an aside when I wasn't with the wheelchair I tried to stay on steps as much as possible but after 3 flights up my asthma bothered me. So, I tr tied to avoid elevators but couldn't do it all the time. And if I saw the dedicated elevator empty while I kept waiting I would have been frustrated and wondered if having dedicated elevator made sense. However, see #4 above for my proposed but not perfect solution 

This is long winded I know so I apologize if you actually read all the way through and are now waiting impatiently to flame me. 

Wow I just flew from Cincinnati to ft Lauderdale and back, checked my luggage in Miami and left it in the hallway to have taken out by porters. I didn't put locks on. My name tag fell off and I couldn't get it back on. I had the ship tags with my room but that's it and had no problems airline tsa or ship. Maybe not locking it made it seem like it wasn't worth stealing. I only had clothes in it. All my electronics and medications were in the carryon 

So I was in MTD last night. Couldn't find my friends so wandered around the entire room twice. Any you know what; since everyone is sitting down I couldn't see what they were wearing as pants. After I sat down, since we weren't facing the entrance I didn't see anyone else come in. So, probably shorts, I wore a dress, bet there were some people in jeans. Nobody was paying the slightest bit if attention to anyone else, as noted by the fact that I ran around the restaurant twice and only the waiters noticed. 

@doones2 I'm so sorry for your loss and hope that being able to spend time with your son brings you comfort and joy. 

1 hour ago, Vlgg731 said:

Let me poise this question?  If we are teaching our children that it is ok to bend the rules/suggestions in this case how do they decide when it is ok and when it isn't?  Many years ago my son was a small 12 year old.  We were eating in a restaurant that at 12 and above paid adult prices.  He has always been a small eater and didn't eat more that a 5 year old would.  The decision was did I lie about his age-teaching him it is ok to bend the rules? or do I set an example and pay the correct amount?  I believe that when we make these decisions we are teaching lessons to our children and others who are watching.  

Actually in this case I would discuss this with my child, present both scenarios and have them decide what they think is correct and understand the consequences of their answer. Then they learn both critical thinking and also start to make their own judgments about how they want to live their life. I'd want them to be able to argue both sides of the question and decide for themselves, 

This definitely seems to be a case of people wanting others to conform even when what they are doing is not hurting or affecting anyone else in any way. I think I can wear shorts and still be respectful to the other diners. That said rci could poll people before cruise and if there is enough interest they could enforce the rule on 1 floor of mdr and not the others so everyone can wear what they want without disturbing the others. I'm definitely not packing formal because I already have enough to deal with handling all luggage and a dh in a wheelchair. I'm not trying to be disrespectful but you have no idea why people make the decisions they do and really don't need to judge them for doing what is best for them 

I want to know because my hubby is in a wheelchair and I'd love to visualize how to get from where ever to the muster station so I can take both obstacles and other bottlenecks into account. We are D17 on navigator of the seas. I can't change it but at least I can plan for it. 

Thanks, you put a lot of work into this. I leave in 13 days and can't wait. I appreciate being able to enjoy it vicariously through your pictures and reviews.