563toM

I have seen the weirdest things happen and that's why I always have screenshots as well as printed copies of the bookings. I had a cruise booked thru a big box store and the final payment wasn't due yet. I called directly to RC to add on about a food allergy. I was updating all paperwork for our cruises with due dates, balance amounts and double checking with the account online with big box travel. I notice the one where I called about the food allergy now has a remaining balance that is over $500 higher. I call big box travel and they reach out to RC which tries to state that on that date I called to upgrade our room. My husband deals in business and he taught me years ago when you call a client you always make notes of date, time, name of person you talked to and quick recap. I recapped those notes to the big box travel and said I only contacted them once and named the date as well as the name of the person I talked to. It took about 30 minutes but big box came back to tell me that RC is going to adjust the bill...I would accept nothing less as a contract is a contract. Anymore I don't think these are accidents but deliberate tries to get a little extra money here and there.

We cruised on Summit for our first cruise with Celebrity. We loved everything about the ship and were excited to be able to use a perk of the Captain's Club which gave us free use during a port day. I was excited to take the spa tour on the first day but I was underwhelmed with the Persian Garden. To be in an area with no outdoor light and the heated bench was nice but I was expecting personal heated loungers. The sauna, shower etc were all working and explained in detail but being in a smaller, shared room with no natural light seemed depressing. All I wanted to do was leave and we ended up just walking in on a port day and walked right back out. I hope to try this where we can lay on a lounger and look out at the water.

We have 3 cruises for 2025 so far. For the 7 day there aren't any of the Bundled Packages listed. For the 12 night and 7 night on the Xcel they are listed. The prices are the same for both cruises. There are 3 Bundled Packages offered for the 7 and 12 night. The Classic for $118.99 per package, the Deluxe for $198.99 and the Premium $348.99. When I click on each one it doesn't show any details other than the price already listed. Interesting that is says "per package" and not "per person".

Oh, so if you find a better deal then Celebrity will allow changes to another airline even ? This seems perfect as we only booked it once with RC and we were not impressed. RC picked the airline and would only book Economy. We had to contact the airline directly to upgrade and pay more. The hotel they offered in Barcelona was nice but we waited in the lobby for pickup for over 2 hours before the transport arrived for about 35 of us.

It's nice to hear that I can book the airfare and Celebrity will make it right if something goes awry. We will be flying in a few days early so will have plenty of a buffer.

We have a flight in 2025 from U.S. to Amsterdam and will be booking our flights thru Celebrity for the first time. When I booked the cruise I was told that I can book our flight 300-320 days out from the cruise. Once the flight is booked how responsive has your experience been if you have to call with more flight questions ? If you run into a problem while traveling do you contact Celebrity and is there a hassle to reach them ?

I have gotten to the point where even if I signed in to our account the day before I assume that I will have to create a new password to try and sign in the next day. It's beyond frustrating it would be nice if it would be fixed.

@pana37 We have moved the money to the Casino on RC but we are brand new to Celebrity so we haven't tried it yet. Since you are first time cruisers I highly suggest that you watch YT videos about the ship and Le Petit Chef. Plenty of videos online to be more prepared and I always check the latest videos as things do change. If the price looks good for for any excursions, Le Petit Chef etc go ahead and book them now because the only time that I have found true sales are around Black Friday. Anything that you book you can cancel until maybe 2 weeks before the cruise so you won't be out anything and the price is secure.

@kands6191You just saved me $300 on two cruises that we have booked for 2025. I thought since I was able to save on wifi and ship activities I might as well check it out. I saved $150 on both Apex and Xcel. I wonder if they are dropping the price on Xcel to have it sell out fast like the RC Icon did ? It took me almost 4 hours dealing with two reps with the big box travel department. I think it was worth having the hassle of the phone disconnected twice to get back $300.

How about moving the OBC to your Casino account, playing for a few minutes and then cashing out ? Go home with money in your pocket so you can book your next cruise.

We were on earlier this month and an employee stated that the ship will be leaving Miami and heading to Fort Lauderdale I think he said early spring 2024. We love going out of Fort Lauderdale so we are looking forward to going on Summit again.

We have a total of 4 cruises booked on Celebrity for 2024 and 2025. On 3 of them the prices for onboard activites and wifi went down. For a 7 day on Apex the wifi actually went up in price so I think it depends on the cruise length,date of sailing and the ship.

@kands6191Thank you so much for the posting. I was able to rebook wifi for $13.99 a day on our 9 night Equinox cruise in March. It has gone from $29.99 to $20.99 and I was happy when it dropped in September to $17.99. I am ecstatic but for it to be $13.99 I am over the moon. I don't think I have ever paid that price. Plus for the same cruise I was able to reprice two activites onboard. Thank you !

I talked to a higher up employee on our cruise recently. I asked him many questions about staffing, schedules and new ships being launched. He said that it's about 3 months to shake down any new ship and the crew will stay in room, eat in all the restaurants to find any flaws so they can be fixed. He told me that the transatlantic are invited guests of family and cruisers in the highest loyalty level. Once the ship arrives at Ft. Lauderdale that's when paying customers start cruising.

We are planning our first trip there and also waiting for the cruises to be posted. I was interested in visiting in May over June/July because I don't want a lot of children onboard and not as hot. Can I ask what month you cruised and were there a lot of children ?

That is why I keep wanting to add a letter ! Even eXcel would of been better as Xcel looks like how the teenagers type when they shorten works while texting. Instead of typing a few extra letters they will type: fit instead of outfit, opp for opponent or sus for suspicious.

I am new to Celebrity but I also have trouble signing in. I am on the website at least once a week and can sometimes reuse the same password while other times having to make a new one. Do they only hold passwords for a week or so because it's getting a pain to go thru so many steps almost every time I sign in. I am also having the same problem on RC as well. Should I use another browser ?

@mariepsThanks for the heads up. I have been a member for years but just started posting. I tried to edit/delete the post and it won't let me.

We just got off Summit which was our first cruise with Celebrity. We were blown away with the food and learned about the Xcel while at the Future Cruise Desk. We just booked for the November 30, 2025 sailing because I would rather things settle down rather than be one the first sailing. Prices were very good in my opinion and when I called Costco to book it took lots of time since the ship has not been added to their computer system yet.

We were just on Summit for a 5 day cruise and they didn't have a Veterans meet up. Maybe because it was too short of a cruise ?