CalTexCruiser

54 minutes ago, webecruzin2 said:

To the OP, sorry your plans were ruined.   We've been on cruises that have skipped ports for various reasons and each time they said port fees will not be refunded.  I'm pretty sure 2 of them were on RCCL.
I myself would be happy to skip SFO, with the state of that city these days you'd need to carry disposable gloves,  sanitizer, a can of mace and antibiotics just to walk around certain parts.  And watch where you're stepping.  😬

SF's unhoused population will take issue with your insensitive remarks.  Where else can they go to the bathroom?

This is what our shoreside concierge told us for our Sydney departure:

"Please note, boarding will begin at 1:15 pm and ends promptly at 5:15 pm. Please arrive early to avoid delays."

"... as a suite guest you can arrive anytime during the boarding process."

2 hours ago, sixpackeddie said:

Thank you for the quick response CalTexCruiser. Would Blue Chip have the percentage of the theoretical loss per table game? I used to play a lot of Blackjack but have recently enjoyed playing ultimate Texas Holdem. 
This point seems very different from gambling in Vegas. My host in Vegas will Comp rooms, meals etc if you play $50 per hand for 4 hours per day regardless of which table game you play. I wonder why Blue Chip does it this way? Apparently the chips in the Ship Casino have a micro chips so they can track exactly what your betting pattern is, unlike Vegas where the pit boss tracks your play.

BCC's advertised system of assigning points to theoretical loss seems to be different, but at the end of the day, it's just a variation of what a land-based casino does.  Land-based casino also assign comps based on theoretical loss, except that they usually have a system of giving back to the player Y% of the theoretical loss as comps, where Y differs by casino (some are more generous than others).

As to using microchips in casino chips, I have not heard that BCC does that.  I often see a pit boss with a clip board, and as they walk around the pit observing the games, they would make notes on it.  I have always assumed that's how they track play.  

4 minutes ago, sixpackeddie said:

Just looked on the website it says 8 points for every dollar on table games. Does this mean I only need to gamble $1500 to earn 12,000 points? 

It's 8 points for every dollar of theoretical loss, which varies by the table game you play.  

For example, if blackjack has a 2% theoretical loss, than if you play $1,000, you have a $20 theoretical loss, and the 8 points is based on that $20, not $1,000.

Our shoreside concierge informed us that boarding begins at 1:15pm for the 6:45pm departure in Sydney.

40 minutes ago, Projunior said:

@OrcaGirlsaid this on her current thread:

 

"Like others have mentioned, I had sailed ONCE on Celebrity like 5-6 years ago. I probably spent under $100 on slots, my husband maybe a couple hundred on table games. We are not big gamblers by any means. But we started getting the emails with free cruise offers last summer, and who am I to say no?"

 

Not sure who is in charge of marketing at BCC, but this does not engender warm feelings in an Elite Plus Amethyst level BCC member with 17 Celebrity cruises who can't even get a single email from BCC. I guess BCC has concluded that they don't need enticements to get me to sail on Celebrity. Nothing could be further from reality. Time to play the field. We are already Platinum on Princess and there their Players Club treats members with respect.

My daughter played 10 minutes on a slot machine in 2019, and in the second half of 2022 was getting nonstop BCC comp offers.  However, that was a waste of time for them since even comped rooms are not enough to lure her back to cruising. 

Her offers have since stopped (at least so far in 2023) so it appears that the geniuses at BCC may have come up with a more refined strategy.

Got the same offer.  I did a trial booking and was charged $ 1 pp for the entire 7-day sailing (plus port fees and taxes).

FINALLY Celebrity has enabled the booking of comp sailings directly online as opposed to having to contact the BCC over the phone or filling out a form and waiting for a call. 

Hope this is a sign of things to come from BCC.  Definitely one change that I like.

I'm posting this to warn others with waitlisted airline upgrades that Flights by Celebrity may cancel your waitlist if they have to touch the reservation for any reason.

Using FBC, we booked travel on United Airlines in Premium Economy between the US and Sydney.

We used airline miles (directly through United's website) to request an upgrade to Business Class, which was waitlisted.

Recently, there was a schedule change of the flight that moved it about 40 minutes earlier.  No problem.

However, when FBC touched this reservation as a result of the schedule change to email us about the change, they inexplicably cancelled the waitlist.

Fortunately, I just happened to look at my reservation on United and saw that the waitlist disappeared...we did not receive any notification from FBC.

I called United, which told me that FBC cancelled the waitlist, and I had to contact FBC to reinstate the waitlist.  I called FBC, and the rep said he will escalate to the ticketing department.  

Fortunately, the waitlist was reinstated a few hours later, but we likely lost priority relative to others on the waitlist.

Thanks for heads up

If I ever have Stewart as my steward I will ask Stewart to change out my minibar, and if done well I will give my steward Stewart a 10* rating

you can google the Celebrity tour descriptions and often similar or the same tours offered by third parties (e.g., Viator) will pop up and you can read more detailed descriptions and more importantly customer reviews.

That's helped me pass on many Celebrity tours, which are more expensive anyway.

One tour that appears to be Celebrity exclusive is the Taieri Gorge Train in Dunedin which we booked when Celebrity offered it at 35% off on their recent sale.

We also took advantage of a BCC comp for an April sailing...wouldn't have gone otherwise as the Mexican Riviera is generally meh, but LA is close and it was "free".

I will note that a Princess sailing on the Discovery on the same itinerary that we took last October was packed full.  Apparently Princess has more loyal customers on the West coast than Celebrity.

@RedkingThere has been quite an uproar on CC recently regarding drastic cutbacks on the Oceanview Cafe buffet, including a report that the buffet on the Apex had shut down 75% of its stations for DINNER (no cutbacks for breakfast or lunch).

Have you seen such buffet cutbacks for dinner on your cruise?  We are curious as we will be sailing the Eclipse AU/NZ on Feb 16.

If one is used to the Celebrity Suite experience, then the Princess Suite experience will likely be disappointing.  Following compares Celebrity's Sky Suite to the lowest suite on Princess:

1) Physical space: Princess wins here because their lowest level suite will be larger than SS (separate living room and bedroom, although the separation is a curtain).

2) Luminae wins hands down, in terms of ambiance, service level, and food.  The Club Class restaurant is an extension of the MDR--food is meh in our experience, typical main dining room fare.  Service in Club Class is better than MDR, but not to Luminae's level.  But Princess' breakfast in Sabatini's for suite passengers is a good benefit.

3) Retreat lounge/sundeck on Edge class is the big winner here.  No dedicated sundeck on Princess, and the lounge for suites on the Royal class ships is small and a bit claustrophobic (no window to the sea).

4) Celebrity's butlers if used are wonderful.  No butlers on Princess.  There is a concierge in the lounge, but the service is nothing like the over-the-top pampering that some butlers can provide.

5) Amenities offered by Princess not available with SS:  Princess suites have first night specialty dining, one-time bar setup with mini liquor bottles and beers, unlimited laundry

On 12/20/2022 at 4:23 PM, purpleally said:

But jeans weigh more than other types of pants/slacks/bottoms so it doesn’t make sense why one would want to haul them on a cruise 

Yes you are correct.  That is why I wear mine when traveling.  Now it would appear I'm allowed to also wear it to dinner.

43 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

It was an Always Included offering, so I didn't have to pay for any of those things. 

Then that is a truly good deal.  My deals are room only.

1 hour ago, CaroleSS said:

I guess it all depends on what your CC status is and what you are willing to "give up" to get a free cruise.

 

If you are Elite and are only willing to drink at the HH and don't want to buy the wifi package, then you only have to pay gratuities.

 

If you take the free veranda, add port taxes and fees and $17.50pp/day for grats, you can get an 8-night cruise for $506.56. Which is a GREAT deal. I just think that X expects you to think you are getting a free cruise, so are willing to purchase the add-ons......which means you are basically paying for the cruise.

Definitely true.  In fact, we are trying this out on our April Solstice cruise to the Mexican Riviera, where we only pay for:

1. port fees/taxes,

2. grats,

3. 1 streaming Wifi package.

We'll be relying on our Elite status to grab as many drinks as we can during HH.

This Solstice cruise will follow our Feb Eclipse AU/NZ cruise when we'll be in a Royal Suite, so we'll have a chance to contrast and compare ... LOL

14 minutes ago, CaroleSS said:

So we have an A1 room (purchased an A2, but got automatic upgrade). 8-night cruise cost includes AI (grats, basic Wi-Fi and classic beverage). That is my "baseline"

(Edited to accommodate our CC benefits - we are "this" cruise away from elite, so only get Select benefits)

attempt to clear up fuzzy math:
"free" cruise costs per day:
Aqua upgrade = 20

Gratuities = 18

Classic beverage (current prices) = 80.99 (10% off, so 72.89)

Basic wifi = 16.99 (25% off, so 12.74)

For a total of $135.98 pp/day for the room upgrade + AI "perks" (123.63)

 

135.98 * 8 (days) * 2 (people) + 226.56 (port fees and taxes - which I got from my invoice) = 2402.24 (123.63*8*2+226.56=2204.70)

we received 525 OBC (which I would not get with a free cruise) which I added to the cost =  2927.24

we paid 3088.56 for the cruise

 

3088.56 - 2927.24 = 161.32

3088.56 - 2729.70 = 358.86

 

All Aqua and suites for our sailing are gone now, but if I had booked the "free" cruise, I would have only saved $161.32 (358.86). It just doesn't seem like such a great deal to me. Now, if I "had" booked the free cruise, I would not have purchased wifi, so I would have saved an additional $271.84, but I was trying to compare "apples to apples". For those that are Elite and will only drink at the HH, that would save an additional chunk of change.

 

Yes, you only pay port fees and taxes, but X expects to make that money back with onboard purchases.....which, for us, almost equals the price we paid for a "non-free" cruise.

So these free rooms are not so free after all, it would appear.

2 hours ago, Itried4498 said:

 

Earlier in the week, we gave in and bid $1100 for a balcony room (Crown Princess 16-day Hawaii, departing today).  It was accepted within an hour and our interior stateroom immediately went up for sale and was sold within a few hours (rooms than can accommodate four have been sold out for months).  We didn't pay for our upgrade until 24 hours later, long after our original room had been sold.  

 

Not sure if this is normal, or because we bid at the last minute.  Would be interesting to see what Princess would've done had we changed our minds...

I believe you would have been processed using code SOL should you have changed your mind

On 12/17/2022 at 4:06 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Wonder if that has to do with the spiraling inflation cost of all products including alcohol.

 

I also noticed while onboard that the size of the pastry in OV, Al Bacio have been downsized.

 

 

LOL, that's a change I actually like.  Too often I tend not to order the pastries because of how large they are and how bloated I know I would feel if I ate the whole thing.

5 hours ago, Rtowncruiser said:

Has anyone ever gotten any Blue Chip offers other than Caribbean or Mexican Riviera? I am talking about the ones that they have emailed, not through on board casino offers or Future Cruises 

Thanks

 

I received free offer for sailings in the Med earlier this year, including on Beyond

if one has flexibility on dates and want to sail in Europe they can probably wait and see what shakes out 

5 hours ago, D. B. said:

I’m on Eclipse today and at least in Sydney Harbor it (StarLink) is Fast!🥰

👍Great news!

Once you are underway and crossing the Tasman Sea, could you let us know whether it is just as fast?  In NZ as well.  Thanks in advance.

Anyone have any experience whether the recent high demand/lack of supply of specialty dining is affecting the ability of passengers in upper suites in booking unlimited specialty dining at prime times in the specialty dining restaurants?

We've never had an issue in the past getting a spot at any restaurant at any time we asked for, even last minute.

On 12/6/2022 at 1:43 PM, Bourbon77 said:

The point here is Celebrity knows they’ve created a monster, especially with Eden on the Edge class ships. They admitted that to me onboard Beyond. When I asked why they allowed any passenger to make multiple bookings at a restaurant that is grossly unable to meet demand, all I got was a deep sigh and “I don't know why we allow that.” Celebrity needs to advise passengers booking less than 6 months in advance that some speciality restaurants will likely not be available, unless you’re booking a suite. We were deeply disappointed and felt lied to before our cruise about booking onboard.

I'm confused--when making multiple reservations in advance wouldn't the customer need to pay in full for each reservation?  If they are willing to do that, I don't see what the issue is.

14 hours ago, luv2ndhalf said:

We sailed b2b on Eclipse for AU/NZ…… disembarked on 11/14-

The internet was horrible

May be related to whether there is a sufficient quantity of Starlink satellites in that region.  I understand that Starlink is continuing to deploy more and more satellites, so hopefully the coverage improves for AU/NZ soon.

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm chuckling a bit -  this morning I'm having trouble breaking 2.5 down and 1.5 up.   Watching news on PC using YouTubeTV on my laptop and it is stopping to buffer every 5-6 minutes.

 

Speed at 8:00 Am 3.2 Down and 2.09 up

LOL.  To me any number with an Mb after it is way better than the sub 100 kb/s speed I experienced on a recent Princess Mexican Riviera cruise, which rendered Wi-Fi unusable.