ReubenR

@Baby Koala - please keep us updated! We just got our hot tub e-mail this evening. Would love the reassurance that the problem was solved. Which suite are you in? Have you met anyone from the other hot tub balcony suites to know if theirs were working too?

Not only will your Butler bring you dinner from the MDR (as one complete food delivery, mind you – not coursed out like when you eat in the restaurant), but he'll also bring you First Breakfast, Second Breakfast, Elevenses, Lunch, Afternoon tea, Dinner, and Supper. The room will have food sculptures in it when you embark, and the Butler will bring as much food as you want from anywhere on the ship (including Specialty Dining, although you'll still have to pay the upcharge for that). It's really nice that 14002 has a full Queen Bed, 14006 has a full King Bed, and 14000 has a full King Bed. There's also a sofa bed somewhere in the suite for guests 7 and 8. One very important thing to remember: BRING ELECTRICAL ADAPTORS. The each bedroom has one hidden 110V outlet (I think at the vanity desk). Every other plug in this room is a European 220V plug, and there aren't a lot of them. The Photographers do sell an overpriced adapter if you forget, but it's not a transformer – just a block with multiple types of plug inputs and two USBs (assuming all can use 220V like your laptop, iPad, smartphone, etc.)

Here's the direct link I found to the NCL Star 3-Bedroom Garden Villa Suite on Cruise Deck Plans: https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/category-detail.php?c=774 There's a short video by a kid from March 2023 and some photos of the outside areas, but otherwise the rest is videos from 2019 or earlier. There definitely isn't a "ton" of photos for that room. @Sailing12Away – do you have a direct link to the page with all your photos?

14000/14500 is the master bedroom with a King but no direct deck access, right? 14006/14506 is the next largest room with direct deck access, but does it have a King or a Queen bed? 14002/14502 is the third room that only has a Queen bed and a bathtub shower, right?

Yes, @zorb22 is correct. You have to read the contract before buying, and in most cases there's a grace period (usually 7-14 days after making your "initial payment") during which the travel insurance will waive the pre-existing condition clause. But note that some cruise lines' travel insurance (like Norwegian Cruise Lines') never waive the pre-existing clause. So don't just buy insurance based on the big print on the purchase page. The large print giveth; the fine print taketh away.

You file a claim for the "big financial loss (Japan flights)" that you incurred because Celebrity canceled your cruise. However, you'll need to first cancel the Japan flights and incur that "big loss" before being able request indemnification. And then it depends on your travel insurance if you'll be reimbursed – if you bought travel insurance to cover both your cruise and your flights, then you should be eligible for compensation. But if you only bought travel insurance for the cruise, then your flights might not be covered. And if Celebrity reimburses you $500 for flights, then you would deduct that $500 indemnification from your third-party travel insurance claim.

This whole debacle created by Celebrity should remind all of us to make sure we buy travel insurance at the time we pay rather than waiting until just before the cruise/flight/vacation. It's also important to do that to avoid exclusion clauses like pre-existing condition. I don't think I'd recommend the cruise line's insurance, though. Some of them are very restrictive in what they cover and sometimes have a cap on total reimbursement. At the same time, you could be more likely to get a favorable result using the cruise line's own insurance if you have to file a claim. My mindset when I buy travel insurance is that I hope it's a complete waste of money and just think of it as an unavoidable tax. If I pay it and never use it, it means the vacation went perfectly! The only question I'd have in this situation is whether Celebrity's actions would be considered a cancellation. Yes, you've been kicked off the cruise, but it seems like Celebrity is trying to navigate some grey area of "we'll move your cruise to another sailing, but if you don't want that then YOU will have to cancel." And if YOU cancel, does your travel insurance pay? A rather slimy situation and dubious quandary, if you ask me.

This is not accurate. Some Asia cruises on Millennium have been oversold, resulting in some passengers' individual reservations getting cancelled by Celebrity. The entire season has NOT been cancelled (...yet?). The confusion is all Celebrity's fault for poor (or nonexistent) communication, but so far the season is still scheduled. Granted, I'll feel better when I see the Millennium scheduled to dock at the relevant ports...

Maybe Celebrity did fire them all, which is why this happened... no one manning the fort! Goodness knows, I've been waiting years for the website and app to work properly.

Depends on the ship. Perhaps the newer ones like Edge cater to a more unsophisticated Royal Caribbean/Carnival crowd, but ships like Reflection and Millennium sure feel luxurious to me. Maybe not Regent Seven Seas or Silversea luxurious, but still very high end with crew members who make me feel welcomed and pampered. And if you've ever stayed in a Penthouse Suite or Royal Suite, you'd completely disagree with any statement claiming Celebrity isn't a luxury cruise line. I think of Princess, NCL, and Holland America as "premium" (with some important caveats*), Royal Caribbean as "standard," and Carnival as "low brow but lots of fun." Celebrity feels more "luxury" to me than all of those. Or at least it used to feel that way to me... seems to me they're trying very hard to circle the maelstrom and become more like post-pandemic NCL (*nickel-and-dimed at every opportunity, very different experience between Haven and rest of the ship, inconsistent cabin amenities per person, disingenuous promotions like free drink/dining packages not actually being free, overpriced WiFi, buffet cutbacks, etc.) Staying in some of the larger NCL suites can be just as nice as Celebrity's larger suites, but NCL's deceptive and greedy policies can sure give one a very bad taste. I really hope Celebrity can resist going in that direction too.

Yeah, RichardRahl was a little unforgiving in his response. But not being familiar with ship operations doesn't mean your question wasn't entertaining 😅 I do have to admit I did a mild face palm when I read your post (and silkismom's asking about whether the WiFi was down). No accusations, but both of those posts did make me laugh. Sorry 😇 I'm sure RichardRahl got a slap on the wrist for his replies.