Tigermad

12 hours ago, snohorules said:

Just got off Celebrity Edge, thought I'd report on the coffee situation.

 

I never saw pre-pulled shots at Al Bacio. I also never got coffee there since I'm a single origin snob.

 

I didn't bother to ask my room attendant for a kettle. I ground beans I brought with me every morning and used hot water from the dispensers in the cafe to make a pour over. Worked great.

 

For the times I was too lazy to do that I just got the Lavazza from the cafe and added enough cream and sugar to make it drinkable.

Will they give you a kettle on all of the ships?

Will there be much open in Taormina on a Sunday does anyone know? That’s when my ship docks in Messina. 

7 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

My discount yesterday was 35%, it dropped to 30% today 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Try a different browser or device. My app was showing a different price to the website. 

Just now, Stem to Stern said:

Update:

Yesterday Premium Package was $64.99 pppn.

Today it is back up to $79.99.

Happy Labor Day Sale!!🤣

 

It’s supposed to be on all weekend. If you look using different devices the prices change. 

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

Yes, a TA sees the same thing we do on the FBC site (it's all a filtered front-end through to Expedia anyway, which is what most of the big lines have switched to now - they've quit maintaining their own schedule links to the airlines), but a phone call by the TA can have different results, same as by pax.

That did it all online while I sat by them. No calls were made. 

43 minutes ago, alexandria said:

 

My response was to OP's inquiry "How did they (travel agents) see flights but you can’t see them yourself online? I would have preferred to book direct."  The TA and consumer both have the same access to flight schedules and pricing using tools like Google Flights and (at least according to my TA) if a flight doesn't appear on the FBC site when a customer is searching, the TA won't see it on the FBC site either.  

I suspect OP's TA did exactly what has been discussed upthread.  Found flights that worked for the OP using whatever search engine they use for that purpose (similar to Google Flights, Skyscanner or ITA Matrix) and then called FBC to book through them.

No they didn’t do that. They did it all online while I sat beside them. 

1 hour ago, alexandria said:

 

That's a reason not to use Flights by Celebrity and book it yourself.  Here are your options if you book it independently:

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I can see there is only one journey into Venice that will make the cruise in time an thats the one I have booked. More options on the way back though.

2 minutes ago, alexandria said:

Perhaps they don't book WizzAir, which appears to be the only airline with a nonstop (two daily) from LGW-VIE. 

 

My experience with Flights by Celebrity has been very poor each time I considered using them.  Most recently, when I booked a Galapagos cruise, their flight selection was limited to economy seats on just two carriers.  No business class at all and nothing on any other carriers, including AA (apparently due to a contractual dispute between Celebrity and AA).  And to book with Celebrity would have cost me substantially more than the airfare booking independently.

I also have found that much of Celebrity's marketing of included airfare to be quite deceptive.  When they market "Free Air and Savings Offer" promoting "Flights on Us", if you look carefully at the various fare options, Celebrity charges significantly more when they include airfare vs cruise only.  In what universe is that "free" or "on us"?  When I have looked into using Celebrity for flights, I have not found any value to using them.  Others, however, prefer a "one-stop" approach where the cruiseline handles everything, even if there is a premium associated with going that route.

 

For those and other reasons, I have just stuck with what has always worked for me.  Booking my flights and any pre-cruise and post-cruise accommodations separately. 

But I have EasyJet and Vueling flights booked (both non stops) for this trip that the travel agent could see but I could not (see screenshot in my post above). All done through Celebrity.

30 minutes ago, alexandria said:

They don't.  How did you "look online" for the flights you wanted?

 

If you are flying into Rome or Athens, I found multiple daily non-stops for LGW-FCO and for LGW-ATH and it only took me about two minutes on Google Flights.

Try finding Gatwick to Venice VCE May 5th returning to Gatwick from Rome FCO on 16th May using celebrity’s flight search. 
 

6 minutes ago, alexandria said:

They don't.  How did you "look online" for the flights you wanted?

 

If you are flying into Rome or Athens, I found multiple daily non-stops for LGW-FCO and for LGW-ATH and it only took me about two minutes on Google Flights.

I looked on the flights section on the celebrity website. I did a search and none from Gatwick to Venice. They are economy flights that were booked in the end but surely I should still have seen these?

A few weeks ago I looked online to book the Italy and Croatia cruise. There were no fights from Gatwick and Heathrow had a 9 hour flight via Turkey. So I went to a travel agent and on the exact same cruise they found some non stop flights from Gatwick still through Celebrity. So I booked through them. 
 

How did they see flights but you can’t see them yourself online? I would have preferred to book direct. 

3 minutes ago, Cruisingirl2012 said:

Has anyone seen better than 35% off beverages package on any sales they have?
 

Some say it may be 50% off on Black Friday. I bought premium at 30%. Will only refund and buy again if it gets to near 50%

Just now, canderson said:

When I cancel and rebook something, there's never more than a 2 working day spread between the charge and credit.   Using a credit card, bank issued.

I’m in the UK. Maybe it’s slower here. 

Just now, bikerunner said:

Not in my experience, longest I waited for refund, I use a credit card not bank card, is 4 days.  I have never had any issue with them showing.  2 weeks might happen if using a bank card

My excursion refund was 10 days. Why would a credit card be different to a bank card?

Might matter some more than others, but bear in mind if you buy the package then refund and buy again at the cheaper price, the refund can take 2 weeks or even longer to hit your account.