Paulras

For future reference, the upgrade doesn’t apply to holiday sailings and there are restrictions on certain cabin types. It’s all listed on the Captain’s Club Page.

Doesn't hurt to ask.

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Here is the breakout for 2 people booking through these crooks

Down payment = 17.98

Receipt shows down payment plus balance due of $70.00

Belize excursion charge to my Cc 110.97

I apologize for rounding to 130.00

Shore Excursioneer are crooks and the good thing about all this, I have proof of the charges and it's only a little more than a week this happened.

Something sounds fishy with your story. Sorry Mr. Viator.

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Why are you so upset about my bad experience, it was suppose to be $90 and ended up being 130. Do you work for them? I don't want this to happen to anyone else.

But I still haven't had any problems with either company.

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shoreexcursioneer false advertise, they charge you a down payment, once this is done, you receive you excursion paper, where they finally disclose for you to bring cash to pay for the rest of the excursion. If you pay the rest by CC you will incur another 10% fee. I will stay with Viator in the future, who did not deceive me. My cruise was just a week ago and I will NEVER use these liars again.

I'm still scratching my head how a $45 tour ended up costing you $130 because you incurred a 10% fee. Maybe my calculator doesn't work. Shouldn't it cost you like $50?

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We're new to Celebrity and have just booked our first cruise with them via a travel agent on the Silhouette in January 2019. We'd made Diamond on RCI and Celebrity's Captain Club matched us to Elite. I noticed that the benefits mentioned an upgrade but I didn't see a full explanation of how it works. Does that happen automatically or just if you're lucky to be chosen for one? We've booked a Concierge C3 cabin on deck 10.

You should call your TA and tell them to upgrade you to C2.

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That's the normal Captains Club upgrade. A1s are mid-ship and some are hump cabins. I always get an A2 and upgrade to a hump A1 cabin. Bigger balcony

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Thanks for that info.

 

Does anyone have a chart of what it looks like, lower level?

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If the OP had purchased "Cancel for any reason" insurance, we would not be having this discussion.

 

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Have you discussed the situation with your travel insurance provider?

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I think the OP should at the very least be able to cancel at only 50% penalty. It sounds like he was only notified of the itinerary change on or around October 2, the day the 60 day 75% penalty kicked in. But if you go to the Dec 2 Epic roll call, there were people talking about being notified around Sept 21st, almost 2 weeks earlier. That's an unreasonable delay in my opinion between when the decision was made and the OP got notified. I could see a day or two, but two weeks? I think NCL dropped the ball on this one.

Regardless of the contract, NCL publishes a customer's bill of rights that mentions that we have a right to timely notification of a change in itinerary due to mechanical issues or emergency. Sounds like this was a change due to an emergency at the port. And 2 weeks is not "timely" to me. NCL should honor their own bill of rights.

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I just wonder why anyone would deliberately want to pay for AQ intending to eat in the MDR. Just go for concierge eat in MDR and use the difference to eat in the speciality restaurants.

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It might have been an exception, but unfortunately it tainted my view of breakfasts in Blu so much I would not return. It was also soooo sloooow, I do not mind a leisurely breakfast, but and hour for cereals and a plate of food is just ridiculous

 

As I said, we then used the buffet because I could see when the back bacon was worth considering eating. Have to say that I never saw it being in very good shape, but you can't keep bacon in the conditions that they tried to do so. I had this idea about Blu that if they prepared eggs as you wanted them, they might also have done so with the bacon, but far from it. It is one of the worst places, Blu or the buffet, I have ever been to for how bacon has been served and that includes some of the very cheap buffet style cafes in the UK. Have been served some lovely bacon with other cruise lines.

 

 

It is very much up in the air as to if we sail with them again, highly unlikely, but if an itinerary and price did tempt me to sail with them, AQ would definitely not be a contender.

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To the OP, regardless of contract legality, I've always found that a carefully worded snail mail letter to the CEO gets better results than all the calls to customer service.

I would stress your respect and appreciation for ncl's highly positive standing in LGBT travel and their support for IGLTA (international gay and lesbian travel association). State that you do not want to cancel out right because you want to continue to provide your business to NCL and ask that they simply move you to a different ship and itinerary.

Couldn't hurt to try. Be sure to include your phone number. Address it to the CEO by name and send a cc to customer service.

This has gotten me a call back from Jamie Dimon's chief of staff who fixed in a day what a month of calls to supervisors at Chase Bank said they couldn't do. And the resolution of a dispute with a Hyundai dealer that resulted in a check for $500 being sent to me.

Good luck and congrats!

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I think you're thinking about the "old" aqua spa cafe. Today, those small plates are gone....replaced by essentially a salad bar and there are a couple of hot choices each day but I think they've eliminated the soup as well. It used to be one of our favorite "secret" places, but we rarely go there anymore.

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Can't believe no one mentioned the Aquaspa Cafe. In the solarium and only open for breakfast and lunch. Just grab some pre-made plates of healthy but tasty foods. Most don't realize that you can also ask for soups or special plates like chicken or salmon that aren't pre-made. Takes 5 or 10 minutes to come out. I love the mushroom soup. Nice to grab a few plates to enjoy while sitting at the solarium pool. And they make healthy smoothies too.

Also finger sandwiches and other "afternoon tea" goodies at the buffet at 3pm.

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Haven't done those tours but used them in December and June in Aruba and Jamaica. Had no problems. Everything went as described

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They have in the past. Last year on Equinox they were walking around between Christmas and NYE offering $30 at Tuscan Grill or Silk Harvest. When we took them up on their offers twice, the restaurants were barely half full. Though we do eat on the later side (8:30 or 9:00) so not sure about earlier dining. My thought is that these cruises tend to attract many large family reunions so you won't see many of them springing for $500-1000 for a huge family dinner at the specialty restaurants.

We'll be on Reflection with you!

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If you really only spend $300 for drinks on a 14 day cruise, you're essentially paying that $300 for the AQ upgrade, roughly $11 per person per day. That would be worth it to me. Blu is great. Less stressful than dealing with the MDR and better food and service. Plus you'll get extra Captains Club points. And if you like the Persian Garden, then free access is another big plus (I find it kinda boring but I'd rather be sipping cocktails at the pool).

Enjoy either way

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If you're a fairly big gambler while on board that first cruise, just call the casinos at sea number when you get back and they'll most likely comp you a free cruise. My first NCL was a free one from a land casino. Then i called and they gave me 2 free 1 week Mediterranean cruises back to back the next year. That was more than 2 years ago and I called yesterday and they gave me a 1 week cruise from Spain for next summer in a balcony cabin. Just need to pay the taxes and fees.

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What an odd thread. What's next? The Sky Lounge "says" they ran out of limes but I know they're being dishonest!

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I think there is more than 2 UK cruisers that use American ships,

Put that aside what would you tip a restaurant worker in the UK?

The American culture of tipping is so outdated and the way American companies treat their staff is more like slavery than a person who dose not tip.

American people need to stand up and realise that they are been taken for a ride

 

 

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I've been to UK restaurants that charge a service fee plus I always round up my bill. If it's £18, I'll leave £20.

There have been some US restaurants that tried to build the tip into the price of the food. None were successful as far as I know. Prices got too high and waitstaff had no incentive to be the best they can. Why handle 5 tables when I get the same salary as the other waiter who handles 4?

Bottom line is that you're not going to change an entire industry so why hurt workers?

And to other Brits, not trying to paint with a broad brush but every time this topic comes up, it's usually someone from the UK that refuses to accept the system in place. I know you don't all do it.

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British people do tip when in the USA

 

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If that's true then why are the other two UK'ers on this thread removing the gratuities? They're US cruise lines. And I'd love to hear from those two to find out if they tip at restaurants in the US as you say. Why tip there but not similarly on a US ship?

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No, this is not true and a myth, the primary reason is to lower costs, increase profits, pass staff wages responsibility directly to the customer, and offer what at first blush seems a lower cruise price. It is clear most passengers believe they now have direct responsibility for staff wages from the responses here when someone admits they don't pay the gratuity.

 

Proof of this service myth can be seen if you look at the luxury cruise lines and you will see they are able to get their staff to provide exemplary service with no additional service charge needed to encourage staff.

 

I've also noticed that one or two cruise lines are starting to get a little more opaque when defining what the auto gratuity is for. I was looking on the UK Celebrity site and could find very little. I suppose if they explicit in what the money is for the money has to go there otherwise it could be fraud. If they're less clear the cruise line has more latitude to spend the money how it sees fit.

 

Hands down best service in the world I have ever experienced - Hong Kong hotels (Thailand hotels a close second) and no hands out for tips.

Incorrect. In the US, restaurants pay wait staff only about $2-3 per hour which is closer to zero than their real pay. The bulk of the staff's earnings come from tips. And the good ones love doing a good job to get more tips. Same with the cruise lines. But unfortunately, they don't know which pax are the cheap turds who remove gratuities so they always try to provide good service.

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The remuneration of staff is of no concern to me when I am in a shop , on a train or aeroplane or on a cruise. I

I exercise my rights , with Celebrity's approval to remove the 'Auto Grats'. Not suggesting others should or should not.

 

 

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The problem is when you're in a shop, the system that was built is not one that uses gratuities. You know full well that your cruise fare is lower than it would be because the cruise lines, like other industries in parts of the world, use a payment system that encourages better service by having the customers "reward" it through gratuities. To simply compare a cruise to a shop in your country and blaming the cruise lines for doing it that way is directly hurting those workers, not the lines. And quite honestly, it's cheap, obnoxious and selfish.

Next cruise, beforehand try telling all the people that serve you that you're removing the gratuities because you don't believe in them. See how enthusiastic your service is after that.

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We remember when people cause scenes. I'm fairly certain the disorderly guys in the kilts who said they were from Scotland were from Scotland; and the family who said they were from Belfast before insulting my other half and getting thrown out of the casino for cursing at the dealers and several bars when they were refused service were from Belfast. But you're right, I'm not sure if the mother with the three 20-somethings that I saw berating the omelet maker for running out of tomatoes and several wait people over several days for things like their drink not tasting like it should or forgetting to bring something, we're from England. They did have an English accent but you're correct, they could have moved to another country recently. I do stand corrected though. I remember an obnoxious American (not me) who berated the casino cashier for doing what she's supposed to do.

Point was that removing auto-gratuities is a bad thing and even worse if you're a jerk to the crew.

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