mahdnc

If you buy single specialty restaurant reservations, you can choose from a menu of available dining times and dates. This can be done before you board. I have done it several months in advance through my online Cruise Planner. The actual lead time to make an online reservation is dependent on when Celebrity makes it available. For example, we have an upcoming Christmas/NYE Solstice cruise and specialty dining reservations cannot be made on line yet even though it is available for sailings before and after ours. If you buy a specialty restaurant package (several reservations which give you a price break) in advance of your cruise, you must wait until you board to make your dining time/date selection.

All of our cruises have been booked through a TA, so yes, we booked through a TA when this problem happened to me. I don't always know if our booking is part of a group space. So your explanation is possible. If so, I'm surprised that more people haven't reported this problem.

Nice review. So did you book your next cruise in a non-concierge class IV balcony cabin on an Edge class ship?

Yes. I meant to say in my prior post that unless there is a compelling low price from FBC that I cannot get elsewhere, I would book direct.

We have received the same email several times during the past few months. That is the way I read it because the other BCC email we get is for a free veranda cruise, but cruise only (no perks). Your interpretation is the only way the offer would be comparable to the free cruise only offer. BTW, even though the email shows up in our email box, it is addressed to our son who is too busy with other things to touch the offer. It kills me. My wife and I have our vacation time already allocated which includes two big cruises at the end of the year so we couldn't touch the BCC offer even if we wanted to. I am saying all that to explain why we have not bothered calling BCC to confirm what the 10% offer means.

Ugh

I could not do that. When I made my United reservations on FBC's website, I entered my FF number and KTN. After my reservation was made, I could not see it in my United online account. When I entered the record locator (emailed to me by FBC), I could see it. I still couldn't add the FF number and KTN. So I had to call--twice because the phone rep took care of my ticket on the first ticket but didn't do it for my wife--I should have done a quality control check before I hung up to confirm that the work was done from the first call. There is always a chance that there was a user error on my part Another drawback is that the number of frequent flyer miles I got from that reservation was 67% lower than what I would have gotten if I had bought the airfare directly from United for almost the same price (difference in what is awarded for a K class fare vs V class). There was some savings in the fare by going with FBC but it was largely wiped out because of the extra bag fees that my wife and I had to pay each way--something that we would have avoided if we were to pay with our MileagePlus visa card which you can do if you buy your airfare directly but not when you buy from FBC. So my learning is that if there is a compelling low price from FBC that I cannot get elsewhere, I will book directly with the airline. Admittedly one very very nice perk with FBC is not having to commit any money for airfare until final cruise payment.

Here is the link that I was using straight from Celebrity's website: https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomType?pID=RF08D069&sDT=2024-01-06&sCD=RF&sCT=CO&roomQuantity=1

When I look at the Jan 6 Reflection sailing there are non-obstructed view balcony cabin categories available including the Sunset balconies on the stern (no lifeboats there!).

Then I will be following. We are set to do the same cruise a year later on Summit. We leave out of Miami however and I believe our sailing is one night shorter.

The view of the ocean from these cabins is partially obstructed by the lifeboats one deck below. The lifeboats are suspended above Deck 5 so they intrude on the view of the Deck 6 balcony cabins above them. I believe the lifeboat swing arm support structure also obstructs the view as well. On Equinox, there are veranda cabins available on other decks such as 7, 8, and 9. If you are only presented with Deck 6, then the others are likely sold out (for now). https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2131158-celebrity-solstice-2d-obstructed-balcony-question/

Based on my single experience, it is a problem that is unique to your reservation and it will not go away. You will have to call to either try to get the problem fixed (good luck) or to book your flights with FBC. The reason I said reservation is because I had the same problem when I logged in to Celebrity through my wife's account and went to the FBC page for our reservation. I think (I cannot remember for sure) that I did NOT have a problem if I tried to do a mock new booking for my affected sailing and chose the option to get a quote for my flights at the same time as I was pricing out the cruise. You might try experimenting that way. It doesn't solve the problem but it sheds a little more light on it. It also allows you to get an idea of pricing without having to call first (it is possible any discounts that you were eligible for may not show up when you search this way and vice versa--that Celebrity discounts on airfare that are in effect for new cruise reservations are not good for your reservation). Getting there is a not obvious (at least to me). You have to find the sailing you are interested in and then click on the "View Itinerary" button located on the right side above the blue "Book Now" button. This takes you to the itinerary page. You then you either have to click on the link labeled "Flights" near the top of the itinerary frame or... ....you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the itinerary page which will bring you to the FBC "Get a Quote" link. If I remember correctly, I think that method works in that you can select flights. It's worth trying so that you can torture yourself so more.

For what it is worth, @clojacks, here is a description of the "can't-select-a-flight" on FBC problem that I posted on my affected roll call. No response from anyone came of it. I cannot find the thread that I started on the same subject when I posted it on the main Celebrity board. Again, when I did, I got suggestions on how to fix it (that didn't work) but no one else could say that they had seen the problem.

I had a similar experience for our recently completed Rome to Tampa Constellation cruise although I think it was for a total of 4-5 hours wait time from a total of 5 calls.. There were minor book keeping errors that needed correction (frequent flyer numbers not attached even though I entered it through their website) a re-pricing check, and initial seat assignments. These were not major problems but I was on hold for a long long time combined for most of those calls. I do know if you call in during the off hours the wait time is less. However if I booked directly with the airlines, I could have done it fairly quickly on the the airline website. However in all fairness to FBC, I have read multiple posts on Cruise Critic from members who rave about FBC's ability to deal with time urgent problems.

Yeah it totally sucks. For me, it was just an irritation because I ended up booking using my United frequent flyer miles (which I cancelled fee-free when the cruise was COVID cancelled). However I was worried that it was going to be that way for my future cruises--which it turned out not to be. So for me it was a one-off that just came and thankfully went. It is also a very rare occurrence because yours is the only other identical problem as mine that I have read on this board.

Good morning (from Chicago), Noreen. The intention of the OBC from the onboard booking promotion is for the OBC offered by Celebrity to be carried along with a re-priced reservation as Peader is thinking (the booking number needs to stay the same during the re-pricing for this to happen). However the fine print at the bottom of the onboard booking form says "For Full Terms and Conditions, visit your Cruise Sales Team onboard and/or the Celebrity Cruises website in your country of residence". So as @wrk2cruise, suggested it's possible that this is not true since T&Cs and even sales promotions do differ by region. Anyway you may need to call Celebrity or your travel agent (if you used one) to know for sure. Hopefully the OBC does carry over as that is one of the big inducements for booking onboard. I hope you and your husband are doing well. David

Nice review, Cathy. I'm glad your cruise went so well. Thanks for taking the time to post your experience. Any comments about the post Revolution aspects of the ship? David

I do not believe that this itinerary includes the full transit of the Panama Canal. In other words, I believe it will go through (the larger) Atlantic Ocean side locks and then turn around at Gatun Lake and then it will sail back through to the Atlantic. I believe Celebrity does one full Panama Canal transit on an Millennium class ship each year in April (westbound) and then in October (eastbound). The Millennium class ships are designed to fit through the original Panama Canal locks (Panamax standard). Here are the 3 full Panama Canal transit cruises currently on Celebrity's schedule: link

The interesting thing is that back in 2005, this freighter was sporting what later would become the modern luxury logo adopted by Celebrity.

The PUP present showed up in our email at 11 am CST yesterday.

Only because we have the Marriott Rewards points available, I am also re-examining the possibility of staying at the St Regis Bangkok or the Athenee Hotel.

Yes, that was my guess on the reason for the early start, but still..... After doing some research, I settled on making our overnight stay in Bangkok at the Banyan Tree Hotel. The rate was reasonable for a "luxury" hotel. It is very well reviewed in Tripadvisor and it has a very nice roof top restaurant. The only downside is that we might not get much time to spend at the hotel. I will be curious to hear what you ended up settling on. Your itinerary sounds very nice, btw. David

Thank you as well. I will take a closer look at this tour company.

This gift box appeared last year in January. I believe it was for twenty PUPs. @TraderSam, what was the time stamp for your email (please include you time zone)?