sassmofi

I booked in May and I only say my beverage package and option to upgrade show up on the cruise planner 2 weeks ago for a cruise the first week of September.

Thanks. I've always thought it was just me that finds this a bit gross. :eek:

I would like to see some research if the average boob has more germs than the average set of hands. I would lay money on the boobs being cleaner.

Hello All,

Would you cancel your reservation with a TA if you are not within Final Payment if f the TA refuses to adjust the price drop especially within 24 hours? I am very tempted. This is probably my own fault doing for using a TA and just looking for the best OBC offer. I did not expect to need much from the TA.

On Friday, I was in the middle of booking my first cruise with Celebrity (also my first cruise in several years). The TA had put a hold on the booking on Friday and said she would process the payment today as it was at the end of the day on Friday. The cruise is in September and not inside the cancellation deadline yet. On Saturday, I saw the price of the cruise drop by almost $800 total. I emailed the TA, but she was not reachable till today. The price drop is still currently showing on the website. The TA sent me the invoice for the amount on Friday, and then responded to my email from the weekend that Celebrity does not make adjustments when paid in full. I know this is not true. I have emailed the price guarantee from the website especially as it was less than 48 hours.

I have place a hold reservation just in case.

I am only seeing pick one perk for Oceanview or higher plus get additional $200 OBC for 2015 Europe and additional OBC for 5 day extra sale on some sailings.

Any ship that is not home ported in the U.S year round apparently does not have the freestyle machines, due to the inability to get the necessary products over seas....

In a past job, I have worked on projects supplying equipment for the Freestyle cartridge filling plants. Coke has plants in the US and EU for the freestyle cartridge. Technically there should be no issue getting necessary products for the EU ships.

My guess there is some contract limitations with Coke of where RCL is required to purchase supplies through the US.

i got 9 points for a 9 night cruise in a JS in 2011

For some reason I had misread you took the cruise in 2008.

Huh, I wonder if you took your J/S cruise in a weird transition time from when credits were converted to points in 2011.

There was definitely and an extra cruise credit for J/S for Jan 2004 till the points conversion in 2011.

i just called C&A they said the double points didn't start till 2013, and i was SOL, haha

Well the extra credit for suites started before Jan 2004. You should have been given 2 cruise credits for that cruise. How many points you converted to depends on how many credits you had at the time of the switch to points.

Thanks for the breakdown of points conversion cruisegirl1!

I must have been lucky on the credits to points conversion as all my cruises were in the old system, and I made Diamond before my last cruise. I have been converted to 90 points. I am not quite sure how C&A came up with that.

I think I would only be Emerald on the new system. Was Emerald in place when RCCL first changed to the points system?

Explorer, J/S - 1/10/04: 1 credit for cruise, 1 credit extra credit for J/S (Now 14 points) (I think the extra credit for suites didn't come into place till the year before my first cruise)

Enchantment, Inside - 9/7/06: 1 credit for cruise (now 4 points)

Explorer, J/S - 1/7/07: 1 credit for cruise, 1 credit extra credit for J/S (Now 14 points)

Explorer, J/S - 1/14/07: 1 credit for cruise, 1 credit extra credit for J/S (now 14 points)

Explorer, J/S 1/13/08: 1 credit for cruise, 1 credit extra credit for J/S, 1 credit extra for 12 nights (now 24 points) (made Diamond with 10 credits)

Freedom, Balcony - 8/16/09: 1 credit for cruise (now 7 points)

90 points versus 77 points *shrug*

I didn't realize it has been so long since my last cruise. Now that I am near a departure port. I need to take advantage.

Regarding the gratuities. Do you have to pay them when added to the bill at the end of the holiday.

 

As someone else said , where would you go on a family holiday and leave tips for £300-£350

 

Can you go to the reception and say you do not wish to pay this much ???

 

Not a greedy person but I think automatically adding so much to someones bill is wrong. It should be up to the individuals how much they wish to give.

 

 

Thanks

The taxes and fees in the original purchase are government taxes (aka VAT) and (port) fees. It does not include the service fee.

The tips/gratuities/service fee is a separate item. How much do you pay for a service fee in restaurants or hotels? Typically in restaurants in the UK, I am charged 12%. Every hotel I have stayed in regardless of country generally has a hidden line item for service fee. The cruise ship service staff are not paid at a living wage as in the UK. They rely on gratuities for their income.

I believe dogs that are not quarantined have to be chipped prior to entry. This happens after inoculation etc. which is costly.

I moved from the US to the UK almost 1.5 years ago with a pet via plane. The requirements are not very costly other than the actual air cargo costs. There were 2 vet visits for an animal that did not previously have a microchip. One to place the ISO microchip and a new rabies vaccination which must be administered at minimum 20 days prior to travel. The second visit was the fit for travel health checkup within 10 days of travel and filling out proper documentation. I then took the documentation to the USDA vet office near ORD to be signed. Total cost was at most 175 USD (2 vet visits, microchip, rabies vac, USDA vet administration fee). Titer tests are not required for approved animals with the proper vaccination when coming for the US and other EU counties (other countries outside of the EU are different).

Well, I guess I was very very very lucky when I called recently to request a price drop!!!

 

I did get through to the Guatemala call centre and I struggled with the first person. I was explaining that my category cabin had dropped in price, that I wanted my reservation to be matched to it. The guy kept repeating my current rate and reservation details. I kept reiterating that yes, that is my CURRENT information. But I would like that to be CHANGED to match the deal currently available.

 

He kept going round and round, repeating himself, until I asked for a supervisor. A man who sounded like he was from the US took over and immediately said there was no way he could change my reservation to match. I quoted the T's&C's which clearly state that provided the difference in price is at least 2%, they can raise OR lower a reservation rate. I stated, very clearly, that my Category Z inside cabin was booked at a rate of £xxx per person and it was now on offer for £200 less per person, for the exact same Category Z inside cabin room. He told me because I had already had a room assigned to us, that technically my reservation was now an N category room (or similar). I explained we were aware we would have to give up our assigned room but we were willing to do this, and that would mean we had a Category Z inside cabin again. He technically then hung up on me, but claimed that the call dropped. He 'tried' to call me back but was one digit short. I called back in, and was able to get reconnected to him (magically!).

 

Anyway -- at this point he said, he could not change the reservation because I had already had a cabin assigned. I asked him to please find a solution to do so. He put me on hold, came back, and said he would have to drop my OBC ($400) and remove the reservation but then he could match the price online.

 

YES PLEASE! Considering it was savings of £400 (approximately $666 converted) this was more than the $400OBC and it meant we had savings up front, and not 'forced' to spend $400 onboard (although we likely will as it is a 2week cruise and we like the extras).

 

In any case -- I am one of those rare success stories! I honestly believe that I will continue to book through the US moving forward though, as I am a US citizen (OH is a UK citizen) so I still can book directly through the US! If the price matching doesn't apply in the UK like I thought it did then there's no point. We will keep an eye out for upgrade possibilities but I won't hold my breath for a lower rate on the cruise itself. We have booked our two previous cruises (when I was in the UK) through the US side of things and never had any real problems, so I guess it will definitely be worth it moving forward.

Thanks for the information. It sounds like I will not bother much with RC UK unless I find and awesome deal, and it is already after final payment. I had been debating on how I would book after moving to UK. I think I will stick with my US TA most of the time.

This thread is directing me to choose Celebrity for my next cruise!:cool:

cocktails, cocktails and more cocktails.:eek::eek::eek:

Ha, I think you need to be my new best friend. ;)

I would go for a massage. Depending on the room category originally booked, I might look to upgrade depending on prices. A special private excursion could be nice.

I don't see anything wrong with the area. I believe since you are booking pre-cruise hotel that it includes your transfers from Airport/Hotel/Port which takes care of the luggage issue.

It depends if you mind the walk to the tube or are comfortable navigating the buses.

Either way is technically correct. Once Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines become available to other countries, ships serving those countries will likely get the machines.

Coca-Cola does have manufacturing/filling facilities for the cartridges for the Freestyle in Europe as I have worked on projects that supplied equipment for the filling lines.

Interesting read. I am an American expat in the UK. It is good to know the differences when booking in each country as I am hoping to make a booking for this year.