kirtihk

2 hours ago, iandjm said:

You make some very good points however what celebrity’s expecting some single traveler's to do is the equivalent of going out for dinner on your own and being asked to pay 3 times for the one meal.
We all reluctantly accept paying for an imaginary person is part of having a solo cabin to ourself, of course with that we are also paying for the imaginary persons food and all other items we get included as part of the price. But to be asked to pay above the 100% cabin price is just wrong. It’s as unacceptable as an airline charging a solo traveler for 2 seats not just the one. 
we all have a choice of which cruise line we go with and as you say we do not have to pay the silly prices, but that does not excuse this immorally wrong practice. 

Airlines don't do that, because they can sell the second seat versus cruise lines that cannot sell the second bed in the same cabin to a person who is a stranger to a person who bought the first bed in that cabin.

On 6/11/2024 at 1:38 PM, Pratique said:

And that is also in writing.

 

"all packages are for single guest use and cannot be shared by multiple people."

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/beverage-drink-package-products

Multiple people... as opposed to a "singular" people

On 6/5/2024 at 11:57 AM, nlclhc said:

 

But even in itineraries that start in US ports the population of MSC is much more international than the one in RCL, Carnival et al.

 

MSC is the only line that I know that publicly says individual tips are not encouraged. 

Seabourn: "Tipping is neither required nor expected."

13 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I know you’re just explaining to the poster but I find it confusing when people say “family time…. Because no one goes to the Solarium at 4pm.”  Well maybe I’ve been there since 2 pm and I want to stay there until 6pm to get ready for dinner.  Reading my book and listening to Opera like everyone should and relaxing.

 

On Eclipse as I said 1) pool was full with children and 2) families were hogging hot tubs and actively discouraging adults from getting in and sharing the space.

 

Translation, I wasn’t wanted and they hurt my feelings.

I would make them unwanted and hurting their feelings (and ears) by going in with a nice shot of scotch and singing some Opera:

Toreador, en guard! Toreador, Toreador!
And dream away, yes, dream in combat,
That a black eye is watching you,
And that love awaits you,
Toreador, love awaits you!

6 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Educate me NMT as we have only ever sailed Celebrity, do other lines enforce their rules strictly? I understand why Celebrity staff don’t, they don’t want to upset customers and be given negative feedback, and for that reason I would imagine other lines are similar. And have you thought about laying most of the blame on the passengers who break the rules rather than blame Celebrity (which I know is a favourite pastime of yours)😜

We are in agreement (a few minutes apart) - see my post # 98

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

Not much enforcement of any rules by Celebrity.  It would be more of a premium or luxury experience if they did.

Cruise lines don't do that to avoid as much as possible a mass negativity vs an individual inconvenience on certain occasions.

9 hours ago, shandryl said:

Agree! but carnival-ish type of activities are also a time of public enjoyment and entertainment. At times often can be found anywhere including in a place of sanctuary. 😄

Absolutely, and that brings another silver lining to explore - creating annoyance against enjoinment.

24 minutes ago, shandryl said:

yeah, it's kinda Carnival-ish 😄

There is a silver line between irony and sarcasm, and staying under that line toward the former is a virtue.

9 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Maid of the Mist????

Yes, a special half an hour cruise in the Niagara Falls.  One will definitely become "maid of the mist" after that short experience.

17 minutes ago, FOXTROT said:

They have Great Lake Cruises

It was a joke in relation to ocean cruises.

Anyway, none of cruises stop at Buffalo... yet...  however, I heard there is a plan to make a cruise terminal in the downtown.  We shall see.

On 5/31/2024 at 9:07 AM, Port Power said:

When on a SS ship, conversation sometimes relates to how many days we have on Silversea.  Very friendly, because everyone starts at the bottom.  NEVER is loyalty level ever mentioned.  Well, duh! That’s because loyalty is calculated in days sailed.

 

If I start hearing passengers discussing whether they are Elite or Zenith, I’ll keep on walking.
 

Silversea is a natural progression after Celebrity as we start wanting more personal service, larger cabins and included beverages.  Will this move really encourage Royal cruisers to spend so much more money for their cruise?

I hear a lot of discussion on topics that make me to keep on walking on all cruise lines I’ve been (including Regent, Ponant, Azamara, Seabourn, Paul Gauguin).  One problem with this approach is it’s hard to keep on walking while enjoying a neat scotch shot with a glass of water in the other hand and lovely night entertainment performance in a nice lounge.

9 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We wish Celebrity would bring ANY ship to Galveston.  There was talk but nothing has come out of it.  

We wish it would bring any ship to Buffalo.  Well,.. a wish is a wish…

On 6/1/2024 at 8:52 AM, chamima said:

If we have no status on RCCI or Celebrity we get a referral offer for our first Silversea cruise but if we DO have status we lose that offer? (And what exactly is a "Referral Offer?)

 

The "Referral Offer Benefit" in the below statement is in regard of a person who wants to refer, not a person wo will be referred.  So, it means that you must have at least 1 cruise with SS in order to refer someone regardless whether you got any SS Venetian Society status due ONLY to matching RCCL or/and Celebrity status.

i. Sail with Us Referral Offer. A Member must earn at least 1 VS Day to be eligible for the Sail with Us Referral Offer Benefit.

36 minutes ago, purpleally said:

I’ve received I for that changes coming in 2025. Hopefully not before your 2024. Cruise

The problem for me (and would think for many others, too) in general, I don't want to remember, monitor, and wait for 7-18 months to catch the exact timing on announcement of this change.  Referral should be simple process to begin with - click a couple of boxes for a referee and yourself and get an OBC for each, and if a person ended up cancelling their cruise, your OBC would be gone (like Viking, for example does).  Why to have multiple forms on both sides?

37 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

 Correct, but unfortunately you´ll meet this kind of behavior by guest on board Celebrity ships - like anywhere else 😉 

My point was it's about an individual behavior of a guest that makes a wrong (and damaging) impression of a company (a cruise line in this case) serving such a guest.

On 5/30/2024 at 9:48 AM, Miaminice said:

People without the slightest trace of common sense or respect but with a giant feeling of entitlement - that’s what’s happening to Celebrity 🤷🏻

Is that what’s happening to Celebrity?  That’s what’s happening.  To the WORLD.  Celebrity or any other cruise line have nothing to do with it.

On 6/3/2024 at 6:56 AM, purpleally said:

Happy to help.

please email me at purple19gray@aol.com

Yesterday I received an email from Seabourn:

Seabourn is currently updating the referral program to make it more convenient for our guests to refer their friends/family. This change will be coming in the upcoming year. Currently we are not able to add referrals to bookings.  Please watch for the announcement on the website when this program has been updated.

We sincerely appreciate your loyalty and willingness to share your love for Seabourn with your friends and look forward to continue rewarding our guests with the referral onboard credit.

18 hours ago, memoak said:

Is it just me or does anyone else think this thread has gone off the rails

If the cruise price was the 1-number (1 line-item on the invoice) price which is the cruise total price (with real all inclusive), the rails wouldn't be needed whatsoever at first place (no thread of such a topic would be generated).  From the other hand, there would be tons of other threads for that matter with variations of "Why don't I have a choice of selecting what I really need (maybe I don't want Wi-Fi, or multiple restaurants, or I'm not a drinker, I don't need a butler service or shore excursions, ...)?"

6 hours ago, barneyboy said:

I don’t think they can please everyone. We’re late diners and never use the cocktail hour as it’s far too early for us. We’re usually having our pre dinner drinks around 7.30pm. 5-9 would certainly be better for us. Someone suggested making it 4-7 but surely not many are having pre dinner drinks at 4pm.

What???  I have pre dinner drinks at 7 am every morning starting with Champagne!

7 hours ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

We're on a Princess cruise at the moment.  There is a separate 'gratuities' line entry on every food / beverage / service bill (typically 18 per cent, but adjustable).  That is the equivalent of what you are referring to in terms of land-based restaurants, not the crew appreciation / service charge that this thread was about originally.

That means (good to know) that instead of 1 "extra charge" item (that used to be a part of cruising expenses and on the cruise invoice with a choice of pre-paid gratuities) besides 3 regular items (cruise fair, port charges, and taxes), now there are 2 of them (gratuities AND crew appreciation / service charge).

If you’re new to Seabourn and don't have a referral set up yet and booked a cruise sailing prior to or on December 14, 2025, I can set up a referral for you that gives us both $250 OBC (per cabin).

Please e-mail me at mikhail_khitrik (at) yahoo (dot) (com), and I will set up the referral for you.

On 5/15/2024 at 11:46 AM, SailorJack said:

 

 

Is thirty two days to long to be on a ship? Ordinarily I would say yes, but Jill has signed us up for another 32 trip on Oceania. In any event, we are looking forward to getting home and replacing our bottles of Fiji water. 

We've just came back from a half of your cruise - 16-day Seaborn Pursuit Expedition from Tahiti to Solomon Islands.  We dragged ourselves from the ship at the end of cruise.  We would easily continue for the next 15-day leg to Guam (through Papua New Guinea); however, regretfully, we don't have enough vacation days.

2 hours ago, rmalbers said:

Maybe there was a lawsuit or something, someone might have cut their finger off adjusting the back of the lounger. 

If that's a case, there should not be any items of any kind on the ship (no tables, no chairs, no beds, no silverware, nothing), no pools, no dancing (one might be injured, too), all around the ship walls should be plush, and so on.

On 5/14/2024 at 4:07 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

My income and expenses are totally irrelevant to my choice of cabin.  So yes, I was able to actually answer the OPs question.  That places me clearly in a very small minority.

 

I don't live by the equation: "Income - expenses = money to throw away on things I don't need"

 

That said, it sounds like you and many others might.😎

I easily might go in the inside cabin on Seabourn, Regent, Ponant, and Silversea; the matter is they don't provide it.  So... No choice for me: I'm stuck with and forced enjoying the balcony cabin (and a "darn" butler on Silversea).  On a positive note, I like a lack of choices - less headache! 

3 hours ago, Salf777 said:

We have a few cruises booked on X still when they had the $200 deposit onboard for Retreat. We started looking at other lines as X is getting silly. Coco Cay looks fun but I go on X so I don’t have to go there. They have the staff running around telling everyone it the passenger’s favorite port now! Trying hard to sell it and why not. They bring you to their island where everything costs and it’s all theirs. 
Speaking to others here in the retreat and everyone I have spoken to do not have loungers on their balcony. You have to request it now

so while onboard we booked cruises in other lines and are going to cancel the current X cruises we have booked. Personally we would rather lose $200 deposit and go on a line that gives what you pay for and not have to “request” everything. 
According to the staff on board X will look exactly like Royal soon. Oh and by the way all the other cruises we booked on other lines. Deposit 100% refundable up until final payment. And you don’t pay more for the refundable deposit!

and the price with the refundable deposit option for 14-day cruise is $1,900 more pp (in Aqua)!!!  That's $1,000 more than a deposit!  To pay or not pay? - To over-pay $1,900 extra with the refundable deposit or lose $900 in case of canceling non-refundable?