gordiej

Well, I was there in late December, and I'm pretty sure the prices on the board were ~$2 higher than what had been posted previously here on CC. E.g., $40 for 4-8 from International Pier to Playa Mia/Sanchos/Nachi.

Weird, there was a big poster at the taxi rank (International). I took a picture (more for CruiseCritic than ourselves). For 6 of us it was $40 to Mr Sanchos. I didn't ask/confirm the price. When we got there, I handed the guy $40. I figure that included his tip, as it would have been only $20 if we were a party of 4 for the same amount of "work". No issues. Going back, same thing, just handed the guy $40. Maybe they only try and rip you off on the 1-4 pax pricing? Now, there were a LOT of taxis waiting near Mr Sanchos, I wonder how many trips they can make in a day, I suppose it depends on how many ships in port - there were only a few when we were there, so I guess on those days it's a little slow.

Let yourself get ripped off then, I really don’t care.

Because there's lots of discussion on how to avoid this highway robbery of which you speak.

Have you read the rest of this topic?

By the way, what exactly is a public apology in this context? This was a private matter until the OP posted here about his experience. Would a private apology not be sufficient?

I don't know why this is so hard. John & Patricia Murphy show up with two minors. All have passports. One minor's name is Dylan Murphy, the other minor's name is Peter Murphy. Only one of the minors is the son of John & Patricia. Can you tell which one from the passports?

Strong proponent of this. We did 5-nights on Summit, party of 6 -- 1 non-drinker, 3 light drinkers, 2 moderate drinkers). My parents are Elite (and light drinkers) so would have two glasses of wine or basic martini before dinner. We bought 2 expensive bottles on board (one we drank pre-dinner, one during, sommelier waived corkage but I would have paid). We also purchased 4 bottles at dinner in the $60-100 range, before the 20% Elite discount. A few daytime drinks poolside, a couple of espresso martinis one night ($17 for a tiny pour!), and two of the $40 martini flights. Pretty sure we spent less than the premium package and had much better wines. The wines by the glass pricing is atrocious, anything good is over $17, and many of the $17 ones should be $12-13 but they jack the pricing up so people on the premium package feel like they're getting value. Really felt like other than some good values on the wines by the bottle list (at least 2 of which I wanted weren't in stock), the alcohol was way over-priced. Left a bad taste in my mouth, so-to-speak. On the positive side, the red wine bottles we had at Blu were served at roughly proper temperature. (Prior experience is they're usually way too warm and always needed to be chilled on ice for a bit).

Sure, but the other point I was making is that just because the last names DO match doesn't necessarily mean there couldn't be another reason to deny/delay boarding. (And to be clear, I'm not claiming that was the case, obviously OP believes there was no other reason.)

Okay, then right - the passport only proves the familial relationship to the GOVERNMENT that issued the passport. It doesn't prove it to the cruise line. But yes, they have set the policy that if the last names match no further documentation should be required.

That's suggesting X thinks your son and daughter are each going to spend $1000 onboard, and so they're charging you an extra $1000 to make up that difference. On-board revenues year-to-date for RCL are 45% of passenger ticket revenues, the pricing you're quoting suggests they think on-board should be >100% of the ticket revenues, so it doesn't compute. Yes, this isn't unreasonable, it's the same for a hotel.

Does the passport list the names of the parents? I'm assuming it does not, but will admit I haven't seen a minor's passport in many many years.

Nothing, really. Have you read the cruise ticket contract and conduct policy? Yes, I agree that it sounds like it was handled poorly.

After the second passenger is cancelled, you can book the pre-paid drink package for one. You can cancel the second passenger shortly after booking (maybe wait until final payment?).

Not sure I understand how having the passport negates a potential trafficking situation. Is it merely that the last name matches the parent? I suppose it would have to be a pretty big coincidence otherwise, but not impossible. The passport only establishes identity and citizenship, not any sort of familial relationship. I also agree with others that a (presumably) round-trip cruise is NOT how you go about trafficking. Nonetheless, it sounds like there was racial profiling and it was handled poorly. While heavy-handed, I don't think it's inherently wrong, if handled sensitively and probably in concert with behavioral profiling. Maybe also worth mentioning that just because OP met X's requirement for same last names doesn't necessarily give them a free pass onto the ship.

Celebrity Summit December 2023 CABIN #: 9071 DECK #: 9 CLASS: AQ2 AREA: Between forward/mid-ship elevators, under the pool bar BED NEAR: Bathroom QUIET?: Mostly. Heard deck chairs moving a couple of times, but only briefly. Heard faint music from "Full Moon" party on pool deck, but it ended at 11 or 11:30pm. Crew area door across from stateroom but did not hear that much either. BALCONY VIEW: Regular, big overhang. BALCONY SIZE: Regular, two reclining chairs and a side table. WIND A PROBLEM?: No SOOT A PROBLEM?: No PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: No outlet on right side of bed (when lying down; side closer to bathroom), only a Euro style plug on the floor. Kind of astonishing for a newly refurbished ship. Didn't have a Euro adapter of course (only UK, lol). Otherwise, very nicely appointed cabin with lots of storage. Shower a little on the tight side.

Ship: Summit Length of Cruise: 5 days Cruise Sail Date: Dec 2023 Date email offer received: About one month before sailing Captain’s Club Tier : Select Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA Current Cabin: Aqua Guarantee (assigned A2 shortly after booking) Bid? Yes/No: Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Aqua Sky Suite / Celebrity Suite / Royal Suite Bid Offer: US $350 / 450 / 750 (pp) Minimum Offers: $280 / 350 / 480 [and $240 for SS which we did not bid on] Notification Date: 2 days before sailing Accepted / Rejected: All bids rejected General Comments (offer details, etc.) Traveling with 3 other cabins in Aqua, so didn't bother with SS bid. There were 8 (of 10) unassigned AS cabins at the time of bidding so we thought we had a decent shot. No CS or RS showing available so we figured those were long shots. By about a week prior to sailing, cruise appeared fully booked. I wonder if others who bid higher were successful. Was notified of failed bids 2 days before departure.

This has been happening for at least 20 years, it's not going to change. Just book with a dummy second passenger who you can cancel closer to departure and get the taxes and port fees refunded. This is no different than a hotel - room costs the same whether it's for 1 person or 2. They're not giving you a break on the food because they're not going to reduce the amount of supplies they order due to a few single-occupancy cabins.

Sorry dupe

Yes, they're going to "charge" you the cruise fare that the 2nd person was going to pay. They are NOT going to re-price the entire cabin at the higher solo fare that's being discussed and charge you MORE money. Could you imagine - you show up to the port, tell them the friend you were sailing with just tested positive for COVID/Noro/Legionnaire's/etc., and they try and charge you a few extra hundred dollars? Do you know how that would make them look? (Probably worse than they did in Australia with the denied boardings).

It's been open since at least 1998, when I first did this.

There's a whole separate thread about how the pricing often doesn't make any sense.

Yeah, that's a decent price (I could get it at that retail price in NYC pre-pandemic, now it's probably close to $25). Either way, the markup on it (both by the glass and bottle) seems to be egregious, and not worth it. Of course if you're on the package it doesn't really matter as long as it's under the limit. I will not be buying a package and will be seeking out better values, even if at higher prices -- I have my eye on a few Rhone wines - CdP and Cote Rotie.

Yeah, whoever made the initial compensation offer (and the person who replied on Twitter) should lose their jobs. I suppose it says something that they don't even have a standard denied boarding compensation package, because it probably happens almost never.

Duckhorn Merlot is one of my favorite wines. Haven't priced it recently but probably ~$50/bottle retail but often I see it on a restaurant (or cruise ship) wine list at a reasonable markup. Sideways really did a number on Merlot and Pinot Noir. Whereas there used to be tons of bad merlot, now there are tons of bad Pinot. And good deals on Merlot (one of the key Bordeaux grapes). Decoy is decent (for a Cab in that price range) but for whatever reason the markup on it at most restaurants (whether by the bottle or glass) is pretty egregious.