gordiej

That’s what’s great about a free market (except on the private island lol). If you find another offering that better meets your needs, take that. If Celebrity loses too much business because their terms or prices are uncompetitive then they’re free to be more competitive. 😀

Most Americans do not. Only 46% do.

That's cute. It doesn't bother me either if you insist on waiting for the "walk" sign before crossing the street. Safe travels.

Just reinforces my decision to go a la carte. I can decide what to drink and when and not worry about the math I did when I booked the package. And I'd much rather buy bottles for dinner anyway, will use the 20% Elite discount, there still seem to be some decent values of higher-end wines on the menu (yes, i get that the app prices may not be current, see my second sentence). Also, I can make sure the wine is at the proper temperature before drinking, reds are always served way too warm.

I see. You're sort of talking specifically about Mexico. Unless the cruise line advises me to take my passport with me (I don't think they do), or I know I will need it (per the car rental agency), it's staying in the safe. But apparently I've hit upon a topic that has no agreement, with strong opinions on both sides, so I'll just leave it at that.

I think it's fine. You'd run into bigger "issues" if you, say, tried to get off at Key West if that was the first port because there's a technical penalty for not stopping in a foreign country (a friend was charged $300 for doing this when he fell ill, I could have had him stick it out to Cozumel as the airfare home was the same, and we would have saved the $300 but I wasn't aware of the regulations at the time...). I'm not sure I would even bother telling the cruise line until you get to Cozumel. Then just claim an emergency.

Care to elaborate? I travel overseas frequently and almost never carry my passport around with me. Usually it's locked up safely in the hotel safe. Is this advice specific to driving a rental car in Mexico? Because otherwise I don't agree at all.

Thanks goodness for Cruise Critic's message boards. I don't know where else I could find this information on my own.

Huh? Expect that there's a good chance you can catch a cold. Bring appropriate medications, as you may or may not be able to find them on board or in port.

I don't think the average is significantly different than other cruise lines. Obviously you don't have anyone under 18, but on the flip side, there don't seem to be all that many elderly people (e.g., very few electric scooters on our cruise a year ago). So I think it balances out. Average is similar, but a much smaller standard deviation. 🙂

I would guess that they don't actually sell a "Red Bull & Vodka" drink that they just pour into a glass, like most (but not all!) bars do. So they probably do sell you the full can of Red Bull - at full price since it's non-alcoholic, and the shot of vodka (or on the rocks) is free or a small up-charge depending on brand. But Absolut Red Bull is fine, nobody needs Belvedere or Grey Goose in their Red Bull!

I think the Solstice-class ships are amazing, just the right size - big enough for lots of variety (e.g., several specialty restaurants) but not overwhelming like a RCCL Oasis class (not to say I don't enjoy those occasionally) and just a generally beautiful design. Based on what I've read, I haven't been sold on the idea of paying the premium on the Edge class, but I'd be curious for sure for the right price. We're doing Summit later this year, have done a few Millennium-class cruises over the years and these are really nice ships as well, albeit a bit smaller. Would I have preferred S-class? Probably, but it's only a 5-night and it was a really good deal. I'm bummed about the shrinking of the locker room/sauna which was really nice (windowed!) on the pre-revolutionized ships of this class, but they don't even have a free sauna option on E-class.

Huh?

I mean, does this topic even have anything to do with Celebrity?

No discounts here, just standard 20% pre-cruise pricing. $68pppd for classic. 🙄

I’d have to see the list and I can’t easily find it but that would be a lovely choice for a special dinner

Have you read any of the threads here in the Cozumel forum??

Well I get it, it’s a personal thing, but… I, for some reason, don’t enjoy most of the LVMH brands, which includes Moet, Veuve, and Dom (I can drink Dom but don’t think it’s worth the price). For value on X I’d go with the Mumm (assuming it’s the Cordon Rouge) or even the Domaine Carneros (NOT the Chandon which is cheaper - and LVMH!) The Taittinger is also good. (Carneros is a lovely California house owned by Taittinger.) If you come across Schramsberg, that’s also a very good value CA sparkling. For something more special, honestly, any of the Tait Comtes de Champagne, PJ Belle-Epoque or Krug are all great (actually Krug my least favorite of the 3 for value, it’s also LVMH lol, but a lot of people like it), Comtes is one of my favorites. Based on the prices I see in my cruise planner, all 3 are decent deals, much lower markups than at a land restaurant. The Comtes was ~$230 AT THE WINERY IN REIMS a year ago - vs $275 in MDR. Of course pre-Covid I could get it on sale at a liquor store for $160 :shrug: And nothing inherently wrong with Costco, you know you’re getting great value from anything they sell.

There are so many much more interesting Champagnes than Veuve Cliquot. But it wouldn't surprise me if the price in a restaurant is different than a pre-purchased gift (which maybe includes glasses?)

We have 4 cabins on an upcoming cruise. All were booked double-occupancy -- one we knew would be single but as mentioned above, due to the promo, booking as single cost more than booking for two. Another cabin was a "maybe" on the second pax. Shortly after booking, my TA canceled the second pax in one cabin, and the taxes/port fees went back onto my credit card about a week later. For the other cabin, small chance the second guest will come; once that's confirmed we'll do the same thing. I didn't know about the double points. The two singles are both first-time Celebrity cruisers so we'll have to get them a Captain's Club account, will be a nice bonus! I did this myself maybe 20 years ago (Zenith or Horizon perhaps?!), just had the fake pax no-show at the port. The agent seemed "upset" that Jim (or whatever name I used) was sick and couldn't make it., like she felt bad for him. Lol. Pretty sure I didn't get either a refund of port fees or the double points! Maybe I should file a claim? 😄

YUM. So tired of just chicken and steak.

OP was paying for the grandparent's cabin regardless. Why make them pay only in the case they DON'T show up - makes no sense. It's a sunk cost. Sure, if you can get your friend to go and take their place, that seems to be the best way to salvage things. Just tell Celebrity that the one grandparent (who remained on the reservation) came down with norovirus. 🫣

Having a bit of a different password problem - chrome won't auto-fill my ID/Password for the Celebrity site. I deleted the saved password, then logged in manually, and it didn't even ask me to save the password. Something must be interfering between the Chrome password manager and Celebritycruises.com. Anyone else have this problem?

Makes sense that they would have something like this on a limited, exceptional basis. It did not sound like OP was trying to game the system--both he and his friend seemed to put in reasonable upgrade bids but only one could be accommodated. That said I wonder how much the $1000 for the pass compares to the cost of the actual suite upgrade! And I don't think OP mentioned - does this include Luminae access?

Also a lot of context on MDR changes in this thread: