Iamcruzin

I price all categories above the one I book up to an aqua sky suite. I take note of the price at the time of booking and I have never seen a better deal even at the lowest bid had I booked it from the beginning. I know you don't get the extra points but I never knew that you don't get the drink and WiFi package that comes with it if you book from the start.

I don't follow loyalty programs either and I don't sell myself short sailing on one line.

The cruise lines don't owe anyone anything but trip they paid for. These loyalty programs were a trap with most of the complaints coming from the top tier members. This is my experience on all the cruise line boards I follow. They are constantly asking for more tiers and more freebies. I wish I had a dime for every time I read how Elites don't buy the drink package because they are fine with the free Elite offerings and how they send their dirty laundry from the land portion of the trip to be cleaned on embarkation day. Be satisfied with what you are getting and hope that they don't cut back anymore. If you don't feel appreciated you can always try another cruise line. For every person leaving there is another one sailing. New cruisers are a better investment as they spend on board where it adds to the bottom line.

So what is the benefit of the move up offer? Personally I have never seen a better price than if I had booked it right from the start with any line I sailed on. Now this just makes it a worse deal. Not to mention you are gambling on room location.

It's more than that but to your point it guarantees that all homes are well maintained and you aren't living next to or across the street from a dump.

HOA is a Home Owners Association. It's a fee we pay to run and maintain our clubhouse, Bar/Restaurant, sports and fitness facilities, arts and culture facilities as well as home security and landscaping.

Book a cruise at a price that you are willing to pay and watch for sales or on board credit offers and rebook if it's a better deal. The spring season March/April is typically the most expensive time of year to cruise especially in the Caribbean. The best you can hope for is a sale on WiFi and drink Packages. Price out the daily rate for the all inclusive package. If it's between $50 and $60 book AI if you have plans of adding those items on after booking. It was only $52 a day for both the classic drink package and basic WiFi for my up coming cruise when I booked.

I remember escargot being served every night on Celebrity but I don't remember it being served every night on Princess. With that said, I do remember a snail shortage on one of my Celebrity cruises because they didn't have it all week and they used those escargot dishes to server a mushroom appetizer that was awful.

I paid $18 for a Manhattan at our community Clubhouse bar which part of our HOA fee goes to supporting them. They also add a 20% gratuity on top of that. I have paid less for a Manhattan in midtown Manhattan and on a cruise ship. I haven't purchased a cocktail from them since. A glass of 4 buck Chuck is $10 plus the gratuity. I think our HOA should offer a drink package.

Any percent off of a drink package is bogus. The drink packages never actually sell for the original price it's just an MSRP. They start off at 15% off after you book and the percent continues to rise and fall as the weeks go on. I can't imagine anyone who is on Cruise Critic wood purchase the drink package unless it's at least 35% off and I have seen it as high as 40% off. Free gratuities can be measured and is actual money so I would consider that a sale. Free meals and excursions wouldn't compel me to book. I don't look for sales I look for a good daily price with extras included.

What I mean by a land vacation was to price out all inclusive resorts which you wouldn't do for any place but the Caribbean. Right now I booked an 8 day Italy Greece itinerary on Princess for 3 adults all in with drinks, WiFi, Gratuity refundable deposit for $221 pp pd. An 8 day similar itinerary on Celebrity all included refundable deposit was $275 pp pd. Celebrity is offering 75%off second guest and OBC the sailing is for Jan 2025 and Princess was offering 3rd guest sails free, 40% off and $99 refundable deposit for guest 1 and 2 and the sailing is for May 2026. Both seem to be offering a sale but the price is pretty close. I am waiting for Celebrity to release Europe Spring /Summer 2026 to compare. It's costing me $500 for two nights in a hotel in NY no food included for early November so either cruise is a bargain compared to that.

This is nothing new. It's been going on for years. I have found the best prices by jumping ship to multiple lines in spite of the loyalty programs offered. The key is not to look for a sale but to calculate what you are willing to spend per day and how that would compare to a land trip to the same place. The sales are just a decoy to get you to look and unless you priced out a particular cruise at the time of release you can't tell if it is an actual sale.

I saw how they attacked US service men in an anti American protests. We call on a port in Turkey but that's not until 2026. If the cruise lines think that there is a risk in calling there they will change the itinerary.

In their defense it shouldn't be. They still need to sell these rooms and it's easier to sell a room at full price in a better location. The same goes when booking a guarantee room.

Waiting to see 2026 Mediterranean itineraries. I already have something booked on Princess with the 3rd guest free and $99 refundable deposit so I'm not expecting that Celebrity will beat that. I hope I'm wrong.

They play music in public spaces? I must tune it out.

If it's said on CC it must be true.

How is it even possible to book it this way? It actually asks you during the booking process how many passengers you are sailing with. I just did a mock booking for Reflection. When I entered 2 adults and 2 children it only offered me a room that had the square and triangle. When I changed it to 2 adults and 1 child it offered me both the rooms with just a square and the rooms with a square and triangle. I can't imagine how there could be a screw up.

They will make you anything you want even if it's your own concoction. You will be charged accordingly based on the call brand liquor you select. Just let them know you want it made with the classic brands if that's the package you have.

I find Royal Caribbeans dynamic pricing worse. When they run kids sail free they just raise the price of the two adults. I have booked both ways. The answer on CC is now that you have 4 sailing in one room you are reserving a room that costs more. Well I just booked 2 rooms in that case and it came out the same. Most people wouldn't go through all that and would just accept that the kids are free. For the life of me I don't understand the 75% off for the second guest. It's still just 37.5% each in the end.

The cruise I'm on at the end of the month is more expensive now with the current promotions than what I paid at 120 days out. There must be plenty of rooms because they are offering move up offers at 50% off the original bids. All of these cruise line sails have been nothing but smoke and mirrors even before covid. They are more like a cancelation of a markup. It just boils down to what you are willing to pay and maybe you can find a better price for a similar itinerary on another cruise line.

Yes I know that Princess offer 50% off for Platinums and Elite which is what I would buy if I didn't purchase the Plus package. The free minutes on Celebrity wouldn't work for me but others say they have enough for a 20 day cruise. Minutes didn't work for me when that's all they offered and that was before smart phones and social media. The service was so bad that you just burned through them.

I would have thought that with the outrageous price that celebrity is charging it would include the price of a chair and umbrella which at times I have paid for even at the local beaches at home when I was too lazy to bring my own. When we went to Bermuda we paid the resort fee to the resort directly online. I haven't looked to see if Resort World has a prepay option.

I am quoting comments I have read over the years on the Princess and Celebrity boards when they discuss Loyalty perks and how they don't need to buy a WiFi package because the free minuets they get are enough. I always starts with we lock out phones in the safe.

We are also going to Bimini the end of Sept. Transportation to Resort World is free and has nothing to do with the cruise line. We are just going to wing it and see if you can just use the beach and maybe they have a restaurant you can just pay to have lunch. If you go to the port of call page some have done just that. In the past I have booked tours directly from the same vendors that the cruise line uses for half the price which leads me to believe that the cruise lines are just charging double and keeping half for themselves. What really annoyed me about the Bimini excursions is if you read the fine print it states that umbrellas and lounge chairs aren't guaranteed. What the hell are they trying to charge us for?