leaveitallbehind

So assuming Newark, arrival at 3:00 for an international flight is wise. As a reference, the airport is only 15 minutes from the pier. So whatever you decide with sightseeing, if in the immediate area, I would be wrapping that up by 2:30 latest.

Unfortunately as mentioned there is no option to remain on the ship as reboarding for the next itinerary commences by 11:00 and you will need to be off well before that. Also unfortunately, there is very little to do around the terminal area and, unless well coordinated, any sightseeing that may require going into NYC or any surrounding area would likely compromise your stated timeline of 3:00 PM.

We cruise frequently with diver friends who have exclusively used private dive companies in Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, and several other southern Caribbean ports of call. I would suggest just using google for the different ports of call you are interested in. They will offer dive times to fit morning or afternoon preferences based on your ports of call and are familiar with coordinating departure and return times with ship times. Unfortunately I don't have any direct dive operators names, which is why I suggested the search. But our friends dive one or two times, depending on itinerary, with every cruise.

It likely means that the general category staterooms outside of those consigned for the GTY are sold out. It can also mean that those other than GTY that have been released into general inventory to date are sold out and others may be released for sale at a later date, as not all inventory is released at once. The inventory sold bay way of GTY will be assigned at some point.

I think a key point to keep in mind is that, although under the RCG family, Celebrity and RCCL are separate and independent cruise line companies. They also have distinctly different offerings and target demographics. As such they have developed their own loyalty programs and associated benefits to suit their own purposes, a process that began long before they offered the concept of benefit reciprocity. I don't think the idea of this, including the most recent alignment of tiers with the reciprocity, was ever aimed at equalizing the benefits, only just offering a sharing of benefits at each tier level when sailing on each. The discussion of which loyalty program is better at which level always will generate differing opinions as they each have different benefits. It is IMO just a matter of which cruise line suits any given cruiser for the different reasons they select to cruise with each line. The loyalty programs and their associated benefits are secondary. But as I cruise both for different reasons at different times, I am glad I can enjoy the loyalty benefits of each when I cruise with them.

Have to agree. The cruise lines make an effort at consistency and as the menus are essentially the same on each ship the quality should be the same as well.

Agree that is not normal. Cancelations, OBC credit, and rebookings are typically immediate and a single transaction. Maybe try the on line planner versus the app. We have had better success with the planner. But either way, definitely call.

We are in the very same boat as you (really, no pun intended) and agree completely. There are also other lines to cruise with as well.

I know this has been a heated debate and certainly not trying to stir that pot, but having cruised extensively on both lines, and now with the equal tier reciprocity, IMO (and I stress that) I agree that the RCI benefits through Diamond+ are the better ones. Zenith changes that and IMO is better than Pinnacle. And FWIW, we are by actual cruise points D+ with RCCL, and Elite with Celebrity, with 50+ cruises combined on both.

Yes. There has been discussion within the industry with other possibilities. The question is if it is one time offer to attract new business or if it will be sustained over time. MSC has been in that mix as well.

Fair enough and not at all challenging your position, but it is not a new thing as it has been in place for a number of years. Only recently, as you are aware, it has been reconfigured to just equalize the reciprocity. And it is not just RCCL getting Celebrity benefits, it works visa versa as well. I guess it just is what it is.

We have found that the easiest way to manage our bookings, once on board, is to go to any of the specialty restaurants and talk directly with the maître d, who can schedule all restaurants and days for you. As mentioned by @WestLakeGirl, there usually is someone manning a kiosk near the restaurants than can also do this for you. Relying on a Concierge staff member, while certainly an option, is dealing through a third party who will be talking with the maître d on your behalf. Doing it directly IMO assures that any scheduling questions or conflicts are dealt with directly and in real time. The process only takes a few minutes and is then directly loaded into the app scheduler. Again, JMO.

The fact that reaching the "upper echelons of the CC fraternity" is only the result of those cruisers committing a substantial amount of discretionary money over time with the many cruises required to do so assures your concerns. Certainly exponentially more than those occasional cruisers and comparatively lower echelon members. This is an odd concern to be expressed IMO and one whose answer is clearly self evident as these members wouldn't be upper echelon members by "resting on their laurels". In fact they may hope that you continue to as diligently on your quest.

Your TA should be able to provide a Celebrity booking confirmation along with theirs. This the definitive way to confirm that the booking placed by you through the TA is what Celebrity has confirmed as the booking. If this was not provided by them, ask for it.

I can't answer for the spas as we've never purchased anything there. But adding a service charge to an item purchased in the spa IMO would be ridiculous. There is no service charges added to any other onboard store purchases. Forced additional charges (other than legitimate taxes) not related to a retail item itself IMO is disgraceful. At sea or on land.

There is absolutely no noise from the pools on any aft facing stateroom. They are literally hundreds of feet away. And as previously mentioned, allowing one passenger deck between your stateroom deck and any public deck eliminates any direct noise concerns from any activities there.

If you were to add an additional gratuity and did not do so in cash, it would be charged to your stateroom account and any OBC on the account would be credited towards the payment. As that is typically ship sponsored OBC, they would pay the gratuity instead of you. IMO that would be the better option. But I also agree that if a gratuity is added to the charge, I would not feel the need to add more.

Purchases we've made with ship sponsored OBC and then canceled had the OBC credit applied to the planner immediately. When we've done this over the phone, for instance, the credit and confirmation email appeared before we hung up. We have canceled purchases on line and then repurchased at the lower price in the same transaction.

As @Liao suggests, whomever you booked through should be able to provide you with a Celebrity booking confirmation that will show all monies received by way of initial deposits as well as any payments made to date. It will also show you final payment date and amount due. The total cost of the cruise as well as Flights by Celebrity reservations and flight costs will be itemized. Any OBC issue will also be indicated. No planner or other separately paid charges for dining package, excursions, etc., will be shown.

Never had one of those in any of my staterooms in 50+ cruises. Guess I've just been lucky.

Most cruise lines will allow a stateroom to be held for a couple of days without any financial transaction. If this TA cannot present a final actual price of the stateroom you are booking confirmed by a cruise line booking confirmation then I would seek another travel agent. The above described practice is done every day. Even without a stateroom being held the TA can confirm in writing the final total stateroom price without you placing a booking with them. Once you transfer a booking to a TA it can be difficult to take it away and have him transfer it to someone else. You would just have to cancel and rebook elsewhere. Just be sure before you transfer anything if there are any cancelation or change restrictions by the cruise line for making any changes. Also there are some TA's who charge extra fees not charged by the cruise line for changing or canceling a booking made through them. Ask first, and IMO I would avoid any TA that does this.

A great neutral pick between port and starboard! Different cruse line, but we are also in an aft facing stateroom for our upcoming 2025 transatlantic. Always a preferred choice with us on any cruise or cruise line.

You are correct in the they share some similarity in features. And not criticizing but to be accurate for the OP, Anthem is 135ft. longer, 34 ft. wider, and 38,000 gross tons greater than Edge. It also has a maximum passenger capacity of over 2,900 more passengers than Edge - essentially double. Other than with similar looks and design features, they are not at all close in size. Although Edge has the Magic Carpet, which is completely unique to that ship class.

If I were booking a sky suite on that ship the aft corner location would be my first choice. As to your question regarding others experiences with that stateroom, you might try searching this Celebrity board for reviews:

Call Celebrity to have your reservations linked, and then have one party book the day and time you want for all.