leaveitallbehind

....for now. Once Allure is amplified that will change. As you mention, the views from the farthest aft have dozen or so staterooms, in particular on the higher decks (such as 11-14), will provide a peak at the ocean over and to the sides of the Aqua Theater. The further forward you are the less this view is.

The late sailing is also due to the proximity of the Virgin (and other) islands which typically are the first ports of call. Even with a late departure from San Juan the ships are at a slow pace to get there for an AM port of call. St. Thomas, for example, is less than 70 miles from San Juan. Are you referring to the ship or the airport with your comment about the luggage check in time? We have cruised out of San Juan several times and with the ship, in our experience, we have always been able to check bags by late morning with an 8:00 PM departure. The timing for the return flights at the airport can be slow with baggage check in due to the agricultural check as you indicate, but it has always been manned by several employees and, although it is the required first step, moves relatively well. Inside luggage check can be a different story, however. We have encountered 90 minute + drop off to gate check in times there.

Just to second that, we usually find the online planner on our tablet or PC more user friendly than the phone app and use it as our default. We typically only use the app on board.

As you indicate, your departure time is 8:00 PM. That is consistent with our experience as most of our San Juan departure cruises left in the evening, typically around 8:00 PM, as with yours. Arriving the night before at midnight or even day of by noon or so should not be an issue. Flying as you are from Orlando should also mitigate any weather related flight concerns. Typically we also check in with first available check in then leave the ship for the day to spend time in Old San Juan, returning usually by dinner time. Uber makes that transportation easy.

One other thing to add, even if you are able to secure a late booking the price will usually be at the last sale date prevailing fare with most cruise lines. They don't typically discount last minute bookings.

LOL. To each their own. Agree completely that Quantum class Solariums are the best! See - we have some cruising tastes in common. As to the rest.....

For the most part, with IMO a big exception as pointed out previously, with the lack of pool in Harmony's Solarium. That and we also like Hooked which is not on Harmony, and don't like Jamie's, which is on Harmony. Probably nit picking to many, but to us sometimes the small things make all the difference.

Ship to ship, I actually agree with you and never understood what I consider to be a design flaw with Harmony with the respect to the lack of pool in the Solarium. Strange as it may sound to others, I agree with you and avoid booking Harmony as a result. Symphony also is one of our favorite Oasis class ships anyway and would win that discussion just for that.

I am also in a position to be familiar with cruise line schedules. And that is common with most transatlantic sailings with most lines as October is the end of the peak season in the Mediterranean and the start of the peak season in the Caribbean. Just makes my point on asset allocation with those lines moving ships seasonally for market demand and not hurricane avoidance. And in the spring it is typically April for the same reasons. Similar Pacific schedules for the same reasons with say Australia and Alaska. Has nothing to do with avoiding hurricane season timing with all of these repositioning cruises. If hurricane season was a key factor in scheduling ships, then most of the cruise lines would do it. But there are dozens of ships on a number of lines that are permanently based in the region to sail the Caribbean all year round. We've both said a lot on this and there is no disrespect intended. I respect your viewpoint. But I can add nothing further. As mentioned before, enjoy your cruising!

Not from direct experience and a lot of this may be speculation, but you may have some issues with it at security at embarkation when checking the ship, and if not, at security reboarding at ports of call. Hopefully others with direct experience can help. My question out of curiosity is why would you want to have these with you, especially at a port of call?

Not arguing with you and that may be true in your experience. But IMO it is more coincidence than intent driven by seasonal demand as there is no way to predict when or if a storm will develop with certainty in any given month. And they can and do occur in October and November as well. Seasonal positioning by fleet size and market demand is the bigger reason for this as with only 11 ships they cannot be everywhere at once. As mentioned, this is a common cruise line business decision. Other smaller cruise lines adopt this strategy as well. Conversely, as example, RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, and others who have larger fleets all have ships based 12 months in Florida for Caribbean cruises through the full hurricane season. Apparently that isn't a factor for them. Target demographics also play a part in this as families with children, as example, primarily cruise in the summer months (and Holidays) when their kids can be out of school. And hot as it may be, those ships in the Caribbean itineraries sail full all summer. HAL's target demographics would, for many of the reasons mentioned in this thread, prefer to avoid those months and typically have the most seasonal cruising flexibility. HAL will adapt to this demand. Either way, your preferred line has seasonal scheduling that fits your preferences, so that really is all that matters - regardless of the reasoning behind it. Enjoy your cruising!

Generally those days are long past. In our experience, manifests have to be submitted 90 minutes prior to departure. (DHS may require 60 minutes minimum, but generally the cruise lines require 90 minutes) But the processing of a booking also takes time and involves some degree of vetting in advance. As suggested by others there is a cut off time for bookings. RCCL, for example, closes final bookings at 72 hours prior to departure. This may vary to some degree with other lines, but this is typical with most and "walk up" bookings don't occur. Also as mentioned, the other factor is that most ships sail full and there would be limited availability of staterooms close in to the sailing date. All TA's would have access to availability on any given itinerary and there would be no advantage by one over another in securing a late booking as they all have to comply with the cruise lines and Government agencies late booking guidelines.

As @Essiesmom indicates, it is more a matter of ship allocation and not so much weather avoidance, if at all. HAL primarily focuses their Caribbean on the late fall and winter months as that is peak season in the Caribbean. Alaska's peak season runs through August into September. After that certain ships are repositioned to other regions for the different seasons, such as Alaska to the Caribbean. With only 11 ships in the fleet serving a global market, positioning is typically seasonal for best allocation to capitalize on the best market timing and cruising demand. This is common among many cruise lines, in particular those with a limited fleet size. This is not as much of a concern with larger fleet cruise lines who, in the Caribbean in particular, will have ships postioned there year round. Keep in mind as well that hurricane season runs through November 30, which would still have HAL ships in the Caribbean exposed to a good portion of that.

You should. But there aren't always group or other cruise line TA promo fares for every cruise so don't be discouraged if it doesn't immediately or always happen with your chosen itinerary. But when there are such fares they will have access to them. Often it may be a group fare that they or their agency are sponsoring.

Actually the refundable deposit option and the non-refundable deposit option both are available with Always to include wifi and beverage package, or Standard which is cruise only. You are correct that a TA will have access to lower non-published group rates, but depending on the fare structure they can be with or without packages included. They typically would be refundable deposits, however, but not necessarily exclusively.

It's not just Celebrity that has this policy. But regardless, what you are describing as a fee is an increase in base fare - there is one fare base with non-refundable deposits, and another fare base with refundable deposits. And that varies by ship and itinerary, but it is certainly a significant amount. There are a number of documented reasons why cruise lines have adopted this policy, and we may not like or agree with it. But it is what it is. But it remains a choice and maybe the cost of losing a deposit through a cancelation, or paying a fee for a change, with a non-refundable deposit is less than the cost differential in the fare with a refundable deposit. That is the choice that needs to be made. Also, one advantage of a refundable deposit fare is that it can be changed to a non-refundable fare prior to final payment at the then prevailing fares. That can mitigate the fare differential in many cases.

I believe it just has to do with who is listed first on the reservation in terms of emails, etc., or which email you designate. And "primary" is to streamline communications, etc. IMO it means very little in terms of the reservation.

Just to clarify, the Diamond Club, now known as the Crown Lounge, is accessible to Diamonds and above. There may be some restriction on some ships to Diamonds based on the total number of Diamond+ and Pinnacles on board during the cocktail hours, but otherwise Diamonds have full access as well. At least that's how it was on our NYE cruise and for now..... And unfortunately in our experience, the machine has been inoperative almost as often as not - LOL.

It is until it isn't. If it fits your budget, buy it and if the price is lower later you can cancel and repurchase at no penalty up to 2 days prior to the cruise.

Excessive or not is in the eyes of those making their bookings. Call it what you wish but it is the increase in fare base to provide for a refundable deposit. It's been that way to some degree since the inception of the non-refundable deposit. If you want the unlimited flexibility provided by a refundable deposit you are going to pay a premium for it. It also is a choice. You don't have to book it if the math doesn't work for you. Nothing to complain about.

From the RCCL C & A benefits page regarding laundry services: 21_Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Club members receive $5 off the purchase of a $25 Dry Clean or Press service. 22_Receive a one-time discount off a $34.99 wash and fold laundry bag on 5+ night sailings. Platinum and Emerald members receive a $5 discount. Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Club members receive a $10 discount. Not as robust as Celebrity.

I was mainly reacting you what I interpreted as your comment indicating that D+ can reach Zenith - which they can't unless they earn those points independently - and that they "easily walk to the entrances of Zenith's door". I don't think having to complete at least 75 cruises with RCCL to reach Pinnacle from D+ is an "easy walk". I realize that the point systems are different and that it may take longer for an E+ to reach Zenith. And depending on category, such as Concierge or Aqua, it can take significantly less cruises. But both tier levels are quite hard to reach by way of non-suite staterooms. And BTW, RCCL also scales their non-suite staterooms with different pricing levels but does not scale the points with the categories. All non-suite staterooms are at the same point level, regardless of category. (As are all suite categories at the same point level). I also think the amount paid per category is irrelevant to the discussion, which is about parity in tier level reciprocity with the recent realignment. Not about how much it cost to get there. Lastly, I don't understand the "we versus they" mentality of much of the discussion. We are not "loyalty tiers", but rather are all cruising people who have invested a lot of time and money with the different cruise lines, many of us who have sailed both extensively over the years. IMO opinion having parity in tier reciprocity is rather benign and similar to both lines and should not define who we are a cruisers. It also is certainly not what drives me to Celebrity. Many of us cruise just for the enjoyment of both lines for different reasons at different times, and have done so for many years. I am, and have been, as much a Celebrity person as I am an RCCL person. JMO.

Yes. No reason not to have her on her own account. That way any earned loyalty perks are issued to both stateroom cards for individual use rather than shared through your account. She also will accrue cruise points independently as well. Also, you may be the first listed on the reservation but you are both seen equally on the booking.

I don't think it was exclusively Celebrity that did this. Keep in mind the parity also is with, and affected similarly with, RCCL It was a joint adjustment between RCCL and Celebrity, most likely driven by a decision from the parent company of both lines, Royal Caribbean Group, as it also touches Silversea.

Huh? Not so. Diamond+ can't become Zenith unless they earn all the points on Celebrity from ground zero to become Zenith. They can only become Pinnacle, and can only do so by earning the points to Pinnacle with RCCL. And there are still a lot of stairs to climb from D+ to Pinnacle. (525 nights at sea in a standard stateroom, or 75 - 7 night cruises to be exact, between D+ and Pinnacle) Then they share the reciprocal benefits of Zenith when sailing on Celebrity.