mandream
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Posts posted by mandream
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13 hours ago, cruiseerf said:
IF you booked Refundable deposit the lower rate must be a refundable deposit rate.....etc. We had booked a refundable deposit as it was same price at the time of non refundable. We got burned because only NON refundable deposit rates had gone down.
If you were willing to forgo the refundable deposit, you could have switched to get the lower non-refundable rate. They will let you switch from refundable to non-refundable at any time, but not vice-versa for obvious reasons.
Mike
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We usually book onboard to take advantage of the reduced deposit and minimal OBC. We then transfer to a TA to get additional OBC.
16 minutes ago, CNSfromHI said:Plus, honestly, we researched/booked this entire cruise online by ourselves. We felt resistant to talking directly to someone onboard about our next one who might pressure/up-sell us into something.
In my experience we never get any pressure / upsell attempts from either the onboard FC desk or Celebrity phone reps. We just tell them what we want and they book it. Simple as that.
Mike
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They often include it by default on new bookings, although they really should ask.
If you haven't made final payment, you can call and have it removed - but as stated previously having some travel insurance is a good idea.
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On 9/18/2022 at 9:52 PM, Alakegirl said:
this entire thread was based on a misunderstanding
Agree - this thread reminds me of an episode of Three's Company.
I wonder what Jack will overhear next at the Regal Beagle.
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1 hour ago, Tyler414 said:
On my March 2022 Apex cruise the basic water was in a 16oz aluminum twist off cap "can"
In August we started with twist off cans, then a couple days in, it switched to pop-top cans. My wife inquired at guest relations because these were really inconvenient for taking off ship since you can't close once opened. She ended up speaking to the Beverage manager who told us they were switching because people were cutting themselves on the twist off cans (don't know if the switch was temporary or permanent, just Constellation or fleetwide). As a thank you for reaching out we unexpectedly received a gift of a case of the twist off cans in our stateroom.
We found it kind of silly that people were cutting themselves on these - until it happened to our son on one of our gift cans. Still used them, were just extra extra careful.
Mike
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Doesn't the Celebrity policy still provide Cancel for Any Reason coverage? It's not 100% and a credit instead of cash, but possibly better than nothing if still offered.
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In most cases you can use the Carrier record locator they give you (which is different than the FBC record locator) to check your flights directly on the airline website.
Mike
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2 hours ago, GORDONCHICK said:
In the past, I've requested a plate of steamed veggies on X. I don't know if they will still do this, but I also need veggies. It was usually steamed broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and maybe something else like pea pods or green beans. Does anyone know if they will still do this?
Absolutely.
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2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:
Yes there is a childrens menu and chicken strips are on it.
There is a kids menu, but I don't believe chicken fingers / strips are on it.
You can find it here:
https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/camp-at-sea/kids-menu
and picture here:
and this matches my recollection from our cruise last month.
That said, the dining room staff are very accommodating and can almost certainly make chicken fingers happen if your kids aren't able to find anything else they will eat.
Mike
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17 hours ago, Virginia100 said:
No fee change was ever discussed. FBC emailed JB with the new flights we agreed on and gave me a request number. When I also called Jet Blue to change they only would do the change immediately if I paid a $50 per person to move the reservation from FBC to ownership by JB. Not very happy about that too.
Thanks for the update. Let us know how it turns out.
Mike
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Does cancelling a person require re-pricing at current rates?
Mike
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On 9/11/2022 at 11:09 AM, Virginia100 said:
Well, early this morning I got a notice on my Jet Blue return flight from San Juan on 11/12 having changes. Oddly though it did not identify the change nor which flights. I went on Jet Blue app to see. I could see my return flight changed from 2:30 pm to 9:00 am, over a 5 hour difference. The app didn’t identify the change as a change. I had to call Flights By Celebrity to discuss the “new” flight was obviously too early. As explained FBC could not just change the booking immediately but send a formal request to Jet Blue for the flight change we agreed on due to the airlines change. This was necessary to protect my pricing and would take about a week to get resolved. Just seems odd it can’t be immediately changed in this circumstance. I’ll see how this works out by the end of the week.
Something similar to us happened a few months back. We originally had a connecting Flight to Europe with a comfortable layover. AA changed one of the flights giving us only 1 hour to make the connection. I called FbC to see if they could change to a direct flight given the reduced connection time. The direct flight was more expensive, so they had to check with the airline to see if they would accommodate for the same price. They did and we were very happy.
This all happened before final payment, so there was never any question of the separate FbC change fee. But now I wonder (because I am about to make final payment for a Dec cruise) - if the airline changes the flight and I am not happy with the new flight and ask FbC to change again - will they charge the change fee?
@Virginia100 - I assume they didn't mention a change fee to you since it isn't in your post - but was this ever discussed?
Mike
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@roger b Just wanted to say thank you for all your help. We just returned home this week and had a wonderful cruise - including a very nice time in Palma and Soller thanks to you.
Mike
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On 7/26/2022 at 12:19 AM, roger b said:
Hj,
Yes your plan would be the best way round , but everything would have to fall into place Taxis are in short supply here and you would have to make sure you were one of the first off the ship.
if you are able to make it to Port de Soller by 9 .30/10.00 am you will have to get the 12.15 train back to Palma you won't make the 10.15.
This will give you plenty of time in for light lunch and a walk around Palma .
I wrote about this earlier (mandream) but they wanted lunch in Soller .
You are right your plan is better to get the 12.15 and have lunch in Palma it looks like he is on the same cruise as you see if you can share the taxi
Not on the same ship, but similar times in Port. We're on the Constellation rather than the Edge.
You make a good point that the real issue with our plan hinges on lunch in Soller. That actually isn't a requirement - only I saw you had recommended Cafe Soller I checked their website and seemed like a good choice for both my kids (ages 10 and 11) and my wife who is vegan. Lunch in Palma would make things easier.
Soooo...... do you have any recommendations for a good restaurant in Palma that would have vegan options? Less concerned about the kids as they can be more flexible but my wife is strictly vegan.
Thanks again for all your help.
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14 minutes ago, jelayne said:
AA won’t allowed me to select seats until, the reservation. Is ticketed which won’t happen until final payment.
Also, my flights weren't ticketed until about 3 weeks before travel date - but I've read you can call FBC and ask them to ticket them sooner (I assume, but am not sure only after payment has been made).
Mike
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14 minutes ago, jelayne said:
AA won’t allowed me to select seats until, the reservation. Is ticketed which won’t happen until final payment.
Have you called FBC? We have a December flight on AA that I reserved seats for when I booked a month ago. I can't do it online (and did not try calling AA) but FBC was able to do it and I see the flights when I log into my AA account.
Same is true for my AA flight to Barcelona that leaves this week. Made the reservations (including seats) the day flights opened up for the dates which was (I believe) 331 days before.
Mike
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3 hours ago, Homosassa said:
She was mad because MSC refused to compensate her for the missed specialty dining reservation and the damage to their various electronic, clothing and other belonging (plus they were forced to move from their balcony cabin to an inside cabin for their last night on board).
Yeah, that sounds about right 🙄.....
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38 minutes ago, lienf said:
If we book to pay for airfare at time of final payment, can we book seats before that?
Depends on the airline. I have had no problem reserving seats immediately after or at time booking with Amercian and United. Sometimes I could do it myself on the airline website, sometimes FBC needed to do it.
Some airlines won't allow seat selection until flights are ticketed (or later depending on airline seat policy).
Mike
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20 hours ago, roger b said:
Hi Mike,
Yes this is a bit difficult with the time you have and taxis back from Soller are luck of the draw at this busy time.
Renting a car is not the same as the main experience of the the train journey also very expensive if you can get one, car rentals are in short suppy here .
My best advice is get the bus or a taxi to Port de Soller around 8 TO 8.30am, then you will have time to have a coffee and walk along the seafront.
Take the tram back to Soller and explore the village have lunch around 12/12.30pm then get the train back to Palma .
Trains run on time and you shoud have no trouble getting a seat as this an early time to return.
Roger
19 hours ago, roger b said:Further to above when you get to Port de Soller go to the tram station in the middle of the seafront and book your seat back to Palma.
Thank you very much.
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We will be in Palma on July 31. We would like to do the train and have lunch at Cafe Soller but not sure our schedule will really allow. We arrive at 7:00am and the ship leaves at 4:00 pm. The earliest train would have us arrive at 11:10 and we would need to leave at 2 to arrive back at 3.
Is less than 3 hours enough time to spend - including lunch?
I suppose we could take the bus there earlier, and return by train correct? I believe that would be the #204 and that it takes 30min.
Is the return train reliable? If we are there on time, are we guaranteed to get on it? The timing feels a little tight to to me.
Would we be better off renting a car and skipping the train so we can come and go when we please? Are the views by car similar?
Appreciate any advice you can offer.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
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On 7/3/2022 at 1:12 PM, talljules1 said:
1. I checked frequently after bidding. My max bid, which was >$1100 pp remained the max bid.
Wow. On our cruise at the end of the month the MINIMUM bid for moving to RS is $3,000pp.
No thanks - we'll keep our corner FV (M Class).
Mike
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22 minutes ago, Kate8888 said:
Does anyone know more about this? Or have a link to a policy document or anything?
We have a cruise on the Apex booked in August (Norway) with our 12-month-old, and do not want to go on excursions. We just want to explore the ports by ourselves for a bit in between his nap times. I was not aware of this rule and would have never booked with celebrity if I had known this. So hopefully it really is their policy that with children under two you can get off the ship without an excursion, but so far I can't find anything about it.This would more likely be dictated by the policies of each country in question rather than Celebrity.
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On 7/11/2022 at 6:59 PM, GateGuardian said:
Is it a $500 credit? I thought it was just a sale that you can save up to $500? I checked for my cruise in September and it looks like it's just a small discount on economy flights.
Correct - just a discount. But we saved about $200 per ticket for our family of 4 - so it was considerable savings in total.
Mike
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On 7/6/2022 at 8:23 AM, wrk2cruise said:
T&C from the current promo looks like $200 pp discount for Caribbean but must be paid for at time of booking so no advantage of waiting until final payment.
Airfare Offer: Airfare Offer applies to all guests in the stateroom on any category on an Offer Cruise and provides $100 to $500 USD off market economy airfare rates per person, on flights from all North American gateways purchased on Flights by Celebrity only (“Air Credit”). Air Credit is per person and varies by cruise destination; $100 pp for Mexico Riviera, Canal, Coastal, Bermuda and Transatlantic sailings; $200 pp for Caribbean and Alaska sailings; $300 pp for, South America, Australia sailings; $500 pp for Europe sailings. To redeem, guest must book Offer Cruise during the Offer Period on celebrity.com or contact their travel professional and book flights on flightsbycelebrity.com. Cruise booking number is required to purchase air travel. Full payment of airfare required at time of booking. Airfare Offer is only available on select airlines, routes, and fare types
Although that is what the T&C say, that hasn't been my experience. I just used FBC to book air on several cruises both 3 weeks ago and last week - the prices were significantly lower than booking direct with the airline (as above the red strike through price matched airline pricing) and the pay later (e.g. @ final payment) option was available.
I used to avoid FBC, but the recent deals (including flights I booked almost 11 months ago for a cruise that leaves this month) have been too good to pass up.
Mike
Non-refundable deposit
in Celebrity Cruises
Posted
There is a difference between cancelling and moving to a different sailing.
If you have a non-refundable deposit and you cancel - you lose it. If you move to a different sailing, there is a $100pp change fee and the rest of the deposit can be used on the new sailing.
Rules were different with cruise with confidence, so that may have been in effect when you were able to change with no added fee. Or an exception was made.
Mike