PartyAllDaTyme

You'd be fine, IMO. Enjoy the cruise!

My personal experience is that whenever I've purchased an upgrade I received the points associated with the upgrade. The Suite price was actually less than my Concierge for my last Adriatic cruise so I move to the Sky Suite at no additional cost. Received the Sky Suite points for that cruise. Now there's a wrinkle in the system. If Celebrity offers you a complementary upgrade you may not receive the higher points. Another wrinkle: if you receive a free cruise you do not get points. However, if you pay for any upgrade you do. Confusing? That's Celebrity.

Thanks, that was my understanding. If you're paying for a suite, you're paying for a suite and all that it entails, including points. It should not make a difference what your previous arrangements were. I thought it would be a good idea to clarify it for others.

Also important to note that if originally book for example a CC cabin, then after payment is made upgrade to a Sky suite, you will only get points for a CC cabin.

Is this a new policy since the conversion system ? We have upgraded a couple times as well after final payment when Aqua dropped in price. Last time was Oct 13 just before conversion, and we have always received the extra point for Aqua.

I understand that if you receive a free upgrade, you're not going to get any additional points-- it's the category you purchased, not the category you sailed in. But if you purchase an upgrade, it should count.

Can any more experienced cruisers confirm you do not get the additional points if you purchase an upgrade?

I'm sure the problem with a bucket of beers is potential drink-sharing, and let's not get started on that, just note that it's a no-no as far as Celebrity is concerned. I like the idea of grabbing an unopened beer and stockpiling it, but the refrigerators are really more like coolers. I'm thinking of taking along a small ice chest on wheels as luggage and just asking the steward to top off the ice occasionally.

Sometimes it's amazing what we have to go through to enjoy a cruise the way we would like to:rolleyes:;):cool:.

You can do it in Concierge class, so I imagine you can do it in Aqua Class.

Does trip interruption cover hurricanes?

Cover what? Most cruises just change the itinerary to avoid the weather...no on ensures that you will visit every port on your itinerary. If you are looking for some other hurricane coverage, just pick a policy and see how it's covered. Most likely, if it is covered, it's trip delay, not trip interruption.

 

If you want to cancel because you are worried about a hurricane, then get a policy with a cancel for any reason coverage...which costs significantly more.

I work for one of the large travel insurance providers. ghstudio is essentially correct. Speaking generally with regard to hurricanes (the language on policies can vary widely), it would cover for trip cancellation or interruption only if it causes a cruise to be completely cancelled or delayed.

It might also cover a destination being made uninhabitable by a hurricane within 30 days of arrival (but not more than 30 days, and not if a named hurricane is already churning when the policy is purchased which ends up being the problem), but that doesn't much apply to cruisers, unless we're talking about a pre- or post-cruise hotel stay.

It cannot cover for the fear a hurricane may cause a problem, only if it actually does. It won't cover itinerary changes-- if you got a cruise, you got a cruise. CFAR (Cancel For Any Reason) coverage typically requires you to cancel no later than 48 hours before you leave home, and is for less than 100% of the insured trip cost-- usually between 50% and 75%. And, yes, it costs significantly:eek: more.

My philosophy is this-- if the price is acceptable to you, book the cruise and get the cabin you want. Be prepared to pay that amount. If the price drops and is not part of a New Bookings Only (NBO) special, celebrate your good fortune. If the price rises, celebrate your good fortune at having locked in the lower price. If the price drops and it is part of a NBO special, celebrate someone else's good fortune and realize that the law of supply and demand just didn't work in your favor this time.

If the price drops after final payment and is not part of a NBO special, see if you are able to and want to switch to a better cabin for the same or lower price, or possibly pay a bit more. Otherwise, celebrate the fact that you can take a cruise at all when most of the world's population cannot afford to. And celebrate that you didn't have to pay higher last-minute airfare.

Personally, I'm just happy that cruise lines allow you to hold cabins with a deposit and will honor price drops at all. Try that with an airline. Maybe there are some special plans out there, but for the most part you pay the going rate at the time you book, and that's all there is to it.

I am a nurse do you need mouth to mouth LOL

HeLLOOOOOOOO NURSE!:D:cool::eek:;)

Keep posting this and Celebrity and RCI will stop it as they do read and monitor Cruise Critic.:rolleyes:

LOL, Seems like something they would want to discourage to me.

OK, from now on, mum's the word!:cool:

It also used to be a great way to rack up credit card points. I remember some posts here that people would take out thousands in the casino as it shows as a charge not a cash advance and then just use the cash when they got home to pay back the card.

Hmmm... if I bought myself an OBR using my Celebrity Visa card, then put another card on file for my SeaPass account, the unused credit would go back to that card. I could then use that card to pay off the Celebrity Visa. I get double points because it's an RCCL purchase.

What's wrong with this picture? Probably something in the card rules preventing it.

That does not make sense to me, and when I read what you wrote I believe you are somewhat skeptical. Basically X is saying "you must spend your OBC on our products. No cash refund." But if you go to the casino you can get a cash refund. Even if you buy chips you could just turn around and cash them in. At least you get 97% of your unused OBC back in cash.

I guess it is a topic for a new thread.:confused:

No need for a new thread, this has been discussed many times before. It's a perfectly legitimate way of getting back any OBN (nonrefundable onboard credit) that you may have left over at the end of the cruise, albeit at a 5% penalty.

My understanding is that, originally, you could get cash from the casino without penalty, charging it to your SeaPass account. People figured out that this was a way of avoiding ATM fees for cash advances, and they added the 3% penalty to discourage the practice. This was apparently not enough of a deterrent, so they upped it to the current 5%.

As Larry said, OBN gets used up first, so if you have any expenses at all, there's not much that will be left. If you didn't have to prepay gratuities because you have Select dining, that'll take care of most if not all of it. OBR (refundable onboard credit) comes back to your credit card tied to your SeaPass account, so no reason to use it up.

OBN is credit you received from Celebrity-- e.g., booking bonus, shareholder credit. OBR is from outside sources-- e.g., travel agent, gift from family.

A masterful storytelling, and I'm long-winded myself.

We had similar problems on our last sailing, though batteries were not the culprit. We had two additional key cards made for the benefit of DD and her SO across the hall from us in an inside cabin so they could come over to our cabin and enjoy the balcony. I can't remember the specifics, but we had the key cards not working, DD and SO's SeaPass cards not working, DW's card not working, my card not working, and various combinations thereof. It came down to confusion about the number of cards, who's card was supposed to be doing what, and if they were next to a cellphone. Always the same young lady at Guest Services (when DO they sleep?) trying to help. A bit exasperating, but a mere four trips to Guest Services finally straightened it out. We chuckled about it. Of course, it didn't happen in the middle of the night, either.

Your Refundable and Nonrefundable got my head Spinning.:confused::confused::confused:

Yeah, it's not exactly intuitive, is it? It took me a while to wrap my head around it.

Be a little cautious about evacuation & repatriation...that's another area to read the policy before you need it. Most all policies will cover evacuation from the point of injury/illness to the nearest hospital/medical facility that can handle the emergency. It's the next step getting home (or to a facility near home) that is an issue in some/many policies. The key is who has to agree to what before the insurance company pays for a flight home (or to the facility).

 

Most policies require that the doctor in the foreign medical facility agree that they can not adequately treat you and/or recommend that you transport home medically. The insurance company (generally not a doctor, per reports) has to also agree that the flight home is necessary. Until those two reach an agreement, you are stuck in that foreign hospital. Warning: you may not like the way they want to treat your problem, but if the foreign hospital says they can treat it...you are going to be treated in that hospital. That's a big big worry for some (including me). I want to go where they really know what they are doing and using the latest techniques and treatments.

 

Enter Medjet Assist...and before I go on, I have no affiliation with them...I am just a traveller who relies on them...as does National Geographic who insures all of their remote people with Medjet..and so on). Here's the big difference.

 

With medjet, you request to be transported home or to some medical facility of your choice. The doctor in the remote hospital has to agree that you are stable enough to travel (with a physician at your side, if necessary) and that you need further treatment. That's it.... You notice, no statement of "we can handle it"...and no insurance company agreeing that transport is medically necessary to handle your problem. If you want to go to the Mayo clinic for further treatment, you tell medjet....they establish that you are stable enough to fly and they set up the transport. (there are checks in there to assure you aren't cheating, of course).

 

I recommend medjet assist to anyone travelling overseas, especially to countries or areas where medical help is perhaps not up to your standards. Buy it in addition to your travel insurance...all it does is handle transportation, it doesn't cover all the other travel insurance things. BTW...don't get the other medjet offerings which actually don't include medjet assist (hard as it is to believe)....just get medjet assist (and buy it through AARP for a discount).

 

Even if you don't get the medjet, do yourself a favor and closely read the terms on flying you home from a hospital somewhere abroad.

 

Travel insurance is a business---travel insurance companies are quite careful to limit their exposure and maximize profit.

 

While I'm at it...another area to read carefully is what's covered if your ship breaks down during the voyage. Most policies DON'T cover it, including the policy that celebrity itself sells. If your ship breaks down and you have to pay more for hotels and changing airfares, you will be on your own..no insurance coverage other than perhaps, if you are lucky, trip delay insurance which is usually limited to $500 or so per person.

 

BTW...some of this is from first hand experience...I now read insurance policies very carefully.

I strongly recommend upgrades that are available on the better policies for "Hospital of Choice"-- it doesn't usually add that much to the premium. If medical evacuation is necessary, you might be airlifted to the closest hospital that can get you stabilized, but once you're able to continue, you can come all the way home, or to the Mayo Clinic, or wherever you want to go.

Emergency medical evacuation is only if warranted-- if the doctor on the scene says it's necessary. However, our medical department (correct, no doctors, but the staff has a minimum of six months training before they're allowed to take calls) has been known to overrule the doctor if it's apparent that the health care is not adequate.

As far as mechanical breakdown, it's not generally covered under trip cancellation/interruption unless it were to cause a loss of at least half the trip length. In other words, if a ship couldn't leave port for 4 days of a 7 day cruise, the interruption benefit would apply-- you could leave the cruise, come home early, and be reimbursed for the portion you lost out on of the cruise as well as additional transportation expenses. The thing is that a delay like that which would wipe out half the cruise would be extremely uncommon. It's more intended for someone taking a short trip, say 4 days, and mechanical problems with an airline causes a 48 hour delay. Not all policies have this as a covered reason.

If you're late getting to the disembarkation port due to common carrier delay (and that includes cruise lines), it would give benefits for trip delay (typically $100 - $200 per person per day up to maximums of $500 - $1000) or missed connections ($0, $250, $500 or $1000 per person, depending on the plan). Trip delay can be used for meals and lodging, missed connections for alternate transportation and/or reimbursement of a prepaid trip cost.

The comment about travel insurance being a business is correct, of course. I can tell you our company has an operating philosophy of paying on claims if at all possible to encourage repeat business, which helps maximize the ol' profits. Some claims just can't be paid-- the woman who said she had to cancel because her horoscope said she shouldn't travel was disappointed. But they do look for reasons to pay claims, often ones that the claimaint hasn't thought of. I'd love to mention the name of the company, but I feel it falls under the same heading as travel agents shilling for business. In deference to the Cruise Critic policy, I'll withhold the name.

I also add a Umbrella to cover Evacuations & Repatriation when traveling out of the county. Being I am booking so far out I guess this could also be added around final payment too?

It may depend on the policy or company, but you should be able to add the umbrella coverage later.

I think it would be helpful if you posted your company's definition of a pre-existing condition.....and perhaps use my example...blood thinner, no change in medication for 2 years, no special visit to the doctor. Would a medical emergency due to something like internal bleeding (relatively common with blood thinners) be covered (theoretically, of course)?

PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITION EXCLUSION:

Pre-existing condition clauses are there to inspire you to pay when you book and then you find that if you cancel the trip, you don't get your insurance payment back. Now for some, it's very important....but for most, it's just a scare tactic because according to the policy you do not have a pre-existing condition.

It's true that many people think they have a pre-existing medical condition when they really don't. The way I describe it to customers is if they've had to see a doctor in the last (60-180, depending on the policy) days and were diagnosed or treated for something, or if they had symptoms that most people would have recognized as something they should have seen a doctor for, or had a change in a routine medication they take, they have a pre-existing condition. If someone had a heart attack seven months ago, but haven't needed any treatment in the last six months, that's not a pre-existing condition.

Two things to consider, though, is that family members can have pre-ex conditions, and if someone has to cancel because a family member became deathly ill, they would need the pre-ex coverage. My in-laws are in their 80's; I can't keep track of their visits to the doctor. I just assume they have pre-ex conditions. The second thing is that even if someone doesn't have a pre-ex condition to worry about when they pay their deposit, if they wait until something serious happens, now they have a pre-ex condition and it will then be too late to get coverage, or at least it will eliminate most plans. You could get a basic plan that doesn't offer coverage for pre-ex if you don't need it, and you don't have to purchase it within 21 days, but you're running a risk that someone may become sick or injured before the policy is purchased. Better to get it right away.

I work for one of the major travel insurance companies. With our company, you can purchase insurance for a particular cruise, and modify the policy to reflect new travel dates if your plans change. If you need (or think you need) coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, it must be purchased within the timeframe specified in the policy (typically 15 or 21 days) of when the first money was paid towards the trip, so if you pay a deposit, that's your first payment, even though it may not be for the trip you were originally planning on taking.

To qualify for the pre-ex waiver, you need to fully insure all nonrefundable prepaid trip costs. However, there's no need to insure the full cost of the cruise, just the deposit (and any other nonrefundable costs that have been paid prior to purchasing the policy). Subsequent nonrefundable prepaid trip costs, such as final payment, need to be added on to the policy within the same time frame as you had to purchase in the first place. That way, you don't have to pay a premium for a $6000 cruise when you end up changing it to a $4000 cruise.

Why insure a refundable deposit right away? Because of the timeframe that nonrefundable trip costs must be insured by to get pre-ex coverage, and that refundable deposit will become nonrefundable after final payment is due. The language refers to the date it's paid, not when it becomes nonrefundable. If you didn't insure it right away and had to cancel before final payment, you'll get the deposit back (assuming you don't roll it over to another cruise), but if you do go, that deposit would have needed to have been insured within the time frame.

Our company does allow a policy to be cancelled if the trip is cancelled. After 15 days, the credit would usually not be directly back to the credit card, but is in the form of a voucher that can be used within the next two years, and would be less the processing fee (less than $10). The voucher must be used in full-- if there's money left over after purchasing the next policy, the excess is forfeit. I think it's just better to keep rolling the policy over until you find a cruise (or other trip) that meets your needs.

Here's the link to the post on the S-Class cabin sticky that reviews this cabin.

As far as the dumbest thing they've ever been asked, my DD's BF called up RCCL and asked if they had to stay in their cabins while the ship was moving!! She, who has been cruising since she was 4 months old, almost died of embarrassment!!

And seat belts must remained fastened, with trays and seats in the full upright position.

Just after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we were told that Xpedition had cancelled their scheduled stop in Labadee. We were on Solstice and were the first Celebrity ship scheduled to call on Labadee. We did make the stop and brought in food, clothing, medicine and water which was trucked to Port au Prince. Xpedition stayed in the Galapagos.

Oh, yeah, and it's one of the reasons I use a pic of myself. It's handy if I'm trying to hook up with people from our roll call that I've never met before. The main reason is I think it's cool-- on the bridge of Ruby Princess, sitting in the captain's chair, wearing his hat, security hasn't shown up yet...:rolleyes::D:eek:

I only brought it up because if you do a search on this board with the word upsell I doubt it will come up very often as the word is not used that often on this board. Perhaps it is because Celebrity rarely does it. I did a search and the only time the word showed up was in this thread.

Maybe because people are incorrectly referring to an upsell as an upgrade?:rolleyes:

Whatever you call it, I agree it doesn't seem to happen much any more. It would seem to make sense from a business standpoint to do it-- maybe they had a low enough success rate with upsell calls that it didn't justify the labor and phone line cost.

I have yet to have someone explain to me why I need to prepay tips for my steward and Other Service Personnel (laundry, I think) because I have Select dining, other than they can't figure out how to make those funky computers work to separate out the costs. I've never had the situation where I didn't think the steward didn't deserve every penny and then some, but I'd like the option in case it ever happens. Either make gratuities mandatory for everyone or include it in to the basic fare. Of course, doing the latter will make it appear the cost of the cruise is more than a comparable cruise offered by a competitor who doesn't include it, so that's not going to happen.

Our first cruise is in May and we're really excited! I've read a lot of information here but still a little confused about tips. We have prepaid since we have Select Dining but from what I've read that's not enough and it's standard to tip everybody more. I keep reading "generously" or "very well" but I don't know what's actually expected, especially for our cabin steward. Will probably use room service a lot so do we tip him every time or wait until the end of the cruise (if it's our steward)? How do you tip baggage handlers at the end if you put your luggage in the hallway? Thanks in advance.

Nora, welcome to Cruise Critic!:)

It's customary to tip for room service, since it may not necessarily be your steward who brings the food, and you may not see that crewmember again. Figure a dollar or two for breakfast or lunch, five dollars for a full dinner. Otherwise, it's not necessary to tip beyond that unless someone goes above and beyond.

Having said that, we generally will tip the steward (and his/her assistant, they're supposed to share) an extra amount, since IMHO they are some of the hardest workers on the ship, and I've never failed to have one give us very personalized service. Extra for them will range from $25 to $50 for a weeklong cruise. I've heard that they also appreciate prepaid phone cards so they can stay in touch with their families. Some give a small gift that's representative of where they're from. I'd rather have the cash, myself.:rolleyes: