dreams_of_travel

Yes, I bid on a regular balcony, and won a mini suite. I have no explanation how that happened, but it will be nice to have the extra space and couch.

I placed a bid eons ago to move from an Oceanview/midship, to a balcony on the Crown leaving on Tuesday. Today I got an email about getting approved for a mini suite, not quit forward but not quite mid ship. Bid was $300/person. Very happy about this.

My first visit to Sydney I did use the HOHO bus. It was a great overview, and worked for us being jet lagged but still wanting to see things. It also gives an idea of how far it is to some of the places you'd like to go back to using the public transit. It does go to popular sights, and have frequent enough next buses to catch after you are done. I have not gotten to use the ferry in my last two visits, but I do plan on using them for my trip in November.

I have been very impressed with their communication and timeliness and anticipate that we will be just as happy upon our arrival. I'm curious about this. Does this mean they have extras? Or does this mean only that you and few other people are covered, but nothing available after that?

There are plenty of little shops along the way to the Mountain. It would be easy to pick up a sandwich/snacks after getting off the ship.

I was in Singapore in January. We used the Hop On/Hop Off bus to get around. The Gardens are free except for the special exhibits. (To be fair we were too tired to do much b/c we had just finished a 2 week trip in Australia/NZ, but we did enjoy the famous food hall, and seeing an overview of the city via the bus) We got off the bus near the Merlion, and walked back to our hotel next to Suntec City mall. We did not get over to Sentosa, so I can't comment on that.

Thank you. I will definitely check into this, and let you know how it worked out. It looks like your cruise is about a week after mine.

Super bummed to read of Blue Bus not being able to run to Mendenhall. This had been my plan for my cruise at the end of this month. Of course, all the cruise ship excursions are sold out. Not sure of an alternative that will work for us, I don't fancy walking from the public bus stop to the Visitor center. *sigh*

I'll have to try that. Hopefully it will work for me, and others.

Nopeity nope nope to vaping. The smell of the vapor due to the "flavor" used is awful, and nauseating. I don't like being in anyone's vapor even when I'm outside. On a Celebrity cruise transfer bus I "caught" a woman vaping on the bus. I was sitting behind her, and clearly saw her try to duck down, and then slowly blow out her vapor. I very loudly called her out about "smoking" on the bus. She told me I didn't see anything, and didn't know what I was talking about. I was so surprised that no on else, let alone the driver said anything. ALSO as a former smoker, I understand the addiction is a real thing, but you can't go on a 20min bus ride without needing your fix?!? I don't go into the casino often, but vaping in there would definitely not make me want to in the future. I do not know what they are thinking to allow any vaping when smoking is not allowed. I do wonder how many people already vape in their cabins.

Going forward, I would be more likely to book a cruise that is giving me double MOBC. That way I wouldn't feel like I am missing out on my SOBC. LOL! I didn't get the email, so I appreciate the linked post above. Playing around with the link, I see that one of my current bookings is one of those offering the double MOBC. I suppose they want me to call to get that applied. If so, I am not bothering b/c I already have both SOBC and MOBC applied, so there is little point to go through the hassle. They would likely take away the SOBC. In related news, I was looking at various offerings via that link, and found a 14 day, as a solo, for $1800/something, and there seems to be a glitch in regards to the MOBC. In the little OBC box, it shows $100 OBC, $500 MOBC, AND another $250 MOBC. So basically I could book this cruise, w/o Princess Plus, and get $850 OBC. So. Very. Tempted. LOL!

Interesting read @Ken the cruiser but I am still foggy about how paying for a cruise with a gift card suddenly can become "lost money", and not refundable. I need to know what the part in #2 means cannot be returned for a cash refund, except to the extent required by law. What law, and where does it explain what happens with your money from the gift card? Why are gift cards this type of thing that won't be refunded, or somehow not saved as a future cruise credit for use? All this makes me not want to cruise Celebrity again, let alone pay for a cruise with a gift card. What regular person would think to read all this fine print, and then find out their gift card used to pay some of a refundable cruise fare is totally lost. This is so many levels of not cool, I almost can't comprehend it. YMMV I suppose I should fully read the verbiage on the Princess gift cards to make sure there isn't some sort of insanity over there too. (except I have used Princess gift cards before, and had them refunded when having to cancel a cruise. And the big one for me, knowing I can use a gift card to put down a deposit for a new cruise.)

I want to thank @HaveDogWillTravel for starting this thread. I never would have submitted my SOBC requests for next year's cruises so early without this thread. It would seem that acting early before the new rule was applied paid off for getting both SOBC and MOBC on my cruises. I did take pics of each cruise's OBC list just in case their IT messes things up.

Thank you for that info. I was hoping that would be the case. I'll give it a try next month. @LeeW I am aware of what OBC, and the various types, and if they are refundable etc. I had not had an OBC promoted as for a shore excursion that's why I asked about it. Your post has a lot of info that will be helpful for this forum's readers. Always good to share info.

I've got a cruise coming up that has OBC designated for a shore excursion. How strict are they about using it ONLY for an excursion? I don't have anything booked yet, but the Alaska cruise is end of next month, so I know I am probably looking at slim pickings. Any data points would be appreciated. (I did try to do a search, but apparently my terms "OBC+shore+excursion didn't turn up anything.)

That's a little bit better than what you are originally (incorrectly) told, but not by much. I do not understand how a refundable cruise, meaning you could cancel and get it refunded, doesn't have a proper mechanism in place to make it truly refundable with GCs. I don't blame you for choosing to not continue buying the Celebrity gift cards. It would make me wary of the whole process.

True, you really didn't have a choice, sadly. I wonder what the truth is with the gift cards. Seems a bit crazy to offer an option to use them, and then not offer a refund option. I hope we get some clarity about this at some point. Meanwhile, July is coming, and I will be buying more Princess GC (which in the past can be refunded to the original GC) to pay off my 2024 Princess cruises. LOL!

That seems quite sketchy. How can they legally NOT refund any of the GC funds? If there is no method of returning the funds to the GCs, fine, and another type of funds should be available for you to use in the future. They cannot just take the GC money, and keep it. That just sounds like some made up stuff right there, and illegal. I am truly concerned, and shocked all at the same time. I currently have no Celebrity cruise/s booked, but if I did, and had considered buying discounted GCs, I would be quite hesitant. I really hope them keeping the GC money without a chance of refund is not correct.

As previously posted in this thread, I submitted SOBC requests for three 2024 cruises. Military OBC is automatic as most in this thread know. Two SOBC posted almost immediately, but one, that is part of a back to back, and a travel agent booked cruise did not post. I was going to resubmit the request for the missing SOBC but had procrastinated, as one does, LOL! Before resubmitting I decided I should check the missing SOBC cruise. Voila! It has posted. Yay! To recap, all three of my 2024 cruises now have both MOBC and SOBC posted. Now I (and everyone is this thread) wait to see how things shake out on/after 29 June. *fingers crossed* that both stick.

Your comment made me laugh. Handy dandy indeed. LOL! I use my cellphone in my own home as well as when I'm on a cruise ship. Much better to use it when not wanting to disturb your cabin mate than lights that seem to switch on at will. My last Princess cruise, on the Crown, the toe kick lights kept going off randomly the first night. I think it was the comforter that somehow would trigger the light. We stuffed a towel in the toe kick space after that. That would have been a smart choice. Give the passenger a choice on when the light comes on. Often I find that the cruise ship/cabin designers have no clue how frequent cruisers use the space/s they design. Not Princess, but another line has beautiful cabins that are not functional for more than one passenger even though it is a two person cabin.

Absolutely! The younger crowd may not be willing to sail as often, and/or spend for extras, especially with a family. To be fair, I don't often spend on extras when I cruise but that doesn't mean I don't ever splurge. I guess that may not be enough for my demographic.

Data Point/Update: As I posted earlier, I sent in my shareholder OBC request for my three 2024 cruises this morning. Two out of the three have posted. No idea why the middle cruise did not get the SOBC. The only thing I can think of is that that one is a Travel Agent booked cruise. I'll resend the missing one in the morning, just in case the three separate emails sent in quick succession somehow confused someone. My MOBC is currently intact across the same three cruises. Now i guess I wait until the 29th of June, and see what happens.

In a Hail Mary attempt, I've sent in my share statement for my 3 cruises in 2024. I'll report back if the SOBC is applied (I already have my MOBC attached), and if the SOBC sticks after the 29th of June. I think this is the farthest out I have requested SOBC. In reply to some of the above comments, I have not gotten official notification about MOBC or SOBC changes either. If I were not a reader of Cruise Critic I'd have been none the wiser to this supposed upcoming change. Their upcoming changes like this or to Loyalty benefits that are "quietly" implemented is not a good PR move for Princess. YMMV

Same re: living in a small town with limited street lights. And using phone for lighting if needed at night. I like things dark to sleep. I cruised on the Crown last November, and I stuffed a towel in the side table toe kick area to stop that light. The closet light is a new to me thing, so I will be figuring that out in July, also on the Crown. I am bringing painters tape to assist with achieving no randomly turning on lights.

Good to know, but ugh! to this change. I was fully counting on being able to have both OBC for my cruises next year, especially since I did not book Princess Plus. 😡 My travel friend doesn't drink, so when booking thought cruise only was best.