Bobby Dee

Is there such a thing? If there is what do you get?

 

I've never seen one, and I've sailed Concierge, Aqua Class, and Elite.

As far as what do you get, I think all you get is a shorter line for check in, and when the ship first opens up, the boarding is allowed in sections and those sections are based upon your "class", so you can call that "priority boarding"

Hi to all!

 

Has anyone else run into this problem? You look at the web site and say that's a great deal!! (say 565.00 pp).

 

You go along and order a drink package and $300.00 OBC

 

Next page your cost goes to $950.00 PP. They have nothing listed to warn you. So you will pay through the nose. For perks that before were complimentarily.

 

Big Bate & Switch going on.

 

I think what is confusing to me is the comments about the purchase of the drink package and OBC along with the cabin.

I looked at the pricing and the closest I can see is the inside cabin for $509. However, the inside cabin does not qualify for the additional perks. In other words, if you purchase an inside cabin and a drinks package, you have to pay extra for the drinks package. If however, you book an oceanview cabin on that sailing, starting at about $930, included in that price are two perks.

I think if you look at the website, you'll see above the pricing for each category "except the inside category", the comment that indicates a special offer.

Wow. I read the original post, did my research, and posted a response, and when I go back to see it, there are like two dozen other posts (okay, an maybe a couple less) with the same explanation.

You have made this statement several times. All the drinks in the WCB are not $15 unless the $15 includes the tip that is automatically added on select cruises. In those cases the upper limit is above the $15 so that they are included.

I agree. In January I was on Eclipse with a World Class Bar and at that time there were only two drinks on the menu which were above the limit for premium packages. All drinks on the menu were above the limits for the Classic package, and as it was just stated, with the classic package, any drinks above the limit are charged the full price, while with the premium package, any drinks above the limit are charged only the difference. This in my opinion, is a big selling point for the premium package.

My wife and I are elite plus and have the 2 hour happy hour (free drinks) but the drink choices aren't that good.I drink Johnny Walker Black but the HH choice is Dewars. As elite plus ,I get a 10% discount on any drink package and I can drink at one of the bars at any time instead of 5-7 at the HH happy hour.

I also am Elite but always get the premium package. One thing I'm not seeing in this thread is the benefit of having the "all inclusive experience" where you may get something to try and never have to think about deciding if you want to spend the money.

I don't know if I drink enough to make it financially beneficial, but I do feel like it's emotionally beneficial. Besides I pay for it far enough in advance that when I'm using it, I've already forgotten the cost and it feels free. :)

Does the Ultimate Dining Package include non-alcoholic coffee/espresso drinks at Al Bacio?

I think you are confusing a Dining Package with a Beverage Package. The beverage packages do include coffee/espresso drinks, some of the more elaborate alcoholic drinks are only available with the Premium Beverage package, but the type of coffees that you mentioned are included with the Classic Beverage package.

Dining Packages do not include drinks anywhere on the ships including in the specialty restaurants. These packages only include the cover charge for the restaurants.

Is there anyone who've been on one of these ships with actual experience following the conversion?

Reflection and Silhouette have the Porch which is not on other ships. When they opened, the paninis, previously available at Bistro on 5, were moved to the Porch. When Bistro was closed, are crepes now available at the Porch?

The first two S class ships, Solstice and Equinox, had an Asian Fusion restaurant, Silk Harvest, in the space that was converted to Qsine on the later ships. Has anyone heard of plans to convert Silk Harvest to Qsine fleetwide? And if not, is there a plan for Equinox to join Soltice in the Asian market in the near future?

I'm disappointed. I don't like Asian and I do like crepes. But I'm sure the numbers indicate that this move is accretive to the bottom line. It's all about what brings in the dollars. RCCL is not in business to please me, it's in business to please the stockholders.

Thanks for the quick replies

Suite and Aqua Class Guests travelling with friends who are in standard cabins may want to eat with those friends in the Main Dining Room. I assume that this is permitted, but want verification. And if necessary, what special arrangements need to be made?

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Espresso-based drinks, Tazo-type brand teas, and fresh squeezed OJ in the mornings are the things that are included in Ultimate and Replenish.

If you don't drink those things, don't worry about the packages that include them.

We went on Navigator last year and those coffee drinks were available 24 x 7 in the Diamond club. I'm going on Freedom in a couple of months, is it the same?

While I'm asking, I travel mostly on Celebrity, and with our Premium package, if we want to purchase a more expensive drink, like some of the single malt scotches and better wines, especially after dinner ports, we only have to pay the difference between the $12 max for the package and the cost of the drink. If you only have the "Classic" package, you have to pay the entire cost of any drink that the package doesn't cover. Are the rules similar on Royal Caribbean?

We received the Classic Pkg last year when we booked onboard. Our cruise is Eclipse January 5-10. Should we upgrade now or wait until we are on board? If we upgrade now, how do we do it?

 

Also, I can't remember how much obc we were given. How can I find this out? Travel agent gave some, we bought some with Visa points, and Celebrity gave us some.

Funny to see this question, because I'm on the same ship on the same sailing and because of the problems using the Celebrity web site, I was thinking about the same thing. Thank you to all who have answered, you've obviously helped twice as many people as you originally thought.

Seriously, I always have issues trying to upgrade using the website when I get a free package with a wave promo. The website doesn't seem to be able to get the prices right, or at least acts like it wants to charge me full price and I'm uncomfortable dealing with their computer.

The code used on Celebrity for a medical emergency is "Star Code" with a location. At least it was about a year ago.

WOW, it is not CCL ship, so not all over the news and interwebs, go figure!

Huh? I've been seeing reports on it for two days now. Fire was put out and they continued on their itinerary without delay. The pictures of the smoke looked impressive, but it is not impacting the operations at all.

I was particularly interested since I'm booked on the Freedom next April. Pleanty of time between now and then for clean up.

. The SS United States is the same menu and style of service as Muranos, Ocean Liners, Normandy, and the Olympic as the name varies depending on which ship you're on.

So, I guess the synchronized service, where multiple waiters come to the table and present the plates to all guests at the same time, is no longer there. It was the only ship I'd experienced it on, and I'd been to the Olympic twice prior and Muranos several times since. Like I said, it was years ago and many things have changed.

It has been about ten years since we sailed Infinity and ate at the SS United States restaurant. Since then much has changed but at that time it rated itself as my favorite specialty restaurant on any line. The service offered synchronized serving, and fantastic food. We were a party of four and all of us agreed that this was an outstanding experience. I am elite, so I've sailed X a lot as well as many other lines, and I've fallen in love with the S class ships, but I still have never had a better experience.

I've eaten at Qsine twice, once on Eclipse and once on Reflection; once with a party of two and once with a party of four. It was okay, but I would rather book Murano if I am only going to eat away from Blu once or twice a trip.

I guess if your cruise pricing has changed since booked....mine was still the same so no difference. Each person has to decide if rebooking at current rates make it worthwhile to get the promotion added. My cruise is in 2016 so pricing was still the same since I booked.

My cruise is in 2016 as well; it was a short 5 day trip and I had booked Aqua Class. I had my TA convert it to the new promo the day before yesterday at the same price. I noticed this morning that the price for Aqua class went up $100 per person overnight. The funny part is that Concierge Class was actually running $50 more than an Aqua Class.

This is one of the things that X does well, they allow differences even on sister ships. I sailed Equinox twice, Reflection once, and Eclipse once. I like them all, but found better service on Equinox. Silhouette is closest to the Reflection. Some things are better on each. I haven't experienced the Gastropub yet. These are just personal observations; I for one really liked the Sunset bar on Reflection better. I prefer Qsine better than Silk Harvest. I liked the Glass show. And I really hated the "ding dong room". You had to have sailed Reflection to understand that last comment.

You'll have a great time on any S class ship.

Can we, in USA, get ITV?

 

I have a lot of channels on Directv but can't find it.

It's not on Directv or any of the standard available cable services. I tried to get it on the internet and found that it required registration and a valid postal code. Unfortunately, it does not accept the postal codes in the US.

Don't do it. You'll never be satisfied with a plain balcony cabin again...

What is special about the "free style" machines and why would someone be interested in having one on their ship?

I ask this because I am going on NOS in a week and have the Replenish pkg, which I've never had before.

I saw a report on TV where they proffered the possibility that the norovirus could have been food borne and brought on board with Fish. In that case, everyone who ate the fish, who prepared the fish, who touched the ice that the fish was transported in, were subject to the illness, and then each person who became ill, was a carrier who would spread the illness.

I don't believe everything that I see on the news anymore, but it sounds plausible. I find it somewhat encouraging that CDC is on board to try to identify the problem. But then again, CDC is government, and I don't usually feel comfortable when someone shows up and says, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." :-)

The OP's question is about insurance, and I'm curious as well.

We all know that we have to sign the slip when we board that says that we haven't had any nausea or diarrhea. And I find it hard to believe that someone who woke up that morning with problems is going to admit it and cancel the cruise, not only for themselves, but for those travelling with them.

I guess the question is, if you do come down with GI or flu symptoms one or two days prior to sailing, are you going to get your thousands of dollars back if you are honest?

The free specialty coffee is only served in the Diamond section. However, if you are on a ship with a dedicated Diamond Lounge, stop by the lounge to get free specialty coffee on your way to breakfast.

I also am a "diamond virgin". I'm sailing the Navigator. Unless I've been misinformed, she will have a brand new Diamond lounge following the dry dock. Can you go to the Diamond lounge and get two lattes to bring back to the wife in the cabin? Of course, that is assuming that both of you are diamond, and perhaps you bring her card with you.

On our Dec 15 cruise we were told that they don't exchange the bottle anymore. We have exchanged it on past cruises with no problem. Did anyone else have the same experience. Thanks.

 

Meenu

I had the same experience on Equinox Dec 9th sailing. I was in Aqua Class and tried to exchange it for a white wine, but were told by the Cabin Steward and then by Customer Relations that they don't do that anymore. It didn't matter very much to us since we had the premium package. And it wasn't the Cabin Steward being lazy, he did everything that he could for us during the cruise. We were very pleased with the service. I didn't try Blu because we weren't interested in drinking it with dinner. We would get wine to have with our cheese trays each afternoon.

This is not correct.

If you have the 123Go drink promo you can upgrade one package for one guest and keep the classic for the other guest.

Then the policy has changed. I didn't make up their refusal to allow a single person to upgrade. That was personal experience. But Celebrity is constantly changing the way they do things. I stand corrected.