DonRobertoSanJuan

It is one thing a ship cannot follow its schedule because of outside circumstances, like oil spills or weather. It is a whole different story when the company sells you an itinerary and then does not complete it due to their ship having technical issues. In that case the company has not lived up to its obligations and should refund its clients.

Are you saying that the ship left San Juan later than advertised, and then arrived and left St. Thomas later than advertised, and then arrived in St. Kitts late? First anyone has mentioned this. Just because other ships left later and arrived earlier means nothing, if all the ships mentioned met their advertised itineraries. Cruise ships tend to travel at varied speeds to make timed arrivals and departures. And particulary in small ports in the Caribbean, multiple ships cannot maneuver into/out of port at the same time, so depending on when each ship is scheduled to get a pilot, arrival times will be further modified.

 

If RCI "never intended" to sail to Aruba, they would have known that they would have to refund/credit money for cancelled ports, so your statement makes no sense.

The ship left on time, but arrived well after the Carnival Valor, which was still in San Juan when we departed. Same with the Equinox. Do you really believe RCI is going to tell us so they would have to refund money? Don't be naive, this is corporate greed, plain and simple.

I really don't understand why people are so reluctant to dress up for dinner, whether on formal nights or regular. I can't believe the awful outfits some people wear to dinner. Last week someone was walking around in coveralls!! It seems a lot of people just dig into their closets to pick the oldest and most drab clothing they can find, to dinner. I wonder if any of them ever goes out to dinner in a nice restaurant and dress like that, or do they dine at McD?

Sometimes some problems can't be foreseen in any amount of time. They thought they had issues under control last week and were making fine speed and their ports of call when something went big time sideways and here we are. Did they know there was some manner of excessive wear or vibration? Yes, probably, but not anything outside of normal or cause for downtime before a dry dock. Well...you get by 99 out of 100 times. This is that 1.

They already knew something was wrong two weeks back, but decided to continue to eek out more profits. The clients are not important, they paid and can't cancel their trip. AOS sailed out of San Juan VERY slowly with plenty of shaking going on. The Carnival Valor departed well after Adventure and was sitting pretty, upon arrival in St. Thomas. Same thing next day to St Kitts, Celebrity Equinox departed well after us form St Thomas, but had arrived well before us. I am pretty sure RCI never intended to take this ship to Aruba and Curacao, but had no problem getting paid for it. Shameful.:(

Royal Caribbean has given us the Royal runaround and I would not want to board this broken ship for anything! Next we will see the news with the Adventure floating around the Carib without power and overflowing septic. She was already smelling like that the last 4 days. Shame on Royal.:eek:

Does RCI provide binoculars, umbrellas etc. in the cabins, like Celebrity?

I looked at the wines offered in the wine package and was wondering whether those are all the wines for sale or if different (more) wines are available in the MDR etc.?

I went through a bunch of pages trying to find information on AOS cabins. Can I find that information somewhere on this thread? I am looking for information like larger than standard cabins or balconies, obstructed views etc. etc. Any help would be appreciated. Happy cruising.

Personally, I find $150 too steep for a ship tour, but if you want to be sure to get on, you can go online and book it in advance. It is a little hidden, but if you go to onboard activities, you will be able to reserve. Have fun.:)

We looked at Alaska cruises and then decided to fly to Anchorage and take a one day, 26 glacier tour out of Whittier. That was fantastic. We also spent time in Anchorage and drove to Denali for a one day bus ride through the park. You cannot do that so easily in the Caribbean, that's why I take cruises in the Carib.

I saw a tour called "All Access Tour" where you get to see the bridge, the engine room and more. I tought that might be neat so I started to reserve for that and then saw it cost $150 per person!!!! Are they out of their mind? Or is that an error?:eek:

Thanks to Sloop-John B I was able to find out the prices of the different wines in the "taste of the vineyards - classic package" and was not happy with what Celebrity is offering:

 

The best price is for 7 bottles: $ 251.86 which means an average of $ 35.98 each bottle

 

here are the prices for the wines in this package:

 

TASTE OF THE VINEYARDS

 

********************

CLASSIC PACKAGE

 

 

Sparkling Wine

$ ?? Bouvet Signature, France (price not found, but should be less than $ 30.-)

 

White Wines

$ 35.- Chardonnay, Penfolds, Koonunga Hill, Australia

$ 35.- Vouvray, Michel Picard,Loire, France

$ 24.- White Zinfandel, Beringer, California

$ 45.- Sauvignon Blanc, Villa Maria, Private Bin, New Zealand

$ 26.- Sauvignon Blanc, Murphy Goode, California

$ 35.- Chardonnay, Santa Ema, "Select Terroir", Chile

$ 29.- Riesling, S.A. Prum, "Essence", Germany

$ 30.- Pinot Grigio, Fantinel, Borgo Tesis, Italy

Rose Wines

$ 31.- Gaga Rose, by Kendall-Jackson, California

 

Red Wines

$ 35.- Malbec, Luigi Bosca, "La Linda", Argentina

$ 35.- Cabernet Sauvignon, Beringer, Founder's Estates, California

$ 35.- Pinot Noir, Matua, New Zealand

$ 35.- Garnacha, Altovinum, "Evodia", Spain

$ 35.- Zinfandel, Renwood, Sierra Foothills, California

$ 35.- Tempranillo, Condesa de Laganza, Spain

$ 35.- Syrah , Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington

$ 35.- Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Crest "H3" Horse Heaven, Washington

$ 35.- Merlot, Sebastiani, California

 

so appart from the Sauvignon blanc Villa Maria all wines are 35.- or lesser

 

Can someone tell me what the profit is on this package where the price per bottle is $ 35.98 ?

 

Is Celebrity aware of this ?

The same goes for the red wines in the Premium Wine Package. All the reds available in the package cost $35 when purchased in the MDR, but cost at least $44 in the package. The whites in the Premium package are a better deal.:rolleyes:

Thanks Sloop-John B,

That is great information for anyone looking to compare wine packages etc. I hope this will be made available as a Sticky.

After reading many pages about the beverage packages, I still could not find out if you can order wines in Murano and other specialty restaurants from the premium beverage package. Also, is there a different wine list for the packages?:confused:

Does Celebrity marketing and sales even read what their loyal clients write in Cruise Critic?

From what I have read it seems they ignore their clients concerns completely. Are we really their "Stars"?