bloomcruisers

Just started doing these power ups because I didn't register when we first got the invite last year.

I got the email and registered. The registration page included the option to list others watching with me. So I put in my husbands number also rather than registering him separately. We should both receive PUPs. Correct?  Or do I need to register him on his own email?

I will be waiting until ships have been sailing successfully without medical incidents and are offering something close to what they had as a pre-pandemic experience.

Until then, I will stick to drivable land vacations instead.

 I have a couple of weeks of Marriott time shares that I threw into Interval International for the first time so will be looking for potential locations to use those.

I had 2 trips canceled this year. A celebrity 12 night Caribbean, with multiple perks, and a 2 week land/river cruise with Viking. I took the refund rather than FCC for both after seeing what the cost would be for the same celebrity cruise in 2021 minus the perks. Knowing all the FCC that would be outstanding, I figured prices would stay up for a while.

 I remain quite content to wait until deals become available again and safe sailing protocols prove successful before jumping back onboard.

I canceled my WDW annual pass and took the refund for similar reasons, preferring to wait until the experience returns to something more closely resembling normal. 

Travel, in general, will probably not return to prepandemic routines for quite some time. Every individual will have to decide when to resume in accordance with their own comfort level.

4 hours ago, bloomcruisers said:

 

So I already received credit back for my deposit. But they did keep $300 total unrefunded - $100 each cancellation penalty plus $50 each air penalty. I think that was the “air plus?” that we paid for to have a say in our flights. That $300 was not given as FCC but simply lost.

I have to correct this mistake. I checked with my TA after seeing that others were receiving FCC for their $200 or $300 cancellation penalties. She clarified that we did indeed get that as FCC also. I just did not see it in her cancellation confirmation email and thought it was lost.

We canceled our Viking Oberammergau cruise for September the week that our final payment was due. I didn’t want to ante up that large amount of cash knowing that it could not happen as planned. The Oberammergau play is being rescheduled for 2022. Viking is still trying to figure out what they will do about rescheduling cruises for that year.

So I already received credit back for my deposit. But they did keep $300 total unrefunded - $100 each cancellation penalty plus $50 each air penalty. I think that was the “air plus?” that we paid for to have a say in our flights. That $300 was not given as FCC but simply lost.

We just returned (yesterday) from a few weeks driving in NZ plus a long cruise (38 days) that got us to that part of the world. As certified Oenophiles, we never missed an opportunity to go to various wine districts in Australia and throughout NZ. Probably the best port to access the Marlborough region is Picton, and fortunately our cruise did spend a day at that somewhat remote port. Although HAL did have a wine tour, like many cruise ship tours it was somewhat overpriced and only offered visits to 2 (maybe 3) wineries. It was also possible to simply book a tour in the small welcome center adjacent to the pier. But we simply opted to rent a car (our favorite way to see most places) and drive ourselves. We managed to visit 6 wineries (mostly in the Blenheim area) and also had enough time to visit a scenic area to the West of Picton.

 

 

 

When it comes to NZ my advice is to plan time before or after your cruise to enjoy that fabulous country. It is a very rural country (with the exception of Auckland and Wellington) and is perfect for those of us who love driving trips (we just spent 2 weeks driving around South Island). While a cruise does afford you an opportunity to get a glimpse of the country, the port days are just not enough time (or always in the right locations) to gain a full appreciation of NZ and its various wine districts.

 

 

 

And by the way, like the OP we really enjoy Sauvignon Blanc and certainly sampled our share. But the real shocker were the amazing Pinot Noir's we discovered on South Island. NZ is doing a lot of experimentation with Pinot Noir and in the west of South Island many wineries have developed a more full bodied style then one normally gets from the US or Europe. Absolutely delicious.

 

 

 

Hank

I hope you are still reading this thread. I would love to get an idea of your driving itinerary in NZ. My husband and I leave in 2 days for a week in Australia, a 12 nt celebrity cruise, followed by 16 nts driving tour of NZ.

We have our rental car and our North Island schedule finalized and booked. We have our ferry and 3 nts on South Island settled. I am still trying to finalize the rest. There is just so much to see. If you would be willing to share more info, it would be a great help. Thanks!

Anne

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Let me preface this by saying that I'm NOT the number 1 fan of professional sports. As a taxpayer I'm not happy paying to build stadiums to subsidize billionaire team owners and multimillionaire players (some who are coddled felons walking the streets solely because they can amuse the populace). I guess my main interest in this thread is just to figure out the technical time details - but I digress, and now return you to your regularly scheduled program:rolleyes::

 

I THNK the immediate pre-game show starts at 6pm EST, and the kick-off is at/about 6:30. I'm amazed at how much trouble I'm having finding game time, which should be a simple fact on the internet. IF the game is available by satellite in NZ (virtually positive that it is, and you say it will be in pubs there), then the next question is whether it is on a channel that Celebrity is paying for. Apparently viewing rights for commercial venues (which the ship is) are both expensive and complicated. There are separate fees for showing a movie (not sure about TV) in the theatre vs. in your room vs. on deck; if the ship purchases the rights to show a movie on deck and the weather turns nasty, they may not just move it to the theatre without paying for rights to show it there.

 

I'd check not only with Guest Relations, but even more to the point with the CD (who has responsibility for all ship board entertainment). The Superbowl is by far the biggest single day sporting event in the US, and I'm sure that Solstice will have a significant number of passengers from the US (maybe not as many as Australians, but still significant) who are interested. If the ship can show the Superbowl, I'm sure they will. One bad thing about seeing it on a ship is that you miss the advertisements, the Super Bowl being the ONE venue for ad companies to actually have new and maybe even interesting ads.

 

Looks like you will be in Dunedin, NZ during the event. NZ is perhaps my favorite country to visit (and I have been to over 100). I was on the Solstice Inaugural back in 2008, and have sailed on other times.

 

ENJOY:)

Thom

My husband is in strong agreement with your opening remarks about taxpayer money subsidizing professional sports. And I am one whose favorite parts of the super bowl are the commercials and halftime show. As a college football fan who doesn't live in proximity to any pro teams, I don't really have any vested interest in the outcome of the game. But I enjoy it for the hooplaa. And since I don't care who wins, I always end up happy afterwards!

Yes, we will be in Dunedin. Since we are doing a 16 nt driving trip of both north and south islands after the cruise, we can afford to just enjoy the ship's event if they have one and not worry about needing to get to some tourist attraction. Our onboard included drinks package will help with that :)

By my calculation the Superbowl kickoff should be 12:30pm NZ time. I have been onboard during a US Presidential Inauguration during the day while sitting in port. They had the largest lounge set up with coffee, lemonade, pastries etc. IF they can get the game, I would 100% expect it to be shown on the ship, and with some tailgate foods. I will be aboard a ship at sea in the Caribbean for this year's Super Bowl, and I know people would be disappointed (read howl in protest) if they didn't do their best to put the show on.

 

Thom

Yes, you are right about kickoff time. My mistake was thinking kickoff was 8pm eastern time, therefore 2pm the next day in NZ. But if it is 6:30pm eastern then that makes it 12:30pm in NZ. Were you on a celebrity ship for that inauguration in port? If so, then I have hope.

You can, however, rest assured you will definitely get a nice game event in the caribbean since that is where we've enjoyed the parties on past cruises. No howling will be necessary.

I would check with Guest Relations after you board the ship and hopefully

they will know or will be able to find out the answer for you:)

I will do that but had hoped to know ahead of time if any land based planning would be needed. Some people on our roll call are taking a tour that includes going to a pub that will be showing the game. I prefer not having to take a tour to see the game.

We've cruised before when the Super Bowl is being played and there has always been an event in the main theater/show area with the game on the big screen and tailgate type food. But all of our previous experiences have been when the game is on at night and the ship is at sea.

This year, we will be on the Solstice in New Zealand so game time will be about 2pm and we will be in port until 7pm. Does anyone know if the ship will still hold a Superbowl event since it is docked or will we need to try to find a pub somewhere ashore to watch?

I'm not sure how much interest there is in New Zealand for american football so it's possible that finding somewhere ashore may not be an easy task.

We've been on 8 celebrity cruises and have been able to check out sets from the front desk. They are complete for the mist part, may need to use seasons as jokers or flowers. We take our cards, and always find others who want to play.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app - My next cruise - Equinox - B2B 6/2014

and go on your Roll Call and you may find other players. I have always found "sets" on board...they are just too heavy to take on board...and the ""Travel Sets" are not that great...IMO!!!

 

It you can't find others via the R/C then a "sign up sheet" in the card room/game room may be available for you to search for other players...

 

A funny note....we were just on the Eclipse for the holiday cruise and a family from China/Japan or ??? came by and said "Oh...they are playing "Jewish" Mah Jongg"....pretty funny considering we call it "Chinese Mah Jongg"...it is a fun game...no matter how you play it...don't you think??? LuAnn

Thanks to you both,

We already have a group on our roll call for an upcoming Australia/New Zealand cruise who were talking about playing, but didn't want to have to haul MahJongg sets down under. Knowing that all we need to take are the cards means that we will be able to play and can plan accordingly.

I've seen groups of women playing MahJongg on previous celebrity cruises but never thought to ask them if they brought their own sets or does the ship have sets that can be borrowed out.

Does anyone know if Celebrity ships, Solstice in particular, have MahJongg sets available for passenger use?

thank you to all who replied. I appreciate the first hand experience.

I will go ahead and call to get the gratuity charge removed and check with a TA about getting something added (air credit or something off our Australia/NZ cruise which we have also just booked). It's good to know I won't have anything else to think about as far as expenses.

I will also be spending quite a bit of time going through the thousands of posts on the xpedition roll call board getting the stories from those who have returned from their trip. I'm glad I have almost 2 years to prepare.

thanks for the comments so far. I will go ahead and post this in the other thread as suggested by 2 of those who responded. I had looked at the roll call but thought I needed to post for a specific date. The informational thread looks great though it will apparently take me ages to read through it all.

could anyone confirm the gratuity issue. is it included in the cruise fare or added on? I guess I will have to call but would like to know what to expect.

We booked a 2016 Xpedition Galapagos cruise while onboard Celebrity recently. The cruise is well over $20,000 for 2 of us with airfare yet to be added (USA to Equador and Peru back to USA). After looking over the paperwork I have a few questions to help me understand if I messed up.

The trip is advertised as all inclusive and includes pre and post cruise land segments. I was under the impression that meant everything included... all transportation between locations, daily excursions on the cruise, drinks on the cruise, gratuities, and the listed land tours. But it doesn't mention (and I didn't think to ask) about meals and drinks during the land segments. And as I look things over I see that the paperwork specifically lists gratuities as an added cost though I had understood that they were included. It also says they must be prepaid since I chose Select dining. Well, actually we were told that there is 1 seating for everyone and no dining selection gets made. So I am a bit confused.

1. Did I misunderstand about the gratuities or is my paperwork wrong? Are there dining choices I should have made? And are meals and drinks included during the pre/post cruise land tours?

2. Are there any additional discounts/perks usually available (from either Celebrity or a travel agent) for this cruise or is it truly unique as the cruise consultant onboard told us? I know it will fill; but does it fill at full brochure rates or should I be asking for additional perks?

I know I should have figured these issues out before booking but did it sort of spur of the moment with another couple and I am just trying to sort it out now.

I had never booked onboard before and since it is so far out I figure I can cancel if I find a lot of surprises as I research it.

This is a trip I would very much hope to complete so any insights from people who have booked/taken this cruise would be greatly appreciated. What else do I need to know that I haven't even thought of yet?

Thanks in advance.

I looked at park n go to reserve for a cruise leaving this coming Saturday and the cost is $12/day plus tax and a $2 fee if prepaid. You can save the $2 fee if you pay there???? They also say we may have to valet park and leave the key if they are busy. The actual port parking is $15/day. So I'm not seeing any reason to park offsite unless I am missing a coupon or something that everyone else has. $3/day savings just doesn't seem worth shuttling offsite and leaving my car keys with someone for a week. I guess maybe the price goes up as you get closer to the date you want to park?

I don't think it makes any difference...It's just to make CC people feel special. It's not like you'll get your bags sooner or theirs will be tossed into the sea.

HaHa… that's what I thought. No big deal. I was just curious if I was somehow not understanding it. Thanks.

We just received luggage tags for an upcoming B2B cruise we are doing with my sister and her husband. The tags are all the same color but theirs have a red border that says "Captains Club" while ours do not. Our reservations are linked. They have been on 1 previous 12 nt Celebrity cruise. We were on that 1 with them and did 1 additional 7 nt. We have our captains club numbers on our reservation. Our staterooms are both basic ocean view just 2 doors apart.

So my questions are:

1. What exactly is the purpose of this designation in regard to luggage handling?

2. Why would they have it and we do not?

3. Is there any reason whatsoever to even think about it any further?

I am cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale in Jan 2014. We are driving down and will need to park our car while on the cruise. Anybody know of any decent hotels in the general vicinity of the port that offers a park and cruise setup. We could park at the port for 120 or so but if we can get a decent price with this option at a hotel (given it's the peak season), it would be wonderful.

 

Our other option would be to stay away from the beach for a better hotel price and pay for parking at the port. Thoughts/input please?

 

Thanks.

We are also doing the same thing in January and I wondered did you have any success yet finding a hotel that allows parking during your cruise or are you just going to park at the port. Hotel park'n'cruise packages seem hard to come by in the FLL area. If you've found something, you could save me a lot of calling since the info on that chamber of commerce page doesn't match up with what shows up on the hotel sites for the ones I've checked online. Haven't tried calling anyone yet though.