Chase101

My daughter got married & had to get her name changed on her passport. She mailed it on Friday November 17th Priority mail. They received it Monday November 20th & deposited her check. She received her passport Saturday December 2nd & she didn’t use Expedited service either. Very shocked at how fast it came back! We don’t know how she got so lucky to get it this fast! Barbara

Njkruzer, Yes, we all got one day’s sailing refunded as OBC to our accounts on the Radiance Panama Canal cruise. My friend & I each got $68. It all depended on what we paid for our cruise. Funny thing was there were people on the “other” site that weren’t happy we didn’t get Port fees refunded too! Really?! Since we had to divert to stay out of the path of a hurricane, I fully understood & thought Royal was generous! We did the Spectrum in August & had to miss the first 2 ports to avoid a typhoon. We got nothing! First world problems! Just like being safe! Barbara

Last year my DF & I walked off the Ovation & headed out. I checked Uber prices & taxi was a set price to the airport & it was $15 cheaper than Uber! We were at the airport by 8:30.

On Equinox a week ago, I purchased Blue Curaçao in Curaçao. Security asked if I had a bottle of alcohol & I said yes. He told me I had to turn it over to a crew member standing nearby. There had to be around 80 boxed bottles & 1 bottle of something in a plastic bag. As I went to hand him my bottle (in a plastic bag), I asked if he promised not to lose it. He quietly said to put it away & take to my cabin. As I walked away, he said “You’ll get it back the last night of the cruise”, loud enough for security to hear! On Eclipse a few years ago, from Buenos Aires-Chile-San Diego, I purchased wine at a few of the ports & they let me take back to my cabin. So, yes, they could take it & give it back the last night. Just be prepared for either way! Barbara

My DF & I were boarding the Equinox March 9th in Ft Lauderdale. We had 4 bottles of wine, plus a few sodas & water. I’m Elite, but she is not. There was sign just before the X-ray machine that said “No alcohol, sodas or water” , something to that effect. She got nervous & I told her we were fine. We put our bags through & had no problem! After, I told her it may be for NCL, as they don’t allow anything to be brought on. So yes, 2 bottles of wine each! Barbara

Georgia _Peaches, Love the high top bar seating in the last row for that very reason. My DF & I love those seats too! They are our go to seats for shows! Barbara

Georgia _Peaches, was the comedian Cole Parker? A British guy? If it was, he was on my January 28 Solstice cruise & was awful! My DF & I were sitting way at the back & had to get up & leave. We didn’t find anything funny in the first 10 minutes. All he did was jump around the stage. I couldn’t find one person the whole cruise who thought he was any good. Lots of people were bummed they were closer to the stage & figured they’d suck it up & hope he got better! But he didn’t. We are cruising Solstice again April 15 & hope he isn’t still onboard! Barbara

I was on January 28th sailing. Disembarked February 4. The paperwork said Self Assist would begin around 7:30am. My DF & I ate at OV Cafe right when it opened at 6am. We went back to cabin by 6:30 & waited for announcement. At 6:50, we heard an announcement in hallway that we were cleared & that Self Assist could start heading off. Grabbed our stuff & were out on curb by 7am! There was literally no stopping on way out! Barbara

This past Saturday, I told my travel companion that we’d hit the Oceanview Cafe’ when it opened at 6am. The disembarkation information said walk offs would start around 7:30am. I told her we wanted to be ready if they started earlier. We were in our cabin & at 6:50am we heard the announcement that the ship was cleared & Self Assist could start walking off. We grabbed our bags & walked straight off & with the facial recognition, we were outside waiting for our Uber by 7am. Great disembarkation! Barbara

My friend & I are on this cruise too! I’ll be interested in your take about it! I figure that I don’t have to cook, clean, or do any chores, so a cruise is always a great vacation for me! It’s easy to find things wrong if you look for them, but we always look for the good stuff! Enjoy your vacation! As we will too! Barbara

Ship: Solstice Length of Cruise: 7 Days Cruise Sail Date: January 28, 2023 Date email offer received: Emailed Celebrity Move Up Dec. 13 & got offer Dec. 14 Captain’s Club Tier Elite Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Celebrity Blue Chip Club Current Cabin: Veranda Bid? Yes/No: Yes If YES - Bidding Details: Cabin Category: Family Veranda, Sunset Veranda, Concierge, AquaClass, Bid Offer: Each varied Notification Date: 1/23/2023 Accepted / Rejected Accepted General Comments (offer details, etc.) Per Person Bid Ranges were: minimum bids Concierge - $35/pp Family Veranda- $50/pp Aqua - $70/pp Bid $40/pp for Concierge & won

Looking forward to more information! My friend & I board Saturday the 28th! Barbara

Jim_lain, Thanks for the information! I’m trying to decide which port I may book it for! Barbara

Jim_lain, I think I read that you booked one of the Alcoves. I’m sailing on January 28th & was wondering what was included & do they overlook the ocean. Thanks! Barbara

CHEZMARYLOU, Thank you so much for the information! Barbara

If I’m in a Veranda with no perks, other than Elite perks, do I get any additional perks if I move up to Royal Suite? Thanks, Barbara

Sdnich, Yes, I thought it was crazy too, but I figured to just take the FREE veranda. I know I could call back again & get a different rep, but didn’t want to be on hold forever again!😂. My friend & I will be happy with a Veranda! Good luck on hold! Barbara

I got the email & called this morning. I was on hold for 45 minutes & then my call failed. Started over again & it took 2 more hours to get through. The rep asked if I was calling about the Mexican Riviera & I said yes. He asked the dates I was looking at & then said it didn’t show I had an email sent to me with the offer! He sent me an email so I could forward the email from Blue Chip to him to prove that I did get it. All was good, but when I inquired about upgrading to Aqua, he said it would be another $3k! Uh, no thanks, I’ll just take the veranda cabin! Just happy to get a balcony for $278! Barbara

I had this Hotel booked through Hotels dot com for July 10th & was checking to see if the price had gone down. It wasn’t showing & I checked the other booking sites & when I entered my dates it would just say Unavailable. I then tried on their website & same thing. I entered all kinds of dates & Unavailable for every date. Finally googled if it was closed & that’s how I found out! No notice at all. Glad I checked!

Graphicguy, I was on this sailing with a friend. I am also part of another group (not mentionable on here), and there were a lot of people posting that they were positive for Covid! As well as me! I actually was randomly selected in Vancouver for PCR test. The Wi-Fi was so bad on the ship, it took over an hour to get to my results! It was negative! We wore masks anytime outside of our cabin, even on excursions! At least 95% of the passengers weren’t wearing masks, and packing into elevators. We flew home Friday nonstop & Saturday morning woke up with sore throat & aches. Tested negative. Got worse throughout the day & next day, tested positive! I was shocked to see how many tested positive from the other group! My friend got lucky & is feeling fine & testing negative. I actually got my 2nd booster 2 1/2 weeks before this cruise. I am finally feeling like I am turning the corner to feeling better! Still glad I did the cruise, but also glad I got to my own bed to be sick! Barbara