bengaltiger1

I am completing the Xpress Pass for a forthcoming cruise on Celebrity. I am from the UK and I would like advice as to which box is best to tick in respect of Non US issued Mastercard or Visa Cardholders.

 

 

 

The top box states -I choose to pay my on board charges in the currency of my card. I choose to use your currency conversion program.

 

 

 

The bottom box states - I choose to have my credit card issuer convert my on board charges to the currency of my card in lieu of participating Celebrity Cruises currency conversion program.

 

 

 

The top box states something about adding a 3% international currency conversion fee, so I think the bottom box is better, but I may be wrong.

 

 

 

Any suggestions please.

Always best to allow your CC issuer to convert. If you are in the U.K. then the Halifax Clarity card is a good card to use.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

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I know I've seen it here where passengers have been mischarged for onboard items, but have been unable to find the threads.

 

 

 

We have been charged for items from the cabin mini-bar, although this was cleared out on embarkation by the cabin steward upon our request.

 

 

 

Also the gratuities remained on even after requesting guest services remove these as we tip in cash... way above the gratuity level.

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't receive a paper final invoice, just an email after disembarking.

 

 

 

I've emailed the department to get the above rectified, but have had no response now for over a week.

 

 

 

Does anyone in the CC world have contact details for Celebrity so that I can chase this reimbursement?

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for any help offered!!

 

 

 

Rob.:D

The two Freephone numbers for the U.K.

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Why would it have been confrontational for the member of staff to say, “Excuse me Sir, but this table is taken”?

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What suite are you in? We are in 1607 in 7 weeks. Is Niko still the concierge?

 

 

 

Who is in Michael's as bartender. That does not sound like Cranston who we have had for the last two Silhouette cruises who we have always found to be really attentive, and who we are expecting to see back from vacation in October.

 

 

 

We had the poorly cleaned toilet issue in I think one of CS suites we had. Took the offending thing to the concierge and asked if the room could be cleaned properly. We also use wipes before we touch anything.

 

 

 

I think the 3 apples is the norm in all rooms at the start of the cruise but should be replaced after a few days but the Vintages rather than Perrier Jouet would not go down well with us. The CS and the SS get the Vintages - that is normal but RX and above should have the Perrier Jouet.

On the Celebrity UK site it states that even SS receive a bottle of PJ.

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I thought I had seen it somewhere onboard that there was a deadline for removal of gratuities after the first few days ? Personally I would never do this but I agree with others that it would be better if it was an included 'service charge'. The words 'gratuity' and 'tip' are defined as extra rewards generally for good service so how can you reward someone for something that they haven't yet done by prepayment of gratuities ? Far better IMO to have everyone pay a service charge or better still just an inclusive price and leave extra tips for good service.

On Board Service Charge is how it is phrased on my confirmation invoice from Celebrity Cruises U.K.

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We flew back from Honolulu to Heathrow last year after the Tahitian Treasures Cruise. Be aware that at Honolulu you go through an extra procedure prior to check in. You must stop at the Agricultural inspection station. These are right inside the front doors of the ticketing/check in area. Your luggage is run through the machine and then gets a tag to show it passed. Then you can go to check in. You need to allow additional time for this.

Once we got to LA, there were zero signs telling us where to go. We asked a member of staff and were directed to a bus stop to catch a bus to the next terminal. We then went through a fast track security check for our hand luggage. We had a five hour stop over and it went quite quickly.

Our issue was when we tried to board and we weren’t the only ones. Although we had been checked straight through to the U.K., Virgin insisted we had not checked in. We had all our documents. We were the last on the plane after it got sorted. It was bedlam, people constantly approaching the air crew to ask about moving seats and upgrades. I have never seen that happen as much at other locations. To be fair, the air crew were very good and were more patient than I would have been.

We said if we ever did this flight again, we would go to the Virgin check in desks at LAX and the check in. Just to try to avoid the same situation.

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That’s kind of you but I received an email from their Special Needs department and he has given me his direct number. By all accounts what I was told is incorrect, but is now saying that all accessible cabins sold out.

 

However, he did say I can take my scooter in any other cabin. I shall call him tomorrow.

 

 

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I hope you enjoy a wonderful cruise.

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LondonTowner I can give you the direct number for a Celebrity personal cruise concierge if you want to discuss your requirements directly with Celebrity. We have used her for our last four cruises. She is very helpful. I do need to explain that neither my husband nor I have any special needs, so that has not been part of the service we have received from her.

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On our 1st cruise in nov on a transatlantic cruise. I know what the rules for the evening are but can you go in the mdr in the day in shorts and tshirt ? What do ppl wear during the days at sea?

Have you joined the roll call?

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/rollcalls/celebrity-silhouette-november-3-2018/

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Wow.. that is crystal clear .. too bad that doesn't exist on the US site.. I did a search before this process started and found nothing even close to it.. guess the US affiliate should hire the UK web people to update the site.

I cannot view the .com website. To view the T&Cs on the .co.uk you scroll right down to the bottom of the home page and click on the link.

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Raise

 

 

 

It could be 0 categories, could be 10 categories.. roll the dice.., but the guarantee is provided by Celebrity, as per their web site "... your stateroom's location will be assigned to you at boarding." ).

For folks in the U.K. the T&Cs on the Celebrity website state the following:

1.9 WHAT IS A ‘GUARANTEE’ (GTY) BOOKING?

We may (at our discretion) offer you the option of making a ‘Guarantee’ (GTY) booking. This means you may book a stateroom of a guaranteed minimum category type, (specified by us prior to booking) on your chosen ship. However, the exact location of the stateroom on the ship will be allocated by us (at our discretion) and at any time up until checking in at the Port. Once your GTY stateroom has been allocated to you, we are unable to accept any changes requested by you. The benefits to you of a GTY stateroom are that after your booking has been confirmed, we may (at our discretion) upgrade your stateroom to one of a superior category to that originally booked at no extra charge to you. In any event, you are ‘guaranteed’ the minimum category of stateroom we agree to offer at the time of booking. If you have a specific requirement, stateroom location, or are travelling with family or friends (especially children) you want to be near, then we suggest you do not book a GTY. At times, we may offer promotional GTY offers. Such promotional GTY categories are defined as follows:

W ** *- *Suite

XC** *- *Concierge Class balcony stateroom

X** *- *Deluxe balcony stateroom

Y** *- *Ocean View stateroom

Z** *- *Interior stateroom

Please note: If you book two or more cruises to be taken back to back and either one or all cruises are booked under a GTY (guarantee) basis, there is the possibility that you will be allocated different staterooms on each cruise, therefore necessitating the need to move between staterooms on the changeover day between your consecutive cruises.

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No that hasn't changed. As long as there are still cabins available in your assigned category you can ask to switch.

I believe that you cannot change your assigned guarantee cabin in the U.K.

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Hi everyone - thinking about booking an August, 2019 European cruise (Venice, Greece, Croatia) but have heard that many locales are closed due to summer vacations. Can anyone please advise if this is an issue or if August is a good time. Thanks.

We took a similar cruise in August 2012. I can’t remember anywhere being closed, but the high temperatures made it very uncomfortable for sightseeing. Unless you do not have choice, I would look at June or September. Less crowded and cooler temperatures.

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Won't ever happen. ABTA and ATOL assurances need paying for. So you won't ever achieve parity.

 

 

 

People can't have their cake and eat it.

 

 

 

You can achieve a better deal with a UK based travel agent than if booking with Celebrity UK themselves, but the discounts are pretty minimal. But again, booking cruises can be cheaper in the UK. I guess you'd not want to achieve 'parity' in those instances. :)

I am certain that most people want the best deal. I have only ever cancelled one cruise and rebooked. It was after the Costa Concordia sinking. I lost £300 deposit on the original booking and saved a lot more than that on the rebooking. I had booked the cruise the day before.

Other nationalities do not have to lose their deposit to take advantage of price drops.

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I don't get posts like this to be honest.

 

 

 

You can book in the US if you like that deal. You can book in the UK which can be cheaper. You have the best of both worlds and in reality are able to potentially score better deals than anyone else.

 

 

 

You just need to do your homework, fully understand the differences in US and UK booking conditions to understand the pros and cons of both.

 

 

 

So why complain about things being unfair? It makes no sense to me.

 

 

 

As for resident, military, Over 55 rates, they might sound appealing until you take a look at the details. If you're zenith and have no interest in perks then they can be a good deal. But as they don't include any perks, sometimes the overall deal can be worse. :)

My point is I shouldn’t have to book in the US. I am asking for parity when booking with Celebrity. I understand that you may get better details with a TA.

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There is not a law preventing Celebrity offering price drops

 

 

 

The same as there is no law requiring Celebrity to offer price drops except in these circumstances listed in the package holiday regulations.

 

 

 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2018/9780111168479/regulation/10

 

 

 

Good luck proving Celebrity's costs have dropped:confused:

 

 

 

Celebrity seems to have made a business decision not to offer price drops the same as most travel companies in the UK.

 

 

 

Some people seem to have been lucky in receiving price drops/OBC

Thank you for this. It does seem unfair that we cannot enjoy the same benefits as others.

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Can someone point me in the direction of the U.K. law or EU directive that prevents Celebrity U.K. customers from taking advantage of price drops or moving cabins please? I am not talking T&Cs, but the law that prevents Celebrity UK from giving us parity with Celebrity USA customers. Thanks in advance.

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This happened on a cruise two years ago. I think it was the Silhouette and they only had the one day instead of two days. 6/7 July 2016. We were following them on the Eclipse, but were a couple of days behind them. We were there 9/10/11 July 2016 and fortunately for us we didn’t suffer the disappointment that the weather has created for others.

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I was on the April 17 Tahitian Treasures Cruise. IMO Moorea was the highlight of the cruise.

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Do UK passengers have the option to book other discounted price categories without any of those "free" perks, as we do in the USA and Canada?

(e.g., senior, military, interline, resident (state or province), travel agent, police or firefighter rates -- even saw a teacher discount one time)

 

Hotel rooms also typically cost the same price for one person as for two, although basic hotel room prices usually do not include meals, except perhaps a breakfast buffet or some type of happy hour drinks/snacks.

 

But I do remember trips to England when they charged per person rather than per room, so when traveling with children it would cost the same amount to have your children share your room as to get a separate room for each child.

Not having traveled to England with children recently, I don't know whether or not they still do it that way, but the per-person charge included a big British breakfast.

I also recall that when traveling around the British countryside, if you stopped at a pub for lunch, you could bring your dog inside with you, but you had to leave your child outside on the porch.

 

(This is not intended as a criticism of the Brits. We in the US have certainly had many strange liquor laws through the years, and still have some to this day.)

 

We do not have those options and furthermore our deposits have always been non refundable.

As for our laws around children and pubs. A lot has changed and it’s difficult to find a pub that isn’t full of families enjoying a meal.

https://www.gov.uk/alcohol-young-people-law

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Its me again. We booked this Nov 3., cruise but are stymied on how to get to the port in Southampton from LHR. We don’t mind taking a private car or anything but are unfamiliar with the system. Not wanting to haul our luggage up and down stairs, we need to know how to do this without a big hassle. Anyone have a suggestion? kiud.1@aol.com.

Have you joined the roll call for the cruise? There have been a few posts about transport.

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What itinerary includes an over night stay in New York? Sounds awesome!

The 3rd November TA from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale.

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Who or what is R/C?

Roll Call.

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So, no flash sale for me? Thanks

You have to contact them to book and get the elite discount. You could ask for an agent to call you back.

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