conquesodor

I was told the same thing, but it's so hard to tell what is actually going on. Frustrating.

Interesting Paul, I look forward to your photos. I contacted Celebrity Speciality Dining directly a couple of days ago and was assured that Le Petit Chef isn't replacing Qsine on Reflection permanently....seems they were wrong!

Hi Suzy,

Did Paul categorically say that Qsine was gone for good? Was it in this thread or elsewhere?

I am still hoping that the Little Chef is only on select nights for our sailing. I'm open to trying somethnig new, but the menu seems very limited to commit to a complete replacement. :confused:

Other than this, I'm excited for April 27! :D

Ken

Hi Ken!

 

Yes, it is Le Petit Chef and Paul said it was $25 pp or he thought part of the dinner pkg. I am also anxious to hear how they enjoyed it too, but thought I would jump in and share what Paul already shared with me; hope that's okay! We are both on 4/27, so we can enjoy it! Unfortunately, it seems like Qsine is no more...sorry, if this is true!

Suzy

Would love to hear confirmation about Qsine. Is it still offering the regular menu most days/nights? There is some wild speculation elsewhere about how often The Petite Chef experience is being done instead. Any chance you can confirm for us?

I wouldn't mind trying Petite Chef, but we're really looking forward to dinner at Qsine with the regular menu after we board Reflection on April 27. :-)

Thanks!

Ken

Celebrity has an excursion called "Mykonos Cooking Experience" listed, but with no description provided. :confused:

If anyone here has done this, I'd love to know more about it. I may end up calling Celebrity about it, but I'd still like to hear from anyone who has done it and if you'd recommend it.

Thanks!

This is fantastic information, euro cruiser, thank you!

I thought I'd have to bring the car to the nearby Budget Noleggio Auto Roma Fiumicino Aeroporto office that is at Via dell' Aeroporto di Fiumicino. I guess that's for people picking up cars, not dropping them off?

I used Google Street View, as you suggested and it looks much less intimidating than I imagined

We did decide to alter our plans and stay at the airport Hilton the evening before our flight, to make things less stressful.

Feeling a bit anxious about our first attempt renting and driving a car in Italy. After our cruise, we plan to pick up a Budget rental car at Civitavecchia and use it for 4 days in Tuscany. We then plan to return the car to FCO - Rome airport on the morning that we fly home to the States. I’ve read lots of helpful advice about picking up a rental car in Civitavecchia, but I haven’t seen anything about returning a rental car to the FCO - Rome airport.

We reserved an automatic - anyone have issues with getting what you ordered?

How much time before the flight is it recommended to arrive at the airport?

Is navigating to the airport and rental car drop off spots easy or difficult?

How long does the drop off process take? Are there shuttles to get you to the terminal and how long do those take?

This will be our first time attempting anything like this, so any other helpful tips or advice are appreciated.

Just received confirmation that our May 1 "Ancient Delos" excursion was cancelled for "unforeseen circumstances."

Anyone have any advice for what to do in Mykonos on this major holiday? We're not big beach people, so hopefully shops and restaurants are still open?

Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like I should give it a bit more time. We are a party of 4 and hopefully will get positive confirmation soon.

Hello, I'm new to Carnival and excited to be booked on Horizon in July. The new teppanyaki restaurant sounds great and I've heard that seating is limited, so I submitted a reservation request on the Carnival site a week ago and have heard nothing back. I'm thinking of calling Carnival about it, but was also curious what folks experiences are with making dinner reservations this far in advance?

It crossed my mind that it's a new ship and maybe everything isn't up to speed, but I also made a reservation for Cucina Del Capitano last month and received a confirmation email within 24 hours.

Thoughts?

Between what I've read in other threads and also calling Captain's Club, the Petite Chef is being tested on select nights on some ships. Most nights things will operate as usual.

I'll be on Reflection on 4/27 and will report back based on first hand experience.

Can anyone here comment on the excursion called, "Taormina, Lava River, Wine And Jewels?" I'm looking at Celebrity excursions, but it's possible that RCL and other lines offer similar tours. I'm very curious what the "local estate" that you stop to taste wine is exactly? The description is as follows:

On this shore excursion you will discover country towns, volcanic worlds, Sicilian wine, and precious jewels. Begin in Taormina, where you can shop the boutiques along the Corso Umberto. Travel to the volcanic terrain of Mount Etna to see lava flow from the eruption in 1992. Enjoy a tasting of “Certified Etna” wines at a local estate before visiting the GIVAL jewelry factory, where master artisans craft gold jewelry using lava stone from Mount Etna.

I received it also, but the “Excursion” I was looking at was reduced significantly ... from $199pp to $159pp. There was no banner indicating it was on sale, I just happen to know the original price, as I was also pricing it as a private tour through local company. The cheapest I could find it was $175pp. I went a head and booked it through the ship a few mins ago with a nice savings.

 

It was strange, as they normally have a banner across the “Excursion” on sale.

 

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Wow, what a mess. :rolleyes:

I received an email this morning from X promoting "Save up to 20% on exciting shore excursions and more for your upcoming cruise." You may need to have a current booking to have received it. In any case, after exploring the sale with 'cruise planner," something isn't quite right.

On the one hand I'm excited because the drink packages are 25% off the usual price and that will be a good deal for my booking. Yes, 25% not 20% :p

On the other hand, when I look at some of the discounted excursions, the price is exactly the same as it was previously. I can tell because I took some notes a month ago on which excursions interested us for budgeting purposes. I'm specifically looking at some Costa Maya excursions that are the exact same price, despite having a big 20% off label and a sign next to the price that says, "Price Reflects Your Discount." I tried adding it to the cart to see if the price changed, but it did not. :confused:

I'll need to call X later and see what they say, but just beware that the discount may not be what it appears to be.

Sorry for the delayed acknowledgement, but my new job has been keeping me busy!

Thanks for the recommendations. Context Travel looks just like what I was after. I will probably book their VIP Colosseum, Forum, etc. tour.

The description of the night tours make it sound like you are getting access after the Colosseum closes to general admission, which might be a benefit? On the other hand, it also sounds like you can't enter the Forum and only get a "tour" of that from what you can see from public spaces overlooking it.

cruisemom42 - I've read some of your posts here in the past and you sound like someone who likes to "go deep" into the history and culture. You've also visited Italy more than a few times. Do you have guide that you recommend or do you mostly explore on your own?

I see many Forum and Colosseum tours offered at night as well as during the day. The night time tours are touted as "romantic" and a special experience. Can anyone offer their feedback on the experience of an after dark tour? Bonus points for anyone who has tried both and can share pros / cons of each approach. :D

FYI, this trip will be a honeymoon, so I'm curious if anyone else agrees that going at night is more "romantic" or not? We'll be there in late April, so escaping the summer sun is not as important.

Trying to decide between the two options and could use your help. :confused:

Thanks!

Ken

This doesn't sound like anything I'd want to do. I've paid for wine tastings before, that were held in Cellar Masters with a dozen wines to try. Pay even more to sit in my room and watch an impersonal video and drink wine out of a box? I think someone at Celebrity is being paid way to much to come up with ideas like this.

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Ship: Constellation

CABIN #: 3025

DECK #: 3

CLASS: O6

AREA: Forward

BED NEAR: Bathroom

QUIET?: Yes

BALCONY VIEW: n/a

BALCONY SIZE: n/a

WIND A PROBLEM?: n/a

SOOT A PROBLEM?: n/a

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Not the most convenient location, but we were trying for a quiet spot and it was.

Thanks for sharing this great video. Looking forward to our sailing on 4/27/18!

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Couple of comments:

- in many cases when Celebrity offers a fare with GoBig or GoBetter perks included, they also have a lower fare with zero perks; you can check the Celebrity website to see if they have a zero perk fare and compare it to the rate offered by your TA. When you get to the screen that shows the GoBig/GoBetter/GoBest offers, click on: "Want to see if you qualify for a different discount?" and check out the residency or 55+ fare.

- in general, there is no reason for advanced research or concerns about prices and perks available for particular cruises when making an on-board booking to get the extra OBC since your TA can easily switch it to a new booking of your choice (and retain the corresponding on-board-booking OBC benefit) at anytime prior to the final payment date. To give you the most flexibility and time to work with your TA to find a cruise that actually interests you, just book a placeholder cruise by asking the on-board future cruise agent which cruise has the furthest out sailing date (and thus the furthest out final payment date.)

Thanks. I'll check if I can find a no frills fare when I get home.

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I'll see you on board the Connie next month and get more details, but getting a head start and trying to stay within the "lines" of the board, is your TA a local one or an on-line one?

 

Thanks.

It's an online TA that's part of a members only brick and mortar store. :-)

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Thanks for sharing your experiences!

I'm not sure if an onboard deal will end up working out for me or not. For the past few months, my TA group rate without perks is much cheaper than the Celebrity advertised rate with perks. If I can't combine the deals, then I doubt some extra obc will make much difference in the math.

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In some cases, we have been able to rebook at the same dare with new perks. In some cases though, the fare had gone up so much, the additional perks weren't worth it. We were able to get Pre-paid gratuities on a transatlantic by doing this. Compile a sheet with booking numbers, dates, fare paid, etc. so you go armed and ready.

So, you can just walk right up to the future cruise folks and ask them to help you get a better deal? They'll even do the cancelling and rebooking for you? Wow!

Thanks for the tips and advice!

Hello savvy Celebrity cruisers! I could use your help figuring out the sometimes complicated ways of getting the best deals.

Here's my situation:

I will be on board Constellation in 26 days. :D

I also have a booking on Reflection in April 2018 for a veranda with no perks or promotions. (we are definitely taking this cruise)

We are also considering a family cruise in July 2018 that would require 2 cabins. (a good deal could make this possible)

I need to decide what sort of onboard booking I will be doing while on Constellation next month. I would like to have onboard booking promotions for the potential July 2018 cruise, which might help make that a reality. However, it would also be nice to have some perks added to my April 2018 cruise on Reflection. My TA says it is possible to do a future cruise booking onboard, come home and cancel and rebook the April 2018 cruise with the onboard booking perks. This feels like "cheating" somehow, but my TA says it's not unusual. Has anyone else done this?

Do I understand how things work correctly? While on Constellation, I could book two cabins for July 2018 and also a cabin for a "phantom" future cruise that I'd come home and have applied for my April 2018 booking?

Is this realistic? If not, what do you recommend?

Should I feel ashamed for "playing the system?" Please help! :o

The Eclipse does not have clotheslines in the shower. If you need a clothesline plan to bring one from home.

I plan on using the built in clothesline on Constellation next month. I didn't realize that S class doesn't have this feature, but I'm glad I know so that I can plan ahead for my Reflection cruise next year. Any suggestions for a DIY clothesline to use in your cabin?