paulajj

Airbnb can sometimes be cheaper. We’ve  saved a ton of money this way. Tip: make sure it’s a private space. 

Driving across the boarder for flights can be cheaper if you can. For example Buffalo Niagara airport. 

Connecting flights can also be cheaper (although can be stressful)

I’ve learned  my lesson about flying in the day of. Definitely worth the extra cost if you can manage it. 

I agree that staying at the airport rather then downtown in places like Fort Lauderdale can save quite a bit. 
 

This won’t be a popular suggestion but getting an inside or ocean view cabin can save a ton of money on certain cruises. I’ve done this a few times. 

• Ship:  Eqinox
•  
• Length of Cruise:6 days
•  
• Cruise Sail Date:May 21,2023
•  
• Date email offer received: March 21, 2023
•  
• Captain’s Club Tier - Select
•  
• Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: Big box TA online
•  
• Current Cabin: inside I2
•  
• Bid?  Yes/No: yes
•  

If YES -  Bidding Details:

• Cabin Category: Veranda 1C
•  
• Bid Offer:$250 per person Canadian dollars ($185 US)
•  
• Notification Date: April 22,2023
•  
• Accepted / Rejected accepted
•  

General Comments We were pretty shocked to get this. We got an amazing deal on the original cabin (less than $1000cdn total for all included for 2 people) and they aren’t showing many available cabins. 
 

Minimum bids US $ conversion 

ocean view $52/pp

veranda $103/pp (we bid $185)

sunset veranda $203/pp (we bid $222)

ultra deluxe veranda $203/pp (we bid $222)

concierge $307/pp

aquaclass $872/pp 

On my cruse in November I could just upgrade myself. But they’ve changed the rules since then. And also raised the prices 😱 

For my cruise in May I just explained that my mother doesn’t drink alcohol and they allowed me to upgrade just myself. 

This is the first time I’ve noticed this so forgive me if it’s old news…but the pups are now listed when I go into my captains club page. Pretty cool 🙂

I always have travel anxiety unfortunately. Even before covid. Best thing for me is to over prepare and plan. 
I’ve flown out west and back and to the states and back this year. I wore a n95 mask on the plane. I’m not sure what I’m going to do on the ship yet. I’m immune suppressed but I’ve had 5 shots so I think that should balance out. I will avoid elevators and always have a mask at hand in case I feel uncomfortable. But I really can’t see masking the whole week.
I’m going to guess there will be very few people masking. 

4 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

OK, thanks. A few articles I've read suggest that those who are NEXUS/Global Entry members and also have the MPC app simply pick the shorter line, but I don't know how these lines are configured at Pearson or if a comparison is even possible.

Ya I’m not sure. The only thing I saw was a giant line lol. We sat on the plane for a 1 1/2 hours waiting for a pile of people to get through security. The only thing I can say is give yourself plenty of time. We went 3 hours early just in case and ended up with enough time to have dinner. Much more relaxing that way. 👍

9 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Just curious, but how was the MPC line compared to the line for NEXUS members?

I’m sorry I didn’t notice. 

1 hour ago, kazu said:

Going to the U.S. for the first time in ages for a cruise and concerned about getting through U.S. Customs and the time required.

 

U.S. Customs is bad at YYZ (Pearson airport).  Normally I like to allow lots of time (like 3 hours) to get through but none of my available flights offer that.

 

I plan to use the MPC app which is supposed to save lots of time with a priority line.

 

The best one has one connection but a layover of only 1 hour and 10 minutes.  I am wondering if the MPC will get me through fast enough to make the connection.  

 

If anyone has used it, could you kindly share your experience and how long it took?  Thanks 🙂 

I used it last Sunday night. It took about an hour. When we first got into line there were very few people and only 1 agent. By the time we got to the front the line was quite big behind us and there were 4 agents. It sure seemed the way to go. Until everyone starts using it lol. 

Seemed to be some of grumpy posters resently. I hope everyone has a better day today! 🤗

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

The caution that I add, is that I was under the impression that in some cases, electronics that are purchased in the USA are not warranty covered for repair in Canada.  You may have to return to the USA to have any warranty repairs?  Check with AppleCare.

 

I may be totally off base with this....

I would second this. At least that’s the way it used to always be. 

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You could also call Celebrity.  Their best price guarantee may work and they would match their price.   I did this recently but told him I found a better price (about 1,000 less)  on AA.COM and he matched it.   Now whether he had Celebrity Match it or just had his agency do it, I don't know.

Thanks! Good to know 👍

I normally book my cruises on Celebrity’s website but I came across a sale on Expedia that I couldn’t pass up. 
Now I’m unsure what I’m supposed to do lol. Do I phone Expedia to make payment, book transfers, upgrade wifi etc? 
It was a good deal but this is kind of a pain in the tush!

Thanks for the info 🙂

9 hours ago, BazingAu said:

@paulajj Hi, just seeing if you had a review of the alcove? We are cruising in 2023 and are debating whether to purchase an alcove for a couple days (we are on a longer cruise).

 

@Team Stag or anyone who have booked the Alcoves... do you get to choose which one you get? Or are they assigned to you? Are any locations better than others on the Reflection?

I’m really sorry to say we had to cancel that cruise so we still haven’t tried them. 
 

From all that I’ve read, you get assigned the alcove but some have suggested if you go there on day one you can usually request a specific one as long as no one else has. 
Enjoy! 

You can bring up all the menus with prices on the celebrity app. 
If your sailing isn’t there yet you can choose a different date. 🙂

27 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Sorry you both have to have the same package. The coffee, teas and chocolate are the same on both packages.

For some reason there seems to be an effort to overthink this.

All coffees, teas and chocolate hot or iced without alcohol are included in either non alcoholic packages. If you did order something over the package for example a bottle of premium water you would only pay the difference in price plus 20% gratuity on the difference. 💲1extra would cost you 💲1.20. 

My cabin mate and I have 2 different drink packages. 

Lemon drop was my first and will forever be my favourite 🍋 

22 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Sorry, I saw May 27th rather than May 21st.

Oh that’s ok!

it’s still not showing but it is there on my dashboard 🤷🏻‍♀️
I also got the confirmation receipt for the AI as well so I’m all set! 
 

😊

7 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Your cruise is currently on their website

Weird how it’s not there when I check. Are you looking at 2023?

10 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

As to the cruise not showing on Celebrity's web site, our December cruise disappeared for a few hours one day this week but is back on the site now. I'm guessing they were doing inventory maintenance, or whatever they call it.  It did not disappear from my future cruises.

Phew! 😂 It’s stressful to do things a different way and it doesn’t go as expected. Thanks so much for replying 🙂

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The perks won’t show up in your Celebrity account for awhile, normally close to final payment.  That would be the beverage package and wi-fi and those will shown in your order history.

 

Contact the TA and request that they send you a copy of the  Celebrity Booking Confirmation -Guest Copy. 

ok great, thank you!

I’ve got a couple questions about a booking I made yesterday. 

I was looking for a short inexpensive cruise to bring my mother on for her first cruise and being in Canada I wanted to price out Carnival in Canadian dollars so I went to a big box retailer that starts with an E….

My search results popped up a super cheap 6 day on Celebrity Equinox for next year that included all the perks. I was surprised because I had looked at the Celebrity site first and didn’t see this one. So I went back on their website to look for it and it doesn’t show up! 
 

Normally I book on the celebrity website so I was a little apprehensive but I went back to the TA and booked it. I took screen shots of the booking that says it has all the perks included. 
After a couple of hours the booking showed up on my Celebrity reservation page but it’s still not listed to book on their site!!

so 2 questions
 

1 Why wouldn’t the cruise show on the website. May 21, 2023 celebrity equinox

2 Should the perks be displayed anywhere on the booking?  I’ve got a screenshot of the page saying it is but nothing on the receipt says it is. I normally book direct with celebrity so I usually get the big confusing price list that has the plus this amount and minus that amount but the TA’s doesn’t have anything like that. Is this normal? 
 

Sorry this turned into a novel 🤦🏻‍♀️
 

While I don’t agree with all your comments I think this is definitely the right decision. I feel anytime someone is worried about not having a good time on their holiday they should rethink going. There are a lot of changes going on right now and it doesn’t seem like you can know exactly what is going to happen. If you are not the kind of person who would be happy with this (I’m not) then you should definitely cancel!  Lots of other holiday choices to be had! 
 

7 minutes ago, Veinless said:

The Eclipse ones for May aren’t up yet, strangely. 

Ya that’s weird isn’t it…could they be changing the menus? 

All of Equinox menus for July are on the app now. You can see the whole weeks menus. 
Have fun!