hubofhockey

I wanted to move my cruise to a similar itinerary three weeks away and I have to forfeit the $100 per person penalty and take the remaining $700 as a future cruise credit. I actually found a better rate for the cruise three weeks later, so it worked out, but I believe the $200 is shot.

Note - I booked before March, when the rules changed, so I lose the $100 per passenger and get the rest as future cruise credit. I understand that subsequent bookings are subject to 100% forfeiture.

I had to cancel our cruise and it had a nonrefundable deposit of $900. The credit leftover is $700, but won't be available for 45 days. If I book a cruise now, can I apply the credit to the replacement cruise when I receive the credit? I wasn't sure if that credit could only be used as an initial deposit on a new cruise and if I should wait to book my replacement cruise. Thanks.

The other problem in M Class is that people who book Aqua only other choices are Sushi on 5 and steakhouse. On other classes, Aqua class more likely to take a couple of nights off with so many other choices. The main reason we book Aqua on M is lack of choices beyond the MDR / banquet dining.

We never had a problem on M Class between 6:30 and 7. Between 7 and 7:30, we may have taken the pager for 15 to 20 minutes. We're on the Millennium next April in Japan and hoping there aren't any waits like OP had.

You certainly can leave early. I've done it, but you would do it as a walk off and you would need to contact Celebrity.

I am in the minority on this one, but I would probably only book M class ships on Celebrity. They do the best itineraries, have smaller roomier less crowded ships, and still have decent entertainment and specialty restaurants. If Azamara has good deals and does an itinerary that fits, love to go with them as well. We live in Florida and have nice beaches, so no great need for Caribbean cruises.

I don’t think it’s just Europe. We got it or Panama Canal.

I hope you have a great time on the ship. For us, these ships hit a great sweet spot in size, things to do on the ship, and the really nice itineraries. Really looking forward to our Japan itinerary on the Millennium and I know we'll be on other M class itineraries.

I was hoping they would do that itinerary in December of 2024, but they doing the Beyond for the Panama Canal, which makes no sense. I see you get Costa Rica on your itinerary. Love the Millennium. We're back on it next April in Japan. Looking forward to your blog.

It's not breakeven point, but closer. 4.5% is $256, but AMEX still give you 1% or $57, so about $100 less than AMEX. Also, I got $475 back in refundable OBC from my AMEX consortium agency. Sometimes AMEX works well. Sometimes it doesn't.

Wanted to add that the ports of call boards have a great area for the Panama Canal cruises. I realize the Celebrity M Class ships don't have the wow factor of the newer class ships or even the Solstice class, but they really are one of my favorite classes of ships on any cruise line. Because they are smaller, they can do better itineraries and dock at better locations. Also, Celebrity always updates these ships to conform to the newer classes. In comparison, Princess has some smaller ships and doesn't update them. If you're looking for a typical Caribbean cruise, don't book M class, but for something like the Panama Canal, Japan, other Asian regions, or even unique Med ports, M Class hits the sweet spot. We would have done Panama Canal with X but timing didn't work and found a great deal on Azamara, but I would never do it on the Beyond.

My guess is that this ship is too big to do the inside locks. I would do Panama Canal on an M Class ship or use another cruise line. When I saw it was this new large ship, I decided to book on Azamara, which had a pretty good deal on December 2024 itineraries.

Didn’t realize this, but no foreign transaction fees for the card either.

I sucked it up and paid the $175 to get the three authorized users in my family for the Platinum benefits. Not sure of the value, but I also get AMEX to give me a retention incentive to offset that ridiculous $695 per year. I'm using the $20 per month in streaming, the Saks $100 (meh), $200 airlines benefits, TSA Global for 4, and the occasional Uber. I use the Blue preferred for supermarket shopping and Costco for restaurants, gas, and most other things. I love lounge access, but wondering how much is that worth, especially now that I use RSW (Ft Myers) as much as BOS (Logan). The Azamara $300, in my case, is probably worth $150, what I would have gotten if I had used Costco Citi Visa. American Express has always been good to me. Customer service is great and I feel like they always have my backs and I can't say that about the banks.

That’s usually the goal of PE firms, especially the good ones. I don’t think anyone suggested they would run Azamara into the ground. However, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they aren’t in this for the long haul. The decision to do larger and more standardized tours might have little to do with their overall intentions. So many Azamara passengers are seasoned travelers and the demand and percentage of sold excursions per passenger may be much less than other cruise lines. It may just not be a focus for current management. The options will remain in place for those who still want the excursions, but maybe the experiences will be a little different.

My cynicism is solely related to the fact that Sycamore is a PE firm and how PE firms and their investors act. Good for them that they got Azamara, it’s business model and loyal customer base at a bargain basement price. Hopefully, they turn it around and grow it, rather than squeezing out the last dollars out of older ships. It will be interesting to see.

A PE firm driving up profit margins? Ha! That's what they do, and they'll keep doing it until the value of the investment goes up enough and then they sell. The only question I have about these guys is whether they are going to expand the fleet and do new builds to compete with Oceania before they sell to one of the cruise lines or another PE firm.

Host Jazzbeau’s point here is very incisive. The AMEX Platinum cruise benefit can be great, but it also might not be as good as the Costco Citi Card. If you are an executive costco member and book with them, always consider their gift card, 3X cash back and the 2% rewards. It adds up. The AMEX $300, alone may not offset that without an agency refundable OBC, The higher the cruise fare, the less value that $300 has. You need to book at least a V3 to get the 300. 10 days on the Journey through Panama Canal just worked perfectly for us. For Japan on X, used the Costco Citi and much better results. Flights will be a different story.

The cruise I used it on was $5700 for a 10-day cruise, so the Platinum card use 300 on 5700 made a lot of sense. I have the Costco Cit Visa. It just made no sense here.

The bottle of wine, when they give you the essentials/premium drink package, is a bit ironic. I love the Platinum card and they usually give me a nice retention benefit to maintain the card because I spend enough. The $300 Azamara and $300 Amex will be spent on Chefs Table +2 package and spa/gym. We’d do those anyway. My favorite other perk of the card is $20 a month credit against Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu package. Oh, have a great time on your first AZ cruise.

We have only been on one Azamara cruise and it lived up to everything its loyal followers write on Cruise Critic. The service is outstanding. The atmosphere is relaxed and the food is pretty good. I would book all of your specialty restaurants as soon as you board, per advice of the regulars on the CC Azamara forums. Last advice - Relax and Enjoy!

While I find it weird that someone is hesitant to take their first cruise on Azamara because of a lack of perks, I don't walk in their shoes. If you really can't get excited about an Azamara cruise and have a negative attitude going in, it's probably not worth your time booking with Azamara and living with that angst. We have future cruises booked on X and Azamara. It would be great if both would count for loyalty points for both, but it is what it is. We'll have a great time on both and not worry earning points.

I saw something online that indicates that you are correct and that it's an AMEX promotion they do with cruise lines, so non-refundable. Right now, both the essentials package $300 (free with current promotion) and the AMEX are showing up as onboard credit for a total of $600. I am going to see if it lets me use it for Chefs Table + 4 dining packages.

Thank you very much for clarifying. I doubt we'll be walking away with much cash from our $1,075 OBC. Between specialty dining, spa/gym, extra device for WIFI, we'll be well into the refundable amount provided by the TA. If we walk away with $200, I'll be surprised. We have only been on one Azamara cruise (15 days in SE Asia), but you're right about that crew. They deserve extra tips. They really are so much of the difference between a cruise on a larger line and Azamara.