sammysgranny

I’m in the U.K. and find it’s always worth ringing Celebrity if the price or perks change after you’ve booked. This year I had two pricing issues with my forthcoming cruise. The first time was before final payment and I ended up having to lose my deposit and rebook the same cabin but I still saved around £500.

Then after final payment, the price stayed pretty much the same but the OBC perk increased. So I rang Celebrity who, without much difficulty, offered me the extra OBC which I was very grateful for.

Thank you for the replies.

Does anyone know for sure whether there are kettles in the cabin on Silhouette please? Sailing from Southampton.

I’ve never had any problems getting scheduled port times by emailing Fred. I’ve just received the details for my August cruise within 24 hours of asking.

OP is from the UK. They have different rules than here in the US. :eek: They cannot just cancel and re book.

I’m from the UK. A few days I ago (and just before final payment was due) I noticed that Celebrity were offering a better deal than when I’d booked early. So I rang them and ended up cancelling my original booking (and losing my deposit) and rebooking the new offer. I kept the same cabin and ended up several hundred pounds better off and with more OBC.

Is it not also open to Elite level Captains Club guests?

Just in case people are not aware of it, Celebrity have been reducing the price of the drinks packages recently. I got premium NA a few days ago for a tad over £11 a day which is a good reduction on the normal prices.

If they aren't showing the lower prices on the 'manage your booking' part of the website it would be worth ringing Celebrity and asking them to offer you the lower prices. For anyone who does drink alcohol, the premium alcohol package was a steal I remember but sorry I can't remember the exact price. I just wished I drank cocktails!

Just to say that I avoid the aft sunset cabins now having had two cruises marred by sooty deposits on the balcony from the ship's funnels. They did come and clean the balconies down a couple of times (but not enough) and I now always go for a hump Concierge cabin instead. Celebrity said that the soot was a hazard of those cabins depending on the strength and direction of the wind.

I've flown from the UK to various embarkation ports on the same day the cruise starts without any problems but I dont think I've ever had as little leeway as 3.5 hours. I doubt it's going to be possible to change those flights without paying again but it would be worth a try.

I'd be especially worried about the transfers to the port because I've had bad experiences with people like resort hoops and now always take a taxi. Barcelona is a big airport with restricted pick up points and it once took over 1.5 hrs for me to find the meeting place then wait ages for other people from different flights and then have an involuntary tour of the city dropping people off at different places.

Last December I used the Cruise Excursions transfer to Bruges and we were dropped off and picked up right in the centre of the town by the Market place. The service was excellent.

I heard several people who'd booked the ships transfer complaining about the local walk into and back from the town.

Just go to guest relations (reception will point you in the right direction) and ask whether they have anything to offer. Obviously if the ship is full, you'll be out of luck but it's well worth asking.

I've never been offered a free upgrade but have several times been able to pay for an upgrade when on the ship at a very reasonable price. Last year I paid about £250 to upgrade from a pretty ropy superior single balcony cabin with partly obstructed view to a fantastic superior suite, the top grade of cabin.

According to the official fares displayed on the taxi rank here (today), the fare from Santa Cruz to Las Americas is 100 euros one way. I'm told that the end fare may be slightly more depending on the exact start and end points.

The bus fare (using a bono card which can be purchased at the bus station) from Santa Cruz to Las Americas is 13 euros one way. The journey takes approx either 1hr 15 mins or 1hr 30 mins depending on the bus route you use. You may also need to take a taxi from the port up to the bus station to reduce the overall journey time.

Do you know where the excursion starts from? Many of the whale and dolphin watching excursions go from Los Gigantes which is further away from Santa Cruz than Las Americas.

I don't know the exact price but know that it will be around the 120 euros mark (and possibly more) each way. If you still need the information, I can check with the taxi rank outside our complex (I'm in las Americas at the moment).

I wonder whether you'd consider using a private tour guide instead if you are wanting to see something of the south of the island? We used ODITEN (one day in tenerife) which is run by Felix and we were very happy with both the tour and his service. He will take you to wherever you want to go and is well used to dealling with cruise ship passengers. There were 3 of us and we shared a total cost of 175 euros for the day in a comfortable minibus type vehicle. He can accommodate 7 people I think but charges a little more. Great reviews on Trip advisor as well.

Thank you for such an excellent trip report. The information about the W Africa and Cape Verde ports will come in very useful when I do the same cruise later in the year.

Open seating but the have a tendency to guide you towards specific tables which they like to fill up on a table at a time basis. So not truly open seating which is why I prefer self service for lunch (and breakfast).

That's as I see it as well.

I cancelled my drinks package when I realised that no hot drinks were included other than the DIY ones which are free anyway. Fred also said that water is only included by the glass rather than by the bottle which is how most cruise lines offer it.

My favourite Pernod and lemonade is also excluded so I couldn't really see the point of having the package. Even with 50% discount on excluded drinks, I'd still have a starting bill of £10.

I'm going on Braemar at the end of next month and had signed up for the £10 pn drinks package but, after looking at what was included (or more importantly what was excluded) I've just cancelled it and will pay as I go instead. Most of what I'm likely to drink is excluded and even allowing for the 50% reduction on those, with £10 already paid, you've got to be drinking a fair bit to even break even.

I've had drinks packages on other cruise lines which have worked out well for me but there were very few exclusions.