argyllsock

Hi Everyone!

I’m looking at ordering something for my wife on our upcoming Summit cruise. I’ve never used Gifts by Celebrity but did order once on a RCCL cruise and it was a disaster - flowers hidden away in the corner, personal message missing. My wife thought it was part of everyone’s room!

If you have ordered from the Gifts section, what was your experience? Did the personalized message make it with the gift?

Thanks!

John

Enjoyed your PG review (convinced us to hold off on Polynesia until we can spend 15 days minimum on the islands and cruising) from earlier this year and looking forward to hearing about your trip on the Eclipse.

Hi,

I have done this drive from the Toronto area to the port. It's not something I would do in the middle of winter but if you are heading out between Mid April and Mid November you should be fine.

1. Cost of Parking:

$20 onsite. This puts you about 100 feet from the ship! Really handy if you want to get back home quickly at cruise end as you can be in your car and heading home quickly. If you stay at hotel with a parking promotion add at least one hour to get the shuttle, get to the car, get packed, and get going.

2. What is the drive like:

Drive down the day before and stay at a hotel that's within a 90 minute drive day of port. If you are not going in winter it's an enjoyable drive - major highways all the way down - with lots of areas to stop and take a break from driving.

Even if you fly, I strongly suggest that you fly in the night before. Always allow buffer time for 'stuff happens'.

3. LaGuardia

Can't help you here. The few times I have flown into LGA for work it's been a disaster with significant delays.

4. Hotels

If you drive down you'll find you can get decent hotels at pretty good prices about 60-75 minutes away from the port. I'm thinking of places like Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Hampton Suites. Places that are fine for an overnight. Googlemaps or mapquest can help you find a decent place to stay.

If you want to leave your car there are a number of hotels that offer parking for a week with a night's stay -- but do your research as many do not include a shuttle trip to the port or back and that will add to your costs.

Have a great cruise!

I have bad asthma too. I'm allergic to smoke. I have been seeing a Naturopath and I'm now on a special diet (no wheat, corn, vinegar, sugar, dairy, beef, etc.) that he did testing for. I have been exposed four times to second hand smoke (not on purpose) and no asthma attacks. I haven't even been using my inhalers. I still can't believe it. I hope that in four months I can start eating some of the foods I haven't been allowed to eat. He will do more testing and see what can be added back into my diet.

Wow! That's great. DW has been to a Naturopath as well but has not been as successful in some part due issues with her lungs. We just try to avoid the smoke when possible. Celebrity is one of the better lines -- smoking is restricted to two areas. Our cruise on NCL Epic was a disaster - smoke in the casino lofted up through the ship.

Good luck with the naturopath and glad to hear it's worked for you!

What/where did you move to?

 

Sent from my SM-G935R4 using Forums mobile app

Was able to move to a Celebrity suite. Had to pay an upgrade but was able to keep all of my perks. It was worth doing as the view is very important to my DW.

Spent some time with my TA and Celebrity and were able to get a move to another cabin.

Just proves out that you really need to research before booking!

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts.

I guess I understand the question regarding the limited view and the location of a suite, if you are suggesting that if you are paying a premium for a stateroom you would hope the view would be unobstructed. But what I don't understand is the concern regarding the designated smoking area. Why should suites (versus any other stateroom) be exempt from that location? Just curious.

This is nothing to do with suites being near a smoking area; rather my mistake - I picked a cabin that looked good without doing the research...We really didn't want to be near the smoking area (Suite, balcony, whatever) as one of us has severe asthma. My bad and I'm trying to rectify it with Celebrity.

I have attached a screenshot from a YouTube video - there’s a lot of lifeboat to look at from your suite!

6117.

Saw a YouTube video someone posted recently from that suite and the lifeboat Is a major obstruction. And who really wants to look at a lifeboat?

I guess I’m just surprised that Celebrity would put suites there...coupled with the smoking area two decks directly below.

Hi,

Booked a sky suite on the Summit and I’m a little concerned that the cabins on Deck 6 seem to have obstructed views (not noted on Celebrity’s site). Any experience with the views? We’ve got 3 sea days and love looking at the waves...which won’t be much fun if all we can see are lifeboats!

As well, has anyone experienced issues in their suites from the port side deck four smoking area?

Thanks

Hi,

 

Thanks to all who responded to my mini-survey. It’s by no means scientifically designed and, as such, provides only anecdotal observations. One would need a lot more responses to have any confidence in the results.

 

In any case, it was an interesting experiment!

 

If you read a lot of the posts and articles, there are varying suggestions on how to position yourself for an upgraded cabin. In fact, there are quite a few articles that say booking a guaranteed cabin category is one of the best ways to get a better cabin. Other suggestions include when you book and your loyalty to a line.

 

I tried to test a couple of the suggestions:

 

1. Does your loyalty status improve your odds of getting an upgrade on a cabin?

 

I had responses from those with no Captains Club status through to Elite Plus – no Zenith members responded. Elite and EliteMembers reported an upgrade in cabin 60% and 67% of the time. Surprisingly, new to Celebrity cruisers reported being upgraded 50% of the time.

 

Unfortunately, Select and Classic CC members had the worst odds of getting an upgrade, with only 29% of Select and No Classic members reporting an upgrade.

 

2. Does your time of booking have an impact on your upgrade odds?

 

The results here were quite interesting:

 

Booking Guaranteed:

 

 

· over 1 year in advance resulted in an upgrade 50% of the time

· 6 months to one year in advance resulted in an upgrade 40% of the time

· 90 – 180 days in advance resulted in an upgrade 80% of the time

· Booking less than 90 days in advance resulted in an upgrade 20% of the time

 

Keep in mind that my sample size was super small (22 responses) but it does appear that booking a guarantee about 3 months out gives you a pretty good shot at an upgrade…and this makes sense. At 90 days cruises can be cancelled without penalty (We have to look at the impact of the non-refundable deposits being rolled out at some point in the future), making it the perfect time to assign guarantees. Additionally, the full category upgrades (moving up from aqua to a suite for example) occurred with bookings that were made 180 days or less from sailing. Full category upgrades where rare, occurring for 10% of the respondents.

 

There really are not enough observations to draw any clear conclusions but it would appear that the strategy that could bring you an upgrade on a guarantee is to book close to the full payment or penalty date for reservations.

 

 

My take away? Always book a category guarantee that you would be happy with -- getting a substantial upgrade is rare...and if you have flexibility, try to book a guarantee shortly before the penalty for cruise cancellation kicks in!

Sorry for the delay in updating. I received 53 survey submissions. Did it change my responses to the questions?

1. Does your loyalty status improve your odds of getting an upgrade on a cabin?

It appears that your loyalty status does have a slight impact on your odds of getting an upgrade. Overall, 30% of the respondents received a 'minor' upgrade (better cabin in the category) and 6% received a 'major' upgrade (upgrade either one or two major levels better cabin). Major upgrades were provided to Elite and Elite Plus members only (14%). Minor upgrades were generally the same across the board - status had little to do with getting a better cabin in the category.

2. Does your time of booking have an impact on your upgrade odds?

Booking closer to your cruise date does seem to increase the likelihood of a 'major' upgrade. Booking over 6 months out did not result in a major upgrade for any respondent - 8% of the bookings made within 180 days resulted in a major upgrade. Again, minor upgrades occurred pretty much at the same frequency regardless of when the booking occurred.

I have added a third question:

3. Are particular cabin categories more likely to result in an upgrade?

It appears that booking an inside through verandah has a higher likelihood of getting an upgrade. Verandah bookings experienced minor upgrades 44% of the time and major upgrades 6% of the time. Oceanview bookings experienced minor upgrades 29% of the time and major upgrades 14% of the time. Interior guarantees were upgraded 17% 'minor' and 17% 'major'.

Observations:

• Guarantees are not a path to an upgrade.
  
• You are more likely to get an upgraded cabin from a guaranteed booking if you are in Interior through Verandah classes, and having an elevated Captain's Club level doesn't hurt.
  

Again, the golden rule of booking applies: if you want a particular cabin, book it; don't hope for a guarantee since you will more than likely get exactly what has been guaranteed!

I'll revisit the survey results in a day and recompile the results to see if anything changes.

Interesting that the cruise line can re-assign cabins after they have assigned. I would raise a stink if that happened to me!

Hi,

Thanks to all who responded to my mini-survey. It’s by no means scientifically designed and, as such, provides only anecdotal observations. One would need a lot more responses to have any confidence in the results.

In any case, it was an interesting experiment!

If you read a lot of the posts and articles, there are varying suggestions on how to position yourself for an upgraded cabin. In fact, there are quite a few articles that say booking a guaranteed cabin category is one of the best ways to get a better cabin. Other suggestions include when you book and your loyalty to a line.

I tried to test a couple of the suggestions:

1. Does your loyalty status improve your odds of getting an upgrade on a cabin?

I had responses from those with no Captains Club status through to Elite Plus – no Zenith members responded. Elite and EliteMembers reported an upgrade in cabin 60% and 67% of the time. Surprisingly, new to Celebrity cruisers reported being upgraded 50% of the time.

Unfortunately, Select and Classic CC members had the worst odds of getting an upgrade, with only 29% of Select and No Classic members reporting an upgrade.

2. Does your time of booking have an impact on your upgrade odds?

The results here were quite interesting:

Booking Guaranteed:

· over 1 year in advance resulted in an upgrade 50% of the time

· 6 months to one year in advance resulted in an upgrade 40% of the time

· 90 – 180 days in advance resulted in an upgrade 80% of the time

· Booking less than 90 days in advance resulted in an upgrade 20% of the time

Keep in mind that my sample size was super small (22 responses) but it does appear that booking a guarantee about 3 months out gives you a pretty good shot at an upgrade…and this makes sense. At 90 days cruises can be cancelled without penalty (We have to look at the impact of the non-refundable deposits being rolled out at some point in the future), making it the perfect time to assign guarantees. Additionally, the full category upgrades (moving up from aqua to a suite for example) occurred with bookings that were made 180 days or less from sailing. Full category upgrades where rare, occurring for 10% of the respondents.

There really are not enough observations to draw any clear conclusions but it would appear that the strategy that could bring you an upgrade on a guarantee is to book close to the full payment or penalty date for reservations.

My take away? Always book a category guarantee that you would be happy with -- getting a substantial upgrade is rare...and if you have flexibility, try to book a guarantee shortly before the penalty for cruise cancellation kicks in!

Absolutely!

Keep in mind it's hardly scientific but it will be interesting to see what CC member's experiences have been.

I plan to let people respond for the next day or two and then publish the results.

Thanks to everyone for answering!

I have answered your survey

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

We've been going with guaranteed cabin bookings lately with Celebrity. I am interested in getting a better understanding of what CC members' experience has been like with booking guaranteed cabins so I have set up brief survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WF77YX5

I'm hoping that you'll respond if you've booked a celebrity guarantee, and that this is allowed on the forums!

I'll post results in a few weeks

Thank you!

We did the drive to the port back in October. No winter weather at that time to worry about. We did take the I-90 to Syracuse and then headed south on I-81. Any of the routes you are considering will get some mountainous roads as you go through Pennsylvania.

We always head out the morning before the cruise and stay in a hotel about 90 minutes outside of the cruise terminal to ensure that we can account for roadwork, weather, accidents, etc.

Given the unpredictability of the weather, I would suggest deciding on the route the day of. If it's clear, take I-90. And I would certainly go out the day before if possible to give yourself as much buffer time as possible and to get to your ship relaxed and ready for vacation!

Anthem is a beautiful ship and you will have a wonderful time.

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

We'll talk to the concierge on embarkation day to see menus - it looks like we will be fine!

Hi Everyone,

We've finally booked a suite on a summit cruise to Bermuda this spring. We've been hooked on Aqua class and Blu restaurant where they've been very accommodating to vegetarians. Looking at the Luminae menus posted on CC and elsewhere, the vegetarian option is pretty much limited to one choice. Is there a separate vegetarian menu (blu had one) or can the vegetarian in our party order order from Blu or MDR menus?

Thanks!

The Mediterranean cruise is a great taster cruise -- you get a little bite of a lot of places.

I agree with the other posters and suggest you spend at least 3 days in your embarkation city. If you are embarking in either Rome or Barcelona then you'll have time to really enjoy the city (and they do take multiple days to really explore).

If you only have a day in Rome or Florence, I recommend using the cruise ship excursions. Pricier but these are tours that take the full day and you don't want to miss your debarkation time on a private tour! We had a bus breakdown on the way to Florence -- the cruise ship stayed an extra hour for us. This wouldn't have happened on a private tour.

Good luck with the wedding -- book the cruise; you'll have a great time!

Thanks everyone for the information!

I much prefer coming in the night before. However, early May (we are looking at one of the Cuba cruises) won't have the snowstorm issues up north and I think the weather in Miami is pretty stable then as well.

My biggest fear is that Oceania routes our airfare through a hub rather than direct, and a 3 hour direct flight becomes 5 or 6 hours!

The beverage package doesn't sound like a great deal if it's only lunch and dinner; we like a pre dinner drink and usually a nightcap.

Right now the cost difference between base and O-Life is pretty much equivalent to the cost of the airfare (YYZ-MIA is unbelievably costly) so O-Life gives us a better deal.

Hi Everyone,

We are looking at booking an Oceania cuba cruise. The O-Life option with included air looks like a pretty good deal but we were wondering about the flights Oceania would book. There are plenty of direct flight offerings between Toronto and Miami (our departure port) but I'm wondering what others have experienced with regards to flight arrangements.

On a different note, the O-life includes one of free ship excursions, cabin credit, or drink package. Is the drink package offered as part of the package all inclusive or restricted? It's not easy to find on Oceania's site!

Thanks in advance!

What time did the Annthem dock @ Cape Canaveral? Was it 7am?

 

thanks.

 

-Sean

I think it depends on the itinerary. For the 7 day Bayonne-Port Canaveral-Coco Cay-Nassau-Bayonne we were on it arrived in Port Canaveral at noon and departed at 9:00 pm. Not nearly enough time to go to Orlando or visit Kennedy Space Centre.

I enjoyed reading your trip report and when available will look forward to reading your review.

 

Keith

Thanks!

I'm working on the review and hope that it will be approved by cruise critic in the next few weeks.

Really good honest review - not just a moan-fest like some! Can I ask what you didn't like about Celebrity?

I love RCI and Celebrity - perhaps leaning more to Celebrity nowadays, but on Allure this weekend. Just interested.

Glad you liked the review! What we really liked about celebrity - dining in Blu, service was a little better than RCCL (cabin stewards always seemed to be there), and geared towards couples more so than families (mind you, we were pretty happy with the Solarium area on Anthem and would do that again - while there were a lot of children on Anthem they've managed to set up areas/activities that suit everyone's tastes). What we didn't like about Celebrity - the entertainment is nowhere near the calibre of Royal. For comparisons, Anthem versus Reflection (our last X cruise), had much more in terms of evening shows, the performers just seemed better, and there was much more entertainment in the lounges.

If they could merge the best of both lines I think I would never get off the ship!