WestCoastFlyer

This website should be an absolute embarrassment. I am about ready to cancel all my future plans with X. They send an ad about a 72 hour sale....WHAT A JOKE. The email takes me to pages that don't load, then lock me out of my reservation for 20 minutes or better yet don't exist at all. I try to call and have been on hold for 35 minutes listening to an ad nauseam recording about modern luxury. If this is Modern Luxury give me the old fashioned kind!:mad::mad::eek: I have been trying for 2 days of the 3 day sale. Can't do anything on line and can't reach anyone. I'm not about to fight with anyone to take my money. There are plenty of places to spend my vacation $$.

More disappointment is heading your way. It's very very select excursions that qualify for the discount. Our trip only had a couple in each city that were eligible. It's like saying Huge Sale on Voyages - as long as you don't mind staying in an inside cabin on deck 3.

I just tried to book an excursion with the 20% discount, our trip is listed as being applicable. The entire website is down. I guess this shouldn't surprise me. What are the odds that they have it fixed before the sale ends Sunday night.

We had a few folks from our group head to Dunk Bay... Trunk Bay on St John. They loved the trip and the beach but had a couple extra cocktails and lost track of time. They missed the ferry back to St Thomas and had to pay for a water taxi - I think it was $100. They were doing the run to the ship as they were getting ready to pull up the gangway. They said they would go again without hesitation, but would make darn sure they didn't miss the ferry back. If there is a ship excursion to Trunk Bay / St John you might want to consider that. It will be more expensive, but they will not leave you behind (as long as you don't miss that boat)

I hate to sound stupid...but how do you purchase on-line an upgrade from a perk Classic Package to Premium? Under what tab and is "Upgrade" a choice you select? I'm just surprised that X's website would know I had the Classic Package since I get emails telling me I should purchase one for my upcoming cruise... Any help would be appreciated!

 

 

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Login to your Captains Club account. You should be able to select Manage My Reservation for your upcoming trip. Right now this isn't working for me - I click and nothing happens. However, I selected "Check In" from the very top menu (even though check in doesn't start until next week). That gives me the website in the "old look". Select Already booked and Cruise Planner. You get to login again and this time select Explore Cruise Planner. There is a banner that comes up above the shore excursions that says I am eligible for a beverage package upgrade. It shows all the options there.

I have two reservations and this option only shows up for the one where check in starts Monday. It's nowhere to be found for my other trip in 2018.

Hope this helps.

I hope there is a corresponding upgrade to the number of Customs officials working. The trek to the terminal can be a pain, especially when they have staff preventing you from using an escalator with any type of luggage. The huge line for customs frequently makes all of this seem like a minor issue.

Our trip is listed an an applicable sailing. Nothing was listed on the Manage My Reservation today (Thursday) Just added a couple items to our cart. Our 7 night beverage package upgrade (Classic to Premium) was at list price $11.80 a night - not sure if upgrades would qualify. I tried a couple shore excursions and they also show up at list price in the cart. The 72 hour window would suggest Friday, Saturday, Sunday so maybe it's too early.

Would love to hear about any shore excursions that are being offered on the Infinity - anything that was great or that you wouldn't do again?

Wow, how disappointing. Eight pages into a thread that should be about - Tell us about the Top Deck Burger Bar on the Constellation - and I found maybe three posts that are on topic.

I get that people want to voice their support or displeasure about changes or talk about where they like to get a burger at home. However, could we all please do a better job of staying on topic. If someone can share some specifics about the new burger option(s) I would love to hear it. Thanks

We have mixed feelings about this. Our experience with Mast burgers is that the majority of the time they are dry hockey pucks. Yes we could stand there for 5+ minutes while they make a "fresh" over cooked burger, but seriously it's only slightly better.

Are we talking about taking ground beef, albeit previously frozen, and hand forming a patty, cooking it to my desired temperature (medium not charred) and serving it with my choice of toppings? Count me in, I'll pay for that.

Are we talking about a mass pressed frozen patty slapped on a grill until it's over cooked... forget it.

Regardless of the quality, here's the problem we have. When we have a full day ashore we frequently arrive back onboard hungry. It's also frequently as the Oceanview is getting ready to close and there's almost nothing available or they just closed to prepare for dinner. The Mast has always been our go to stop, even if it's just for fries or half of a dry burger. Okay, sometimes it really hits the spot.

We are not okay with the ONLY late afternoon food option, when Oceanview is closed, being something we have to pay for. Not acceptable. Turn a Mast into a fee based option, but you better have something else that's free open.

One other thing. Someone else mentioned what's next, pay for Pizza? Can they please close the glass show, install outdoor pizza ovens, and make hand made Italian personal pizzas. Yes, we will gladly pay for that.

We went mid January and had fantastic weather (after we were away from Miami where it had been raining prior to departure). We were told that the cruise before had a little rain in a few ports. You never know what you will get, on any cruise.

Check in takes most of the time 10 to 25 minutes. Vancouver is an exception.

We are taking our first cruise from Vancouver in September. What should we expect for check in and boarding in Vancouver.

I can't find the specific post but someone said that they were told by a Blu staff member that there would be a new menu in 2017. I do remember that there wasn't a specific date as we are traveling in Sept in AQ and are hopeful that it happens before our trip. I'm hopeful someone else has more specifics.

Just finished 2 cruises on Celebrity in the last 120 days on different ships. Our observations were the same for both trips.

No change in the quality of the cabin service even though there was no assistant. They seemed to work 18 hours a day.

Food in the Oceanview was better and had a special each day. We liked that

Bar service staff was reduced. Fewer bartenders resulted in longer waits and staff who were "head down" and acknowledgement of you was limited. Other than 1 amazing waiter in the Martini Bar it was frustrating to go there. The quality of red wine available everywhere was poor unless we bought a bottle.

The food in the MDR was not quite as excellent as previous trips but still good. Portions were smaller but that was okay with us. However all the staff had way more tables and as hard as they tried service was slow. This was especially true for the sommelier.

You can order MOST drinks up to $13. The $9+ carafe of wine advertised on the table flag in Oceanview is not included, or so we were told. The tray of drinks that were occasionally offered by the pool were not included - they called those specialty exceptions.

The good news is that they never failed to tell us if something wasn't included or over the $13 limit when we ordered. They were very good about not surprising guests.

We have stayed in one before. You get a larger balcony- from a little to a lot - but the cabin is the same size. See the sticky post for cabin specific info. We were in the middle of the hump facing forward. We felt that the larger balcony provided more shade, which might be a plus or minus for you. To us it was dark when sitting outside on a sea night and we also thought we had more wind when at sea. When in port it was difficult to see what was behind as the cabin next to you sticks out unless you are the last angled cabin and can look around the corner.

I know people who love the 1A for the center of the ship location and the big balcony, and they do sell out quickly. However I don't see the advantage over a 1B which is on the hump with views forward and back and which is a free upgrade from a 1C

We saw kids sizes in a rack by the pool on the Celebrity Eclipse recently.

We never had a problem until our last trip. There were 6 accounts in our group and 5 of them had overcharges. In each case it was for beverages even though we had beverage packages.

Guest relations removed the charges, but it was a good reminder to check your bill on your television before the last evening.

On our last two trips they did not show up in our account. However, the trip before that there was a printout left in our cabin showing the drink and the $0.00. I admit we were trying to make sure that we got a good value for our premium package and a number of pages were left for our review. :)

Makes me wonder if you could go to guest services and ask for a printout

You should take the following information with you to make it easier

Full legal name as it appears on their passport

Complete Address

Date of birth for each traveler

Captains Club number if they have one

Email address (or you can provide yours)

You will need to pay the deposit on their behalf, unless they give you their credit card info. (number, exp date, and ccv code)

You will also need to answer if they want trip insurance and dining preference - which can be changed later. Please see other threads about insurance for more information regarding pre-existing conditions and the benefits both positive and negative to that insurance at time of booking.

We were told that it's easy to change the information for the second person listed on the reservation, including substituting a different person. However, the first person listed is locked in other than minor corrections such a a spelling error on the name (unless you cancel the reservation) so you might want to specify who is listed as the first person on the reservation if there is any question about one of the guests not going.

On our last Equinox trip in late 2016 we were told by a staff member that there are almost always open tables in Silk Harvest - the interest is typically low.

Staff were offering big discounts if you would book at least 2 specialty dinners with 1 of them in Silk Harvest. I seem to recall a conversation by the pool where someone was offering the group next to me dinners for $20 or $25 in Silk Harvest combined with another dinner.

I would wait and book once you are on the ship and seek a discount.

You're welcome. Enjoy your trip. We were looking at that trip at some point in the future. Would enjoy reading about your trip after you get back.

The short answer is if it looks interesting, check it out. The worst that happens is that they ask if you are staying in a suite or aqua class room.

The long answer is that Luminae is the dining room reserved for passengers in suites and their guests. Michael's Club is the lounge for passengers staying in a suite, and Blu is the dining room for Aqua class passengers. There is no lounge or dining room for concierge class except for lunch in the main dining room on the day of departure.

The best answer is, relax, have fun, and don't worry about it.

We were told for our trip to Russia that we would be part of the ship visa as long as we were on an official ship excursion. I expect that Jordan is the same.

If we wanted to get off the ship on our own we would have to obtain our own visa, in advance, prior to the trip. If you are not part of an official excursion and do not have a visa you will not be allowed off the ship on your own.

We were told that http://visacentral.com/ is the company that Celebrity / Royal Caribbean recommends. You fill out your visa application and send your passport, application, and photo to this company prior to your trip. They get the visa added to your passport and send it back to you.

According to that site the consular fees are $67.50 and visa central adds another $139 in processing fees. All this assumes that you are a US resident with a US passport. This fee was based on a California resident, you can calculate your exact fees by visiting their site.

Edited to add, there are other companies that perform similar services for you. Not certain where you live in Virginia, but you could travel to Washington DC and visit the Jordanian Embassy on your own to obtain your own visa and save the $139 processing fee. You can contact the embassy directly via http://www.jordanembassyus.org/page/consulate-forms where they have a phone number listed for questions and a link to the visa application.

I could be completely wrong here, but I think the sommeliers are empowered with a little bit of flexibility here. How 'flexible' they want to be may depend on their mood and your individual relationship with them.

 

The best advice I can give anyone is get to know them, make friends and ask what they can do.....

That had always been our experience too, until just a couple weeks ago on the Eclipse. An extended friendly conversation with our sommelier and then the head sommelier resulted in an admission that they had been told by corporate no more "special favors" and, according to him, despite his desire to go search for something else it was now strictly forbidden. He said he would pass on our comments.

Our next trip is in September and I would love to hear if others are still seeing "favors" or if that is really gone.

At least you didn't upgrade before sailing...check-in with the sommelier in the MDR and Cellar Masters once you're onboard. Find out what's actually in stock and available by the glass before you upgrade. And, as a few folks have indicated on this thread, the wines on the Classic may end up being sufficient. You can always order a full-price glass of better wine here or there that wouldn't total the cost of the upgrade.

Great advise - the price of our premium upgrade didn't come close to value received. Classic package would have given us the same wines in the MDR.