hiccups

I’ve always assumed that now with MoveUp bids, we’ll get the lowest level cabin.  Last month we booked a suite guarantee on Beyond for this month, and our TA said to be prepared to be assigned an MC Sky Suite.  We were much more quickly than I expected assigned to a standard Sky Suite.  Of course we would have loved a Celebrity Suite (or higher!) but since we didn’t get the MC Sky Suite, can’t complain.  The savings were worth it.

15 hours ago, msolok said:

 

This is just how things tend to go with cruising. Itineraries, schedules and everything are very susceptible to changes. While they do try and make everything happen, sometimes things don't work out and things need to change. I don't think I have ever been on a cruise line that has offered $ for the "hassle" of a changed itinerary.

We recieved OBC from Azamara a few years ago when they had to cancel a port in Spain for a strike.  We’d also bought cruise-specific travel insurance, and that coverage included reimbursement for a missed port.  Our cruises after that one, cruise insurance no longer seemed to cover missed ports.

Glad to hear good comments about Enchanted Princess, as we’re taking our first Princess cruise on her this summer—family cruise, and the ship had some better option for the varied ages of the kids.  We have the Premier package and am looking forward to the inclusions.

6 hours ago, MikeMary4449 said:

FYI:  It is our understanding that, if you want the "remaining $308" as a "rebate check", you need to let your TA know this BEFORE you embark on the cruise.  If your gratuities (or any other charges onboard) exceed the $120 of OBC, your credit card on file will be charged, but any amount over the $120 will be offset by the rebate check (money in your pocket) after you return home.  If you take the entire $428 as OBC, you MUST use it onboard or you lose it.  Hope this wasn't too confusing.

OP may not necessarily lose the OBC—they need to ask their TA if it’s refundable.  Our OBC from our TA is refundable, and anything we don’t spend onboard is refunded to our linked credit card.

2 hours ago, CruisinShips said:

Unless it's changed, it's basically just a bigger cabin and access to a quiet little concierge area with finger foods.  No dedicated restaurant or deck as far as I recall.

I don’t know about NCL’s older builds, but they definitely have the “ship within a ship” in a few classes with a dedicated lounge, restaurant, deck and pool, etc.

On 4/15/2024 at 6:07 PM, PinkSandGirl said:

They had the IV's sitting out in the reception area the other day!   I thought ...this is odd on a ship.

 

🍹

Most people I know that have done IVs are because they drank too much the day before, so I'm not surprised they are offering them onboard.

We have just booked a Sky Suite on Beyond over Memorial Day, so it's great to follow along and see what we'll get to experience, even though we won't get to enjoy it for as long as you will 🙂 

We are booked on Enchanted Princess in July (first Princess cruise), and our booking includes the Plus package. A few weeks ago I saw the ability to upgrade to the Premier package online.  We discussed it and decided to upgrade, but now the option no longer appears on the website or the app.  Has anyone else experienced this glitch, or know if Princess has stopped offering pre-cruise upgrades?

I assume we can upgrade onboard, but I am not sure about the availability of specialty dining reservations if we wait until then.

Thanks for any insight anyone can provide!

6 hours ago, Eno said:

I'm boarding the Sky next month with a bunch of ducks dressed as sharks, small but couldn't resist them.  

Those are great—are they from Amazon?

We’ve never done the ducks, but are taking a family cruise on Enchanted this summer and I’m thinking of getting some for our young niece and nephew to hide.

9 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Thanks for all of that, especially what is casual dining.

 

That $40/day for both of us might be too much. Since it seems like it's not a time based thing where we cannot upgrade if we wait, I'll deal with that math once we're closer to the day.

 

 

You can check on the upgrade price on the website.  When I looked at ours, it was $18/day instead of $20.  We didn't book it yet, but I plan on doing it soon and hope that is still the price.

3 hours ago, Baggy178 said:

 

Not really.

I booked my cruise because it was cheap and by not handing over $400 to be distributed amongst some of the crew I keep it cheap. I really don't see an ethical or moral problem with withholding gratuities - a gratuity should be a gift for excellent service not a way of improving wages of people I have nothing to do with. Why should I tip a croupier when I never go into an onboard casino ? I much prefer to slip some coin to people who have gone above and beyond - whether they choose to keep it or throw it into the crew pot is up to them.

Tell yourself that if it makes you feel better about being a cheapskate.  The crew, including a ton you don’t see, work their tails off for your vacation and you want to stiff them. 

On 7/5/2023 at 2:59 PM, CuseJeff44 said:

I just wish it was one or the other. If there is still going to be an expectation, or even an environment in which that expectation can emerge, then just lose the auto tips entirely, or make them totally opt-in. Still creates a have or have not setup with some people toting around envelopes and some not. Just not a fan of that vibe.

We’ve never felt pressured to give extra tips on Celebrity.  We usually have OBC and so leave an extra amount for our steward, but typically that’s it.

4 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

Yeah - I wrote back and said that based on feedback on social media boards, I politely disagreed with their assumption that guests who do not vape feel that allowing vaping will not impact negatively their experience.  

Yes, I'd love to know where that "overall guest feedback" came from they cite.

23 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

Here's the response I got..

 

 

Wow, that's much different than the response I received earlier today:

 

I sent an email yesterday and got the same reply terrydtx received--glad to see they took out the part about it not impacting cruisers.

Even though I didn't include the date of my upcoming Equinox cruise, the response had our sailing date and reservation number in the subject line.

1 minute ago, mailmama said:

Is there an email to corporate where we can voice our concerns/opinions? I also cruise Celebrity due to the no smoking policy.

ExecutiveOffice@celebrity.com

4 hours ago, Bandman said:

Currently on board as well. We left the casino one night earlier in the week due to vape smoke swirling around us. So glad they might have already reconsidered. 

I hope you note this on your post-cruise survey, if you haven't mentioned it already.  I'd hate to see the policy change permanently.

We did this itinerary on Equinox back in November 2019, and liked it so much we are booked again for this November!  I'm going to look into Renaissance Island--never heard of it, so thanks for the info!  Last time we just did a tour around the island and weren't too impressed.  Bonaire we'll go snorkeling again, and Curacao was fun just to walk around--not sure if we'll book something this time or not.

Congratulations on your PhDs, and enjoy your trip!

We had the sparkling wine and macarons on Day 1, but I thought that was a YC thing--it wasn't until later I realized it was for being Diamond.  Towards the end of the cruise I received a 75% extra dark chocolate bar--tasted it when I got home and it was like eating baking chocolate.  I didn't know there were supposed to be other gifts.

Hello, NCL cruisers!  I recently took my first NCL cruise on Escape.  It was a solo cruise because my DH couldn't get time off, but he'd like to try NCL sometime.  Is there any type of chart or summary that details the difference between the various classes of NCL ships?  My DH liked the idea of the ropes course, so I assume I'd have to stick with the Breakway Plus class to find activities like that.  I'm wondering if there are "good, better, best" (or maybe "old, new, newest") categories, or how fellow cruisers judge the ships.  I understand some people like a smaller number of passengers (Jewel class, it appears), but I'd like my DH to experience at least what I did on Escape.  Thanks for any assistance!

I’m sailing on Sunday, and today when I was looking at excursions, my cruise also showed all sea days.  However, when I clicked on the days, the appropriate shore excursion choices appeared.

Enjoying your review after reading them on the X and NCL boards!  We had our first MSC experience in January (YC on a Divina three-nighter), but the time we spent outside YC did not seem nearly as nice as yours.  My husband said he would cruise MSC again but only in YC.  I think because it was a weekend cruise, we may have had a different clientele—it was packed with kids, taking over the pools and the hot tubs.  My husband went to the buffet at 2 PM to get some pizza and couldn’t believe the lines.

The picture of your muffaletta sandwich made me chuckle—it was like a face looking at me.

As for your pedicure, you should try Color Street nail polish strips—no drying time!

We were at POM last week for an MSC cruise, and were at a surface lot there.  Because of where we had to exit the parking lot, we ended up looping around and it look us 20 minutes to get out.  LOL.  When we parked there for our X cruise, I don't remember it taking nearly as long--we were in one of the garages and that was easier to get out.

1 hour ago, Seas2mountains said:

Thank you for responding as it is very interesting that we had similar experiences. Was Kevin your butler, too? We did see him on Friday but not on Saturday.  We did see him at Ocean Cay on Sunday. That is too bad on the Coke Zero. I am also a little confused with the roles on MSC YC as we thought we had cabin stewards but some are calling them the junior butlers.

 

We were disappointed that the dress code was not enforced at Le Muse. The kids sure were dressed nice and in many cases much nicer than some adults! 

 

You will have to read the review of the person who is on the ship now and is posting her experience on the Celebrity boards. Her experience is so much different than ours with the same butler. I'm afraid she is setting the Celebrity people up for disappointment as she is making it seem like everyone gets VIP treatment including invites to private cabanas without having to pay for it. It sounds like she is having a great time and I am happy for her.

 

We didn’t have Kevin—our butler was Dineesh (sp?).  I have been following the thread on the Celebrity board, and have been impressed by the level of service she received.

I wasn’t aware that the cabin stewards in YC are known as assistant butlers.  Ours did a great job with our cabin and we saw him daily.

Well, I can tell you don’t look it up on the Port of Miami website—it says Terminal AA.  Which, of course, we couldn’t find since it’s not completed!  Finally we had to stop and ask an employee.

It’s been very interesting to read about your Divina YC experience.  We were in YC from the 13th-16th on Divina, and while it was a lovely experience, it was nothing like yours!  We saw our butler ONCE, after our arrival.  He asked if we had any requests for the minibar, and I asked for Coke Zero.  We never received it.  I also asked if they possibly had milk chocolate rather than the dark Toblerone, and he said no, they didn’t carry any milk chocolate on the ship.

I wasn’t a fan of the overall ship decor, but didn’t have any problem with our cabin’s.  We preferred the muted brown and mauve to the burnt orange of non-Revolutionized X ships.  My husband and I have different tastes, though, and he liked the rest of the ship, too.

We enjoyed Le Muse, but didn’t get to experience The One pool area thanks to the chilly weather over the weekend, sadly.  Looks like lunch would have been nice! The indoor pool was completely overrun by families with children, as you noted.  My husband braved the buffet to grab a slice of pizza, and even at 2 PM it was packed with long lines.

We’d sail MSC again, but only in YC!