lovetocruiseinvirginia

Anyone know why I can’t get the deck plan view on available cabins on Celebrity website?

What is the best way to get from Southampton to London? And hotel recommendations in London? Thanks 

How do you go about finding a Travel Agent?

For the very first time crusing Holland ( usually Celebrity), 14 day Alaska July 17th

We are new to Holland American and excited about our first cruise with them. we have cruised many times on Celebrity. Will we have opportunities to dance on the Amsterdam? Thank you for any input.

I am new to Holland America, when do the new cruises come out?

Certainly one is enough, how do I get my thread deleted, I don't want to tax the board with two of the same topics

Sorry I missed the thread yesterday and I am a Celebrity cruiser, I was not aware that you could not bring up other cruise lines

I for one am so excited to hear that HAL is no longer allowing smoking on balconies. Holland American has some extra nice itineraries in my opinion, Hawaii and longer Alaska. So we have have another good option when we are looking for something a little different.

We have sailed Celebrity for 20 years. Over the past few years the opportunity to ballroom dance has diminished. We were on the Solstice in July and hustled and swing until we gave up. The band played repetitive songs and we had no opportunity to waltz, tango, or foxtrot. We made the best of it although disappointed. We have commented many times to Celebrity to no avail. We are considering a Cunard voyage to experience more of a ballroom dance experience. We did have a Latin trio but they played in cocktail lounge with no dance floor. I hope your experience is different and hope that Celebrity considers expanding their dance opportunity.

Thank you for the helpful information along the way you wonderful voyage. We have sailed Celebrity many times, and are interested in a Cunard voyage. What is the smoking policy and is there a great deal of ballroom dancing. We have been disappointed with Celebrity as of late because of the lack of dancing. Keep up the posts I am traveling vicariously through you.

Please Celebrity hear our cries! I understand that not everyone ballroom dances, however, we can all dance, ballroom and any other type of dance, to certain types of music. I have been on 15 plus Celebrity cruises, and quite frankly when I look around the majority by far are in the 50 plus age. However, you can still offer a vareity of music to include popular for this age group and other varities. Just not rap, or music that is unpleasant to hear in a cocktail environment. Just give us a nice variety and most of all look at your guests and appease to them. I am going to look at Royal Carribean and HAL and of course my only concern with HAL is the smoking on the balcony policy. Thanks for listening.

We are planning a trip next Sept on Infinity. I read so many poor reviews, anyone got any thoughts on the ship and its condition? Thank you

Why is everyone so hard on this fellow. I love my balcony and stay on it a great deal during the cruise. One of the major reasons I cruise with Celebrity is the restrictive smoking policy. I would be very upset, and the compensation would be of no advantage to me. I have saved and planned my vacation and for someone to be smoking next to us would be a major concern. There are other rules on the ship, and Celebrity enforces so this should be one. I would not have thought about asking for compensation, the compensation I would expect is that they handle the smoker immediately.

I want to do a Hawaii trip. Although we usually sail Celebrity they do not do a 15 day to Hawaii. Have any past Celebrity cruisers, gone on another lines Hawaii cruise with the 10 or so sea days? Any tips would be great. Thanks

I would love to do another Hawaii trip. Tried to book back to back on the Solstice this year, but was told due to laws could not go to Alaska, Vancouver and then over to Hawaii. Have an "Celebriters" done Princess or Carnival to Hawaii. I just may have to do that. My husband and I want to go for our 40th. Anniversary.

Is anyone excited about that trip. What are your thoughts or input in that trip to Carnival

While enjoying another Caribbean Cruise on the beautiful Celebrity Eclipse (our first trip on a Solstice class ship), we decided to go ahead and book the same cruise for 2013 while still on board. For us, it has always been a great opportunity to book on board, since we receive both the category upgrade, ship board credit and, since we’re on the ship, can see cabin layouts / locations first hand.

We visited the Future Cruise Sales Desk to complete our booking. We were assisted by the Cruise Sales Manager and received our quote, however, we were told to put our reservation on hold because it was January 5th and Celebrity was coming out with a fabulous offer on Jan 7th – 8th. She said she did not know what the offer was, but that she would send the information to our cabin and we could then complete our booking. We were very satisfied with the cruise fare of $1900.00 knowing that it was approximately $300 less than the online advertised price, which we had made note earlier in the day before this meeting. She said this quote would be good until 1/12/13 and our cabin would now be held until then.

Once the 123 offer was made public, we returned to the Cruise Sales Manager to complete our booking. We had decided to take the free gratuities and finalized our plans. We assumed that we would receive the same 1/5/13 quoted price plus receive free gratuities. No one ever mentioned that accepting the 123 offer meant that we would lose the three category upgrade. At that time, the Cruise Sales Manager told us the computers were very slow and she would send us our confirmation. She took all of the original quote papers.

When the quote arrived the next day, it was considerably higher, reflecting the same price that was available to us on the internet. (Cruise fare of $2289). I (Frances) went back to the office and saw another agent and was then told that the price difference was due to our selection of the 123 offer / free gratuities. I explained to her that I would have booked the lower price had I been allowed, but was told I had to wait. After much confusing discussion, I asked if we could just go back to the original price we had been quoted and take the $300 onboard credit. She said yes, but then worked up the quote and instead of a $300 savings, we would only receive an $80 savings and on board credit. I asked her to explain this and her only explanation was that the price had gone up. You can imagine my frustration at this point. I told her to go ahead and change back to the three category upgrade. / $300 ship board credit. The next day, we met with a third agent (We had now met with all three ladies at this time) to again discuss this situation and any possible solutions. She told us she would send an email to corporate.

During our meetings to question the price differences, many of the answers were never consistent. Once we were told the price had not included taxes and fees, when it was clearly itemized. Another time we were told the price of the insurance had gone up.

As we remained incredibly frustrated, since three agents gave us different information, we decided to keep our booking and to also complete an open passages booking for the future. When we returned the form, one of the agents came out and said she had seen us, had emailed corporate, and that, basically, the current booking was the best that could be done for us. Her attitude was clearly “I’ve done all I can do; please don’t bother us anymore “.

We also thought it interesting that, during discussions with other passengers onboard, many other people were questioning why were they were only getting the same price as advertised on the internet when we were supposed to be getting an upgraded price and, at the least, ship board credit.

We are Elite members with Celebrity Cruises and almost always book on board. Not only were there advantages as noted, but the agents were so informative and helpful in selecting cabins. This was certainly not the case this time; we felt that we had to approach this entire booking process with a “Buyer Beware” attitude. We know this is not the reputation that Celebrity wants to create nor is it how we have ever felt in the past.

We have always cherished our cruising vacations with Celebrity; this past cruise was perhaps our best. We have two cruises booked for 2013 and on open passage. We simply would like to be assured that the pricing information that we receive, both now and in the future, is valid once we receive it and remains so throughout the entire process.