renji

28 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Are you at different Captain’s Club levels? That could account for the “Select,” as it is the name of a level. 

i've not done Celebrity before, so will see!

On 2/22/2022 at 4:00 PM, Maggie North said:

You can always look at your most recent Xpress Pass...should say "PALL" (Premium) or "CALL" (Classic). As well, I just looked at order history under "Plan my Cruise" and saw the AI perks plus my upgrade to Premium (used our OBC). Good way to be sure!

Hopefully, OP and Mrs. OP are enjoying themselves...gotta love the Edge!!

PS: this has been an interesting thread!

Good info!  We have Retreat and the correct codes

TCJ6-GRAT DLX 9N -171.00

TCO7-PROMO2P 9N -621.00

TCO8-BEVPRINGRAT9 621.00

YVY6-INTERNETCHG 199.00

YVY7-INTERNETSAV (I think this is supposed to be unlimited streaming)

We have PALL on our boarding passes so drinks should be premium. 
no idea why my boarding pass says (Suite Class * Select) and my partner’s says Suite Class without the word Select!
 

1 hour ago, littlelulu01 said:

We originally had a deck 11 aft ph with large balcony but switched to deck 10 when we were told no hot tub on deck 11. Finding out we’d given up the deck 11 aft ph that actually does have the hot tub stung. I was offered $250 obc after I provided the original booking description that said deck 10 had the hot tub.  We politely declined the $250 🙄 and switched to a spa balcony. Nobody ever rebooked our deck 10 room  even though they’ve decreased the price a few hundred.  It’s still available for our September 13th sailing. The upgrade bidding starts are crazy high! Pretty sure we’re content with our spa balcony and several thousand extra in our pockets. We have a deck 12 aft os for the ta - fingers crossed it’s just an omission on deck plans for 10, 13 and 15. 

may i ask, where are you seeing deck plans posted?  wonder if they will soon have actual pictures of the cabins....

55 minutes ago, littlelulu01 said:

I meant 12, 13 and 15. 
 

I think they started sales really early on and at some point realized deck 10 cant support the hot tub but deck 11 can.  Deck 11 rooms were originally much lower $. The pricing on those deck 11 rooms now reflects the hot tubs. We have one booked on the Viva and paid considerably more for it than the initial prima offering. Strange they don’t consider it an os 

interesting that on deck 11 they say hot tub, show a picture of a hot tub....but haven't updated the floor plan.

2 hours ago, bortman23 said:

 

Wait, so they updated the wording to say "some contain" from whatever they had before? I'd be PISSED if I booked it and didn't the hot tub. That's a really enticing feature. I'm sure that's a main reason some people booked it. 

On 8/8/2022 at 7:02 PM, Sailing12Away said:

 

We're booked in one of those on deck 12 for 2023. I'm not worried... in one of the videos of the actual ship I could see the hot tub out there. Plus the description still includes it in there.

 

Still not sure how they can get away with calling those on deck 10 the same cabin as those on deck 12, meanwhile they have ones on deck 11 which do have them and are a different category. My guess is they'll consider calling the H4 the ones on deck 11 and 12 that do have them, and the ones on deck 10 without renaming as the HA. Description for the HA doesn't even mention the hot tub, but it's there...

what is extremely annoying is that if there is only one cabin left, the listing then says "Best Available" rather than telling you which cabin.  why would you pay the same for deck 10 without a hot tub as for 12 with one, especially since deck 11 PH is cheaper...I really think they should break up the 12 and 10 options....

2 hours ago, bortman23 said:

 

Wait, so they updated the wording to say "some contain" from whatever they had before? I'd be PISSED if I booked it and didn't the hot tub. That's a really enticing feature. I'm sure that's a main reason some people booked it. 

the people who had the choice of decks 10 and 12, and chose 10, were very upset.  there are some other posts about that.  someone today said now that deck 12, 13, and 15 also no longer showing...only 11 and 14.  that does not make sense because decks 13 and 15 are Deluxe owner's suites (2 bedroom) and deck 12 description (aft facing owner's suite) is still showing a hot tub for deck 12.

deck 11 is the aft-facing PH which NOW is showing a picture of a hot tub and hot tub is listed i  nthe description. i wonder if that it new...but bizarre to give it to 11 and take away from 12, 13 and 15....

22 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

That's interesting - all of a sudden my deck 12 seems a little "cheated". If, indeed, they've (under the cover of darkness) pulled a fast one...

 

Tom

22 hours ago, bortman23 said:

 

I think it's just an error on their part. Not updating all the deck plans correctly.

i really hope so...I did pay alot more for the deck 12 because of the hot tiub than the owner's suites without were going for...

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I find the wine discussion really interesting but do not think it is anything new.  Years ago, when we routinely cruised on X, we would usually get the Premium Drink Package (or whatever it was called at the time) because I like to drink single malt scotch and cognac.  But the package meant that we could get more expensive wines by the glass (like these days).  I recall being in Blu and most of the wines priced over the basic package, but within the Premium Package, were out of stock.  The Sommelier would say their apologies and then suggest we drink the cheaper (and often lousy) wines that they did have in stock.  I would suggest that they open some bottles (comparably priced to the Premium wines that were out of stock) and would be told, NO.  When I would ask why, we were told something like "if we open that bottle for you, most of it will go to waste because nobody else will drink that wine."  DW and I would laugh and promise to drink an entire bottle at dinner but would still be rebuffed.

 

This was one reason, out of many, why we stopped cruising on X.  At the time I called it the "death by a thousand cut-backs" which seemed to worsen with LLPs ascension to the big boss.  It was the same with single malt scotches where the selection (which was covered by the Premium Package) seemed to shrink on each subsequent cruise.  The idea that if one is going to sell a "premium package" they should have "premium products" seemed to have escaped the thinking of Celebrity.   The first time we cruised on MSC in their Yacht Club (this comes with an included Premium Drink package) I was blown away by the selection.  Suddenly if I wanted single malt scotch there were more than half a dozen.  Want to try different Vodkas and they might have 8-10 decent ones from which to choose.  As to wine, MSC also falls down in that area but does usually have a better selection than we have found on X.  And their Premium Drink package does include a real French Champagne.

 

Hank

This happened to me recently on royal caribbean.  No availability in the specialty restaurants of any of the listed wines by the glass, either within the $13 or even with an upcharge of a few dollars. Only the worst wine on the list, essentially serving $10 bottles    for $9 a glass.  We did have 40% off bottles, so even with the upcharge spent only $30-40 for decent $25-30 bottles, but they would not open any decent selections by the glass, so the package was useless.  And drinks that were good at a bar (grey goose mule) became undrinkable when brought by dining staff from the bar (no way they honored the alcohol request without us watching). It's all a bit irritating, but now we know to get a drink and crry to dinner.  I'm actually excited to try NCL's premium plus offerings that provides bottles with dinner, and compare that to my premium / indulge package on Celebrity later this month. 

1 hour ago, letsgogogo said:

In many ways, assuming they opened other options to serve as premium, it’s actually more interesting. Might be able to try a wider variety of wines by the glass that normally are only sold by bottle. So many people are Decoy Cabernet fans and were irritated it wasn’t available. Why have one's heart set ONLY on one big chewy (dare I say mass produced) Cabernet? There are so many others to discover.

that would be wonderful, but I think what people have been saying is even if there are no premium wines by the glass, they are not offering alternatives but suggesting that you buy a bottle. which seems unfair....they have plenty of bottles and should make a substitution.

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Both the show times and a lengthy list of available wines should be in the app.

Thanks!  I had heard some reports that the listed wines weren’t always available lately….

1 minute ago, renji said:

Hello—anyone know if the wines listed in the package are available especially at specialty dining?  Anyone have a cruise compass for the 5 day?  Trying to decide on dinner time and whether to bring wine or get the package!

I am on the 5 night Bermuda…in terms of the shows….

Hello—anyone know if the wines listed in the package are available especially at specialty dining?  Anyone have a cruise compass for the 5 day?  Trying to decide on dinner time and whether to bring wine or get the package!

On July 1 Oasis from Cape Liberty it was 2 per stateroom. I have to say the security person was extraordinarily obnoxious when verifying that we had sufficient staterooms to support the 2 bottles of wine per cabin (we did, but his accusatory and rude demeanor actually started the trip off on something of a downer). 

Hi, does anyone by chance have a cruise compass for the 5 day Bermuda trip?  Heading out on Thursday and trying to figure out when to make specialty dining. 
also, are there any restaurants walking distance to the dockyard?  Do most people go out in Bermuda so this ship is quiet?  Any fun nightlife in Bermuda?  

Hello, we have a 1030 AM boarding time on Adventure of the Seas which was the first available (gotten at midnight 45 days before cruise date). We also have the Key, which puts us in the Key/Suite line, or at least it did for Oasis.  When I arrived at 1030 for Oasis that line was already full…Should we arrive at 10, or even earlier?  Curious if any recent experience someone might be willing to share.

On 7/12/2022 at 11:30 PM, Sailing12Away said:

Definitely looking forward to seeing some actual photos of the room & deck as opposed to just the renderings. Also curious about the hot tub and how hot it will be. We're traveling through Iceland, so I'm adamant that I will use it at least one day just because I can... hoping we'll be able to use it more than once though if it's hot enough and I keep the bathrobes nearby.

I will take some pics of room, bathroom and balcony, and also post how the hot tub gets filled, how easy to use and keep clean and hot, etc.  We’ll be in the Caribbean so would probably keep a little less hot at night.  

On 7/10/2022 at 9:27 PM, islandwoman said:

According to celebritycruises.com, the classic package gets a 15% discount on all wines by the bottle, and the Premium Drink Package gets a 20% discount.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/beverage-packages

That is interesting. The Royal Caribbean drinks and unlimited dining package gave a 20% discount on wines over $100 and a 40% discount on wines under $100. (The latter made the bottles reasonable, and actually brought you down to a more normal 80-100% markup, so in the $50s for a store price in the $20s, rather than the list price in the $80s/90s).  

On 7/10/2022 at 6:39 PM, Beamafar said:

Had PremiumPlus on NCL last October.  Not only did they give you the bottle, but a wine waiter in a speciality restaurant told me to request that it be decanted each time as I was entitled to that service due to having the package.  Said there were only 4 on the cruise who had the package (don’t know if that was 4 cabins or just 4 people). 

I’m looking forward to that. I really prefer a bottle so I know it hasn’t been sitting…

On 7/11/2022 at 4:50 AM, ChrisNY2 said:

 

Just a clarification here: you can absolutely bring back Tequila and wine. The one liter of alcohol limitation per adult is just the amount that is duty free. You can bring over that amount for personal use, just declare it to the CBP officer when getting off the ship. I bring extra alcohol on pretty much every international trip or cruise, always declare it and have NEVER been asked to pay the duty and taxes on the overage.

 

This is because the duty and taxes on a bottle of wine or Tequila is around $3.  The CBP officers are just not interested in doing the paperwork for 3 or 6 or even 36 dollars (when I brought a case of wine home). I always know that if they do want to charge me, I'm happy paying those 3 bucks or so a bottle. But it has never happened.

 

So, feel free to stock up on liquor to bring home, as long as it's for personal use!  (DO NOT fail to declare it to the CBP officer, because the "failure to declare" fines are far higher than the otherwise due duties and taxes.)

I would also recommend bringing your home wine store receipt…

On 7/11/2022 at 12:07 AM, Sailing12Away said:

You're on before me, I don't sail until 2023.

 

Regarding Vibe if you already have Haven... it all depends on your sailing and how full it will be, and the general population of the cruiser with you. Folks on sailings with lots of kids in a fully booked Haven who are more adverse to children see a value in Vibe.

We are on Dec 3-10 (let me know if you have any questions about the cabin!), so hope it won’t be too rowdy since earlier in the month before the holidays. I’m not at all adverse to children, but would find it more relaxing without crowds or aggressive splashing (I was perfectly happy in a corner of the very crowded Oasis family pool, the lifeguards did give timeouts to kids who jumped in, which helped alot. Since there are only a few sea days, for this time I think I might see how the Haven, spa and our own balcony works.  It just doesn’t feel right for me to take up 2 of the limited slots in Vibe that others might better enjoy given that I have a private jacuzzi and spend my mornings in the gym/spa…

On 7/11/2022 at 7:54 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I think you're in for a real treat !!

Tom

Thank you!  I recently tried suites on Cunard and Royal (Oasis) and am heading on Celebrity Beyond next month so hopefully will have a nice comparison…

On 7/3/2022 at 2:34 PM, phoenix_dream said:

And therein is part of the problems with the wine package these days.  Have been on multiple cruises since last fall and have had real issues getting our standard wine requests in both Luminae and Blu.  Decoy is a good example.  Some ships had it.  Some ships did not.  Other ships we had to "battle" with our wine steward for a bit and they finally tracked some down.  On our most recent cruises we were fortunate in that the sommelier was able to offer us some wines normally sold only by the bottle.  But at the same time, we sometimes had to drink wines on the classic package, even though we were paying for the premium package.  Their options for red wine at least were very meager on all of our cruises since the pandemic, save for when they were willing to open those usually sold by the bottle.  I personally don't feel like shlepping four bottles of wine onboard and we like a pre-dinner cocktail, so we will likely stick with the premium package.  But IMHO if premium by-the-glass wines are not available they should always be offering an appropriate substitute, even if normally sold by bottle only

Agreed, but it seems they don’t feel compelled to open a bottle.  I will be on Beyond in august and NCL Prima in December.  I think NCL premium plus will give you bottles with dinner, so am looking forward to comparing the experience. 

On 7/9/2022 at 5:05 PM, RichYak said:

That's the "in your control" scenario.

I don’t know if avoiding self-reporting is a guarantee…are they still contact tracing?

On 7/7/2022 at 1:27 AM, quicklabs said:

Physically, my husband and I are both doing well.  I self reported because I had a bit of a cough, a headache and malaise.  Later, I developed a low grade fever and was very fatigued .  The quarantine concierge checked on me by phone every day, but I never saw medical after being placed in quarantine.  If I would have needed meds, I could have called and they would have been delivered. M I had my own thermometer and Tylenol which I brought from home.  I did get some cough drops.  

Just sending support…I’m so sorry you are dealing with this.

On 7/6/2022 at 4:51 PM, twincheryl said:

Does anyone have actual experience doing this?  
 

I might be inclined to prefer quarantine OFF the ship in a hotel or AirBnb rather than a cabin without at least an infinite veranda.  No amount of refund to compensate for that would be worth it.

I’m with you…I would much rather quarantine off the ship, refund my cruise and I’ll book my own accommodations.  Covid is everywhere, certainly all over cruise ships,  so this response is ridiculous. They are trying to discourage reporting.