Time to try Celebrity - Seeking Advice

[Payd]

Good day Celebrity Cruisers!

 

We booked our flights last night to coincide with a Constellation sailing in late November. We are new to Celebrity and would appreciate any advice you can offer prior to our cruise booking.

 

We have sailed with Carnival over 15 times, but noticed on our last cruise that some of the changes just weren't matching what we are looking for.

 

I have heard wonderful things about Celebrity from friends and decided that if we are going to try something new this was the right direction.

 

There seem to be many promotions offered by on-line TA's but we have booked direct with the cruiseline previously.

 

As I said earlier...we would appreciate any advice you can offer.

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

patty and dave

[Erinchita]

Now is a perfect time to book with the 123Go promotion. I have both booked with the cruise line directly in the past and through TA. I prefer TA because of the extra perks they offer. I just booked for April and we got the classic beverage package free (through 123Go) and prepaid gratuities through the TA.

 

Regardless of how you choose to book, you will love Celebrity. I haven't been on Carnival but I have a sense this will be a big change from that line - and a positive one, at that.

[Payd]

Now is a perfect time to book with the 123Go promotion. I have both booked with the cruise line directly in the past and through TA. I prefer TA because of the extra perks they offer. I just booked for April and we got the classic beverage package free (through 123Go) and prepaid gratuities through the TA.

 

Regardless of how you choose to book, you will love Celebrity. I haven't been on Carnival but I have a sense this will be a big change from that line - and a positive one, at that.

 

Thanks for the perks tip. I wish we could share names of TA's on this site. We haven't used one in over ten years - so we don't know which to go with (and to stay away from).

 

From what we have heard about Celebrity, I'm sure we will enjoy it.

 

Thanks again :)

 

patty and dave

[20pluscruises]

Good day Celebrity Cruisers!

 

We booked our flights last night to coincide with a Constellation sailing in late November. We are new to Celebrity and would appreciate any advice you can offer prior to our cruise booking.

 

We have sailed with Carnival over 15 times, but noticed on our last cruise that some of the changes just weren't matching what we are looking for.

 

I have heard wonderful things about Celebrity from friends and decided that if we are going to try something new this was the right direction.

 

There seem to be many promotions offered by on-line TA's but we have booked direct with the cruiseline previously.

 

As I said earlier...we would appreciate any advice you can offer.

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

patty and dave

 

I believe you will enjoy Celebrity! I would check both ways (TA and through Celebrity) as we found on our last cruise even with the extra perks with TA's....Celebrity's price was better.

[Hlitner]

Why not just do a little "shopping around" like most folks do for any major purchase. Price out your desired cruise on a few major online cruise agency web sites and also check the price on Celebrity's own web site. In most cases you will find that there are some very reputable online agencies that will sell you a cruise for about the same price you will get on the Celebrity site,....but often these agencies will include some extras such as pre-paid gratuities, onboard credits, etc. Going from Carnival to Celebrity will be a bit of a culture shock as most Celebrity cruises are somewhat more "laid back" then what we have experienced on Carnival. You will most likely find some things you like better on Celebrity...and you will also find that you miss some things you might have enjoyed on Carnival.

 

Hank

[travelingirl70]

We too grew tired of Carnival (or maybe it never suited us in the first place?) so we tried X last year and LOVED it. DH is not a fan of cruises - he hates the crowds, but even he loved our cruise last year (which was a packed ship over Christmas) so much that we are going again this year…. twice!

 

Also, I am a total DIY trip planner. Friends come to me and I book their trips for them. I consider myself close to an expert in most travel and can typically do better than most TAs. Cruising is the exception. It has taken me years to figure this out but now that I have, I will only use a TA for cruises from now on. There simply are perks they can get that you can't get on your own and they will take the time to compare your options. For example, I found a great TA who spent the time weighing the following options for me:

 

1) Book with my Open Passage Credit

2) Book with AMEX Platinum Perks

3) Book before the "Give Thanks" promotion was over

4) Book with the 1-2-3 Go Promotion

 

She took the time to see what could/could not be combined and gave me all of the options. I never could have figured that out myself (because X doesn't make it easy to figure out).

 

The TA I used was one recommended on CC - somewhere in a sticky. They were easy to do business with, very competitive and had excellent customer service. I imagine all of the recommended TAs here will offer pretty much the same.

 

Good luck with your planning.

[Payd]

Thanks to each of you that have taken the time to give such detailed replies.

 

I have been searching around on line, and will reach out to a couple places hoping that I can touch base today.

 

There do seem to be some great promotions.

 

I did read in a couple of reviews that because of the 123 promos - that bar service is awful. Is this something that any of you have experienced?

 

Again - thanks for the advice and keep in coming!

 

patty and dave

[Erinchita]

 

I did read in a couple of reviews that because of the 123 promos - that bar service is awful. Is this something that any of you have experienced?

 

I was on the Solstice in May, which was part of a previous 123Go promotion. Lots and lots of cruisers with the beverage package. I did not notice bar service suffer at all - quite the contrary, actually. I personally didn't have the package because I missed that 123Go period, but I was spending time with people who did. After a few days on the cruise the bartenders started knowing their drinks and having them prepared before they even asked for them. Nothing but great service as far as I could tell.

[miched]

A few years ago we were in the same situation that you are. We had over 15 cruises or 112 sea days on Carnival. Tried Celebrity sailing in AQ on the Solstice. It was our best cruise ever up to that time and we didn't have a bev pack.

 

We sailed again on Carnival in Oct of 2012 on the Dream. It was like visiting our old neighborhood that we grew up in in Detroit. It was OK years ago when we were there but glad that we able to move away. Carnival like our neighborhood changed and got worse.

 

Sail on a S class ship and in AQ if you want a real nice experience.

 

One of the biggest differences is the smoking policy. If you are a smoker you may not like Celebrity as the smoking areas are very limited.

 

 

.⛄💨🍸🍻

[Hlitner]

Thanks to each of you that have taken the time to give such detailed replies.

 

I have been searching around on line, and will reach out to a couple places hoping that I can touch base today.

 

There do seem to be some great promotions.

 

I did read in a couple of reviews that because of the 123 promos - that bar service is awful. Is this something that any of you have experienced?

 

Again - thanks for the advice and keep in coming!

 

patty and dave

 

We cruised, on Nov 30, on the Eclipse for 14 days. This was the first time we had cruised with the Classic Drink Package and there were many on our cruise that obviously had one of the drink packages. We thought the bar service was as good, or perhaps even better, then we have experienced on other Celebrity cruises. In fact we would normally get a pre-dinner cocktail at one particular bar every evening, and after a few days the bartender would start making our "regular" drinks before we even had time to sit down at the bar.

 

As to wine service at dinner (we ate in Blu) it was a similar situation. Once the wine steward realized that we really did like to drink wine, he would usually give us a really "large pour" which was a win/win since we never had an empty glass and he did not have to keep refilling our wine every few minutes :)

 

Hank

[Payd]

Thanks again everyone! Good to know that the 123 promo on the drinks package didn't negatively impact what each of you experienced.

 

Happy to say that we are now officially booked. I did check out a popular on-line agent and called Celebrity directly.

 

In the end Celebrity was willing to match the offer by the on-line TA. Wonderful service, seemed very interested in us wanting to try a new cruise line. The real bonus for us is that the transactions will all be in Canadian currency. That makes a BIG difference.

 

Now lots of research and planning...again, thanks!

 

patty