Celebrity Pass ....new purchase for priority boarding, etc ?

[blueslily]

On 11/10/2023 at 11:31 PM, 4Nathan said:

I called Captains Club for clarification and was informed that this is an upgrade only if you already have basic wifi.  You then get upgraded to Premium with 2 devices.  If you currently have Premium Wifi with one device, you get an upgrade to 2 devices.  

 

Thanks for calling to ask. But, for new bookings in which only Premium WiFi is sold, what's the benefit then? If you have 2 people in a cabin and they already have the Premium, either in the package or through buying it separately, how does the Pass help them?

 

Are people able to book the Classic now for new bookings?

 

I'm new to Celebrity, but I thought Celebrity only sells Premium now.

 

Thx

[blueslily]

And, what happens if you have not purchased internet at all? 

[kiwichick62]

Wanted to upgrade our Wi-Fi from basic (included in our AI fare) to premium.  It was a lot cheaper to pay for the X-Pass. It includes premium Wi-Fi for two devices each plus the other benefits. 

 

NZ $25 = US $15.

 

 

 

[jelayne]

5 hours ago, blueslily said:

 

Thanks for calling to ask. But, for new bookings in which only Premium WiFi is sold, what's the benefit then? If you have 2 people in a cabin and they already have the Premium, either in the package or through buying it separately, how does the Pass help them?

 

Are people able to book the Classic now for new bookings?

 

I'm new to Celebrity, but I thought Celebrity only sells Premium now.

 

Thx

If you are booking a suite it includes premium wi-fi.  
If you book any other cabin category and elect pricing with the Classic beverage package & wi-fi included that is the basic w-fi, not premium wi-fi.

 

You can’t purchase basic wi-fi as a stand alone addition. 

[blueslily]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

If you are booking a suite it includes premium wi-fi.  
If you book any other cabin category and elect pricing with the Classic beverage package & wi-fi included that is the basic w-fi, not premium wi-fi.

 

You can’t purchase basic wi-fi as a stand alone addition. 

 

Thanks. In the planner for my Feb cruise, I just have the option of buying Premium wi-fi since when I booked I just paid for cruise only. So, I wonder what is the benefit for people that just booked the cruise only. 

 

Thanks

[blueslily]

Also, in my planner it looks like Celebrity will allow me to purchase X Pass for just 1 person in the cabin although we have 2 people in my cabin. With Royal, for the Key, we usually had to book it for everyone in the cabin. I wonder how this works with just 1 person getting it.

 

Sorry for all the posts. I'm new to Celebrity and this is interesting to me as I read all the posts here.

 

😊 

[ryukage]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:15 AM, blueslily said:

Also, in my planner it looks like Celebrity will allow me to purchase X Pass for just 1 person in the cabin although we have 2 people in my cabin. With Royal, for the Key, we usually had to book it for everyone in the cabin. I wonder how this works with just 1 person getting it.

 

Sorry for all the posts. I'm new to Celebrity and this is interesting to me as I read all the posts here.

 

😊

If only one person needs to purchase the pass, I'd seriously consider it. I just doubt that X won't just automatically charge for the second passenger or cancel the one later on.

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 11/15/2023 at 3:15 AM, blueslily said:

Also, in my planner it looks like Celebrity will allow me to purchase X Pass for just 1 person in the cabin although we have 2 people in my cabin. With Royal, for the Key, we usually had to book it for everyone in the cabin. I wonder how this works with just 1 person getting it.

 

Sorry for all the posts. I'm new to Celebrity and this is interesting to me as I read all the posts here.

 

😊

 

3 minutes ago, ryukage said:

If only one person needs to purchase the pass, I'd seriously consider it. I just doubt that X won't just automatically charge for the second passenger or cancel the one later on.

 

They've honored pricing errors in the past, book it now and see what happens.  Worst case, it gets canceled and refunded

Edited November 17, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[Loracpin2]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:22 PM, Dolebludger said:

It looks like Celebrity is “taking a dive to the bottom” to become a mass market line.

I'll begin by saying we are Captain's Club Elite+ with Celebrity and that's most likely the farthest we will go. As for "taking the dive" that began when Royal Caribbean purchased the line in 1997 and is now, in my opinion, officially a mass market line. 

[hcat]

11 minutes ago, Loracpin2 said:

I'll begin by saying we are Captain's Club Elite+ with Celebrity and that's most likely the farthest we will go. As for "taking the dive" that began when Royal Caribbean purchased the line in 1997 and is now, in my opinion, officially a mass market line. 

and now not only a dive  to the bottom   but maybe some loyal pax will be standing futher back in the line!

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

I'll begin by saying we are Captain's Club Elite+ with Celebrity and that's most likely the farthest we will go. As for "taking the dive" that began when Royal Caribbean purchased the line in 1997 and is now, in my opinion, officially a mass market line. 

Just curious. You rightly said Royal bought Celebrity in 1997 but you only started posting in 2004  and have X as your favourite cruise line. Do you have any experience of X before it was bought? 

[hcat]

no idea about Penguin's history but we were initially on another cruise message board for quite awhile.  At some point we switched over. Can't recall why..

 

We enjoyed Celeb prior to the Royal takeover..downhill from there!   

[ryukage]

Well, the discounted VIP pass is already sold out on our next cruise.

[crusinthrough]

I had an old reservation with basic WiFi included.  This was offered at 9.99 per day for the Black Friday sale, which I purchased yesterday. I have another sailing with no WiFi and it was $23.99 a day.  Both are sold out today.  

[Loracpin2]

5 hours ago, the penguins said:

Just curious. You rightly said Royal bought Celebrity in 1997 but you only started posting in 2004  and have X as your favourite cruise line. Do you have any experience of X before it was bought? 

The year I began began posting has nothing to do with when we began sailing.  As I mentioned in my original post we have Elite+ status with Celebrity. We began sailing with them in 1992 on the Horizon. No balconies, no bells & whistles, just a deluxe cruising experience.

 

The evening (1997) we found out Royal purchased Celebrity (sailing on a 10 night Med cruise on the Galaxy) we were seated at a table for 8 having dinner and the Maitre'd shared the news. When he walked away we all looked at each other and said......"this can't be good" and 26 years later we were correct!!!!

 

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

The year I began began posting has nothing to do with when we began sailing.  As I mentioned in my original post we have Elite+ status with Celebrity. We began sailing with them in 1992 on the Horizon. No balconies, no bells & whistles, just a deluxe cruising experience.

 

The evening (1997) we found out Royal purchased Celebrity (sailing on a 10 night Med cruise on the Galaxy) we were seated at a table for 8 having dinner and the Maitre'd shared the news. When he walked away we all looked at each other and said......"this can't be good" and 26 years later we were correct!!!!

 

It wasn't a criticism it was a question.

I have never met or seen posts from anyone who cruised X when it was independent. Lots make the comments about how great X was before Royal but no-one has ever given any actual details of how/what Royal has done to diminish that. 

As after 26 years your profile still shows X as your favourite line I assume that the changes haven't been bad enough for you to change to another line.

We started on X with M class and overall for us S class was a definite improvement. E class with its IV cabins plus my wife's mobility and pain issues is a non starter.

We have tried HAL, Princess, Cunard  and Royal and X remains our preferred choice. Not perfect but closer than the others 

[hcat]

We started with Mercury.. In our opinion it was Perfect!  Beautiful ship design.. Brass and glass and polished wood. ..Views to the sea.  Great cuisine..  Like a large luxury yacht at reasonable prices!  

 

Everyone was treated like a " Celebrity"  with " modern luxury"  provided at every step as the  slogan said..  Classy but not stuffy! Fewer ships and wonderful staff , officers and clientele.It was a .Country Club at Sea!

 

yes, we stick with X..but it is not what we previously  experienced. Some things are better but it is now  very much  ,"Royalized" 

[Miss SeaBee]

On 11/15/2023 at 4:23 AM, kiwichick62 said:

Wanted to upgrade our Wi-Fi from basic (included in our AI fare) to premium.  It was a lot cheaper to pay for the X-Pass. It includes premium Wi-Fi for two devices each plus the other benefits. 

 

NZ $25 = US $15.

 

 

 

I realized this, too, when I was checking prices to upgrade to 2 device premium Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, everyone else noticed, and X Pass is showing sold out for my April sailing.

[Oceangoer2]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

It wasn't a criticism it was a question.

I have never met or seen posts from anyone who cruised X when it was independent. Lots make the comments about how great X was before Royal but no-one has ever given any actual details of how/what Royal has done to diminish that. 

As after 26 years your profile still shows X as your favourite line I assume that the changes haven't been bad enough for you to change to another line.

We started on X with M class and overall for us S class was a definite improvement. E class with its IV cabins plus my wife's mobility and pain issues is a non starter.

We have tried HAL, Princess, Cunard  and Royal and X remains our preferred choice. Not perfect but closer than the others 

We first sailed on Horizon which was a wonderful experience (even sans balcony 😉).  SOME of the 'classy' touches have been removed...small things IMO and not possible to keep up on larger ships.  Still our favourite line;  other cruise lines  have changed as well over time.  BTW...there have been many posts here re those sailing prior to M class and how they've seen these changes.  We've been CCritic members since we paid a membership and that date isn't reflected in this profile...so I guess we know whereof we speak re experiencing X change not decline.

[4Nathan]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:15 AM, blueslily said:

Also, in my planner it looks like Celebrity will allow me to purchase X Pass for just 1 person in the cabin although we have 2 people in my cabin. With Royal, for the Key, we usually had to book it for everyone in the cabin. I wonder how this works with just 1 person getting it.

 

Sorry for all the posts. I'm new to Celebrity and this is interesting to me as I read all the posts here.

 

😊

I am new to Celebrity as well but have used the Key multiple times on Royal and it is much more straightforward.  The VIP Pass is very confusing.  If there are 2 people in the cabin and only one person purchases the Pass, do they embark separately? Is the 2nd person able to join them for lunch? Sit together in reserved seating? It seems the only benefit to one person purchasing the pass is the WIFI upgrade to 2 devices (IF you have an internet package already) and free room service.  Celebrity will need to address these issues.

[PTC DAWG]

On 11/14/2023 at 8:43 PM, hrhdhd said:

Boarding isn't complicated at all. Couple of minutes with someone with an iPad, maybe sit for a few minutes if the ship isn't cleared, then get on and start having fun. 

Agree, I’ve never had an issue boarding, regardless of cabin class booked. 
 

I am also thankful I don’t need WiFi…I’m just not that important. 

Edited November 18, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[terrydtx]

14 hours ago, ryukage said:

Well, the discounted VIP pass is already sold out on our next cruise.

This is a program that is very similar to HAL's Club Orange which we had on our HAL cruise on the Koingsdam a week ago. HAL limits the amount of CO they sell on each cruise, so I bet X will have to do the same. You can't have 50% or more of the passengers having priority boarding, tendering, and reserved seating in the theater, without creating even longer lines for all. I agree as others have said already this is just further cheapening of the Retreat product that many like us have already paid for. What's next, adding Luminae and the Retreat deck to the VIP Pass?  I can see this happening in the future as Celebrity continues Royalizing its brand and seeks new revenue schemes. We will be done with Celebrity after our 2 January Edge cruises.

Edited November 18, 2023 by terrydtx

[Susanb10567]

Has anyone been able to find out in terms of priority…will the retreat board and tender first…before those who purchased the Express pass?

[CruiseMrB]

This is a Wi-Fi package in disguise. If you have the "Always Included" (AI) package, this could be an interesting add-on for more Wi-Fi devices. On our upcoming Jan 2024 Ascent cruise, it's listed at $13 per day upgrade. Other than that, we see very limited value, especially for Concierge or above with AI.

 

Off-Topic, disregard as needed:

Luckily, our AI actually is AI, in regard to having gratuities still included. Without gratuities, I'm not purchasing that again. We don't drink alcohol, and we will pay for grats and basic one-device Wi-Fi each if traveling more than 4 days. We would also budget for 2 sodas per day, maybe. That's what OBC, if any, would be good for - sodas and Wi-Fi. We would be creating our own "Included" package.

 

[Loracpin2]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

It wasn't a criticism it was a question.

I have never met or seen posts from anyone who cruised X when it was independent. Lots make the comments about how great X was before Royal but no-one has ever given any actual details of how/what Royal has done to diminish that. 

As after 26 years your profile still shows X as your favourite line I assume that the changes haven't been bad enough for you to change to another line.

We started on X with M class and overall for us S class was a definite improvement. E class with its IV cabins plus my wife's mobility and pain issues is a non starter.

We have tried HAL, Princess, Cunard  and Royal and X remains our preferred choice. Not perfect but closer than the others 

Thanks for your reply. Wasn't aware I didn't update what line was my favorite. If I did, I would have changed to Oceania but they are now also having issues so not sure where we go from here.

 

Anxiously hoping our upcoming January Apex sailing will be as close as possible to the Celebrity experiences that made it our cruise line of choice in 1992.

Edited November 18, 2023 by Loracpin2
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