A few questions about on-board

[perlgirlnj]

The Celebrity website doesn't have as much info as the RCI did for us last year but luckily there are loyal cc'ers who know everything! We're onboard the Summit over Christmas.

 

Can you tell me:

 

1. Does Celebrity have DECT phones to rent like RCI does? Does anyone use them? Do they use walkie-talkies? I'm trying to figure out if we'll use any of these to keep track of each other, especially our teens. We brought old walkie talkies last year and they were more trouble than they were worth.

 

2. If you reserve specialty dining on the Celebrity website now, it says you are "buying" it. Are you actually buying it or reserving it? What happens if you change your mind or if your plans change?

 

3. Same question, about shore excursions. When will shore excursions be available to book on-line?

 

Thanks everyone.

[uktog]

Hope I can help here

 

The Celebrity website doesn't have as much info as the RCI did for us last year but luckily there are loyal cc'ers who know everything! We're onboard the Summit over Christmas.

 

Can you tell me:

 

1. Does Celebrity have DECT phones to rent like RCI does? Does anyone use them? Do they use walkie-talkies? I'm trying to figure out if we'll use any of these to keep track of each other, especially our teens. We brought old walkie talkies last year and they were more trouble than they were worth. No rental of DECT or Walkie Talkies on board; have seen some people try and use ones on board they have brought with them - not always very successfully,not sure if that was signal or operator issues!!

 

2. If you reserve specialty dining on the Celebrity website now, it says you are "buying" it. Are you actually buying it or reserving it? What happens if you change your mind or if your plans change? You are buying it, if you cancel up to 24 hours before hand your onboard account will be credited the $ sum you paid; if you transfer it to another night as we did the Maitre D just makes a note

 

3. Same question, about shore excursions. Same rule as No 2 except you have to cancel by the time published in Celebrity Today to avoid losing your money - it is usually 48 hours before hand

 

When will shore excursions be available to book on-line? They should be there now or will be soon if it is Xmas 2008 your sailing

 

Thanks everyone.

[Fredr]

Hello,

 

Some ideas for you,

 

No need for walkie talkies. Everyone should leave a note in the cabin when they leave, as to where you will be and approximately the time you will be back. As for teens, the only rule is that you have dinner in the main dining room each night as a family.

Part of the great fun of a cruise is that teens can do what they want that is legal and respectful, without your having to watch their every move.

 

Specialty dining rooms are very nice but I would not make any commitments until I got on the ship.

 

Do your research on shore excursions. While there are many excellent shore excursions, there are also many ports where you can go on your own at much less cost and see more. And generally, shore excursions are for persons who really cannot go on their own or do not want to do so.

 

Hope that this helps,

 

Fred

[perlgirlnj]

Hello,

 

Some ideas for you,

 

No need for walkie talkies. Everyone should leave a note in the cabin when they leave, as to where you will be and approximately the time you will be back.

We used post-it's alot last year but I did find that I was occasionally wasting alot of time looking for people who said they'd be lounging in x place but then moved to y place when it got noisy/windy/sunny/whatever.

 

As for teens, the only rule is that you have dinner in the main dining room each night as a family. This was the rule last year when we did this. I enjoyed that time together. We had to finagle a little to get a table for just the 5 of us. I'm hoping we can pull it off again because my kids will quiet down in front of people they don't know and we won't get to talk to them. My husband is also VERY quiet with people he doesn't know so I'd be carrying the conversational burden for all 5 of us!

Part of the great fun of a cruise is that teens can do what they want that is legal and respectful, without your having to watch their every move.

 

Specialty dining rooms are very nice but I would not make any commitments until I got on the ship.

Why? If we wait until we get on, will we still be able to get reservations?

 

Do your research on shore excursions. While there are many excellent shore excursions, there are also many ports where you can go on your own at much less cost and see more. And generally, shore excursions are for persons who really cannot go on their own or do not want to do so.

I plan on doing this independently, as I did last year even though it was our first cruise. I've traveled extensively overseas and have always made my own arrangements, so it didn't bother me to do this. It just took some time for me to make sure it was all going to be "perfect."

 

I was interested in the shore excursions for two reasons. The first is that we're in Aruba on Christmas Day and I think that would probably be a good one to book through the ship so I don't have to worry about a getting a taxi back on Christmas.

 

The second reason I wanted to see the ship's excursions was so that I could pick different beaches or locations from the ship's outings, to avoid the crowds.

 

Hope that this helps,

 

Fred

 

Thanks Fred! And everyone!

[tuft]

Hi,

 

If you are interested in dining in the specialty restaurant (which is an exquisite experience), I would recommend making reservations prior to boarding. Once on board, times fill up very quickly and can be hard to get. The specialty restaurants can only accommodate a relatively small number of diners per night. We are sailing on the Summit in November. Last month I made reservations for 2 nights. While booking online (in late August), most of the "preferred times" for one of my choices were already booked!

 

Peg

[denims]

Hi,

 

If you are interested in dining in the specialty restaurant (which is an exquisite experience), I would recommend making reservations prior to boarding. Once on board, times fill up very quickly and can be hard to get. The specialty restaurants can only accommodate a relatively small number of diners per night. We are sailing on the Summit in November. Last month I made reservations for 2 nights. While booking online (in late August), most of the "preferred times" for one of my choices were already booked!

 

Peg

 

Ditto on the above.

 

Our friends tried to make a res. for a sailing 3 weeks prior to the cruise and all the good times were gone already!

[JanineM]

We used Walkie Talkies on Summit and they worked well. Sometimes the service was sketchy (like if he was on the top deck and I was hiding in the Casino), but generally they helped a great deal.