Boston Babe

They swap out the kimonos for the bath robes.

Yes, its a short one, so I get they don't offer any perks. But a 20 or 30% sale off your cruise planner would still be nice. But I guess that is more of a Royal thing and for Celebrity its more about including perks at higher levels. Which will be great if this cruise goes well and I book another Celebrity cruise in the future.

On behalf of a grateful blog nation, thank you, Matt!
 
You're aces in our book!
 

I know, I was just answering@orangecrush about the IT information. 

Yes to the email you provided while completing online check-in. 

We received our email on the Tuesday before our Saturday sail date. If it's Jeremiah and Checker then you are in luck. They are funny guys. You'll be their "beautiful people" for a week ?

I can see it now - they'll weigh you when you board, and again when you disembark, and then charge you a "gluttony fee" for every additional pound you exit with.  In the past I would have broken even, but with drink packages and middle age creeping in I fear I'll have to cough up the fee.
It's coming via the airlines anyway... 
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/02/forget-your-checked-luggage-this-airline-is-weighing-passengers.html

Thanks for all the comments, guys. I booked the Celebrity cruise and got an immediate cabin upgrade as my C&A points were carried over after I spoke to a gracious Celebrity CSR on another matter. Looking for ward to a new adventure! 

Hangovers, expanding waistline, sore leg muscles (from all the dancing), severe reduction in cash position, and of course, being overwhelmed. 

Welcome!
Compared to the US and Canada alcohol is quite a bit cheaper in MX.  There are endless stores which sell liquor right near the port in Cozumel and other destinations.  That in mind, those are still tourist prices.  If you head to a grocery store (if you are talking about Cozumel, there are 2 within a mile or so of where you'll dock) then it's even cheaper.  For example, a bottle that might run $35 in the US could be $25 by the port, but may only be $10 or $15 at the grocery store.  Also note that often you're looking at 1L bottles at the port instead of 750ml bottles at home.
As far as what you can bring back, assuming you're from the US, they say you can bring back a liter per person over 21.  What they don't explain is that you can bring back more - but you may be taxed.  I've brought back quite a bit more than this easily a dozen times though and haven't had an issue.  I think they're just trying to prevent reselling, so a couple brining back 4 bottles isn't a concern.  In the unlikely event they did want to take the time to do paperwork and collect the duties however, my guess is you'd still come out ahead - but I've not run into this.  Again, I can't promise your results will be like mine, but it's not been an issue after many trips - in fact they often don't even ask if you're brining liquor back.
Please let me know if I can offer any clarification.

thanks for the reply sir....makes perfect sense to me....this response is exactly what I was talking about how nice the people were here...just a prime example of what I was talking about....

Darn good question. Fire off an email to RCI and question/complain about that! 

I am booked on a 3nighter in January on Equinox as well....first Celebrity cruise so looking forward to it!

Just booked a Celebrity trip on the Infinity for my birthday . . . in Feb 2019.  Went with a Concierge Class balcony, Aqua was ~$200 more and while Blu sounds appealing, I don't think we'd use much of the spa amenities.  This will be my first trip on Celebrity, so I'm excited!
Also, there's a promotion going on where you can pick 2 perks for the first two people in a cabin.  Choices were gratuity included, wifi, drink package and some others.  Went w/ drink package & wifi.

OMG Sabrina, it sounds like mine. Only now he says, ok let me guess, you have 10 cruises booked! Just tell me when to pack, I am so confused!!  If I put a gun to his head he couldn't tell me when, where, what ship, zip, nothing! LOL

This is a direct quote from my husband on a weekly basis..."Sabrina, why are you constantly on on these cruise sites? I don't know where you think the money is coming from?!"
My response..."I'm the Home Genie! I need time off once in a while too and when you fund our cruises that is you showing appreciation to your Home Genie" ?

I hope none of those trees are hemlock! 
I really do get a kick of what autocorrect does with your posts. I always get the intended meaning, but those auto-changes are right up there with "Let's eat Grandma!" vs. "Let's eat, Grandma!"

Should I be excited we scored a good deal?  Husband just received a phone call from RC, offering us an upgrade from a Superior balcony room to an Owners Suite, for an additional $1200 for the 2 of us.  This means we are getting a 7 day cruise, in an owners suite for a total of $3200.   
I am hesitant to get excited.   

Honestly, I feel like I'm going with Grandeur. I was waiting for "a sign" and maybe your were it. Can always go on the bigger ships,  but we like to relax, read, drink, gamble a bit and I don't see us doing any of the stuff on Anthem, of course I could be wrong but i think I'll try Grandeur. Thank you so much !! 

Phew....I'm not the only one. ?
@Boston Babe you have to ask around because even as you can see on this board there are tons of different opinions.  I think because every person expects and wants different things from a vacation.  The big thing is do your research.  Read reviews but be critical when you read them.  Look at recent pictures.  And like I said before, take a good look at what meets yours/your husbands needs.  One shoe doesn't fit all right.  

No offense at all.  I've been on 11 cruises all of which ended in 1989 when I went to work for Caribbean Hotel chain so I am dating myself, so it's been a really long time. My husband has never been on one. Of course back then I wasn't a cruise snob, I wanted to party, now I want to be a cruise snob. I only booked the Carnival as there are only 2 ships leaving from Baltimore, Grandeur and Pride.  We're booked on the Grandeur in May, I don't think I'll mind the older ship. I like the smaller ships (at least in my mind I do! LOL) I'm inches away from cancelling the Pride (have 2 cruises booked) and booking either Grandeur again for NE/Canada or Anthem from Cape Liberty.  I know the bells and whistles of Anthem but I feel it may be too big for what we like (like the Equinox we are on Jan ad Apr 2019), so I think what you're saying is, if you are a cruise snob which I want to be I should stick with RC-celebrity etc!!  That's been my fear since I booked Carnival.  I'm going to call my TA in a bit.  I stand to lose about $200 but may be worth it!!  BTW I was on an inaugeral of Carnival way back and it was HORRIBLE! but that was 1984!!

So a couple things...
RCI executives do have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.  Duh!   Same goes for any publicly traded company.  
People were outright and blatantly violating the rules and sharing drink packages.  In one of Michael Poole's scopes recently he observed four people signing up one person for the DP for this purpose.  It's very difficult to place the enforcement onto front line employees.   Bartenders can't follow people to see if they hand off a drink.  An ugly confrontation would result in any attempt to place enforcement solely in the hands of front line employees and that leads to a potentially larger negative customer experience.   
The common trend in the industry is to require everyone over 21 to purchase a DP if anyone does.   In considering how to deal with this problem of theft they had to make a choice.  
Trying to enforce it on the ship with front line employees would likely lead to inconsistencies and awkward situations where customers come up with excuses like "I'm not sharing my drinks, he's just holding my drink while I stretch".   There would be YouTube videos and social media moments creating a negative impact to the brand like "They suspended my DP for no reason, I did nothing wrong, bad company!" even though this person is lying through their teeth.  
On the other hand by following the industry trend it makes it a consistent policy applied across the fleet without placing the burden on front line employees.  Customers will know it when they attempt to purchase a DP just like other lines.  I completely understand why they went this way.  
I've contacted them and have direct knowledge of the exemptions and how those work.  I honestly believe those are a reasonable approach to dealing with the relatively few individuals who truly need one.  The vast majority do not require and should not be eligible for an exemption but for the small number of folks that properly do there is process to recognize it.  Is it perfect? Maybe not but it does address most customer use cases.  
If the masses start to abuse the exemptions, they'll likely have to adapt to that too.  Blame the abusers who attempt to circumvent policy and rules to benefit themselves.  

Wow!!! It's a tough job but so rewarding, my husband always said I should be a teacher, I firmly responded that I would end up in jail !! LOL ( my patience level is not what his is!) as I'm sure yours is wonderful too! 

Wow!!! It's a tough job but so rewarding, my husband always said I should be a teacher, I firmly responded that I would end up in jail !! LOL ( my patience level is not what his is!) as I'm sure yours is wonderful too! 

The local governments are in control of the reopening date.  They are asking for the cruise ships to return. Cruise line officials are ensuring they can fulfill that request in a safe manner.    Cruise ships in particular are a form of tourism that places less demand on resources compared to fly and stay tourism.  Cruises arrive in the morning and leave later the same day unlike fly and stay tourists who stay overnight when crime can be higher and who place greater demand on resources such as food, water, policing and potentially medical.  Crime can be higher in part because there is no money coming in and people are growing desperate in a large part because they have no income.  
Local governments want to reintroduce tourism to bring income but also to bring a sense of normalcy back, which itself helps to reduce crime and stabilize the region. Cruise ships are the ideal answer for how to a slowly reintroduce tourism.  
 This isn't the first hurricane to have this effect, many islands have gone through this before.   When I cruised to St Marteen  in the late '90s it was soon after that islands last such hurricane hit with similar devastation.  
EDIT - in another forum I participate in a similar thread is evolving.  A resident of St Thomas is posting and they want tourists back.  They are not sure how they are going to pay the rent this month and while they are not fully restored (no power at home yet), they are eagerly waiting to welcome us with open arms.  They need the money.  So for anyone that does go to a recently opened island, be generous, tip well.  An extra $5 or $10 is nothing relative to the cost of a cruise.