KMSP17

I booked flights for a cruise next May last week via the Celebrity website. Selected the flights, put in all the information, and I don't know how new this is, but I don't remember it being an option last year: you now have the choice to either pay for the flights as part of final payment, or pay immediately when the flights are booked I chose the pay immediately option. Credit card was authorized right away, but then nothing. No confirmation emails, nothing. Waited a few days, and still nothing. Contacted the TA to see if anything was sent to them, they didn't get anything either. Called the flights department, explained the situation, and they found no reservation, and they couldn't find anything where they authorized the credit card for any amount. I was thinking this isn't starting out good. The rep said the website was having issues the last few weeks, and that could be why nothing was booked. I told the rep, that I would wait until the authorization falls off, and then maybe try again. The rep also suggested that if I did rebook to call and request ticketing be expedited. When we booked flights through Celebrity last year, the main issue was that Celebrity never ticketed the flights, so the airline canceled the space, and then the space was sold out, and Celebrity couldn't reinstate the reservation. If Celebrity had ticketed the flights when they were supposed to, none of what happened, would have happened. Hopefully, by being able to pay for the flights immediately, and request expedited ticketing, the problems will be avoided. Saw the authorization fall off today, and so decided to call and book flights with Celebrity over the phone. Flights were booked, they asked if I wanted to pay now or later with final payment. I said now, got the confirmation email, checked the airline website, and the flights were showing under my upcoming trips. I asked when the flights would be ticketed, and the rep said he would request expedited ticketing. Checked the reservation on the airline website a few hours later, and there were ticket numbers. I assume then the reservation was ticketed. I am hopeful that paying for the flights immediately and having the ticketing expedited, that it's a better experience than last time

I was hoping since it would be a Tuesday in December, during a non-holiday week, that maybe it wouldn't be so busy.

Looking at booking flights for our December cruise on EQ. Here are some details. It would be Port Everglades, on a Tuesday in December, ship arrival is listed as 7:00 a.m. Only one other ship in port that day (HAL Zandaam) We would be checking luggage. We have Global Entry/TSA Precheck It might be tight, and we'd have to do self-assisted, but my gut feeling is we could make it. We've been there in time to make a 9:30 a.m. flight before, and that was on a Saturday, with like six ships in port. What are your thoughts?

Yeah, we just added the All Included package, which added like $1500 to the price on a 9-day sailing, And, even though I won't partake in the alcohol part, it was still a better deal, because purchased separately, the total for one Classic Package, one Zero Proof Package, and gratuities for 2 is $1609. So, just taking into account those things, buying the package was cheaper, and we get WiFi, which we probably won't use, but it's there.

I could just say I am a recovering alcoholic. Pretty sure that they can't ask for details or proof. Actually, pretty sure they can't ask about what medication I am on, or what medical condition I have where I can't drink. If there was a legitimate health/safety concern that they had, then maybe they could ask for more information. But, this isn't that.

I see Celebrity now requires that if one guest in a stateroom purchases a drink package, then all guests over 21 are required to purchase the same package. But, there appear to be exclusions to that policy. Not as many as Royal Caribbean offers, but still a few. Now, my s/o drinks, but I don't. I just am not a fan of alcohol. I see one of the exclusions is if you're pregnant. Well, I am not going to be able to get that one. But, another one if if you are on medication and cannot drink. If I say this, are they going to ask for the name of the medication, or make me send in a Dr.'s note that says this? I'll gladly purchase the non-alcohol package, which is what I do on Royal

That's true. I wonder if you have a drink package and vouchers, if the POS defaults to something when they enter in an order, or if it's dependent on what you order?

Thanks. I didn't want to order like a bottle of water and then later find out that they used a voucher, instead of the refreshment package

On our upcoming cruise on Wonder oTS, instead of getting a drink package, we are going to use our C&A drink vouchers for alcoholic drinks and Royal Refreshment package for everything else. My question is this, will we have to tell the bartenders each time we order a drink whether we want to use a C&A voucher for the drink, or the drink package?

Hi, Wondering if the drink vouchers for D, D+, and P are valid on embarkation day?

We will be on a southbound cruise from Seward to Vancouver at the end of the week. We are in the process of filling out the ArriveCAN form prior to embarkation. We are fully vaccinated (so no quarantine is required) and will fly back to the US the afternoon of disembarkation. When filling out the ArriveCAN form it asks us to enter the full address in Canada where we will be staying. An address is required where you may be contacted in the next 14 days, or during your stay (if less). We are going from the cruise port to the airport. Do I put in the address of the airport? I can put in our home address, because it won't accept a US address.

Pffsh. 140 days is nothing. 917 days here. We booked our Alaska cruise November 25, 2019, originally leaving on May 31, 2021. That, of course, didn't happen, and we rebooked for May 30, 2022. 917 days from the date of the original booking.

That's a good point, @SpeedNoodles! I never considered testing from the ship the morning of disembarkation.

We will be doing an Alaska cruise in a few weeks, disembarking in Vancouver and then flying back to the US. In order to fly back to the US we need to do a COVID test no more than one day prior to the flight, which would be the last full day of the cruise, which is a sea day. We have the surf internet package. Will that be enough to do a video call without buffering or being really choppy? The other option is to test either at the Vancouver airport or the cruise terminal when we get off the ship. But, of course, that option is more expensive. I don't want to buy and bring test kits only to find out we can't make a video call from the ship, with the "surf" internet. Has anyone been able to do a video call from the ship with just the basic surf internet?

One thing to maybe think about is if there is an emergency at home, do you want to know about it, because are you going to be able to do anything about it? A few years ago we were going on a cruise, and my grandma was scheduled to go into hospice care around the same time. My mom asked me if grandma were to pass while we were on the ship, did I want her to let me know? After thinking about it, I said no, because there would be nothing I could do, and it would put a damper on the rest of the vacation. And knowing about it wouldn't make her less dead. Same goes for our pets. We trust the people who take care of our pets to make whatever decisions they deem necessary should an emergency happen. As to your question, if it is something that doesn't require something from you right that very instant, they can text you or call and leave a message and the next port you are in, you should be able to read and respond to it or listen to your voicemail.

Yes, I just checked the Deluxe Beverage Package price for our Nav cruise out of LA next April, $102/per day! We've never spent more then about $55 Edit: They've already knocked it down

I better be negative, lol. I've had two shots, a booster, and just had COVID

We are sailing on ML in a few weeks from Seward. Prior to joining the ship, we are doing a Celebrity Cruise Tour. I know we need a COVID test no more than two days before the land portion starts, which we will do before we leave home. Then we also need one no more than two days before the cruise starts. On boarding day (Friday) we take a bus from Denali to Seward to join the ship. I've read somewhere that they will stop somewhere in Anchorage where people can get COVID testing done. But, then I've also read that isn't true, that we need to either bring a self-test with us and do the testing (via tele-health monitoring) on our own, or arrange testing on our own. When I called Celebrity they said they will stop in Anchorage for testing, but I don't know if the person understood my question. Would anyone happen to know if they will be stopping somewhere for testing? I am sure it will be more expensive, but it would probably be more convenient. And I've also read that if you do the monitored at home test, that you can't use a cell phone or tablet for that, it has to either be a desktop or laptop computer. Which would be really inconvenient to have to bring a desktop computer!

We have an Alaska cruise coming up in June that disembarks in Vancouver. From what I can tell a negative COVID test is needed to re-enter the U.S. and must be taken no more than one day prior to the flight. The cruise ends, and our flight back to the U.S. is on a Friday. I think at-home tests are permitted if they are monitored via tele-health (just like Royal Caribbean's requirement). The day before the flight is a sea day for us. We have an internet package, but I think we have a surf package, so I don't know we'd be able to make a video call so that the test could be monitored. Would it be easiest to just do the test at the Vancouver airport the morning of the flight? Or does anyone know if they will accept an at-home test that wasn't monitored via tele-health in order to re-enter the U.S.?

Does your toddler get seasick? Dramamine makes most people sleepy. Bonine might be another option.

If you have a prescription for something it shouldn't be banned anywhere. Unless medication was supposed to be in quotes. But not once have I ever been asked about what medications I am bringing. I am curious to know who do you think is going to ask?

The cruise was paid off at the end of February. The flights weren't set for ticketing until April 9. When we originally booked the flights with Celebrity, we booked the only nonstop flight available in Prem. Economy. It's about a 5h 45m flight. (We live in a Delta hub) They could reinstate us on that same flight, but only in coach, since Prem. Econ was sold out. We decided we'd rather have the Prem. Economy even if that meant adding in a connection. Now we have a 3h 30m flight to Seattle, 90 minute connection and a 3h 45m flight to Fairbanks. We've gone from 5h 45m of travel time to 8h 45m

So, a bit of an update on this. On Friday 4/15 a Celebrity Engagement Supervisor called me and explained there are two ways the reservation will get canceled by the airline. 1) Celebrity only holds space with the airline and then will send a whole bunch of reservations to be ticketed at the same time. They said it has happened where the airline has canceled space and resold it before it gets sent for ticketing 2) Sometimes things just get missed. The supervisor wouldn't say it, but this is what happened to ours. I called on FbC on 4/12 and asked when the reservation should have been ticketed, and they said 4/9, but it never got ticketed. Later I would come to learn that it was sent to ticketing on 4/9 and should have been ticketed automatically, but failed because of a schedule change, that no one there ever acknowledged. So ticketing failed. It then got sent to a failed ticketing queue and someone should have researched it to determine why it wasn't ticketed and get it ticketed. But that didn't happen. And as a result because it wasn't ticketed by the ticketing deadline Delta canceled the reservation. While we were talking the supervisor gave me my other flight options, one was an earlier option and the other was a later option. I said, we'd probably do the earlier, she added that to the notes and she said someone would call to re=book us. Later that day I talk to the wife, who said she'd rather do the later flights. No problem I think, when they call to re-book I will just have them book the later flights The next day, Saturday we get a call from the ticketing department. And we get the flights re-booked, and I can see on the Delta website the flights were ticketed. I am thinking good, everything is finally resolved. Monday evening (4/18) get an email from Celebrity flight change notification. I thought it was just the confirmation from the Saturday conversation. Checked the departure times, they re-booked us on the earlier flight, after they had already ticketed us on the later flights we wanted. Checked Delta.com and yep they re-booked us on the earlier flight. Call FbC and asked why they re-booked us again, when we talked to ticketing and got re-booked on the flights we wanted. They were gone for about twenty minutes trying to figure it out, They said what appears to have happened is when we talked to the supervisor on Friday and she put the notes in the reservation that was sent to a department to be worked on. On Monday they worked on it, but never saw, or never read the notes from ticketing from Saturday that we decided to go with the later flights and were booked and ticketed on those. So they canceled those flights and put us on the earlier flights. The person I talked to said they will send for the later flights to be reinstated, and it should take 48-72 hours. Another supervisor called Tuesday and apologized and said if we don't get the new confirmation by Thursday to call back. Nothing came, so called FbC back on Friday. That person said, the person Monday sent it to ticketing, but didn't put in the new flights. So they would need to resend it again, and it would be another 48-72 hours (not counting weekends). This morning I get a flight confirmation email from Celebrity, this time with the correct flights. Check the reservation on Delta.com and it's showing the correct flights. I am going to see if Delta is willing to take over the flight reservations, which should prevent Celebrity from making any more changes to it, since it won't belong to them anymore.

On my last call to them I requested a supervisor to call me back. We will see if that happens. They did say, once they realize that cannot reinstate the original flight that someone should be calling me to work something out. I also sent an email detailing everything to Celebrity Guest Engagement and BCC'd the VP of Guest Engagement. The last person I talked to saw the notes in my file from the previous calls, and summarized them, so I know the notes are there. We are doing a Cruise Tour before the cruise, and the flight we booked originally was the only nonstop flight available. The flight itself is still available, but not in Prem. Economy, liked we booked (and paid for), it's only available in Economy. If we don't want Economy, we either need to leave 10-12 hours earlier than planned, or arrive at 1:00 AM. So, when/if a supervisor or someone in a position of power does reach out, I am going to push that they book us in first class, and pay the difference for all of the inconvenience this has caused. Celebrity goes guarantee that if you book through them, they will get you to the ship. I don't know about any airline. I don't know if they work with airlines like Southwest, or JetBlue, and the low cost carriers.