Caribbean hot! 11-day cruise for under $600pp, 14-day for $799, already starting to sell out

[josetann]

Here's a copy/paste of a deal I posted at another forum:

**Update: They are out of inside rooms on the 14-day cruise, hence the sudden jump in price from $650 to $799. Still a great price though, plus it's an ocean view.

Ok, this is the absolute best price I've seen. We just got done paying $500pp on a cruise on the Carnival Elation for seven days. This costs just a little more, and it's fourteen days (with seven days in port) or eleven days (with five days in port). Comes with a $100 shipboard credit, and a $50 gift certificate to several places (off the top of my head I think it's Kohl's, Home Depot, Chili's, Macy's, and some other places that we don't have around here). It's not a universal gift card though, you have to choose which place you want it for when you book the cruise.

Found it from the Cruise Critic website at www.cruisecritic.com/bargains/lastminute.cfm. When we booked it hadn't made it to the last minute page yet and didn't show the $100 onboard credit, but when I called it was offered (the $100 credit is now shown as part of the offer). Currently it's the second and third link down, titled "$650 pp - 3/27 Celebrity's Zenith - 14-Nt. Ultimate Caribbean RT Jacksonville PLUS $100 SBC" and "$599 pp - 4/10 Celebrity's Zenith - 11-Nt. Ultimate Caribbean RT Jacksonville PLUS $100 SBC". Now, when I called to book it they did it an odd way, first I had to leave my name and number, and wait a couple hours for someone to call me back. I prefer to handle everything in one call, and them calling me back was a hassle (I have the phones off during the day, my wife works night shifts). I don't know if it'd make a difference, but the person we spoke to was "Carrie Nichols". If you ask for her right off the bat, maybe they won't make you wait for a call-back. The number we had to call for her was 800-493-6609 ext. 1405. I don't think we'd get any credit for you mentioning us, but feel free to mention Anandtech. Maybe they'll start advertising here? I don't know how much the taxes will be additional, may depend on the state you're from, I think ours was close to 10%. I honestly am not for sure, because we booked a third person at a reduced rate. Our total for three people for the 11-day cruise, all taxes/fees included, was $1725.50; if you figure in the $100 onboard credit that's $542pp for an eleven day cruise (and that's NOT figuring in the $50 gift certificate). I believe they even let you fit a fourth person in some of the rooms, so if you don't mind being a little cramped you can get it even cheaper.

Rest of the information is geared towards the 11-day cruise, as that's what we booked and will be going on. The 14-day is admittedly a better deal, but just didn't fit into our schedule.

Ok, I'm not one to leave out details (or ever make a short post), so here's some more details if you're interested. I've checked out the Zenith, it's an older ship that was built in 1992. It doesn't have a lot of extras, no rock climbing, ice rinks, bowling, expensive restaurants, etc. What it does have though, is excellent. From all the reviews I've read, people loved the service, the food, the atmosphere, everything about the ship. Being a Celebrity ship, it is a bit more formal; three nights are formal where you have to wear a tux or dark suit, another three are informal where you still have to wear a suit (just doesn't have to be dark), and the other five are casual with pants and button shirts acceptable (you're allowed to wear shorts on port days during the day, though you'll probably catch me with shorts on the other days too). It's also not geared towards kids like Carnival, so probably best to leave them at home (I doubt they'd be out of school anyways).

For the 11-day (the one we'll be on), it leaves Jacksonville, FL on April 10. Then it's at sea for two days, then is at Labadee, Hispaniola on the 13th from 7 to 5. This is one of their "private" islands, also it's a tender port so you may not get to the beach until about 8. On the 14th you're at Ocho Rios, Jamaica from 12 to 6; it actually docks so no waiting to get in port. Then on the 15th it's George Town, Grand Cayman from 10 to 6, another tender port so allow an hour or so to actually reach port. You're at sea on the 16th, then on the 17th it's Roatan, Honduras from 12 to 7 (another dock port). On the 18th it's Costa Maya, Mexico from 7 to 4 (docked again). The 19th and 20th are sea days, then back to Jacksonville on the 21st. I'm not sure how the times are listed, but I "think" that since we're leaving in Eastern Daylight time, and I "think" the places we visit will be in Central Standard time, it won't be an issue. I don't know for sure, on our last trip we left from Texas and was on Central Standard the entire time. Time differences shouldn't be an issue, unless you try to book a private shore excursion (which we will be doing, unless we're pressed for time and are worried about missing the ship).

Oh, and if you happen to have a hundred shares or more of Royal Caribbean stock, you get some onboard credit for that. I think it's $200, I don't remember (I have zero stock). It's a separate process, you have to go through Celebrity for that. And if you do book the cruise, they have a party for members of the Cruise Critic forums, just go to www.celebrity.com/cruisecritic/entry.asp with your booking number to sign up.

Edit: Added our travel agent's direct number, 800-493-6609 ext. 1405. Her name is Carrie Nichols.

 

[instinet]

Thanks for the deal... We were on the Elation Jan 23-30. When was your cruise?

 

[doinmybestatlast]

Cruisecritics.com

By far the best site for when, where and how to reach your best cruise vacation. As for booking the cruise your travel agent can do that for you since almost all have the same ticket resource. There are several larger travel agencies that do buy a block of rooms and there are bargains to be had when they don't sell out, but generally if they don't sell out they have to compete with the cruise line themselves to sell their remaining inventory.

The price quoted is cheaper than rent. Throw in the cost of food and entertainment you have an unbelievable bargain.

As far as the Celebrity line, they are the Royal Caribbean's answer to the mid-market cruise. Carnival and RCCL are the leader of the low tier market, although they are priced competitively with the mid-tier and often priced higher. I have cruised on the Infiniti and the Mercury ships on the Celebrity line and they were nice. Altough I have never cruised on the Zenith I have heard many good things about the smaller Celebrity ships.

For the "best" fun on your vacation - do a little planning. Don't make the ship the center of your vacation. You will do some island hopping, some shopping and alot of relaxing. Bring a book, bring your swim wear and leave your job to someone else. Plan to do something on the cruise or you'll end up playing bingo, or lose your shirt on the cold, cold slots. Celebrity food is way better than Joe's Diner, but does not compare to the Rainbow Room. The budget for food will be weaker than a higher priced cruise - that just makes economic sense. The cruise companies need to make a profit. Yes, bring extra $1 bills for tips. The cruise lines have a 15% tip. On you $2 coke a 30 cent tip is too small.

If you need any cruise info - just ask. I'm not an agent. I just like to cruise. Leaving for my 32nd in three weeks. Oh, the internet will set you back big time. 10 days - $360 on the Crystal Harmony in December. If you really need email you will find internet cafe's on every island for about $2-3 an hour, or so.

 

[josetann]

Instinet: We were on the elation from February 6-13. Got a decent deal (just a few dollars over $1,000 for the both of us, all taxes/port fees/etc.). I thought it would be a pretty quiet cruise, but later found out it had sold out. Also found out that Mardis Gras was going on that weekend in Galveston. Things were just a bit crazy.

Doinmybestatlast: Yep, that's the site where we found that deal. I know that each travel agent should get the same prices from the cruise lines, but I didn't find a deal anywhere this good when searching on my own. So who knows? The $100 onboard ship credit is offered fairly often enough, but the $50 gift card is something they add in themselves. Just wish it was a little more useful for us (we picked the Chili's card, and we haven't been there in years).

I definitely agree, don't just stay on the boat the whole time. Sure, you'll have a great time, but you'll have an even better time if you visit the ports. A tip, don't book shore excursions through the cruise line unless you're really pressed for time. On our previous cruise, we were pressed for time for the Chitzen Itza ruins, so we had to book through the ship (we were in port around 8 hours or so, and the excursion was 7+ hours). We saved a bundle by doing the others independently. We went to Nachi Cocom in Cozumel for $32 per person. Might not sound that great (even a bit high) to visit a beach resort, but we had one hour use of the water toys (we chose a kayak), a free buffet, and UNLIMITED DRINKS!!! Now we don't drink much so we probably just broke even, but this would be a great deal if you'd spend over $30 in drinks alone. Then in Belize, we paid around $60 or $65 per person to go cave tubing, still less than the ship's price plus we did an extra cave. Also, the groups are smaller; instead of a group of 40 or more, we had a group of five, plus the tour guide. We had a blast! Lunch was included at that price, at a real restaurant (the Chitzen Itza tour done through the cruise line, included a sack lunch and juice).

We're still researching the shore excursions, if anyone comes along on the 11-day cruise let me know! I'll post what we're planning on doing and who we're booking through. So far I know that on the first day we'll just lounge at the beach; in Jamaica we'll see the falls; one of the stops has the canopy tours (where you glide down a wire about 20 feet above the rainforest) and another has stingray tours and snorkeling. I know I'm forgetting one place, that's just four stops and there'll be five.

Oh, and to make a hot deal hotter...anyone that has been on a cruise before will tell you, many things are very cheap in the duty free shops. Especially alcohol. $10 for a 1 liter bottle of 100 proof Absolut? $30 for three 1 liter bottles of 80 proof Smirnoff??!! And vanilla can be very cheap too, $10 or less for a liter. Just stay away from the Kahlua filled chocolates! We had one...then ended up buying four boxes of them (around $22 per two boxes). They were gone within a week. It's cheaper to buy hershey bars and drink Kahlua with them.

 

[kamranziadar]

Thanx

 

[Wiznaz]

great!! a cruise with 90% fellow computer geeks..... Caribbean LAN party?! lol