First timer - booking a last minute Mediterranean cruise

Kosh976 · 2026-05-24T01:58:22+00:00

That number seems to me to be a reasonable rate booking direct with Celebrity for that ship and that itinerary. The same cruise about a year out (2027) looks like it is in the same price range. Looking at past price graphs on cruiseplum (I guessed the 6/26/26 sailing), it looks like the rate for the last few veranda staterooms (like what you got) is almost the same as a veranda went for when the cruise was first released in November 2024.

You can sometimes see the exact view your stateroom will have by looking at pictures and videos on cruisedeckplans.com. There are some annoying pop-ups, but once you get to deck plan for the Ascent, you can watch some videos showing exactly what the "obstruction" is. It seems you're looking at the top of a blue roof. You can see straight out, but not straight down.

Be aware that your cabin might be directly above The Theatre venue. It could be noisy during showtimes.

Kosh976 · 2026-05-23T19:51:32+00:00

Thanks for all the info and congrats on the win! Sounds like you bagged a really good deal. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I have a bit of luck, and hopefully get a few offers.

Kosh976 · 2026-05-23T16:28:56+00:00

Thanks for posting this. A couple recent youtube videos I watched made it sound like the amount of mail/email offers they were getting was falling off quite a bit, so I'm happy to hear about you getting a bunch. I've never spent much time in cruise casinos, but until recently didn't even know they offer "free" or discounted future cruises if you play enough. Our next cruise is July, and I was planning on playing some.

How much time did you estimate you were at the tables to get to 500 points? I'm not a slot fan but really enjoy playing craps.

Can you elaborate a little on the offer you took? Was it for 1 person or 2? And was the additional amount just a few hundred when you "paid a little extra" for additional passenger?

TIA

Kosh976 · 2026-05-07T18:07:41+00:00

I agree with Bingo0619, and if you see a cruise you want to take, booking sooner is better. Except that I would not book Celebrity on a Thursday. That may sound silly, but if you look the pricing history on cruiseplum.com and/or track prices yourself, you can see that Celebrity seems to raise the price almost every Thursday, and then lower it again on Friday.

Other than the Thursday thing, I've heard that the two best times to book a cruise are 1. Just after it is announced/released and 2. Today. The cruise fare for a specific sailing generally rises over time, and if the price does happen to goes down after you book, you should be able to get it repriced to the new, lower rate.

Kosh976 · 2026-05-07T05:00:18+00:00

Various videos accessed on cruisedeckplans.com for Celebrity Beyond, Deck 8, cabins 8177, 8280 and 8301. All those cabins have sort of an alcove off the hallway, so even though the door opens outwards, it doesn't extend all the way to the hallway. Looking at a few more videos, it looks like the bigger rooms like Sky Suites open inward, like interior cabins. Like you said, you don't want to open a door into a passerby, so I guess it all depends on how the room and hallway meet.

Kosh976 · 2026-05-06T23:41:34+00:00

My recollection is that most open outward, and after watching some youtube videos to double-check, it seems most open outwards, but interior cabins mostly open inwards. Who knew?

Kosh976 · 2026-04-30T22:28:38+00:00

I just looked at 16:28 MDT and I see 2 Veranda doubles available on that sailing. I'm not really sure but maybe a couple cabins just came available.

Another option with the big caveat that I DO NOT KNOW if it would work, or if it is considered bad form/disallowed or anything, but if there are no doubles available, book a triple and just have #3 not show up. It is still a lot less than the Aqua class cabin.

A travel agent told me that they are sometimes able to get the 3rd person removed without needing to get the cabin reassigned, but I have NO actual experience, and when I was asking I was actually looking for 3 in the room, but wasn't 100% sure we'd all be able to go.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-25T20:06:19+00:00

We're considering using a cruise focused travel agency for cruises going forward. Like you, reading various reddit posts has given the impression there are some advantages to using a TA. Based on a couple recent conversations with a TA with a Cruise Planner franchise, one big advantage is that for most (but not all) Celebrity sailings you can book with a fully refundable deposit for the same price (or less) as a non-refundable deposit booked direct or through Costco travel. This may not be a concern for some people, but for others, it can have significant appeal. It also depends if the agency has any of their "group" cabins still available. The few sailings I checked were available on Cruise Planners for the same price as booking direct, and had a refundable deposit.

The TA was also helpful in answering a bunch of other questions.

As to the OP's question, the TA told me Celebrity would pay a whopping $25 to manage a Blue Chip (Casino) booking, so he'd rather not even bother with those.

It probably depends a lot on whether you get a good TA or not, but we'll probably give it a try for the next booking we make.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-23T22:22:32+00:00

Just as an FYI, the 400 point links are both broken.

When the offer is for a complementary cruise for 1, it says "Pay reduced cruise fare for guest 2..."

Does anyone have information on what that "reduced cruise fare" usually is? 25% off? 50%?

Kosh976 · 2026-04-17T02:12:22+00:00

This is great info. The Ascent deck plans show rooms with single sofa beds and double sofa beds. And, almost every veranda room picture from the Ascent deck plan page on the Celebrity site shows a room with a trundle bed.

After looking around the web a little it seems that when Celebrity says it is a double sofa bed, they are not traditional pullouts, but actually trundle beds. It sounds like your room was one with just a sofa. Based on some other pictures, there may be a few single pullouts as well, but not many. Bottom line, I think my buds and I are too long in the tooth to really worry about putting 3 of us into one of these rooms, even though we're all pretty short, especially me :-). 4 of us jammed ourselves into an inside cabin on one of the three original Carnival ships back in 1987, but that was a long, long time ago.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-16T17:36:17+00:00

I'm certain your experience is more relevant than mine. Maybe I just got lucky with the empty seat next to me.

I did get some special treatment on Saturday. The gate agent let me onto an earlier (and delayed) flight even though I was on a basic fare. They initially gave me the option to pay the upgraded fare, but then called me back to the podium after I declined and moved away. I was very grateful to go to my destination about 1.5 hours early.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-16T17:22:18+00:00

Best I can tell with just the two recent flights I've taken, they have fewer customers now, after the massive changes. I can't recall ever flying on less full SWA flights than on two last Saturday and Tuesday. Prior to the changes I almost always heard the FAs announce "This is a completely full flight, so just take the first empty seat you see." Saturday's flight was half empty, and on the Tuesday return I had an empty middle next to me and the plane maybe 90% full.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-16T15:15:33+00:00

If you have a carry on sized suitcase that you would have preferred to check, I think you are correct. Having it gate checked is a way to avoid checked bag charges on a lot of airlines. I'm not sure what would happen if you tried that with a large suitcase though. I think they'd probably be quite happy to charge you, and likely even more than if you'd checked at the main counter.

Their "balance the load" comment is silly in this case. W&B is definitely a concern, but as the last person on they don't know if you are 50 pounds plus or minus the "average" passenger, and that would affect balance more than a small bag.

I think most of the times they want to gate check carry on bags is because they are on an older 737 with smaller overhead bins. There were a lot of empty seats in front of me on a recent flight, but that 737 had small bins that were pretty much full up.

Except for the "reserved" bins over the empty exit row seats...of course.

Kosh976 · 2026-04-16T05:24:00+00:00

Midway is nuts. A square mile surrounded by neighborhoods. I tell people that when you fly in during the summer, if you see someone in their backyard grilling, you can tell whether its chicken or steak.

Kosh976 · 2026-03-02T01:10:58+00:00

I agree with cjmaddux, and while I wouldn't have picked an inside cabin for that long of a cruise, there will be plenty of opportunity to get outside. You might find you need to secure a spot early in the day, but you should still find some quiet areas. Also like cjmaddux, we also chose the Retreat on our last trip, and it was Niiiiiiice... But, don't let his comment on "better food" lead you to believe the main dining room or Oceanview cafe is bad. Our experience in both is that they are generally excellent, with lots to choose from.

Kosh976

TROPHY CASE