Live at Sea: Day 2 Onboard Celebrity Silhouette

Day 2 onboard Celebrity Silhouette was a leisurely day at sea.  See below for some highlights. You can also access the full vault of photos including menus here.


Pro-Tip: Early Rising Secures a Peaceful Breakfast

Oceanview Cafe: Breakfast Buffet

We made our way to the Oceanview Cafe for the breakfast buffet at 7:30am. While we generally avoid the buffets, I do have a weakness for the mini belgian waffles at the buffet.  Other alternatives for breakfast include the main dining room (you're generally seated at a big table with strangers) and Aqua Spa Cafe (more relaxed, small buffet of healthy options with limited variety).

We were pleased to find that the buffet was quite serene.  It had only opened 30 minutes prior at 7am.  In addition to prepared options, there is a made to order egg station. Later in the morning, you may wait 5-10 minutes, but at 7:30am I was able to walk right up to order a veggie omelette.


Learned Something New: Cruise Passengers Prefer Morning Workouts

Well, after commenting previously that the fitness center at sea never seems to have large crowds, I realized that my workout schedule has generally been different than most.  I arrived at the gym around 10:30am and it was packed.  All the treadmills were occupied.  However, I only had to wait a few minutes for one to become available.

I skipped any free weights because the area was crowded and I find "working in" with someone else on a bench is a bit too much to deal with (or maybe I just didn't really have the motivation to lift weights).

One surprising touch was the fitness center's attentive staff.  One of the fitness trainers onboard came around to each treadmill with a silver platter of rolled up chilled towels, offering one to each guest during the workout.  That was a first and I loved the gesture.

But, lesson learned.  If you want to workout and enjoy a bit more personal space, plan to workout in the afternoon.

Solarium

After working out, I relaxed in the Solarium to cool down a bit.  It's my favorite place on the ship and where I spend the most time.  The Solarium is the adults only indoor pool.  Most guests tend not to use the pool, but just relax like I do on one of the padded lounge chairs.  The room is climate controlled and the glass blocks the UV rays, so no need to lather up with sun screen.  Most guests and reading books, napping, or enjoying some conversation.


Loyalty Perk: Free Laundry

We took advantage of one of the several Captain's Club Elite status perks before heading to dinner. We filled a laundry bag and left it for the room attendant.  In less than two days, it will be back fully washed and folded.  Each Elite tier member gets one bag of up to 30 items laundered per cruise, but you need to send the laundry out before the last 3 nights of the cruise to allow enough time to get them back.

I've included here the Captain's Club Elite welcome letter with the full list of perks.


Al-Fresco Dinner at Lawn Club Grill

Tonight we dined on deck 15 at Lawn Club Grill.  It's a fully covered space, but the walls are somewhat open to the outdoors.  It's adjacent to a fair large lawn of real grass (one of Celebrity Solstice-Class ships' signature amenities).  Normally you pay $45 per person to dine here, but pre-purchased the 7-night specialty dining package so our cover charge was reduced.

The concept is essentially an upscale backyard grill with comfort foods like flatbread pizzas, steaks, chicken kabobs, etc. You have the option of making your own flatbread pizza, tossing the dough and all.  Most parties opt to have the professionals handle it, as was the case tonight.

The signature dessert is a warm chocolate chip cookie with vanilla ice cream.  We went with the carrot cake, which was not a signature dessert as confirmed by the dryness.  Service was great.


A Craft Night Cap at "World Class Bar"

We ended our evening with some craft cocktails at the mixology bar onboard.  A trained mixologist prepares a selection of 8-12 craft cocktails that offer a twist on some classics and some altogether unfamiliar drinks.  Generally, you can order only from the drinks on the bar's special mixology menu.  However, I learned that during off-peak hours you may get lucky and have your special higher end drink made to order provided the bar's limited stock offers the necessary ingredients.

I may or may not have also stopped down at the cafe for a couple fresh cookies... and then called it a night.

Have questions you'd like answered?  Comment below or tweet me @travstrat.

Cruise Ship Loyalty Programs: Benefits at Sea + Access to Lifetime Hyatt Elite Status

While airline and hotel loyalty programs capture the majority of attention, there's great value in cruise ship loyalty program elite status for many travelers.  Let's take a look at a few and how they can be part of your travel strategy.


Primary Difference with Cruise Line Loyalty Programs: No Expiration

Celebrity Solstice Solarium

With airline and hotel loyalty programs, unless you've achieved one of those hard to reach lifetime status levels, every calendar year we all dread that we need to start from zero and re-achieve our elite status.  The cruise ship programs I'll outline here don't reset.  Once you reach a status tier, you maintain your status tier indefinitely (unless program requirements change).  That's a huge difference. Even if you don't go on a cruise for 5 years, when you step back onboard your 5-year old status and all related perks still apply.


Benefits at Sea with Cruise Line Loyalty Programs

With more than 25 cruises under my belt, I've found that Celebrity Cruises is my preferred choice. If you're newly exploring the idea of a cruise, the cruise line you choose and the particular ship can make a big difference on your satisfaction. More on the pro's and con's of the different lines and ships later...

With Celebrity Cruises, you earn a certain number of points per night (from 2 to 18) of your cruise based on the type of stateroom you choose.  The points count towards tier levels their Captain's Club program.

Celebrity Cruises Points Earning Rates

Once you reach the Elite tier, you begin to get some meaningful free parks:

Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club Tiers (Feb 2017)

• Free cocktails every evening at the designated Captain's Club Elite reception (usually in one of the ship's lounges with nice ocean vistas)
• 90-min free internet via wi-fi or the ship's internet cafe (ship's use satellite-based wi-fi, much like airlines, but without as many restrictions on streaming content)
• Free laundry services (1 free dry clean item, 1 free bag of wash, dry, fold laundry service)
• VIP access lines when embarking the ship
• See below for the full range of Captain's Club Elite Benefits from our February 2017 sailing on Celebrity Silhouette

Captain's Club Elite Benefits

Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean, so you're also entitled to status matches on Royal Caribbean ships.  For example, Celebrity Captain's Club Elite status matches to Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Diamond status, which includes similar benefits.

Given the capacity of cruise ships and the fact that they do a good job of selling out their sailings, in order to then earn more revenue from more passengers' onboard spending, the idea of free upgrades through premium status levels is rare. That said, sometimes you're offered discounted upgrades when there are more premium rooms remaining for sale than lower category rooms.

While we don't get overly excited about most of these benefits, the one that gets use the most value is the wash and fold laundry service for up to 30 items.  This easily has a value of $100+.  While it's not always necessary that we have laundry done onboard, it sure is nice arriving home with far less dirty laundry.

Cruise Line Loyalty Programs Can Get You Easy Lifetime Elite Status with MGM mLife and Hyatt

For Celebrity, when you achieve premium status tiers, you receive status matching in MGM mLife's program.  If you travel to Vegas and want discounted Cirque du Soleil show tickets or room rates (Bellagio, Aria, Vdara, etc), this can generate some good money saving opportunities.  Even if you're not a gambler or a fan of Vegas, it makes sense to get your mLife status match.  Why?  You can then use your new mLife status to secure elite status with Hyatt (provided nothing changes with the new World of Hyatt program).

For example:

Hyatt / mLife Status Match Levels (Feb 2017)

1. Earn Elite tier Captain's Club status with Celebrity Cruises (or Diamond status with Royal Caribbean)
2. Status match from Celebrity Elite to MGM mLife Gold
3. Status match from mLife Gold to Hyatt Platinum

What's great about the status matching is that, remember, you cruise line loyalty status level doesn't reset each year.  So, Celebrity Cruises Elite or Royal Caribbean Diamond status gets your mLife Gold for life and Hyatt Platinum for life (provided terms don't change).  You may need to re-link the status levels each year with an email or phone call, but that's pretty easy.

While some cruise line branded credit cards yield bonus points or onboard perks, I still prefer the flexibility of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card's greater everyday points earning potential and .  You can use points from the card to book your flights to and from the cruise directly with United or Southwest given the 1:1 points transfer, or book hotels or flights through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal that is powered just like an online travel site and allows you to redeem points for flexible travel options.  And the 50,000 point sign-up bonus would fun two roundtrip saver awards on United.

What are your thoughts on cruise line loyalty programs?  How do you extract the most value?  What would you like to learn more about with future cruising focused posts?

Live at Sea: Day 1 Onboard Celebrity Silhouette + Cruising Pro Tips

The first day of a cruise is always the busiest for me.  With a little planning and effort, you can get some things done straight away that will make for smooth sailing the rest of the trip.  Despite perks with premium status in a cruise ship’s loyalty program, there are still nearly 2,900 passengers onboard large ships like the Celebrity Silhouette so there are capacity constraints to get ahead of and crowds to avoid.  Here’s a look what we did to address that on day one.

Embarkation: The First Benefit of Elite Status

Celebrity Today Overview

We arrived at Port Everglades via Uber around 11:20am.  At drop off, porters are available to grab your luggage and have it sent to you stateroom, usually arriving between 2:30 - 6:30pm.  We opted to carry on our bags because we like to unpack and settle in right away, but it’s not recommended if you’re not comfortable navigating the pretty steep inclines of the walkways connecting the terminal and the ship.

We proceeded to the Captain’s Club Elite security queue.  We waited about 5 minutes to get to the front of the line, had our passports checked, and proceeded through metal detectors.  Today the wait time between the Elite queue and the regular line was negligible.  Next was the check-in process.  This can feel a bit overwhelming if you’re new to cruising since there are 30-40 agents at kiosks and a maze of queues to get to one of them.  Crew are able to direct you to the right spot.  Again, there’s an Elite line, but it wasn’t necessary because there was essentially no wait to proceed to one of the many check-in desks.  Here we received our Sea Pass (e.g. room key/ onboard credit card combo) and then headed onto the ship.

Pro Tip: Secure Specialty Dining Reservations ASAP

All guests are greeted by crew members offering sparkling wine the moment you step onboard.  We bypass it, given we’ve got our hands full with luggage, and carry on with my first order of business: dinner reservations.

Day 1 Schedule of Events

While the cruise always includes free meals throughout the day, including dinner in an elegant main dining room, we opt to enjoy dinner in the specialty restaurants.  It’s an opportunity to escape the crowds and enjoy usually great food and service in a more intimate setting.  Prior to the cruise, we booked a package online for 7 nights of specialty dinners.  If you’re booking just a single dinner, you’re able to secure your reservation times when booking online.  However, when buying a deeply discounted multi-night package, your reservations are made onboard.  So, we arrived to the ship fairy early and immediately found the Speciality Dining team on deck 5 at the gelato shop.  I had already written out my preferred times and restaurants on a sheet and the crew member was able to accommodate them all.  Keep in mind, the restaurants are relatively small vs. the nearly 3,000 passengers, so don’t wait to book!  You’ll read (and see) more about the specialty restaurants in this and subsequent posts.

Pro Tip: Avoid the Lunch Buffet Crowds on Embarkation Day

You’ll see a pattern here… We love the convenience and optionality of cruising, but don’t love lines and big crowds of people. So, for us the best approach is to break from the pack. That starts with lunch on embarkation day.

Aqua Spa Cafe for a Quiet Lunch

The Oceanview Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks daily.  Essentially, you can head there anytime you need some food.  However, on embarkation day, passengers board as early as 10:45am-11:00am and guests are not able to access their staterooms until 1pm (keep in mind that housekeeping has to turn over rooms of 3,000 passengers who got off the ship only 2-4 hours earlier).  So, once it’s time for lunch, most guests head to the buffet on deck 14.  Save yourself the crowds and stress and opt for a healthier lunch option on deck 12 at the Aqua Spa Cafe, located inside the Solarium (indoor serenity pool).

The Aqua Spa Cafe offers a small assortment of healthier options for both breakfast and lunch.  Examples include assortments of grains (quinoa, etc), greek goddess chicken or tuna salad, make your own salads, healthy desserts, and smoothies.  The smoothies are an additional charge, but are complimentary with the premium drink package where you pay per day (or have it included at time of booking through promotions).

Stay Active: The Onboard Fitness Center Outdoes Most Hotels

Prior to dinner, I got in a workout on deck 12 at the Fitness Center.  I quite look forward to working out on vacation since I have much more time than during the work week.  The Celebrity Silhouette has free weights, cardio machines, weight machines, and an aerobics/ cycling studio.  I’ve never found it overly crowded since they offer a large number of machines.  Also included are chilled towels to cool down after a workout. 

Dinner: Tuscan Grille

We enjoyed our first night of specialty restaurant dining in Tuscan Grille.  As mentioned, we bought 

the multi-night dining package, but this Italian-style steakhouse would otherwise require a $45 per guest cover charge, which includes unlimited items from the menu.  If you don’t want to pay for speciality restaurants, the Main Dining Room and Oceanview Cafe offer free dinner (but also more crowds).

Tuscan Grille: More Intimate Dining

We enjoyed a meatball and crab cake for appetizers, goat cheese & arugula salad, branzino (italian sea bass) and a personal side of eggplant parm.  For dessert, we had spumoni donuts with marinated cherries and vanilla bean gelato.  Our server Daniel was great, and like most waitstaff, offered prudent menu recommendations.  Water glasses are always promptly refilled and if you’re even slightly unhappy with a dish, the team is eager to offer you something else.

For more photos and menus, visit this vault of photos from this voyage.

Entertainment: Comedian Jim Colliton

Each night offers at least one headliner show in the theater or “Celebrity Central” (comedy lounge).  All shows are free.  Tonight we saw Jim Collation, a comedian, in the main theater.  He did a 45 minute act including a lot of audience interaction.  His material covered cruising, marriage, and kids mostly.  He kept folks laughing, including a few passengers who were having uncontrollable laughing fits (i.e. probably making the most of their unlimited drink package). 

Have questions or something you’d like me to cover in one of the subsequent reports this week?  Let me know in the comments and sign up for the email updates in the top right.  You can also follow some more timely updates throughout the day on Twitter (follow me: @travstrat).  On Tuesday, I’ll include a post about how you can leverage cruise ship loyalty program status to secure lifetime elite status with hotels, so don’t miss that one. I'll also post photos but for now there are technical difficulties with uploading photos via the blogging site.

This Week: Live Blogging at Sea from Celebrity Silhouette

Travel Strategist is headed to the seas! This week I'll be live blogging about cruising while onboard the Celebrity Cruise Lines Silhouette. Get an inside look at cruising, loyalty perks, and onboard tips.

Stay tuned for a post this week on cruise line loyalty program benefits and how they can also secure you lifetime elite status with hotels.

Have something you want to hear about while I'm onboard? Tweet me (@travstrat) or comment here. 

Current Strategy: What Spend I Put on Which Credit Card to Earn the Best Rewards?

I work full time and can't travel the world every year.  I don't run my own business, so I don't have an extreme amount of spending.  And, while I like to get the most rewards for my spend, I balance it with efficiency.  So, while others might have more complicated systems, here's what works for me at present.

I use a three tier system, following a simple hierarchy:

1) Hotel stays go on the associated branded Amex credit card

Starwood or Marriott stays go on the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card (the card currently has a special 35,000 SPG point sign-up bonus) allowing me to earn 5 SPG points per $1 of spend at SPG properties.  The card also gives you 5 nights and 2 stays of credit each year toward SPG elite status.

Hilton (or Conrad, Waldorf, Curio Collection, Doubletree, Hilton Garden Inn, etc) go on the Hilton Honors Surpass American Express card, yielding 12 Hilton Honors points per $1 of spend at associated properties.  In addition to the current 75,000 point sign-up bonus, the card also provides automatic Hilton Honors Gold status and a 500 point bonus for online bookings through Hilton.com paid for with the card.

If I book a stay through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts in order to get the $100 property credit per stay, free full breakfast, and guaranteed 4pm late checkout, the stay must be charged to an American Express.  The SPG Amex is my default for such stays (it doesn't have to go on the Amex Platinum) unless I'm at a Hilton, in which case I use the Hilton Surpass Amex.

Both cards have annual fees under $100 and the first year is waived.  The expense is nominal, given the extra points earnings I generate from the 20+ stays per loyalty program each year.  Keep in mind, your credit card and points earning strategies need to be aligned with your hotel and airline loyalty focus.  So, for background, I fly United Airlines exclusively since I live in a hub and most of my hotel stays are either Starwood (SPG Platinum), Hilton (Honors Diamond VIP) or American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (through Amex Platinum Travel) properties.  If your loyalty to travel providers is different, you'll want to customize this first tier of your spending strategy appropriately.

2) Quarterly 5% cash back bonus category spend goes on the Chase Freedom Visa card

Source: Chase.com

Each quarter, the Chase Freedom Visa card offers 2-4 categories of spend that receive 5% cash back. Since
I also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (see next item), the Chase Freedom 5% cash back translates to 5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1.  Since Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred 1:1 into points for select travel partners (like Marriott, United, Hyatt), those become valuable 5x bonus categories.

For Q1 2017, the Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories are gas stations and local commuter transportation (Uber, subways, etc).

3) All other spend goes onto the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa card.

This is a great every day card, and I even use it for airfare in lieu of the Chase United Visa or the Amex Platinum (which gives you 3 Membership Rewards points per $1 for air travel).  The primary reason is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa not only gives 2 points per $1 for travel and dining, but it also covers trip delay reimbursement provided the airfare was purchased with the card (other spend can be on other cards).  So, not only do I get 2 points per $1 which transfer 1:1 to United, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. but they will reimburse up to $500 of expenses incurred if your flight is delayed more than 12 hours, requiring a hotel stay, meals, etc.  And if you have to cancel a trip due to severe weather or illness, pre-paid expenses up to $10,000 are reimbursed provided the situation is covered by their policy.

Non-travel and dining spend generates 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point per $1, which isn't huge, but still provides solid flexibility since you can transfer the points to the other travel partners at a healthy 1:1 ratio.  By having this card, I can also transfer any points earned from my Chase Freedom card (above) into Chase Ultimate Rewards points that transfer to the travel partners 1:1 as well.


A final note:

To be fair, there are some other cards with higher fees or higher bonuses per $1 of spend for some specialized circumstances, but there's a point at which simplicity wins and out of pocket annual fees should be minimized.

So, that's what's in my wallet and how I direct my spending to specific cards right now.  What's your approach?

Triple Dipping to Earn Miles Outside of Airline Credit Cards

To fund future travel or flight upgrades, generating miles from everyday purchases is a no brainer. However, it's not just about using promotional credit cards. You can rack up bonuses through online shopping portals and mobile apps.

As an example, I'll walk through a purchase I completed last night:

A friend was telling me about the ready to bake almond croissants they purchase from Willams-Sonoma. I decided to treat myself due to a 20% off holiday sale online. Rather than go directly to the store's website, I started at the United MileagePlus shopping portal. After logging in with my loyalty information, I easily searched for the store name and found that I could earn 1 mile per dollar spent. To earn the miles, you simply click through the link to the store from the United MileagePlus shopping portal. Online tracking will link your Williams Sonoma purchase back to your United account. 

There were still more miles up for grabs, though. I fired up the United MileagePlus X mobile app on my phone (available free through the iTunes App Store or Google Play). I browsed through the current offers to find one for Williams Sonoma offering 3 miles per dollar, plus a 25% bonus for using a Chase card (due to their partnership with United), for a total of 3.75 miles per dollar. I simply input the dollar amount of my pending purchase and generated an instant gift card number for that exact spend amount.

I paid for the gift card from the MileagePlus X app with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, earning me 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point per dollar.

I then used that new gift card number to complete the purchase I'd started through the MileagePlus web portal. 

All in, using free web shopping portals and mobile apps allowed me to:

• Earn 1 mile per dollar by browsing to the retailer's site via the MileagePlus web shopping portal
• Earn 3.75 miles per dollar by generating an instant electronic gift card number for the retailer through the MileagePlus X mobile app, paying with a Chase card
• Earn 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point per dollar by purchasing the gift card with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card
• Save 20% off my purchase using the retailer's promotional code, since all regular discounts and sales on their site still apply

While this particular example was for Willams-Sonoma, there are hundreds of other retailers that participate in the MileagePlus web shopping portal, or other online shopping portals for other airlines like American. The breadth of retailers that participate in the MileagePlus X app is more limited. 

If you're not using shopping portals on top of your credit card points, you're missing out on free future travel.