Celebrity Galaxy Cruises Answers

YOU DONT NEED IRONING FACILITIES, THEY HAVE A WONDERFUL SYSTEM YOU GIVE YOU ITEMS TO YOUR ROOM STEWART WHO DEALS WITH IT FOR YOU AT A SMALL CHARGE, AND DONT FORGET TO HAVE YOUR LAUNDRY DONE BEFORE RETURNING HOME ITS GREAT TO JUST PUT IT AWAY WHEN YOU GET HOME WITHOUT ALL THE HASSLE OF DOING THE LAUNDRY, YOU'LL LOVE IT.

Pre pay your tips as indicated by Celebrity. This will cover the main testaurant and stateroom attendants only. They rely and deserve that which is allocated to them..... All the remaining services have a 15% gratuity added to the bill for drinks etc.

There are no ironing facilities on Celebrity ships though they do have a laundry service, which can become very expensive. I always put a travel iron in my case and keep it hidden in my cabin, though you are not supposed to do so because of the safety factor, but i have to say i have never had to use it. If you pack carefully your clothes will not get creased. As for tipping we do not agree with being told how much and who you should tip. We always have them added onto our bill and then a couple of days before the end of the cruise we go to the pursers office and ask to have them taken off. We then ask him for some envelopes and tip who we think has given us good service ie: cabin steward, waiter and assistant waiter, and anyone else we think deserves it. If you are thinking about doing shore excursions pick and choose very carefully because they are very expensive. A lot of them will take you for a tour around the island and end up either on a beach or downtown shopping something you can do yourself by getting a taxi at the dock and cutting the price by less than half. The locals are very friendly and love to tell you about their island and if you ask them to they will wait for you at the beach or come back at an arranged time. We have done over 20 cruises and have always done our own thing. Hope this helps, have a great time.

There is no ironing on board they need you to sepnd your money by useing thier ironing service do not have any thing black ironed it will be ruined

There are always iorning facilities on board.some ships you can do your own, others you can fill a card in and they wil do it for you.as for tips when you board the ship ,go to the pursers desk, hand your card over to have all on board purchases credited to your cabin, you just sign for everything. this will save queing at the end of your ctuise,keep all receipts, to match them up with your bill that will come under your cabin door at the end of the week.then tell them you do not wish to have the gratuities stopped of your bill. tell them you will pay personaly. this will save a lot of money. you decide who you want to give to.mainly youe room stewart,your table waiter and his assistant.

I was on Galaxy in November 2008 and the situation re tips was (and I'm a UK cruiser) that we were asked several times if we wanted to have the gratutities added to our onboard account, but in order to have this done we had to complete a form and hand it in at guest relations - it was NOT automatically added and those who didn't get their form in on time could not have the gratuities added in this way. We did it because it saved using precious cash. Re: letting your steward, wait staff etc know you've paid in this way - you are given special cards (left in your state-room) which you put in an envelope to give to each relevant member of staff, so they DO know you've tipped and there IS something to hand them on your last night.

One point about the tipping situation on Celebrity. As of my last cruise in November (the situation MAY have changed since, of course), if you were a traveller from the US or Canada, you had the OPTION of putting your tips onto your bill or not at the end of the cruise. I was told by people on the same ship who were from the UK that their tips were AUTOMATICALLY added to their bills and they had to go to Guest Relations to have them taken off, if they wanted. I do not know why the policy is different for North American versus other travellers, but this is how it was up to November 2008, at least. In no cases does Celebrity put the tips on the bill at the beginning of the cruise, as some cruiselines do. Nothing is charged to your credit card until the end of the cruise. On many Celebrity ships you can monitor your ongoing charges through a menu on the TV but where this is not possible, I recommend people drop by Guest Relations every few days to get a print-off of their charges to date. It is easy to forget what you have signed for so I always keep all my receipts in one place and make notes of what the charge was for. Believe me, after a few days you will have forgotten what the $21.49 on your bill was for if you don't do that!! Celebrity gives you a suggestion of how much to tip your various dining room and stateroom staff and, if you go with their suggestion, it is certainly easy and means you don't have to mess around with money. The staff are advised that you have tipped them and ON CELEBRITY we have never found any diminishment in service after they found out they had already got the money! I cannot say the same thing for a couple of experiences on other cruise lines where the staff definitely changed their attitudes!

There are no ironing/washing rooms on Galaxy. You will receive a letter part way through the cruise advising you that the gratuities have been added to your account 'For Your Convenience'...Wilba