Preparation
After Chris proposed the idea of joining them on the Silhouette I did my normal research, investigating the line and ship through the internet. The Celebrity web site is similar to other cruise line web sites but has its own twists. It was quite easy to navigate whether looking for details of the ship or searching for possible cruises. I cannot comment on their online booking process because I book all my travel using a travel agent whose services have been superb for several years. As soon as my wife and I decided to book the cruise I contacted my TA to book.
It was at the time of booking that I learned Celebrity offers cost effective specials on Tuesdays. While not all cruises are included in these Tuesday sales this on was and provided a very nice cost reduction over the standard booking. Since we booked within 90 days of sailing the full price was paid at the time of booking. Our reservation information was visible in the "My Reservations" section of Celebrity's web site within hours of booking.
Unlike my experiences with Cunard and Princess, my wife's booking was not automatically paired with mine at the time I first looked at my reservation but adding her as a traveling companion was easy. From there on, all checkin information that we could reasonably share needed to be entered only once. Immigration information was, of course, unique, however it was during this process that I discovered the NEXUS identification was specifically listed as acceptable. This was something I had not observed using Princess or Cunard checkin. I was later to discover that Celebrity will still send fully customized luggage tags, something neither Cunard nor Princess do. All three lines expect boarding passes to be printed from their sites. I do this myself although my TA would be more than willing to do this task on my behalf. One last item we did was to link our booking with that of our friends by simply sharing our booking information with our respective travel agents. We expect that this will get us at the same table in the dining room.
An interesting aside relates to my use of the Cruise Critic discussion forum. Typically, Cruise Critic allows for discussion regarding pending cruises. One aspect of these discussions is the arrangements for a group to assemble on the ship for a "meet and greet". Celebrity seems to go one step beyond by actually registering passengers through their corporate website and notifying participants. The alternative used by the other lines I have used is simply to allow passengers to self-arrange and request onboard facilities.