Pricing from Millenium

I was going through some of my papers today from the Millenium and here are some of the prices they were charging. I am not sure how these relate to those being charged on the Summit in Europe but I am sure they are not too far off.

Wireless Access: You have to sign up for a personal (using their PCs or your own/wi-fi) account to use with your laptop while on board. You start at the internet cafe and set up your account and swipe your seapass card, enter your stateroom #, and set up a person ID and password. They said there are 4 hotspots available to connect. The base price for connectivity (wireless or using a PC in the cafe) is $.65 per minute. I purchased the largest package because I was doing University of Phoenix stuff and it cost around $100 for 250+ minutes. I bought 2 of these to do get through my "homework". There were smaller packages that got you a price somewhere between the 38-65 cents per minute.

Cingular/AT&T - The Millenium advertised you could use your own phone to make and receive calls or text messages while at sea. I called Celebrity to see if I had to purchase "connect time" to use my phone at sea (I have Cingular) to talk and/or get my e-mails. They said yes. But, if I waited until I got into port and used my phone (and e-mail), then I would be connecting through the local cell towers and there would be NO charge from Celebrity (but I will have charges for AT&T). This is how it was on Princess - I used my phone in port (only for calls) and got charged extra from Cingular/on my phone bill but was not charged by Princess.

So, if we want to connect AT ALL while AT SEA, you have to pay to use their satellite connection.

$10,000 Drawing - on the Millenium, if you brought your photocopied (not sure where you get this done) recommended and guaranteed store receipts (purchases at stores recommended by the ship), they would be entered for a $10,000 drawing. Not bad! I didn't get off the ship so it didn't matter but if you do any shopping in Europe, you should keep those receipts just in case they have a similar drawing. It can't hurt! .

Gratuities - these were $3.50 waiter, $3.50 stateroom attendant, $2.00 waiter assistant, 75 cents Maitre D, and 50 cents for assistant chief housekeeper for a total of $10.25/day. They will charge this to your room charge unless you make other arrangements. There were at least 2 ATMs on board if you want to pay in cash at the end. I am not sure of the fees charged to use the ATMs. I am also not sure if they dispensed US dollars -- and am not sure if in Europe they would do Euros. There is a bank on board as well.

Spa - Swedish Massage/ 50 minutes/$120; Deep Tissue Massage/ 50 minutes / $128; Reflex and Massage Combo/ 50 minutes / $120; Reflexology/ 50 minutes/ $120; Sole delight Pedicure / $61; Exotic hand ritual with manicure / $44; Hot stone massage/ 75 minutes / $193 or 50 minutes/ $149; Lime and Ginger Body Massage / 75 minutes / $196. They had "cheaper" prices for the same treatments on the days in port.

Hope this helps as you look at what you want to do each day. I think if we know up front what these costs are, we can make better decisions on the important things based on our cash flow -- which I expect will come to a trickle by time we get to Barcelona :-) but it will have been worth EVERY penny!