Royal Suite over Sky Suite

Hello, we already have an aft corner Sky suite booked on our upcoming first Celebrity cruise. However, my wife's birthday will fall on the third day of the cruise and yes, it's one of those milestone birthdays ! I am thinking of surprising her with an upgrade to a Royal Suite to make this birthday that much more memorable. The price is double of what I paid for the Sky suite or, but I have plenty of time to pay it off if I budget correctly . I would love your opinions if you think it would be worth it. I really want to make this a special day for her and am thinking this might be a good attempt ! Thanks in advance !

I have had the pleasure of sailing in a royal suite twice. Our favorite cabin when we can, is the corner s1 sky suite aft. We did a seven day and a 14 day. Yes, it is so worth it!! The 1/2 bath, the separate sitting room, the master bath, the walk in closet, the dining table, two 50 inch tv's, large balcony, I could go on and on!!

Surprise her and enjoy!!

Hello, we already have an aft corner Sky suite booked on our upcoming first Celebrity cruise. However, my wife's birthday will fall on the third day of the cruise and yes, it's one of those milestone birthdays ! I am thinking of surprising her with an upgrade to a Royal Suite to make this birthday that much more memorable. The price is double of what I paid for the Sky suite or, but I have plenty of time to pay it off if I budget correctly . I would love your opinions if you think it would be worth it. I really want to make this a special day for her and am thinking this might be a good attempt ! Thanks in advance !

You know your wife, and we don't.

Is she the type of woman who would prefer to have the upgrade to a larger and fancier suite, or would she be delighted with the sky suite and prefer to use the money for another cruise, or would she rather receive some other gift that she can have to cherish and enjoy long after the cruise is over?

To me the key words you used are "pay it off" and "budget correctly."

If this money is just pocket change to you, then I would say sure, why not go for it, without hesitation.

But the fact that you need to think about it and budget for it strongly indicates that the money would likely be better spent elsewhere.

You say the price of the royal suite is double what you paid for the sky suite.

Do you really believe that the royal suite will make her twice as happy as the sky suite?

I have been in the Royals, and I would definitely prefer the Corner S1! I love the way you're thinking but I'd save the money and buy her a nice piece of jewelry and give it to her to wear on the first formal night.

I don't think it's a matter of her being twice as happy or the intention of such. It is a nice treat though and you will enjoy as well. I would opt for a Royal Suite!

We've stayed in Sky Suites and they were very nice. An upgrade would be really nice, I would like to try it. If you both do, come back and share your experience!

Either one sounds really special though, have a great birthday cruise. :)

I think that we really need more information to enable us to advise you - in particular, which ship and when you are cruising.

Perhaps I should understand which ship has the Sky Suite you are describing but, sorry, I am ignorant. However, it seems that it is a premium SS with some advantages. IMHO, the Royal Suites on the S-class ships are nicer than those on the M-class ships which are a little dark and only have on bathroom. You currently have an aft-facing suite. ON the M-class ships the RS are located aft but not aft facing, in an very quiet area of the ship. The S-class RS are mid-ships and I have read reports that some of them experience overhead noise.

After April 2015, you will get many more perks with a RS over a SS. Currently, you still get access to Michael's Club and two bottles of spirits in your suite but not the additional perks being added in 2015.

Personally, I would take the RS [on either class of ship] even if it meant careful budgeting to do it. We think that it is worth the effort to spend on the higher-end suites. It is our luxury of choice in life. Others may choose other discretional spend. The only real problem is that, once tried [and whatever to say now] you will find it hard to drop down to a lower category in the future.

When I read the OP's statement, my first thought was "of course". Then I read the replies and agreed with the pros and cons. Here is my take.

What do you do on a cruise ship? Is your cruise port intensive or sea day intensive? Are you always out and about on the cruise ship?

My husband is disabled and so am I somewhat and I don't like to leave him alone in a cabin for a long time, so we spend a lot of time in our cabin or on the veranda. I LOVE the Royal Suites and the Sky suites are nice but given that we spend a goodly amount of time in the room, I'd take a RS any day.

Whatever you decide, have a wonderful cruise.

As some others have said, I think it depends a lot on when, and which ship. Since you said Aft corner, I'll assume that means S-Class. Those are very nice cabins, however so are the Royal Suites. Twice as much is quite a bit, so it sounds like it is a shorter cruise (the longer the cruise, the differences aren't always that much). My first reaction was, after April 2015, definitely, the added perks are pretty valuable. Until then, maybe not as much.

I won't make any budget assumptions. Some people set budgets specifically for things like vacations and such, even when the difference in price of things isn't a lot in the overall scheme of their lives, they still have their vacation budget. I have a cousin who manages large wealth investors, most of which are newly found wealth, techies and such. She tells a story of a client calling to see if they could afford a $15million house the wanted. Her response was "of course, we just re-align priorities and money for a while"

My only other comment is that buying stuff with money is great, but memories seem to last much longer and research shows, money can buy happiness if it is buying experiences. There is some recent research on this. BUT, and it is a big but, if spending the money causes any stress, the value of the money spent on experiences is overwhelmed by the stress, negating the benefits towards happiness.

Not sure I helped, but good luck deciding!

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Have you considered a CS instead? Very nice upgrade from SS and usually about half the price of a RS. You receive many of the upper suite perks, separate living and sleeping rooms. Huge balcony. If money was a consideration I'd certainly throw the CS into the mix when making your decision!

Have you considered a CS instead? Very nice upgrade from SS and usually about half the price of a RS. You receive many of the upper suite perks, separate living and sleeping rooms. Huge balcony. If money was a consideration I'd certainly throw the CS into the mix when making your decision!

I agree with this thinking if it is an option.

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

I have been in the Royals, and I would definitely prefer the Corner S1! I love the way you're thinking but I'd save the money and buy her a nice piece of jewelry and give it to her to wear on the first formal night.

Thank you all for your quick responses ! After reading this one from Cathy, I now realize you are in cahoots with my wife ! But she would love jewelry ! Sorry I was so vague with my question, so a little background....this is our first Celebrity cruise, we will be sailing on Silhouette on a 7 night cruise after April 15th of next year. We currently have a S1 Sky suite booked on deck 11. We normally sail on Royal 2 or 3 times a year, usually in a Grand Suite or Owners Suite which are both priced a lot less than the Royal suite on Celebrity. I have also considered the Celebrity suite, but we both enjoy full suite benefits ! If this changes anyone's opinion or ideas, please chime in . Thanks again for your help !

Is this the first cruise overall? Or just the first with Celebrity?

If it is the first overall I think the SS in itself a great gift and I would not upgrade. My husband gave me as a special birthday gift our first cruise in a SS equivalent on a premium line. I was very happy with that.

If you've cruised before but never in a junior suite or full suite (space, balcony) then again the SS is an upgrade and a great gift in itself.

But if you're used to cruising in junior or full suites and it is only Celebrity that is the new element then consider an upgrade. The piece of jewellery of the upgrade value and the cruise in an SS sound the best of both worlds to me. And yes, I got the piece too :-)

Thank you all for your quick responses ! After reading this one from Cathy, I now realize you are in cahoots with my wife ! But she would love jewelry ! Sorry I was so vague with my question, so a little background....this is our first Celebrity cruise, we will be sailing on Silhouette on a 7 night cruise after April 15th of next year. We currently have a S1 Sky suite booked on deck 11. We normally sail on Royal 2 or 3 times a year, usually in a Grand Suite or Owners Suite which are both priced a lot less than the Royal suite on Celebrity. I have also considered the Celebrity suite, but we both enjoy full suite benefits ! If this changes anyone's opinion or ideas, please chime in . Thanks again for your help !

The Grand Suite on RC, probably compares with the Sky Suite on Celebrity. If you can do it, a good suggestion was a Celebrity Suite. You will get the "new" suite benefits, not available with a Sky Suite. The price difference between a Royal Suite and a Sky suite, will still allow you to make a special jewelry purchase as suggested by another poster.

While we love the S1's on a S class and M class ship, if you can swing it, do a Celebrity Suite.

Enjoy your cruise

We've done RS on both Millennium and Solstice Class. Both are very nice and although I wouldn't be persuaded to use the Jacuzzi on the balcony for an Alaskan cruise, it's the height of decadence if you are going somewhere warm.

On Solstice class we avoided RS on the deck where the two PH are, because of concerns about noise from above, but others have commented they are okay. One deck down it was as quiet as a library.

It was definitely a bit of a struggle deciding whether to go RS or CS first time out, but at that time (can't remember which ship) there was no balcony in a CS, just a gigantic picture window. I think they've all been converted now, but check to be sure.

As others have said, next year the RS and PH perks actually match the price you are paying for real estate so if the pricing is sharp it might be the way to go.

.

Have you considered a CS instead? Very nice upgrade from SS and usually about half the price of a RS. You receive many of the upper suite perks, separate living and sleeping rooms. Huge balcony. If money was a consideration I'd certainly throw the CS into the mix when making your decision!

I agree with the above. We have cruised three times on X. Twice in a RS and in June we cruised in one of the four CS staterooms that have the deep angled hump balconies and we prefer the CS over the RS. Even with the new suite perks starting in April of next year the price was not worth it for the RS unless you are able to get it a great price. After we returned home from our last cruise we changed from the RS to the same hump CS staterooms.

The RS has a very nice size bathroom with a separate shower which was a plus along with an extra half bath just off the entrance to the stateroom. We found that the bar/dining area and the jacuzzi tub on the balcony was a waste of space.

If you would like to see photos of the RS and CS check out my Reflection and Equinox photos in the link below.

The Grand Suite on RC, probably compares with the Sky Suite on Celebrity. If you can do it, a good suggestion was a Celebrity Suite. You will get the "new" suite benefits, not available with a Sky Suite. The price difference between a Royal Suite and a Sky suite, will still allow you to make a special jewelry purchase as suggested by another poster.

 

While we love the S1's on a S class and M class ship, if you can swing it, do a Celebrity Suite.

 

Enjoy your cruise

The Sky suite on X compares with a Junior suite on RCI. The CS compares with the GS on RCI but has a separate bedroom where the GS doesn't.

It was definitely a bit of a struggle deciding whether to go RS or CS first time out, but at that time (can't remember which ship) there was no balcony in a CS, just a gigantic picture window. I think they've all been converted now, but check to be sure.

 

As others have said, next year the RS and PH perks actually match the price you are paying for real estate so if the pricing is sharp it might be the way to go.

 

.

All CS on Solstice class have always had balconies and the all "M" class CS's now have had them added too. But they are very different suites from one class to another, both great...

Thank you all for your quick responses ! After reading this one from Cathy, I now realize you are in cahoots with my wife ! But she would love jewelry ! Sorry I was so vague with my question, so a little background....this is our first Celebrity cruise, we will be sailing on Silhouette on a 7 night cruise after April 15th of next year. We currently have a S1 Sky suite booked on deck 11. We normally sail on Royal 2 or 3 times a year, usually in a Grand Suite or Owners Suite which are both priced a lot less than the Royal suite on Celebrity. I have also considered the Celebrity suite, but we both enjoy full suite benefits ! If this changes anyone's opinion or ideas, please chime in . Thanks again for your help !

Hi!! If you are used to sail in Grand Suites or Owners suites, then my vote goes to a Celebrity or Royal Suite. We have cruised on both of them in Celebrity and like you, we usually book GS and OS in RCCL. The CS and the RS, unlike the Sky suite, will also give you access to the concierge lounge in Michael's Club.

Hope you enjoy Celebrity as much as we do. Don't forget to call the Captain's Club, as a D+ member in the C&A program you will be recognized as Elite in the CC. :)

As it is a S-class ship after April next year, I would go with the RS. The second bathroom, proper dining table, "proper bedroom" [rather than frosted glass walls] and the additional perks swing it over the CS for me.

I will say no more because you are getting so many different opinions you probably wish you had never asked.!

As it is a S-class ship after April next year, I would go with the RS. The second bathroom, proper dining table, "proper bedroom" [rather than frosted glass walls] and the additional perks swing it over the CS for me.

 

I will say no more because you are getting so many different opinions you probably wish you had never asked.!

Still glad I asked, everyone is giving me great advice and options. Thanks again to everyone for the help and quick responses! Sounds like the CS is another option to look at. I won't get any savings with their new sale that is going on, so I'll let things settle down then give them a call to see what prices will actually be for me ! Again, thank you all !

I agree the CS gives you an additional benefit, like Michaels's lounge access that you won't get in the SS. You'll also get Elite benefits (usually) for the cruise (unless you already have them because of reciprocity from your Royal Cruising). It's a great choice, and still room to buy jewelry ;)

On the other hand, IF you spend a lot onboard, then the RS may be worth the splurge as it does have some added benefits as of April of next year like unlimited premium beverage package (if you have 1,2,3, you can exchange it for additional OBC or Gratuities), unlimited internet, unlimited specialty dining, and a daily restocked minibar with beer, soda and water. If these things aren't important to you or won't save you much to help make up the difference, the CS could be the way to go.

While all are nice cabins, there are some that feel the CS on S-class doesn't feel roomy due to its layout. It also doesn't have an in room dining room table, but there is a nice one on the balcony. It's a nice cabin, but unlike a GS on RCCL there isn't a lot of open space. There is a lot of space in the corner after SS even though it is one room. Still no "real" in room dining room table. The RS (S-class) has many of these features, but comes with the price tag to match so it will depend on priorities.

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Hello, we already have an aft corner Sky suite booked on our upcoming first Celebrity cruise. However, my wife's birthday will fall on the third day of the cruise and yes, it's one of those milestone birthdays ! I am thinking of surprising her with an upgrade to a Royal Suite to make this birthday that much more memorable. The price is double of what I paid for the Sky suite or, but I have plenty of time to pay it off if I budget correctly . I would love your opinions if you think it would be worth it. I really want to make this a special day for her and am thinking this might be a good attempt ! Thanks in advance !

Absolutely..cruises within a cruise. Changes everything.

I agree with the above. We have cruised three times on X. Twice in a RS and in June we cruised in one of the four CS staterooms that have the deep angled hump balconies and we prefer the CS over the RS. Even with the new suite perks starting in April of next year the price was not worth it for the RS unless you are able to get it a great price. After we returned home from our last cruise we changed from the RS to the same hump CS staterooms.

 

The RS has a very nice size bathroom with a separate shower which was a plus along with an extra half bath just off the entrance to the stateroom. We found that the bar/dining area and the jacuzzi tub on the balcony was a waste of space.

 

If you would like to see photos of the RS and CS check out my Reflection and Equinox photos in the link below.

We also prefer the CS on the hump over the RS especially in the Caribbean....lots of time on our balcony.

With the SS you get luminae and butler but with the CS you get michaels club along with luminae and butler. RS you get free drinking plus the rest already mentioned....

Having said that, Consider a CS on the hump and a piece of jewelry so she has a lifetime of memories with the vacation and a trinket/bauble on her hand :) that would be my preference :D:D good luck!

Sky Suites on Celebrity are smaller than the Grand Suites. SS measure about 300 sq ft, while Grand Suites are 401 sqft. That's a big difference, imho.

Personally, I'd keep the aft SS and use the money for either another cruise or a very nice piece of birthday jewelry for your wife.

This thread is a year old. They probably already took the cruise.