Elite Michaels Club ?s

[bbmdschmidt]

First time taking advantage of new Elite perks.
Had a couple questions about CC Lounge in Michael's Club.
Are most people dressed for dinner? We have late seating and wondered if
we could wear nice casual wear (capris and nice tops, shorts and nice shirt).
It's a little early to dress for dinner at 4:00.
Also, is it open bar or are the cocktails limited to certain ones, and is it
one per person? The ladies usually like wine, but the guys prefer a nice
cocktail. Are martinis on the menu? Are there any appetizers served?
We were able to enjoy the Diamond Lounge (before they took it away for
non plus members) and wondered how it compared.
What was served there in the morning?
Thanks

[teajak]

Just returned from the Solstice. Enjoyed the Elite Michaels club.
Not available on debarkation day
Cocktails,beer wine,I had Martini, Jack Daniels Manhatten,DH had red wine or beer,2 kinds of beer,cold canapes. They had a wine tasting at 5:00,usually one red.
People on late seating came casual, we were at 6:00 so were dressed for dinner, usually would go at 5:00.Very nice
We also used the free laundry and pressing. I launder DH dress shirts and have them pressed.They do not have coupon books but a sheet of coupons for each person. We used the internet minutes to check e-mail,
Did not go for breakfast.Tipped each night rather than at the end.It was fun.

[If only]

Originally Posted by bbmdschmidt

First time taking advantage of new Elite perks.
Had a couple questions about CC Lounge in Michael's Club.

What was served there in the morning?
Thanks

Michaels club 4-6 has been already answered, but in the morning we thought was great as well. Rarely busy, you can have Mimosa, Champagne, Boody Mary's & Smoothie's, Capucinno's, Expresso regular tea & coffee. The food is a small buffet, croissant, cheese, fruit, etc.
It was great. You could also have as much Mimonsa & Champagne as you wanted. Enjoy!

[kannna]

The dress for the cocktail hours is "Smart Casual" It specifies on the little card they give you. It specifically says no shorts. Now if that is followed is another story and I am not looking to get into an argument. Just letting you know what to expect as requested.

On our particular sailing on the Solstice TA there were ALOT of elite members and it was held in the sky lounge. THere were not enough cocktail waiters and you seemed to wait forever to order and then recieve your beverage and forget it if you wanted a second.

At breakfast they only had one espresso machine so if you wanted a coffee there was always a wait. The waiter there was very friendly and did his best though and you only had to wait a couple of minutes. We went to the breakfast often. I really enjoyed the mini almond croissants.

[mardon]

We were on Infinity in Sept and NO ONE wore shorts to the Michael's Club. No bathing suits with coverups. Nice capris and tops were acceptable. Any kind of drink you can imagine and unlimited. Very nice. Lots of canapes but we didn't have any.

Suggest you tip the servers. I understand that they are servers that work in the Celebrity Theatre and volunteer to work the cocktail hour so they only make what we tip them. Our cruise was 16 days. We had 2 servers. We tipped each one $20 during the first week and $20 each during the 2nd week. Getting complimentary drinks each evening sure saved us on our liquor bill so why not take care of the servers right?

We also had late seating. Most nights were casual wear. Late seating shows were at 7 p.m. so we usually went to the Michael's Club at 4:45 p.m. We had about 4 drinks each and then at 5:50 our server would bring us each another drink. 6:00 p.m. the servers left and we stayed socializing until 6:30 and then walked down to the Celebrity Theatre for the 7 p.m. show. Show got out at 8 p.m. so we then would walk to the Martini Lounge, have a drink and then the main dining room doors opened.

We also loved the laundry perks. (30 items EACH) Because our cruise was 2 weeks, AFTER the first week we each sent our dirty laundry to be washed. DH had two shirts pressed and I had 2 pairs of capris pressed. We also email home alot so having 90 min EACH FREE was nice.

Enjoy.

marlene marlenewendtch@sbcglobal.net

[FinelyCruising]

Originally Posted by mardon

Any kind of drink you can imagine and unlimited. Very nice.


marlene marlenewendtch@sbcglobal.net

No longer a limted menu then?

[LuAnn]

Originally Posted by FinelyCruising

No longer a limted menu then?

They still have the "tent-cards" on the tables re selections but we basically ordered anything we wanted, as much as we wanted. This was on the Equinox holiday Carib. sailing. LuAnn

[zebra36]

Not to start a debate for I do not know if anyone here knows for sure but it was my understanding that the waiters for the elite lounge were compensated by the ship for the time they spend there or so I have been told. BTW I do tip them and the service they provide certainly warrants it.

[jackdiamond]

On the Dec. 4 Equinox, the cocktail hour was held upstairs; and, there were a few people who did not observe the requested dress code of smart casual. They usually presented themselves in shorts and some also wore baseball caps. They were usually the loudest folks in the room. No surprise.

[dmk]

I really wish they would extend the coctail hour till 7:00p.m. or 7:30 to accomodate late diners.

[raudacruise]

Originally Posted by jackdiamond

On the Dec. 4 Equinox, the cocktail hour was held upstairs; and, there were a few people who did not observe the requested dress code of smart casual. They usually presented themselves in shorts and some also wore baseball caps. They were usually the loudest folks in the room. No surprise.

On the Nov/Dec Century TA there were several folks in shorts or other things that might not fit into the definition of smart casual. Others were in there dinner dress.

We only went a couple of afternoons (and in smart casual dress). Our biggest problem was rearranging the chairs so that all 20 of us could have a great chat (dang tables are anchored down for some reason ). Mixed dress from shorts to tuxes all sitting around talking with each other and enjoying each others company. Imagine that, sounds like a scene from ghostbusters (Cats and Dogs living together....).

Believe it or not, its easier to get along than not (and a lot more fun).

[Project_gal]

We only used Michael's club for breakfast on Infinity in November. Contrary to kannna's experience, we never had to wait for beverages [except for the time it took to make them].

Whilst we were onboard [at my husband's suggestion] they also purchased a toaster so that toast was made on request. We would be interested to learn if the toaster has rolled-out across the fleet yet.

[KW_cruiser]

many of us were in casual dress, including shorts, at Michaels club for Elite happy hour (November on Millenium). Most ppl with early seating were dressed for dinner, most of us w/ late seating were not. It was never an issue

[bbmdschmidt]

Thank you all. Sounds like a great way to start your day and evening.

[Wine-O]

Originally Posted by zebra36

Not to start a debate for I do not know if anyone here knows for sure but it was my understanding that the waiters for the elite lounge were compensated by the ship for the time they spend there or so I have been told. BTW I do tip them and the service they provide certainly warrants it.

We were on Solstice TA -- Celebrity gives the waiters $10 for their 2 hours of work. As the waiter comes over to serve us our first drinks, I slip him a $5. Never had a problem getting service, and he always came up to us for "last call."

[Longboysfan]

Originally Posted by zebra36

Not to start a debate for I do not know if anyone here knows for sure but it was my understanding that the waiters for the elite lounge were compensated by the ship for the time they spend there or so I have been told. BTW I do tip them and the service they provide certainly warrants it.

They are not compensated by the ship for the service - bartender or waiter - provided.
So you should be tipping them at the end of the week or as you go.

[Wine-O]

Originally Posted by Project_gal

We only used Michael's club for breakfast on Infinity in November. Contrary to kannna's experience, we never had to wait for beverages [except for the time it took to make them].

Whilst we were onboard [at my husband's suggestion] they also purchased a toaster so that toast was made on request. We would be interested to learn if the toaster has rolled-out across the fleet yet.

Toast???? That's why they have a buffet. The delicious croissants and pain au chocolat they served at the Captain's Club went great with the expressos and cappuccinos.

[Lsimon]

here are my observations from our Equinox cruise:

Dress - Should meet at least the minimum standards for "Smart Casual".

Drink offerings: Depends on waiter - some will just offer the standard items and some will find whatever you want (more or less).

Tips and Gratuities - Consider this with the Drink Offerings above. For example one of the waitresses said that the wine my wife (Sauvignon Blanc) wanted wasn't available, another that we'd know from another bar went and found a very nice wine for her. One should consider showing their appreciation for service like that.

[Denny01]

We were on the Solstice TA and it was moved from Michaels to the Sky Lounge. Although it was a larger crowd than the earlier E Med (elite in Michaels), it seemed to work OK. We got our drinks when ordered and got seconds. Did take longer, but not bad. What you'd expect with 100+ in a larger format. had more servers but just a larger area and numbers so it was a bit slower. Although we liked Michaels atmosphere, Sky gave us more opportunities to mix and talk with people in different groups. the Sky setup seemed to have more flexibility in drinks - the waiters went in the back to mix/get drinks. At Michaels, it was done at the Bar there - and there were more restrictions on types of drinks, at least on our cruise - not as many 'exotics'.

A group of 20+ tried to set together but they figured out it was just too restrictive on talking, so they'd usually break up some. turned out to be a better set up.

Looking forward to enjoying it again and again.

Denny

[zebra36]

Originally Posted by Longboysfan

They are not compensated by the ship for the service - bartender or waiter - provided.
So you should be tipping them at the end of the week or as you go.

There seems to be a bit of difference of opinion on this and I indicated that perhaps no one knows for sure. You seem to be pretty certain, have you been told this by a server.