Stem to Stern

Four minutes of the incredible Miami skyline filmed at 4am on turnaround day Saturday, December 16th from my quiet corner of the Yacht Club Sundeck on Deck 20 facing aft. Uploading from iPhone camera roll to Cruise Critic at home on Comcast Blast WiFi just now took just a few minutes. IMG_0717.mov

Tomorrow's weather forecast here in SWFL is calling for cloudy conditions and a high temperature of 65 degrees, so my plans to catch up on my yard chores that I have been ignoring all this month will likely be preempted once my nose gets to cold. Therefore, I might get to some catch up posts and finally a wrap up summary and comparison of the two experiences.

Sorry, Rosie. I never got to your question about other menus in YC Restaurant. I was either having too much fun on board or I got caught in reading about New England crab cakes and lobster rolls in this thread. I never took the opportunity to inquire as to whether or not we had the option of ordering from any other menus other than the YC Restaurant menu. The ordering atmosphere sometimes felt a bit rushed and impersonal. This may have contributed to the reasons why we just stuck to the YCR menu. There always seemed to be items listed that looked appealing in print. They just were not always executed to the point of excitement and delight. I believe YCR has its own kitchen adjacent, but I really do not know how the whole food prep operation is facilitated. Hopefully, someone else with prior YC experience that is reading this can chime in about additional menus and special requests. Once we joined you on our second leg on Summit, I had to chuckle to myself when Andy would bring the stack of Luminae, Blu, and MDR menus every night. But the reality of the situation is that among the four of us I would take a wild guess that nearly half of all of our selections probably came from the Blu and MDR menus. Not that I ever had a night that I could not find anything on the Luminae menu, but having all of those additional choices was nice. I don't think one could tell a quality difference comparing a MDR selection with one from the Luminae menu. I also do not believe any of us ever felt the pace of the Luminae meals was either too fast or too slow. It was juuuust right.

Revisiting your original question which I do not believe was addressed. Inside the Yacht Club on Seascape there was rarely a moment when we experienced any kind of queue. A couple of times when we turned up at the Maitre D desk at YC Restaurant there were two maybe three couples in line ahead of us, but everyone was seated within a couple minutes. The YC Concierge desk always had at least two people behind the counter, so I never saw a line there either.

I would love to have that recipe.

Not being a smoker I am unable to identify all of the smoking areas on this ship. In YC there only seemed to be a handful of smokers. After sailing on MSC one of the things DH pointed out about the Summit pool deck is that the smokers are confined to a very small shaded corner of the pool deck. There are other areas on Summit, but the pool deck alcove is tiny considering how large the pool deck is. In contrast the smoking area on the YC Sundeck was quite a large area of tables and chairs equivalent in size to the area of non-smoking tables and chairs on the opposite side of the Sundeck dedicated to the Al fresco buffet dining area. Of course there is always one or two fellow passengers that intentionally or unintentional failed to recognize the intended designated boundaries of the smoking area. Since the smoking area included very few if any loungers, a few smokers and vapers strayed into adjacent non-smoking areas some of which were too near the forward jacuzzi I liked to enjoy. The other outdoor smoking area in YC is half of the terrace of the Top Sail Lounge. Smoking is not allowed in any interior YC spaces. I understand, anyone please confirm, smokers have been banished from the casino. To compensate a room adjacent to the sports bar has been designated as a smoking allowed gaming room which appeared to just have slots.

Sorry George. I am just now rereading and noticing some of the questions I have not responded to. I guess I was having fun. I did not even get a pic of a wine list. We are not wine snobs, but I can’t help but give side eye to a sommelier when I see them coming toward me with a $10 open bottle of rose when I ordered a glass of Whispering Angel. True story from YC Restaurant.😫 Not being wine connoisseurs we went with the flow in YC. Dinner sometime followed copious quantities of pre-dinner cocktails which could have had a slight effect on my dinner wine palate.🤪 Maybe your question on the eve of our Summit embarkation was a foreshadowing to my Luminae wine upcharge debacle.🤣 I am not sure what quantity of any wine is allowed to be carried on board an MSC ship.

The countdown is on for you. Yay!! I will share one of the things I know I would love about the Royal Suites on the Millennium class ships in the event I ever have another Move Up bidding opportunity for one. They look down at the water rather than lifeboats. I like to stand at my verandah rail and admire the sea view. In the area of Sky Suite 6120 the view below is of lifeboats and deck space. View below 6120 verandah rail. View forward toward Celebrity Suites - a lot of steel. View aft looking toward angled verandahs of Aqua Sky Suites 6126 and 6132 in the distance. It sounds like a first-world problem, but on one particular day during our sailing maintenance was taking place on one of the lifeboats below and forward of our verandah. When I noticed the crew member tending to the lifeboat, I also noticed the incredible layer of grime on the lifeboat. On another occasion loud banging was occurring outside of our suite presumably from more exterior maintenance. The Royal Suites’ locations further aft would have at least been a bit further away from all the banging. I closed and latched the sliding door to the verandah, but the banging could still be heard. Nevertheless it was interesting to observe the crew at work at the lifeboat while at sea!?! I enjoyed capturing these shots. Check out his foot placement on the lifeboat in this photo. On another occasion I witnessed from our verandah what appeared to be paint scrapings at the bottom of these stairs from Deck 5 to Deck 4. It was good to see work happening, but as @81Zoomiereported in their Live on the following sailing Lady Summit is in need of a considerable amount of exterior maintenance and refurbishment. Overall we were very pleased with The Retreat experience on Summit including Luminae, The Retreat Lounge, and the revolutionized Sky Suite. We did not take advantage of The Retreat Sundeck because of the gale force winds during a good portion of our sailing, but our friends braved the weather and quite enjoyed the serenity and solitude there.

Great wrap up. I am leery of MDR on our upcoming Silhouette sailing, so I have gone and booked an unlimited specialty dining package albeit at a flash sale discount. After that we try Edge-class vessels for the next couple. I am more optimistic about the four MDRs on those. In contrast to your MDR report, we were on the previous sailing and Luminae waitstaff never seemed overworked or stressed. But they were in abundant numbers. Luminae was never full. They did not ask for perfect survey scores. Congrats on your retirement and your upcoming B2B around the land of OZ. Really enjoyed your review.

Those are nice itineraries.

Not us. But we are booked in a Sunset Verandah on the 11/30/2025 sailing. Back in mid-November we placed a refundable deposit on a cruise only fare offered by the TA that came in less than the current fare Celebrity is offering on their website with a non-refundable deposit. I would love to be in The Retreat, but I am not about to fork over $10K+ for a 7-night cruise in a Magic Carpet Sky Suite. Although it appears as if a few people are more than willing. Will be watching closely for any changes in pricing and rechecking back in with TA.

Thank you for your great report. We were on this sailing as well. It was great meeting you both and chatting over dinner the one evening. We met many friendly fellow passengers and crew in the Yacht Club. The Top Sail Lounge could be a very convivial space or I could find my own private corner if it wasn’t too crowded. I feel it is like the living room of the Yacht Club. I loved the space and the panoramic views. Agree with you that having the additional dining venue on the pool deck buffet was great. The pool deck is huge. Chandan was super-friendly up there. Kimberly in the Top Sail was my favorite waitperson. Our butler Renuka and stateroom attendant Ainul were fantastic. They greeted us every morning upon our departure from the suite. Sadly I did experience some weird whooshing noises while trying to sleep. My husband slept through it all. We were in an interior on Deck 18. It was a bit tight, but we had plenty of room for storing everything. We loved the rain shower head. The Med shower products were mildly fig scented. Hot and great water pressure. Like yourselves we loved all the swag and unexpected treats discovered in the suite every time we turned around. Especially the Venchi chocolate. Cocktail Bar ended up being our go to venue outside the Yacht Club. The bartenders here also prepared all of the drinks for the specialty restaurants, so they seemed expert at their craft. We went to two okay shows in Chora Theater. I went to a third show featuring an awesome rock violinist in Le Cabaret Rouge. The aerialists at the three shows were awesome.

We are booked in sunset verandahs for our first two Edge-class sailings. Excited to finally try them. Thanks again for the report. Happy New Year!!

My editing window expired on me. The Retreat Lounge is actually on Deck 4, not Deck 5 as stated in above quote. Apologies. I will also add that it was a very expensive automatic beverage machine.

The Retreat Lounge vs Top Sail Lounge Continuing to break down this comparison bit by bit, I would like to compare our experiences with food/beverage, staffing/service, and atmosphere specifically in these two venues. Top Sail Lounge food and beverage: I believe I gave a good indication of the food provided all day long in TSL throughout my earlier posts and pics. Various little individualized snack plates were on display at a tiered, self-serve, walk-up buffet adjacent to the bar. These included items like nuts, potato chips, dried figs, dried apricots, olives, finger sandwiches, micro-pizzas, and sweet treats. Elegantly folded napkins were also available here. The bar waitpersons restocked and maintained the spread. I sometimes found that carrying multiple plates for the both of us proved challenging. My Chopin and DH’s Hendrick’s were always available, but we do not seek out ultra-premium or exotic liquors that may have commanded an up charge. So no up charges incurred and no further insight can be provided into this controversial topic. On one unfortunate night a malfunctioning espresso machine created a very delayed after-dinner espresso martini. Little blips like this are something you evidently become accustomed to on MSC or you opt not to cruise MSC. Just keeping’ it real, folks. Pots of hot tea were always available, but YMMV with regard to the brand. Honey was served in individualized jars as were all other condiments. The Retreat Lounge food and beverage: We were very impressed with the spread provided. Unlike Top Sail Lounge meats, cheeses, fruits, and sweet treats were arranged like a three-dimensional painting. Nearly every time I walked up to the nosh buffet, it looked absolutely Instagram-worthy. The spread was meticulously displayed and appeared as if it had not yet been touched. Dessert-sized plates and wrapped place-settings alluded to the idea that one could easily make a meal here. Please see pics in posts 243, 255 and 258. Summit for the food and beverage win. Top Sail Lounge staffing and service: Generally we witnessed one or two bartenders and two or three bar waitpersons on hand to serve us. On our inclement weather day the YC Sundeck was unusable, so TSL was full. Staffing levels did increase on this day since they were not needed up on deck. The future cruise manager was also at her desk to the right just inside the entrance into TSL for generous blocks of time throughout each day of the cruise. She seemed to be excelling at her objective. Overall the service was okay in the lounge. One stand out was Kimberly, a bar waitress who always had a huge smile on her face and exuded professionalism. No one else on the bar team really excited and delighted me like she did. She was my favorite and I told her so. One of the bartenders came out of the gate on Day 1 not firing on all cylinders. He forgot to place cocktail napkins on the bar prior to serving our drinks. He seemed to know his craft, although one cosmo had way too much cranberry juice. However, he lacked personality and natural social interaction with us. He struck me as awkward. At times he was the lone barman having to prepare all of the drinks ordered throughout the lounge. The Retreat Lounge staffing and service: I’m sorry. When one recognizes a bar crew member from a prior cruise and they are overflowing with friendliness and personality, one is challenged to be fair and unbiased. Both couples had the pleasure of sailing with superstar Karla from Brazil, barista in Cafe Al Bacio on board Connie last October. This cruise Karla was usually found behind the bar in TRL along with at least one additional bar waitperson. Karla easily engaged me in friendly, early-morning chit-chat, graciously answering and elaborating on my endless ship-life questions. Retreat Concierges Eve and/or Mudit were always present and pleasant, but they did not always seem fully engaged with patrons of the venue. I had the feeling that they were reluctant to stray far from their desk anticipating that the phone would be ringing sooner than later. Even though there are only two of them, along with Head Butler Valen, it was nice to have them stationed in TRL for better accessibility. For example, one of them would call Serdar to check table availability so we could avoid any large, loud groups that might be dining in Luminae at that time. Yes, there were a few of those on board. Side note: Summit Luminae was never busy or overcrowded during any of our meals there. This provided an exceedingly intimate dining experience. Luminae staff, being the consummate professionals that they all are, never appeared rushed or stressed. This is in sharp contrast to the battalion staffed in YC Restaurant who often seemed to not be performing like a well-rehearsed symphony orchestra. While enjoying pre-dinner cocktails in The Retreat Lounge, it was nice not to have to pick up the phone and call someone to ask about preferred table availability. This is a mute point in YC because the YC Restaurant was so crowded and hectic that getting a cozy, quiet table in the back corner of the restaurant away from others was next to impossible. The Retreat Concierge concept contrasts with the Yacht Club Butler regime as there are twelve YC Butlers for roughly 130 suites. I did not find I preferred one program over the other. They are just different. Having your own dedicated Butler AND Stateroom Attendant did make me feel like I was being better looked after. Anyway, Summit for the lounge staffing and service win. Atmosphere: Seascape for the win. Sorry DH, but if I am going to read or doze or be holed up indoors on an inclement weather day, I see myself in TSL over TRL any day. If only Karla could bring the nosh spread from The Retreat Lounge over to Seascape. With her and Kim on the same team, I think great things could happen. TSL has an incredible, two-deck-high, forward-port-starboard panoramic view; a peekaboo view of the bridge; a beautiful Swarovski crystal staircase leading one deck up to the Yacht Club Restaurant; a piano; varying nightly live music; a varied, piped-in, Smooth Jazz and easy listening playlist; cozy, quiet corners as well as convivial seating areas; ultra-comfy overstuffed chairs and loveseats; large, heavy stone-topped cocktail tables; a hand-washing station; and interesting, mirrored, brown, boomerang-inspired design elements. I’m convinced that this boomerang motif is MSC’s update to their previous animal-prints as seen in YC on Davina.😂 But I will take this over Kelly’s IKEA-inspired “design” selections. Find the boomerangs😆 Menu cart on left, future cruise manager’s desk on right, quiet corner with peekaboo view of bridge far right Hand washing station immediately outside Top Sail Lounge entrance Looking aft from TSL outdoor space above bridge, camera held above windshield Top Sail Lounge also has direct access to a forward facing outdoor space a portion of which is a designated smoking area. The cool part about this space is the fact that it is directly over the bridge and mimic’s the bridge’s footprint. Therefore, one can observe forward, port, starboard, and aft. This allowed me to capture some cool shots. The eight-foot tall glass windshield along with my long arms enabled me to position my phone above the glass and maximize photography opportunities. This is where I captured this shot after coming back on board from our day in Old San Juan. In contrast The Retreat Lounge is just okay albeit a bit sterile. I never had the opportunity to visit a pre-Kelly Michael’s Club on a Millennium-class ship. The only Michael’s Club I had the pleasure of enjoying was on board Silhouette. With the existing space Kelly and Celebrity had to work with I think they have probably done a decent job. To accommodate all 100-ish Retreat guests at once I guess they had to opt for most of the furniture to be scaled for petite people. Very little contrast exists within the color palate. The only outdoor view is from the high-top table and four barstools in the kitchenesque bar area. This room features outdoor access to deck 5, bar service, two urns of flavored water, an automatic beverage machine, and coolers painstakingly stocked by Karla with various still and sparkling waters and soft drinks. In the actual lounge seating areas, some of the chairs are proper dining-chair seat height while other seating options are extremely low to the ground and difficult to upright ones self from especially after one of Karla’s martinis.😋 Apparently I mostly took pics of TRL food and not many of the actual atmosphere. I’m sure there is a You Tube. As far as I know, live music was featured in TRL two of the five nights of the cruise one of which was the Captain’s Soirée. On this evening we had the pleasure of meeting and chatting extensively with Captain Chris about his family and their life in Greece. He was patient and gracious enough to humor me and my request for a pic with him. Our friends, DH, and I were rewarded with a multi-pose photo shoot. The captain called the ship’s photographer over for a few snaps that were delivered to our stateroom later in the sailing. Sadly, they were awful. Our true photography superstars of the evening were DH and fellow passenger Renee. Thanks to Renee for offering to help out DH’s awesome shot of Captain Chris in deep conversation with fellow passengers Renee and Jamie Renee’s miracle iPhone in action as the three of us stand firmly against the swell The captain alluded to the fact that we would be in for a wild ride to Cozumel. If anyone recalls the weather Florida and the surrounding areas were experiencing last week, you might understand what he meant when he told us we were going to fly over the swell. When we arrived in Cozumel we were reward with a gorgeous day.😀 To summarize the lounge war, Summit won the food/beverage and staffing/service battles and Seascape won the atmosphere battle. Summit won the war. Good night.💤

Thanks for the recommendation, George. We are definitely on the hunt for something in The Retreat on board an Edge-class vessel with palatable pricing.

I am no wine connoisseur, so after my first couple of martinis all of my wine at dinner starts to taste the same.😆 So bring on the $12.00 glasses of Columbia Crest Merlot. As long as it is included in my adult beverage package, I don’t really give a…. Sorry. Not sorry, Celebrity. Just being honest. As long as there is good company in my presence and edible food, then I am good.

Just off Summit last week and was subjected to the $2.00 per glass up charge in Luminae for my Whispering Angel, my Conundrum, and my top off of Conundrum on the way out of Luminae. Yes, I caved. The up charges slightly soured my otherwise fantastic 5-night cruise. We will not be staying in The Retreat for our next three Celebrity bookings starting in April 2024, but we do have the Premium Adult Beverage package. I refuse to let this perverse nickel-and-diming happen to me again. I will stick with martinis and other drinks under the premium limit. Let’s hope Laura’s message gets filtered down to the bar crew and this fiasco gets sorted soon. @Georgia_Peaches No, in Luminae we did not have to show our room cards. I think they were well aware of our suite numbers, perhaps because we are Elite and the other couple we were traveling with were turning Elite Plus on this sailing. Most Summit crew around the ship seemed to learn stateroom numbers very quickly.

Welcome home Jim! I am honored to have you along. Best wishes to you and Iain for peace and joy this holiday season.🤗

Summary will hopefully pick up steam after today. Bracelet is not required, but allowed one of us to leave our room card in the slot in the suite so the lights and outlets continued to remain powered. Many nuisances to work around, but I really enjoyed the Yacht Club. I wish DH was as on board as I was. It did not help that we followed it up with a mostly phenomenal stay in The Retreat.❤️😉

Stunning photography and anecdotes from your cruise. But you may have outdone yourself with this one. I am so disoriented. Is this the shaft adjacent to the glass, oceanview elevators? Were you looking up or looking down? We are not in The Retreat for our next three booked cruises, so I appreciate the commentary regarding the Elite breakfast. It is crazy to learn that there are only a hundred or so Elite on your sailing. I think we would enjoy a quiet start to our morning along with a Bloody Mary or three at the Elite breakfast. Before our next cruise I have to start making a list of can’t misses on board. We forgot to get our complimentary gelato last week.😂

Very early on turn around morning Saturday, December 16th I shot a 1:23 video that I was able to post on board Seascape with the included internet package, but the upload did take quite a while. I am home now and getting ready to enjoy our Christmas celebration, but let’s give another video upload a try. I have other videos that I would like to eventually post. I believe this was taken from 6120’s verandah on board Summit. Merry Christmas to @goofysmom99 and everyone else on Cruise Critic reading this! IMG_0822.mov

Awesome!!! Your Mom was Cruisin’ Queen! I will have to plan a repositioning or another sailing where I just stay on board and get up at the crack of dawn and take pictures around the ship.

Thank you for this fun report! Your photos are fantastic especially how you captured the Sky Lounge, Key West, and Cozumel. What model phone or camera are you shooting with? There is never enough time on a short cruise to explore all of the great spaces on a Celebrity ship. I am glad I could come home and continue my voyage vicariously through your review. Now I want to book a holiday sailing after seeing Santa on board.😍 Merry Christmas!!🎄😃

In the event that we end up back on Summit in the near future, may I ask what show this was? Tragically we are terrible about making it to the shows, but for spectacular aerialists I would make a point to get us to the theater on time. Wasn’t Captain Chris absolutely charming? He chatted with us at great length last cruise and was patient enough for a multi-pose photo op. He seems like a real stand-up guy.