Classynfun1

Jenna,

 

We've been in RS and CS. I guess we've just gotten use to the space of the PH (and that balcony!) and the service we've experienced while staying in the PH.

 

I may be re-thinking things now though.

 

The only bright side to this is on our first Bermuda sailing next year we're in the PH and the rest of my family is in 3 SS on Deck 6. So we'll all be able to utilize Michael's Club (oh, by the way, children are booked in 2 of Sky Suites so there will be children in Michael's Club and in Luminae. I'm sure that won't go over well with others!)

 

Janice

There have always been children in Michael's...usually complaining about how bored they are and could they please go to the pool/stateroom/etc :D

We are sailing on 12/12 on Summit and I *hope* that date ends up being part of the roll out.

This year, because of how well the higher suites have been selling, we ended up booking this cruise in an SS for the first time as nothing higher was open. This is our honeymoon and admittedly, I haven't even told DH we are sailing in a SS because I have been hoping a CS, RS, or PH will open up. For DH, who is working on his PhD dissertation, Michael's is his favorite part of cruising. He reads/writes in there during the day and then loves the pre and after dinner drinks and special events. He, like Curt, loves meeting new people while cruising and Michael's is perfect for that.

All said, we will probably still be in our SS this cruise but if he can get his Michael's access, all will be fantastic for him.

This is where I'm slightly confused as I also do not do ball gowns. I do wear a cocktail dress, LBD etc. to formal nights and a 'sparkly-type' dress for holiday sailings, but I can count on 1 hand how many ladies have been in ball gowns on either of our 2 Equinox cruises this year :confused:. The majority wear knee length or shorter dresses. TBH, I have seen more men in kilts, who sound as Scottish as I do :D, than anyone in a ball gown. Cocktail dresses - yes, there have been many. So, where are all these pax in ball gowns?? I don't sail from Southampton (UK) as I prefer a wide range of nationalities when we cruise, so are all these gowns being worn on those sailings?

 

Is this change going to result in most pax not changing for dinner and dressing appropriately? I doubt it, this has not been the case since both Aqua and Luminae have been introduced and they are both casual dining rooms. Are X regular cruisers suddenly going to change their hygiene/presentability standards just because the cruise line has suddenly changed the name of an evening? These are the same people cruising, folks - they will still have the same values and standards. They haven't suddenly been slobberised (if Roald Dahl can do it, so can I :D); just because someone doesn't want to wear a tie doesn't mean they'd feel comfortable in a string vest :eek:!

 

If there were hundreds of pax in their ball gowns every cruise, I could understand the uproar. But, honestly, can any of you hold your hands up and state there have been more than a handful of pax in ball gowns on your last few cruises (obviously excluding UK departures :p)?

Ball gowns do NOT equal formal. Full LENGTH gowns do. I always bring full length gowns for formals nights and see quite a lot of other women doing the same thing. I also saw quite a lot of cocktail length, but full sequined dresses that fit the atmosphere well.

I was married on October 30 and did NOT wear a princess "ball gown" then either. I did wear a fitted, full length, with chapel length train and layers of lace, wedding gown. It fit the formality of night (with men in full military dress or tuxedos) and women in similar attire.

I am disappointed in the company, not upset, and since Luminae is a very new concept, I've spent many years and many cruises dining in the MDR.

 

It's possible to disagree with a policy and express one's displeasure without personally attacking others and calling people names. I've posted on these threads for a long time without denigrating people or personally insulting their choices. Unfortunately there are a few who don't ever discuss the issue, but only comment about others.

 

I've always understood that some people never like to dress up for dinner and sometimes I don't feel like it either. I thought Celebrity did a good job providing alternatives for those few nights and I have taken advantage of the alternatives myself. I always hoped that people would find that those alternatives were very nice and gave everyone a chance to enjoy what they liked. This change, regardless of them saying it's still OK to dress formally, effectively changes the whole experience. I will personally miss it and I think it's a mistake but it certainly won't ruin my life or my experiences. It's just one more thing that is taking Celebrity away from being something special to being the same as all the rest in the large, mainstream cruise category. It just gives us all more reason to shop around.

 

If some find it necessary to gloat and make insulting comments it has no effect on me and only serves to demonstrate who they are. I guess I should just learn my lesson and not worry about others.

Well said and I agree with you completely.

On several occasions I've seen women look at my DH, then say to their husbands, "See how good he looks? I knew you should have brought a tuxedo." (DH, by the way, is not a Men's Fitness model. But the tux gives him a good James Bond edge.)

We've both been complimented by other passengers (she says modestly), and have been thanked by senior staff for dressing up.

No negative comments that I'm aware of.

In addition to this, DH has gotten the "nod" from other well dressed men on formal night. :D

So what? For many of us it's the only occasion to really dress up. Majority can't afford Queen Mary but it doesn't mean people should come to the restaurant in tee-shirts and flip-flops.

 

What's wrong with making a little effort to look presentable?

Agreed. And LOL that a "value" vacation = the 6-10k that we budget for each cruise fare we purchase. But as I said before, I know I have the option to spend that money elsewhere. I still disagree with the change.

The whole "but you can still dress up if you want" argument here really misses the whole point many of us are making. Right now I can wear whatever I want to Taco Bell or McDonalds! Even if they added table linens, my husband and I wearing formal wear to Taco Bell does NOT make it a formal night or provide the atmosphere and experience that those of us that enjoy formal night are looking for. It is about so much more than clothes. X's stance is clear that they do not expect to have or provide the formal night experience.

As someone in my 30's I am bummed about the announcement. Much of the fun of dressing up for me is the atmosphere of others dressed to the 9's as well. Now...meh. There are so few places now where we can get dressed up and enjoy others doing so (even the MET had people in jeans at the opera - and these people were older than me, not those younger).

I get it - if I want that experience now onboard a cruise ship, I'm going to have to downgrade from my suites on X to lower level stateroom on Cunard. I think it might be worth it though. Ether way, I know for my next cruise I won't be spending any of my time at the future cruise sales desk booking next year's cruises. I will be spending that time with my TA before the cruise figuring out which lines will be our next venture.

My fingers are still crossed for you.. ;-)

Thank you, Curt! ;) Here's to hoping your well wishes bring us luck!

I know...I'm in the same position.

For our honeymoon, the highest level room available was a sky. We have been cruising in RS so I was hoping to at last sail in that, if not the PH this time as a special treat (honeymoon). Of course, nothing has been available and we are just shy of a month out (12.12.15 cruise) I doubt anything will come available before we cruise. Sigh...oh well. For world problem for sure.

It will be interesting to see what this looks like!

We are going on our honeymoon in December and I have been watching our cruise like a hawk to PAY full fare for an upgrade. No cabins above a sky suite have come open at all!

Although I do love the food in Blu, my favorote part of eating there is that it has been adult only. I usually sail in suites now, except for my upcoming Alaska cruise (i wanted an aft). I haven't eaten in Blu since sailing in a suite, but am very much looking forward to it again. I sincerely hope that even if suite guests are allowed, they keep it to adults only...

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Seems like most people in here didn't read. Don't use surge protectors, people! An inexpensive multi-plug/usb device is much better and safer for the ships.

The easy answer is no. The general concierge will not do something for one group that causes issues for/with anyone else on board. Tendering is something that they won't touch with a 10 ft pole. You will be expected to either a) pick up your own tickets if its a port that warrants this or b) proceed to the tender directly if not.

Can anyone confirm this for Millie???

My understanding is that Alaskan Cruises are eligible, but if you book a cruise tour it no longer qualifies. This is why we booked a cruise and are doing the land portion ourselves.

Just off the Reflection last Sat. and noticed nearly no-one in & out of Michael's and rarely saw anyone sitting inside. We spent alot of time in Ensemble Lounge as it was a conveniently located bar for us, & where Trivia was held. I commented to my husband that lovely lounge we used to enjoy on our earlier Celeb cruises is a wasted space now & didn't understand why it was not being used in financially productive area for Celebrity. I understand that those in suites deserve use of a concierge and a place for free drinks. Why not just put drinks in their suite or allow them to order free drinks in various bars or have another spot for them? Too many places on S-class ships are wasted spaces -- all green grass Lawn club areas deserted while the Sunset Bar area was PACKED everytime we went there, one side being the few smoking areas on ship.

Cle-guy hit many of the points, but I will say that your experience will vary from ship to ship. On the Summit 11/8 cruise, Michael's Club was CONSTANTLY busy. Every time we went in there, from noon until bedtime, there were AT LEAST 3 or more other couples in there. From pre-dinner time (6:00pm pm on) I never counted less than 16 people in there at a time.

ETA: The concierge mentioned that due to the number of people in the appropriate suites, there were 41 total people on our cruise that could use Michael's. So, speaking mathematically, those that could did use the lounge. And quite often and for quite awhile each time as well.

Leaving on the Summit on Saturday and just got an email from Lisa. Anyone had her in charge of Michael's Club?

That means Jole is gone - which is probably good for you! :-) We had her onboard as the Michael's Concierge a couple of weeks ago and she was...just ok. Not visible, not that friendly, etc. The staff even had different rules when she was around/when she wasn't (it was obvious, but not stated).

Enjoy Michael's! :-)

Classy fun...was there a better suite choice in that category? Can one circle the back? We move to the other side of the ship the second week. The deck plan is not clear on that.

 

Jotting those names down now, will pass on your messages.

We were in 6133 and noticed so smells or anything unpleasant. Michael's Club was quite busy so we talked to most of those sailing in top suites. No complaints about anyone's cabin or any issues with the suite the chose. It is a fantastic suite and I'm sure you will love that you upgraded! Make sure your butler sets up your breakfast on your balcony as you sail into port....that alone is worth it! :-)

In.fact, we booked another RS on Summit for next winter (and Alaska on Millie next summer) we enjoyed it so much!!

You are on the Summit, correct? We were in an RS on the Summit a couple of weeks ago and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as we did! You must say hi to Julia as Cosmo (he probably spells it differently) in Michael's Club from Matt and Michelle. They are both fabulous and made the cruise extra great! Ashley, the Captain's Club hostess is also WONDERFUL - please say hi to her as well. And finally, if you luck out and get Peter as your butler - there is nothing he won't do to make sure this is the best cruise yet! :-)

We went last week as guests of Michael's Club (so I don't know how much it was).

When I asked what it was (we just received an invite) I was told, "it's like a Burlesque 'party' where one of the girls acts as the host and all her fabulous burlesque friends put on little performances." That said, the costumes were very burlesque and all the wait staff wore masks. Lots of feathers, velvet, silk, sparkles, and lace all around. There were a few costume changes too. The singers - were literally singing songs from a sheet of music they were holing up and reading. Tons of food - but we were too full form dinner to eat. The performers were all drinking out and about with us like we were party guests and some were REALLY drinking.

We had fun, but I would not pay to attend. I think they listed the party as 21+ too...

for those that have sailed Alaska recently, if you were sailing in July 2015, would you cruise the Vancouver round trip on the Infinity or the one way on the Millie?? I'm trying to decide that right now!

They would have had me....until veal. I don't eat it...:-(

Ok all! Got all of your updates! Will check again in the am, :-)

Ok - I've got the above questions noted and will get answers on all items! For those that asked about muster, I was told by someone on our roll call (who is currently on the ship and will be doing a B2B) that muster was at 7:45pm. They also asked and were told it will be for this cruise as well. I will confirm that for you all, though!

We plan to head to the ship to dump off the luggage as soon as we arrive in San Juan, so should get to the pier sometime around 11:00am. Will let you know about that (and if it was worth getting lunch or just heading in OSJ).

Keep the questions coming! I will continue to check back!:)