Dolebludger

Yeah, that is a negative to me. Sounds like nickel and dimming.

S to S, please explain the “wine up charge”. All of our cruising has been on lux lines and in YC/Retreat type settings. Ordinary wine has always been included, with up charge only for super premium wines, so I’m confused.

All I can say is that we have cruised Regent a lot prior to the pandemic. We didn’t cruise again until last June. We actually found the onboard experience IMPROVED From the past. Now the cost may be too high for Celebrity cruisers who didn’t cruise in the Retreat. But those who did may well find a better experience on Regent, for less cost. We did.

And unless the problem with vibration near the stern on the Voyager has been fixed wouldn’t book a guarantee on that ship either.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, that is true. When we first started cruising over 30 years ago, we booked inside rooms a couple of times. Had a good time, but didn’t like the small lightness rooms. Then we started moving up to a window outside cabin. As we got older, we thought it was time to move up to a balcony — on an AI cruise. Now we are wanting suites. If we can’t afford that, we stay home (we do that a lot). But S to S point out that in the YC, there are uncrowded areas to hang out, and that is fine with them. Especially in light of the quality food and service they report.

Probably so, but S to S is doing a great job of educating us all about the two cruises involved. And I’ll provide an answer to a question not asked. For all in the YC, the contents of the mini fridge are included, and refreshed regularly by the butler. Even for those in inside rooms.

I’ll answer that, even though I am not S to S. Yes, they do. When MSC first established the YC on some of its ships, all rooms were balcony with a few suites. On the new ships, they have added interior and window suites to appeal to customers who like the service but don’t need the space, and of course they get a lower fare. But yes, all in the Yacht Club get a butler.

Here’s some questions question for S to S. First off, we don’t like the lines and crowds that seem to be involved when cruising on some cruise lines. Are these pretty much absent in the YC? They were ten years ago when we were last in the YC, and it was good. And what was this situation in other parts of the ship outside the YC?

Yes, that would be very bad for us too. S to S, do you know what is directly above your room? We always want to check that, pre-booking, to ensure that the space above is another cabin, and not a pool, kitchen, restaurant, lounge, deck, or service area of some sort. As I’m not familiar with the deck plans on your ship, I don’t know if all cabins and suites in its YC have this problem or not. I hope not, because your report on YC food, service, and facilities make it sound very attractive otherwise.

Just keep on calling it as you experience it, please!

Very sorry. Good thoughts and wishes coming your way.

George C. We were introduced to Celebrity Suites back in 2018 or so when the last Moody Blues cruise was on the X Eclipse. We were VIP so we were able to book a CS. Back then we really liked the X suite experience. All the subsequent “on the blue” cruises have been on the NCL Pearl. Been there, done that, never again. But we liked that short cruise on the Eclipse. We booked another X cruise on the Equinox for 2019 in a RS. It was a great cruise, although the ship then needed a little love. Then the pandemic hit, and it wasn’t until the summer of 2023 that we were comfortable to cruise again. Checked out Retreat prices and said “OMG”! At those prices, might as well go back to Regent — our most cruised lux line. Guess what, it was cheaper! Of course we booked and took it. Great! The reason we liked the Retreat and YC in the past is that these options offered us close to the small ship lux line experience at a lower price. Now, I just don’t know. I hope the OPs will post that clear it up.

Yes, I think the demise of butler service is a big problem in the Retreat. Now, from this forum, I know that in a SS, one does not really get a butler, and the room attendants don’t really fill the gap. I mean, the mini fridge contents are not included, and you have to empty it yourself and grab beverages yourself to get in suite drinks included? That is far from lux service! And the problem, from the X web site, this may be true in CS and above. This matter is not made clear. So I am eager to read what the OPs have to say about service in a SS. From what I have read here, it may not be great — considering the price. I hope it is, but I hope we will see.

Yes, you bring up one of the things where the YC beats the X Retreat. All rooms in the YC have a real butler for the purposes you describe — and more. And this is good! Let’s see from the OP’s future posts if the X Retreat in a SS has the same escorting service. When we were on the Divinia YC in 2014, it was for a music cruise. I was having a beer in the YC lounge and a man came up and asked me to have beer with him. He asked me what I did and told him retired attorney. I asked him what he did, and he said “bass player and original member of the band “Yes”. I said OMG! His name was Chris Squire. We had one “Yes” concert in the theater VIP and Chris invited us to another. We waited in our room, and a butler knocked and asked us to follow him. We went into pathways in the ship I didn't know existed to the theater where we were seated with the wives and sound staff of the band. From there, we had our second “Yes” concert. When it was over, Chris asked the bunch there how was the sound? Stupid me (as an amateur guitarist) said the sound was great, as I could hear every instrument and vocal. Then I said “but who am I, so ignore me”. Chris responded “no no, let’s see what the group says”. Well the group agreed with me, so Yes got a new sound man. Sadly, Chris died two years later. And I don’t expect all future cruises to provide me with a rock star experience. But if I am in a suite or lux part of a large ship (and paying for it) I would like butler escort service into and from the main ship. Same for disembarking and re entry at ports. If this isn’t provided, I’ll just book cruises on small ship lux lines where having crowds in the main ship isn’t an issue — because there all of 700 of us are fine in the main ship — with no lines or crowds.

Well, I don’t think I’m going to consider a YC cruise on the Seaside. It is too big, and I would never want to get out of the YC on that. I dislike crowds anywhere. But we were in YC on the MSC. Divinia which is about 2/3 the size of the Seaside, and it was really a good cruise for the price. But for us “suite cruisers” some of the smaller X ships seem to offer more in the way of “out of suite area” attractions. Let’s wait for the rest of the OP’s comparisons and see what they think. I know we would never book a YC inside room, or an inside room in any cruise. It is just not what suite cruisers or private area cruisers want. But one of the OPs wanted to test the other OP’s claustrophobia. Mine has been tested. No cruise ship accommodations under 400 sq ft. If I can’t afford that, I stay home.

I’d like to see that too. Back when we cruised the YC in the Divinia nine years ago, there were only balcony rooms in the YC, and that is what we had. As I recall, our room wasn’t as big as a SS, but much larger than the inside room shown here.

Stem to Stern, keep up the reviews. Am looking forward to the comparison with the Retreat. I read this whole thread and have one question. In the YC, were mini fridge beverages included in the fare, or were they at extra charge? And, oh yes, another one. Did the butler take care of stocking and restocking it?

The two times we have cruised the Mariner were in 2003 and 2014, there were no toilet problems then. It seems there are now, and this is unthinkable on a luxury cruise. So in answer to the OP’s question, my answer would be “or not” until this problem is fixed. There should not have to be a scheduled dry dock for Regent to fix a problem like this. It is not a “design problem” or else it would have been present in 2003 — close to the time of the maiden voyage. And also in 2014. It is clearly a maintenance problem that should be fixed before anybody puts down “big bucks” for a cruise on it.

Yes, the shower/tub combo remaining in some Mariner suites has been a problem for two decades. In one dry dock early on, some suites were converted to shower only, with a fairly nice shower stall. We cruised the Mariner before the conversion, and knew about the problem from posts here on CC before the partial conversion. I took along a small measuring tape. The problem is that there is only 6’ 2” headroom above the shower floor. Even though I’m short, I continually banged my hand on the ceiling while washing my hair. Also, the tub is narrower than a traditional residential tub, adding to the problems. Further, the tub bottom is 8” higher than the bathroom floor. This makes entry and exit difficult — even for those of us whose only disability is being old. So unless you are a fan of soaking in a tub, suites with the shower/tub combo are to be avoided.

Just a thought. Celebrity has so many packages and extra cost items that accounting must be a nightmare. Fertile ground for mistakes.

What I mean is that we found all of the steaks offered by Prime 7 on the Compass Rose menu on our cruise. That being the case, it was more convenient for us to go to the CR due to flexible timing.

We cruised the Explorer in Alaska last June. The worst problem we experienced was on the pool deck, where it took all of five minutes for a waiter to show up. Now, this is not a real problem! Everything else was outstanding. However, we were told that Regent’s land hotel accommodations in Anchorage, and transfers were lacking. But we booked our own hotel and land transfers so we had zero problems. The onboard experience was better than the many Regent cruise experiences we have had before (too many to count). I have not read any posts here that report a bad onboard experience on the Explorer.

As we understand it, we can make those reservations on Dec. 24 for a cruise embarking on March 24. We are booked in a concierge suite and are SSS level gold. I will tell all what we ended up with. But this matter is not a deal breaker or deal maker for us. Because actually, we have been advised that we can only sign up for each one for one night — meaning three nights of specialty dining on a seven night cruise. But the thing is, the only specialty menu that appeals to me is that of Prime 7 and from our Explorer cruise last June, it seems that one can order from the Prime 7 menu in the Compass Rose. I don’t know about ordering from the other specialty restaurants in the CR. But the CR on Explorer class ships is certainly good enough for us. It may actually be preferable, because it is not dining at a set time. Within set hours, one just walks in and is seated and served. We like that. ,

Yes, I don’t fully understand the method Regent uses to accept (or not) requests for reservations at speciality restaurants. It needs to be more transparent IMHO. On our last Regent cruise, however, we found it fairly easy to get in to them without reservations on the first few days of the cruise. I normally really dislike MDRs on larger ships, but have really liked the Compass Rose on all of our past Regent cruises (too many to count, but we are Gold SSS members). So if we end up eating in the CR, I won’t be too upset. But if anybody has info on Regent’s selection system for taking reservations for specialty restaurants, I’d like to know about it.