Dolebludger

Fine, never, this part of the thread was an answer to my question about those who booked the SS.

I agree that people comparing cruise options need to consider what is now offered on each cruise option — not what was offered. But when a cruise line engages in an apparent program of a series of cuts — without recognizing what was offered to those already booked and paid — the question arises of whether that cruise line can be trusted in the future. What certainty is there that what is now offered will be offered when the cruise sails?As has been pointed out, all lines have language in their T&Cs allowing them to make changes without liability. That language is there to allow the Captain to use judgement as to routes, ports, and the like to avoid bad weather, political unrest, and such. The language was never intended to allow a cruise line to advertise on board inclusions, take my money, and then reduce the inclusions. Thus, I’m afraid that in comparing cruise offerings, we all have to consider the cruise line’s past track record of providing what was advertised and known at time of booking on the actual cruise.

Do Sky suites not have access to the Retreat Lounge?

I scanned this thread, and didn’t see our favorite line, Regent. (Celebrity suites has been #2). And we have been on a bunch of lines! Regent’s largest ships carry about 750 guests max. Guest to staff ratio is about 1 to 1. Dress code — casual is always accepted. All inclusive drinks, suite mini fridge, gratuities, WiFi, LAUNDRY, and shore excursions. Air is also included in the advertised fare from and back to “gateway cities” (basically large airline hubs). Unfortunately, it is economy for flights within North America and the Caribbean, but it is business class for intercontinental flights. So we always take a fare credit and book our own all legs business class. All rooms are suites. Only one of the older ships has a few suites without balconies. And there are no inside suites. We took a Regent cruise in Alaska this summer, and we’re eager to see if the service, food, or anything else had suffered post-pandemic deterioration. There was none. In fact, these things were even better than remembered from pre-pandemic days! Silverseas has been mentioned above. It is a similar and equal product to Regent. Silverseas still has formal nights where dark suit and tie or tux are needed. For those who like to dress like that, Silverseas should get serious consideration. Its ships are also small with all the inclusions onboard. It offers a door to door option where the guests are picked up at their house, taken to the airport, and flown to the cruise. Same on return. We’ve never used that,— don’t have details. Fir those X regulars who have never cruised on smaller ships, try it,— you’ll like it!

Please note that Celebrity web sites concerning the suites state that not all perks in each suite class may be available to move-ups. This is a vague statement via the use of the word “may” and failure to state what perks might not be available. As AQ on the Edge is all IV, there would really be little to gain by bidding up to AQ, other than AQ benefits. And as the move-up doesn’t seem to guarantee those, I wouldn’t bid on AQ without knowing what AQ perks (if any) would follow.

Joker, what is a signature suite? Is it a new name for Celebrity suite, or what? The reason I ask is that I get twice daily email ads from Celebrity, and I read them and search some that are of interest. In the Retreat category, I have never seen a signature suite. So I resorted to google and confirmed your info about beer and spirit inclusion, and found the square footage seemed to match Celebrity suites. That is why I ask.

PatandStu, considering the lines you have cruised, I think you will find Celebrity to be a step up, even though the product has been diminished from past levels. Georgia-Peaches, I agree with your “no big deal”rebuttal. Some may not care about cookies. But they may care big time about charging for beer from the mini fridge. And all should care that these things are part of a trend that, if continued, will reduce the status of Celebrity.

And, oh yes, another question for the OP and all. Do higher level suites include use of the mini fridge at no cost? I’m doing a comparison of Celebrity Retreat with a couple of lux lines, and the info will help.

Here is a question for the OP and anybody else who knows. What level of suite passengers (if any) gets priority embarkation/debarkation?

And the idea of a 20% tip for somebody who merely hands me a cookie? I get asked for it on land on the payment screen and I refuse. But I guess onboard, you can’t refuse.

Well, if the in suite fridge is at (high) charge, and if I can’t get cokes and BEER to my suite any way, (sadly) count me out. It is a no go, for the cost of the Retreat. And, I agree, the free cookies may have been that important to some.

Celebrity is certainly the best of the mainstream lines. Indeed, it is the only mainstream line that I would consider booking again. I only hope it stays that way. At least we got the cookies back (according to another thread here) even though I don’t care about this. And thanks for telling us that we can get cokes and beer in cans for the suite in the lounge. Nobody else has mentioned that.

I know I said I wouldn’t post on this thread again, but here I go. But it is only a clarification. My only problem with “changes” is when I book many months (or years) ahead, and the accommodations booked had certain inclusions at time of booking. Then, before the cruise, some of these inclusions are removed without notification and without ability to cancel with no penalty. Now things like cookies and pillow chocolates don’t matter to me. Not deal breakers. But things like included mini fridge, priority embarkation and debarkation, included beverages, separate dining room and lounge, and environment free of crowds and lines are some of my “must haves”. I won’t book a cruise that doesn’t include them. And if any of my must have features are removed between booking and sailing, I just might want out of the deal without penalty! But that’s not how it works with cruise lines. And that’s just wrong. When I order a new car with delivery months in the future with specified features, if there must be any change, I am notified and given a chance to cancel free of penalty. If the changes don’t matter, I can go ahead with the deal. If they do, I can get out of it. It’s up to me. Can’t do that with a cruise. That’s a shame.

I promise, I intend this to be my last post on this thread — but don’t guarantee it! Here’s the history of the Retreat. Back before 2001, many of us in our younger days used to just cruise in an outside room on Royal. Drinks and things were extra and outrageously priced. But then, we could carry on our own soda and beer, and we could buy spirits onboard and take it to our room. Then, some fool at Royal decided to prohibit all that and X-ray our bags (in the name of 9/11) and remove anything like that till cruise end. Other mass lines soon followed. Also sale for consumption of spirits was stopped. So many went with all inclusive cruises among the lux lines, which then had close to mass market prices. Radisson, (now Regent), Silverseas, and Seaborne come to mind. Then, some non-lux lines saw a market for an all-inclusive ship within a ship late in the first decade of the 2000’s. I think the MSC Yacht Club was about the first. A separate area within a mass market ship accessible only with a card. Celebrity wasn’t able to duplicate the walled off concept for its existing ships, but did a great job with its suite class product be carving out separate dining and lounge rooms, with priority access and inclusions. NCL established “The Haven” as a separate area on newer ships to copy MSC’s Yacht Club, but as late as 2015, many of its ships lacked separate dining, lounge, and included drinks in other areas. These concepts were generally at less cost than the true lux lines mentioned above, and still offered some “large ship” entertainment and activities. Celebrity, in our opinion, did the best with this concept, despite not having a totally separate area on older ships for suite class. Of course now, the new Edge class ships have separate Retreat areas. But, now, Celebrity and the other lines with this separate type of cruising have all diminished the product and have raised prices to almost that of true lux lines, which haven’t diminished their product. Those of us who do not care about large ship entertainment and activities again prefer lux lines. “Ship within a ship” is sinking.

Well, all we know is that in 2018 and 2019, on the Eclipse and Equinox , in CS and RS suites (all respectively) we had unlimited mini fridge use at no additional charge. Now it seems that wouldn’t be the case. And also, we had priority embarkation and disembarkation, and now I can’t determine the status of this. We don’t want to haul beer and cokes from the Retreat lounge. We don’t want to “sneak it” onboard. Not for the Retreat prices. We want it provided in the mini fridge for that price, and we want priority boarding and debarking (on Celebrity’s large ships) or we will look elsewhere. Otherwise, we will book elsewhere. And we have.

While this thread began on the subject of diminishing inclusions, perks, and service in the Retreat suites, it is impossible to isolate this subject from similar things going on in other accommodations on the ships. There seems to be a “cheap out” trend at Celebrity that affects all levels of cruising on this line.

Only thing that is clear is that Celebrity is removing perks, inclusions, and services, and not only in the Retreat. Read the other threads here. No included cookies at the gelato stand, no nightly chocolates on the pillows, no snacks in AQ, etc. All in addition to the “butler” and mini fridge confusion in the Retreat. All small things, some might say, but a good cruise is the combined product of small things. The real disturbing thing is that Celebrity is making some negative changes for guests who booked BEFORE the change. All cruise lines rely on a “contract” that is very self-serving and allows them to make almost any change they want to — at any time. So we all have to depend on the reputation of the cruise line, from experience and that of others. Given the increased prices for the Retreat, which gives little room for such “changes”, Celebrity is loosing its credibility with us.

We use them for Diet Coke, beer, and plain bottled water, but never if these items are not included. There is another thread here that shows the confusion as to whether mini fridge items are included in the Retreat — or not.

FWIW, I just responded to an email ad from Celebrity, and looked at the inclusions for all the Retreat accommodations from SS up to Edge Villa. All list the mini fridge contents as “May be subject to additional charge”. So clearly no longer included in the Retreat package, if it ever was officially. But the use of the word “may” raises more questions than it answers. Does it mean that some of the fridge items are included and some at extra charge? If so, which items are which? Or does the word “may” mean something else? The only thing that’s clear is Retreat guests get one included bottle of water on embarkation day. WOW! We buy bottled water in packs at the grocery for 12 cents per bottle. A less than substantial perk for people who have paid $thousands for the trip. All I really know is on our past cruises in CS and RS, all beer, Diet Coke, and water in the mini fridge was included. I give up. One important thing I didn’t see on the inclusion list was priority embarkation and disembarkation for Retreat guests. Maybe I missed it. I hope so, as that is a very important perk on large ships.

Well now we know that presently, the mini friges are not open bar now, at least, though the past is murky, But do the CS and RS have open bar on the mini friges now— or not? And do even higher suites get open bar mini fridges? And what suites (if any0 get priority embarkation and debarkation now. We rate that highly on ships as large as Celebrity’s.. all confusing.

While we have never cruised in a SS, we did cruise in a CS on the Eclipse in 2018, and mini-bar was included. And it was included in our RS on the Equinox in 2019. And it was included for those we met both times in SS accommodations. I think the answer is that “no mini-bar included” may have previously been an unenforced rule. But to our observation it was included in all suite classes as a matter of practice. Maybe back then, the butlers were “managing” it for us. And maybe that is why the elimination of butlers and included mini bars happened at the same time?

I’m glad that others feel the way I do about elimination of the mini-bar in Sky Suites. If this were four years ago, I’d consider solving the problem by booking a CS or RS. Today that would be more expensive than some of the all-lux lines where all guests have included mini-bar. It is sad to me what X is doing. And we don’t need the space of the higher X suites. For some it is the butler thing, and for some of us it is mini-bar elimination. Just time to shop around.

Thanks for the heads-up on the problems of embarking in Venice. It sounds like the terminal is failing to accommodate persons with disabilities. There is probably no law in Italy that requires this. We have one in the USA, but it seems widely ignored — even here. I’m pretty sure that Regent has no control over this port terminal. If this is the case, all Regent can do is to eliminate it for embarkation. Until then, it’s up to us to avoid cruises that embark there.

We have cruised in suite class on main-stream lines, and on lux lines only, for the last 30 years. Not because we are “entitled”, as we pay for this. The reason is that rather than being subject to lines, crowds, and nickel and dimming we see in non-suite accommodations on main-stream lines, we’d rather stay home. Because the price of cruise accommodations like this has gone through the roof in very recent years, we have been staying home a lot. We really aren’t concerned much about the butler situation. We ARE concerned about reports of Celebrity eliminating or diminishing inclusions for those who have previously paid in full when those inclusions were in place. The particular inclusion I’m talking about that has recently been eliminated is the included mini-bar use in Sky Suites. They seem to be pay-as-you-use mini-bars now, probably at prices 500% or more of ordinary retail. When we are paying several $thousand pp for a week’s cruise, the line will not go broke if they include a few $1,50 cans of beer and $.50 cans of soda. If not, we will book elsewhere, or stay home

The Luminae is the major reason for us to book in the Retreat also. We understand included suite mini-bar has been eliminated from the SS list of perks. The in-suite mini-bar is another major reason. We used to book in CS and RS, but I can’t see paying the price for these now. We can book a 100% lux line for less. So I guess Celebrity is off our list — at least for now.