Suite benefit for embarkation after a tour

Do suite guests still have the opportunity to walk past the often long queue of passengers waiting to embark after a day in a port?

I seem to recall a 'suite only' gate/red carpet area at the head of the line... so suite guests could have priority embarkation after a tour etc.

Do suite guests still have the opportunity to walk past the often long queue of passengers waiting to embark after a day in a port?

I seem to recall a 'suite only' gate/red carpet area at the head of the line... so suite guests could have priority embarkation after a tour etc.

I’ve never heard of it, nor noticed it, after a day in port only on embarkation.

We have found that when lines start to form the Michael's Club concierge walks down that line and then escorts both the suite and zenith passengers to the front. And now with the creation of the Suite Manager position that person also is often on the pier.

I am posting from the Millennium, and in Kochi, Japan several days ago there was an incredible line to reboard. So the Suite Manager was positioned at the entrance of a line of souvenir stalls, and on his phone to the MC concierge telling the concierge who was wandering through souvenir stalls toward the entrance line.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I have seen the suite manager walk the line in Alaska. There was no such service anywhere on the British Isles cruise. I have seen where there were two gangways, with one of the security guards who checks your SeaPass card pointing suite guests to one entrance, other guests to the other. And there have been many, many ports where there was no suite amenity at all.

But here’s my favorite sight along those lines -- red carpet to nowhere

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We've experienced it before when there were long lines. However, it just felt wrong to just go to the head of the line or that silly red carpet like we were some celebrity (no pun intended). So we waited in line with the rest of the people. We also never let the butler walk us to the theatre on chic nights. We will sit in those reserved seats but they're the ones we like anyway. Some of those perks seem kind of pretentious, but that's just me. We don't like to call attention to ourselves.

we have seen the red carpet in the past, but never used it, nor have we seen anyone use it. Has not been present on our last few cruises....

Do suite guests still have the opportunity to walk past the often long queue of passengers waiting to embark after a day in a port?

I seem to recall a 'suite only' gate/red carpet area at the head of the line... so suite guests could have priority embarkation after a tour etc.

Yes...sometimes. I've been on Summit, Reflection and Equinox this year and haven't been able to figure out a rhyme or reason for when it's made available. An MC concierge suggested that we were always welcome to walk up to the front even when the marked separate line isn't there, but I've not yet had the guts to try it.

I'm hoping that with the new "Retreat" focus they get more consistent about offering it.

We were on the Eclipse in September. They had the red carpet out every port, even though there wasn’t a line to enter through the regular line.

We have used the red carpet a few times. Celebrity is consistent with being inconsistent.

This is cool! I'll have to tell my DW about this "unadvertised" suite perk as we have decided from now on if we are going on a Celebrity cruise, we're booking a SS so we can enjoy all of the "suite" perks that come with it. However, as others have mentioned, we would never take that bump in line if there was only one entrance. That just seems wrong.

Sometimes we have been sent a different way on entering at pier but if you have your seapass in your hand when in line, you generally get escorted to red carpet area.

This is cool! I'll have to tell my DW about this "unadvertised" suite perk as we have decided from now on if we are going on a Celebrity cruise, we're booking a SS so we can enjoy all of the "suite" perks that come with it. However, as others have mentioned, we would never take that bump in line if there was only one entrance. That just seems wrong.

I don't think it's wrong. You paid more to have them want to do these things for you. I don't feel bad when I go up to the frequent stayer status line at a hotel, I don't feel bad for going to the frequent flyer elite line when I check in at the airport. Many places try to give you a little sumpin sumpin for spending your money and being loyal, why not?

My experience in Grand Cayman last year as a suite passenger. When I went to get the tender back to the ship, and after I had cleared port security, my Sea Pass was checked by ship personnel before I could board the tender. When they saw my gold sea pass card, I was escorted to the tender that was loading and almost full. I would not have been on that tender if I had waited in line as there were several passengers ahead of me. I think it ticked off some of them, but I didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late to say no thanks.

I have also seen the red carpet put down late in the afternoon when the line of passengers gets long. I also rarely saw folks taking advantage of it.

I don't think it's wrong. You paid more to have them want to do these things for you. I don't feel bad when I go up to the frequent stayer status line at a hotel, I don't feel bad for going to the frequent flyer elite line when I check in at the airport. Many places try to give you a little sumpin sumpin for spending your money and being loyal, why not?

As you mentioned those special hotel and airline elite-type services usually have a separate line to queue up in.

I was referring to "it being wrong" when there is only one queue for everyone. I was picturing a long line going up the gangway and the MC rep saying "excuse me, please step to the side as we have elite passengers coming through". That extreme example just seems wrong. But hopefully that is one that would never happen.

Absolutely... Normally the concierge will walk you out first in the morning and when you return they normally have an expedited line. Make sure you check out our new travel VLOG on youtube...tons of info like this!

Just off the Equinox and there was only one line, no matter how long it was.

We saw the red carpet out at a few ports on our recent Med cruise. Most of the time it was not necessary as there were few queues, however, in Athens where tour buses were returning thick and fast we saw a few guests enjoying the perk.

I do find the red carpet, gold stands and ropes a bit pretentious but I would welcome them in a busy port as I can’t stand for long. It was nice to see disabled guests ushered through the suite line too....Whilst I assume this isn’t standard it does make good sense...

As you mentioned those special hotel and airline elite-type services usually have a separate line to queue up in.

 

I was referring to "it being wrong" when there is only one queue for everyone. I was picturing a long line going up the gangway and the MC rep saying "excuse me, please step to the side as we have elite passengers coming through". That extreme example just seems wrong. But hopefully that is one that would never happen.

But isn’t that what happens on disembarkation day. Suite passengers meet in Michael’s Club. The concierge escorts the group out. The non-suite passengers are stopped and the suite group goes thru. Look out “big spenders” coming thru.

I can give you two examples from my recent Constellation Mediterranean cruise:

In Kotor, which was a tender port, we were stopped by the staff member controlling the queue for getting on the tender to go back to the ship, to allow priority passengers through first. We still got on the same tender though so they didn’t really gain anything except standing in a queue for less time than they sat on the tender waiting for it to fill.

In another port (can’t remember which - may have been Valletta), there was more of a queue than usual to reboard (maybe 20 people in front of us). A man asked the queue controller if there was a separate queue for suite passengers. The queue controller said no because there was only one gangway. The passenger looked a bit put out but only had to wait another few minutes before he was on the ship.

But isn’t that what happens on disembarkation day. Suite passengers meet in Michael’s Club. The concierge escorts the group out. The non-suite passengers are stopped and the suite group goes thru. Look out “big spenders” coming thru.

No, not quite IMHO, but that does sound like another pretty good "hidden" perk!

As you mentioned those special hotel and airline elite-type services usually have a separate line to queue up in.

 

 

 

I was referring to "it being wrong" when there is only one queue for everyone. I was picturing a long line going up the gangway and the MC rep saying "excuse me, please step to the side as we have elite passengers coming through". That extreme example just seems wrong. But hopefully that is one that would never happen.

Ken, your description wasn’t off base from what we experienced in Iceland in August. Numerous excursions returned at once, and we were in a very long line waiting to get to the gangway. It was windy and cold. The Celebrity staff was handing out the tiny cups of coco and soup to warm people up, and making the best of the moment. All of the sudden someone walked the line asking if anyone was Suite Class, and pulled them Out of line to the front. It suddenly felt colder than before. [emoji846]

We paid closer attention, and there was almost always a Zenith/Suite boarding line at each port. It was a separate gangway most of the time, and they were herded off to the left or right, so it was much more subtle than this particular day in Akureyri.

It didn’t surprise us either that Celebrity offers that perk to frequent customers and those in suites.

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Most of us are never going to be rock stars, actors or elite athletes, so if they want to toss us the crumbs of such services, fine by me. You want to be treated as if you were in a suite? Book a suite. It will be our FIRST one next year, and I have NEVER begrudged those that have done it to me in the past their perks. Even if the perks are illusory, I'll still be happy to partake.

I'm surprised to hear / see people complaining that guests who pay twice as much for their floating hotel room get some additional services. It's not like anyone is ever treated poorly on Celebrity, we are all on Celebrity because we want luxury and are paying a premium for that. Some can simply afford to buy more luxury but no one is suffering or should be jealous of those who can upgrade their experience.

Now...if you want to see some killer service, we flew Suite Class on Singapore Airlines to Shanghai for a Celebrity Cruise a year ago. We DO NOT HAVE $48,000 to spend on flights, we used a lifetime of frequent flier points but the air tickets would have been $48,000 if you paid cash! Check out the video:

I'm surprised to hear / see people complaining that guests who pay twice as much for their floating hotel room get some additional services. It's not like anyone is ever treated poorly on Celebrity, we are all on Celebrity because we want luxury and are paying a premium for that. Some can simply afford to buy more luxury but no one is suffering or should be jealous of those who can upgrade their experience.

 

Now...if you want to see some killer service, we flew Suite Class on Singapore Airlines to Shanghai for a Celebrity Cruise a year ago. We DO NOT HAVE $48,000 to spend on flights, we used a lifetime of frequent flier points but the air tickets would have been $48,000 if you paid cash! Check out the video:

That was interesting. I wonder how it compares to their "regular" first class?

If you don't mind me asking, how many miles did it take? (round trip), and what airline's miles were they?