Sky Suite vs. Aqua Class

[Peemagg]

Hi all,

 

We are contemplating taking our first cruise with Celebrity (have sailed with Carnival) and was wondering which room would you choose? Is it worth the extra money for a Sky Suite over an Aqua Class room?

[Robinob]

The sky suite is roomier than AquaC and you get more perks including a butler. As a suite passenger you can eat at Blu, if they have room, for a nominal fee...You do get a few perks in AC but not the same as a suite.

I would go with a suite.

[rolfecms]

The sky suite is roomier than AquaC and you get more perks including a butler. As a suite passenger you can eat at Blu, if they have room, for a nominal fee...You do get a few perks in AC but not the same as a suite.

 

Someone posted that suite pax can now eat in Blu for free when space is available.

[dorisis]

someone posted that suite pax can now eat in blu for free when space is available.

 

not on all the ships. Some don't have blu.

 

~doris~

[fredflint]

look at the cost and where else you could use the money for me a butler is much like valet parking I don't want someone else having my car keys and I can unpack my own underwear

[Bridge Maven]

A sky suite is significantly larger than an aqua class cabin, but it is also a lot more expensive. If money is not a factor for you I would definitely book a sky suite.

[Northern Aurora]

Until last April the hubby and I had cruised Celebrity only in Sky Suites (both S1 and S2), with the exception of one relatively last minute cruise in a Concierge Class cabin (and that particular C1 cabin if I remember correctly had been down-graded from a S2 to a C1). In April we embarked on a pair of B2B cruises in an A1 cabin. We were on the Infinity in one of the new aft A1 deck 11 cabins (1138) which had an oversized balcony.

 

While I found the A1 cabin a little small, particularly for thirty-one nights, it worked well for us. We rarely use a butler while in Sky Suites as we tend to book our own specialty restaurants and are generally low maintenance passengers. That being said, I will state that we have had some wonderful butlers who did wonders for us. We also are elite members of the Captains' Club so also have had Captain's Club hostesses who had provide the same problem solving service. While we frequently are not in the stateroom during the afternoon tea service (and ask the butlers not to leave any "goodies" if we are not there) I did miss the tea service a bit. The Aqua Class cabins are provided with the same tote bags and robes as the suites. And the toiletries in the Aqua Class cabins include the lip balm provided to suites (but not Concierge Class cabins). Aqua Class cabins are also provided with bottles of water. After experiencing Blu we will most likely never return to the MDR, but suites are able to dine in Blu.

 

Hope these observations help you with your decision, and hope you enjoy Celebrity.

[CaptData]

Depending on length of cruise you also get to dine in a specialty restaurant of your choosing either once (for under 12 days) and twice (for 12 days or longer). I think this is a nice perk for a suite if you have the money. The 1 or 2 dining may not be correct for number of days but I do know longer cruises do get 2.

[Peemagg]

Thank you all for your help! It is wonderful to hear what everyone's opinions are.

 

I am thinking of splurging on this cruise as a "Thank You" to my mother for all the help she has given me these past 3-4 years. I became disabled in these past years and she has been my caregiver and my finances for some of this time (It takes a long time for someone to get approved for disability in my state). I am still undecided on which room, but you all have given me some food for thought!

 

Thank you!

[sunshine nana]

We upgraded from AQ on our last cruise when the price for the S1 fell just before the cruise. The main reason was the larger cabin and the aft location under cabins, not the pool and the great huge balcony. The 2 free specialties were great and we enjoyed the goodies brought by the butler. Two things I did not think about were that the cost of our insurance also went up and the tips. It was a great decsion. We still ate most breakfasts and dinners in Blu.

[momofmeg]

I was not impressed with having a butler. After all he is not your personal butler but has several of the sky suites in your area of the ship.

 

My daughter who was in CC would order room service and have it within 15 minutes, delivered by her steward-we ordered and would have to wait on our butler and it took closer to an hour.

 

Of course I noticed both of our neighbors were very demanding of him-they ate all of their meals on their balconies-and I mean ALL. So I guess it depends on ho wmuch your neighbors demand of him as to whether he is useful or not.

 

Outside of the morning cappuccinos he delivered I really saw no advantage. (not into afternoon tea) As far as larger room, well I loved the bathtub which was house sized, not one of those baby tubs-otherwise I am content with the size of a balcony room which is plenty roomy for 2 people.

[momofmeg]

We upgraded from AQ on our last cruise when the price for the S1 fell just before the cruise. The main reason was the larger cabin and the aft location under cabins, not the pool and the great huge balcony. The 2 free specialties were great and we enjoyed the goodies brought by the butler. Two things I did not think about were that the cost of our insurance also went up and the tips. It was a great decsion. We still ate most breakfasts and dinners in Blu.

 

Sky suite passengers have their own pool? We did not know that. I would have liked that perk if I had known.

[dkjretired]

Sky suite passengers have their own pool? We did not know that. I would have liked that perk if I had known.

 

Not on Celebrity, never been the case...

[sunshine nana]

The S1 cabin was NOT under the pool deck as most of the AQ cabins are. One of the suites our friends had did have a very nice large hot tub on their huge balcony! I think it was the Royal Suite on the Equinox.

[momofmeg]

The S1 cabin was NOT under the pool deck as most of the AQ cabins are. One of the suites our friends had did have a very nice large hot tub on their huge balcony! I think it was the Royal Suite on the Equinox.

 

Sky suite was enough-I doubt I will ever have a Royal suite-BTW-it also has a baby grand piano.

 

Oh well, Carnival has Jacuzzi jets in their tubs in their suites-but that would not temp me to book Carnival-LOL! Besides I have that at home and rarely use it. No biggie for me a hot tub.

[excitedofharpenden]

Sky suite was enough-I doubt I will ever have a Royal suite-BTW-it also has a baby grand piano.

The Penthouse does, but not the Royal.

 

Phil

[excitedofharpenden]

Hi all,

 

We are contemplating taking our first cruise with Celebrity (have sailed with Carnival) and was wondering which room would you choose? Is it worth the extra money for a Sky Suite over an Aqua Class room?

Difficult to answer without knowing how much more it is and what you look for in a cabin. The Sky Suites are bigger in floor area and if you don't have one of the accessible cabins you'll have a tub rather than just a shower. The big difference as far as I am concerned is there is a LOT more storage (especially the S2s) and the sofa is much more comfortable. They do charge quite a premium for these suites, but they are very nice.

 

A major thing to consider is location. A lot of the AQ cabins are under noisy areas of the ship. In addition I have stayed in an S2 under the buffet and was plagued with noise there too. Have a look at the cabin sticky at the top of the Celebrity board page and it gives many reports of different cabins.

 

Phil

[dkjretired]

Just to clarify, Celebrity has had hot tubs on their high end suites going back to the Century. I doubt there are many people who would confuse a hot tub with a pool. As stated earlier, there has never been a pool on Celebrity designated for one category of cabin.

[momofmeg]

Just to clarify, Celebrity has had hot tubs on their high end suites going back to the Century. I doubt there are many people who would confuse a hot tub with a pool. As stated earlier, there has never been a pool on Celebrity designated for one category of cabin.

 

I was just asking because that one post said that. I do know NCL for their villa suite guests has a pool for those guests to share-but those villas are pricey and are basally a whole apartment with a living room/dining room area with three bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Six people can stay in them and only the first two pay-but the first two is about $10,000 each for a 7 day.

I am not sure why anyone would want all that-unless they were hosting private parties. Such as if a company had a business cruise-the boss could have that and the other employees in normal staterooms. Then it would make sense. But then again, NCL does not have enough pools-no adult only private pool area (the adult pool on the Pearl was right next to the kid's pool on the lido deck-so no way to really get away from kids)-so maybe some feel they need that to cruise NCL.

 

I think I would rather book Celebrity even if I had that kind of money to spend-which I don't.

[momofmeg]

The Penthouse does, but not the Royal.

 

Phil

 

Okay, sorry, I guess that is where Claudia on my Solstice roll call stayed. I had the name confused.

 

BTW-have you been on any more TAs? We had one booked this year but cancelled it and did the Solstice Med instead as it would take too much vacation time for hubby. Hubby and I are going back on the Connie in Jan. for a little 4 day. If she is still as good as we remembered, maybe we can do a Baltic on her in a few years.

[excitedofharpenden]

 

BTW-have you been on any more TAs? We had one booked this year but cancelled it and did the Solstice Med instead as it would take too much vacation time for hubby. Hubby and I are going back on the Connie in Jan. for a little 4 day. If she is still as good as we remembered, maybe we can do a Baltic on her in a few years.

I can't remember when we last cruise together, but yes I have done a couple of TAs since, most recently on Eclipse in April. It wasn't the best cruise I have ever done and I think that was in part due to going east with those shorter days rather than west. The food wasn't great and apart from a couple of bright stars the service wasn't up to snuff. I'm on Connie for a short cruise in September before being back on Silhouette for a TA in December. I've got an S1 for that. I couldn't take the risk with the noise in an S2 again. Not sure if that was the one we were on.

 

Hope all is well with you.

 

Phil

[momofmeg]

I can't remember when we last cruise together, but yes I have done a couple of TAs since, most recently on Eclipse in April. It wasn't the best cruise I have ever done and I think that was in part due to going east with those shorter days rather than west. The food wasn't great and apart from a couple of bright stars the service wasn't up to snuff. I'm on Connie for a short cruise in September before being back on Silhouette for a TA in December. I've got an S1 for that. I couldn't take the risk with the noise in an S2 again. Not sure if that was the one we were on.

 

Hope all is well with you.

 

Phil

 

Further back than that- September 2007 on the Connie. Your name is unique-so I remembered it. We were supposed to go on the Equniox TA in November-but switched to a Med cruise from Barcelona which hit all the ports in Italy we wanted. Originally we planned to spend a week in Italy before the cruise in order to see Venice, Pisa, and Pompeii. It took 2 weeks of hubby's vacation time instead of 3 and I did better on the long flights than I feared. I have bad circulation from my diabetes and long flights can be rough on me.

[dkjretired]

I was just asking because that one post said that. I do know NCL for their villa suite guests has a pool for those guests to share-but those villas are pricey and are basally a whole apartment with a living room/dining room area with three bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Six people can stay in them and only the first two pay-but the first two is about $10,000 each for a 7 day.

I am not sure why anyone would want all that-unless they were hosting private parties. Such as if a company had a business cruise-the boss could have that and the other employees in normal staterooms. Then it would make sense. But then again, NCL does not have enough pools-no adult only private pool area (the adult pool on the Pearl was right next to the kid's pool on the lido deck-so no way to really get away from kids)-so maybe some feel they need that to cruise NCL.

 

I think I would rather book Celebrity even if I had that kind of money to spend-which I don't.

 

I understand on the newer ships those NCL suites are quite nice with the seperate pool area. I have been on NCL a couple of times but not in a suite. I am not a suite person, wife and I generally are only in our room to dress and sleep. Butler is wasted on us also and we have had butlers on Celebrity and in land hotels.

[excitedofharpenden]

Further back than that- September 2007 on the Connie. Your name is unique-so I remembered it. We were supposed to go on the Equniox TA in November-but switched to a Med cruise from Barcelona which hit all the ports in Italy we wanted. Originally we planned to spend a week in Italy before the cruise in order to see Venice, Pisa, and Pompeii. It took 2 weeks of hubby's vacation time instead of 3 and I did better on the long flights than I feared. I have bad circulation from my diabetes and long flights can be rough on me.

Can't believe it was back in 2007! Long-haul is a necessary evil for me too, but worth it.

 

All the best.

 

Phil

[momofmeg]

I understand on the newer ships those NCL suites are quite nice with the seperate pool area. I have been on NCL a couple of times but not in a suite. I am not a suite person, wife and I generally are only in our room to dress and sleep. Butler is wasted on us also and we have had butlers on Celebrity and in land hotels.

 

We cruise NCL with our daughter who teaches, as they are usually lessr since we cruise peak times of the year when kids are out of school. she did cruise with us this summer for the Med, but we picked the Solstice because of the ports not price. The Epic may have been less, but it did not go to Venice.

 

Besides I am really happy we did Celebrity, a much better line than NCL and at least our daughter got to try Celebrity once. When hubby and I are on our own we never cruise NCL.

 

As far as the sky suite-our cruise fare went way down-we started out in an ocean view stateroom which we picked to save a little money as the Med airfare was a lot of money. We normally book balcony rooms and was happy we were able to upgrade.

 

Of course I wonder if that is why the poor butler was worked to death on our Solstice cruise-perhaps our sky suite neighbors had upgraded like us and normally were in rooms that cost less. It make sense that people would decide they want to "live it up" while they had the chance. I just hope they tipped that poor guy extra and well as they worked him hard. We tipped him extra, just because we felt sorry for him.