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Elite Perk Eliminated- Port Day Persian Garden


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47 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

People should be prepared for more changes to come in the wake of Edge. At the Edge spa they have no in-port reduced pricing, it is one price for port or sea days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that change roll out to the rest of the fleet.

This change, ie no in-port reduced price, was already in effect on our Solstice cruise in November.  I was told it was just cancelled a couple weeks before.  Not everyone got the message yet apparently because the staff all said something else and discount was still mentioned on pricelist.  But end effect, I did not get the discount.  Also the smug, snobby way I was told left me with a bad taste, but felt it was not worth my time and mood to take it further.

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1 hour ago, Michidoeme said:

This change, ie no in-port reduced price, was already in effect on our Solstice cruise in November.  I was told it was just cancelled a couple weeks before.  Not everyone got the message yet apparently because the staff all said something else and discount was still mentioned on pricelist.  But end effect, I did not get the discount.  Also the smug, snobby way I was told left me with a bad taste, but felt it was not worth my time and mood to take it further.

 

Thanks for the update. I am cruising on Summit in a few weeks so I won’t worry about trying to set up times on port days since it doesn’t matter now.

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4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

People should be prepared for more changes to come in the wake of Edge. At the Edge spa they have no in-port reduced pricing, it is one price for port or sea days. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that change roll out to the rest of the fleet.

 

 

Weren't these reduced prices set up to induce people to use the spa when they are usually off the ship?

If all days are the same price it makes more sense to book a treatment for a sea day.

This decision may come back to bite them in the pocketbook.

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12 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

Weren't these reduced prices set up to induce people to use the spa when they are usually off the ship?

If all days are the same price it makes more sense to book a treatment for a sea day.

This decision may come back to bite them in the pocketbook.

 

Agree...spa staff with no customers = no revenue....Once the novelty wears off I can see discounts returning once they have established their ‘quiet times’.

 

Like many regular Celebrity cruisers (E+) we are not over interested in Persian Gardens and when we have visited our stays have probably been less than one hour...We would not be interested in buying a day pass but have occasionally enjoyed a short visit.

 

I do dislike it when ‘perks’ are reduced or disappear without any comments or clarification. I do understand that circumstances can change....if there are too many Elite guests trying to use Persian Gardens on port days then just explain it! No reason why this perk could not continue for Zenith at least....

 

Personally I would be very embarrassed if I went to Persian Gardens expecting free entry and was refused. If they have the right to withdraw perks then they need to communicate it to all Elite and above guests before boarding.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Personally I would be very embarrassed if I went to Persian Gardens expecting free entry and was refused. If they have the right to withdraw perks then they need to communicate it to all Elite and above guests before boarding.

 

 

It always amazes me how so many businesses fail to understand the importance of good communications with their customers. It really isn’t rocket science. 

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15 hours ago, CoconutOne said:

 

I was just on Summit and CC had footstools.

I have sailed Summit 5 times, and most recently in a sky suite in October... every other time was in aqua and we have never had the footstools in aqua on the M class. The balconies are not deep enough.

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4 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

Agree...spa staff with no customers = no revenue....Once the novelty wears off I can see discounts returning once they have established their ‘quiet times’.

 

Like many regular Celebrity cruisers (E+) we are not over interested in Persian Gardens and when we have visited our stays have probably been less than one hour...We would not be interested in buying a day pass but have occasionally enjoyed a short visit.

 

I do dislike it when ‘perks’ are reduced or disappear without any comments or clarification. I do understand that circumstances can change....if there are too many Elite guests trying to use Persian Gardens on port days then just explain it! No reason why this perk could not continue for Zenith at least....

 

Personally I would be very embarrassed if I went to Persian Gardens expecting free entry and was refused. If they have the right to withdraw perks then they need to communicate it to all Elite and above guests before boarding.

 

 

 

Agree with everything you've written.

 

This comes across as the new owners more wanting to increase the yield on their product, instead of spending anything giving freebies away. As with you, when I've visited I've always been the only one, or just one other, so don't buy that it's due to excessive demand. Certainly if that were the reason, they could just put capacity limitations (if they don't already), just like any other booking.

 

But given they were 'free' and they're not trying to keep that market, they don't really care about communications to that market, hence the lack of notice.

 

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I just checked and it is still listed on the Celebrity site.

 

I also have an email from December 12 from Celebrity OneTouch....

 

"Thank you for contacting Celebrity Cruises, I am very happy to be able to assist you.
Captain's Club offers complimentary benefits for Elite members, among which complimentary
access only for Persian Garden, on one port day. 
Unfortunately at this time, Thermal Suite onboard of Edge is not included."screenshot_20.thumb.png.e9f43cc4f94b6d33eb493f820fa062b4.png

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12 hours ago, bhughey said:

I have sailed Summit 5 times, and most recently in a sky suite in October... every other time was in aqua and we have never had the footstools in aqua on the M class. The balconies are not deep enough.

 

We were in Aqua on Constellation, but in the new rooms on the top of the ship and had footstools on our balcony.  Those balconies are a bit deeper than the ones on the lower floors.

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This is another in the "stupidest" things Celebrity has done category.

 

ONE visit to the Persian Garden during port day.....Costs them NOTHING.

 

(I have read in the past...maybe on different cruise line of similar thing but had caveat of "while in port" vs "port day"...that might be better then cancelling the whole perk)

 

 

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53 minutes ago, dodger1964 said:

......I have read in the past...maybe on different cruise line of similar thing but had caveat of "while in port" vs "port day"...that might be better then cancelling the whole perk.......

 

The list of Elite and Elite+ perks has stated while ship is in port for the last year or so if not longer

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4 minutes ago, groryjm said:

 

The list of Elite and Elite+ perks has stated while ship is in port for the last year or so if not longer

maybe they eliminated it because people tried to use it at other times and where told no. I could imagine the confrontations happening where an elite member tried to use it at other times and then complained either not knowing the "in port" caveat or just ignoring it!

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13 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

Agree with everything you've written.

 

This comes across as the new owners more wanting to increase the yield on their product, instead of spending anything giving freebies away. 

 

 

New owners? What have I missed?

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1 hour ago, davekathy said:

"Persian Garden Complimentary Pass. One time use, in a port day, until 1:30 PM".

so on the very few times the port call isn't until after 1:30pm (think san juan), there really shouldn't be an issue with overcrowding from the elite freebies.

 

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On 12/16/2018 at 2:10 PM, WonderMan3 said:

 

Thanks for the update. I am cruising on Summit in a few weeks so I won’t worry about trying to set up times on port days since it doesn’t matter now.

As you probably know..the M Class Persian Gardens are interior spaces,  no heated loungers but a nice heated bench  Recently  have  experienced some operating  issues at  times. Certain elements not working ...etc. ( this may have been Infinity)

 

We enjoy them but only b/c we  have sail ed in AQ class over the years..

 

Not sure what we will decide for our non AQ class cruise on Edge next Nov..maybe just get a pass for a few days..Not worth buying it for the full cruise..

 

BtW..someone posted they moved that  smoking area up from the pool..there was  apparently an intake vent for the Solarium  right there.. 

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7 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

 

Not sure, Rich -- but that poster may have meant "operators", or concession owners. It's my understanding that Steiner Spas took over from Canyon Ranch, earlier this year.

 

Sorry for the confusion - yes, that's what I was referring to.

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7 hours ago, hcat said:

As you probably know..the M Class Persian Gardens are interior spaces,  no heated loungers but a nice heated bench  Recently  have  experienced some operating  issues at  times. Certain elements not working ...etc. ( this may have been Infinity)

 

We enjoy them but only b/c we  have sail ed in AQ class over the years..

 

Not sure what we will decide for our non AQ class cruise on Edge next Nov..maybe just get a pass for a few days..Not worth buying it for the full cruise..

 

BtW..someone posted they moved that  smoking area up from the pool..there was  apparently an intake vent for the Solarium  right there.. 

 

Oh yeah, I knew that. Have no interest in the Persian Garden. I meant the port day vs. sea day pricing for treatments. I had been planning on doing times in the morning on port days to get better pricing. Now it doesn't matter so I'll just choose times that are most convenient.

 

And that was me that posted about the smoking deck being moved. They just flipped it to the other side above Mast Grill but it's still right above the pool deck.

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We only sail Celebrity and one of the reasons is because of the loyalty perks. I love the persian gardens and now I guess we've lost this benefit. With the decreased benefits, same old, same old itineraries, the 'move up" program (which I was actually excited about bidding, until I saw the rooms I bid on had no availability (bummer), increasing costs of drink packages to speciality restaurants and everything in between, I'm rethinking our loyalty. We cruise next month on the Reflection, but after that one I think it's time to let the loyal to one brand thing go. 

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I can understand them phasing it out.   We have sailed in both AQ and non AQ.  On our last 3 cruises 2 in AQ and  1 in a SS (went to use our Elite benefit).  There were many times we went to the Persian Gardens during a port day and all loungers were full.   We left and tried later to find the same. 

 

One time we went back 45 minutes later and they were still full with some of the same people still there.  I decided to snap a photo of the area with everyone in it.  When back 30 minutes later and there were only 2 new faces.   Everyone else was still laying there sleeping or reading.  I went and showed the spa employee and she went in and said something and it freed up some more loungers.  

 

I went to the Persian Gardens once when on a M class and never bothered after that.   For us it wasn’t as pleasant or enjoyable.  

 

I can also understand where people with a one time use wouldn’t want to limit it to 20 or 30 minutes.   With so many Elites and AQ passengers it can become a problem.  I have also seen a small sign that requests the time limit to 30 minutes and not carry on conversations.   Problem is many ignore both.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

 

 

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16 hours ago, avp1234 said:

We only sail Celebrity and one of the reasons is because of the loyalty perks. I love the persian gardens and now I guess we've lost this benefit. With the decreased benefits, same old, same old itineraries, the 'move up" program (which I was actually excited about bidding, until I saw the rooms I bid on had no availability (bummer), increasing costs of drink packages to speciality restaurants and everything in between, I'm rethinking our loyalty. We cruise next month on the Reflection, but after that one I think it's time to let the loyal to one brand thing go. 

 We are thinking the same thing     This February on the Reflection may be our last   

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