Signature Suite question...

[knittinggirl]

29 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

It would be nice if the SS included priority embarkation, but they do not. I thought at one time all Suites on HAL got this including Vista and Signature. 

Royal Caribbean has priority embarkation for the Junior Suites (JS) and up.  Once I was waiting in the JS line, and the Diamond Plus members were directed to a longer line.  We had about 1/3 Diamonds and up on that particular cruise.  But being in a JS, we even had "Suite" on our luggage tags.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, knittinggirl said:

Royal Caribbean has priority embarkation for the Junior Suites (JS) and up.  Once I was waiting in the JS line, and the Diamond Plus members were directed to a longer line.  We had about 1/3 Diamonds and up on that particular cruise.  But being in a JS, we even had "Suite" on our luggage tags.

We had a Mini Suite on NCL Jewel and also got priority embarkation. Basically a Signature Suite on HAL is a misnomer, all you basically get is a larger living space and bathroom, very few other benefits. Even the in cabin binoculars are a joke. What would it cost HAL to offer priority embarkation and disembarkation to all Suites including Vista and Signature? Even the airlines are offering priority check in for new Premium Economy class of airline seats, which are in a way the equivalent of a Signature Suite on a cruise ship.

[DaveOKC]

45 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

It would be nice if the SS included priority embarkation, but they do not. I thought at one time all Suites on HAL got this including Vista and Signature. 

With Neptune suites, 4 and 5 Star Mariners and now the Club Orange members, there are so many "priority" embarkations that there is not room for them all!  Adding Signature or Vista Suites to the mix would really be overwhelming.

 

[Lady Chew]

We spent the month of August in a SS on the Oosterdam.  We never have breakfast in our room so don't care about the room service menu ...

 

BUT the extra space is totally worth it!!  Two sinks, tons of counter space between them, separate tub & shower … heaven!  And extra drawer space & shelves in the cabin itself … we loved it!

 

Since we were sailing out of Venice, we also got the "Signature Experience" perk … an evening out for cocktails & snacks, featuring some local musicians in an interesting location.  The Signature Experience is only available in certain embarkation ports, so even if you are in a SS you may not get this extra perk.

[Turtles06]

47 minutes ago, Lady Chew said:

Since we were sailing out of Venice, we also got the "Signature Experience" perk … an evening out for cocktails & snacks, featuring some local musicians in an interesting location.  The Signature Experience is only available in certain embarkation ports, so even if you are in a SS you may not get this extra perk.

 

If you are in fact offered the Signature Experience, do pay attention to prices as well as restrictions that may not work for you.  On the Viking Passage last summer, we originally accepted the Signature Experience (no extra charge); it included two nights in a pre-cruise hotel, but we learned months later that because of the way the Signature Experience was structured, we could not pay for an additional night in the hotel.  We really wanted to spend three nights in Copenhagen, and we certainly did not want to be switching hotels. So we wound up taking advantage of a "snap fare" sale that eliminated the Signature Experience AND lowered our cruise fare by approximately $1000 total.  With that savings, we booked three nights in a Copenhagen hotel and had money left over for a tour that included the same castle we would have visited on the Signature Experience.  I'm not knocking that Experience, just be sure it works for you.  

[kazu]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

What would it cost HAL to offer priority embarkation and disembarkation to all Suites including Vista and Signature? Even the airlines are offering priority check in for new Premium Economy class of airline seats, which are in a way the equivalent of a Signature Suite on a cruise ship.

 

I don't think you can compare priority embarkation on a plane to that on a ship.  A plane holds far fewer passengers than any HAL ship and remember, with the plane, you already have your boarding pass and just need to get on the plane.  With the ship, you need your key card, photo taken (for some), etc.

 

More importantly if too many people have priority, it translates into no one has priority 😉 You can't extend priority to 4 - 500 people.  Just doesn't work 😉 

[cruisin'mama]

When looking at the room service menu via the above link,  at the VERY bottom of the tag it has some numbers then sig/nep/pin.   I assume this means that it's for  Signature, Neptune and Pinnacle Suites.   Here's hoping......

[Carol28]

On 12/28/2018 at 11:16 AM, I like vacation said:

Forgot to mention the double Mariner points.

 

Suite Bonus Earn double Cruise Day credits when you pay a published fare for a spacious suite or penthouse on your next cruise. For example, a guest who pays published fare for suite accommodations for a 10-day cruise earns 20 Cruise Day credit

We get double Cruise Day credits for a suite and we use an online TA.  I'm not sure what a 'published fare' means. Perhaps a family member who gets a better rate that is not published does not get double credits.

[I like vacation]

31 minutes ago, Carol28 said:

We get double Cruise Day credits for a suite and we use an online TA.  I'm not sure what a 'published fare' means. Perhaps a family member who gets a better rate that is not published does not get double credits.

 

I think it refers to a possible 3rd or 4th person in the cabin who pay a reduced fare.

[terrydtx]

29 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

 

I think it refers to a possible 3rd or 4th person in the cabin who pay a reduced fare.

I think that is correct as I remember reading that the double credits were only for the first and second passengers in a SS cabin.

[knittinggirl]

3 hours ago, Carol28 said:

We get double Cruise Day credits for a suite and we use an online TA.  I'm not sure what a 'published fare' means. Perhaps a family member who gets a better rate that is not published does not get double credits.

Double cruise day credit refers to double mariner loyalty points.  We've stayed in Vista Suites and up, and get double loyalty points.  That's how we got to four star so fast.  BUT, we pay a lot more than double the the inside category.  If you're considering a Lanai, it may be best to move up to a Vista.  In 2016 Voyage of the Vikings, I think they were charging only $2,000 more for the Vista w/ double credit for a while.

 

Royal Caribbean's smallest ships are close to the size of HAL's biggest ship (just under 100,000 tons).  We've boarded on a Freedom Class Ship that's more than 50% heavier than the Pinnacle Class.    It's pretty bad when we step inside the port terminal and it's packed with people with the line snaking back and forth.  And once getting on the Celebrity Century, we arrived in a packed terminal.  We had priority boarding w/ Concierge Class, but couldn't tell which line was the proper line.  Some of it depends on the port.  In Vancouver, it doesn't matter about priority boarding because they send us back and forth across a huge terminal before splitting us into the lines for priority and general boarding.