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On 7/8/2019 at 11:21 AM, barbels said:

The furniture in the sky suite screams cheap, cheap, cheap.  Some of it looks like it was picked up on curbside, placed there by someone who was upgrading their furniture after getting a real job.

 

On the basis of these pictures I will never book a sky suite.

Barbara

I agree wholeheartedly.  On the positive side, no matter what was actually PAID for the furniture, it looks like on the balcony end at least, it will wear out quickly!  Probably before the 'Revolutionization' is even finished fleetwide.

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51 minutes ago, spiritkat090909 said:

I agree wholeheartedly.  On the positive side, no matter what was actually PAID for the furniture, it looks like on the balcony end at least, it will wear out quickly!  Probably before the 'Revolutionization' is even finished fleetwide.

 

Good!  Then maybe they will replace it with something functional.  Like they used to have on the balconies.

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I was in a Sky Suite.  I'm the one who had them remove the hard wood punishment chairs (felt like we were in detention) for the normal mesh chairs.  The wooden chairs were truly uncomfortable...it wasn't the aesthetic I was concerned with (if they had been ugly but comfortable I would have been fine) - but they made you sit bolt upright, hard seat, hard back, no arms (I like to read on my veranda, imagine never being able to rest your elbows while you read your book) - who in the WORLD thought these chairs were a good idea?

 

That sofa, on the other hand, was very comfortable, both to sit on and to lay on - my husband took a few naps out there.

 

Unfortunately, we had some night showers on  our trip to Bermuda and in the morning it was soaking wet, didn't dry as quickly as normal mesh or slat loungers would.  Again, who in their right mind would put upholstered furniture in an area subjected to the elements?  We were only the 2nd or 3rd cruise after the Revolution, I imagine it will become a soggy tattered mess in no time at all.

 

But as far as the décor in the suite itself - I thought I would hate it from the pictures, but it really wasn't that bad in person.  We've been in several hotels recently that have gone to that grey, minimalistic look.  It's just the new thing.

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Thank you for takeing the time to give us all those great pictures and for " letting us be with you" on this cruise!

 

@Happy Cruiser- I feel the same- they have totaly spoiled what once have been wonderful ships- with nice luxury wood venier- now all is grey in grey- even more grey!

The spartanic furniture in the cabins are not what I would call luxury- think more of a 2 to 3 start standart hotel room!

Who´s idea it was to choose that kind of verandah furniture should be thrown overboard- right next to the furniture itself- those two little children stools- a couch- instead of loungers- those white foot rests- or whatever they may be... and to pay so much more for that kind of NON- luxury! Modern Luxury- my word...modern uglyness more like it!

 

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17 hours ago, warmwinds said:

I was in a Sky Suite.  I'm the one who had them remove the hard wood punishment chairs (felt like we were in detention) for the normal mesh chairs.  The wooden chairs were truly uncomfortable...it wasn't the aesthetic I was concerned with (if they had been ugly but comfortable I would have been fine) - but they made you sit bolt upright, hard seat, hard back, no arms (I like to read on my veranda, imagine never being able to rest your elbows while you read your book) - who in the WORLD thought these chairs were a good idea?

 

That sofa, on the other hand, was very comfortable, both to sit on and to lay on - my husband took a few naps out there.

 

Unfortunately, we had some night showers on  our trip to Bermuda and in the morning it was soaking wet, didn't dry as quickly as normal mesh or slat loungers would.  Again, who in their right mind would put upholstered furniture in an area subjected to the elements?  We were only the 2nd or 3rd cruise after the Revolution, I imagine it will become a soggy tattered mess in no time at all.

 

But as far as the décor in the suite itself - I thought I would hate it from the pictures, but it really wasn't that bad in person.  We've been in several hotels recently that have gone to that grey, minimalistic look.  It's just the new thing.

 

I agree, reading a book without armrests is no vacation.  Also while the couch on the verandah was comfortable, we had the same problem with it being soggy most of the time.  I have never seen outdoor furniture that stayed wet; poor planning.  I didn't mind the indoor decor but I missed having a full length mirror to check my outfit before going to dinner.  😞  That's not something you can pack with you if they don't have it!  I'm glad you had them switch out the hard wooden chairs!  They were awful!!

 

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Just wanted to say thank you for your post and all the information. Very timely as my family departs on the Summit on August 4th!! 

 

One quick question - who was the Maitre'd in Luminae? We had a fantastic gentleman, Charles, on our last trip in 2016. 

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31 minutes ago, kjbesq69 said:

Just wanted to say thank you for your post and all the information. Very timely as my family departs on the Summit on August 4th!! 

 

One quick question - who was the Maitre'd in Luminae? We had a fantastic gentleman, Charles, on our last trip in 2016. 

Really skinny guy, Yuli or Yukli or something similar?

Edited by warmwinds
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Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences. We have sailed on the Summit several times and it was always one of our favorite ships. Celebrity, under new leadership, seems intent on rebranding their product and attracting a new demographic; good luck with that. I can only imagine how disappointing some of this must have been after so much anticipation. Of all things, sitting out on your balcony on comfortable furniture seems like one of the most basic needs a cruise line can accommodate. We gave up on them after our last cruise 18 months ago. If it fails, some other bright executive will come in and reinvent the wheel, until then we have chosen other alternatives.

 

Again, sorry for your experience. 

 

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I can't believe even younger people (whoever their new target is) would like that new Suite balcony furniture.  The other cabin categories seem to have more normal furniture (the mesh), but I am just wondering what the idea and execution process was to put hard as a rock, no arms wooden chairs on a suite balcony.  I can understand the rest of the Hoppen décor now that I've seen it - as I've said, grey is just the new trendy thing to do.  But what was the thought process behind that balcony furniture?

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Two things that jump out to me from this thread both specific to the Penthouse Suite reviews.  I totally agree about the second full bath being so dark.  Shortly after the renovation I sailed in it first for 8 nights.  It was just two of us.  As we were returning for 11 nights with 3 of us I purchased a very nice stainless steel rack with suction cups for the second bath.  I mounted it the day we boarded and it worked so well in the guest bath shower.  I am sad to see that they removed it.  It cost $29 and was very functional and I left it behind for future guests.

 

i am sad that these design flaws impact the fantastic butler service.  For those of you fortunate enough to have Cesar please tell him that Miss Trish and Miss Karen and Mr George miss him and send him our love.  Please tip well and be kind.  Any design flaws are not his or the butlers fault.  

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I’ve never been on one these balconies but it seems a bit narrow for a lounge chair? I can kind of understand the reasoning for a couch in this instance because it can function like a lounge for one or provide cushy (if not supportive and comfy) seating for two. My guess with the armless chairs...having lived in space challenged places recently is that armless chairs are easier to get in and out of in smaller spaces. They must be thinking that people would just be sitting in them for using the table and not for hanging out beyond that much per se. 

 

To me, it just points to corporate and designers doing whatever they want for cost and aesthetics rather than consulting focus groups of well traveled cruise passengers to give input into how passengers really use the space. Celebrity was working from a wrong set of assumptions and thus their design doesn’t really work for the average passenger.

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The suite balconies are bigger than most regular cabin balconies (except, of course, the FV's, the afts, etc.).  The pictures I saw of the furniture before the revolution on our balcony (sky suite) were two loungers next to each other, running parallel to the rail (so you weren't facing the water, the water was beside one of you), and they were where the sofa is now. 

 

The sofa was fine because you could sit or lay on it, and it was comfortable (when it was dry) but it was just the wrong material for outside.

 

When we had our butler switch out the armless chairs for those with arms there was no appreciable diminishment of space.  If that was their intent, were there no comfortable chairs without arms they could have used?  But arms are very important for relaxing, reading, etc.  

 

My only hope is that they learn from the feedback and don't make the same mistakes on upcoming revolutions - not all ships have gone through it yet, our next cruise is December on the UN revolutionized Infinity and I'm so looking forward to the old stuff.  (and I did write an earful on the post cruise survey - never heard, don't know if they contact people to discuss, but we didn't hear anything).

Edited by warmwinds
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On 7/8/2019 at 3:12 PM, PistolPete13 said:

 

 

Calendar marked.  And I do have a large lens for airshows that will zoom in close enough to make out each balcony from that vantage point.  If you hold up a big florescent colored sign for example, I will find you!  Haha.  

PistolPete, do you have availability for pictures for the 8/25 sailing....Don'y know about the sign but my shirt will be an unmistakable pink !!!

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8 minutes ago, HeavyMetalDeacon said:

PistolPete, do you have availability for pictures for the 8/25 sailing....Don'y know about the sign but my shirt will be an unmistakable pink !!!

 

I've marked my calendar so challenge accepted!  Send me a reminder message a few days before the sailing.  This could be fun!

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On 7/16/2019 at 5:09 PM, Water709 said:

Just an update on the photo situation.  This morning I got the email from Celebrity with the photos taken by the cruise photographers, as promised (and what we paid for as far as "digital").  For whatever reason not all the photos that were taken are included (we never did see the one taken just before boarding, either on the wall or in the kiosk) but I am grateful to have the ones we received.  I agree that the day and age of physical "prints" probably should be going by the wayside, to save paper, time, waste, etc.  I actually thought with the Celebrity App we might be able to view the photos every day on there while on the cruise, but hopefully that will be in the near future.

What photos were not included? my DW and I purchased the all digital package and I would like to be aware of any surprises.

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The two photos we did not get were the photo taken of us before boarding the ship (two photos were taken there), and one with a female "pirate" when disembarking at the port of Bermuda.  We got 23 photos in the digital package we received via email.  Also, a lot of the photos had the wrong restaurant or location, or date printed on them.  A few said they were taken in the Cosmopolitan restaurant, and we ate at Luminae every night except for the one when we ate at the Tuscan Grille.  

 

On our cruise on Summit last year, a photo taken at the port of Newport had "Bahamas" printed on the photo! 😞

 

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On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 3:29 PM, philpcruiser said:

In the picture of the pantry, the door to the left of the counter is the door directly to the hall. 

 

I'm not an interior designer, but does a tan counter top go with grey cabinets?🙄

It appears that  the outside of all of those dark wood cabinets have been painted gray, not replaced. Some of the paint was scratched off in several places last month when we were in there, so I do wonder about the durability  thoughout the next few months.

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2 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

I've marked my calendar so challenge accepted!  Send me a reminder message a few days before the sailing.  This could be fun!

 

Pete -- about where on the shore are you taking the closeups of the ship?  Just wondering when to be over on the starboard side.  😄

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1 hour ago, Water709 said:

The two photos we did not get were the photo taken of us before boarding the ship (two photos were taken there), and one with a female "pirate" when disembarking at the port of Bermuda.  We got 23 photos in the digital package we received via email.  Also, a lot of the photos had the wrong restaurant or location, or date printed on them.  A few said they were taken in the Cosmopolitan restaurant, and we ate at Luminae every night except for the one when we ate at the Tuscan Grille.  

 

On our cruise on Summit last year, a photo taken at the port of Newport had "Bahamas" printed on the photo! 😞

 

You have to check daily, we noticed a couple of pics displayed not on our digital images so we handed them to the photography dept and they fixed the problem in a couple of hours.  Didn't care about the date mix up if we saw it-  The all in digital package prior to the cruise cost $200.  What a bargain- we always take well over 100 pictures.  Never had a problem and have been doing this for many years.  Years ago we got a jump drive- now electronic when you get home- but you also get hard copies.  

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On 7/14/2019 at 11:38 AM, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

To me it looks like they are trying to reach the millennials with their new designs. 

We are booked on one Summit cruise and two Apex cruises next year.  Having just my second knee replacement six days ago, I think it is going to be very hard for me to be comfortable on this new furniture.  Let's face it...many of Celebrity's passengers are not millenials, but are of "knee replacement" age.  The lack of appropriate furniture for this crowd is really a huge mis-step, IMO.  Rethinking these cruises.

Edited by quicklabs
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1 minute ago, quicklabs said:

We are booked on one Summit cruise and two Apex cruises next year.  Having just my second knee replacement six days ago, I think it is going to be very hard for me to be comfortable on this new furniture.  Let's face it...many of Celebrity's passengers are not millenials, but are of "knee replacement" age.  The lack of appropriate furniture for this crowd is really a huge mis-step, IMO.  Rethinking these cruises.

In addition, many people today are "super sized" so the chairs do not work for all.

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