Suite Privilege Program for non suite guests??

[JennJohnNYC]

We were informed by the shoreside concierge of a “new” program for friends/family traveling with guests of the Penthouses and Royal Suites, which entails them to purchase the suite privilege program for 59 pp daily.  I’m trying to get more details,  but I understand it to include a lot of the perks that the suite guests enjoy, including Luminae and the retreat lounge.  

 

Has anyone heard of this program or used it?

 

Just the Luminae access is worth it to me so I think we will purchase this for friends on our upcoming  cruise.  They are booked in a veranda cabin and it would be nice to enjoy Luminae and the retreat lounge with them.

 

[villauk]

This will be an interesting thread 🤔.

[jelayne]

Depending upon the ship Luminae  & the Lounge can be very crowded without adding non-Suite guests not on space available but for more revenue.

[vtcruising]

Invited guests can now dine in Luminae on a space available basis for $60/day ($40 on port days since no lunch on port days) - Breakfast is $10PP, Lunch $20 and Dinner $30. Use of the suite lounge would be a new benefit, though I must say we have occasionally brought friends into Michael's/Retreat who were not suite guests, with concierge invitation. We don't make a habit of it, but had the concierge notice that we had friends we were cruising with on one cruise and she invited them to come in - we were in a CS and it was a few years ago - the other times were just one time visits to scope it out to potentially book a suite - we try to respect the space since it can get crowded. I imagine others have had people in as well.

 

This new program probably wouldn't have a huge impact because of the small number of PH's and RS's, but hope they limit it some - if someone in an RS or PH had a family reunion with family in 10 non-suite cabins, for example, it could impact Luminae, suite lounge and suite sundeck. Luminae on the Reflection and the Edge are already very busy, in my experience.

Edited October 10, 2019 by vtcruising

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We are in the PH on our upcoming Equinox cruise and the shoreside concierge did not mention this. Doesn't matter since we are not sailing with anyone else. Our upgrade for 2 to the PH for 7 days was considerably more than $413 pp.

Edited October 10, 2019 by CHEZMARYLOU

[hcat]

May  make sense for family members of upper suites  but beyond that  why add more people  to finite spaces??

[phoenix_dream]

As a person who rarely can afford suites, I am dismayed to see this program happening.  On the rare occasions I can book a suite, I would like to enjoy the perks I paid for, uncrowded.  The 'space available' part is of particular concern.  We have had more than one sailing where the maître d' in Blu did not abide by the space available edict for suite guests and Blu was beyond crowded.  Call me crazy, but I cannot see the Luminae staff saying no to high level suite guests no matter how crowded the restaurant is. 

 

I am fine with people who pay the very high prices for the big suites (all suites for that matter!) to be treated royally, but it is just wrong to diminish the experience for the rest of us by allowing them to bring in untold number of guests they are traveling with for what, to people who can afford those suites, is a minor cost.  Yet another example of where Celebrity's interests lie these days.  Now even Sky Suite passengers are getting downgraded experiences.  Where will it end?!

[Oville]

49 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We are in the PH on our upcoming Equinox cruise and the shoreside concierge did not mention this. Doesn't matter since we are not sailing with anyone else. Our upgrade for 2 to the PH for 7 days was considerably more than $413 pp.

We’re in an RS on Silhouette in November and nothing about this in the email we received a few days ago.

[JennJohnNYC]

27 minutes ago, Oville said:

We’re in an RS on Silhouette in November and nothing about this in the email we received a few days ago.

We didn’t receive anything in writing.  It was only brought to our attention, when we linked our reservations with the shoreside concierge.  It sounds like it’s very very new.

[JFontaine]

I was offered this in the Summit Penthouse in August.  It does not include specialty restaurants, and you need to buy it for the entire week.  We didn’t use the Retreat or the Retreat sundeck, so I passed on this, as it was much cheaper to pay for restaurants. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by JFontaine

[morfred]

My wife and I sail only in Sky Suites (less expensive than others). We sail 3 or 4 times per year. We are not wealthy but we are retired and and this is what we have chosen for our "golden years". We pay the extra money for the total Suite experience. If that experience were to be diminished by overcrowding at Luminae, The Retreat or Michael's Club there would be no point to booking a suite anymore. I would still sail with Celebrity but I would save some money and simply stay in a veranda cabin. 

[jelayne]

We were in a RS earlier this year.  Michaels was full every night, seats were hard to come by.  We have DD, SIL & 4 teen grands so we could book them in 2 inside or OV  cabins and for $2500 for the 6 of them for a week  they could have access to Luminae, Michaels/Retreat Lounge, free drinks, access to the Retreat Sundeck.  Looks like a great Xmas present.  Don’t worry they are well behaved😂

[JFontaine]

I found the email describing the benefits:

 

Retreat Lounge

Retreat Sun Deck

Luminae

Priority Arrival and Departure 

Curbside luggage drop off

Reserved theater seating

Suite Class distinctive key card

[sdnich]

I also will not be happy about this ! I have stayed in sky suites (one random RS) but also have booked aqua class on a the next because SS was too high !But have paid extra for a suite for the areas that are not so crowded! If this happen and becomes a problem we will rethink our bookings ! I understand people who have friends and family that are not in a suite that they can’t eat in Luminae want them too but unfair to people who spend the extra $$ !!

[bEwAbG]

I could have sworn this was announced a few years ago when they first started talking about Edge and how some suites could be configured with connecting cabins to create larger suites.  Am I making that up? 

[George C]

I like it depending on ship , recently did summit and infinity and luminae was never that crowded there , just read some bad things on it being overcrowded on edge. Our next cruise is in. Royal would be fun to have friends join us without paying the huge price of that suite. 

[jelayne]

We talked with the hostess at Luminae on the Edge and were told that Luminae on the Edge seated 176 so it took a full turn to accommodate the Suite guests, and that assumes they show up staggered enough to make it work. Peak times, after the 1st show, were a problem with more folks than they could accommodate. Time will tell if this works, but if you must buy access for a full cruise seems space available might be space available for those in CS and SS suites.  

 

[villauk]

3 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

I could have sworn this was announced a few years ago when they first started talking about Edge and how some suites could be configured with connecting cabins to create larger suites.  Am I making that up? 

 

 

That was a different programme, virtually converting two cabins into one large family suite on Edge class ships. According to the above, this is for friends/family in any cabin on the ship who you wish to join you in the ‘suite only’ areas throughout the cruise for $59pp.

[villauk]

4 hours ago, jelayne said:

We were in a RS earlier this year.  Michaels was full every night, seats were hard to come by.  We have DD, SIL & 4 teen grands so we could book them in 2 inside or OV  cabins and for $2500 for the 6 of them for a week  they could have access to Luminae, Michaels/Retreat Lounge, free drinks, access to the Retreat Sundeck.  Looks like a great Xmas present.  Don’t worry they are well behaved😂

 

 

Sounds like it could be ideal for your situation then 😉.

[vtcruising]

7 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

I could have sworn this was announced a few years ago when they first started talking about Edge and how some suites could be configured with connecting cabins to create larger suites.  Am I making that up? 

There is no cost to people on the Edge (yet, that I have heard about), but the FAQs describe people traveling together in suite and connected cabins as getting access to the Retreat. Not sure if things have changed.

 

59. CAN A NON-SUITE GUEST PAY TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE RETREAT? DAILY FEE OPTION? • The Retreat and the many exclusive experiences are only available to our suite guests.

 

61. HALF OUR PARTY IS IN A SUITE, THE REST IS CONNECTED TO OUR NON-SUITE STATEROOM. • Any non-suite connecting to a suite will receive access to The Retreat, but with no other suite amenities including butler service

[chemmo]

This looks to me like an idea that could go badly wrong...

 

If a RS/PH couple have their elderly mother in an inside cabin I would want Celebrity to allow Mum to join them for drinks, and dining...I would like Celebrity to show the same generosity to the Mum of a Sky Suite guest too. It would be nice if this could be allowed at a moderate cost...I see this as very reasonable and having minimal impact on the suite experience of others...

 

I can see scheme this being popular for RS/PH guests traveling with adult children and partners where the family hope to enjoy the main suite space socially but want privacy for sleep/showers. However, numbers can quickly multiply.... PH 2 guests, 2 non suite  cabins for their children and partners 4 guests (6 in total). Add in the grandchildren 2 per inside cabin (10 in total), make it a three child family with two more grandchildren and the 2 in the PH now have 12 attached guests! 

 

With the max occupancy of a PH or RS being 4 perhaps each of these suite could be allowed to link up to that number? Two guests in a PH or RS can link 2 non suite guests? That would at least limit numbers to some degree...

 

We were once on a cruise when a group of 1xRS, 4xSS (10 guests in total)  were travelling together....They really were demanding, they wanted a specific area of Michael’s and expected others to move, ran the RS butler ragged, expected shore excursions to change the bookings of other guests so they could all have the same timing, were loud in Luminae and these were just the things I knew about!!! They were all suite guests and ‘entitled’ to the facilities but certainly impacted on the pleasure of others simply by being a large group and lacking sensitivity....

 

If RS/PH guests can ‘link’ families and friends I can see many instances of the above scenario. If linked guests decide not to purchase drinks packages as they have access to Michael’s/Retreat then I can see a very busy and possibly noisy lounge.

 

 

6 hours ago, sdnich said:

I also will not be happy about this ! I have stayed in sky suites (one random RS) but also have booked aqua class on a the next because SS was too high !But have paid extra for a suite for the areas that are not so crowded! If this happen and becomes a problem we will rethink our bookings ! I understand people who have friends and family that are not in a suite that they can’t eat in Luminae want them too but unfair to people who spend the extra $$ !!

 

Agree, we spend $$$ to enjoy uncrowded space and good service....We will see how things unfold...

 

 

[hcat]

Hope this won't extend to use of BLU.

 

Suite guests are admitted to BLU , 

"subject to availabity" , sometimes  loosely enforced.  This adds to the number of diners in  a space that is overcrowded and under serviced at peak times. ( has become more like the mdr in that respect)

 

  We were looking forward to suite guests no longer having this BLU privilege once Luminae was firmly established on all the ships...New program could add even more to the numbers  in BLU.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I remember a recent post from Verizon I think, complaining about a large noisy group in Luminae every night. Supposedly they were all in suites.  Now add to this extended families traveling together with one in a RS and everyone else in a balcony.  Luminae and the Retreat Lounge could get quickly out of control.  I don't think this has been thought through by Celebrity, it's just another attempt to make more money.

[SEA DOGY]

Oh this is great news for passengers using the main dining room  it will be less crowded 

 Luminae  and Michael’s will never be the same 

[George C]

Doubt that many people will use this option, I know on M class ships there are only 8 royal and 2 penthouse suites. Micheals was almost empty on most of our visits .