Zenith back in the Retreat

[cruisestitch]

A broken promise😢

[excitedofharpenden]

18 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

A broken promise😢

Absolutely. Very disappointing, but not surprised really. 

 

Phil 

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, SailAway78 said:

Hopefully this improves the body of the message from Andrea Shey this morning. 

When we returned to service last June, we limited access to The Retreat Lounge to only those members staying in The Retreat to manage capacity and keep our guests, crew and the communities we visit safe. As the levels of Covid cases have come down we have been able to ease certain protocols like mask mandates and social distancing and many of you have reached out to ask whether this benefit will be reinstated.

While our intention was to make this temporary, what we are seeing now is that Covid changed our guests’ behavior. Guests are booking The Retreat at much higher rates than they ever have before. Our sailings are not yet back to full capacity, but we continue to be at capacity in The Retreat. And while we no longer need to practice social distancing, we do need to prioritize space in The Retreat for those guests booking The Retreat. Given the current number of Zenith members, projected Zenith member growth rates and the varying level of members on board a given sailing, unfortunately, we won’t be able to offer this benefit going forward unless you have booked in The Retreat. The Retreat is truly an unparalleled vacation experience that rivals any high-end resort and I hope you will consider it for your next cruise.

We also have a few benefits we are pleased to be able to add back at this time. First, Zenith members can now enjoy Flexible Arrival on embarkation day and check in at the terminal up to 1 hour before your 30-minute arrival window, or one hour after, within the embarkation window. And we will be launching new events in the coming months for Elite members and above including a special loyalty luncheon. Zenith members will have reserved seating and special access at these events.

Thank you for your understanding and we hope to see on board very soon.

 

 

still get $100 obc for not being able to use the Retreat?

 

[cruisestitch]

10 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

still get $100 obc for not being able to use the Retreat?

 

That was only for Blue Chip club

[fstuff1]

Just now, cruisestitch said:

That was only for Blue Chip club

 

so i guess high rollers arent getting back into the Retreat either? 😞

[cruisestitch]

Guess not 😣

[cruising teacher]

Nice of Andrea to suggest that we Zenith book suites. No thanks! I would rather go on 3 cruises for the price of one in a suite. At least now Celebrity is transparent about how they much they value loyalty 

[Northern Aurora]

In my prior post on this thread (#26) I had speculated that Zeniths would be denied access due to the rising number of folks reaching that level.  We also received our e-mail from Andrea this morning found it interesting that she mentioned the projected growth rates of Zenith members.  In the past we had booked Aqua, Sky Suites and Celebrity Suites.  We use Michael's Club/Retreat Lounge and fortunately for us all of our future cruises are booked in either Sky or Celebrity Suites.

 

And I thought it was tacky that the Zenith benefit information wasn't updated in the packet mailed to @tomcruiser1234.

[Orator]

4 minutes ago, cruising teacher said:

Nice of Andrea to suggest that we Zenith book suites. No thanks! I would rather go on 3 cruises for the price of one in a suite. At least now Celebrity is transparent about how they much they value loyalty 

A former head of the Loyalty Program told me many years ago that loyalty was not as important as Suite passengers. That is understandable since loyalty is based on past spending while Suite income is based on current income. COVID was only an excuse to reduce the program as a way of improving the margins. I understand the strategy, but I really believe it is, in the long run, doomed to fail since product loyalty is extremely vital to the industry. Many, including me no longer feel that Celebrity  compared to other lines is no longer the value it was.

[67Miner]

2 hours ago, 67Miner said:

If I want a suite I will book with Seabourn.  That's where I receive "an unparalleled vacation experience" that Ms. Shey wrote about.  Celebrity will never be in the "luxury cruise line" league.  After some 80 Celebrity cruises, I am done with them.  Finished.

 

 

[TrueCruiseaholic]

I will not be there to see it, but it would be interesting to see the make up of top cruisers / Zenith cruisers in 10 years.

 

With the current trajectory, it will be predominantly single suite cruisers who may be loyal to Celebrity but could just as soon sail in suites on Royal, NCL, Crystal, or other lines.

 

The change is essentially so that future Zenith cruisers who make Zenith by sailing in suites (the only real way going forward) are disincentivized to drop down to Aqua for loss of Retreat Lounge.

 

The Zenith level has now been rendered moot. What benefit does a suite guest get for attaining Zenith? A free cruise where they have to upgrade back to a suite (aka a very slightly discounted cruise)? All Zenith benefits are Suite benefits, right?

 

The first time suite guest gets more and is more highly valued than the Aqua Zenith guest with many cruises (even if said Zenith cruiser had sailed in suites all previous cruises).

 

Previous (and future) cruises mean nothing, only the cruise a guest is on at the time. With this change, Celebrity should remove the Zenith level. What's the point?

[Orator]

Since I booked a TA using a FCC that was selected when Zeniths were allowed to use MC/Retreat I wonder if I can get a refund of 100% of the monies paid for the original cancelled booking since Celebrity has changed my contract by changing without my consent the terms of my booking? Or, can and will Celebrity fulfill their contact by honoring the benefits in effect at the time of booking? They ship ups consider grandfathering in people who were Zenith at the time of notification of the change of benefit. The number might be high now, but would become less in time.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Orator

[swjumbo]

15 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

I will not be there to see it, but it would be interesting to see the make up of top cruisers / Zenith cruisers in 10 years.

 

With the current trajectory, it will be predominantly single suite cruisers who may be loyal to Celebrity but could just as soon sail in suites on Royal, NCL, Crystal, or other lines.

 

The change is essentially so that future Zenith cruisers who make Zenith by sailing in suites (the only real way going forward) are disincentivized to drop down to Aqua for loss of Retreat Lounge.

 

The Zenith level has now been rendered moot. What benefit does a suite guest get for attaining Zenith? A free cruise where they have to upgrade back to a suite (aka a very slightly discounted cruise)? All Zenith benefits are Suite benefits, right?

 

The first time suite guest gets more and is more highly valued than the Aqua Zenith guest with many cruises (even if said Zenith cruiser had sailed in suites all previous cruises).

 

Previous (and future) cruises mean nothing, only the cruise a guest is on at the time. With this change, Celebrity should remove the Zenith level. What's the point?

Totally agree. I’ve recently become ‘elite’ and am quite content with the new perks.

The higher two tiers don’t really give that much more so not really bothered!

 

I also understand why Celebrity are restricting Zenith members’ access to The Retreat. 

As I previously posted, if you were in First Class on a European or Middle Eastern aircraft with a bar on board you wouldn’t expect their top customers who were sitting in coach to use the bar.

 

Its down to economics and if you’re not happy then give another cruise line your business. Simples!

[Jim_Iain]

I've been thinking for the past year that Zeniths would loose access permanently for the past year. 

 

Celebrity has been devaluing their Loyalty Program for the past year with all these Double Points, Points for not cleaning your room 2x a day and Bonus points for watching promotional material. 

 

Loyalty at all levels have been devalued by the all inclusive rates -  Yea they toss in a couple bags of laundry and free internet minutes but everything else is pretty much gone.

 

Maybe Celebrity should really save some money and get rid of a Loyalty Director. 

 

We have only sailed Celebrity for 20 years and  will be considering other lines going forward, even though we almost always travel in suites.

[verizon]

Of what I read it is NOT only we lost the Retreat.we will  lost the flexible Check In time and the use  embarkation lounge in coming future.

It clearly tell us they don't care you with us or not.

I will complete my Zenith FREE cruise with them and decide from there..

BTW we lost our FREE drink package as a Zenith member.What they offered is a discount since AI is the only option now to book a cruise.

Edited April 7, 2022 by verizon

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

I will not be there to see it, but it would be interesting to see the make up of top cruisers / Zenith cruisers in 10 years.

 

 

One hell of a 10th post (in 4 years).

 

and sorry to hear...

[cruising teacher]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

I've been thinking for the past year that Zeniths would loose access permanently for the past year. 

 

Celebrity has been devaluing their Loyalty Program for the past year with all these Double Points, Points for not cleaning your room 2x a day and Bonus points for watching promotional material. 

 

Loyalty at all levels have been devalued by the all inclusive rates -  Yea they toss in a couple bags of laundry and free internet minutes but everything else is pretty much gone.

 

Maybe Celebrity should really save some money and get rid of a Loyalty Director. 

 

We have only sailed Celebrity for 20 years and  will be considering other lines going forward, even though we almost always travel in suites.

They definitely should get rid of the so called loyalty director. She only mimics what LLP tells her. I would not want to be a Captains Club Host or Hostess in the next couple of weeks🥺 I feel sorry for them because they are all lovely people!

[TrueCruiseaholic]

Astonishing the difference between Royal and Celebrity. From thread on Royal boards:

 

Pinnacle Club (equivalent of Zenith on Royal) have had access to suite lounge returned to them.

 

"Currently on Harmony. Suite Lounge not crowded at all. 58 Pinnacles"

 

There are rarely 15-20 Zeniths on a cruise.

[LGW59]

7 minutes ago, cruising teacher said:

They definitely should get rid of the so called loyalty director. She only mimics what LLP tells her. I would not want to be a Captains Club Host or Hostess in the next couple of weeks🥺 I feel sorry for them because they are all lovely people!

why do you feel sorry for them? 

[CalTexCruiser]

On the Apex and Edge I recall seeing a Captain's Club area on Deck 5 near the theater that is almost always empty--I guess a Captain's Club representative is supposed to be there?

 

Perhaps they can make that area into a Zenith lounge to address this issue?

[mac_tlc]

1 hour ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Astonishing the difference between Royal and Celebrity. From thread on Royal boards:

 

Pinnacle Club (equivalent of Zenith on Royal) have had access to suite lounge returned to them.

 

"Currently on Harmony. Suite Lounge not crowded at all. 58 Pinnacles"

 

There are rarely 15-20 Zeniths on a cruise.

From our experience on Oasis class and E-class, the Suite lounge on Royal is much more crowded at the pre-dinner period. It’s smaller than Retreat Lounge and there are more P’s than

Z’s. Unless you get there early, forget getting a seat. You do hear a lot of rumbling from Suite guests and the impact of P’s on the experience they paid for. Following Royal for the sake of it isn’t necessarily the answer. 

 

Seems to me they could have Z access on E-class ships at least.

mac_tlc

 

[Orator]

1 hour ago, cruising teacher said:

They definitely should get rid of the so called loyalty director. She only mimics what LLP tells her. I would not want to be a Captains Club Host or Hostess in the next couple of weeks🥺 I feel sorry for them because they are all lovely people!

She only takes the bullets. Others call the shots!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

OT --- but I notice some avatars have "Live From..."  and "Rare" on them (something new). What's that all about?

 

Tom

[GeorgiaPeach51]

39 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

OT --- but I notice some avatars have "Live From..."  and "Rare" on them (something new). What's that all about?

 

Tom

I just got the rare designation.  Apparently it is for posting a “Live From....” lengthy blog while sailing on our first Regent cruise.  A message appeared at the top of the first post in the blog.  

It looks like this...

This post was recognized by CC Help Jenn!

"Thanks for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic"

You were awarded the badge '"Live from...."'

 

Joanie

 

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by GeorgiaPeach51

[goofysmom99]

I genuinely don't care one way or another about Retreat access.  I don't care for the seating.  Luminae is good but I order from MDR or Blu better than half the time.  To already have to pay for double gratuities, double wifi, double premium drinks for a suite, and then still get another premium package and wifi for being zenith seems a little over the top for my situation.  But it actually has absolutely nothing to do with why I will never book a suite again on X.....because, below RS, they ALL have stupid bathtub/shower combo.  I had a serious fall in October getting out of the absurd M-class CS tub and then again (not as serious) getting out of SS tub.  Ended up having to trek to a vacant cabin to shower = a suite class experience much like freshman year.  For now, I'm booking FVs on M-class and mostly hump cabins on S-class.  E-class is completely out of the question due not having something equivalent to the Sky Lounge (and the infinte veranda thing).   I've begun looking at other cruise lines that have stand alone showers in their suites.  Always thought Azamara did it right offering suites with 50% tubs, 50% showers (the showers always sell out first).  If X ever makes a SS with a walk-in shower, I'll be back.

Edited April 8, 2022 by goofysmom99