What has been your 2023 experience in The Retreat?

[jelayne]

On 2/20/2023 at 3:14 AM, groryjm said:

She is one of the best barman we have experienced in the Retreat/Michael's and dare I say it, better even than the amazing Cranston. 

 

 

That’s saying something‼️

[DCPIV]

1 hour ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Previously sailed on EDGE and APEX in a Sky Suite. Got a call from Shoreside Concierge about 2 week prior to APEX cruise last April but none of our requests made it to the ship. No problem as a quick chat with the Butler and all were honored. We sail on EDGE this Friday, not call but an email with a form stating our requests. We'll see if this info makes it to the ship. If it does...great...and, if not, we'll have a chat with the butler. 

 

It sounds like they are trying to reach out to more suites.  I suppose that's good, but I hope they can handle it!

[Daleed77]

7 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

It sounds like they are trying to reach out to more suites.  I suppose that's good, but I hope they can handle it!

I just got an email about all the great things for The Retreat and suites for our 3/4 sailing. There is a link for all the things that can be personalized, but the link is broken. So, I don't know if it was a form or just informational. 

 

This is our first time in a suite and it's a Sky Suite. I wasn't expecting much in terms of pre-departure communication. 

[Texed]

51 minutes ago, jelayne said:

That’s saying something‼️

 

I agree.  Cranston remembered the wine I drank from more than three years before.   😁

[schmidlapp]

On 2/20/2023 at 4:14 AM, groryjm said:

Is Olympia still running the  bar in the Retreat Lounge? If so could you ask her if she will be there in May. She is one of the best barman we have experienced in the Retreat/Michael's and dare I say it, better even than the amazing Cranston. 

 

 

She's on for about 2 1/2 more months.

 

[JDPCruisers]

Hopefully she will be back on Reflection in October. 

 

 

[Gracie115]

On 2/20/2023 at 9:46 AM, DCPIV said:

 

Great to hear!  We board on Sunday and are looking forward to it!

 

 

Typically, you don't get a call if you are in a Sky Suite or Celebrity Suite (although it has been known to happen).  You always can give them a call, though. 1-877-RETREAT.  See you on board!

We have been in a Celebrity Suite several times and have always been contacted by the onshore concierge.

[SusieAV8R]

12 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

We have been in a Celebrity Suite several times and have always been contacted by the onshore concierge.

 

13 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

We have been in a Celebrity Suite several times and have always been contacted by the onshore concierge.

Was this post covid?  If yes, was it when the ships were sailing with 60% or less capacity?

[KasioSails]

Upcoming April sailing in a Celebrity Suite on the Solstice and we received an email and response to my requests from the shoreside support over the weekend. 

[Gracie115]

8 hours ago, SusieAV8R said:

 

Was this post covid?  If yes, was it when the ships were sailing with 60% or less capacity?

 

Our Apex TA last fall was nearly 100% full and we had contact with the shoreside concierge.  That's the only post Covid Celebrity sailing we've had.  

[Cruise a holic]

We got off the Apex in January and will board again in March.  Love the retreat- spent lots of time on the Retreat sun deck and the lounge.  The restaurant was good- but we much prefer the specialty restaurants for dinner.  However the ship appeared full- in the suite area.  We do like it on the other classes of ships, but nothing like the edge class.  

[SusieAV8R]

14 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Our Apex TA last fall was nearly 100% full and we had contact with the shoreside concierge.  That's the only post Covid Celebrity sailing we've had.  

 

14 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

Our Apex TA last fall was nearly 100% full and we had contact with the shoreside concierge.  That's the only post Covid Celebrity sailing we've had.  

Thanks for  the info, Gracie115 🙂.   E-class ships may be doing more for suite guests to try to get cruisers onto the newer ships.

[schmidlapp]

5th day into our  7 night Reflection cruise. 

We're extremely glad we upgraded to a sky suite.  Ship is sailing full at over 3k passengers. Elevator etiquette is pretty much non existent.  Most public areas are busy to crowded. Dining in Ocean view cafe is typically a feeding frenzy, often difficult to find a place to sit. 

We've been spending a lot of time sea days on our balcony and in Michael's club. 

Bartenders Olympia and Cranston have taken great care of us. 

Luminae has been inconsistent. 

Our favorite server Diwi is doing a great job, especially with some menu items that have been subpar.  We stopped ordering fish as the quality and prep are weak at best.  Wife had the vegetarian lasagna a few nights ago, it was outstanding as well as the beef short ribs.   Been ordering escargot from the MDR regularly good as always.  We've been ordering steaks and lamb rare as most of them come out overdone.  I sent my first filet back last night, it was tough, stringy and overdone. Second one came out perfect. 

We've enjoyed the featured raspberry pistachio dessert almost every night. 

The Retreat hosts and  our butler have been over the top helpful. The Sky suite is extremely clean, comfortable, quiet and has a great bed.

 

[JDPCruisers]

@schmidlapp Thanks for this feedback. We are on Reflection in October for Greek Isles to Barcelona and then TA to FLL. Helpful and I hope Luminae has some of the food issues sorted out soon. Mind sharing who your Butler is?

[schmidlapp]

23 hours ago, JDPCruisers said:

@schmidlapp Thanks for this feedback. We are on Reflection in October for Greek Isles to Barcelona and then TA to FLL. Helpful and I hope Luminae has some of the food issues sorted out soon. Mind sharing who your Butler is?

Lorenzo, he's been great

[39august]

If your wife enjoyed the veggie lasagna, I advise she try the butternut squash and kale lasagna if offered. It is my favorite dish in Luminae; well, other then filet!

Edited February 25, 2023 by 39august

[Gracie115]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:03 PM, schmidlapp said:

 

We've enjoyed the featured raspberry pistachio dessert almost every night. 

 

 

 

As did we on the Apex last November.....better than most other choices

[schmidlapp]

Just got off Reflection this morning. 

Quick final summary.  

Ship was in very good condition. 

The Retreat staff is beyond excellent!   Service overall was great. We loved our sky suite.

Unfortunately like the first half of the cruise, dining the last 3 days generally was not up to par.  Quite frankly MDR food on our pre covid cruises was better than what's currently coming out of Luminae.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

On 2/24/2023 at 11:03 AM, schmidlapp said:

5th day into our  7 night Reflection cruise. 

We're extremely glad we upgraded to a sky suite.  Ship is sailing full at over 3k passengers. Elevator etiquette is pretty much non existent.  Most public areas are busy to crowded. Dining in Ocean view cafe is typically a feeding frenzy, often difficult to find a place to sit. 

We've been spending a lot of time sea days on our balcony and in Michael's club. 

Bartenders Olympia and Cranston have taken great care of us. 

Luminae has been inconsistent. 

Our favorite server Diwi is doing a great job, especially with some menu items that have been subpar.  We stopped ordering fish as the quality and prep are weak at best.  Wife had the vegetarian lasagna a few nights ago, it was outstanding as well as the beef short ribs.   Been ordering escargot from the MDR regularly good as always.  We've been ordering steaks and lamb rare as most of them come out overdone.  I sent my first filet back last night, it was tough, stringy and overdone. Second one came out perfect. 

We've enjoyed the featured raspberry pistachio dessert almost every night. 

The Retreat hosts and  our butler have been over the top helpful. The Sky suite is extremely clean, comfortable, quiet and has a great bed.

 

 

Interesting to hear about the Raspberry Pistachio desert is still on board.   It is one of my favorites.    For awhile when they published their new menus in Luminae were showing they changed the Chef B's items  

 

[morfred]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:53 AM, 4-2-N-8 said:

Edge Villa

Wow! Thanks . I did not know that.