Getting Retreat access for a second cabin during booking?

[Kevin]

I have booked my first Celebrity cruise. 

 

While going through my options I looked at booking a Magic Carpet Sky Suite and the adjoining Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda on the Beyond.

 

While I want to have access to the Retreat, I don't want to have access if my adult kids do not as well.

 

While going through the booking I managed to get the two rooms selected I wanted and was happy to see the option to upgrade the Infinite Veranda room to The Retreat.

 

 

I selected The Retreat and went through the rest of the options and completed the booking.

 

Now I am second guessing if the second cabin really has access to The Retreat.

 

I didn't take any screen captures when I did my booking but was able to get the website to behave the same way today for another attempted booking.

 

Here is what it says just before completing the booking for the non suite room.  It once again mentions The Retreat.

 

I tried to call Celebrity but they are closed for the night.

 

By booking the connecting rooms do both get The Retreat access or will I be really disappointed?

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Kevin
Spelling error

[thebutlerdidit]

I was wondering how that would work for those connecting rooms. I think it’s a nice option for families.

[micruiser2002]

Did you get an invoice emailed to you?  Does it show the Retreat on that cabin?  Or even look online at your booking and see what it says.

[Kevin]

31 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Did you get an invoice emailed to you?  Does it show the Retreat on that cabin?  Or even look online at your booking and see what it says.

No I never got an invoice for either room. That is why I tried to call. 
 

Neither room mentions anything about The Retreat or gratuities being included or drinks or wifi on the reservation details page online. So not sure that means anything. 
 

Edited to add:

Found the invoice to the suite in my wife’s email. Checking with my daughter to see if she got the invoice for the other room. I imagine she did. 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Kevin

[wrk2cruise]

The invoice should have a line item indicating Retreat or in the Promotions section some indication of Retreat.

 

I would be very surprised if Celebrity IT could get this right when booking via the web site.   I'd make sure I had a copy of all the screen shots which seem to indicate what you thought you were booking include the Retreat for both rooms.

[jelayne]

If you haven’t already paid the deposit then put both cabins on hold. Then either find a good TA who can clarify what you get and give you about 10% of your fare in refundable OBC or call Celebrity to convert your booking from hold and ask questions and get a copy of the booking confirmations before hanging up

[Kevin]

After getting ahold of the invoice from my daughter it did not appear that The Retreat access was included despite what the website had said during booking.

 

So I sent an email to Celebrity reservations but got an immediate response to say the average response time right now is 30 days.

 

An hour on hold got me connected to reservations who confirmed that there was no retreat access for the second cabin.  I asked to speak with a supervisor and after another 20 minutes or so I was given the option to buy Retreat access.  Something the web page made me think I had already done.

 

In any event I got transferred to the retreat department.

 

Once there they were not able to add retreat access to the room.  Either all the available access has already been sold or it has not been made available to sell yet.

 

At this point I mentioned to the person I was speaking to that I had understood I already had access for that cabin based on my experience during booking and the screen captures I had sent.  She had no knowledge of what had already transpired during the hour I had already spent with reservations

 

She then asked me to send the screen captures to a different email address and says I will hear back from her on Thursday.

[shirazcruiser]

I had never heard of a non-suite cabin booked with a suite being offered the Retreat upgrade.  Would that mean the Veranda cabin could eat in Luminae and enjoy the unlimited beverages in the Retreat Lounge?

[swjumbo]

Why not book two suites? 
Then you’ll definitely all have access to the Retreat.

[Kevin]

18 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

I had never heard of a non-suite cabin booked with a suite being offered the Retreat upgrade.  Would that mean the Veranda cabin could eat in Luminae and enjoy the unlimited beverages in the Retreat Lounge?

That is what I understood while making the booking based on what was shown to me. 

[Kevin]

24 minutes ago, swjumbo said:

Why not book two suites? 
Then you’ll definitely all have access to the Retreat.

Originally I looked at two infinite veranda. 

 

Then I tried to see what my options were with a suite and the connecting room.  The website then offered up an upgrade to The Retreat for the connecting room, or so I thought.

 

 

[shirazcruiser]

I looked at Celebrity Cruises "The Retreat Frequently Asked Questions" and one of the questions was: 

Can guests staying in a stateroom that adjoins to a suite access The Retreat?

No, only guests of The Retreat may access The Retreat

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/the-retreat

Maybe they haven't updated their website to reflect the option to pay for an upgrade.

Edited July 2, 2023 by shirazcruiser

[micruiser2002]

1 hour ago, shirazcruiser said:

I looked at Celebrity Cruises "The Retreat Frequently Asked Questions" and one of the questions was: 

Can guests staying in a stateroom that adjoins to a suite access The Retreat?

No, only guests of The Retreat may access The Retreat

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/the-retreat

Maybe they haven't updated their website to reflect the option to pay for an upgrade.

That is not what this person is talking about.  On the ships with the Sky Suites and connected Verandas there is an option to purchase the Retreat benefits for the 2nd cabin.  If you look at the previous screen shots you can see this option is there for the veranda cabin.

[micruiser2002]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

Originally I looked at two infinite veranda. 

 

Then I tried to see what my options were with a suite and the connecting room.  The website then offered up an upgrade to The Retreat for the connecting room, or so I thought.

 

 

Have you tried to do another mock booking?  Also check to see what the price of just a similar category veranda is and make sure it is the same as you were charged.  That should at least give you an idea if the Retreat upgrade for that room was not added.

[shirazcruiser]

7 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

That is not what this person is talking about.  On the ships with the Sky Suites and connected Verandas there is an option to purchase the Retreat benefits for the 2nd cabin.  If you look at the previous screen shots you can see this option is there for the veranda cabin.

We always book a suite and was interested in the same scnerio for our son/DIL.  I did several mock bookings on Edge with a Magic Carpet SS/adjoining Veranda, but the Retreat upgrade option was never offered...????

Edited July 3, 2023 by shirazcruiser

[micruiser2002]

2 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

We always book a suite and was interested in the same scnerio for our son/DIL.  I did several mock bookings on Edge with a Magic Carpet SS/adjoining Veranda, but the Retreat upgrade option was never offered...????

I have heard others have been able to do this by calling in.  I think everything is based on availability also.

[shirazcruiser]

1 minute ago, micruiser2002 said:

I have heard others have been able to do this by calling in.  I think everything is based on availability also.

Does the Veranda cabin have access to Luminae and the Retreat Lounge?

[Kevin]

8 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Have you tried to do another mock booking?  Also check to see what the price of just a similar category veranda is and make sure it is the same as you were charged.  That should at least give you an idea if the Retreat upgrade for that room was not added.

Yes to the mock booking,  That is how I ended up getting the screen captures as I didn't think to get them from my actual booking.

 

While the web site indicates it is adding Retreat benefits, what actually gets added is the all included package.

 

 

[micruiser2002]

4 minutes ago, Kevin said:

Yes to the mock booking,  That is how I ended up getting the screen captures as I didn't think to get them from my actual booking.

 

While the web site indicates it is adding Retreat benefits, what actually gets added is the all included package.

 

 

You screen shot specifically says Retreat on the price breakdown page, the all included does not say that.  Did you check a veranda same category on it's own to see if the price is the same?  

[Kevin]

10 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

We always book a suite and was interested in the same scnerio for our son/DIL.  I did several mock bookings on Edge with a Magic Carpet SS/adjoining Veranda, but the Retreat upgrade option was never offered...????

I just did one on the Edge and got offered what appears to be an upgrade to The Retreat but is actually All Included.

 

 

Results in:

[micruiser2002]

6 minutes ago, shirazcruiser said:

Does the Veranda cabin have access to Luminae and the Retreat Lounge?

If you pay additional to get the Retreat access then yes they get to use all the Retreat benefits.

[micruiser2002]

1 minute ago, Kevin said:

I just did one on the Edge and got offered what appears to be an upgrade to The Retreat but is actually All Included.

 

 

Results in:

Yes but the price breakdown on the Veranda is still showing Retreat.  I did a mock booking on a different sailing and when I selected the All Included it shows - All Included on the price page.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

There is sometimes an option to purchase retreat benefits for others sailing with you but not in a suite. If it is offered it is only offered to the highest level suites and costs about $100 PP PD for the whole cruise. With the way suites have been selling it is probably not available that often.

[soniam]

I remember seeing something about this, but I can't remember where. I did find a Cruise Critic thread and a corporate page for Celebrity that mentions these "family suites" where one room is a suite and the connecting room is not. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2562137-connecting-cabins-on-the-edge-lots-of-interesting-options/

 

https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/content/uploads/2017/07/Edge_Fact_Sheet.pdf

 

[Kevin]

Just now, micruiser2002 said:

Yes but the price breakdown on the Veranda is still showing Retreat.  I did a mock booking on a different sailing and when I selected the All Included it shows - All Included on the price page.

Which is why I thought I was upgrading the veranda cabin to have retreat access.

 

Hopefully Celebrity gets back to me as promised on Thursday.