Did Celebrity eliminate helipad sailaway on the Equinox?

[holidaylover10]

On 9/20/2023 at 5:32 AM, Barb1403 said:

On the Eclipse they now charge for helipad on the sail away day and it ain’t cheap.

We have just returned from the Eclipse, had a invite to sail away in Vancouver without charge.

[gerelmx]

We have several invitations to Sail Away at the helipad

Vancouver

 

San Francisco

 

Last cruise August 2022 onboard the Summit Reykjavik to Boston NO invitations

[kokopelli-az]

We were just on the Equinox in a suite.  Here's our invitation to the helipad.  

[Harborgirl246]

Equinox last week, Invited to helipad leaving Bimini.

[di T]

Have been invited lots of times usually give it a miss, last cruise which we have just returned from we attended it was out of Greece and a beautiful day, the week before( we were b2b) We got the invite but didn’t bother.Not sure if it’s Captains club status or the fact most of our cruises are back to backs.But definitely nothing to do with staterooms are these cruises we were in inside cabins.

[Texed]

On 9/19/2023 at 7:27 PM, peterde said:

Did they eliminate that perk (for CC and up) or is there another reason why the helipad isn’t being used anymore? 

 

Maybe it because Virgin Voyages is shooting across the bow of Celebrity's ships. 😁

 

[jmfdr]

On 9/21/2023 at 12:11 PM, islabahia said:

We have been invited to sailaway on the helipad several times.  For us it was a one and done.

I agree.  It was crowded and noisy.  Only the people in the front row had any real view.  We soon left and went to a top deck.  We have frequently been invited to the helipad for sailaway but can't imagine why anyone would choose that option.  Let alone, pay for it!!!

[doghog]

58 minutes ago, jmfdr said:

I agree.  It was crowded and noisy.  Only the people in the front row had any real view.  We soon left and went to a top deck.  We have frequently been invited to the helipad for sailaway but can't imagine why anyone would choose that option.  Let alone, pay for it!!!

Your experiences were a lot different than ours. Never felt crowed or noisy. Sometimes a little windy but well worth the experience. 

[lexmiller]

1 hour ago, jmfdr said:

I agree.  It was crowded and noisy.  Only the people in the front row had any real view.  We soon left and went to a top deck.  We have frequently been invited to the helipad for sailaway but can't imagine why anyone would choose that option.  Let alone, pay for it!!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, we LOVE the helipad experience.  We've been invited every cruise geesch, for the past maybe 15 cruises if memory serves!  We are suckers for it!  Some of our favorite photos of us as a couple are on the helipad with the bridge behind us and no other passengers in the frame (we always wait for the deck to clear!).  It's just a ton of fun for us, it really is.  But pay for it, not us personally, no.  But as I stated above in my earlier post, I see why Celebrity would begin to charge - so that passengers without the status can still experience it if they'd like to.  It's the same idea as charging for the Behind the Scenes tour and the Art Tour on the Edge Class ships, a revenue earner.......I do "assume"/hope, that invitations will continue to be sent as in the past, but that the charge thing is for those that would not otherwise be invited......I guess we will see!

Edited September 24, 2023 by lexmiller