Apex Sky Suite - Pre change booking/post change sailing

[Mimiya11]

We are just back from a transatlantic on the beautiful Apex.   There is much discussion regarding cost cutting changes to Celebrity as well as the Sky Suite experience.  Just thought I would share a few comments and observations.  

 

We chose a SS for this cruise due to the length of the cruise, pretty good pricing when we booked over 1 1/2 years pre-sailing, wanting to try the retreat experience  and having a larger cabin.  As we booked so long ago, we did receive all the perks which have changed as we all know.   Plus we had sailed on the Apex in March and the infinity balcony was a no for us and probably the reason for us not to cruise an Edge class again.     

 

The SS cabin did not disappoint.  It is beautiful, with lots of space for clothes, a beautiful large bathroom and a nice sitting area within the cabin.  But not having plugs for phone charges on both sides of the bed seemed a silly design flaw and the balcony, while larger, had two small chairs and a tiny table where there was plenty room for loungers and a large table, which detracted from trying room service on our balcony.  Once again just silly design choices. 

 

We are not butler people, but it is clear with the new suite changes, that we had a cabin attendant with a fancy title only.  He was very nice, introduced himself as soon as we were on board.   But... his role was very restricted.  Yes he could empty our fridge but said no, he cannot deliver daily fruit plates (that is now a daily room service request) .  While the Head Butler introduced himself on day one, he was never to be seen again throughout the 13 nights on the ship and we had no idea what his role was, should have been other than maybe manage the cabin attendance with fancy titles?      

 

On the Apex, Blu (for AQ guests) is a much prettier room than Luminae, which is a very large, very noisy room where the food was either terrific, boring and even bad.  Our waiter Nino and his assistant were fantastic and so was the sommelier.   The menu clearly needs help as some of the items were not tempting at all (and we eat almost everything). portions were miniscule at times, and unless you ask, you would not know that you can order French onion soup, a Caesar salad or shrimp cocktail.  Yes small things but we all know that food is a big part of cruising.      

 

But for us, the highlight of being in a suite was the Retreat.  The lounge was large with lots of couches, chairs and tables to just hang out during rainy sea days.  The outdoor area, while lovely, was not often used as weather was not great, was very windy and on rainy days, cushions were left out, resulting in chairs too wet to sit on the next day,      

The Retreat had a very committed team, who dealt with any issues instead of going to customer service, handled requests for reservations and there was even a dedicated person to book future cruises.  (good marketing)    For us, being on a long cruise with a full ship, which was very busy at all hours, the retreat area was our go to spot for morning breakfast, hanging out on the deck (for the very few days the sun shined) ), afternoon snacks and pre-dinner drinks.   

 

Having said all this, the pricing of suites has sky rocketed and may have priced us out of Sky suites in the future.     

 

    

 

  

 

 

 

[Shellyd22]

Thank you! Just curious about the canapés they advertise? How do you receive those daily? Do you have to call room service? Seems silly… 

[SouKnoMe]

5 hours ago, Mimiya11 said:

We are just back from a transatlantic on the beautiful Apex.   There is much discussion regarding cost cutting changes to Celebrity as well as the Sky Suite experience.  Just thought I would share a few comments and observations.  

 

We chose a SS for this cruise due to the length of the cruise, pretty good pricing when we booked over 1 1/2 years pre-sailing, wanting to try the retreat experience  and having a larger cabin.  As we booked so long ago, we did receive all the perks which have changed as we all know.   Plus we had sailed on the Apex in March and the infinity balcony was a no for us and probably the reason for us not to cruise an Edge class again.     

 

The SS cabin did not disappoint.  It is beautiful, with lots of space for clothes, a beautiful large bathroom and a nice sitting area within the cabin.  But not having plugs for phone charges on both sides of the bed seemed a silly design flaw and the balcony, while larger, had two small chairs and a tiny table where there was plenty room for loungers and a large table, which detracted from trying room service on our balcony.  Once again just silly design choices. 

 

We are not butler people, but it is clear with the new suite changes, that we had a cabin attendant with a fancy title only.  He was very nice, introduced himself as soon as we were on board.   But... his role was very restricted.  Yes he could empty our fridge but said no, he cannot deliver daily fruit plates (that is now a daily room service request) .  While the Head Butler introduced himself on day one, he was never to be seen again throughout the 13 nights on the ship and we had no idea what his role was, should have been other than maybe manage the cabin attendance with fancy titles?      

 

On the Apex, Blu (for AQ guests) is a much prettier room than Luminae, which is a very large, very noisy room where the food was either terrific, boring and even bad.  Our waiter Nino and his assistant were fantastic and so was the sommelier.   The menu clearly needs help as some of the items were not tempting at all (and we eat almost everything). portions were miniscule at times, and unless you ask, you would not know that you can order French onion soup, a Caesar salad or shrimp cocktail.  Yes small things but we all know that food is a big part of cruising.      

 

But for us, the highlight of being in a suite was the Retreat.  The lounge was large with lots of couches, chairs and tables to just hang out during rainy sea days.  The outdoor area, while lovely, was not often used as weather was not great, was very windy and on rainy days, cushions were left out, resulting in chairs too wet to sit on the next day,      

The Retreat had a very committed team, who dealt with any issues instead of going to customer service, handled requests for reservations and there was even a dedicated person to book future cruises.  (good marketing)    For us, being on a long cruise with a full ship, which was very busy at all hours, the retreat area was our go to spot for morning breakfast, hanging out on the deck (for the very few days the sun shined) ), afternoon snacks and pre-dinner drinks.   

 

Having said all this, the pricing of suites has sky rocketed and may have priced us out of Sky suites in the future.     

 

    

 

  

 

 

 

Thank you for your review. I hate to be nickeled and dimed without good service. For the cost of the accommodations I would have thought that they would empty the servi-bar if asked. You can’t force people to purchase. 
 

And to have to pay room service fees and gratuity for those little canapés is ridiculous. 
 

I haven’t been on a cruise in years, but was introduced to Celebrity Equinox its first summer. Two back to back med cruises, and even NYE on Summit. Celebrity has always been worth my money, but not at the cost of using the good ole bait and switch. 

[George C]

Agree current prices of suites is ridiculous. All my cruises on celebrity have been in suites but price of last years sky suite on beyond have went over 1k per person. So we will book grand suites on rccl for approximately 2k less per person or MSc yacht club.

[Mimiya11]

13 hours ago, Shellyd22 said:

Thank you! Just curious about the canapés they advertise? How do you receive those daily? Do you have to call room service? Seems silly… 

Canapes are no longer routinely delivered daily as before.   But they were not good so for us not missed at all.  You can call room service but apparently you need to arrange that daily.  

But - 

between 3 - 5 the Retreat Lounge had a really nice set up with little sandwiches, one day they had small empanadas, scones, jam etc.  We often just took them back to our cabin or there is plenty of spots to enjoy them in the lounge.  

Later around 5 I think, they set up charcuterie items, cheese, meats, nuts, chips.

Oh and in the mornings, if you choose not to go to Luminae or the buffet, they set up continental breakfast with cheese, muffins, yogurt, muesli, fruit etc.  

 

[Mimiya11]

12 hours ago, SouKnoMe said:

Thank you for your review. I hate to be nickeled and dimed without good service. For the cost of the accommodations I would have thought that they would empty the servi-bar if asked. You can’t force people to purchase. 
 

And to have to pay room service fees and gratuity for those little canapés is ridiculous. 
 

I haven’t been on a cruise in years, but was introduced to Celebrity Equinox its first summer. Two back to back med cruises, and even NYE on Summit. Celebrity has always been worth my money, but not at the cost of using the good ole bait and switch. 

 

To clarify, they do empty the bar.   And you can bring in any items from the fridge in the Retreat Lounge to  your cabin.  

Suite guests do not pay room service fees and those canapes were awful so wouldn't want them for free.  LOL    We were happy to go to get snacks in the lounge which were way better than those ridiculous canapes