Surcharges for drinks in Retreat Lounge

[mac_tlc]

9 hours ago, billc23 said:

Me too! Is there a time and place CC members on this sailing plan to meet?

There were a bunch of us that booked a suite at a great price. Plan is for a 2pm meet up in Retreat Lounge on departure day. 
 

I am sure that @Mrs_Tiki will be there 😜.
 

 

mac_tlc

[billc23]

33 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

There were a bunch of us that booked a suite at a great price. Plan is for a 2pm meet up in Retreat Lounge on departure day. 
 

I am sure that @Mrs_Tiki will be there 😜.
 

 

mac_tlc

I'll try to be there. I am a CT Refugee... 

[phoenix_dream]

9 hours ago, Julma said:

People who can afford the PH, very often can because they've kept track of the "couple of bucks" for years.

That is so very, very true!  I am enjoying a reasonably comfortable retirement exactly because I watched those nickels and dimes closely through the years (along with hard work of course).  Not everyone who can afford a PH got there because the money fairy dropped some lucky fairy dust on them.  I made lots of sacrifices over the years to get where I am now as I'm sure many others have as well.

[CruiseRQA]

I think the common theme here is that when you pay money for a suite you are paying for an experience.   My two stays in suites (Apex and Beyond) were great.   Although we never found a use for the butler it was nice having good wines poured for you at dinner in the Luminae or a nice whisk(e)y in the lounge without being asked to pay something.   It was part of a nice experience.   Being asked for another 2 bucks for a glass of wine at dinner?   Can most of us afford it?  Sure ... but it sure is tacky and worsens the experience. 

[Dolebludger]

Yes, some of us worked very hard to get where we are now. And we made sure that when we bought something, it was the best deal for what we were getting. That is why we have no cruises booked in the Retreat, but have two cruises booked on Regent. Now I am not a paid representative of that line, which isn’t totally perfect either. Indeed, I have heard some good things about Viking Ocean, with its $14pdpp total beverage inclusive package and Oceania too. And I like Silversea and their small ships, but those of us from W. Colorado mountains maybe don’t want to “dress up” as much as required..but, the price/value relationship for the Retreat now is a failure. Sorry and sad, but true. It didn’t used to be that way.

[JDPCruisers]

16 hours ago, RichYak said:

So, the exact same service one would expect from a stateroom attendant in any AQ cabin. 

Yes, had not changed from previous cruises. When we need anything else we contact Tony the head butler or Jiro the Concierge. Was not a dedicated butler but he was available, would see him in the hallways frequently and he would ask if there was anything we needed. Not the same as previously but not as bad as others have experienced and reported on CC.

[RichYak]

15 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

Yes, had not changed from previous cruises. When we need anything else we contact Tony the head butler or Jiro the Concierge. Was not a dedicated butler but he was available, would see him in the hallways frequently and he would ask if there was anything we needed. Not the same as previously but not as bad as others have experienced and reported on CC.

I see from your signature that you sailed M class. My guess is that the impact of the butler cutbacks is felt the least on M class ships where there are the fewest number of Sky Suites. E class is likely a different story.

[JDPCruisers]

29 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I see from your signature that you sailed M class. My guess is that the impact of the butler cutbacks is felt the least on M class ships where there are the fewest number of Sky Suites. E class is likely a different story.

Very likely the case and we will find out on Beyond this spring, which will be first time back on E-class since the unfortunate negative changes.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

I see from your signature that you sailed M class. My guess is that the impact of the butler cutbacks is felt the least on M class ships where there are the fewest number of Sky Suites. E class is likely a different story.

 

 I agree with you and am hoping this is the case as our next cruise is on Millennium in an Aqua Sky Suite.   However, my expectations at this point are pretty low. 

 

[Whinenowine]

On 1/10/2024 at 9:35 AM, tnm6217 said:

I have also moved on to other lines, and after my Summit sailing this weekend, I only have cruises booked with Silversea, Regent, and Windstar. 

 

My 5 night Summit sailing in a Sky Suite for two was about $4500 ($900/day), booked last summer. Thankfully it includes PDP, wifi, and gratuities.

 

For comparison, last fall, I booked a 7 night Alaska cruise in mid-June on Silver Muse for two for $11,000 ($1,375/day including the pre-cruise stay) in a Verandah stateroom. That fare includes:

 

For me, there's just so much more value in going with a truly all-included luxury line.  Service was quicker all around due to no one having to charge anything. I used my room key only to get into my room...and that made my mind up. I was already fully paid for my sailing this weekend, but I chose to loose my $400 NRD and cancel my February Summit cruise because I couldn't justify the cost.

 

Duc du Valmer is trash. Period. The fact that they can't even put the decent Haslinger champagne in the room is sad. 

 

I'm very much looking forward to taking my carry on suitcase down to the Lounge to load up on water for the week when I board on Saturday (said with serious sarcasm).

 

I am in my late 30s and have no concerns about sailing on luxury lines with folks who are older than me. On my Crystal cruise, I met the greatest group of folks, and the oldest one in our group was the one who got me out of my shell and convinced me to sing karaoke!

 

Totally agree (and btw I was 38 when I sailed on SS for the first time, and I still had a blast).  Everyone has their own personal view of course, but for me all you give up on the smaller luxe ships is the big ship 'vibe' and entertainment options of a 3000 person X ship. Personally I'm good with that.

 

Fed up with X's price increases (and service/benefits cuts) I booked a 7day Caribbean cruise in a Concierge Suite (Category D) on the Regent Grandeur for later this year. The cabin is more than 10% larger than a Sky Suite, but with a balcony almost 2x the size of a Sky Suite balcony. As with your SS cruise, my Grandeur cruise includes a pre-cruise stay at a 5-star Miami hotel, all drinks, all specialty restaurants, all tips/gratuities, all taxes, an excursion in each port and concierge (but not butler) service. It also includes $1,000 in OBC--I guess for spa services or reserve wine/liquor, given all else is already paid for.

 

Stripping out the airfare benefit to compare apples to apples, the Regent cruise is under $600pp/pd for their newest, nicest ship.  For comparison purposes I looked at all of X's Caribbean itineraries for that same week and the cheapest SS I saw was $640pp/pd--for just the cruise/food/booze.  That price didn't include taxes, tips, specialty dining, excursions, the pre-cruise hotel, etc.  To me that's just an economic no brainer.  Odd to say it, but Celebrity has priced me up to Regent.

[Dolebludger]

Yes, and on Regent, many shore excursions are included, but some are at extra charge. Those premium shore excursions are the best way to spend the $1000 room credit.

[Whinenowine]

9 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Yes, and on Regent, many shore excursions are included, but some are at extra charge. Those premium shore excursions are the best way to spend the $1000 room credit.

Agreed, @Dolebludger, though I've already booked all my excursions and was fine with just about all the included ones. 

[tnm6217]

Well, the “Elevated” wines look to be official now. The app is showing Classic, Premium, and Elevated offerings in MDR (though not in Luminae, which seems odd) for my Saturday Summit sailing.

 

[tfred]

the Elevated looks like more fun. Why these aren't included for a suite is beyond me with Retreat prices these days

 

my guess is that a number of all of these wines will not be available - judging only by my history in previous Retreat sailings

 

also - no desert wine listed. I think in the past they were, although hit and miss availability 

[ito717]

On Silhouette now in a RS. Asked for a glass of Decoy last night in the retreat lounge and was told they no longer stock it there since it would be an upcharge and they don’t have the ability to make the charge at the bar in the retreat.

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, ito717 said:

On Silhouette now in a RS. Asked for a glass of Decoy last night in the retreat lounge and was told they no longer stock it there since it would be an upcharge and they don’t have the ability to make the charge at the bar in the retreat.

Wow… I guess we could have foreseen this situation given LBH’s comments about “no upcharge” in the Retreat.  Now you have to leave the Retreat if you want a palatable glass of wine you are willing to pay extra for!  We will be drinking less wine on our next cruise because there won’t be many drinkable choices.  Fortunately, in AUS/NZ there is no shortage of reasonably priced highly regarded wines to savor on shore 😍.  It is frustrating that we paid dearly for a Retreat experience that no longer exists and we were never notified by Celebrity of any of the changes degrading the service.

[George C]

3 hours ago, ito717 said:

On Silhouette now in a RS. Asked for a glass of Decoy last night in the retreat lounge and was told they no longer stock it there since it would be an upcharge and they don’t have the ability to make the charge at the bar in the retreat.

That sucks , Decoy is our choice for red wine we sail in 2 months on summit also in a royal suite , last year we traded our champagne for two bottles of decoy.

[vevigreece]

1 hour ago, 81Zoomie said:

Wow… I guess we could have foreseen this situation given LBH’s comments about “no upcharge” in the Retreat.  Now you have to leave the Retreat if you want a palatable glass of wine you are willing to pay extra for!  We will be drinking less wine on our next cruise because there won’t be many drinkable choices.  Fortunately, in AUS/NZ there is no shortage of reasonably priced highly regarded wines to savor on shore 😍.  It is frustrating that we paid dearly for a Retreat experience that no longer exists and we were never notified by Celebrity of any of the changes degrading the service.

Exactly how we feel. If you are making these types of changes you should give people the option of cancelling their drink packages.  
 

This is our 10th cruise with Celebrity, first time in a suite, we are usually in Aqua class.  We have always booked a future cruise while on board, I don’t think we will be doing it this time☹️.  Very disappointed.  

[81Zoomie]

4 hours ago, ito717 said:

On Silhouette now in a RS. Asked for a glass of Decoy last night in the retreat lounge and was told they no longer stock it there since it would be an upcharge and they don’t have the ability to make the charge at the bar in the retreat.

@ito717, could you tell us what they offered you instead of the Decoy?

[foze]

51 minutes ago, George C said:

That sucks , Decoy is our choice for red wine we sail in 2 months on summit also in a royal suite , last year we traded our champagne for two bottles of decoy.

A lot of prices went up significantly in mid/late december. The irritating thing is that in Luminae about half of the wines have tripped over the $15 limit. My two conspiracy theories:

 

It is to stop passengers simply draining bottle after bottle of wine and getting a little... raucous.

 

It is to stop the wine servers from just filling your glass up when half empty and recording it as a full glass, with the subsequent "tip" a lot more frequently. The new CEO is apparently a real bean counter, so...

[Cruise Junky]

Wow, so that’s her answer?  Just remove anything decent and serve swill?   Not the sharpest tool in the shed is she?  

[Fsulaw1]

I had to insert my 2 cents worth here.  We had 3 sky suite bookings for 23 and 24, booked before the reductions, and the major price increases.  We sailed the Beyond in November and we did enjoy it.  We are on her again in April and then the edge to hawaii in September.  I am not making any more future bookings with Celebrity due to these god awful reductions with price increases!  I agree with some comments above about Regent.  When I compared a 2 week Alaska trip on Regent, Celebrity and others, Regent came out ahead in both benefits and price (so guess what I booked?)  We just disembarked the Xmas cruise on the new Grandeur, and it was fabulous!  Service and food were top notch!  I had a little problem with the brand new bed (they even replaced the mattress for me). It still isn’t my favorite bed (kinda soft) but all else was great!

[Dr. Pam]

1 hour ago, 81Zoomie said:

@ito717, could you tell us what they offered you instead of the Decoy?

This is not good.😖Is Celebrity trying to push their Retreat guests away for a couple of dollars? Whoah.🤑

We are on the Solstice in a RS for an Asian cruise.  I will report back my findings and thoughts.  DH and I were looking forward to more cruises in the future.... and we will.  However, I will now be checking out other lines that value their clients.  Very disappointed to read this. 

Edited January 13 by Dr. Pam

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, ito717 said:

On Silhouette now in a RS. Asked for a glass of Decoy last night in the retreat lounge and was told they no longer stock it there since it would be an upcharge and they don’t have the ability to make the charge at the bar in the retreat.

That would be a disappointment.  Are they trying to chase people away from the Retreat?

 

I was on last week on Millie.  I was able to get Ginrich Hills,  FreeMark Abbey,  and Decoy.  I was not in the suites.  I was able to get these from Cellar Masters, Blu,  and Tuscan.  I always paid an upcharge.  

 

But my point is why do you have to go outside of the retreat to get a decent glass of wine?  Does that not defeat the point of the Retreat?

[Moby Jones]

So we're currently on Beyond. We've ordered a couple of glasses on wine attracting an upcharge. Be aware we're being charged per glass. So a glass of Decoy and a refill will be $4.80 etc.