Suite Enhancements

[kenb]

Here is the info about the "stocked minibar" in the suites that are not the upper suites.                     

• Complimentary minibar stocked with soda and beer on embarkation day and water restocked daily.                                                                               So no more over priced liquor and wine will be in the minibar.

Edited May 24 by kenb
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[phoenix_dream]

7 hours ago, chemmo said:

This has not been listed as a perk before. However, I have heard of it being given on a few reviews.
 

From personal experience we have never been offered it (or requested it).
 

I can’t comment on E class ships but I think it is a wrong move on S class simply because of the size/design. In our experience on M class Persian Gardens isn’t usually mega busy, perhaps because it isn’t that nice to be in on. However, on S class it can already be over busy owing to the small number of tiled beds (and people being a bit greedy with time spent on them). Not really fair on Aqua guests and those paying for a pass to suddenly make it available for more guests…I can see complaints from many here. Perhaps better to allow RS guests and above to have one/two free visits pre booked. 

I agree.  I'm all for giving more benefits to suites considering the pricing, but this will cause problems.  My favorite part is the beds but I gave up even trying years ago with people hogging them for hours and hours, often taking long naps on them.  Then they created AQ Sky Suites so people who wanted better locations (i.e., not under the buffet with rolling carts all night!!) had to pay extra to get those and added them to the mix  - a sore point with me as I literally had to do that with a booking I made yesterday as the only remaining SS were in the worst spots under the buffet. That change made me very, very unhappy.   Now adding high level suites?  It's unsustainable and unfair.  

[DaKahuna]

21 hours ago, ggo85 said:

I was wondering if they'd mention the "enhancement" of no longer having loungers or footstools in Retreat suites.

 

 This baffles me - I was just in an Aqua Sky Suite on Millennium and we had loungers on our balcony and foot stools in our room?   Am I missing something? 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

18 hours ago, markeb said:

I think the shoe shine has always been there, but it's not something they mention onboard.

 

 I was told it was no longer available when I asked on my cruise in a sky suite earlier this month. 

 

 

[39august]

The mini bar sounds like it has always been for the past 3 years that we have been in Sky Suites. So no difference. 

[DaKahuna]

13 hours ago, voyager1964 said:

Is it still the case that the breakfast ends at 9:00 am, even on a sea day? This is unbelievably early. Here is what the Suite Enhancement Flyer says on p.5 (A Day in the Retreat):

 

"9:00AM — WAKE UP IN TOTAL COMFORT"

 

Interestingly, the proposed day schedule does not consider a breakfast.

 

<rant>

Read was is described under the Wake up in Total comfort -- it's all about relaxing comfortably in your room.  Nothing at all about having breakfast at lunch time.  

 

I personally believe those working in Luminae need a bit of time here and there to relax and get ready for the next meal.   If you want breakfast dealyed, when would you want lunch started?  Ending?  and if lunch is dealyed an hour or so for your convenience what about dinner?  Keep Luminae open until 10 PM?   

 

Having Luminae open beyond 9 AM would have a serious ripple effect that needs to be considered.   If you want breakfast, get up earlier.  If you want to sleep until 9 AM, then do that but don't expect both - it's not advertised anywhere as such. 

 

</rant>

 

 

[C-Dragons]

18 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

<rant>

Read was is described under the Wake up in Total comfort -- it's all about relaxing comfortably in your room.  Nothing at all about having breakfast at lunch time.  

 

I personally believe those working in Luminae need a bit of time here and there to relax and get ready for the next meal.   If you want breakfast dealyed, when would you want lunch started?  Ending?  and if lunch is dealyed an hour or so for your convenience what about dinner?  Keep Luminae open until 10 PM?   

 

Having Luminae open beyond 9 AM would have a serious ripple effect that needs to be considered. 

I agree.

[Cap_D]

11 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

I agree.

Strongly disagree.  The Luminae staff aren't doing anyone a favor by being open or serving food, it's their job and it's a key feature and cost of Retreat.  For thousands of dollars a day the Retreat experience should be built around the passengers and not the other way around.  Few resorts would shut down hot breakfast at 9 am, especially on holidays like Easter or weekends (although on a ship there's no such distinction).  And, on port days there is no lunch served for Retreat guests at Luminae.  Further, early end time is an issue on specific port days when one can't depart the ship until 10 am or later.  Even McDonald's serves breakfast to 10:30 am.   The Luminae dining room can't handle everyone at opening, too.  FWIW, on port days the Luminae staff are assigned to the OVC for lunch, which isn't a break. 

Edited May 24 by Cap_D

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Strongly disagree.  The Luminae staff aren't doing anyone a favor by being open or serving food, it's their job and it's a key feature and cost of Retreat.  For thousands of dollars a day the Retreat experience should be built around the passengers and not the other way around.  Few resorts would shut down hot breakfast at 9 am, especially on holidays like Easter or weekends (although on a ship there's no such distinction).  And, on port days there is no lunch served for Retreat guests at Luminae.  Further, early end time is an issue on port days when one can't depart the ship until 10 am or later.  Even McDonald's serves breakfast to 10:30 am.  FWIW, on port days the Luminae staff are assigned to the OVC for lunch, which isn't a break. 

Thank you, but we are quite familiar with the Retreat . 😉

And our room service breakfast order is placed out every night so by 9am the next morning we are usually finished with breakfast.

YMMV 

 

On Port days the Oceanview Cafe is open for Lunch

[jcpc]

Well in my opinion the suite “enhancements” would need to be pretty substantial to justify the price Celebrity is charging for Retreat.  I don’t feel these enhancements are substantial at all.  

[Straughn]

I liked it, in the early days of Luminae, when breakfast went til 9:30 on sea days and ended at 9:00 on port days. When that stopped, I asked why they eliminated the 9:30 end time and made it 9:00 every day. The explanation from the Luminae manager was that it was too confusing for people and they were upset on port days when they found the restaurant was closed if they showed up just before 9:30.

[Dolebludger]

I’m waiting to what is in the mini bar (and how much) in SS and CS from someone who has cruised after the “enhancement”. It seems from reading this thread that it included only a one time fill of soda and beer on a complementary basis. (Not great on longer cruises.) And for the record, lines like Regent include refil of these items on request, plus spirits and wine.

[Jim_Iain]

22 hours ago, ggo85 said:

New menus aren't an enhancement.  Menus should change with some frequency.  New wines may or may not be better -- they could be cheaper and worse.  In some suites, you can order off of any menu (including specialty restaurants) for room service, so not an enhancement there either.  

 

When you hear "stocked mini bar," consider what that really means.  Currently on X, it's non-alcoholic drinks and beer.  No wine or hard liquor (you do get 2 bottles of wine but they are not replenished for free).  To be fair, even most luxury lines do not include hard liquor in the mini bar, though they do include wine.  Thus, don't assume you'll see anything more than what's available now.

 

The new menus are the ones they released in November and have finally been rolled out fleet wide.   Why it takes 6-7 months to roll out menus is just something I don't understand. 

 

Unfortunately many of my favorites disappeared and deserts went on Chocolate overload.

 

The main difference was they chaned one entree per day and swapped our Daniel B's menu to the one that includes the Chocolate Poop. 

[Beachlover1989]

Overall, I will say I'm cautiously optimistic....too many times it seems that what has been communicated to us, has not been communicated to the staff on the ship.  And I can see where several of these, at the very least, could be interpreted in a couple of different ways. I just hope we have a butler who is willing to help us in any way, and interprets this in the way that is most beneficial to the customer....

[goofysmom99]

The only "enhancement" I see for a sky suite is the swell butler chat feature.  Big woo.  Meanwhile X reduced my OBC for booking onboard (repo S1) to $125 from $200, and military discount to $125 from $200.  $150 total OBC reduction.  Both cuts were blithely explained away = I'm solo and have zenith discount.  The onboard booking OBC is supposed to be per cabin, not per person.  I'm seriously steamed.  I might cool off, but nope, not yet.  So since Silversea deposits are refundable right now (less $250 admin fee), I've booked them, too. If I cool off eventually, I'll take both repos; if not, then just Silversea.  I so appreciate X's spin managers "giving" me "enhancements" that cost nothing while grabbing my OBCs.  Grumble, grumble, grumble.

[billc23]

2 hours ago, Cap_D said:

FWIW, on port days the Luminae staff are assigned to the OVC for lunch, which isn't a break. 

Luminae typically closes at 8:30 for breakfast on a port day.

[billc23]

20 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

So since Silversea deposits are refundable right now (less $250 admin fee)

The admin fee is recoverable as a FCC applied to an existing or future booking. 

[billc23]

13 hours ago, Cap_D said:

  So, my point is Retreat staff should be hospitable and not indifferent.  As it is, the Retreat experience is a bit of a farce, with made up scarcity, and challenges that require solving for by the paying guest.  

When I tried a Luxury line a few years ago - similar pricing to a sky suite - I was astounded by the step up in service compared to the Retreat. Issues that the Retreat team "resolves" on a Celebrity sailing just did not exist. 

[raudacruise]

23 hours ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

We can dine at the specialty restaurants for free?  Did I understand correctly?

Free for Royal Suite and above.  Oops, answered too fast.  (Already answered here several times.)

 

One cruise I ate in Murano 6 times.  On another cruise I didn’t go once.

Edited May 24 by raudacruise

[hcat]

12 hours ago, chemmo said:

This has not been listed as a perk before. However, I have heard of it being given on a few reviews.
 

From personal experience we have never been offered it (or requested it).
 

I can’t comment on E class ships but I think it is a wrong move on S class simply because of the size/design. In our experience on M class Persian Gardens isn’t usually mega busy, perhaps because it isn’t that nice to be in on. However, on S class it can already be over busy owing to the small number of tiled beds (and people being a bit greedy with time spent on them). Not really fair on Aqua guests and those paying for a pass to suddenly make it available for more guests…I can see complaints from many here. Perhaps better to allow RS guests and above to have one/two free visits pre booked. 

This is another big  dilution of AQ Class perks, yet prices  for those AQ Class rooms are now sky high!

 

  AQ Class was designed initially for  healthy dining ( BLU) and  a spa like experience. 

 

FIRST DILUTION:

Allowed suite guests in ("subject to availability"..but they often hop the lines and BLU fills to capacity).  Once Luminae was established, BLU should have been back to  an AQ Class exclusive.  If Luminae is inferior and not popular..why not improve it?

 

SECOND DILUTION: 

No more afternoon canapes..yet Concierge Class has them..for better or worse. Also more events exclusive for CC Classm

 

THIRD DILUTION:  Loss of priority boarding  at times to Concierge Class so those pax can get on board for the lunch. 

 

NEW DILUTION OF AQ CLASS:

Adding suite guest access to Persian Garden and Thermal suite( E Class).

 

No big deal on E Class due to poor design and lack of popularity..But this change will overcrowd the other class ships..and result in more heated lounger hogs etc. And will def  overcrowd the Relaxation Rooms..exclusive to AQ Class and those booked into the spa ...already too many sneak in and chat the day away!

 

We just booked Concierge Class on Silho,  after loving AQ Class from its inception.  In our opinion, CC is a better value at the moment..even factoring in Specialty Dining each night.

 

X keeps changing things so there is  no real expectation of receiving what was initially booked..Very chintzy!

 

 

[cttraveller]

Many unhappy folks.  Please leave Celebrity if you not happy with the experience.  There no need to announce your exit. 

[C-Dragons]

1 minute ago, cttraveller said:

Many unhappy folks.  Please leave Celebrity if you not happy with the experience.  There no need to announce your exit. 

???
The name of this site is “Cruise Critic”.

Sometimes people need to vent.  ☮️

[paulh84]

49 minutes ago, cttraveller said:

Many unhappy folks.  Please leave Celebrity if you not happy with the experience.  There no need to announce your exit. 

There are a lot of cruise options out there to meet the needs of a demanding traveler. But the theme here is usually gripe gripe gripe but (supposedly) continue to book and book and book. I don’t understand it. Truly no one is offended or cares if you move on 🤣

[jelayne]

3 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

The only "enhancement" I see for a sky suite is the swell butler chat feature.  Big woo.  Meanwhile X reduced my OBC for booking onboard (repo S1) to $125 from $200, and military discount to $125 from $200.  $150 total OBC reduction.  Both cuts were blithely explained away = I'm solo and have zenith discount.  The onboard booking OBC is supposed to be per cabin, not per person.  I'm seriously steamed.  I might cool off, but nope, not yet.  So since Silversea deposits are refundable right now (less $250 admin fee), I've booked them, too. If I cool off eventually, I'll take both repos; if not, then just Silversea.  I so appreciate X's spin managers "giving" me "enhancements" that cost nothing while grabbing my OBCs.  Grumble, grumble, grumble.

The  Zenith cruise only price for suites eliminated the military discount, at least on all pricing I have seen.  You $125 was better than the 0 we got when we repriced we lost both military and OBC, but still came out ahead. 

[RichYak]

3 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

The only "enhancement" I see for a sky suite is the swell butler chat feature.

This is my takeaway as well. It remains to be seen if that's even an enhancement.