Suite Enhancements

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, jcpc said:

I believe that Luminae is open from 7 am to 9 am.

 

 On our last cruise the hours were 0630 - 0900.

 

2 hours ago, jcpc said:

So, let's just say that there are 8 waiters assigned to Luminae.  Rather than having all 8 work from 7 am until 9 am, why not have 4 work from 7 am to 9 am and have 4 work from 8 am until 10 am. 

 

Normally all the waiters and assistant waiters are not in Luminae for breakfast.  May of them have to attend training and this is normally done in the mornings.  Also one of the assistant waiters works in the Retreat Lounge during the morning hours setting up the food, as well as going around offering to get food and drinks for the people in the lounge.  Some also work in other areas of the ship, the OVC was mentioned. 

 

 

[jcpc]

41 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 On our last cruise the hours were 0630 - 0900.

 

 

Normally all the waiters and assistant waiters are not in Luminae for breakfast.  May of them have to attend training and this is normally done in the mornings.  Also one of the assistant waiters works in the Retreat Lounge during the morning hours setting up the food, as well as going around offering to get food and drinks for the people in the lounge.  Some also work in other areas of the ship, the OVC was mentioned. 

 

 

Yes, I realize the Luminae team works at OVC during lunch time on sea days.  To my knowledge none of them work there during breakfast hours - they are all assigned to Luminae during breakfast hours (with the exception of one team member who does indeed set up and break down the continental breakfast in Retreat Lounge/Michaels Club).
 

 

My only true experience with Luminae breakfast is on Summit.  I can assure you the couple of times we made it to breakfast (probably around 8:45 am) each and every member of the wait team was present in Luminae.  I have no direct knowledge of the “early morning hours” but am relying solely on what I’ve been told by numerous wait staff and management. 

 

Or if, as you say, Luminae does indeed open for breakfast at 6:30 am, perhaps they can and should tweak the hours to open at 7:00 am and close at 9:30 am.  As I said I have no direct knowledge of the early morning hours, but I cannot imagine that, especially on a sea day, the place is jam-packed with guests at 6:30 am!
 

 

Edited May 25 by jcpc

[Joker54]

58 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I beg to disagree.  I wear dress shoes most evenings to dinner, especially on Evening Chic nights.  I like there to be a shine to my shoes.  Maybe not the spit shine gloss of my military days but definitely not scuffed.  

 

 I was devastated when I was informed that shoe shines were no longer being done as I had not packed my own polish and rags.   I had to make do with with disinfectant wipes and a wash cloth. 

Was on Solstice from Singapore to Vancouver a month ago. I too like polished shoes and was polishing them when our butler was refreshing our ice. He offered to shine my shoes at that moment and again several times throughout the remainder of the cruise. I prefer to polish them myself. Wonder if this is an inconsistency or if our butler was just offering a service no longer required…….

[C4HCG]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I beg to disagree.  I wear dress shoes most evenings to dinner, especially on Evening Chic nights.  I like there to be a shine to my shoes.  Maybe not the spit shine gloss of my military days but definitely not scuffed.  

 

 I was devastated when I was informed that shoe shines were no longer being done as I had not packed my own polish and rags.   I had to make do with with disinfectant wipes and a wash cloth. 

Devestated? 😁

[C4HCG]

On 5/24/2024 at 4:17 PM, 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 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. 

Out of interest as I don’t know, but how many suite guests pay 1000s of dollars per day? I am taking that as in excess of 2000 per day. I know for sure not all Retreat customers pay that much.

[ExArkie]

8 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Out of interest as I don’t know, but how many suite guests pay 1000s of dollars per day? I am taking that as in excess of 2000 per day. I know for sure not all Retreat customers pay that much.

We have three Celebrity sailings in a Suite, although none were on one of the Revolutionized ships. Our average cost per person per night was just under $300, including all of the booking costs. One was transatlantic, one was transpacific, which tend to be less expensive (and are our preferred itinerary). If the only Retreat fare available was over $1000 per night per person (by your definition of “thousands”), we wouldn’t go.

[C4HCG]

2 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

We have three Celebrity sailings in a Suite, although none were on one of the Revolutionized ships. Our average cost per person per night was just under $300, including all of the booking costs. One was transatlantic, one was transpacific, which tend to be less expensive (and are our preferred itinerary). If the only Retreat fare available was over $1000 per night per person (by your definition of “thousands”), we wouldn’t go.

My thoughts entirely, I am guessing it’s the upper suites that demand those prices and maybe people who pay that much feel that they have a right to order restaurants to open when it suits them, in this case for breakfast. Have never heard of anyone starving on a cruise so am sure they can find food somewhere.

[billc23]

1 hour ago, C4HCG said:

Out of interest as I don’t know, but how many suite guests pay 1000s of dollars per day? I am taking that as in excess of 2000 per day. I know for sure not all Retreat customers pay that much.

Per person or total? The IC's tend to be $2500 to $3000 per person per day with the PH around $1200 to $1500 pp/pd. on the newer ships. And they are almost always occupied. What I do not know is how many are via a move up bid??? I did the PH on the Flora for $2800 pp/pd and the three other upper suites were occupied via move up offers for considerably less. So maybe very few actually pay the asking price, but if they did, it is easy enough to see the numbers by doing mock bookings. 

 

We usually have room service for breakfast as it is the easiest option for us and rarely dine at Luminae. Regardless of the suite enhancements published, the Retreat experience in the past was better than now - for a lower cost - and now the pricing is often higher than the luxury lines.

If one is bothered by the restaurant hours/offerings there are many other cruise lines to consider.

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

7 hours ago, Joker54 said:

Was on Solstice from Singapore to Vancouver a month ago. I too like polished shoes and was polishing them when our butler was refreshing our ice. He offered to shine my shoes at that moment and again several times throughout the remainder of the cruise. I prefer to polish them myself. Wonder if this is an inconsistency or if our butler was just offering a service no longer required…….

At least you got ice.  We didn't, but I think maybe it was because we forgot to ask for it.  Clearly not a big problem and not reflected in our review.  We had two excellent butlers and one excellent room steward. (other was fine, we just never saw here).  Post cruise survey still says head butler and retreat host.

[wineoclock]

The breakfast timings for Luminae are ridiculous.

 

I’ve never been to a hotel where breakfast stops being served at 9am. 10.30 is more usual. However since we mainly go to the Elite breakfast it doesn’t bother us personally, but can understand it would bother others. 
 

We are trying Regent for our next cruise and got a great deal.

 

We’ve had to move our June cruise on Apex till next year so let’s see what suite changes there will be from now till then 😃

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I beg to disagree.  I wear dress shoes most evenings to dinner, especially on Evening Chic nights.  I like there to be a shine to my shoes.  Maybe not the spit shine gloss of my military days but definitely not scuffed.  

 

 I was devastated when I was informed that shoe shines were no longer being done as I had not packed my own polish and rags.   I had to make do with with disinfectant wipes and a wash cloth. 

There are probably more cruise passengers like you that like certain things like highly polished shoes.  I was not begrudging that!  I was just stating perhaps the obvious about the majority of passengers that like the more casual dress these days.  But of course not everybody.  For me, I no longer even bring a jacket and tie on a  cruise.

[Bosjoe]

On Beyond now. One of the updates 

[jcpc]

1 hour ago, Bosjoe said:

On Beyond now. One of the updates 

Thanks for posting this.  The "food" offerings look the same as what I always received when staying in a suite on Celebrity.  I do not recall the "From the Bar" section so perhaps that's the enhancement that Celebrity added???  The "Daily Delights" were always available from your butler if you asked him/her for them.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

The From the Bar section is certainly an enhancement. On our last few cruises we have had butlers tell us that afternoon snacks were available in the Retreat Lounge and they were discouraging delivery of snacks to the suites. Never pushed the issue since we don't generally eat between lunch and dinner. With the new In Suite dining menu it will be hard for the butlers to push you to the lounge.

 

I will say, the one time we went to the lounge for afternoon savories we enjoyed the food.

[Bosjoe]

[MNSails]

2 minutes ago, Bosjoe said:

 

Is the reserved seating for all nights or just chic nights?

[jcpc]

29 minutes ago, Bosjoe said:

Thanks for posting.

 

I believe the only thing I can see that is an "addition" to what was previously offered to guests in a Suite is the butler chat (which, it has been reported, that if you use it the app will disable your whatsapp so there's definitely a glitch in the butler chat feature).  And if they now offer reserved seatings for ALL shows in the main theater than that's an "addition" as they previously only offered reserved seating on Chic nights.  Other than that, everything that is offered is what you previously received with a suite BEFORE Celebrity started eliminating services from suites.  Celebrity just "re-wrote" the amenities and officially published them on a flyer that I assume is left in your suite.

 

But for those of us who have been booking suites on Celebrity for 15 years I don't really see many added features.  Now......if you're a relatively new Suite cruiser with Celebrity you will think these amenities are great!!

Edited May 26 by jcpc

[Bosjoe]

29 minutes ago, MNSails said:

 

Is the reserved seating for all nights or just chic nights?

I'll come back and will report this after I talk to the Butler.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thanks for posting the full list of inclusions.  I don't see any mention of upper suites having access to the thermal suite as mention earlier in this thread.  Are these inclusion notices stateroom category specific?

 

 

Edited May 26 by Georgia_Peaches

[bigbenboys]

37 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thanks for posting the full list of inclusions.  I don't see any mention of upper suites having access to the thermal suite as mention earlier in this thread.  Are these inclusion notices stateroom category specific?

 

 

Look at the pdf on post 7. It is on page 2 of the pdf.

[Georgia_Peaches]

17 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

Look at the pdf on post 7. It is on page 2 of the pdf.

Yes, I saw it on the pdf but I don't see it on the list of inclusions shown on post #115 by @Bosjoe.

[Bosjoe]

22 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

Look at the pdf on post 7. It is on page 2 of the pdf.

 

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thanks for posting the full list of inclusions.  I don't see any mention of upper suites having access to the thermal suite as mention earlier in this thread.  Are these inclusion notices stateroom category specific?

 

 

I am not in a upper suite. So they probably have a different flyer.

[Dolebludger]

Just to clarify, lux lines do provide a bottle of spirits and a bottle of wine  with the mini bar set up.it was the case less than two months ago on the RSSC Splendor. I don’t know whether the spirits and/or wine would be replenished, as it was only a seven night cruise. On the last night there was still wine left, and the spirit bottle (vodka) was full. But the soda and beer in the fridge was replenished. 

[Bosjoe]

4 hours ago, MNSails said:

 

Is the reserved seating for all nights or just chic nights?

I talked to the butler, she said no, only chic nights.. I’m not sure if I have a new butler, I asked for Coke Zero, she said she only fills what’s on the large, Diet Coke. Butler on Ascent filled ours with Coke Zero and diet sprite. 

[bigbenboys]

On 5/23/2024 at 2:27 PM, MNSails said:

 

I thought it was previously limited to twice per cruise in a RS, but maybe that was outdated info.

This is what I remember or heard. RS and above did have Unlimited laundry. Then at some point I heard some in RS and above with extended family members not staying in RS and above bring their laundry to the suite and having their laundry done for free. So X limited the free laundry to twice per cruise. Looks like X is going to try free laundry again.  

Edited May 26 by bigbenboys
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