Celebrity Suite

[Regan]

Hi, I'm new to Celebrity -- always have been on Princess. Am looking at the 15-night Westbound on the Millennium, Apr 20-May 5, 2008. My DH likes to be in the middle of the ship and likes to book a suite. Noticed on deck plan, the only suite available on the Millennium in the about-middle of ship is the Celebrity Suite that has no balcony. Could anyone tell about this suite and would it be advisable to book for the Panama Canal trip?

Also, Princess PH suite offers free laundry and dry cleaning. Does anyone know if this is a perk for the Celebrity Suite?

Thanks for any info you can provide me!!!

[nu2sea]

Hi, we love the Celebrity Suite and had one on the Summit, a sister ship to the Millenium, for a Panama Canal transit. But we prefer gazing out at the ocean through the floor to ceiling windows over sitting on a balcony. It's a personal choice decision.

 

Here is a link to the photos we took of our Celebrity Suite on the Infinity: http://travel.webshots.com/album/381704193joXHwa

 

No free dry cleaning or laundry, unfortunately.

 

Susan

[Boo's Mom]

Hi, I'm new to Celebrity -- always have been on Princess. Am looking at the 15-night Westbound on the Millennium, Apr 20-May 5, 2008. My DH likes to be in the middle of the ship and likes to book a suite. Noticed on deck plan, the only suite available on the Millennium in the about-middle of ship is the Celebrity Suite that has no balcony. Could anyone tell about this suite and would it be advisable to book for the Panama Canal trip?

Also, Princess PH suite offers free laundry and dry cleaning. Does anyone know if this is a perk for the Celebrity Suite?

Thanks for any info you can provide me!!!

 

I would be concerned (myself) about the "no balcony".

Balconies are so awesome.

 

There are Sky Suites available on your sailing.

And then..... the Royal Suites.

 

Perhaps look into one of those....

 

Ditto: No free laundry/dry cleaning on Celebrity.

I really enjoyed that perk on Princess.

Celebrity should do that....for their suites.

[Regan]

Thanks for the photos; they really helped. Thanks for info. Will decide this weekend on booking. Thanks again.

[avalon1025]

The Sky Suites are more mini-Suites, but they do have balconies (though some like the one we had two weeks ago have a lifeboat right outside the balcony). We sailed in a Vista suite on the Diamond Princess and enjoyed that room more than the suite on the Infinity. Our Bulter was a nice guy but did nothing more than a good cabin steward, we did not experience any real butler features, like the ability to make reservations,unpacking, etc (heck, we asked for alternative dinning reservations and was given the extension of the restaurant) The perks for a suite on Celebrity are quite limited (not sure what they are aside from the butler). Also we hated all the faded plastic flowers in the suite and bathroom amenity dispensers vs. nice bathroom products as on Holland America. Also, be sure your ship has the new beds, the old one are, well, old and lumpy.

[j!m]

we have sailed the mille, conne and infinity, all in cs category. we like the cs even without balcony. lotsa room, private living area, lotsa storage space and small dining table. very comfortable. did the eastbound canal on infinity last nov. in a cs and loved it. best place to watch sailing through the canal is the bow or stern, not a balcony unless its at the bow or stern. we dont use many amenities so i really dont know what they are other than preferential boarding and tenders. no free laundry. i seem to recall a bottle of champagne in our room and snacks were delivered about 4pm each day. oh yes we always ordered breakfast in room and it was always timely and hot but i guess everybody can do that(?). watching the world go by from the ample windows is really quite enjoyable(for us)

 

we have booked a cs for our b2b on infinity in nov. not convinced its worth the extra $ to upgrade to rs simply for the balcony, the price differential is quite a lot. frankly i think there is just as much if not more room in the cs compared to the rs and as far as i'm aware the perks are the same.

[soooo excited!]

Hi, we love the Celebrity Suite and had one on the Summit, a sister ship to the Millenium, for a Panama Canal transit. But we prefer gazing out at the ocean through the floor to ceiling windows over sitting on a balcony. It's a personal choice decision.

 

Here is a link to the photos we took of our Celebrity Suite on the Infinity: http://travel.webshots.com/album/381704193joXHwa

 

No free dry cleaning or laundry, unfortunately.

 

Susan

 

thanks from me too for the link to your photos, always excited to see more photos; first cruise ever , this summer to Alaska, in a CS ! - it should be amazing ! I shouldn't look at the photos , they make me even more crazy than I already am about this trip !!

[chesterh]

Although we're confirmed verandah lovers, we enjoyed a CS on Millennium very much. I wouldn't hesitate to book one again, no matter the destination.

 

In a travelogue about the trip, I posted a series of pictures along with a floor plan indicating the position and angle of each photo. Please see this page on my personal website: http://www.chesterh.com/chapters/38.htm. About a third of the way down the page is a full written description and the photos of the CS. Click the small images found there to see larger versions.

 

Here's a picture of breakfast in the CS while docked at St. Thomas:

 

 

Bon Voyage!

chesterh

[soooo excited!]

ChesterH: thanks...more photos !!! drives me nuts !! and I read your description of the CS, did I read right ? a scale in the bathroom ???now really, I don't need a scale...that's the last thing I'll need , though I admit to weighing myself now...have to lose at least 5 pounds before the cruise - figuring I'll put on 10, then have only 5 to lose when we get home:D

[chesterh]

Aye, soooo excited, there's a scale. There's plenty of room to hide it in the cabinets under the sink if you'd rather not be reminded...

 

Here's an excerpt of the cabin description. For the rest, and for the pictures that accompany the diagram below, please see the original material on my website: http://www.chesterh.com/chapters/38.htm

 

... As you may recall, the original plan had Kris, Wells and me in the Celebrity Suite. When Dan opted in, my request to add him to the suite was denied. The official policy is that the CS accommodates 3 people. I couldn’t understand the policy at the time, and after spending a week living in the CS, I still cannot understand why. A family of ten might be tight, but any smaller group would have room to spare.

 

For the two of us, the space was positively decadent. The literature describes the CS as occupying 467 square feet – about the same size as our bedroom and two offices at home. You could fit both the Sky Suite from the Galaxy trip and the Cat 2 cabin from the Mercury trip inside the CS without encroaching on the bathroom space.

 

From the outside, the hints of a special space within are subtle. On each of four decks, the 2 CS doors are adjacent, slightly recessed into the wall amidships. A tiny metal vase affixed to the door holds a sprig of orchids. They are not fake.

 

CS 8106 was decorated in a classic Japanese style. The most striking components of the décor were three larger-than-life depictions of Japanese ladies lining the entry hall. On the opposite wall, mirrors doubled the number of ladies.

 

As pleasant as this hallway was, I could not help but note that it took up almost 10% of the available space. Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a redesign that would reduce or eliminate the ‘waste’.

 

The dining area sits the end of the 10’ long hallway. A large table for four dominates the space. On one side, corner cupboards flank a large mirror. The cupboards display Japanese objects d’art in glassed upper sections, and various amenities are stored in the lower cupboards – including binoculars, umbrellas, and a set of crystal stemware (red and white wine, champagne, brandy and water glasses).

 

On the opposite side of this room is a marble-topped sideboard. The cupboards below hold the life jackets, the mini-bar and the safe. Although it appears to have a card reader, operation of the safe requires that you input a 6-digit number of your own making each time you open or close it.

 

Adjacent to the sideboard, at the end of the hallway, is a connecting door to the neighboring suite. Our neighbor was often taken to fits of coughing and odd moaning sounds that penetrated a few feet into the dining area but were otherwise unobtrusive.

 

The living room is big, and contains a full size couch with end tables, two comfy chairs with a footrest (which also saw duty as the computer seat) and a glass top table. Four floor-to-ceiling windows form the curving outside wall. Each window has two sets of drapes, one sheer to cut down on the sunlight while preserving the view, and the second heavy and dark. The latter could turn day into night.

 

The living room tends to be very bright, day or night. The windows admit a lot of light, and when the sun is shining directly in the air-conditioning can be overwhelmed.

 

I won’t forget the first time I flipped the wall switch for the lights in the living room. There are 16 separate fixtures wired into that switch, and they all flickered on simultaneously to produce a blindingly bright glare. The Galaxy Sky Suite had dimmers for the overhead lighting, and this accommodation sorely needs that piece of technology. The only alternative is a pair of lamps on the end tables, which have the illuminating capability of a decent night-light. It was kind of an all-or-nothing proposition.

 

The curving wall of glass produces a short wall opposite the main seating area. Here, a built-in cabinet houses a 42” plasma TV and a VCR. I was surprised that there was no DVD player. I actually brought a few DVD’s on the assumption that there would be a player to go along with the high caliber television. Watching a VCR tape on a big plasma TV is like listening to the symphony while wearing ear plugs. Speaking of audio, the TV sound is piped into overhead speakers above the couch, and loud sounds in the broadcast set up a sympathetic resonance in the ceiling housing.

 

Photos of the CS all showed a fancy wall-mounted Bang and Olufsen CD player. The unit in this cabin must have been retired and replaced with an Aiwa portable in a cupboard above the TV. At first I though it was fastened to the shelf, but once I found that it was movable I relocated it to the bedroom each night where it soothed us to sleep.

 

A shallow five-foot marble-topped desk unit forms a corner with the TV cabinet. The computer monitor and mouse sit on the surface, the keyboard occupies a slide-out tray and the computer is safely locked away in a cupboard below. Behind the monitor is an odd window designed to allow daylight to pass into the bathroom. Electrically operated blinds are mounted between the two layers of glass. Closed, they provide privacy. Left open, a person at the computer can watch their roommate take a shower until the window fogs up.

 

The bedroom is nicely sized, except for the narrow passage between the foot of the bed and another TV cabinet. This cabinet holds a second 42” plasma TV and a VCR. A low drawer unit and a lamp are positioned on either side of the bed.

 

The walk-in closet has a vanity with a large counter top, padded stool, extra lighting and a large mirror. Underneath are drawers, and full-length hanging space is provided at either end. Sliding doors with frosted glass separate this area from the bedroom. I plugged a fluorescent night light into an outlet on the vanity, and its blue light made the glass doors glow gently at night. Nice effect.

 

The marble bathroom has two sinks, a telephone and a scale. The whirlpool tub has very high sides and a showerhead oddly mounted low on the sidewall. The whirlpool was energetic, but Kris complained that it ejected debris into the water. I mentioned this to the Hotel Manager who happened to stop by for a visit within minutes of this discovery. He dispatched someone to clean the unit, but the effort was not entirely successful.

 

Storage throughout the room was more than ample. We put most of the bags into cupboards and still didn’t use half the available space. Even our giant suitcase fit under the bed.

 

All things considered I’d have to say that the Celebrity Suite is a fantastic accommodation. Relative to the other suite types, it is a bargain. The extra space easily compensated for the lack of a verandah.

 

The image below shows the Celebrity Suite floor plan. Measurements are approximate – I used an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper, my fingers and toes to arrive at the dimensions. The numbered arrows indicate the camera position and direction for each of the pictures appearing below the floor plan. Click any picture for a larger view. (for pictures, follow the link above)

 

All the best,

chesterh

[nu2sea]

Hi Chester,

 

Thanks for posting your observations on the Celebrity Suite. We agree with your comments and enjoyed your photos.

 

I found the "funny window" in the bathroom to provide a lovely view of the sea while soaking in the jacuzi tub.

 

Soooo Excited, I read Chester's report on his first cruise on the Galaxy while I was waiting for our first cruise on the Infinity to Alaska. It sure helped me through what seemed an eternity until it was time to board. You might want to explore his website.

 

j!m, we were upgraded to a Royal Suite on our Baltic Cruise last spring. Believe it or not, my DH still prefers the CS, just for the views.

 

Susan

[Atomica]

I'm glad I found this thread - I had the exact same question!

 

Loved all the pics of the CS; although we're balcony lovers, I think that a Celebrity Suite might be in our cruising future, esp. to Alaska. It looks like a great room, and might be well worth the splurge.