Bejay219

Thank you for the information! Very excited to try QM2 for our westbound crossing.

Well, you must have been reading our minds! We were looking at booking Delta One for our return flight from Celebrity Transatlantic and Viking 34 days, and our mouths hit the floor at the price! So looked on Cunard, we can take the QM2 from Southampton to NYC, 6 days for $10,000 less than Delta One! So we are booking Princess Grill which we will see how it compares to Sky Suite. Contacted our Travel Agent, waiting for her to reply and book it. We will have much to compare on our "new found" cruise lines. (and yes, it has gotten easier to take the leap now!)

Thank you, appreciate your excellent insight and information.

We are looking at doing the crossing after a 13 day Transatlantic (Celebrity) followed by 29 days Viking then 9 days land. We were not going to take a sport coat or suiton this trip. Can my husband get away with dress slacks and long sleeve shirt for dinners and if they have a Gala Evening and eat somewhere else on boar tgat doesn't require a suit/tux. We really don't want to drag that around Europe. Seen how the crossing with Cunard QM2 is only 6 days, are we really only talking about one night?

We are starting to book other lines after 21 tears loyal to Celebrity, achieved Zenith last year. Staying in Sky Suites no longer gives us anything more than free laundry. We will take Celebrity Transatlantic in May (may be our last one) and instead of B2B2B on Celebrity we just booked Viking (31days) to follow the Transatlantic. Now with Delta One being outrageous we are looking into Cunard QM2 for the return trip, I was shocked at the low prices for balcony as the lower end suites were fully booked. It's only 6 days, but for 3 grand, seriously looking at this. Would love more feedback on people's experience. Thanks!

Check to see with the Excursions Dept if they have a tour of the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. Last summer (we were on Viking Expedition ship, Great Lakes, 2 weeks) they had an excursion to the Grand Hotel with lunch, otherwise I am pretty sure they no longer let people just walk the grounds or go to the Hotel unless you are with a tour or guests at the Hotel. We had a wonderful lunch there, walked around, sat on front porch and shopped in Hotel shops. If that's important to you to go to the Hotel, you might want to check on that. Have a great trip!

Jose was on the Apex in May and June of this year, we were on the Transatlantic then 7 day Norway and 11 night British Isles. We were so happy to see him as we sailed with him many times before! Last year he was promoted while we were on the ship! You would know his voice from far away! In May he came running down the hall and gave us a big hug! We hope he faired well with all the changes.

We will not be far behind you in looking at other lines, we have 2 weeks Madien Voyage on the Ascent in December, booked on Transatlantic on Apex next May but just booked a 31 day cruise for after with Viking. With the changes made this year, being Zenith and only traveling in Suites, switched this year from our usual Celebrity Suite to Sky Suites, we have lost many things. Our dedicated Butler, Evan water, mini bar filled, loss of tips included and loss of on board credit. Now, the only advantage to being Zenith is free laundry. Over 21 years we have been loyal to Celebrity, but we want our vacations to be worth the price we are paying, and unfortunately we probably will be parting ways also. Glad we have had the opportunity to sail with you both.

For us, they do reflect major changes- -As Zeniths, always sailing in suites, recently moved from Celebrity Suites to Sky Suites due to price and wanting to do more B2B2B's. As Zeniths, we already get Premium Drinks and premium Wifi, so we lost the Tips and OBC, that leaves the only perk we get is free laundry. Celebrity could have put a "Cruise Only" rate in for Zeniths in Suites, but they only added it for Aqua Class. -We book suites for the privacy and ease of having only 2 crew members in our suite, the Butler and Room Attendant. When my husband fell, he was hurting for 4/5 days, he needed lots of ice, meals brought in and quiet. Our Butler knew exactly what he needed, made sure everything was done quietly and efficiently, can't say a "Team" will. -The loss of bottled water in the Suite, having to carry bottled water, soda and beer to our Suite is not our idea of relaxation. We obviously have loved Celebrity over the 21 years we have sailed with them. We have seen things come and go. We go into each cruise knowing we will have a god time and anticipate that the food and service will be consistent. My husband and I each spend close to 1 1/2 hours each on the survey at the end of each cruise (in May on B2B2B, that was around 9 hours of writing) We keep a list on our phone so we can mention each person that has provided us with great service by name and and write a sentence about them. We write notes to the Hotel Director about outstanding service, we also, if we have a complaint, do it in a quiet manner to the appropriate person. We give our feedback In an appropriate manner, we expect Celebrity to give us the same courtesy to communicate changes which effect us.

As Zeniths, who only cruise in Suites (used to be before Zenith Celebrity Suite and above) but recently changed to Sky Suites, what value does being Zenith in Sky Suites have anymore? Now we have to pay for tips, our Zenith "perks" already included Premium Beverage Package and Internet. Unless they allow "Cruise only" rates for Suites, the only real benefit to Zenith in a suite is Laundry! Personally, Zenith isn't worth achieving anymore.

We are with a large T.A. and have a dedicated person in their "Luxury Department". Because we always travel in Suites on Celebrity, she does our bookings. Over 2 conference calls ( her, Celebrity and us) with two different Celebrity agents, trying to get answers on some questions and why they told us $300 OBC and our cruise documents said $200, we all gave up! It was a Transatlantic next spring, just booked and big deposit paid so we couldn't cancel. She finally told us when we were thinking about adding on to it 2 more cruises, she said honestly, she has had so much trouble with Celebrity, she will not recommend them anymore. We decided to give it another chance, called Captains Club. Asked the questions, the gentleman asked us to send screen shots with his name in the subject line (verified the email address, his name and gave him our phone number also) he promised he would get back to us in a couple hours. Gave it 3 days, sent an email to Captains Club with all the info, asking why we haven't heard from anyone.... and could a supervisor please contact us. That was August 11th. Still waiting... So we just booked a 33 day cruise with Viking to tack onto the Celebrity Transatlantic...We are Zeniths... Guess they don't want our business, we shouldn't have to work so hard, guess our T. A. was right. So sad!

We were also on the Apex, B2B2B, started in Ft. Lauderdale for the crossing, then Norway and finished on the British Isles just before you got on. One of the best cruises we have had in 21 years with Celebrity! Say hi to Ellie and Andy (room attendant) from Dr. Bruce and Mrs. Beverly, hands down, the best team! From Captain Nikolas, Christophe, Hotel Director, all the Officers to the crew an amazing team who worked so hard to make our experience AMAZING! The Retreat team are the best!

Jim, if you have a chance, who is the Captains Club host? Is it Justine? Thanks.

Hi Jim! We will be on for the Transatlantic, Norway and the British Isles. We will catch up with you in the Retreat... Have a great cruise this next week, please let us know if there is anything we should know about. See you soon!

We had the bed topper on every cruise on every ship except the Beyond, they claimed the mattresses were new and comfortable so they don't stock them. We are going on a Transatlantic B2B2B on the Apex, not taking a chance, so we we I'll pack our ow(wish we didn't have to!)

If you are going on the Beyond, just be aware that they for NOT have egg crate mattress toppers! We were on end of October (repositioning NJ to Ft. L.) and again 4 days later after naming ceremony. We were in a Sky Suite, our Shoreside Concierge emailed us, I wrote back explain that my husband needed a bed topper (he has had alot of Radiation on his spine), she said it was no problem. We got to the we ship, finally heard just before sailing that the Beyond doesn't have them! After a miserable cruise (he slept on 5 duvets) they promised they would try to have one for the next cruise... Retreat Concierge apologized they couldn't get one. We were quite upset, went to our SS, we had a different Room Attendant, he said he had one that someone left on board.. He was a Lifesaver!! So from now on, we will bring our own(takes up a suitecase). (30 cruises on Celebrity almost all the ships, they always had bed toppers)

We were on the Beyond (first time in a Sky Suite) usually always did Celebrity Suite/Royal. The room service menu was the same as Charla's. I spoke to the Butler who said that is the menu for Sky Suites, we had friends with us a couple door down (in a Sky Suite) that had the extended menu like Jim showed. She shrugged her shoulders and that evening a new extended menu was on our bed. We will be on a B2B2B on the Apex in April, first two Sky Suites, last cruise Celebrity Suite. Has anyone else had this happen? Could someone ask the Retreat Concierge to verify which menu it is as there is a lot of difference between the two. Thanks in advance.