MisterBill99

They won't be next year's amenities...it's just wrong. I believe if you replace the title "suite" with "aqua", the amenities will be correct...and the 194 sq ft staterooms are only on the solstice class ships.

195 on Millennium class!

But I agree, clearly a typo since it listed the AQ benefits.

If they got rid of Blu for AQ, who would book it? As it is, they're the only cabins left on my upcoming cruise (and I managed to upgrade from Verandah to Aqua for only $80pp earlier this week. I'd already decided not to book Concierge anymore because it wasn't worth spending extra for.

BTW I've been in Concierge Class twice and neither time did we have the pillow menu. I spoke to the Hotel Director and the chief housekeeper (whatever his title is) at the senior officer's party last time and told them we did not have it and both said I should go back and look because it was definitely there. Wrong.

I'll have to take the sparking wine out of the bucket this time so the label doesn't fall off. We're driving to the pier, so we can bring it home with us if we don't drink it on the ship.

I really don't see why you have the need to derail this thread by attacking me / others :confused:

And I don't see why you're responding to my reply to the other person as if I was attacking you. I was replying to the person who misinterpreted my "waste of time" comment by not reading my post correctly.

Cruise fares increase when there is a promo...nothing is free.

We did 17 days in SS Dec 2013 for $8500.

Looking for same room for 14 days Jul 2015 and it is $13500..

I think prices are lower than they used to be if you're not booking far ahead, but I don't book suites.

Just to give you an example. One very bitter review was based on two factors: there was no 'food station' at the Captain's Club party, and the string quartet and a cappella groups were nowhere to be found. Obviously if those things are critically important to you, their lack would be very noticeable. Hence, very bad reviews of the cruise. :rolleyes:

And one person was posting recently about being very upset about trivia being cancelled.

Just off the Summit. No complaints. Will take the same cruise next year if the price is right.

That's funny because I've read a few complaints about the buffet on Summit. There's even a whole thread about it.

I think if the OP looks at other cruise lines they'll see people complaining about them as well. But if he still feels that way, I'll be happy to take one of the open booking certificates off their hands.

It's for our 30th anniversary so I booked back in March to get the dates, cabin I wanted, etc.

 

I guess with what I save we can buy our own drink package!

Why didn't you just book then (especially if there was a specific cabin you wanted), and if a new promotion came along you could have asked to switch, or worst case cancel and rebook? Does your agent charge a change or cancel fee?

And it continues on Summit... report on 5/18 Roll Call is that they also had it. It had better continue for another 3 weeks for me!

So, what is a good value? If I pay half as much to drink as I do to sail and sleep and eat, the Premium package is exorbitant. Other lines like MSC offer drink vouchers which cost much less per serving.

Whether it's a good deal really depends what your bar/coffee/water tab would normally be if you were paying by the glass. What the cost of the package is compared to your cruise fare is not relevant, it's just whether you can get the drink package for less than you'd normally pay for the drinks a la carte.

If MSC provides a better value, then feel free to sail them. Of course, that assumes that all other things are equal, which I'm pretty sure they are not compared to Celebrity. If it all came down to price, you probably wouldn't be on Celebrity.

The main issue was not "a problem on your account that is showing your cruise not to be paid in full" the issue was I was trying to inform others to be on the look out for gratuities sneaking their way in.

 

Sorry if you think time has been wasted on this when the main issue I was trying to bring to people's attention is still an issue. Just trying to be good samaritan and help out others who may not notice this, sorry if that offends you for some reason.... Jeeze..

So did you call Celebrity and get this resolved? Or did it just go back to $0 on its own and you're not pursuing it?

Waste of time ??

Simple solution, as always here is: If you feel it's not of interest or a waste of time... Don't read it

Just as the OP's post was of interest to many, it could just as easily not be of interst to some... Personal choice is what make Cruise Critic such a great success.

 

Problems arise when a few try and silence the many simply because they don't like or agree with the message

Srpilo

The waste of time I was referring to was on the OP's part, since the amount of time they've spent trying to figure this out online and here could have been dramatically reduced (and better spent) if they'd just called Celebrity to begin with to figure out what was up and get it resolved. Note I said "If they'd used a travel agent, then THEY could have figured it out with Celebrity and not had to waste all of this time on it." Perhaps my use of "they" was unclear but there was no way it could have been interpreted to mean my time or any reader here.

Now, if you want we can also talk about the time wasted by people who tried to figure out the problem or offer their advice when the real answer was that the OP needed to contact Celebrity.

I agree this is an interesting thread, although much less so if it turned out to be due to weekend maintenance on the website which made things flaky. If OP had gotten this information from Celebrity before posting here, it would have been educational. Instead you had everyone guessing what the problem might be.

And once again, using a TA would have eliminated all of this wasted time since they would have taken care of it for the OP, or maybe it wouldn't have been an issue at all because they would have known what to do or it would not have shown up at all.

I'm not confused at all, isn't the whole point of CC to discuss and report cruise and cruiseline pro's, con's and related issue's ??

 

OP .. I think it a perfectly appropriate Celebrity CC thread

Srpilo

Not when you have a problem on your account that is showing your cruise not to be paid in full. It would have been fine to post here after they resolved in with Celebrity.

If they'd used a travel agent, then THEY could have figured it out with Celebrity and not had to waste all of this time on it.

Because when people have a different serving team every night, they often 'forget' to tip at the end of the cruise. This method insures that that Select Dining waiters do not get shortchanged. I think it's very fair.

They could just as easily automatically add it your bill every day like they do with everyone else and just refuse to let you remove it if you're in Select. If you switch to Select while on board that's what they do. It's a real pain for people who get sizable OBC and for one reason or another end up in Select dining.

I was on the Solstice 5/8 cruise in AQ. A brunch option was not offered to us.

To those who have experienced the embarkation lunch in Blu, did you notice how late it was open?

I don't think that anyone who has experienced it has posted in this thread. Which reminds me, it's time to post in today's roll call and see if they're still doing it.

What items don't have a fee at the Aqua Spa Café?

 

Does the Mast Grill serve anything beside hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza?

 

Is there a Mast Grill menu available online?

The Aqua Spa Cafe question is better asked as what items DO have a fee. I think it's generally the drinks. The whole buffet and food that you can as them to prepare for you (like salmon at lunch) is free.

I didn't think that the Mast Grill has pizza. Just hamburgers and hot dogs and associated things like fries and salads. Nor do I think it has a menu, just whatever is out.

Hi all,

 

As promised, here is a current list of what is included in the Classic Beverage package.

Thank you for your responsiveness on this. Question: I don't see any of the frozen drinks like Pina Colada, etc. listed. Hopefully that is just an unintentional omission and all of those are still included. The list someone posted earlier had Strawberry Daiquiri's listed but not Pina Coladas, which led to much confusion. Now I don't see either.

Pina coladas were 6.50 in mid April. Mojitos and margaritas were easy to get under the old package. I think it is likely to be under eight dollars.

But if they're going to post a list, it should include drinks like this to avoid confusion.

Part of the reason the buffet is so crowded on embarkation day is that, because the cabins aren't ready, a lot of people just sit after they finish eating since they don't have anywhere else to go (some explore the ship, etc., but many don't).

 

I wonder how they will handle that in the much smaller Blu venue.

Maybe they'll start getting AQ cabins ready early and then they can announce it in Blu so people can go to their cabins before everyone else. Thus people won't linger as long. Nice thought, anyway.

What percentage of AQ guests actually eat in Blu? Is it close to 100% What's the percentage of tables to guests? Do they have to turn over each table more than once to fit everyone during dinner?

Just a heads up for those counting on having lunch in Bistro on embarkation day, it may not be available to you.

Given how many people have been going to Bistro on embarkation, that sounds like it's not something that is being done fleet-wide. Of course, both that and this new Blu for brunch are Summit, so maybe management there is trying new things.

Where are all the posters that have been yelling that Celebrity has turned into a class system, because of the suite perks. Now, all of a sudden perks for Aqua class are okay? They could have opened up the brunch to all as a first come, first served restaurant.

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OOH, Now I am really excited. We board Equinox next Tuesday and will be very hungry after our overseas flight. What a nice perk for Aqua Class! Great change Celebrity!!!:cool:

Except that it hasn't been reported anywhere but Summit. But maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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Why would the TA charge you a cancellation fee? Mine never did- a lesson learned, sometimes best to book directly through Celebrity.

I agree it should not be considered a cancellation. I just changed from 2A to AQ and kept the existing reservation.

I know the agency that charges the $100pp cancellation fee as I have used them, and prefer not to book with them for anything other than a cruise in the near-term because of it. However, there is a happy medium between not using the agency with the cancellation fee and going back to dealing with Celebrity and giving up the perks that a TA can provide. The TA I am currently using charges no change or cancellation fee and while she may not give me quite as much OBC as the big guys I get much better service from her. And my TA managed to convince Celebrity to let me upgrade to AQ even though their computers were claiming it was a special fare and wanted to drop my existing promotions.

Or for a very special sailing look at the Aqua level cabins which have their own dinning room, Blu. Again as Linda mentions, even with these cabins they will still be the same size. All you are really adding with Aqua is the Blu DR.

According to the X website, on Summit normal Verandah cabins are 170 square feet, Concierge are 191 and Aqua are 195. S-class ships are probably different, maybe those cabins are all the same size.

I have never been charged to eat in Blu when in a suite. I have also never been turned away. That might vary ship to ship, though...

Which cabin have you been in? One of the top suites, perhaps?

It's also possible to book one type of cabin now --- say, a veranda --- and then watch prices to look for a bargain upgrade. Prices do tend to fluctuate and often come down after final payment. lots of reports here of cruisers who were able to upgrade for very little more, I think the idea is that there has to be a small increase in cost but this is often negligible. Of course, the lower rate can't be for new bookings only, but often the standard prices do come down too.

I got lucky this week, and snagged an upgrade to AQ for only $80pp over my 2B price for my cruise in 4 weeks. When my TA tried to do the upgrade online, the system wanted to remove all of my promotions (123, on-board booking bonus) but the fare was not marked as a special, so she had to call Celebrity and they agreed to do it. The fare went away after that; now they have a fare $10 higher, but it's only for residents and 55+, which would not have worked with my booking. So you need to be diligent and get lucky.

Now, I should add that I only booked in February, at which point prices had already come down somewhat from the original prices.

Add me to the list of people who think this is a very nice perk for AQ! I wonder if something similar will be tried out for the suite guests once they roll out their new dining spot?

One would hope so, so they can avoid associating with the common folks. :)

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