TeeRick

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

While the food quality was decent in CK on Oasis, there was way too much repetition especially for a 7 day sailing. I remember a lunch menu being repeated for dinner two days later. 

Lunch menu for dinner?  That seems very strange and not the typical case on a cruise.

The CK dinner menu changes every night for 7 nights, then starts repeating again on night 8.  That has been my experience recently on two different ships.  The breakfast menu is the same every day.  The lunch menu has quite a bit of repetition but some different choices daily.  In fact I would say exactly the same thing about Luminae on Celebrity.

Cafe al Bacio page on Celebrity for more info.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/eat-and-drink/bars-and-lounges/al-bacio?cid=ps_58700008370503446&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqpSwBhClARIsADlZ_TlLQhjDYDAwPhGnbpAHNXURARnq683voQli-5-16IWGaeEqEpW4mfoaAunQEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

2 hours ago, George C said:

Luminae is definitely better than CK , we buy UDP when sailing on rccl so we can avoid dinner there , I do like breakfast there . I love Edge class retreat but prefer luminae on M class ships , love the lobster roll for lunch on embarkation day for lunch , had two a couple weeks ago on Summit . I also prefer MSc yacht club dinning room over CK. 

OK as I mentioned subjective.  But we really liked CK on our cruise last month on Symphony.

55 minutes ago, George C said:

We booked a grand suite on harmony and added UDP this was way cheaper than sky suite on celebrity. I miss the doubles I could get in celebrity suite lounge, we are also diamond plus . Entertainment on larger rccl ships is excellent.

We have a 2-BR GS coming on Indy.  Again inexpensive compared to a CS on Celebrity.  But Indy does not have CK so we will book the UDP for this cruise.  And these Freedom-Class ships have fewer suite benefits (like WiFi is not included) which I find strange and annoying.  But the itinerary was great for us (12 night Canary Is).

11 hours ago, bajathree said:

If you are comparing against a Celebrity Edge class suite with retreat access ....it doesn't come close.  Luminae is defiantly better than Coastal Kitchen. Coastal is just a smaller scale main dining room with a bit more personal service.

Have you dined in CK? I don't really agree with you after dining recently in CK on Symphony  and Luminae on Equinox.  CK is much better than a smaller version MDR.  The food, selection and service are all excellent IMO.  Comparable to Luminae. But this is all subjective of course.  I was not a fan of Luminae on Edge compared to S-Class or M-Class ships.

13 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

Great input from everyone. TeeRick, good to hear from you it's been awhile. I'll probably look into the Voyager (1st) & Radiance class ships. I'm not unhappy with Celebrity at all. In fact I have another one booked on them right now. Sometimes it it just nice to shake it up a bit. Lol. I may be easy, but I've never had a bad cruise.

@larry_s_taco I have been mostly off the Celebrity board as I am trying other cruise lines after many cruises in The Retreat.  I decided to switch instead of complain about the high prices and diminished service.  Wait it out I guess.  Some things are being brought back (like butlers).  We shall see.

Recently did RCCL Symphony in a Crown Loft suite and loved it.    Huge ship - maybe much too large for you.  Priced much lower than comparable CS on Celebrity.  You get a suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen (like Luminae).  We are D+ so we get 5 drink coupons each per day, plus the suite lounge beverages.  No need for a beverage package. 

14 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Interesting. I didn't see the similarity there. I adore E-Class, but I hated Anthem of the Seas.

Yes Anthem is only somewhat larger than Edge but holds 1000 more passengers.  So more crowding for sure so I understand why you did not like it.  The rear of the ship (Eden area vs Two70 area) are somewhat comparable.   There was a lot of discussion threads a number of years ago comparing Q-Class to E-Class.  On Anthem you get true balconies.

19 hours ago, desibee said:

Haven't been on a Celebrity ship yet but we went on the Quantum class Spectrum of the Seas last year and videos of Solstice class Celebrity ships are very reminiscent of what you'd find on a Quantum class ship.

I found that Q-Class (like Anthem) was similar to E-Class on Celebrity.

Radiance Class (2500 pax) is closest to M-Class (2200 pax).  Very close in size.  Also similar ages.  Radiance was launched in 1999 and Millennium in 2000.  Both classes have an elegant feel to them. 

Voyager-class is actually quite a bit larger.  Even larger than S-Class and Edge.

On 3/25/2024 at 10:55 PM, BEAV said:

…and Retreat guests are not allowed to mix with steerage.

But Kate and Leo proved that Steerage was much more fun!

On 3/25/2024 at 7:35 PM, Northern Aurora said:

I also think there is some confusion as initially Sky Suites and Celebrity Suites were not allowed access to Michael’s Club but did have some specialty dining.  Michael’s Club was at first limited to Zeniths and higher level suites.  When Sky and Celebrity Suites were allowed access to MC they lost the specialty dining.  That was the trade-off.

 

And my experience is that Luminae has only been open for lunch on sea days.  The rare exception has been when the ship arrived at a port around 1:30 or 2 PM.

Not sure what years you sailed then, but we sailed Millennium to Alaska in July 2010 and sailed Concierge Class.  Not a suite.  We were Elite but were made so because we had Diamond level on RCCL.  We had full access to Michael's Club that cruise as an Elite member.

On 3/25/2024 at 4:45 PM, RichYak said:

I really don't know if you're right or wrong so I want to be as respectful as possible. I'm struggling to imagine Luminae on an M-Class ship with only RS and PS (10 total cabins) being permitted to dine there. This is based on the restaurant's size and number of tables alone--to limit that space to 20 or so people for dinner. I just can't logically wrap my head around that even being a possibility.

And those RS and PHS get specialty dining included.  Nobody would be in Luminae.

I sailed in Sky suites and CS suites in the early days of Luminae and it was always included.

There was not a reserved area for suite guests in the Aqua show on Symphony.  Possibly because the first two shows were cancelled and the remaining shows were long lines.

13 hours ago, bgoff60 said:

Just curious as to what you do not like about the reserved seating.  (Truly just curious...)

It was in the balcony in the theatre.  Some obstructed views.  We prefer to sit in the main lower area.   There was a reserved seating section for the Ice Show, but not great seats.  We got there a bit early and sat up front/center.  No reserved seating in the Aqua Show or Comedy Club.

2 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

Thank you, that is helpful info. We usually book Sky Suites on Celebrity but this will be our first suite on Royal (although we have cruised several times with Royal years ago). We are Diamond and not heavy drinkers so it sounds like the suite lounge and coupons will be more than adequate for us instead of having to buy a drink package.

That is exactly what we did a few weeks ago.  We used our SL drinks and our D+ coupons and never bought a drinks package.  Plenty of drinks for us.  There is a nice coffee machine in the SL too.  

In general we don't like the reserved seating.  There are much better seats elsewhere if you go a bit early.

We always carry a printed photocopy of our passports and also have photos of our passports, health insurance cards, driver's license, vaccine cards, etc on our phones.  We leave our passports in the safe in our cabin.  As @Charles4515 mentioned, we took our passports in Russia but that is moot now.  In fact other than Russia, we have never been asked for our passports anywhere.

15 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

Do the two-story Crown Loft Suites on Oasis of the Seas have an entrance to the corridor on the upper level or is there only suite entry on the lower level? How does the Suite lounge on Royal (Sky class) compare to the Retreat lounge on Celebrity in terms of food and beverage offerings? Is Coastal Kitchen as "good" as Luminae? 

We just stayed in a CL Suite on Symphony so probably very similar to Oasis.  Only one entrance as the upper level is the "loft".  We have sailed The Retreat on Celebrity many times. We like the CL on Oasis Class because it is a pretty quiet area (all the CL suites only) on the same deck as the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen.  This area has coffee and a very good continental breakfast in the A.M. and treats in the afternoon and hot/cold appetizers in the evening pre-dinner.  All a short walk from your suite.  Two suite concierges in there too.  And CK for dining three meals.  The SL is open until 11PM for wine, beer and some mixed drinks even without a drinks package.  Or if you are Diamond or above, drink coupons are accepted too.  On Celebrity most suites come with a Premium Drinks package so more is included at the bar in the Retreat.  As much as we love Luminae, the CK dining and service is on par IMO.  The menu offerings have more selections and variety in CK, again IMO.  We have done CL suites twice (Harmony and Symphony) and love them.  Enjoy!

Always posted on the inside of your cabin door.

It is a new dating game show on sea days.

13 hours ago, gerig said:

Royal C wants you to pay for the coco cay.  If you utilize the barefoot beach club without booking a cabana they don't make any money

You mean they don't make even more money.  Suite passengers already pay huge bucks.

2 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

You don't need to be Pinnacle. It used to be for suite guests. They did away with it quite a few years ago already, at least I believe I'm right about that. It was simply a special area on Labadee reserved for suites. Everybody got a buffet lunch, but BBC got much better food.  Used to enjoy going snorkeling there also.

We were in a suite several weeks ago on Symphony and went to the suite area on Labadee.  Barefoot Beach.  Honestly nothing special.  The buffet lunch was mediocre at best with very limited selection and low quality versus my past visits there.  We should have gone back to the ship for lunch. I do remember going on Celebrity ships and the suite lunch buffet on Labadee was much better.

On 3/15/2024 at 9:02 AM, Biker19 said:

That question has been in just about every thread since Suite class was introduced, years ago:

Yeah I'm sure.  At the risk of another dead horse picture, did you ever see a satisfactory explanation?

16 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I could see that the effort (splitting Pinns) could be worth it if you combine all the loopholes (drink package avoidance, balcony discount, coastal kitchen).

I understand the "splitting Pinns" strategy and it is a loophole within the rules.  It still feels a bit like cheating to me.  But that's just me I guess.

Pinns do have the option of actually paying for a suite like the rest of us if they really want one.  I know some do.

I understand the different offerings with things like Coastal Kitchen as it is either on the ship or not.  But why not offer the WiFi to all suites (or at least GS and above) on all ships?  This is a strange omission IMO.  We sail in a 2-BR GS in 2025 on Indy and need to pay extra for some things like WiFi included on newer ships.