Baynanno1

Retreat bookings made before 4 October 2023 retain all three perks, but beware if you make a change to that booking the free gratuities will disappear. Retreat bookings made 4 October or subsequently receive only drinks and wi-fi, in spite of the price hike! We have all three on our March cruise, booked well over a year ago.

On Solstice the Retreat dining room Luminae is on deck 3, accessible via lift or stairs and the Retreat Lounge, Michael's Club is on deck 5, also accessible via lift or stairs. Both are a short walk from lift and stairs and are located towards aft of the ship.

Well said @Jim_Iain I absolutely agree!

Yes in October 2023 on Solstice. I probably had about 50 : 50 for lunch and dinner. I was very well looked after as far as my food allergies are concerned. 😊

We have not cruised on Edge, but we sailed in a Celebrity Suite on Eclipse and at night turned the suite into a two bedroom suite rather than split the bed in the actual bedroom. I found it quite comfortable. The bed was set up in the evening while we were at dinner and changed back to a sofa in the morning while we were at breakfast.

No, they can't, or at least they can't unless the remaining staterooms sell within a few weeks of sailing. Not once, but twice this week we have received the same promotional email for Edge cruises in February and early March. 15 February - 10 night New Zealand - this does only have Inside staterooms advertised. 7 March - 6 night Tasmania - is advertising staterooms in all categories and has all types of Retreat Suites available. 13 March - 11 night New Zealand - is also advertising staterooms in all categories and has all types of Retreat Suites available. Of course there are a few weeks left before the cruises and they may sell out, one of our neighbours got a deal on the 13 March cruise.

From the Celebrity website : https://www.celebritycruises.com/nz/faqs/faq-fragments/enjoying-your-cruise-fragments/room-service Note the answer to the second question "Do you have room service" goes back to the introduction of the charge in December 2022, since when 18% has increased to 20%, presumably for ease of calculation. Then they round up the actual $11.93 to $12.00.

Which ships? What itineraries? What type of room?

Seems to be fleet wide unfortunately. We were told on Solstice by the Musical Director - not the Cruise Director who was mute on the subject - they were under instruction from Miami to "ramp up the volume" in the evenings. Occupational Health and Safety - no input regarding the dangerous to hearing levels consistently well above maximum safe level of 85 decibels. We had discussions on board, noted in the post cruise survey and wrote to Celebrity. Part of the response to that included : "Your feedback is important to us as a business, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your experience on our ships, both Eclipse and Solstice. The feedback has been reviewed by the executive team and appropriate actions will be taken." It remains to be seen whether appropriate action has been or will be taken to have musical entertainment at enjoyable safe levels.

Well, the title of the thread is "Eliminating Butlers - Spoke to Celebrity. Here is Conversation." When first posted, Butlers had just been removed from Sky Suites. Much of the chagrin was and is from those who had paid for Sky Suites with Butlers. As has been said, who would be happy with a new fridge delivered minus the shelves? Or anything else for that matter delivered missing some part of what was included in the price at the time of purchase.

We always arrive close to our allocated time. As others have said, times are staggered for a very good reason - to avoid the absolute chaos we endured when arriving at our allocated time of 11.30 and found a crowd of hundreds already waiting.

After my "Baked Halibut" at our first Luminae dinner came in small pieces swimming in a creamy sauce looking like soup, I always asked our server to describe how any dish I was considering was plated. We always had plenty of choices between Luminae and MDR menus on an S class ship.

Loved Eclipse in December 2022. Not so much Solstice October 2023. March 2024 . . . . . . . ?

My response was in answer to a specific question (to me) on a previous post. In hindsight, I should have added that some prices have changed yet again since 19 December 2023 with the return of some "elevated" wines to within the Premium Package.

I'm not quite sure what happened there - Post #2 of this thread :

Perhaps I should not have used the word "designed." In my experience, toilet paper on recent cruises has started to disintegrate as soon as it hits the water - if not before. Also, perhaps I should not have used the word "regular" - on which I did use inverted commas. At home, the toilet paper we use does not disintegrate anywhere near as fast as that supplied on recent cruises.

As several others have said, the paper is specially produced for use in the onboard vacuum system. OK, maybe not specially produced for cruise ships, but safe for the vacuum systems. No other paper, or tissues, or face wipes, or sanitary products should be put into a cruise ship toilet bowl as they have been known to create blockages. @chengkp75 you have been lucky! We have seen the result more than once on different cruise ships. Believe me it is not nice to have a whole section of the ship without working toilets! @Esmerelda no. A larger amount will not cause a blockage because it is designed to break down much faster than "regular" t.p.

We stayed at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport. Stays can be booked for varying numbers of hours. https://changiairport.crowneplaza.com/day-use-room-promotion

We chose to book a "day stay" at an airport hotel, which allowed exploration of the amazing airport facilities, lunch with complimentary wine, time to rest and to freshen up before our late flight. We had been to Singapore previously for a few days each time and had visited many of the "must see" places.

Good and not so good experiences. We are punctual people, but had our worst ever experience when arriving for our 1130 (first available) time slot last year. When we arrived on time, it was an absolute shambles, with hundreds of people who had obviously arrived well before their allocated time slot and absolutely no direction from any port staff. Time slots are there for a reason.

Maybe : 1 - less cabin attendants take longer to turn a large number of room over between cruises. On our last cruise, our suite was not finished until after dinner in the evening. At the end of the cruise we were asked to have bags out by 8pm (earlier than the official 10pm) as the "retreat host" had to take all the bags to the off loading zone by himself. Everyone had to vacate their rooms by 7.30am. 2 - perhaps they want to cut the embarkation day lunches.

With respect, I must suggest that if you do not follow up on a problem while on board, it cannot be having much of an impact on your enjoyment of the cruise. Usually management prefers to hear about the problem at the time, so that it can be rectified, not only for you, but for those who are on subsequent cruises.

The big positive for you is that you have not cruised Celebrity before, therefore do not have a previous experience with which to compare your upcoming cruise. Much of the negativity, or disappointment, comes from the fact that during the time between when the cruise was purchased and the time the cruise was taken, several things that were included at the time of purchase were removed. We had an excellent cruise on Eclipse in December 2022 and booked several future cruises while on board. Prior to our October 2023 cruise on Solstice, changes to the purchased product had been made and although most of the crew were very good and the food mostly enjoyable, much of the music was dangerously over-amplified and the experience was less enjoyable. We did not make any future bookings while on board. (and before someone jumps in - yes we did have discussions with management on board) Since that cruise, further changes have been made and we are hoping our March cruise on Solstice (again) will be enjoyable. We have not cruised on Edge. Enjoy your cruise!

You may be interested to read posts #340, #346 and #352 for the actual experience of this cruise debarkation.

Yet another "nickel and dime" change that Celebrity have not informed the cruisers about - once again we find out from those currently cruising who visit the Future Cruise / Next Cruise Desk.