Elite Lounge Hours - possible change

[Solstice23]

Just new to Elite last cruise and this is a great perk but the time 4-6 was much too early. 4 would be fine if it was geared to casual poolside drinks but 5-7 is :) better and 5-8 more so for getting you in the mood for the evening festivities and dinner in a relaxed convivial manner, with the added benefit that it is not costing you a penny. Now that is something to be said nowadays. We do select dining so 5-7 gets my vote.

I agree 4 pm to EARLY, people don't come to our house in the summer time to sit inside and have drinks! If it's at 4 pm, then as we are surrounded by an amazing views it should be up on the lawn club.

[jackdiamond]

We will be taking our first Celebrity cruise in May; however, we will have Elite status because we are Diamond on RCCL. What is the expected "dress code" to attend these cocktail gatherings? :)[/quote

Smart casual. On our Christmas cruise on the Equinox, they were denying entry to anyone attired below the aforesaid level.

[jackdiamond]

I agree 4 pm to EARLY, people don't come to our house in the summer time to sit inside and have drinks! If it's at 4 pm, then as we are surrounded by an amazing views it should be up on the lawn club.

Not a bad idea, but it gets a little windy there; and, there may be too much sunshine. On our April Equinox cruise, sunset will be about 8:00 P.M.

[Cruise Junky]

5 - 7 are the hours Princess uses on most of their ships and it works out great. 4 is far to early IMHO. Good change Celebrity!

[dzcruisers]

We will be taking our first Celebrity cruise in May; however, we will have Elite status because we are Diamond on RCCL. What is the expected "dress code" to attend these cocktail gatherings? :)[/quote

Smart casual. On our Christmas cruise on the Equinox, they were denying entry to anyone attired below the aforesaid level.

They were denying entry to anyone in shorts on the fall Equinox. However there was a man there in a t shirt and his pajama bottoms. There was a man in a port t shirt and ratty looking cargo pants among other underdressed guests IMHO. The main idea is no shorts. We dressed smart casual and I guess it bothered me that we took the time to get dressed smart casually when they were letting any elite with long pants on in.

[clvali]

I am in favor of 4-6.

Needless to say we are early diners. If changed we would just be a bit late for dinner in the MDR.

Love the perk, can adapt to change.

clvali

[Amagamma]

It sounds like a nice compromise. Hope those hours are

scheduled for the Equinox 4/01. Thanks for letting us

know.

[cruzluvr54]

5 -7 gets my vote!

[pattyj 1204]

I know this is dumb, but I didn't know about this perk, we were Elite on our last cruise, but weren't aware of this perk, We will keep our eyes opened to know where and when to go. We don't drink much, but something before dinner is great. Thanks for making me aware of it.

[Tucker in Texas]

We had a "welcome" letter in our cabin when we embarked. It told of all the special events for Elite including evening social hour, continental breakfast, senior officer's reception, past passenger reception, wine tasting, and the special tea. The time, date, and place was listed. It said this would be the only notification as they didn't send out individual "invitations."

[Tucker in Texas]

Ooops, hit the wrong key.

 

I thought not sending out individual invitations was a good way to not waste paper. I taped it to the mirror.

 

In addition, the concierge lady called and left a voice message reminding me of an event a day before.

 

This was on the Eclipse February 12 sailing.

 

We had hot appetizers passed during the social hour that the server explained were tastes from the various specialty restaurants.

 

Tucker in Texas

[seasearider]

Larry, thanks for your post. For us the 5-7 would be so much better. When we were on the Equinox in January we'd arrive around 5:30 and had a drink. Interestingly enough, on our cruise many wore shorts to the event and were not turned away.

 

I think this is a great comprise. A drink or two before dinner is a nice perk and shouldn't be abused.

 

Celebrity, hope you make the change fleet wide.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We are not elite yet, but hope to be after our next cruise. 5-7 sounds much better to me. We are select diners so it is perfect--arrive whenever, have a drink, go to dinner.

Cynthia

[seabees]

The new time is still too early for those of us going to dinner at 8:30. We like to eat at the later dining time becuse we enjoy being out side and enjoying the pool while leaving the ports and then go in to get ready for dinner. The 4pm to 6pm time was way too early for us to enjoy a cocktail before dinner on the Solstice in Jan so I hope they relook at changing the time to accomodate both dining times.

[royalcruz]

no o ne said you had to dress for dinner at an ytime. only no shorts or flip flop shoes..

 

Not exactly, but...In the daytime DH wears shorts and tank tops or tshirts(don't most men?), so if he were to change for the cocktail hour he might as well shower and dress for dinner. Otherwise he would be changing 3 times that day! I could probably get away with my swimsuit coverup dresses and slides but I'd rather be appropriately dressed (and avoid dirty looks) so I might as well dress for dinner first too. That means showering and washing/drying my hair which takes an hour.

[Bod]

We are late dinners and I agree 4-6 is too early so on our last cruise we didn't go but when to the sunset bar where there was happy hour and a better view, it was outside and wonderful.

 

5-7 would be better for us but the elite lounge perk is not the reason we cruise.

[phoenix_dream]

Not exactly, but...In the daytime DH wears shorts and tank tops or tshirts(don't most men?), so if he were to change for the cocktail hour he might as well shower and dress for dinner. Otherwise he would be changing 3 times that day! I could probably get away with my swimsuit coverup dresses and slides but I'd rather be appropriately dressed (and avoid dirty looks) so I might as well dress for dinner first too. That means showering and washing/drying my hair which takes an hour.

Agreed. If they can't extend the time to accomodate late diners, they could at least relax the dress code. Not sure why it is there in the first place. If some are already dressed because they have early dinner - fine. But if not, so what if some are in shorts. Considering it is in a lounge I can see outlawing bathing suits and coverups maybe, but what is the big deal about wearing shorts at 4:00 in the afternoon.

[Solstice23]

Agreed. If they can't extend the time to accomodate late diners, they could at least relax the dress code. Not sure why it is there in the first place. If some are already dressed because they have early dinner - fine. But if not, so what if some are in shorts. Considering it is in a lounge I can see outlawing bathing suits and coverups maybe, but what is the big deal about wearing shorts at 4:00 in the afternoon.

 

 

Agreed

[leftyrn]

We cruised on Equinox in January and tried the Premium Package, so we only made it to the lounge once during the cruise. 4-6 was way too early for us and the Premium Package was way too much drinking :D. Next time we will budget the 1,000 and hopefully Celebrity will change the time to 5-7 which would accomodate both dinner times... and then also give us the opportunity to go somewhere else before dinner the evenings we dont dine early...

[Host Anne]

Just got off Constellation this weekend and the hours for the Elite lounge were still 4 - 6. We have late seating and never stopped in the lounge. While offering the lounge is certainly a nice perk, we have no interest in dressing smart casual this early to get a free drink. We choose late seating so we can relax, not rush before dinner, etc. So we choose to skip the lounge. It would be much better if it were 5 - 7. That way, early and late diners could take advantage of it. We are typically ready to head for cocktails by 7 and we could be ready 15 minutes earlier if the lounge was open until 7:00.

 

I actually think if they are going to offer a perk like this (I was always surprised that they did this to begin with), that it needed to be a bit more equal towards both dinner seatings if they want really want members to take advantage of it. I'd much rather if they had longer hours and limit the drink to one per member than late afternoon hours. It would even things out and probably save them money in the long run. I'd even be in favor of one drink coupon per day per elite member that could be used in any lounge/bar. Maybe make them valid for a different bar each day to encourage passengers to try different places? I would think it would control the amount of free drinks they are giving away (my guess is that those that do visit the lounge each day consumes several drinks while they are there) and it would be far more fair to all members.

 

Keep in mind that unlike Royal Caribbean ships that have dedicated lounges, Celebrity uses public lounges that they don't want to take out of commission except for a short period. Overall, I'm appreciative that they offer the perk. However, it's not one that is useful to us or many other late diners.

 

While we are talking about "perks" I really wish they would stop the coupons that say FREE something with the purhcase of something else. If you have to purchase something to get something FREE then it's not really free!

[uktraveller]

Another vote for later hours!

 

Our upcoming X cruise is a 10 night Med on Equinox. I cannot envisage anyone being onboard and dressed for the lounge by 4pm, except on sea days, when it will probably be so busy we won't want to go anyway!

[Cruiser Susie]

Just got off Constellation this weekend and the hours for the Elite lounge were still 4 - 6. We have late seating and never stopped in the lounge. While offering the lounge is certainly a nice perk, we have no interest in dressing smart casual this early to get a free drink. We choose late seating so we can relax, not rush before dinner, etc. So we choose to skip the lounge. It would be much better if it were 5 - 7. That way, early and late diners could take advantage of it. We are typically ready to head for cocktails by 7 and we could be ready 15 minutes earlier if the lounge was open until 7:00.

 

I actually think if they are going to offer a perk like this (I was always surprised that they did this to begin with), that it needed to be a bit more equal towards both dinner seatings if they want really want members to take advantage of it. I'd much rather if they had longer hours and limit the drink to one per member than late afternoon hours. It would even things out and probably save them money in the long run. I'd even be in favor of one drink coupon per day per elite member that could be used in any lounge/bar. Maybe make them valid for a different bar each day to encourage passengers to try different places? I would think it would control the amount of free drinks they are giving away (my guess is that those that do visit the lounge each day consumes several drinks while they are there) and it would be far more fair to all members.

 

My husband started this thread after our Eclipse cruise last week. The change in hours was definitely a pilot program and any coming changes to other ships will depend on how the program is perceived to be doing. I did like the later hours as well, but we have gone occasionally to the earlier times as well, even with late dining, and found it a nice time to chat and socialize with other guests and friends.

 

That said, I like your idea of coupons, or perhaps a card scan would be even easier... no coupons to worry about losing! I appreciated the fact that we no longer had to remember that separate card on this cruise to get into either the Sky Lounge or Michael's Club in the morning. I remember when they first offered this lovely perk that I was rather appalled at the number of drinks some people were consuming and bragging (no other word for their comments, truly!) about some days. It will be interesting to see what happens as time goes by and decisions are made about this perk... which Larry and I do appreciate a great deal, even if we seldom make it to the cocktail hour! (I also wish that it could be held in a non-smoking venue; the smoke in the Sky Lounge on the Eclipse was definitely noticeable, unfortunately.) But the view out the windows of that lounge was just splendid... looking out at the snow covered back yard right now, I would love to be back there!

[Shir Hayam]

Another vote for 5-7. That seems like a much more appropriate time for a cocktail hour (or two). We were on the Equinox in February and even with Select Dining, rarely went to the Elite lounge. It was way too nice to be indoors drinking at 4:00 in the afternoon. The couple of times we did make it, DH threw on some slacks and we got there about 5:30, had a nice drink and snacks, then went back to the cabin and dressed for dinner.

 

Sheila

[Happy Clam]

Strong vote for 5-7. Please no coupons.

[FrankLasVegas]

Anne:

 

Totally agree. Do late dining to enjoy as much of the day as possible and have some relaxing time to get ready for the evening.

 

Not going to rush just to get a free cocktail or two - after all it is vacation!

 

On RCCL the dedicated space for Diamond lounge (on the newer ships) makes it much easier to accommodate everyone.

 

Let's be real too - with the reciprocal Diamond/Elite arrangement, they now have more passengers wanting to take advantage of the cocktail time perk than they probably ever imagined!

 

I think your idea of a coupon or two per day for a free cocktail or glass of wine is an excellent solution.

 

Just my opinion.