Elite Lounge change from 4 to 6pm to 5 to 7pm

[Hlitner]

Agree. We are Elite, yet have never been to an evening gathering. To be honest I can't see any advantage in going, as we already have inclusive drinks.

 

There is no advantage if you choose to purchase the drink package. But a large majority of X cruisers do not purchase those packages. As to the advantage....to us its all about the chance to socialize with other frequent cruisers/travelers. We have made many new friends/acquaintances in the Elite cocktail parties. When we cruise on HA (just back from 14 days on the Westerdam) we usually spent that same time of day just sitting on our verandah with a glass of wine (HA has no restrictions on bringing wine aboard). But on X we really look forward to those Elite parties and it does have some influence on our decision whether to book X over some of their competitors.

 

Hank

[Lsimon]

WINE O I said the 1st night the lounge was open not embarkstion night. the boat drill was 2nd day onboard.

I thought I had read that after the Concordia disaster they industry has established rules which require the drill to be conducted before the initial sail away on embarkation day?

[WhansaMi]

There is no advantage if you choose to purchase the drink package. But a large majority of X cruisers do not purchase those packages. As to the advantage....to us its all about the chance to socialize with other frequent cruisers/travelers. We have made many new friends/acquaintances in the Elite cocktail parties. When we cruise on HA (just back from 14 days on the Westerdam) we usually spent that same time of day just sitting on our verandah with a glass of wine (HA has no restrictions on bringing wine aboard). But on X we really look forward to those Elite parties and it does have some influence on our decision whether to book X over some of their competitors.

 

Hank

 

May I ask you a question?

 

Obviously, I've not traveled on Celebrity before; next year will be my first time. What makes those gatherings more enjoyable than any other gathering, that it would be a determining factor?

 

On our last HAL cruise, we attended the Mariner's luncheon. We didn't find it particularly interesting. (Not that it was *uninteresting*, but it wasn't much different than any other lunch).

 

If it is a matter of comparing experiences with other seasoned Celebrity patrons, when I read that many of these sailings have several hundred Elite members, I wouldn't think that would be difficult to do in any venue.

 

I'm just trying to understand what all the fuss is about.

[Mr&MrsBee]

Just got off the Connie Dec 15-20. Very few elites at the 5-7 drinks in the Reflections. Basically not worth the effort. Very few people. Service slow waited 35 minutes for a drink, drinks not good and snacks even worse.

One could watch the shaggy haired drunk snore in a chair with table full of drinks. or watch Peter Boyle and Greta parade around. What a elite group of people.

[Lsimon]

....What makes those gatherings more enjoyable than any other gathering, that it would be a determining factor? ...

 

...If it is a matter of comparing experiences with other seasoned Celebrity patrons, when I read that many of these sailings have several hundred Elite members, I wouldn't think that would be difficult to do in any venue....

 

I'm just trying to understand what all the fuss is about.

 

The official name of the event is "The Captain's Club Social Hour". That name points towards the proper concept of the event: A time most evenings for Celebrity's most experienced, and loyal, cruisers to have a special place to meet each other and engage in conversation.

 

For better or worse, too many Elite cruisers have come to think of this as being "My 2 hour free drink entitlement" rather than as a social event that Celebrity is kind enough to provide and which they are nice enough to offer some basic complimentary beverages.

 

When we have attended the Social Hour the times we've enjoyed it the most are when there were a smaller number of Elite members in a small venue such as Micheal's Club as this is when it the environment is most conducive to conversation. We find this less enjoyable when there are hundreds of attendees in a large lounge.

 

Also from a personal perspective we seldom partake of the complimentary beverages. We do drink alcoholic beverages almost every night when cruising, but we usually only have one drink before dinner and would prefer one of the higher quality beverages such as the nicer martinis with premium liquor made at the martini bar or a nice glass of wine. The drinks poured at the Social Hour are a limited variety of bar well drinks. Of course there are a lot of cruisers who have the ability, and appetite, to consume a larger quantity of beverages and who travel on a budget and to whom the complimentary beverage aspect of the Social Hour has become very important. I'm OK with that - it just isn't what we're looking for.

 

One other point here that really bothers me: I wish Celebrity had chosen some other term other than "Elite" to use for the upper level tier of their Captain's Club loyalty program. Too many people use that word in these boards to imply that Elite members are a bunch of selfish snobs due to the connotation of the word "Elite". A good example is Mr&MrsBee's closing comment in their nice comment above. This connotation wouldn't exist if Celebrity had chosen a word such as "four star" or "admiral" or something similar for the level. Being a Elite member doesn't mean one is holding themselves above others - we're just a bunch of frequent cruisers who have just as much of a chance as being nice, or not so nice, people as someone on their first Celebrity cruise.

[Mr&MrsBee]

We do not go to the social hour to see how much we can drink.Two maximun for me and spouse a coke. The only exception was the night we were ignored for 35 minutes then finally 3 drinks appeared and 3 cokes. We did meet Jim and Jon and had many laughs about the social hour entertainment. Not that we did not appreciate the social hours but how time consuming is it to hollow a cherry tomato and insert apiece of corn?

Sorry if anyone takes it negatively but facts are facts.

Larry: Your comments are always well written and very factual. I guess that is the Chicago in you.l Enjoy all of your posts.

[ghstudio]

 

One other point here that really bothers me: I wish Celebrity had chosen some other term other than "Elite" to use for the upper level tier of their Captain's Club loyalty program. Too many people use that word in these boards to imply that Elite members are a bunch of selfish snobs due to the connotation of the word "Elite". A good example is Mr&MrsBee's closing comment in their nice comment above. This connotation wouldn't exist if Celebrity had chosen a word such as "four star" or "admiral" or something similar for the level. Being a Elite member doesn't mean one is holding themselves above others - we're just a bunch of frequent cruisers who have just as much of a chance as being nice, or not so nice, people as someone on their first Celebrity cruise.

 

I have suggested that if Celebrity add another level to their captains club, they name it "godlike" and they rename the select level to "special". That way some that post here can say "I'm special", "I'm elite" and they can aspire to "I'm godlike".

 

yes, I agree that the choice of "elite" was, in hindsight, a poor one....

[richsea]

I just want to know; who is Peter Boyle and Greta & why are they parading, & what does "hollow a cherry tomato & insert a piece of corn" mean?

Is this some kind of an inside joke?:confused:

[robtulipe]

I thought I had read that after the Concordia disaster they industry has established rules which require the drill to be conducted before the initial sail away on embarkation day?

The sail away was not on embarkation day for the OP's Solstice cruise as the ship stayed in Singapore overnight so the muster doesn't actually need to be held on embarkation day with this type of itinerary.

For our Century repositioning cruise from Honolulu to Ensenada last March, the ship stayed in Honolulu the first night and the muster was held the second day at 9am. We missed that muster due to us being off the ship at 7am so we had to attend a make up muster at 8:15pm the second evening onboard. This was still before the sail away as that was at midnight or later that second day.

We had the early (6pm) dining on our recent Eclipse cruise and had no problems with the timeframe of 5pm to 7pm Elite Social Hour.

[Wine-O]

I can't imagine waiting 35 minutes for a drink -- it's usually prepared once I make eye contact with the bartender -- but then again, I tip. :rolleyes:

[bob278]

Like many others, we go to the Elite event for the social aspect. The only alcohol I drink on a cruise is a traditional sail-away piña colada. The savings from a couple of glasses of wine a day is far less important than the simple recognition that Celebrity is demonstrating appreciation for our business. I am convinced that one of the most dangerous words in the English language is "entitlement". It creates dependency and sets expectations that are in many cases unrealistic, thereby causing negative outcomes.

 

I agree with Larry that elite is a poor choice of name for a loyalty program level. I am also not a fan of the name Cruise Critic as that has a negative connotation that too many people are too quick to meet.

 

In the past, as we built our cruising experience and made good friends, the organized event was helpful as we would see the same people every day. Now that we almost always cruise with from 6 to 20 of our friends, it is not so important. For us, the flexibility of the voucher system is appealing because it will make it easier to find a nice place to sit and talk with friends.

 

And, thanks to robotulip for the information on the muster drill for an overnight for embarkation day and late departure. We will face that in Honolulu next spring on the Solstice and I wondered about it.

[Hlitner]

Although we can understand the negative comments about using "Elite" as a term...we would point out that Princess Lines also uses the "Elite" term for their frequent cruiser program

 

Hank

[Mr&MrsBee]

We do not go to the social hour to see how much we can drink.Two maximun for me and spouse a coke. The only exception was the night we were ignored for 35 minutes then finally 3 drinks appeared and 3 cokes. We did meet Jim and Jon and had many laughs about the social hour entertainment. Not that we did not appreciate the social hours but how time consuming is it to hollow a cherry tomato and insert apiece of corn?

Sorry if anyone takes it negatively but facts are facts.

Larry: Your comments are always well written and very factual. I guess that is the Chicago in you.l Enjoy all of your posts.

 

 

Cherry tomato cut in half, hollowed out and piece of corn inserted. Never had tht until this cruise.

[Mr&MrsBee]

I can't imagine waiting 35 minutes for a drink -- it's usually prepared once I make eye contact with the bartender -- but then again, I tip. :rolleyes:

 

 

No bartenters just wait staff. Why tip when no server brought drinks

[Wine-O]

Cherry tomato cut in half, hollowed out and piece of corn inserted. Never had tht until this cruise.

 

I've seen a lot of canapes and enjoy most of them, but I've never ever seen anything that would even come close to what you described. :confused: Maybe you are referring to some sort of garnish.

[Wine-O]

No bartenters just wait staff. Why tip when no server brought drinks

 

Never had your problem. I tip the first night and every night, and they always seem to seek me out whether I'm at the bar or at a table. I chuckle when I see folks with that entitlement mentality chasing down a waiter for a drink or last call. :rolleyes:

[wintrystew]

That is good news! At least I know that the read our comments at the end of the cruise.

[weliketocruise86]

We are new to Celebrity and were wondering what free drinks are availale at the nightly Elite event.

 

Is it comparable to RCL's diamond lounge event ?

 

Thank you

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Never had your problem. I tip the first night and every night, and they always seem to seek me out whether I'm at the bar or at a table. I chuckle when I see folks with that entitlement mentality chasing down a waiter for a drink or last call. :rolleyes:

 

I agree. Tip well the first night and your drinks will be waiting for you the second night when you arrive. And all subsequent nights. We were also visited by the bar manager every night to make sure things were going well. We even had a night when other waiters were vying to bring us drinks! Apparently word had gone out that we were good tippers.

[MoYerclan]

I can't imagine waiting 35 minutes for a drink -- it's usually prepared once I make eye contact with the bartender -- but then again, I tip. :rolleyes:

 

just curious- in cash or via signed slip? Which do you think they prefer?

[Artemis]

I just wrote a rave review about our Reflection cruise, but the "Captain's Club Social Hour" was one of the few negative topics on my comment card.

 

For starters, 5-7 PM is too early for cocktail hour when you have late seating at 8:30 PM.

 

But more importantly, the Reflection's Elite bar service was downright poor. We never got the chance to "tip" to insure future good service because we chose a window table to savor the ocean view--that's one reason the event's held in the Sky Lounge, right?! We didn't realize the wait staff only serves the Elite who encircle the bar. After 20 minutes of ineffectual attempts to make eye contact (heck, I even waved a time or two), we had to get up and go ask a server if he'd wait on us. That didn't make us feel Elite.

[Wine-O]

just curious- in cash or via signed slip? Which do you think they prefer?

 

I just slip them the cash.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

just curious- in cash or via signed slip? Which do you think they prefer?

 

Cash. There are no slips to sign. The drinks are complimentary.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

 

But more importantly, the Reflection's Elite bar service was downright poor. We never got the chance to "tip" to insure future good service because we chose a window table to savor the ocean view--that's one reason the event's held in the Sky Lounge, right?! We didn't realize the wait staff only serves the Elite who encircle the bar. After 20 minutes of ineffectual attempts to make eye contact (heck, I even waved a time or two), we had to get up and go ask a server if he'd wait on us. That didn't make us feel Elite.

 

We weren't sitting at or by the bar and we had no trouble getting served. Different ship--Eclipse.

[takemewithyou]

 

But more importantly, the Reflection's Elite bar service was downright poor. We never got the chance to "tip" to insure future good service because we chose a window table to savor the ocean view--that's one reason the event's held in the Sky Lounge, right?! We didn't realize the wait staff only serves the Elite who encircle the bar. After 20 minutes of ineffectual attempts to make eye contact (heck, I even waved a time or two), we had to get up and go ask a server if he'd wait on us. That didn't make us feel Elite.

 

We had the exact same problem on the Silhouette TA! We couldn't find a quiet place to enjoy the Happy Hour in the various venues, so we couldn't get established in any one area with the servers. We couldn't get anyone to come take our orders when we sat down, so my DH had to go to the bar to get service. We didn't get to even tip our servers because we couldn't get any servers to come to us! I agree that it sure didn't feel like an Elite Happy Hour usually feels. Very disappointing.