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

[teajak]

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.

On the Equinox the window tables at the side were left for other passengers to use that were not part of the Elite group.This way the entire lounge was not taken up with a group.A rope seperated that part with an attendant.

[teajak]

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.

We do the same with the same results.No problem.:D

[yogimax]

We do the same with the same results.No problem.:D

 

I guess I'm different, but we tip at the coclusion of the cruise.

 

To me, tipping the first night seems more like a bribe than a tip.

 

Also, one of the best aspects of the evening is the opportunity to meet the ship's staff. We've been on Summit twice and it seemed like there would be four or five senior staff members mingling each evening.

[phoenix_dream]

On our last Summit cruise, saw one officer one night (I confess I missed one of the nights). I think the officers should visit these events, but found it to be very hit or miss. Actually, I never saw the Captains Club host either (although my husband claims he saw him when he stopped into the one night I missed). There is really no excuse for that - if there is any even the CC host should make a real effort to attend it is the Captains Club events IMHO!

[teajak]

On our last Summit cruise, saw one officer one night (I confess I missed one of the nights). I think the officers should visit these events, but found it to be very hit or miss. Actually, I never saw the Captains Club host either (although my husband claims he saw him when he stopped into the one night I missed). There is really no excuse for that - if there is any even the CC host should make a real effort to attend it is the Captains Club events IMHO!

That's really too bad,it shoudn't be that way.On our last cruise Equinox 12/10 ships officers were at every happy hour at least 4 each night. They circulated the room and were available to all as well as Donna the very good Captains Club hostess. The head bartender was also in attendance each night making sure everyone was taken care of.if you didn't have a drink in front of you after you were seated he checked to make sure you were being taken care of.Great crew,be back in April,God willing.:cool:

[City_Woman]

That's really too bad,it shoudn't be that way.On our last cruise Equinox 12/10 ships officers were at every happy hour at least 4 each night. They circulated the room and were available to all as well as Donna the very good Captains Club hostess. The head bartender was also in attendance each night making sure everyone was taken care of.if you didn't have a drink in front of you after you were seated he checked to make sure you were being taken care of.Great crew,be back in April,God willing.:cool:

 

Donna was terrific on the Equinox! She introduced herself to us at either the breakfast or the cocktail.

 

Couldn't tell you who the officers or the Captains Club hostess was on the Eclipse!

 

Judy

[Janet524]

I hope you self centered 2nd sitting dinner people are happy.i was on the solstice recently & the boat drill the 1st night the Elite lounge was open the drill was not over until 5:45 so we had no lounge but 2nd sitting had over 1 hour .Other nights 1st sitting had 50 minutes & 2nd sitting had 2 hours & could order a drink just before 7pm & drink for another half hour. I was told by the Captains Club Hostess that the hours were changed because 2nd sitters did not want to go as early as 4 pm. I hope other istsitters let Celebrity know this is not fair & should go back to 4pm to 6pm

 

Wow...A little bitter, are we?

[Hlitner]

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.

 

Sorry not to have responded sooner, but I missed your post. We totally agree with you about the HA Mariners lunch (mighty big of them to give us a free lunch on board) and seldom attend. What is interesting about HA is that they will often ask us to RSVP on the luncheons so I guess there are quite a few Mariners who do not show. On the other hand, HA cruisers are an interesting lot! Some of these folks take the awarding of worthless Medalions very seriously and we have actually seen some HA cruisers wear those silly (and ugly) things on cruises. I guess everyone has their priorities in life :)

 

What the fuss is about (regarding Celebrity) is that the Elite perks are really terrific....especially for those that enjoy cocktails and hors d'oevres. For example, on a 14 day Celebrity cruise there would be cocktail parties (with free drinks) on 12 nights with the Senior Officers Party on one day and no party on embarkation day. If we assume that DW and I consume 2 drinks (each) at each of those parties this means Celebrity is giving us about $32 a day of drinks or $416 of drinks on that 14 day cruise. In addition, we will often go to the Elite continental breakfast where I enjoy a Bloody Mary and Cappucinno (1 or 2) and DW has her Bellini. Now if you cost this out that is at least another $20 a day of various drinks we get at breakfast....or another $260 on a 14 day cruise (no breakfast on the last morning. So now we are up to a total of $676 worth of perks (not counting the nice hors d'oevres at the cocktail parties).

 

So, lets compare the value of the Celebrity perks with what we get for being 4 Star Mariners on HA. Unless one were to buy one of the two HA wine packages (Navigator or Admirals) the only perk of note is perhaps 1 or 2 cocktail parties. On our recent Westerdam cruise we were invited to one cocktail party per week (we did back to back 7 day cruises) which essentialy gave us a 45 min open bar! For those Mariners who buy the wine packages the savings are pretty decent (50% off for a 4 Star Mariner) although some would complain that HA has inflated the value of those packages to account for the nice discount (this is debatable). And with HA things really can vary. When we did a 62 day Grand Cruise we were treated to a single cocktail party in the Captain's Cabin. That is one party in a 2 month cruise! If that had been a Celebrity cruise we would have had about 60 parties! Pretty big difference :)

 

Another widespread rant about HA is that they do not give Mariners any free internet time. On RCI or Celebrity we get 90 min (each for DW and myself) which is valued at about $100. When it comes to free internet Princess has the best perk for frequent cruisers and will often give hundreds of free minutes.

 

Some folks reading all this might think "big deal" but for frequent cruisers these kind of perks can amount to thousands of dollars per year.

 

As to your question about what makes the Elite gatherings enjoyable.....for many of us its fun to socialize with a relatively small group of similar minded travelers. Of course if one happens to be on one of the transatlantic repositioning cruises (very popular with Elites) this might be mitigated by the huge crowd of Elites.

Hank

[phoenix_dream]

That's really too bad,it shoudn't be that way.On our last cruise Equinox 12/10 ships officers were at every happy hour at least 4 each night. They circulated the room and were available to all as well as Donna the very good Captains Club hostess. The head bartender was also in attendance each night making sure everyone was taken care of.if you didn't have a drink in front of you after you were seated he checked to make sure you were being taken care of.Great crew,be back in April,God willing.:cool:

We have also had cruises with great hostesses and lots of ships officers, and I definitely think that is how it should be. The whole point of the perk is to show appreciation for your repeat customers - booze is nice, but a personal touch is certainly appreciated. On a couple cruises in recent years the host (or hostess) would be at the event, but only as a 'guard' at the door. I hate that as well. Assign someone else to do the entry monitoring so the host or hostess can mingle as they should. I would think catering to the Captains Club members (of all levels, and certainly their most loyal customers) would be assignment #1 on their job description, wouldn't you think?:):)

[PSCruiser]

What the fuss is about (regarding Celebrity) is that the Elite perks are really terrific....especially for those that enjoy cocktails and hors d'oevres. For example, on a 14 day Celebrity cruise there would be cocktail parties (with free drinks) on 12 nights with the Senior Officers Party on one day and no party on embarkation day. If we assume that DW and I consume 2 drinks (each) at each of those parties this means Celebrity is giving us about $32 a day of drinks or $416 of drinks on that 14 day cruise. In addition, we will often go to the Elite continental breakfast where I enjoy a Bloody Mary and Cappucinno (1 or 2) and DW has her Bellini. Now if you cost this out that is at least another $20 a day of various drinks we get at breakfast....or another $260 on a 14 day cruise (no breakfast on the last morning. So now we are up to a total of $676 worth of perks (not counting the nice hors d'oevres at the cocktail parties).

 

So, lets compare the value of the Celebrity perks with what we get for being 4 Star Mariners on HA. Unless one were to buy one of the two HA wine packages (Navigator or Admirals) the only perk of note is perhaps 1 or 2 cocktail parties. On our recent Westerdam cruise we were invited to one cocktail party per week (we did back to back 7 day cruises) which essentialy gave us a 45 min open bar! For those Mariners who buy the wine packages the savings are pretty decent (50% off for a 4 Star Mariner) although some would complain that HA has inflated the value of those packages to account for the nice discount (this is debatable). And with HA things really can vary. When we did a 62 day Grand Cruise we were treated to a single cocktail party in the Captain's Cabin. That is one party in a 2 month cruise! If that had been a Celebrity cruise we would have had about 60 parties! Pretty big difference :)

 

Some folks reading all this might think "big deal" but for frequent cruisers these kind of perks can amount to thousands of dollars per year.

 

As to your question about what makes the Elite gatherings enjoyable.....for many of us its fun to socialize with a relatively small group of similar minded travelers. Of course if one happens to be on one of the transatlantic repositioning cruises (very popular with Elites) this might be mitigated by the huge crowd of Elites.

Hank

 

Great job stating the Elite cocktail benefit from both a financial and social aspect.

I've had a few instances, on Carnival and NCL especially, when I've tried to explain the RC/X benefits to loyal cruisers, and I could tell they either didn't believe me, or it wasn't "sinking in", the RC/X loyalty benefits are so far above some other lines that they don't seem possible.

[skandls]

OK - what is a good tip? $1 per drink? $5 per evening? More?

[3418ahl]

All I can say is we usually tipped $5 nightly and our waiter asked us to please not sit anywhere else!!!

[teajak]

All I can say is we usually tipped $5 nightly and our waiter asked us to please not sit anywhere else!!!

Same with us.Good service,good drinks, well worth it.;)