RCI Grand Suite or Celebrity Sky Suite(S1)

[m_duck]

Hi, I posted this on the RCI forum but thought I would also post here.

 

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We have always cruised RCI and since we have had our son have always been in a Grand Suite for the extra space. He will be nearly 2 when we cruise this time.

 

We have been looking at a cruise in the Med for this summer and we like the itinerary for the Serenade and have been on the Jewel and love the Radiance class of ship. We know the layout of the cabin and it will work for us.

 

However, I was looking at Celebrity and they have a cruise on the Celebrity Reflection in a Sky Suite (S1) and it is £1700 cheaper than RCI. That amount of money makes a big difference and will pay for drinks packages and excursions.

 

I can see from the brochure that the room is 88 sq smaller and was wondering if anyone has been in both a Grand Suite on RCI and a Sky Suite on Celebrity who might be able to explain if the they are comparable.

 

Thanks for any advice.

[drarill]

Hi, I posted this on the RCI forum but thought I would also post here.

 

----

 

We have always cruised RCI and since we have had our son have always been in a Grand Suite for the extra space. He will be nearly 2 when we cruise this time.

 

We have been looking at a cruise in the Med for this summer and we like the itinerary for the Serenade and have been on the Jewel and love the Radiance class of ship. We know the layout of the cabin and it will work for us.

 

However, I was looking at Celebrity and they have a cruise on the Celebrity Reflection in a Sky Suite (S1) and it is £1700 cheaper than RCI. That amount of money makes a big difference and will pay for drinks packages and excursions.

 

I can see from the brochure that the room is 88 sq smaller and was wondering if anyone has been in both a Grand Suite on RCI and a Sky Suite on Celebrity who might be able to explain if the they are comparable.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

I have been in a Grand Suite on RCI and a Celebrity Suite on Celebrity and will say that both cabins are similar. Never been in a Sky Suite but I booked one for a cruise this summer and did some research about the room. You can find videos in Youtube that will show you the layout. From those videos I'll say that the Grand Suite is superior. I have also been on the Jewel, Radiance and Brilliance, the Equinox and Silhouette. If you want to try Celebrity, you will like the S-Class ships.

Even if the Sky suite is not superior to the Gran Suite, the size will be good for the three of you. We won't be trying the Sky Suite this summer because we found a better room after our original booking. I'm looking forward to our Eclipse cruise next month!!! :):)

[kyriecat]

I stayed in a Sky Suite on Celebrity Silhouette in October. I've also stayed in a Grand Suite on Liberty of the Seas as well as in several Junior Suites on various RC ships.

 

From a comparison standpoint, the Sky Suite is closer in size to a Junior Suite on RC rather than a Grand Suite. A Sky Suite is 300 sq. ft. and a Junior Suite is 282 sq. ft. A Grand Suite on Serenade is 380 sq. ft.

 

Our Grand Suite on Liberty had a wet bar and more storage space than our Sky Suite on Silhouette. The bathroom was also larger. In general a Junior Suite on RC has plenty of space for my husband and I so that is the cabin type that we normally book. We only booked the Grand Suite on Liberty because the rate wasn't very much more than the Junior Suite so we wanted to try one. I have sailed in Junior Suites a couple times since then and not had "space shock." ;) We started in a Concierge Class cabin on Silhouette but due to a rate drop switched to the Sky Suite.

 

Having never travelled with a 2-yr old, I am uncertain how much space he will need. Personally, I think the Sky Suite would be an adequate size for two adults with a small child. I'm not sure what your son's sleeping needs are. If you prefer to keep him in a "play pack" type crib so he (hopefully) won't wander at night, there is space for that in that sitting area. If a bed is preferred, many of the Sky Suites have sofa beds.

 

As an adult I thought there was more to do on Silhouette than Serende, although I really love the RC Radiance ships. I don't think either Reflection or Serenade has a non-potty trained kids' play area like the Splash Zone on the newer RC ships. I don't know anything about the kid clubs on either ship.

 

From an amenities standpoint, the full suites (Grand & Sky) on RC and X are comparible. RC offers evening cocktail time for suite guests, which is very nice. However, X offered a complimentary dinner at a specialty restaurant. Since my husband and I aren't big drinkers (usually just 1 per night for cocktails), the free drinks in the lounge was worth about the same as a specialty restaurant dinner ($80), although if you are big drinkers, the CL on RC may be a better deal for evening drinks. The Sky Suites have butlers and Grand Suites have a concierge, but we don't use the services of either of them enough to say whether one is better than anther. The butler will bring your room service order if you choose to have a meal in your cabin rather than a waiter like RC Grand Suites get.

[HopefulCruiser123]

Great synopsis Kyriecat.

 

I have stayed in both and the Grand Suite on Mariner was really great, especially for space.

 

Stayed in Sky Suite on Silhouette (the highest suite level we can go on any ship because we need a fully accessible cabin).

 

We enjoyed the Celebrity cruise better, everything was perfect and having a smaller suite did not deter from the experience.

[m_duck]

Thank you for your considered responses. There is a suite guarantee which makes the price difference nearly £2500 and to specify a cabin it is now £2000 which really makes a big difference. We could both take the drinks packages which would actually work better for us than the concierge lounge on RCI as when we have travelled previously we can only go one at a time as someone has to stay in the cabin with Charlie. We could go and get drinks and coffees and bring them back to the room to have on the balcony.

 

I’m thinking of trying to get an aft cabin with the hope that there is little breeze in the evening and we will be able to stay out on the balcony with the light evenings and warm mediterranean weather.

 

It is a shame that the celebrity suite is so much more expensive. On the sailings I have been looking at they are £1300 more than RCI which makes them £3300 more than the Sky Suite if we booked a specific cabin. That seems such a large difference for approx. 94sq. If the celebrity suite had been the same price or near the grande suite I would have taken it but we could nearly take another cruise for the price difference.

 

Anyway, enough of my rambling .... thanks for your help. I’ll probably go and book NCL now !!!!!