New VIP Info.

[wendychloecruiser]

I don't think those who book a suite are concerned about the trinkets. Most can afford to buy them, or a bottle of wine.

 

That's exactly my point. A significant proportion of the posts are from individuals who can afford to do anything they want. The basis of the discussions appear to be focused on how Celebrity is planning to up the requirements for the next level. What would X possibly throw in that would significantly affect the enjoyment of a cruise? It certainly won't be any THING.

[Trekker954]

We were on the Infinity Aug 26 sailing and met alot of folks eating in Blu at night (I think we sat next to more Suite folks eating in Blu than those from the Aqua class (which we were). They mentioned going to Michaels club at night, however, there were normally only about four to eight people in there between 6 and 8. It was very dead every time we passed it.

 

The Elites still get our event in the big lounge up Deck 11 which for the most part gets very crowded. They now have the Captain Club rep and the Concierge rep together in the library, to have full coverage. We found the concierge way better than the Captain Club rep and tipped accordingly. Actually didn't give that Captain Club gal a dime, but the concierge made out very well and actually initially tried to turn down our tip, but with a little insistence took it.

[CJSTAR]

We just returned from a TA on the Infinity. We were in a Royal Suite and invited to the VIP lounge at Michaels Club from 7am to 7pm. We were told on the first day that there were only 57 people invited to use the lounge. We only went there a couple of times since they gave all Elite cruisers 3 vouchers each per day for drinks from 5-7pm in any bar. There were over 500 Elite members on the ship which is why they did the voucher system instead of having an Elite lounge in the Constellation Deck 11. I feel it worked out much nicer. So those of you worried that Celebrity using Michaels Club for a VIP lounge is taking away some of your benefits, it doesn't.

 

Someone mentioned there being a VIP line for boarding the ship at each port. We did not see it. In most ports they had 2 gangways that anyone could use (one to deck 2 and a steeper one to deck 3). It made it much faster with the security check process.

 

I don't know if Celebrity will start this VIP Lounge on all of their ships, but it didn't appear to me that many of the VIP's actually took advantage of it. Michaels Club was empty most of the time.

[TourDeCruise]

We just returned from a TA on the Infinity. We were in a Royal Suite and invited to the VIP lounge at Michaels Club from 7am to 7pm. We were told on the first day that there were only 57 people invited to use the lounge. We only went there a couple of times since they gave all Elite cruisers 3 vouchers each per day for drinks from 5-7pm in any bar. There were over 500 Elite members on the ship which is why they did the voucher system instead of having an Elite lounge in the Constellation Deck 11. I feel it worked out much nicer. So those of you worried that Celebrity using Michaels Club for a VIP lounge is taking away some of your benefits, it doesn't.

 

Judy, do you know if the Cafe al Bacio was one of the lounges where the vouchers could be used for wine (if they serve wine there), non-alcoholic speciality coffees, or premium teas? We are going on the Eclipse on Saturday where we may or may not have the vouchers versus the regular Elite afternoon event. Thanks for your report, Kathy

[joeandmaria]

If they want to make the Michaels club a VIP lounge during the day, then they should have the craft beers available some where else during the day. They advertise how they are having craft beers, but then the only time the lounge is open to the public is after 7pm. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

[travelingmom37]

The jump to 50 credits from the current 10 for "elite" is insane. This represents a tiny % of cruisers.

Even with the on-going speculation re. a new loyalty level above Elite a five fold increase in credits would certainly eliminate crowds, they could hold the events in one of the cabanas.

 

 

A new tier requiring 20 or 25 credits seems more reasonable INHO. Which I have not reached myself (so I would have no immediate gain ) but might be achievable

for those not yet retired or without unlimited time off and endless resources.

By setting the bar so high, I for one would not even try to reach the next tier, where as a 5-10 more credits might be tempting.

[wallie5446]

The jump to 50 credits from the current 10 for "elite" is insane.

 

 

 

Ah, did I miss something? The 50 was for VIP, not Elite which remained as is, right?

[Orator]

The jump to 50 credits from the current 10 for "elite" is insane. This represents a tiny % of cruisers.

Even with the on-going speculation re. a new loyalty level above Elite a five fold increase in credits would certainly eliminate crowds, they could hold the events in one of the cabanas.

 

 

A new tier requiring 20 or 25 credits seems more reasonable INHO. Which I have not reached myself (so I would have no immediate gain ) but might be achievable

for those not yet retired or without unlimited time off and endless resources.

By setting the bar so high, I for one would not even try to reach the next tier, where as a 5-10 more credits might be tempting.

 

Setting the bar too high is counterproductive to marketing. You want to find numbers that people believe they can achieve with some effort. As with any goal it should be established in a way that's challenging, but achievable.

[travelingmom37]

Ah, did I miss something? The 50 was for VIP, not Elite which remained as is, right?

 

 

No, you are correct. I just parsed my words poorly.

[Northern Aurora]

Judy, do you know if the Cafe al Bacio was one of the lounges where the vouchers could be used for wine (if they serve wine there), non-alcoholic speciality coffees, or premium teas? We are going on the Eclipse on Saturday where we may or may not have the vouchers versus the regular Elite afternoon event. Thanks for your report, Kathy

 

Kathy: While we have not used vouchers on the Eclipse, last April on the Equinox the Cafe al Bacio was one of the venues which did NOT accept the elite vouchers.

[gwrod]

Just returned from two weeks on Summit and vouchers were accepted at Cafe al Bacio for wine, some regular bar drinks and anything on their regular coffee and tea menu.

[TourDeCruise]

Kathy: While we have not used vouchers on the Eclipse, last April on the Equinox the Cafe al Bacio was one of the venues which did NOT accept the elite vouchers.

 

Just returned from two weeks on Summit and vouchers were accepted at Cafe al Bacio for wine, some regular bar drinks and anything on their regular coffee and tea menu.

 

Thank you to both of you for sharing your experience. I'll report back on the Eclipse if we get vouchers. We board on Saturday. If getting vouchers, hopefully we can use them in Cafe al Bacio for wine, specialty coffee, and/or premium teas. If not, we'll use them for wine and bottled water elsewhere and get our specialty coffees at the Elite breakfast and maybe purchase in Cafe al Bacio in the evening. It appears to be inconsistent with regard to Cellar Masters and Cafe al Bacio on the ships for using the vouchers.

 

Kathy

[Tiggertastic]

let me just check - so the VIP is either

 

pay for a suite or 50+ credits - what level suite are we talking here?

 

I've got a free drinks package, don't need to be a VIP for a free drink

[20pluscruises]

Wait....did I miss a keychain?

 

Bwahahahaha!!!!!!!

[ghstudio]

let me just check - so the VIP is either

 

pay for a suite or 50+ credits - what level suite are we talking here?

 

I've got a free drinks package, don't need to be a VIP for a free drink

 

pay for a royal or penthouse suite...not any suite. The 50+ credits was the cut off on one cruise...it's not any sort of policy at this point.

[Lovemychoos]

We were in a Celebrity Suite on the Oct Immersive Wine Cruise, and we were VIP's :-) Didn't really make much difference to us, as we had the prem package, but I'm sure some people enjoyed having Michaels Club all to themselves,lol.

 

The did think that our Concierge, Lucy, was absolutely fantastic, and looked after us really well though. Nothing too much trouble, and lovely and pleasant with it.

 

Lou

[CJSTAR]

Judy, do you know if the Cafe al Bacio was one of the lounges where the vouchers could be used for wine (if they serve wine there), non-alcoholic speciality coffees, or premium teas? We are going on the Eclipse on Saturday where we may or may not have the vouchers versus the regular Elite afternoon event. Thanks for your report, Kathy

 

 

Hi, we did not try to use the vouchers at the cafe. However, on the back of the voucher it states that it can not be used at certain bars (including the Martini Bar) but they were accepting them and the martini bar was packed from 5-7pm every night. It seems to me they were taking the voucher at any bar. Some of the bars we received a smaller size drink even though we ordered the same thing. Seems like there are no set rules, as each bartender seemed to tell you something different. It doesn't hurt to ask at the cafe. They may let you use them. Have a great time on your cruise. We loved it.

[CJSTAR]

let me just check - so the VIP is either

 

pay for a suite or 50+ credits - what level suite are we talking here?

 

I've got a free drinks package, don't need to be a VIP for a free drink

 

VIP is the Penthouse Suites, Royal Suites and Celebrity Suites. It doesn't include the Sky Suites (there are too many of them). We were told on the first day upon boarding at Michaels Club that there were 57 VIP's on board. Not sure how they come up with that number. I'm not sure that the 50+ credits is actually a "rule". I guess it depends on how many people they have. They don't want Michaels Club to be too crowded, but we rarely saw anyone in there, so we didn't bother. It was more fun at the Martini Bar. :D

I agree that the VIP Concierge, Lucy, was fantastic.

[CJSTAR]

let me just check - so the VIP is either

 

pay for a suite or 50+ credits - what level suite are we talking here?

 

I've got a free drinks package, don't need to be a VIP for a free drink

 

 

VIP is the Penthouse Suites, Royal Suites and Celebrity Suites. It doesn't include the Sky Suites (there are too many of them). We were told on the first day upon boarding at Michaels Club that there were 57 VIP's on board. Not sure how they come up with that number. I'm not sure that the 50+ credits is actually a "rule". I guess it depends on how many people they have. They don't want Michaels Club to be too crowded, but we rarely saw anyone in there, so we didn't bother. It was more fun at the Martini Bar. :D

I agree that the VIP Concierge, Lucy, was fantastic.