My take on new Suite Perks - Swing and a miss....

[groryjm]

Deck 3 on S Class and Deck 4 on M Class - The lower level of the MDR on both

Edited April 27, 2015 by groryjm

[kk99]

On the M class ships, it is located on port side deck 4, and I believe on the Solstice class ships, it is on starboard deck 3.

[Snit13]

kk99,

 

Always enjoy reading your posts. Rudy and I sailed with you on Allure as Hurrincae Dodgers. We were on The Connie the first week in February and it was not the same as when we sailed her a few years ago. We were AQUA this cruise and in Celebrity Suite previous cruise. We did not have the wonderful perks you are getting to enjoy but we were able to go to Michael's Club every evening as Elite members, that was before all of the changes.

 

We keep hoping we end up on a cruise with you again. You are such a delight and were such an awesome roll call keeper as well as fun activities planner.

We are on The Connie sailing 9 nights Virgin Islands on February 16, 2016 and also are booked on the Equinox 10 night Ultimate Caribbean March 24, 2017.

 

Glad you are having great sailing experiences and hope your Lady Luck is with you in the Casino.

 

Grace and Rudy

[scanditaly]

Your posts are always nice to read and offer a fair and balanced view/review of matters.

 

I have a question of my own regarding Michael's Club:

 

We are booked in RS category on the Solstice, and have booked our children in a nearby IS. (19,21) Our reservations are linked. Will the MC host welcome the children?

 

I booked on-board our most recent RCI cruise, and the consultant was adamantly certain that they would be welcome because our reservations are linked and we are paying for them and our CC will be used to secure their additional expenses.

 

Any responses will be appreciated.

[cle-guy]

Some of it almost comical and we always have a good time. I just got the spring Captain's Club mailer last week or so. I definitely think they need to revise the website page to update what is or is not included so people are correctly informed.

 

Your full post was spot-on, and I'm surprised to see that the issues you had on your sailing prior to mine continued on.

 

I too just rolled with it mostly, and felt it somewhat comical.

 

It was just kind of crazy to me that with such a clearly laid out Suite Perks FAQ, in writing on 4 simple pieces of paper, that it wasn't possible to even train staff on the information contained in that well-written, concise document, that has been advertised for more than a year now.

 

I had really high hopes for a well-done roll out of the program, given that the details were very clearly enumerated in this document (which was modified many times over the year and clarified often based on many threads on the topics in these forums) yet seems no one ever thought to tell the ship side staff of the existence of this document, let alone the program as a whole.

 

Bottom line it yet again, Celebrity has a HUGE problem with the training of staff and implementation of programs and policies. It's as if they have no training program whatsoever in place. CONSISTENCY is a word that NO one in the organization seems to understand.

 

And I don't expect all ships to be mirror images of each other, let them each have a unique flair and sub-culture, but get the basics streamlined and enacted fleet-wide. They have only 10 ships these days, Marriott has 4000 hotels, and manages to make them all follow a clear standard guidance, while letting each hotel maintain a unique "vibe" and "Culture".

 

Hoestly, I used to tell friends Celebrity felt like a Ritz Carlton on water. Nowadays, I have to tell them it's more like the Holiday Inn at the Airport, and that makes me just a little bit sad. :mad:

[cle-guy]

Your posts are always nice to read and offer a fair and balanced view/review of matters.

 

I have a question of my own regarding Michael's Club:

 

We are booked in RS category on the Solstice, and have booked our children in a nearby IS. (19,21) Our reservations are linked. Will the MC host welcome the children?

 

I booked on-board our most recent RCI cruise, and the consultant was adamantly certain that they would be welcome because our reservations are linked and we are paying for them and our CC will be used to secure their additional expenses.

 

Any responses will be appreciated.

 

I've seen no official response to this and can not recall any threads where it was even anecdotally discussed. I'd think the Concierge would use some discretion and allow minor children in without issue. If the children were not minors, I'd honestly say that there is no reason to grant them access. I believe I have read that Aqua guests have had issue bringing minors in separate non-aqua cabins in to there even, so would think same would happen here.

 

The guidance given by the RCI consultant, is not at all according to the official policy. But for Michaels, is reservations are linked dining would be handled in MDR just fine, but given Luminae, they won't even be allowed in there without fee. Also they wont be entitled to any of the Specialty Dining privileges either. That a single credit card is used to pay for all passengers on the reservation isn't even be something the ship-side staff could determine. All they know is a seeps card is authorized to make payments, they don't know that multiple sea passes have a single card paying, even though at check in the paperwork is done that way, ship side, they just swipe a card, and don't get into how it is backed up.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Your posts are always nice to read and offer a fair and balanced view/review of matters.

 

I have a question of my own regarding Michael's Club:

 

We are booked in RS category on the Solstice, and have booked our children in a nearby IS. (19,21) Our reservations are linked. Will the MC host welcome the children?

 

I booked on-board our most recent RCI cruise, and the consultant was adamantly certain that they would be welcome because our reservations are linked and we are paying for them and our CC will be used to secure their additional expenses.

 

Any responses will be appreciated.

 

Never mind the Michael's Club issue--who knows what the answer is to that? Think it depends on the whim of the concierge.

 

You do realize that you and your children are assigned to different dining rooms, do you not? It does not matter that your reservations are linked. If you want them to eat with you in Luminae, it will cost you $50/pp each time. That could add up really fast!

 

Linda

 

[ghstudio]

Your posts are always nice to read and offer a fair and balanced view/review of matters.

 

I have a question of my own regarding Michael's Club:

 

We are booked in RS category on the Solstice, and have booked our children in a nearby IS. (19,21) Our reservations are linked. Will the MC host welcome the children?

 

I booked on-board our most recent RCI cruise, and the consultant was adamantly certain that they would be welcome because our reservations are linked and we are paying for them and our CC will be used to secure their additional expenses.

 

Any responses will be appreciated.

 

It's interesting to see that Luminae and Michael's club "rules" are already starting to bend. Why not book another non suite for your inlaws and bring them as well....etc.

 

It's a very slippery slope....and it will cause problems because of uneven enforcement of unwritten rules.

[BBsails]

Thanks for your report, cle-guy. Some of the changes you report sadden me. DH and I are booked B2B on the Equinox this fall, and I'm hoping for the same great =X= experience we've always enjoyed.

 

BTW, my father worked in the Terminal Tower Building in the early 70s, he and my mother lived in Lakewood.

 

Betsy

[kk99]

Hi everyone,

Sanditaly, I don't think anyone will know the answer to your question as Linda said.

 

If Celebrity follows written policy, then your adult children would not get into Michael's Club. I will say that I have seen it happen by the concierges in the past year but that is not the policy. I just would not count on it.

You may want to buy the kids a specialty dining package and dine around the ship with them as it would be less expensive than having them come to Luminae each night. You could also have dinner served in your suite for the four of you

 

We have 18 going on the Summit in August. About half have suites that will get into Michael's. I am sure that we will dine around the ship and also eat in the main dining room if available. Michael's is nice, but I can always go by there at other times than around dinner/cocktail hour.

 

Grace and Rudy, lovely to hear from you. I think we are on Constellation right after you and are on Equinox in Jan 2017 as the pricing was very good. I hope to sail with ya'll again. Maybe Harmony of the Seas is in my future!

 

Curt, I think they will get it worked out, I just think it could have addressed better. For the really funny thing on our sailing, at 3:00 a.m. one morning, the motorized shades over the door to the PS balcony crashed and fell to the floor.

Certainly gave us an early wakeup!

 

GHstudio, I think that if Celebrity prints the rules, they should follow them both as to the guests as well as Celebrity. I do believe that unfortunately there is a fair amount of pressure put on the employees to make exceptions

for guests.

 

BBsails, I still believe you will have a wonderful trip on Equinox. I am going to withhold my final opinion on Luminae and the suite experiences until we have been on several more cruises to see if the kinks have been worked out.

 

I am optimistic that it will deliver what it promised, just a little later than the first sailings.

 

Kelcie

[need2bespoiled]

 

SNIP

 

We were charged for eating at Bistro on Five. We were charged for drinking bottled water in the room. One Butler told us that anything in the fridge was complimentary, and the other suite was told nothing was complimentary except for what was sitting on the counter which was the two bottles of alcohol and the mixers. The Bistro on Five and the water charges were reversed after two trips to Guest Relations.

 

The people in the royal suite had three adults in there, and two had the premium package, and the third was told they did not get anything, even though the brochure said all occupants of the room get the premium drink package included. This also took two trips to Guest Relations by them to get it fixed. The first time, they put the wrong sticker on the guest's card for the classic beverage package. It was fixed on the second trip.

 

I think the staff on Constellation were wonderful, and really like the concierges and butlers, but no one seemed to be on the same page. So when I read that Curt had some similar minor issues, it should have been fixed by the start of the transatlantic.

 

 

Kelcie,

 

I Agree with both of your posts and Curt regarding consistencies, but I will say I am pretty much shocked that the concierge, if they knew, was letting you go to Guest Relations to deal with the issue. If you have any accounting, package, key card, or any other type of problems you'd normally dial or go to "54" you can just call or visit the Michael's Club concierge and they will (or at least, are supposed to) take care of it for you. No waiting, no fuss.

 

My recommendation for both you and anyone who has Michael's Club access is to build a nice relationship with the Concierge and they will in turn easily deal with these issues. Even if you don't have time or desire to build that rapport, they will still (or they're not doing their job) happy handle them.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[scanditaly]

Hi to all; thanks for all the info and responses.

 

the irony is that I can bring them into the RS for a total of $2200, and their inside is costing $4537 with no additional benefits added on.

 

The funny thing is that except for the evening meal time we don't even expect to see them, so having access privileges to MC is probably moot. Really I just wanted to check to see what the current rules and policies would be.

[groryjm]

Hey Folks, some clarifications and answers...

[*]Luminae was open every day for breakfast, except for 1 - the last sea day when they did brunch instead. Mind you on the TA we had a time change 6 times, so that may have determined the final Brunch versus Breakfast and separate Lunch.

[*]Luminae, Lunch was served every day except embarkation, port days, and the "brunch" day

 

Hi Curt thanks for the update on the predicted Vs achieved suite class perks. Sorry it hasn't been perfect for you but hopefully it will improve.:)

 

I just checked the suite class enry at http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/cruise-restaurants-luminae and noticed this additional caveat

 

Insider Tips

Hours and meals served vary by itinerary.

On sea days, open for brunch (11AM–1PM) and dinner.

On port days, open for breakfast and dinner.

Open for lunch at ship's discretion, depending on early or late port arrivals and departures. See daily program.

 

Seems they have taken a step back:(

Edited April 28, 2015 by groryjm

[ghstudio]

Seems they have taken a step back:(

 

And they've done it very very quietly.....so as not to upset those with future bookings.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

And they've done it very very quietly.....so as not to upset those with future bookings.

 

Nice.... :rolleyes:

 

I'm assuming a large number of ships will make that call (not to have lunch) since they now have an "out".

 

Tom

Edited April 28, 2015 by Tom-n-Cheryl

[Gordoncruickshank]

Kelcie,

 

I Agree with both of your posts and Curt regarding consistencies, but I will say I am pretty much shocked that the concierge, if they knew, was letting you go to Guest Relations to deal with the issue. If you have any accounting, package, key card, or any other type of problems you'd normally dial or go to "54" you can just call or visit the Michael's Club concierge and they will (or at least, are supposed to) take care of it for you. No waiting, no fuss.

 

My recommendation for both you and anyone who has Michael's Club access is to build a nice relationship with the Concierge and they will in turn easily deal with these issues. Even if you don't have time or desire to build that rapport, they will still (or they're not doing their job) happy handle them.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

We got a row for going to guest services rather than the concierge on the third time our balcony was left like a swimming pool. Once the concierge new about it we had the head of housekeeping sorting it out.

 

Gordon

[PSU]

Our family is going on Summit in August with 4 of us in a Celebrity Suite and 5 in a balcony and outside room (other children and grandchildren).

 

I made reservations for all of us for dinner in the MDR (select dining every night) and plan to pay for brunch for them on one sea day in Luminae. I don't expect the concierge to let them in Michael's Club, but my husband and I will drop in MC occasionally when possible. My husband and I are paying for all the cabins, but I realize that our children in the balcony and outside room will not get the privileges afforded those in a suite.

 

I know that we will have a wonderful time (all the adults have drink packages) spending time with each other.

 

 

I've seen no official response to this and can not recall any threads where it was even anecdotally discussed. I'd think the Concierge would use some discretion and allow minor children in without issue. If the children were not minors, I'd honestly say that there is no reason to grant them access. I believe I have read that Aqua guests have had issue bringing minors in separate non-aqua cabins in to there even, so would think same would happen here.

 

The guidance given by the RCI consultant, is not at all according to the official policy. But for Michaels, is reservations are linked dining would be handled in MDR just fine, but given Luminae, they won't even be allowed in there without fee. Also they wont be entitled to any of the Specialty Dining privileges either. That a single credit card is used to pay for all passengers on the reservation isn't even be something the ship-side staff could determine. All they know is a seeps card is authorized to make payments, they don't know that multiple sea passes have a single card paying, even though at check in the paperwork is done that way, ship side, they just swipe a card, and don't get into how it is backed up.

[ghstudio]

Our family is going on Summit in August with 4 of us in a Celebrity Suite and 5 in a balcony and outside room (other children and grandchildren).

 

I made reservations for all of us for dinner in the MDR (select dining every night)

 

Oh great....celebrity took away seats from the MDR to create Luminae for suite guests and reducing space for those not in a suite or aqua....and we have suite guests who aren't going to use their space and add to the load of the MDR.

 

I understand there are reasons this happens, but a non suite guest who books select dining and already has a waiting line caused in part by losing seats to Luminae now has an even longer wait because the suite guests are not using their space.

 

I suppose 5 more plus or minus won't matter in the larger scheme of things....

Edited April 28, 2015 by ghstudio

[JaneStarr]

Hi Curt thanks for the update on the predicted Vs achieved suite class perks. Sorry it hasn't been perfect for you but hopefully it will improve.:)

 

I just checked the suite class enry at http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/cruise-restaurants-luminae and noticed this additional caveat

 

Insider Tips

Hours and meals served vary by itinerary.

On sea days, open for brunch (11AM–1PM) and dinner.

On port days, open for breakfast and dinner.

Open for lunch at ship's discretion, depending on early or late port arrivals and departures. See daily program.

 

Seems they have taken a step back:(

 

This is VERY disappointing and Not as promoted!

Jane

[PSU]

I will try to be gracious, but do you think that we should not eat together as a family because there are four of us in the Celebrity Suite and the others in non-suites? Suite guests can eat in the MDR, Luminae or a specialty restaurant if they want.

 

Why should a non-suite guest have to wait? They can just make a reservation for every night like I do.

 

Oh great....celebrity took away seats from the MDR to create Luminae for suite guests and reducing space for those not in a suite or aqua....and we have suite guests who aren't going to use their space and add to the load of the MDR.

 

I understand there are reasons this happens, but a non suite guest who books select dining and already has a waiting line caused in part by losing seats to Luminae now has an even longer wait because the suite guests are not using their space.

 

I suppose 5 more plus or minus won't matter in the larger scheme of things....

[uktog]

Hi Curt thanks for the update on the predicted Vs achieved suite class perks. Sorry it hasn't been perfect for you but hopefully it will improve.:)

 

I just checked the suite class enry at http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/cruise-restaurants-luminae and noticed this additional caveat

 

Insider Tips

Hours and meals served vary by itinerary.

On sea days, open for brunch (11AM–1PM) and dinner.

On port days, open for breakfast and dinner.

Open for lunch at ship's discretion, depending on early or late port arrivals and departures. See daily program.

 

Seems they have taken a step back:(

 

Interesting the nauseating message as you wait 20 mins to get a human at Celebrity still talks about breakfast, lunch and dinner

[JaneStarr]

Not sure the best way to reference, but here's a link to the Live Chat with Jo Rzymowska of Celebrity Cruises on Celebrity Cruises: Suites, Spas & Signature Sailings

 

http://live.cruisecritic.com/Event/Celebrity_Cruises_Suites_Spas__Signature_Sailings?Page=0

Clearly Celebrity is going back on the Suite Lunch service offering. I really hope they reconsider quickly!

Jane

 

Will lunch be offered every day or only on sea days?

by Shirley C January 30 at 11:12 AM

 

Jo Rzymowska

In Luminae lunch will be every day

January 30 at 11:13 AM

 

Celebrity Cruises (US)

Including embarkation day!

January 30 at 11:14 AM

[ghstudio]

This is VERY disappointing and Not as promoted!

Jane

 

From the original press release:

 

The new Suite Class will include:

 

Private dining - A dedicated private restaurant reserved exclusively for all Suite Class guests will be available morning, noon and night. Each meal will feature unique menus that offer sumptuous dishes not available anywhere else onboard. Guests can truly immerse themselves in the local culture with specially crafted menus inspired by the local destination, and enjoy the world's best ingredients. Memorable and inspiring dishes will be served, from locally caught seafood, to the freshest pasta. The Suite Class chef can provide a tailor-made experience to suite guests and prepare a dish to their liking, and the Cellar Master - Celebrity’s head sommelier - will select from more than 450 wines to provide the perfect pairing.

[cruiserchuck]

From the original press release:

 

The new Suite Class will include:

 

Private dining - A dedicated private restaurant reserved exclusively for all Suite Class guests will be available morning, noon and night. Each meal will feature unique menus that offer sumptuous dishes not available anywhere else onboard. Guests can truly immerse themselves in the local culture with specially crafted menus inspired by the local destination, and enjoy the world's best ingredients. Memorable and inspiring dishes will be served, from locally caught seafood, to the freshest pasta. The Suite Class chef can provide a tailor-made experience to suite guests and prepare a dish to their liking, and the Cellar Master - Celebrity’s head sommelier - will select from more than 450 wines to provide the perfect pairing.

 

So it looks like "morning, noon and night" does not mean "breakfast, lunch and dinner." I wonder now if the wording was vague on purpose.

[rockdoctor]

We were on the Equinox last November. Only suite guests get suite amenities.