Suite perks...if you could add ONE....

[Ken the cruiser]

Excellent point. Can you compare Illuminae (free to all Celebrity suite guests) to Pinnacle Grill (charge for most people except some elite repeat customers)? I'm curious to see which restaurant is better Illuminae or PInnacle Grill?

We haven't had the pleasure of eating in the Illuminae yet (next cruise), but we have heard nothing but good things. One thing we do know is that their menu changes every day. Some folks have said it's on a 12-14 day cycle. However, the Pinnacle Grill's menu doesn't change unless it's on LeCirque night. Then there is an extra charge above the normal Pinnacle Grill cost.

 

As far as the Celebrity specialty restaurants go, there were 3 on the Eclipse. We bought a package of 4 dinners on our 25 day B2B which made each dinner's average cost around $27 pp. If you pay for them individually, they run between $45-50 pp.

[kazu]

Thank you for your reply.

We did attend a suite lunch on board Maasdam during the Australian Circumnavigation cruise, 2016.

 

We had a suite luncheon in 2016 too. In 2017 there was none on the Rotterdam. I was advised that they were no longer being offered when I enquired upon our return.

[Aquahound]

Excellent point. Can you compare Illuminae (free to all Celebrity suite guests) to Pinnacle Grill (charge for most people except some elite repeat customers)? I'm curious to see which restaurant is better Illuminae or PInnacle Grill?

 

Pinnacle might be better if it was just a 1 or 2 night deal but over the course of the cruise, Illuminae is much better. That's because like Ken said, it's a changing menu. Plus, the fact it's included in the suite fare is a great perk.

 

Same goes for RCI. Their newer ships have Coastal Kitchen, which is a suites only restaurant, and also included in the fare. I haven't had a chance to try it yet but friends of mine thought it was great.

[DaveOKC]

We disembarked Maasdam 19th December, a 22 day cruise, there was no suite lunch, which we have enjoyed on previous cruises.

Is the suite lunch still offered on other HAL ships? or has this been discontinued?

 

No suite lunch, nor a Captain's cocktail party on our 18 day Hawaii cruise. We had 10 sea days, so plenty of time to hold both! With the reduced Neptune perks, and the fact that we are now 4 Star (and get some of them anyway), its hard to justify booking a Neptune now.

[AZNative2000]

We haven't had the pleasure of eating in the Illuminae yet (next cruise), but we have heard nothing but good things. One thing we do know is that their menu changes every day. Some folks have said it's on a 12-14 day cycle. However, the Pinnacle Grill's menu doesn't change unless it's on LeCirque night. Then there is an extra charge above the normal Pinnacle Grill cost.

 

Pinnacle might be better if it was just a 1 or 2 night deal but over the course of the cruise, Illuminae is much better. That's because like Ken said, it's a changing menu. Plus, the fact it's included in the suite fare is a great perk.

Enjoy Ken, you'll love it.

 

As someone who has experienced both, I will say that having Luminae aboard "X" is far superior (IMHO) than eating in Pinnacle (as was said "over the course of a whole cruise"). Specialty restaurants are unnecessary with Luminae.

Luminae can only be compared if one was to have all meals in the Pinnacle. Luminae is a smaller venue, has fewer tables per server (than any MDR), and the food is better overall. While I do love that ribeye in the Pinnacle, the ability to special-order, the fact that the food actually arrives hot (or cold depending), the staff learning preferences quickly that continues for the whole cruise, and that two-week menu cycle means Luminae wins (again IMHO). It must be noted that you may also order from the MDR menu at any time while in Luminae and they offer the best French Onion Soup ever!

 

To the OP: I too favor free internet for the suites on HAL.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Edited January 1, 2018 by AZNative2000

[Aquahound]

One other thing that would be nice, is if the Neptune Lounge actually had a view. I don't know how it's set up on HAL's older ships, but the lounges I saw on V, S and P class ships were totally enclosed. For comparison, this is a suite lounge on RCI:

 

[kazu]

One other thing that would be nice, is if the Neptune Lounge actually had a view. I don't know how it's set up on HAL's older ships, but the lounges I saw on V, S and P class ships were totally enclosed. For comparison, this is a suite lounge on RCI:

 

 

The only Neptune Lounge which has a view is the one on the Prinsendam to the best of my knowledge. It's also the only one with a verandah:)

[RocketMan275]

So what single perk would you add to HAL's suite offerings?

We've done suites on Princess, Holland, and Oasis of the Seas. We're fairly well satisfied with the suites on Holland. We don't need internet for example. Some ideas we would support:

- Suites Lounge with a view.

- Suites only dining.

We found the Suites Lounge on Oasis to be the very best. We weren't impressed with the dining arrangements since we found the choices to be quite limited for lunch/dinner. I expect that has been fixed.

[chill6x6]

Views from suite lounges on Royal seem to be hit or miss......Navigator suite lounge was in the center of the ship.....Liberty did have a nice view.....Jewel did(not true Suite lounge but shared with D+ and above I believe) on one end(narrow) but I understand they have now have a larger area.

[alwaysfrantic]

I’d say free internet.

[Cruzaholic41]

Views from suite lounges on Royal seem to be hit or miss......Navigator suite lounge was in the center of the ship.....Liberty did have a nice view.....Jewel did(not true Suite lounge but shared with D+ and above I believe) on one end(narrow) but I understand they have now have a larger area.

 

The non views were true of Voyager and Freedom classes but those lounges are being moved up to the Viking Crown.

[Mosaic]

1. higher speed internet, some free.

2. limited free happy hour in the Neptune.

3. free dinner at a specialty restaurant. or a better suite party.

 

All the above should be had---the Neptune Suites are expensive for what you get.

[sail7seas]

1. higher speed internet, some free.

2. limited free happy hour in the Neptune.

3. free dinner at a specialty restaurant. or a better suite party.

 

All the above should be had---the Neptune Suites are expensive for what you get.

Five Star Mariners get fre e Pinnacle dinner so one again to make that a neptune perk would duplication with no value to high star levvel mariner. In adition to free Pinnacle, we also get 50% discount oif we go again. Ho w many meals does ahyone want in Pinnacle on a givec ruise? I didn't even use my free dinner on my recent Veendam cruise as it was such a bad Pinnacle. I paid the first time we went and never returned for the free meal.

[JRG]

Five Star Mariners get fre e Pinnacle dinner so one again to make that a neptune perk would duplication with no value to high star levvel mariner. In adition to free Pinnacle, we also get 50% discount oif we go again. Ho w many meals does ahyone want in Pinnacle on a givec ruise? I didn't even use my free dinner on my recent Veendam cruise as it was such a bad Pinnacle. I paid the first time we went and never returned for the free meal.

 

I would think that once you reach the top of the award level, there are no more benefits. Maybe they have a 6 star rating or something. Not sure but they need to keep pace with what other lines are offering to lure suite passengers.

Edited January 2, 2018 by JRG
errors and omissions

[chill6x6]

Some good replies...

 

Looks like it's pretty even for limited drinks in the Neptune Lounge OR some type of internet package....

 

Probably the internet would be the least expensive and easiest to put into place.....although limited drinks wouldn't be all all that expensive either...

[frankc98376]

Celebrity is increasing the number of suites on the new Edge. They are aggressively going for the market that is willing to pay premium for suites. Koningsdam has 10 less NS than Amsterdam. Pretty clear that HAL is going for the mass market. I realize that 7 night cruises for $299 require cutbacks somewhere else. Fewer are willing to pay $400-500 per night for a little more room and free coffee in a lounge that closes at 8pm. Like the airlines the suites end up occupied by upsells or upgrades.

 

Yes, the per diem is higher on Celebrity for the suites but with the added benefits worth it IMO. Due to the reduced number of suites on Koningsdam I've noticed the per diems are more like Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

 

They all but eliminated the SS suites.

 

Just a few years ago we had a couple of suite parties and a suite luncheon mid cruise.

[bigbenboys]

We cruised on HAL from 2000-2009. We did 7 cruises and have 65 nights with HAL. We were also cruising on other cruise lines. When we saw the perks that Celebrity gives, we stopped cruising on HAL. We now have 26 or 27 cruises with Celebrity. I really like Celebrity Suite Life. You can book a suite with 4 perks you get Unlimited internet, Premium Drink Package, Gratuities and On Board Credit included in the price. Suites have their own restaurant, Michael's Club for coffee, drinks, afternoon tea and scones, appetizers about 5pm. If you book without the perks, drinks are free in Michael's Club with in reason. Your not going to get Johnnie Walker Blue for free. The Concierge in Michael's Club will book shore excursion for you and help with other need or wants that your butler cant do for you.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

Add my vote for free internet. I burned enough minutes on my 14-day Alaska cruise in September to push into 2-star Mariner status (being in a Neptune Suite helped) after just the one cruise (my first ever — I’m now hooked!). I really tried to economize — using my mobile phone carrier connectivity while in or close to Alaska ports, composing blog entries offline, logging on to upload text + photos, downloading email to read offline, etc. but it still added up. I’ll be even more dependent on the ship’s internet connection on the VoV trip next summer.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[BunnieBear]

I too did an Alaskan cruise in September as my first cruise and find it baffling that perks are more important to people than ports. You'll find some really nice people on board if you step outside of your self-segregation.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Forums mobile app

[*Miss G*]

What an odd and judgemental thing to say.

[Ken the cruiser]

I too did an Alaskan cruise in September as my first cruise and find it baffling that perks are more important to people than ports. You'll find some really nice people on board if you step outside of your self-segregation.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Forums mobile app

Wow! I'm not going to touch that one other than to say we can do both.

 

For us, we book vista suites to get double points, buy stock in Carnival to get more OBC for each cruise and book as early as possible so we can "rebook" the cruise when better sale perks/prices come along. We now usually have $1,000+ OBC plus any other free perks we can collect along the way, not counting TA perks. We also, amazingly, still have time to enjoy the company of like minded folks we meet on a cruise as well as enjoy as many excursions as possible.

 

BUT, do we think the Neptune Suite guests deserve more perks for the amount of money they pay for a Neptune suite, as compared to other similar cruise lines, yes. And when someone is kind enough to ask our opinion, we'll give it.

[Mrs. Nic]

We cruised on HAL from 2000-2009. We did 7 cruises and have 65 nights with HAL. We were also cruising on other cruise lines. When we saw the perks that Celebrity gives, we stopped cruising on HAL. We now have 26 or 27 cruises with Celebrity. I really like Celebrity Suite Life. You can book a suite with 4 perks you get Unlimited internet, Premium Drink Package, Gratuities and On Board Credit included in the price. Suites have their own restaurant, Michael's Club for coffee, drinks, afternoon tea and scones, appetizers about 5pm. If you book without the perks, drinks are free in Michael's Club with in reason. Your not going to get Johnnie Walker Blue for free. The Concierge in Michael's Club will book shore excursion for you and help with other need or wants that your butler cant do for you.

Not to be repetitive, but that priority line in Customs just topped off the Suite Life for us. Easier to pay for the suite and get all that the ship has to offer included.

[frankc98376]

After reading through this thread I'm reading that Carnival has minimal suite benefits, Princess is better, and HAL just above Princess. Kind of appears to me the the CCL US based cruise lines are more interested in mass market than acquiring and keeping premium fare suite passengers. Perhaps their attitude is "If you want premium use Seabourn".

 

With Celebrity adding the Suite Class program, NCL offering the Haven, and now MSC coming into the US likely in a big way with their Yacht Club, I see CCL losing many of these guests.

 

MSC is already status matching and I'm guessing at some point others will do the same. Airlines have been "quietly" status matching for years.

[*Miss G*]

I have to admit that the MSC Yacht Club has drawn my attention.

[Ken the cruiser]

I have to admit that the MSC Yacht Club has drawn my attention.

I'm curious as to why? MSC has never been known for their quality food presentations. We were just on a 7 day NCL Caribbean cruise in one of their Haven balconies. The cabins were nice, but their private restaurant had the same menu every day, which for the most part gave us heartburn because of all the fat and seasoning added to the food. In addition when we went out of the Haven area, is was still a NCL "party" cruise with 4800 passengers milling around. From what I could tell, the Yacht Club appears to be MSC's answer to the Haven or am I wrong.