Drinks vouchers on sea pass instead of happy hours in skylounge

[di T]

currently on Eclipse and we have 3 drink vouchers on our sea passes instead of the normal lounge happy hour! After 25 Celebrity cruises this is only the 3rd time we have had this and on the other times it was on transatlantic cruises. The hostess says this is going fleet wide and as been on the Eclipse for months! Have any of you experienced this?

We can use the vouchers at most bars between 5&7pm but I get the impression the bar staff in some bars and not really interested in serving the drinks from the Captains club menu. Really miss the atmosphere in the lounge and the friendships with fellow guests and staff. In fact thinking of doing more other cruise lines not just because of this but lots of little niggles we used to feel our loyalty was important but not now. Dianne

[SimonaD]

Celebrity has been continually diluting and devaluing their brand. On our last celebrity sailing (last ever for us), our 25th in April, chatting with other passengers - overwhelming number in the elite lounge were on their very first celebrity cruise due to their RCL status giving them elite.

They kept bringing up that the sales pitch for celebrity was “free drinks” with your status from their agents.

Some nights you couldn’t get a seat in the lounge unless you stood in line before 5pm. While this is not our main reason for dropping celebrity going forward (look up #celebritycruisesfail on FB or Twitter if curious), we were sad to see this happening. (As I write this on a sea day aboard the Regal Princess)

 

 

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[Ex-Airbalancer]

I always enjoy happy hour 1000x more when we are at the sunset bar :D

[pennys mum]

We were on the eclipse the sailing before you and drinks were on our sea pass also

[charlielinda]

We just got off the Equinox and not once did we go to the Sky Lounge for the cocktail party. We didn’t have the drink package either. The timing for us is not good at all. We enjoy the pool at that time and then have dinner at 8. It’s a benefit that does nothing for us we ... but that’s ok. We just have to decide what is best for us and may try another line because we don’t seem to be getting much for our loyalty. Just my two cents.

 

 

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[cruisestitch]

Some passengers see the vouchers as an upgrade. They prefer to have their drinks in the bar of their choice, and not have to be dressed up, which they would have to do to go to the sky lounge. Using your drinks vouchers at the Sunset bar is a delight. I don’t understand people who think that this is a watering down of the program . Also you could have a glass of wine with your dinner using the voucher (or sea pass equivalent), which you couldn’t do when limited to the sky lounge location where you are asked not to remove drinks. Yes it’s only three drinks in the two-hour period rather than unlimited drinks from 5-7 but for many of us, three is sufficient.

[cublet]

<SNIP>

 

Yes it’s only three drinks in the two-hour period rather than unlimited drinks from 5-7 but for many of us, three is sufficient.

 

Hello,

 

On all my Eclipse sailings, all ex UK, there were never unlimited free drinks 5-7 - we were given three paper vouchers per day to be used in the 'Elite Lounge' (AKA Sky observation lounge) and once you had used them it was game over.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[warmwinds]

If you encounter a bartender who balks at serving you drinks from the Captain's Club menu, I would inform someone higher up. There should be no discrimination regarding the service.

[smtcan]

On our last TA (Silhouette) we had three drinks on our cards. The lounge was open with appetizers served, but the drinks were taken from the card. We actually liked this system because we could get our third drink with dinner and our waiter was very generous at topping up our glasses in the MDR. The lounge was well used, but not overcrowded since many people drank in other bars. It was also good to have our drinks with non elite friends if we wanted to

[lienf]

The loaded sea pass card is perfect for us. At 5 I will go to one of the bars to pick up a beer and soda for our room fridge and we will then have our other 2 drinks wherever we would like. We have never had a server balk at serving those drinks.

[Mr. Click]

Odd, we have done two cruises since we made Elite, both on M-class ships and there was never a crowd at the Elite hour. We are not big drinkers at all and often picked up some bottled water for later in the evening and the next day. We also did one trip on Royal and their Diamond Lounge was packed so having the 3 drinks on our cards was a nice thing but in the MDR we had to keep track of things to make sure we were not being charged. All in all it is not a dilution, it is really an add on because it gives us more options. Lets see what happens in a few weeks when we board the Reflection.

[Denny01]

Interesting no one is really saying that the waitstaff was not serving or were ignoring customers Capt Club drinks, just ‘got the impression’, whatever that means. Enjoyed the 3 drinks on the seapass card because of the flexibility and enjoying drinks with non-Elite friends. Many options and not sure how this is seen as a reducetion in service to Elites. With the full Sky Lounge, I found it just as challenging getting drinks as you’d experience in a normal bar area.

 

With that said, I’ve loved the Sky Lounge socials meeting with fellow cruisers who, having Elite status, have a common interest - extensive cruising. It’s fun. And from my experience, its cut down on running into the whiners who love to complain and nitpick.

 

Den

[GeorgesGal]

We were on the eclipse the sailing before you and drinks were on our sea pass also

 

I was on Equinox in mid-June b2b and drinks were in the sky lounge. No tickets, nothing on sea pass, just show card to gain access, no limits except 5 till 7.

 

Will be on Eclipse in December. Guess drinks will be loaded onto sea pass. But it will give flexibility to use the other bars or dining room.

[Denny01]

I was on Equinox in mid-June b2b and drinks were in the sky lounge. No tickets' date=' nothing on sea pass, just show card to gain access, no limits except 5 till 7.

 

Will be on Eclipse in December. Guess drinks will be loaded onto sea pass. But it will give flexibility to use the other bars or dining room.[/quote']

 

No Limits! Wow, that’s interesting. What’s so nice with No Limits, we will be able to identify other Elites by spotting those laying face down in the middle of the passageways at 7:01pm!!

 

Neat.

 

Den

[mafig]

On our last TA (Silhouette) we had three drinks on our cards. The lounge was open with appetizers served, but the drinks were taken from the card.

 

 

This is different from Royal where the drinks in the Diamond Lounge are NOT taken from the card.

So if you have three drinks in the lounge, you do not have anything left on your card?

[smtcan]

On our last TA (Silhouette) we had three drinks on our cards. The lounge was open with appetizers served, but the drinks were taken from the card.

 

 

This is different from Royal where the drinks in the Diamond Lounge are NOT taken from the card.

So if you have three drinks in the lounge, you do not have anything left on your card?

 

Correct. We usually had two in the lounge and one in the dining room. When drinks are unlimited we would usually not have any more than that.

[Luvcrusn]

No Limits! Wow, that’s interesting. What’s so nice with No Limits, we will be able to identify other Elites by spotting those laying face down in the middle of the passageways at 7:01pm!!

 

Neat.

 

Den

You read my thoughts and made me laugh when I read them here!:')

[jasm8449]

Am I correct in assuming that those who are getting their comp wine with dinner are seated in the MDR before 7pm?

 

 

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[gold1953]

Am I correct in assuming that those who are getting their comp wine with dinner are seated in the MDR before 7pm?

 

 

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Yes it works only for early diners

[PoppyandNana]

Interesting no one is really saying that the waitstaff was not serving or were ignoring customers Capt Club drinks, just ‘got the impression’, whatever that means. Enjoyed the 3 drinks on the seapass card because of the flexibility and enjoying drinks with non-Elite friends. Many options and not sure how this is seen as a reducetion in service to Elites. With the full Sky Lounge, I found it just as challenging getting drinks as you’d experience in a normal bar area.

 

With that said, I’ve loved the Sky Lounge socials meeting with fellow cruisers who, having Elite status, have a common interest - extensive cruising. It’s fun. And from my experience, its cut down on running into the whiners who love to complain and nitpick.

 

Den

 

Interesting observation on a recent X sailing. In the Sky Lounge the elites were restricted to the inner area by the band stand. Only other passen who were paying for their drinks could sit at the comfy chairs by the windows.

 

So, we respectfully declined the free drinks and used our beverage package to by drinks allowing us to sit with the better half.

[jagoffee]

Interesting observation on a recent X sailing. In the Sky Lounge the elites were restricted to the inner area by the band stand. Only other passen who were paying for their drinks could sit at the comfy chairs by the windows.

 

So, we respectfully declined the free drinks and used our beverage package to by drinks allowing us to sit with the better half.

Since you do not even need to buy anything to sit in the comfy chairs by the windows, your interesting observation may have been based on an incorrect assumption.

You seem to be saying that when you were sitting by the window in the Sky Lounge someone refused to give you one of the Elite drinks and appetizers. Very unusual from my experience.

[chemmo]

I am getting confused now....We have always enjoyed a couple of times per cruise going to the Elite event despite having a drinks package and access to Michael’s.

 

So when we board Eclipse next week is there no evening ‘event’ in the Sky Lounge? Or is there an event but you can instead have your drinks elsewhere?

[di T]

I am getting confused now....We have always enjoyed a couple of times per cruise going to the Elite event despite having a drinks package and access to Michael’s.

 

So when we board Eclipse next week is there no evening ‘event’ in the Sky Lounge? Or is there an event but you can instead have your drinks elsewhere?

We too have enjoyed the lounge even though we have had a package, it was nice to see a smart dress code before dinner and the bar tenders would pour our drinks as we entered the room! There is still a watered down version of the Captains club event but we haven't bothered going the last couple of nights. What as happened is 3 times we have been charged for Captains club drinks even though we weren't asked to sign anything! This is only half way through the cruise and the charges were removed after a trip to guest relations. Dianne

[chemmo]

We too have enjoyed the lounge even though we have had a package, it was nice to see a smart dress code before dinner and the bar tenders would pour our drinks as we entered the room! There is still a watered down version of the Captains club event but we haven't bothered going the last couple of nights. What as happened is 3 times we have been charged for Captains club drinks even though we weren't asked to sign anything! This is only half way through the cruise and the charges were removed after a trip to guest relations. Dianne

 

Thanks for that, we have always found it a nice venue to meet and chat with fellow guests. We board a week today! Can’t wait....

[NCHPcruiser]

We were aboard the Reflection one week ago. The letter left in our cabin upon embarkation said that three drinks were loaded on our card so we assumed nothing was going on in the Sky Lounge so went up there for cocktails with non-Elite friends. They were having the Elite cocktail hour and surprisingly welcomed our friends in with us. I assumed that it was one or the other (elite hour or loaded on card) but obviously not.