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First Time on Celebrity


Bristol5
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Bo , while I very much enjoy your posts and insights,  I must take issue with your comment regarding Cunard.   I don't know if you have sailed with Cunard but I have since the 80's .  I like both Cunard and Celebrity but Cunard is no different than Celebrity in how the Grills are treated as compared to Suite Class on Celebrity.   Both have separate dining rooms and a lounge.   90% of ship is for everybody.    

My best cruises have been on Cunard voyages and not in a suite.

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46 minutes ago, crossingfan said:

Bo , while I very much enjoy your posts and insights,  I must take issue with your comment regarding Cunard.   I don't know if you have sailed with Cunard but I have since the 80's .  I like both Cunard and Celebrity but Cunard is no different than Celebrity in how the Grills are treated as compared to Suite Class on Celebrity.   Both have separate dining rooms and a lounge.   90% of ship is for everybody.    

My best cruises have been on Cunard voyages and not in a suite.

I have sailed on the 'original' QE2 many many moons ago (30 years +/-) and to me it was a ship segregated by class in many areas not only by dining rooms (I ate in the Princess Grille and then was moved to Queens Grille since I was sailing and dining alone).

 

There were no areas off limits to me, but to some of the other passengers I befriended, they were the ones who indicated that they could not go to certain bars aboard and lounges due to their status... as such, I at times joined them in the areas where they could go and I did enjoy myself..

 

Service and food were top notch, as well. I had no complaints about the sailing either... everything was perfect. Good thing I was told to bring a Tuxedo and a few suits otherwise my dress would have been quite odd amoungst a few of the passengers, especially in the smoking lounge. LOL, those were the days, for me, to be sure.

 

Thus, the thrust of my comment.

 

If this is no longer true of The Grande Dames of Cunard, it is my outdated experience, for this I apologize for any offence that you or anyone else may have taken with my comments and experience from that time. I needed to be specific to the time I was writing about.

 

Thank you for your input and update on this...

 

bon voyage

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Also echo no "class" differences.  We've been on 3 Celebrity cruises...Infinity, Silhouette, and Constellation.  Two more booked on Reflection.  At no time did we ever feel there was a "class" system on Celebrity.  Sure, there are a couple restaurants (Blue, Luminae) that are for those in sites, it had no effect on our enjoyment of the cruise.  Enjoy!

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14 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

I'd not fret about that steward closet. We were in 2151 on Reflection a couple years back. It's a large balcony on the slant of the hump at midship with the steward closet right outside the door. We were never once disturbed (well some might argue that we're quite disturbed but I think they have another meaning in mind 😜). We did find it quite handy since anytime we came or went from the cabin the steward knew to make up the room or leave us alone. We also could find him easily if we needed anything and we really got to know him (he was one of the best we've had).

 

outside my room door id be ok. but this closet is next to literally next to my bed, not the door. imagine you go into the closet and walk thru the wall. that would be my bed. until someone on board took a pic for me i wouldnt have known this. the google doc about our cabins told me about the problem but no pic. 

closet deck 8.jpg

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Hello

No need to worry as we have never felt intimidated by anyone on the Celebrity Summit. As everyone has said the crew is fantastic. Don’t let anyone from the discussion groups ruin your cruise. I have found over the years to take with a grain of salt what people say here. 

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We just finished our 4th Celebrity cruise.  We have stayed in Aqua, Verenda and the last 2 in Oceanview cabins.  The last cruise we were oceanview on level 2 the bottom on the ship. I noticed no difference in how we were treated than when we were Aqua other than not having a private dinning room.  The crews are excellent and treat everyone the same.   It really just comes down to the people who pay more for Suites or Aqua get a few perks and private dining areas.   

The only place you notice a class system is on deck 5, the theater where they have a section just for guests


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The shows offer guests in suites the opportunity for reserved seats in the theater. They usually only do it once or twice during a cruise. It’s usually chic night. The only reserve spots till 15 minutes before the show starts. Even though we could of used the seats we preferred to be in another location. I like being near a exit, so if the show is bad no one sees me leave.

 

The best show we ever seen was from the American Ballet Company a few months ago.

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On 2/18/2020 at 11:22 AM, Bristol5 said:

As our first Celebrity cruise is approaching, I am feeling apprehensive.  The discussions on CC lead me to believe that there is a definite "class" system on Celebrity, and I am worried that I am going to be feeling like a "steerage" passenger with my verandah stateroom.  Can anyone out there give me any information to ease these uncomfortable feelings?


 

 

We have been in suites and standard rooms on Celebrity. You are treated the same everywhere outside of the suite perk areas.
 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, Airrace said:

The shows offer guests in suites the opportunity for reserved seats in the theater. They usually only do it once or twice during a cruise. It’s usually chic night. The only reserve spots till 15 minutes before the show starts. Even though we could of used the seats we preferred to be in another location. I like being near a exit, so if the show is bad no one sees me leave.

 

The best show we ever seen was from the American Ballet Company a few months ago.

Thanks. I wasn't sure if the seats are reserved for a stateroom category or CC tier level.  Similar to what we get from RC for being diamond plus and those that are pinnacle and those staying in suites.  Reserved seats are in the theater and Studio B for the ice show. 

Edited by davekathy
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33 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Thanks. I wasn't sure if the seats are reserved for a stateroom category or CC tier level.  Similar to what we get from RC for being diamond plus and those that are pinnacle and those staying in suites.  Reserved seats are in the theater and Studio B for the ice show. 

Reserved seats are for all suite guests and Zenith Captains Club Members and possibly other VIP passengers.  They are the center section on the balcony level in front of the production booth.   In my opinion decent seats but pretty far from the stage.  They are roped off but they remove the ropes and allow all others just before the show starts.  I believe 5 minutes.

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1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

Reserved seats are for all suite guests and Zenith Captains Club Members and possibly other VIP passengers.  They are the center section on the balcony level in front of the production booth.   In my opinion decent seats but pretty far from the stage.  They are roped off but they remove the ropes and allow all others just before the show starts.  I believe 5 minutes.

We don't do suites and far from zenith and never been a VIP. 😎 We never sit in the reserved seats in the theater when cruising with RC either. Poor location as far as we are concerned.  At least on the ships we've been on. Studio B we do sit in the reserved seats as those seats are in a great location. 

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We were on a Celebrity summit cruise a few years ago when I heard this story:

An elderly couple were being harassed by some vendors in a port and were clearly frustrated when this young couple came along and intervened. They helped the elderly couple get back to the ship pier and got them to the celebrity rest area for some cold towels and water. They seen the couple looking up at the ship and asking what a penthouse suite must be like to stay in. Well it just so happens they had one of the suites and invited the elderly couple up to visit the penthouse suite. The elderly couple were in awe and couldn’t believe how someone could take their time out of the day to help them out of what could of been an ugly situation. To top it off they invited them to dinner at the Luminare for what they described they best meal they ever had.

 

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On 2/18/2020 at 2:41 PM, luckyinpa said:

 

,,,,,,,,,,,,and if perchance u do see some class warfare on the ship, tell them you are so happy you are a lowly veranda so you dont have those stressful things to worry about. or you can be daring. one night try to run into luminae an tell us what happens. 😉 yea id love to see that story on CC

 

 

I have seen that happen several times, and think you would be disappointed because there really is no story and there is nothing daring about it.

The maitre d' (or whoever is at the Luminae entrance) would simply look at your sea pass card and politely redirect you to the appropriate dining room.

 

That used to occur  frequently on the M-class ships when Luminae was first created because the entrance to Luminae was previously the port side entrance to the main dining room on deck 4.  So many  passengers were accustomed to using it as their entrance to the main dining room.

 

The same thing happened with Blu on the M-class ships as it was also previously part of the main dining room, on deck 5.

 

But restricting certain public areas of the ship only to designated stateroom categories really is relatively new. 

 

When we first started cruising with Celebrity, the only differences were in the cabin category you booked. 

Once outside your cabin, all the public areas of the ship were available to all passengers.

 

 

Edited by varoo
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12 hours ago, aml3679 said:

The only place you notice a class system is on deck 5, the theater where they have a section just for guests

Do you mean Suite guests ami3679? All passengers on the ship are regarded as guests.

 

Bristol5

BUT, this is also the case on Royal ( Explorer of the Seas). 

We were denied access to the seats in the centre of the balcony, as we are only Diamond on Royal ( via Elite on Celebrity). They were reserved for Diamond Plus and above.

18C194A8-B229-4CCA-A627-552F32746D52.jpeg

Edited by upwarduk
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Thank you to everyone who's chimed in in this thread, and thank you to @Bristol5 for posting it. I just booked my first Celebrity cruise this week -- a 7-day journey from Vancouver to Alaska and back aboard Eclipse (which will be fresh off its Revolution work) in May 2021 -- and some of the threads had me a little concerned that I wouldn't "fit in". I honestly think that's much more my own perception and anxiety than from anyone in particular who made me feel that way.

 

I'm honestly really excited to get to experience a new cruise line that'll take me on a new adventure! 🙂

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4 hours ago, CapsChap said:

Thank you to everyone who's chimed in in this thread, and thank you to @Bristol5 for posting it. I just booked my first Celebrity cruise this week -- a 7-day journey from Vancouver to Alaska and back aboard Eclipse (which will be fresh off its Revolution work) in May 2021 -- and some of the threads had me a little concerned that I wouldn't "fit in". I honestly think that's much more my own perception and anxiety than from anyone in particular who made me feel that way.

 

I'm honestly really excited to get to experience a new cruise line that'll take me on a new adventure! 🙂

You are welcome, comforting to know I wasn't the only one with the misconception.  All concerns have been alleviated.  I am also very excited about my first "Celebrity" cruise.

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We upgraded to Concierge Veranda for our cruise last year. They do know something although not completely what class of room you are in as the card key is in a different color, but I don't think they would treat you very differently (unless you are a big tipper). The embarkation lunch at MDR is great but you can certainly live without. The disembarkation breakfast is just okay but having a room to sit down instead of standing in the hall is great. My daughters like the thicker robes as they wore them to the hot tub everyday. Other than these minor things, they will treat you very well regardless of what kind of room you stay in. I would rather save the money and get the regular drinking package perk instead. Initially we booked the regular veranda and with no perks. As the price keep dropping even after the final payment deadline, we ended up getting the room upgrade and added 2 perks with minimum cost. At the end, we actually save some money as one of the perk is OBC which is much more the cost of the upgrade. 

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We just came back from our first celebrity cruise (and 2nd altogether) 2 weeks ago and you have nothing to worry about. We had a veranda room and not once did we think like we were 2nd class citizens on the boat. No matter where you went people bent over backwards for you.

 

We ate all our breakfast and lunches at the main buffet and all our dinners in the main dining room. No complaints about the food at all and some dinners were unbelievable. Not sure what more one would get by going to a specialty restaurant especially when they want another $30-40.

 

Alex

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12 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i never heard of the disembark bfast for CC. what goes on/where?

 

12 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

i never heard of the disembark bfast for CC. what goes on/where?

You'll receive notice of where it will be on your sailing if you're in Concierge Class.

The breakfast is a light continental type with coffee, juice, fruit and pastries and sometimes some meats and cheeses. It's usually at one of the specialty restaurants or a bar area.

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Absolutely not. I never book anything other than Veranda which is already a huge upgrade from the bowels of the ship (inside cabins). I don't have any special super tier status and always received excellent service from front line employees.

 

The "class system" you're referring to comes from some DYKWIA types on certain travel forums, youtube channels or even on board who think they have to play up their cabin type or tier status. I usually ignore such folks (and so does the crew). If you encounter some extremely annoying people on your table then ask the Maitre 'd to maybe change but that's a given no matter what.

 

Never in a million years would I even think about being ashamed of my nice Veranda cabin.

Edited by Fly and Sail
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