How will Elite Plus benefits change?

[shipshape sam]

On 5/26/2021 at 9:31 AM, Orator said:

Zeniths already have the premium package. The truth is that no one really knows what direction benefits will take once the Covid restrictions are over. I really don't think that Celebrity really knows if the AI will be successful and what changes they will make. They may have backup plans, but plans can and do change. We can only speculate! 

And speculate we will. 🤔

[jg51]

4 hours ago, davekathy said:

Agree. But the CC HH drinks have always been and still are unlimited from 5:PM to 7:PM. 

.

If we're not mistaken ...

The availability of unlimited Captain's-Club-Elite-Cocktail-Hour (CCECH) drinks between 5 and 7 PM will continue to exist for two groups of people:

(1) Those who made reservations prior to the invention of the "Always Included" concept ... and ...

(2) Those who made (or will make) reservations under the "Simply Sail" concept.

 

And so, if we're not mistaken ...

(A)  The people in group #1, above, will eventually cease to exist, since those cruises will be over ... and ...

(B)  There may be many cruises in which booking under the "Simply Sail" concept will not be an option.

 

Therefore, because of the combination of (A) and (B), it seems that there will soon [in 2022?] come a time when many [most?] cruises will not have any CCECH at all! 

 

We hope that we have explained this in a way that makes sense.

.

 

[HskrCrsr]

38 minutes ago, jg51 said:

.

If we're not mistaken ...

The availability of unlimited Captain's-Club-Elite-Cocktail-Hour (CCECH) drinks between 5 and 7 PM will continue to exist for two groups of people:

(1) Those who made reservations prior to the invention of the "Always Included" concept ... and ...

(2) Those who made (or will make) reservations under the "Simply Sail" concept.

 

And so, if we're not mistaken ...

(A)  The people in group #1, above, will eventually cease to exist, since those cruises will be over ... and ...

(B)  There may be many cruises in which booking under the "Simply Sail" concept will not be an option.

 

Therefore, because of the combination of (A) and (B), it seems that there will soon [in 2022?] come a time when many [most?] cruises will not have any CCECH at all! 

 

We hope that we have explained this in a way that makes sense.

.

 

"If we're not mistaken ..." 

I think you are mistaken. I see nothing to suggest CCECH is related to AI in any meaningful way. Everything I see suggests CCECH is offered to all Elites and higher, independent of AI. The chart showing benefits does not, in any way, say there are exceptions to this event related to AI.

 

What do you see that makes you thinks this?

[kathynorth]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

Of course, on our next two, we'll have the Retreat, but, the one after that is a lift and shift from no frills days...so, no drink package...and I think we'll really miss the Elite HH on that one...

 

According to Celebrity there will still be an Elite HH even with the AI program. Did I miss another change?

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, kathynorth said:

 

According to Celebrity there will still be an Elite HH even with the AI program. Did I miss another change?

Does the elite HH occur just once per cruise?

[Bruin Steve]

According to Celebrity there will still be an Elite HH even with the AI program. Did I miss another change?

 

ANSWER:  The website now says "Unlimited complimentary drinks from the Captains Club menu at most bars and lounges throughout the ship daily from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm."

Edited June 1, 2021 by Bruin Steve
Messed-up formatting...

[Bruin Steve]

23 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Does the elite HH occur just once per cruise?

No.  Daily.

[LGW59]

10 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

According to Celebrity there will still be an Elite HH even with the AI program. Did I miss another change?

The website now says "Unlimited complimentary drinks from the Captains Club menu at most bars and lounges throughout the ship daily from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm."

Ah ok, thx!  I’m not elite (on Celebrity anyway) 🤓 good to know though.

[WestLakeGirl]

Daily except for the first night. And also if there is a special Captains event they might not have it on that night either. But those events may have been discontinued.

[ScubesDad]

On 5/26/2021 at 3:40 PM, Tony UK said:

Maybe issues like people feeling the need to reserve tables etc demonstrates the need to change to something new. We stopped going when we witnessed such excess, getting servers to deliver mulltiple rounds of drinks at once, tables full of glasses, people drinking to excess very quickly, people asking for whole trays of canapes for their group, and leaving most of them.

It spoiled what we had previously felt was a really nice friendly event.

Time for a change!

 

I understand and agree with your sentiments.  our ahah moment happened many years ago. I cannot remember what ship, however I know it was an M class.  The HH was held in Michaels Club and it was just after they introduced the beverage packages and still had true premium beverages available. Unfortunately I prefer to drink quality rather quantity. Regrettably the evening before I had spent a significant amount of time in Michaels making a significant dent in a bottle of Midleton Very Rare.  When we walked in the bartender gave me an ear to ear grin and waved.  We found a seat and the waiter came over for our order.  My DW order her wine and I asked the waiter to see if the fine gentleman behind the bar had anything left in the fine bottle of Irish from last night, and handed our cards over. When he returned he had a very generous pour in my glass. Regrettably the fellow at the next  seat for some reason took exception and started to discuss it rather loudly with his spouse. There were several, 6 or so empty glasses on the table and i think the waiters had stopped serving them.  the bartender had to come over and explain that I had purchased my drink and it was not a complimentary item.  After that cruise we have only attended a few HH since. We have had the premium beverage package since inception, although the selection of true premium liquors has declined significantly.

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, jg51 said:

.

If we're not mistaken ...

The availability of unlimited Captain's-Club-Elite-Cocktail-Hour (CCECH) drinks between 5 and 7 PM will continue to exist for two groups of people:

(1) Those who made reservations prior to the invention of the "Always Included" concept ... and ...

(2) Those who made (or will make) reservations under the "Simply Sail" concept.

 

And so, if we're not mistaken ...

(A)  The people in group #1, above, will eventually cease to exist, since those cruises will be over ... and ...

(B)  There may be many cruises in which booking under the "Simply Sail" concept will not be an option.

 

Therefore, because of the combination of (A) and (B), it seems that there will soon [in 2022?] come a time when many [most?] cruises will not have any CCECH at all! 

 

We hope that we have explained this in a way that makes sense.

.

 

Who's we? 🙄 Celebrity hasn't said they will discontinue loading unlimited CC HH drinks on Seapass cards for the CC HH even with the AI concept. Last I read Celebrity said when cruising first resumes the evening CC HH in the Sky Lounge will not be held but unlimited CC HH drinks will still be loaded on the Seapass cards to enjoy at all bars/lounges for the two hour CC HH (5-7 PM). We'll wait until we (wife and I) are on our next Celebrity cruise (2022) to see if that is the case on our cruise.

[excitedofharpenden]

There's one thing for sure. The provision of a few crummy free drinks in the Elite Lounge always causes a good discussion. And yes, I think they are crummy. Warm "champagne", white wine and martinis. I'd much rather "pay" at a bar and get a decent one. 

 

Interesting the various mentions of chair reserving and lining up of drinks. In all my cruises on Celebrity when attending the lounge I've never seen that, but probably I wasn't paying attention or indeed interested. If people want to line them up then they are welcome to even warmer drinks when they get round to consuming them. 

 

Phil 

[ipeeinthepool]

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

There's one thing for sure. The provision of a few crummy free drinks in the Elite Lounge always causes a good discussion. And yes, I think they are crummy. Warm "champagne", white wine and martinis. I'd much rather "pay" at a bar and get a decent one. ...

 

Phil 

 

But if you come to the Sky Lounge we can have a drink together.

[jmfdr]

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

There's one thing for sure. The provision of a few crummy free drinks in the Elite Lounge always causes a good discussion. And yes, I think they are crummy. Warm "champagne", white wine and martinis. I'd much rather "pay" at a bar and get a decent one. 

 

Phil 

Boy, do I agree with you about the "crummy" drinks, well wine, in the Elite Lounge.  Much rather pay for a good good glass of wine.

[LGW59]

On 5/26/2021 at 4:13 AM, GlobalMethod said:

We always sit at the bar in the Sky Lounge for HH and haven't noticed anything like what has been described at the tables ... we did see two bar seats always having drinks ready for 2 guest at start of HH ... the guests would arrive about 20 minutes later ... we assumed they were on a back-to-back cruises and the bartenders knew them ...

Still the same concept, i.e. don’t take the seats someone is sitting here = big tip at start of the cruise.  All you naysayers, it really does happen.

Edited June 2, 2021 by LGW59

[jg51]

On 6/1/2021 at 3:32 PM, jg51 said:

.

If we're not mistaken ...

The availability of unlimited Captain's-Club-Elite-Cocktail-Hour (CCECH) drinks between 5 and 7 PM will continue to exist for two groups of people:

(1) Those who made reservations prior to the invention of the "Always Included" concept ... and ...

(2) Those who made (or will make) reservations under the "Simply Sail" concept.

 

And so, if we're not mistaken ...

(A)  The people in group #1, above, will eventually cease to exist, since those cruises will be over ... and ...

(B)  There may be many cruises in which booking under the "Simply Sail" concept will not be an option.

 

Therefore, because of the combination of (A) and (B), it seems that there will soon [in 2022?] come a time when many [most?] cruises will not have any CCECH at all! 

 

We hope that we have explained this in a way that makes sense.

.

 

.

    OUR EARLIER POST (ABOVE) was quoted, and commented on, by "HskrCrsr" and "davekathy," as follows:

.

On 6/1/2021 at 4:15 PM, HskrCrsr said:

"If we're not mistaken ..." 

I think you are mistaken. I see nothing to suggest CCECH is related to AI in any meaningful way. Everything I see suggests CCECH is offered to all Elites and higher, independent of AI. The chart showing benefits does not, in any way, say there are exceptions to this event related to AI.

 

What do you see that makes you thinks this?

 

On 6/1/2021 at 7:54 PM, davekathy said:

Who's we? 🙄 Celebrity hasn't said they will discontinue loading unlimited CC HH drinks on Seapass cards for the CC HH even with the AI concept. Last I read Celebrity said when cruising first resumes the evening CC HH in the Sky Lounge will not be held but unlimited CC HH drinks will still be loaded on the Seapass cards to enjoy at all bars/lounges for the two hour CC HH (5-7 PM). We'll wait until we (wife and I) are on our next Celebrity cruise (2022) to see if that is the case on our cruise.

.

Sorry if the way we explained things caused both of you to misunderstand! 

 

We were not saying that the CCECH is immediately disappearing ... and ...

We were not saying that Elites-and-above could not order from the CCECH menu.

 

We were simply saying that, if an Elite (or above) were to purchase an "Always Included" fare, the CCECH availability (even though it does exist) would become completely irrelevant to that guest.  Such a person could get any drink, all day long, as part of his/her beverage package, so he/she would not need a CCECH.

 

The key point we were trying to make is that, in the not-too-distant future (possibly 2022 or 2023, when all pre-AI bookings will have "played out"), each cruise that does not fall under the "Simply Sail" program will not need to have a CCECH at all.  At that point, on those future (non-Simply-Sail) cruises, ALL guests will be under the "Always Included" program and will thus have the Classic Package.

 

SORRY IF THIS IS STILL CONFUSING!!!  It is difficult to explain, but we do believe that it is correct.

.

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, jg51 said:

.

    OUR EARLIER POST (ABOVE) was quoted, and commented on, by "HskrCrsr" and "davekathy," as follows:

.

 

.

Sorry if the way we explained things caused both of you to misunderstand! 

 

We were not saying that the CCECH is immediately disappearing ... and ...

We were not saying that Elites-and-above could not order from the CCECH menu.

 

We were simply saying that, if an Elite (or above) were to purchase an "Always Included" fare, the CCECH availability (even though it does exist) would become completely irrelevant to that guest.  Such a person could get any drink, all day long, as part of his/her beverage package, so he/she would not need a CCECH.

 

The key point we were trying to make is that, in the not-too-distant future (possibly 2022 or 2023, when all pre-AI bookings will have "played out"), each cruise that does not fall under the "Simply Sail" program will not need to have a CCECH at all.  At that point, on those future (non-Simply-Sail) cruises, ALL guests will be under the "Always Included" program and will thus have the Classic Package.

 

SORRY IF THIS IS STILL CONFUSING!!!  It is difficult to explain, but we do believe that it is correct.

.

Just book a retreat suite and ALL your problems will go away.

[davekathy]

18 hours ago, jg51 said:

.

    OUR EARLIER POST (ABOVE) was quoted, and commented on, by "HskrCrsr" and "davekathy," as follows:

.

 

.

Sorry if the way we explained things caused both of you to misunderstand! 

 

We were not saying that the CCECH is immediately disappearing ... and ...

We were not saying that Elites-and-above could not order from the CCECH menu.

 

We were simply saying that, if an Elite (or above) were to purchase an "Always Included" fare, the CCECH availability (even though it does exist) would become completely irrelevant to that guest.  Such a person could get any drink, all day long, as part of his/her beverage package, so he/she would not need a CCECH.

 

The key point we were trying to make is that, in the not-too-distant future (possibly 2022 or 2023, when all pre-AI bookings will have "played out"), each cruise that does not fall under the "Simply Sail" program will not need to have a CCECH at all.  At that point, on those future (non-Simply-Sail) cruises, ALL guests will be under the "Always Included" program and will thus have the Classic Package.

 

SORRY IF THIS IS STILL CONFUSING!!!  It is difficult to explain, but we do believe that it is correct.

.

Who's we? 

[Bruin Steve]

19 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Who's we? 

I'm not sure why you re-posted this...

jg51 clearly state in post #66 in this thread that "we" refers to his wife and him...jg51 always posts in first person plural--"we"...and I just always assume that the husband and wife, in this case, use the same screen name and likely largely agree on things...

 

And I think the point they make is quite accurate--with the new "free drinks from the 'menu' at most bars and lounges from 5-7" coupled with the new AI, the benefit is largely rendered moot.  ANYONE with a drink package can get any of the included drinks at any time, any where.  The one part of the benefit that would have left some value in the perk--having a reserved members only lounge--has been removed...so, the only small remnant left of the perk is for people without drink packages--basically, those who lifted and shifted old bookings without the perk--will still get those few drinks free for two hours...But, as those pre-AI bookings go away, they will disappear forever.  The only benefit past then will be for those who book no frills fares--which X has stated they will only release on a limited basis--in the last 60 days prior to sailing if the ship remains unsold.

 

For many of us, we ("We" in this case means my wife and I and anyone else not likely to wait around for a last minute deal) don't intend on standing by waiting for a cruise to be largely unsold and for X to start offering no frills fares...especially when the pricing is set to make the AI deal look good.

[davekathy]

20 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I'm not sure why you re-posted this...

jg51 clearly state in post #66 in this thread that "we" refers to his wife and him...jg51 always posts in first person plural--"we"...and I just always assume that the husband and wife, in this case, use the same screen name and likely largely agree on things...

 

And I think the point they make is quite accurate--with the new "free drinks from the 'menu' at most bars and lounges from 5-7" coupled with the new AI, the benefit is largely rendered moot.  ANYONE with a drink package can get any of the included drinks at any time, any where.  The one part of the benefit that would have left some value in the perk--having a reserved members only lounge--has been removed...so, the only small remnant left of the perk is for people without drink packages--basically, those who lifted and shifted old bookings without the perk--will still get those few drinks free for two hours...But, as those pre-AI bookings go away, they will disappear forever.  The only benefit past then will be for those who book no frills fares--which X has stated they will only release on a limited basis--in the last 60 days prior to sailing if the ship remains unsold.

 

For many of us, we ("We" in this case means my wife and I and anyone else not likely to wait around for a last minute deal) don't intend on standing by waiting for a cruise to be largely unsold and for X to start offering no frills fares...especially when the pricing is set to make the AI deal look good.

Thanks for answering for @jg51. Just wanted to make sure who "we" were.  "We've" been doing the bundled CBP long before the AI package and still enjoy(ed) the CC HH in the Sky Lounge. Same here, "we" (wife and I) will still book our cruises when "we" feel the date, ship, itinerary and price is right. For "us" (wife and I) the gratuities and CBP are great on the AI package. Could care less about the WiFi as I use only about 15 minutes of our free internet. Other than that we stay disconnected on "our" cruises. 

Edited June 3, 2021 by davekathy

[LGW59]

20 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

I'm not sure why you re-posted this...

jg51 clearly state in post #66 in this thread that "we" refers to his wife and him...jg51 always posts in first person plural--"we"...and I just always assume that the husband and wife, in this case, use the same screen name and likely largely agree on things...

 

And I think the point they make is quite accurate--with the new "free drinks from the 'menu' at most bars and lounges from 5-7" coupled with the new AI, the benefit is largely rendered moot.  ANYONE with a drink package can get any of the included drinks at any time, any where.  The one part of the benefit that would have left some value in the perk--having a reserved members only lounge--has been removed...so, the only small remnant left of the perk is for people without drink packages--basically, those who lifted and shifted old bookings without the perk--will still get those few drinks free for two hours...But, as those pre-AI bookings go away, they will disappear forever.  The only benefit past then will be for those who book no frills fares--which X has stated they will only release on a limited basis--in the last 60 days prior to sailing if the ship remains unsold.

 

For many of us, we ("We" in this case means my wife and I and anyone else not likely to wait around for a last minute deal) don't intend on standing by waiting for a cruise to be largely unsold and for X to start offering no frills fares...especially when the pricing is set to make the AI deal look good.

Sorry but I see six “we” but I do not see the word wife in post #66

[Bruin Steve]

11 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Sorry but I see six “we” but I do not see the word wife in post #66

Maybe I misread #66...but I've seen jg51's posts for a long time on this board...and they always use "we"...The context seems clear that he/she is speaking on behalf or a couple... Maybe you have a different interpretation...but I see "We" used by a lot of people on these boards and I cannot think of another interpretation for the use of the pronoun...

[basenji56]

33 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

Maybe I misread #66...but I've seen jg51's posts for a long time on this board...and they always use "we"...The context seems clear that he/she is speaking on behalf or a couple... Maybe you have a different interpretation...but I see "We" used by a lot of people on these boards and I cannot think of another interpretation for the use of the pronoun...

The poster could have been non-binary.  See Demi Lovato for a recent example.

[Fouremco]

41 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

The poster could have been non-binary.  See Demi Lovato for a recent example.

Or could be using the pluralis majestatis.