Concierge Class Changes after Booking

[rjbagg]

Please be gentle with me in responses... I don't have much cruising experience, and no prior experience with Celebrity:-)

 

We are sailing on the Millennium in May 2022 from Vancouver to Alaska. My husband and I booked a Royal Suite, and we booked the connected Concierge Class room for our son and my mother. Aside from being connected, we chose to put my mom and our son in a Concierge Class room because of the small perks that came with the room. Most importantly to us, Concierge Class class offered priority embarkation (so they could be with us during the entire process) and lunch in the main dining room on embarkation day. We wanted them to have somewhere other than the lido frenzy to enjoy their first meal. We planned to join them since they are not allowed in the Retreat area.

 

I learned today that Celebrity is no longer doing priority boarding for Concierge Class. And due to Covid restrictions, they are no longer offering an "exclusive" main dining room luncheon on embarkation day; Rather, guests in this class will receive a main dining room luncheon at some other time during the cruise, which my family is not interested in. 

 

Questions 

1. Are they currently allowing suite guests to have lunch in Luminae on embarkation day? If so, are they allowing them to invite guests? This is the only place I can think of where we can have lunch together without the lido craziness.

 

2. Will my mom and my son be able to go through the boarding process with us even if they are assigned a later time?

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by rjbagg

[Ferry_Watcher]

Since Royal Suite guests are met and escorted to their rooms, there should be no problem having your mother and son who are booked in an adjoining room to your suite accompany you on-board.  Basically, they will not say 'no' to you.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Ferry_Watcher

[goofysmom99]

The shoreside concierge will contact you prior to your cruise and will take care of arranging any and everything you need.

[dkjretired]

For future reference the priority boarding in Concierge during normal times is a big nothing.   It is a separate line, often the regular lines are shorter.   You should all be able to board together especially in a Royal Suite.    There will be a charge for them to eat with you in Luminae.   

 

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

For future reference the priority boarding in Concierge during normal times is a big nothing.   It is a separate line, often the regular lines are shorter.   You should all be able to board together especially in a Royal Suite.    There will be a charge for them to eat with you in Luminae.   

 

OT.......Is that cute little bichon puppy your right hand man (oops...dog) on the job?  They're so easy to love I'm sure he/she would lick them into obeying...LOL.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Oceangoer2

[dkjretired]

5 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

OT.......Is that cute little bichon puppy your right hand man (oops...dog) on the job?  They're so easy to love I'm sure he/she would lick them into obeying...LOL.

Yup, that’s Sam Adams, I’m retired now but was in charge of our K-9 unit.

Edited September 24, 2021 by dkjretired

[SHIP TRAVELER]

13 hours ago, rjbagg said:

I learned today that Celebrity is no longer doing priority boarding for Concierge Class. And due to Covid restrictions, they are no longer offering an "exclusive" main dining room luncheon on embarkation day; Rather, guests in this class will receive a main dining room luncheon at some other time during the cruise, which my family is not interested in. 

I think that the Concierge lunch had to be cancelled on the embarkation day because people now have later boarding times.  Boarding does not start as early as it did before C-19 and many people in C class were up set because they were "missing their lunch perk".  Celebrity's only option was to offer the lunch on another day where everyone regardless of their assigned boarding time could enjoy the perk.  I would definitely ask about options for your extended family that day, maybe the suite concierge can make a suggestion to solve the problem  You will have a dining table in your royal suite.  Maybe they would enjoy a pizza in your suite if they can't join you in Luminae.  Enjoy the Royal Suite and have a great cruise.

[rjbagg]

48 minutes ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

I think that the Concierge lunch had to be cancelled on the embarkation day because people now have later boarding times.  Boarding does not start as early as it did before C-19 and many people in C class were up set because they were "missing their lunch perk".  Celebrity's only option was to offer the lunch on another day where everyone regardless of their assigned boarding time could enjoy the perk.  I would definitely ask about options for your extended family that day, maybe the suite concierge can make a suggestion to solve the problem  You will have a dining table in your royal suite.  Maybe they would enjoy a pizza in your suite if they can't join you in Luminae.  Enjoy the Royal Suite and have a great cruise.

 

Will they allow us to go to the room and stay when we first get onboard? The last person at X that I talked to said that we could drop off our handbags, but would not be able to stay in our rooms, and it would be an hour or so before we could return to them.

[cangelmd]

12 minutes ago, rjbagg said:

 

Will they allow us to go to the room and stay when we first get onboard? The last person at X that I talked to said that we could drop off our handbags, but would not be able to stay in our rooms, and it would be an hour or so before we could return to them.

I don't think anyone can "stay" in their cabin on arrival unless there is some very unusual mitigating circumstance because the room isn't ready. On Edge class and on the revolutionized ships you go to your suite or room first, drop off luggage and pick up keys, but you have to get out afterwards without much dawdling and your butler or steward should be right there to move you on out - because the room isn't exactly ready. (I will say it didn't quite happen that way on our Aug 1 Equinox cruise, I think because there were fewer passengers and somewhat fewer crew. We picked up our keys and hung around for a bit, thinking we would meet our Personal Retreat Host and/our steward, and that didn't happen until later - we later learned that our luggage got delivered to the wrong deck and our butler was on a personal search and destroy mission to find our bags).

 

I thought pre-Covid, that there were some suites where there were attached smaller rooms, intended for families with minor children, where the children could eat in Luminae if the rooms were booked on the same reservation? Don't have personal experience with that, but remember reading on CC. Not sure if that applies to the rooms you have booked. I would see if you can find the Shoreside Concierge number and discuss options with them. I'm not sure how far in advance they can help you, but it won't hurt to try.

Your mother and son should be able to eat in Luminae with you for a fee if there is room, but who knows how booked the ship will be in May 2022?! Perhaps the shoreside concierge can make this happen for you with a set fee per night.

Another option is to book several specialty nights (I know those are more limited on Millenium) - your specialty dining is free in a Royal, so it will be half price in effect for the party, before buying a dining package if you choose to go that way. Alaska can be very port intensive, so you may choose to eat in Oceanview some nights just out of convenience. You also will have a good space for plain old room service with a table for 6. There are several options for dining when you are in a Royal suite and companions aren't, but it takes some arranging and planning.

You will love the Royal, especially with a small group.

[39august]

That concierge lunch was a very limited menu. You can get a better selection from the regular menu or in the Ocean Vew Cafe. I wouldn't bother with it on any day except for embarkation to avoid the masses at Ocean View. Moving it to any other day is senseless.

[cruisestitch]

It is way too early to be fretting about some thing that far off in the future. For what it’s worth, on millennium this week they did have the concierge lunch on embark  day, and actually had a second Concierge Class lunch later in the cruise. But that could change next cruise, next month, next week.   It could be different from ship to ship. In short, no one today can tell you what will happen when you will be Cruising.

[Algebralovr]

I recommend you simply give it time.

Meanwhile, since you booked into a Royal Suite, you may be able to upgrade your family members to the Suite Experience by paying a daily fee.  They were testing that out before sailing ended.  Basically, for a daily fee, they would allow you to buy up their experience, and give them Luminae and Retreat access.  I believe you had to pay the fee for the full week, for both people in the adjacent cabin.   The suite manager should contact you a few weeks before sailing if they offer it.  

[phoenix_dream]

If you are in a Royal Suite they will do everything for you short of bending down and kissing your feet (and they may even try that LOL).  Seriously, they will bend over backwards to make sure you are taken care of.  They may even waive some of the standard rules regarding Retreat access and Luminae, but you can't necessarily count on that.

[Alakegirl]

I would not count on them granting access to Retreat.  After all, Zeniths can’t go there any more, ostensibly due to concerns of “overcrowding”