Self serve alcohol in retreat lounge

[markeb]

Just curious because I can't keep track of where ships are cruising. Were the Retreat lounges with self service alcohol on US departures? Or were they from a non-US port?

 

The airport and hotel lounges are my best analogy. In the US, there's pretty much always a bar and a bartender. If you go to a Marriott lounge outside the US, or a United Club/Lufthansa Club in Europe, there's pretty much always self-service alcohol. Beer, wine, sometimes full mixers. It's a pretty striking difference.

[Susanb10567]

OP …we had self service on the Summit (pre Covid) and Edge (post Covid) both US departures. It was the 9/8 sailing on the Edge out of Rome that there was no self service. Servers were quite busy so my husband asked why there was not self service beer and wine like we had on the last two Edge cruisers. It took quite awhile to get drinks and he thought it was much easier before. Any recent cruisers…what has your experience been.

[Jim_Iain]

I spoke to a concierge in Retreat and was told there was a decision to remove all self service alcoholic drinks from the retreat.   It was due to abuse and some passengers over imbibe and liability issues.

 

They use to have Selfserive wine at stations on the E-Class ships and had refrigerators with beer at many of the other ships. 

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I spoke to a concierge in Retreat and was told there was a decision to remove all self service alcoholic drinks from the retreat.   It was due to abuse and some passengers over imbibe and liability issues.

 

They use to have Selfserive wine at stations on the E-Class ships and had refrigerators with beer at many of the other ships. 

Yes, here's the refrigerators at Michael's Club on the Reflection back in Feb. 

[Algebralovr]

It really is too bad that a few bad apples spoiled it for the rest of us.  
 

We were on Reflection in Nov 2021 and the coolers in Michael’s club were well stocked.

We were on Silhouette in Feb and they only have the little refrigerator of non-Al drinks in the updated Retreat Lounge.  The manager told me it was because the lounge was open 24/7 and they couldn’t leave alcohol unattended.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 minute ago, Algebralovr said:

It really is too bad that a few bad apples spoiled it for the rest of us.  
 

We were on Reflection in Nov 2021 and the coolers in Michael’s club were well stocked.

We were on Silhouette in Feb and they only have the little refrigerator of non-Al drinks in the updated Retreat Lounge.  The manager told me it was because the lounge was open 24/7 and they couldn’t leave alcohol unattended.  

IMO it’s just another reason I will continue to prefer the traditional S class ships. 

[SusieAV8R]

32 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

It really is too bad that a few bad apples spoiled it for the rest of us.  
 

We were on Reflection in Nov 2021 and the coolers in Michael’s club were well stocked.

We were on Silhouette in Feb and they only have the little refrigerator of non-Al drinks in the updated Retreat Lounge.  The manager told me it was because the lounge was open 24/7 and they couldn’t leave alcohol unattended.  

Unfortunate that a few "bad" apples ruin the pie. 🙂

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

IMO it’s just another reason I will continue to prefer the traditional S class ships. 

If I understood the Concierge correctly when I asked about this on our Silhouette cruse last March, the large refrigerators like they have on Reflection in December were going away as the ships went through Revolution.  
 

But I agree with you, those large refrigerator cases are so much better, and less stressful on my bad back, than the small under the counter ones. 
 

[wrk2cruise]

On Reflection those large refrigerators were locked in the off hours when the lounge was not staffed.   We were on Edge on the second sailing after the restart.  In the Retreat lounge there were kids 10-12 that were coming into the lounge unattended 9-10 pm and trying to get beer out of the cooler.  Another passenger intervened and informed the bartender.  The parents were "talked to" by the concierges the next day and told the parent they had to accompany the kids.  The parents did nothing to address the issue.

[Mark_K]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:02 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

The idea of self serve alcohol is interesting.  Illegal in all 50 states unless at a private function or where underage persons are excluded.  You can blame the parents, but maybe look back when you were 20 or 17 or?

Theoretically the Retreat Lounge is a private function.  Much like some airport lounges where there is self serve alcohol and dependent children are allowed.

[dlh015]

On 10/6/2022 at 5:19 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

I agree but the self serve is very convenient if you’re looking to grab and go. DH and I helped ourselves to a few waters and beers to take with us when we stopped in Bonaire. Our butler gave us some ice. We put all this in a backpack and had a picnic on big rock overlooking the water. 

I shall open a cold one and toast you at your location! I will be there in January...thanks for the link in your later post!!

[Straughn]

Interesting that underage children are allowed in The Retreat Lounge unaccompanied. Pre Covid, I distinctly remember the concierge telling a family that their son (whose was 14ish) must always have a parent or other adult with him in the lounge. The parents asked and that was the response. That matched what I had been told on other ships- kids must have an adult with them. Like everything with Celebrity, that has probably changed so as not to offend someone. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[upwarduk]

On 10/6/2022 at 1:53 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

I took the op to mean children, ie 15-17 y/o

A group of adults were put off the ship (Silhouette)in Gibraltar, for allowing their under age teens to consume alcohol in August.

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

On Reflection those large refrigerators were locked in the off hours when the lounge was not staffed.   

 

 I wonder when this started?  I do not recall them being locked at any time when we sailed on her in December of last year. 

 

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

We were on Edge on the second sailing after the restart.  In the Retreat lounge there were kids 10-12 that were coming into the lounge unattended 9-10 pm and trying to get beer out of the cooler.  Another passenger intervened and informed the bartender.  The parents were "talked to" by the concierges the next day and told the parent they had to accompany the kids.  The parents did nothing to address the issue.

 

 The parents should have been warned the first time and then more stringent action taken when they did not address the situation.  

 

This is why we can't have nice things.  

[spammie]

When we were in the Retreat Lounge on Equinox in August 2022 there was only bottled water and soda in the little refrigerators.  

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Yes, here's the refrigerators at Michael's Club on the Reflection back in Feb. 

 

Interesting to see.   They have taken them out on all the Revolutionized ships.   I see Celebrity is staying consistent.   LOL   On Summit they still had the refrigerator they had just Water and the bar tenders bottles of wine.   All beer was kept behind the bar.

[Jim_Iain]

23 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I wonder when this started?  I do not recall them being locked at any time when we sailed on her in December of last year. 

 

 

 The parents should have been warned the first time and then more stringent action taken when they did not address the situation.  

 

This is why we can't have nice things.  

 

On some of the ships I've been on the Children weren't the issue.    There was on "Gentleman"  that the Captain called in  for a meeting and cut him off for the remainder of the cruise.  Ouch.

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

On some of the ships I've been on the Children weren't the issue.    There was on "Gentleman"  that the Captain called in  for a meeting and cut him off for the remainder of the cruise.  Ouch.

 

 I have seen a couple of people on the ship that I wish that had happened with, fortunately none of them I had to interact with directly. 

 

[wineoclock]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

A group of adults were put off the ship (Silhouette)in Gibraltar, for allowing their under age teens to consume alcohol in August.

Must have been quite bad for them to do that. How old were the teens? 

[DCPIV]

1 hour ago, spammie said:

When we were in the Retreat Lounge on Equinox in August 2022 there was only bottled water and soda in the little refrigerators.  

 

That's also all there was last week on Equinox.

[upwarduk]

3 hours ago, wineoclock said:

Must have been quite bad for them to do that. How old were the teens? 

No idea, just told that adults were allowing under age to drink.