Anyone in a Sky Suite thinking to go down a level?

[zitsky]

The nerve of some people.  Expecting to get the service they paid for!  I guess the staff forgot to tell him that he wasn’t in a real suite.  😭

[JDPCruisers]

1 hour ago, mybichon said:

Here is my two cents on the Sky Suite experience I just had on the Apex. I am a first time Celebrity cruiser. The day we got on ship the Head Butler made an appearance late in the afternoon and gave us his card. Our only request at that time was for some extra hangers. He left and we never saw him around again. Late in the day the Retreat Host, otherwise known as Room Steward, brought us the hangers and his card. We asked him about emptying the minibar so we could use it. He said he would but it never happened, so I did it. He said we could have the two bottles of Evian water in the room but all others would be charged. He said he would bring two plastic bottles of water each day to the room but it didn’t happen until about day 3. There was no introduction to the features of the suite such as room controls for air or drapes or how the shower controls worked. I had to search for him in the hall the next morning because I could not figure out the shower controls at all. When I needed a different type of pillow I mentioned it to the Retreat Concierge in the lounge and she said she would take care of it. It never happened but I was able to catch the room steward and he did get it for me. Missing bath mat one day, washcloth another day, had to change over toilet paper roll and kleenex box another day myself. 
     All in all, these were not major problems but I definitely did not feel we had the  suite experience I thought I would be getting when I booked the cruise with a Butler experience. This was no different than any other room experience with a regular room steward. The price of the Sky Suite seems to have doubled from when I booked it and also no longer includes room credit or tips. I don’t think I could justify the price any more, even though the room was nice and we did enjoy the lounge. I could make do without Luminae as we only ate there two out of seven nights.

None of what you experienced is acceptable to not receive what you asked for, which should have been already included, and was told would be taken care of. Seems like a training issue or simply failure on multiple levels and something the Retreat Manager and/or Hotel Director should be made aware. To me, it's not complaining as it's actually helping staff leadership so they can make the appropriate changes. 

[zitsky]

19 minutes ago, JDPCruisers said:

None of what you experienced is acceptable to not receive what you asked for, which should have been already included, and was told would be taken care of. Seems like a training issue or simply failure on multiple levels and something the Retreat Manager and/or Hotel Director should be made aware. To me, it's not complaining as it's actually helping staff leadership so they can make the appropriate changes. 

 Some people are saying I won’t book anymore suites.  Lower or upper.  But I’m not sure how many are giving feedback.  I think the more that people do so, the more likely Celebrity will get the message that people are unsatisfied.

[JDPCruisers]

6 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 Some people are saying I won’t book anymore suites.  Lower or upper.  But I’m not sure how many are giving feedback.  I think the more that people do so, the more likely Celebrity will get the message that people are unsatisfied.

We always provide feedback via the post-cruise survey and while on-board with kudos as well as feedback and those while on-board were acknowledged and responded to on a variety of levels to include management and staff. We'll see what happens on Connie next month.   

[Baynanno1]

6 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 Some people are saying I won’t book anymore suites.  Lower or upper.  But I’m not sure how many are giving feedback.  I think the more that people do so, the more likely Celebrity will get the message that people are unsatisfied.

 

Throughout our "cruising life" - some 60 or so cruises over several cruise lines - we have always given feedback - both praise and drawing attention to areas requiring action while on board. That is when one will get something fixed - if it is able to be fixed.

 

Post cruise surveys often do not have space allocated for detailed comment and nothing noted as not right in a post cruise survey will be made right for the cruise just finished. Hopefully it may be addressed for future cruisers.

 

While social media is not the place to make an isolated complaint, it is useful for bringing to the attention of others various aspects of one's cruise experience - both good and not so good - and how problems were addressed when noted on board.

[phoenix_dream]

18 hours ago, zitsky said:

 Some people are saying I won’t book anymore suites.  Lower or upper.  But I’m not sure how many are giving feedback.  I think the more that people do so, the more likely Celebrity will get the message that people are unsatisfied.

I think the only thing that will get their attention is if bookings drop. Why pay attention to people complaining (and rightly so) and refusing to book when there are other people who will. Suites are sailing full. I know most at this time were booked before the changes.  We'll see how new bookings go looking forward. 

[Midsomer Madness]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I think the only thing that will get their attention is if bookings drop. Why pay attention to people complaining (and rightly so) and refusing to book when there are other people who will. Suites are sailing full. I know most at this time were booked before the changes.  We'll see how new bookings go looking forward. 

25 Sky Suites and 5 Sunset Sky Suites still available for our cruise in January, also 3 Celebrity Suites, 1 Royal Suite and 1 Penthouse Suite…I guess most will get filled with Move Up bids but I didn’t think there’d be that many free at this point in time.

[chemmo]

25 minutes ago, Midsomer Madness said:

25 Sky Suites and 5 Sunset Sky Suites still available for our cruise in January, also 3 Celebrity Suites, 1 Royal Suite and 1 Penthouse Suite…I guess most will get filled with Move Up bids but I didn’t think there’d be that many free at this point in time.

I agree with you…rare that RS and PH are available. I guess many people (like us) are finding the price to high and are beginning to worry about the reliability of the product…

[Midsomer Madness]

22 minutes ago, chemmo said:

I agree with you…rare that RS and PH are available. I guess many people (like us) are finding the price to high and are beginning to worry about the reliability of the product…

Prices are just ridiculous now IMO..we booked our sunset sky suite over. 2 years ago when Covid was still about, we got a great price…if we booked today we would be paying over double..no way would we pay todays price even without the cutbacks…

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, Midsomer Madness said:

Prices are just ridiculous now IMO..we booked our sunset sky suite over. 2 years ago when Covid was still about, we got a great price…if we booked today we would be paying over double..no way would we pay todays price even without the cutbacks…

I’m curious to know, in general, what is a good price?  Since everyone books at different times how can you possibly know what is a good deal?

 

I did an analysis between Aqua and Sky Suite on Millie.  When you factor in perks and OBC it’s not as much difference as you would think.

 

Dies anyone keep historical price info for X?

 

 

[Midsomer Madness]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’m curious to know, in general, what is a good price?  Since everyone books at different times how can you possibly know what is a good deal?

 

I did an analysis between Aqua and Sky Suite on Millie.  When you factor in perks and OBC it’s not as much difference as you would think.

 

Dies anyone keep historical price info for X?

 

 

We paid around $4000pp for our sunset sky suite whuch included $800 OBC, Premium drinks and wifi…the same SSS is currently on sale for $7,400pp..so I was incorrect saying the price had doubled but when you take into account the OBC and gratuities its almost double…we booked autumn 2021…that’s a huge increase bearing in mind the lack of butler (still have to pay Suite gratuities though..

 

we definitely wouldn’t pay the current price 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Midsomer Madness

[phoenix_dream]

On 11/30/2023 at 1:20 PM, Midsomer Madness said:

25 Sky Suites and 5 Sunset Sky Suites still available for our cruise in January, also 3 Celebrity Suites, 1 Royal Suite and 1 Penthouse Suite…I guess most will get filled with Move Up bids but I didn’t think there’d be that many free at this point in time.

Wow that's alot! What ship? We're on Equinox for a b2b in January and there are only a handful available.  But they're 9 N ABC cruises which are very popular. 

[phoenix_dream]

13 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’m curious to know, in general, what is a good price?  Since everyone books at different times how can you possibly know what is a good deal?

 

I did an analysis between Aqua and Sky Suite on Millie.  When you factor in perks and OBC it’s not as much difference as you would think.

 

Dies anyone keep historical price info for X?

 

 

You don't get the OBC anymore which made a considerable difference. You also now don't get gratuities included but the prices rose rather than dropped.  I know this isn't true of everyone but we are lucky enough to be Zenith so the beverage and wifi perks we don't need. Even so, some of the prices are double or more of the non-suite cabins. With sales you can get pretty decent upgrades from classic and surf for those bookings that are all included. If you consider higher than a sky suite the prices are outrageous. 

 

And yes, we actually do keep records of our bookings. We've sailed the Caribbean at similar times of year around 50 times over the years, usually 6-9 per year since retirement.  So we do have a good handle on what is a good versus outrageous price, at least for our normal cruise choices.

Edited December 1, 2023 by phoenix_dream

[Midsomer Madness]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

Wow that's alot! What ship? We're on Equinox for a b2b in January and there are only a handful available.  But they're 9 N ABC cruises which are very popular. 

Edge in Australia 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Midsomer Madness

[81Zoomie]

Our last 4 Celebrity cruises after the CV pause were in Sky suites. Equinox, Millennium, Reflection, and Apex.  We covered all the ship classes.  The first was in 2021 and the other 3 in 2022.  We booked the Apex because we liked the 2021 Equinox so much and we have a NZ/Aus B2B booked in a SS in 2024.  We wanted to test drive the E Class.  So now we have a large final payment pending in a few weeks and the product we purchased has changed without any notification.  We like real verandahs, so stepping down on the E Class isn’t as easy as it sounds.

 

We are currently on the Reflection in Aqua. Yes, our room steward’s name tag say “Retreat Host”.  We thought Aqua and BLU would be a sweet spot.  What we are experiencing is that a 1A verandah with a specialty dining package may be a better value for us. YMMV.  HAL also offers a very competitive verandah experience, especially on their new ships. Price of suites on X is no longer competitive and in our opinion, there are better values out there on the true luxury lines.

 

Since our air and hotels are booked for NZ/AUS in 2024 we will make the best of an SS on the Edge.  It’s a first world problem we are blessed to have.  We will focus on the experiences down under and celebrate a life transition.  Maybe by spring 2024 LBH will have received enough email and letters from customers requesting better quality and higher levels of service that things will improve.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by 81Zoomie

[Cruise a holic]

On 11/29/2023 at 3:51 PM, JDPCruisers said:

None of what you experienced is acceptable to not receive what you asked for, which should have been already included, and was told would be taken care of. Seems like a training issue or simply failure on multiple levels and something the Retreat Manager and/or Hotel Director should be made aware. To me, it's not complaining as it's actually helping staff leadership so they can make the appropriate changes. 

We had a wonderful experience on the Apex. While we ate most dinners in Specialty restaurants Luminae was great for breakfast and a few lunches.  Great service and food very good.  The suite lounge and Suite sun deck IMO was so worth it!  Excellent service .  Loved it!  Cannot wait to go on another celebrity ship and enjoy the suite perks.  

[destar]

We sailed on the Apex last February on the Sky Suite. We had a great butler and room attendant, we did enjoy Luminae & Blue. Other than that the service at the Retreat lounge and pool was lackadaisical. Our next Celebrity cruise is on January on the Ascend, this time booked Concierge Class, for half the price what we paid last year. With the savings we booked another cruise.

[Texed]

43 minutes ago, destar said:

 Our next Celebrity cruise is on January on the Ascend, 

 So is ours. On Ascent that is. 😊

Edited December 1, 2023 by Texed

[Ken the cruiser]

19 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’m curious to know, in general, what is a good price?  Since everyone books at different times how can you possibly know what is a good deal?

 

I did an analysis between Aqua and Sky Suite on Millie.  When you factor in perks and OBC it’s not as much difference as you would think.

 

Dies anyone keep historical price info for X?

 

 

A maximum of $425 per person per day (with a refundable deposit) for the base fare of a sky suite, to include gratuities, internet and beverage packages, sounds reasonable to me. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[cw2go]

19 hours ago, zitsky said:

I’m curious to know, in general, what is a good price?  Since everyone books at different times how can you possibly know what is a good deal?

 

I did an analysis between Aqua and Sky Suite on Millie.  When you factor in perks and OBC it’s not as much difference as you would think.

 

Dies anyone keep historical price info for X?

 

 

 

No real data but a point of reference, I booked a Sky Suite $5300 including $800 OBC Grats, Premium Wifi & Premium Beverages for 2. Sailing was Beyond Feb 2023 booked Feb 2021 so you can see compared to todays pricing that was a good price. I opted to go IV and kept all perks for $2100.

 

Those prices have set sail... 😁

Patty 

 

 

[mrgabriel]

1 hour ago, cw2go said:

 

No real data but a point of reference, I booked a Sky Suite $5300 including $800 OBC Grats, Premium Wifi & Premium Beverages for 2. Sailing was Beyond Feb 2023 booked Feb 2021 so you can see compared to todays pricing that was a good price. I opted to go IV and kept all perks for $2100.

 

Those prices have set sail... 😁

Patty 

 

 

 

We paid more than this for AQ on Ascent later this month. 🫤

 

As someone else mentioned, we're planning to drop back to either an OV, Verandah or CC for future cruises and not buy the all or partially inclusive fares. For us, the value isn't there. I can drink a LOT of martinis and good wine for the price differential. I'd rather put that money into a better seat on the flight to the port. 

 

 

[mac_tlc]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:20 PM, Midsomer Madness said:

25 Sky Suites and 5 Sunset Sky Suites still available for our cruise in January, also 3 Celebrity Suites, 1 Royal Suite and 1 Penthouse Suite…I guess most will get filled with Move Up bids but I didn’t think there’d be that many free at this point in time.

Our January 21, 2024 Ascent sailing currently has the following suites available.

1 PH

2 EV

1 RS

11 CS

11 Aqua SS

6 Sunset SS

5 SS

11 Magic Carpet SS

 

We booked out SS in October 2022 for about $370 pppd, with grats, $600 OBC, premium drink package, premium wifi 

 

Today that same cabin is $670pppd with no OBC and no grats. 
 

The loss of the butler after the fact is troublesome but the drastic price increase and removal of previously included items is the deal breaker for us. Absent a great deal , which we have been lucky enough to find on this Ascent sailing, on Beyond last April and on the Xcel for 1/4/26, we will not be going anywhere near a suite on X.

 

 

mac_tlc

 

[zitsky]

48 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Our January 21, 2024 Ascent sailing currently has the following suites available.

1 PH

2 EV

1 RS

11 CS

11 Aqua SS

6 Sunset SS

5 SS

11 Magic Carpet SS

 

We booked out SS in October 2022 for about $370 pppd, with grats, $600 OBC, premium drink package, premium wifi 

 

Today that same cabin is $670pppd with no OBC and no grats. 
 

The loss of the butler after the fact is troublesome but the drastic price increase and removal of previously included items is the deal breaker for us. Absent a great deal , which we have been lucky enough to find on this Ascent sailing, on Beyond last April and on the Xcel for 1/4/26, we will not be going anywhere near a suite on X.

 

 

mac_tlc

 

How are you getting those inventory numbers?  Is there an easy way?

[mac_tlc]

8 minutes ago, zitsky said:

How are you getting those inventory numbers?  Is there an easy way?

I got them from the TA booking site. 
 

 

mac_tlc

[Cap_D]

I know many (myself included) have been focusing on the Butler cuts, another very real and meaningful issue seems to be the overloading of the housekeeper/steward/host person.  They've gone from cleaning and an occasional hello, to being customer relations, food and beverage minibar specialists, with more rooms, and varied room types.  Usually this person and role even on a cruise ship is the equivalent to housekeeper at a hotel (whom may not be same person each day is often not someone one interacts with), with an added aspect of some limited customer interaction that may be done by the bellhop at a hotel (where to get ice, thermostat, etc), and often a function of the duration of the cruise and frequency of being back at the room.  This wouldn't justify anything related to price or marketing, but there needs to be room housekeeping staff added.