Woo Hoo... Pinnacle now equals Zenith on Celebrity

[sjb317]

18 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I can answer that next week as we are on our first cruise as Zenith.

 

The Pinnacle lunch menu has been inconsistent over the fleet. Sometimes it is great with very good choices (filet) and others not so good. Many times the luncheon has Diamond+ added because the P numbers were low. Once upon a time the lunch was held in a specialty restaurant and we sat with an officer at each table - now with the "Cheers with a Officer" it has been in the MDR and the officers disappear after the toast. Covid was blamed - so what is the excuse now???

 

8 minutes ago, nelblu said:

This was due to Covid as you mentioned.  On one of my Anthem sails, the Captain mentioned that they were hoping that an Officer would be able to sit at table with members, as in past.  

Yes, that comment was repeated frequently when the lunch was changed to Cheers with an Officer after cruising resumed but I have not heard any officer mention that in our last 6 cruises.  My theory is it will remain Cheers as the majority of the officers do not miss the lunch part.😂

 

Sherri🙂

[cruise wizard]

14 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

 

Yes, that comment was repeated frequently when the lunch was changed to Cheers with an Officer after cruising resumed but I have not heard any officer mention that in our last 6 cruises.  My theory is it will remain Cheers as the majority of the officers do not miss the lunch part.😂

 

Sherri🙂

 

I do miss sitting with the different officers - learned a lot about life working on a ship, sharing cruise stories and how educated and informed they are - very professional. I think some of the officers enjoyed the filet & lobster versus Jammer and mess food.

[RFerrington]

I know I'm in the minority on this one but I prefer the "Cheers" setup.  I always felt sorry for the junior officer who drew the short straw and had to sit with a bunch of strangers and engage in small talk.  You could tell that they would rather be ANYwhere else.  Now they just come in, say a few words, and they're off to do their real work and leave us in peace to have whatever has been given to us to eat !  Recently I have found the menu to be fine....not great, but good enough.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, RFerrington said:

Now they just come in, say a few words, and they're off to do their real work

On our last B2B on Adventure, they staggered the start times for the Pins and the D+'s by 15 minutes. Pins were on one side of the MDR and D+'s were on the other. The officers did their "cheers" on our side and then trooped over to the other side to repeat it for the D+'s. 😱

[sjb317]

17 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I do miss sitting with the different officers - learned a lot about life working on a ship, sharing cruise stories and how educated and informed they are - very professional. I think some of the officers enjoyed the filet & lobster versus Jammer and mess food.

I enjoyed it also and while I think some of the officers may have enjoyed the food (wow, you got lobster?)and maybe even an opportunity to meet passengers, I really think most of them do not miss it.  I will be surprised if they ever go back to it.

 

Sherri🙂

[sjb317]

13 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

I know I'm in the minority on this one but I prefer the "Cheers" setup.  I always felt sorry for the junior officer who drew the short straw and had to sit with a bunch of strangers and engage in small talk.  You could tell that they would rather be ANYwhere else.  Now they just come in, say a few words, and they're off to do their real work and leave us in peace to have whatever has been given to us to eat !  Recently I have found the menu to be fine....not great, but good enough.

Agree with you!  We had an IT manager at our table once and it was obviously a painful experience for him.  He seemed very shy and uncomfortable.  Funny,  he got a phone call about halfway through lunch, left the table to answer it, came back and apologized that he had to leave.  I guess there was an IT emergency🤣

 

Sherri🙂

Edited June 8 by sjb317

[bonsai3s]

21 minutes ago, sjb317 said:

I enjoyed it also and while I think some of the officers may have enjoyed the food (wow, you got lobster?)and maybe even an opportunity to meet passengers, I really think most of them do not miss it.  I will be surprised if they ever go back to it.

 

Sherri🙂

 

Last year, on the Quantum Transpacific, Brisbane to Honolulu...we had CWO (lunch) and "Dinner with Officers". 

 

Each table had an Officer joining us for dinner...we had the Loyalty Ambassador at our table.

 

This year  on the Ovation Transpacific, Sydney to Honolulu, they had a second Cheers with the Officers...the second one was a wonderful Brunch...outstanding menu.

 

* Perhaps it was done twice because of the lengthy sailings.

[cruise wizard]

9 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

 

Last year, on the Quantum Transpacific, Brisbane to Honolulu...we had CWO (lunch) and "Dinner with Officers". 

 

Each table had an Officer joining us for dinner...we had the Loyalty Ambassador at our table.

 

This year  on the Ovation Transpacific, Sydney to Honolulu, they had a second Cheers with the Officers...the second one was a wonderful Brunch...outstanding menu.

 

* Perhaps it was done twice because of the lengthy sailings.

 

Sounds great!!!! How many attended?

[verizon]

Zeniths lunch usually with the Captain ,Hotel Director,Guest Relationship Director and some high ranking officers.If there are  not many Zeniths they will invite guests from high end suites.Its always held in the BLU restaurant follow after the Bridge Tour.Also a group photo before the lunch.

Edited June 8 by verizon

[island lady]

23 hours ago, orville99 said:

Ironically, had X decided to home port a ship in PC when we achieved Pinnacle, we would have almost enough points on X to make Zenith by now. If they kept a ship or two in Florida year round we’d already be there.😇

 

Yeah, I booked our first X cruise (Connie out of Tampa) over a year ago.  

[island lady]

19 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Same here and I don’t even want to know how much that piece of pot metal cost us. 😆

 

 

The secret is not to look back and total it up.  😉   Water....errr...$$$ under the bridge.  But worth every memory.  🥰

[island lady]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

In my humble opinion, other than the fillet and everything else like the apps and desserts are normal menu items.

What I find amazing is that wine flows freely, however when I order a beer or sometimes a diet coke, I have to use one of my 5 allotted drinks.🤣

 

Except that the wine is usually pretty bad.  We start it off by walking in with a full glass of our own.  😉 

[island lady]

2 hours ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I can answer that next week as we are on our first cruise as Zenith.

 

The Pinnacle lunch menu has been inconsistent over the fleet. Sometimes it is great with very good choices (filet) and others not so good. Many times the luncheon has Diamond+ added because the P numbers were low. Once upon a time the lunch was held in a specialty restaurant and we sat with an officer at each table - now with the "Cheers with a Officer" it has been in the MDR and the officers disappear after the toast. Covid was blamed - so what is the excuse now???

 

Exactly.  Conveniently keeping to ALL the restart cut backs since Covid.  😉  Though I really don't blame the officers for not sitting with us.  It always seemed forced for them, with so many other things to do than to listen to us whine.  😄 

[island lady]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

On our last B2B on Adventure, they staggered the start times for the Pins and the D+'s by 15 minutes. Pins were on one side of the MDR and D+'s were on the other. The officers did their "cheers" on our side and then trooped over to the other side to repeat it for the D+'s. 😱

 

We have witnessed that also.  Though more seemed to be separate days.  

[orville99]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Yeah, I booked our first X cruise (Connie out of Tampa) over a year ago.  

We typically book 8-10 cruises a year, always in full suites, and had we been able to book the ones we sailed after we achieved Pin on X instead of on RCL, we would be in the 2,500 point range on X by now. 

Edited June 8 by orville99

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We typically book 8-10 cruises a year, always in full suites, and had we been able to book the ones we sailed after we achieved Pin on X instead of on RCL, we would be in the 2,500 point range on X by now. 

 

Ironically Viking has the bulk of our cruising money now...and they don't have a loyalty program.  Go figure.  😉 

[cruisegirl1]

17 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We typically book 8-10 cruises a year, always in full suites, and had we been able to book the ones we sailed after we achieved Pin on X instead of on RCL, we would be in the 2,500 point range on X by now. 

Why were you not able to book X  after you reached Pinnacle? We've sailed X at various RCCL levels, with reciprocity and before the loyalty merger, with no issues.  It was pre covid.   

 

Had one booked for a while, and happier now that we get terrific loyalty benefits. 

M

[cruisegirl1]

19 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Ironically Viking has the bulk of our cruising money now...and they don't have a loyalty program.  Go figure.  😉 

I didn't realize they don't have a loyalty program. That seems strange not to  give benefits to loyal/repeat customers.  Of course, most of us  don't  sail for benefits, but they are nice when offered. 

Enjoy your cruises. 

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Why were you not able to book X  after you reached Pinnacle?

 They never home ported any ships out of PC; DW physically can’t travel by car for more than an hour or so without major discomfort so Miami and FLL were problematic; we also can’t fly any more so having a cruise line that only spends half the year in Florida was a major issue. Had X ported in PC, we would have booked the majority of our fall, winter, and spring B2B cruises on X. Now that they have a ship in PC and we have Brightline available to Miami and FLL, X is where all of our future bookings are going.

[cruiselvr04]

They sometimes have a small discount for previous cruisers but nothing like Royal and Celebrity.  Viking is a good product but different. 

12 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I didn't realize they don't have a loyalty program. That seems strange not to  give benefits to loyal/repeat customers.  Of course, most of us  don't  sail for benefits, but they are nice when offered. 

Enjoy your cruises. 

 

[orville99]

33 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Ironically Viking has the bulk of our cruising money now...and they don't have a loyalty program.  Go figure.  😉 

Cunard has a huge chunk of ours for a 30 night RT to the British Isles out of NYC for next fall.😇

[bonsai3s]

1 hour ago, cruise wizard said:

 

Sounds great!!!! How many attended?

On the Ovation this year...there were 99 P's (if I remember correctly) and most attended both lunches.

 

Can't remember how many P's were on the Quantum sailing last year, but the CWO and dinner were highly attended.

[lovesthebeach2]

On 6/7/2024 at 12:27 PM, Another_Critic said:

April 2024 Oasis TA

 

I can’t see the picture, I only see a ?

[island lady]

20 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I didn't realize they don't have a loyalty program. That seems strange not to  give benefits to loyal/repeat customers.  Of course, most of us  don't  sail for benefits, but they are nice when offered. 

Enjoy your cruises. 

 

They do give repeat cruisers a couple hundred bucks off the next cruises they book...and (though you have to ask) back it off to 6 months final payment prior to sail date.  For newbies, and ignorant pax (like me on booking cruise #2 and #3)....the final is a year to year and a half in advance.   Further out there for Expedition ships with limited capacity.  

[island lady]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Cunard has a huge chunk of ours for a 30 night RT to the British Isles out of NYC for next fall.😇

 

Nice!   We are re boarding Serenade from Barcelona next month...hitting the British Isles...plus some. 😉 Then ending up over to NYC for an overnight before we crawl back down the eastern US seaboard.  And of course...just HAVE to hit Coco Cay again. 😂  Another 62 night loaded up suitcases event.