Celebrity Eclipse Sky Lounge closed during 12 day cruise

[ChucktownSteve]

6 hours ago, jwlane said:

No, it's privately owned, and conducts "auctions" on several lines.

Fortunately, not Regent. 😁

[canderson]

23 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

Fortunately, not Regent. 😁

Hey, you may have come up with something there.

 

Any line that allows Park West to set foot aboard is another 'mass market' line, not a 'luxury' line.  I like that!

 

That leaves out

 

 

[mahdnc]

7 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

Is Park West owned by Celebrity? Thought I recalled hearing that somewhere. 

Or perhaps Park West put in the winning bid and now owns Celebrity!

[horseymike]

Bad move.

Edited August 24 by horseymike

[Mr. Click]

8 hours ago, quicklabs said:

A Park West group has been given the use of the Sky Lounge for their exclusive function, taking the best area of the ship away from access by the bulk of the paying passengers.  This is a 12 day long cruise with 6 sea days from Iceland to Boston (starting on 16 August) on a jam packed ship.  You can imagine how full every single area  as a result.  No place to sit in the public areas.  The Sky  Lounge is closed almost all day and most of the evening every day to accommodate this Park West group.  I don't know who made this decision, but it shows the current  Celebrity corporate mindset.  I feel terrible for the crew who has to "guard the door " and have to deal with increasingly frustrated guests.   Just one more thing in a "death by a thousand cuts".   

 

We are on the cruise too and when Park West is not kicking us out activities are blasting us out.   It sucks but otherwise the trip has been great

[quicklabs]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

And yet they take the best space on the ship...  Is any compensation being offered?

 

There is a solid reason some of us will not sail E class again ...

S class has the gems,  but why sell them to the highest bidder?

I am just shocked that they would do this on a once a year itinerary on a full ship

 

[Baron Barracuda]

Remember years ago Park West being kicked off Royal and X due to heavy customer dissatisfaction.  Complaints included inflated appraisals and non-delivery.  BBB reported several lawsuits.  Apparently they've weaseled their way back aboard ship.

 

Years ago dd won a piece of "art" at one of their auctions.  After auction went to pick it up but was told it was actually at warehouse ashore and framing and shipping cost would be over $100.  Said she didn't need it framed but was told shipping would still be around $50.  DD said forget it. 

[bikerunner]

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

We get free weekend invites to Park West events.  I have never gone.  I view them like timeshare presentations.    Not worth it to go IMHO.

I have not bought one thing from the 5 weekends I have gone to.  They keep sending me the invites I say yes, and I travel down.  A few of the times I skipped the auction events and went and had fun elsewhere.  

[bikerunner]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I dabble a little in the casino just to have a bit of fun - I don't expect to win a lot if at all - it's just a little adrenaline rush to pass the time.  It blows my mind how people will gamble a lot on ships when the odds are so very awful compared to land casinos.  For example, my go to game is video keno.  In Vegas, if you hit a certain amount of numbers you may win $1175.   On the ship for that same scenario you win $250 - big difference!  But some do. And some win "free" cruises for their efforts, but those free cruises likely cost them double what they've donated onboard.  

not really, I have a budget of 200 dollars on a cruise for casino, If I lose it Im done and have stuck with that for last 15 years.  I get offers all the time for free, well taxes and grats I have to pay and been doing those.  I have a 13 Side by side in Dec, 6 day on Silhouette and then 7 day on Apex.  Total cost 750 for the 2 of us, 6 day in aqua and 7 day in porthole verandah.  Yes I have to spend money but keep in my budget easily.  To me it's doing the numbers that's all.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

In case someone doesn’t know about them

https://lawyerinc.com/park-west-gallery-lawsuits-a-comprehensive-overview/

[mahasamatman]

9 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I don’t understand why people would buy this kind of thing on a cruise

OBC. We've got over $5,000 OBC on an upcoming cruise (not on Celebrity) and may buy some art if we can't find anything else worthwhile to spend it on.

 

They occasionally have some decent items. I have an original Chuck Jones, a Marvin Martian production cel, and a few other pieces of animation art I bought on cruises years ago.

[canderson]

Just an aside to the current conversation ...

 

If anyone wants a challenge, try to locate the current Celebrity president's work history just PRIOR to joining RCL in 2007.

 

[NMTraveller]

4 minutes ago, canderson said:

Just an aside to the current conversation ...

 

If anyone wants a challenge, try to locate the current Celebrity president's work history just PRIOR to joining RCL in 2007.

 

No challenge.  She worked for Park West ...

 

Qualified?  Nope...  Able to spin the bad into good, yep.

[canderson]

Just now, NMTraveller said:

No challenge.  She worked for Park West ...

 

Qualified?  Nope...  Able to spin the bad into good, yep.

No fair.  You peeked at my old post! 

Of interest -- I can't find anywhere that you can still confirm that employment on the web, though it was still possible two months ago.

I'd be embarrassed, too.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

29 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

OBC. We've got over $5,000 OBC on an upcoming cruise (not on Celebrity) and may buy some art if we can't find anything else worthwhile to spend it on.

 

They occasionally have some decent items. I have an original Chuck Jones, a Marvin Martian production cel, and a few other pieces of animation art I bought on cruises years ago.

No matter how much OBC we have , wouldn’t give a penny to Park West🤢🤮

[sheeng]

51 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

In case someone doesn’t know about them

https://lawyerinc.com/park-west-gallery-lawsuits-a-comprehensive-overview/

Pay attention friends! Park West is seriously impacting our options and pleasure on this cruise😨 Our favorite venue is closed to us on prime sail away days and 40 - 50 per cent of evening cocktail hours!

[cruisestitch]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

And yet they take the best space on the ship...  Is any compensation being offered?

 

There is a solid reason some of us will not sail E class again ...

S class has the gems,  but why sell them to the highest bidder?

Why sell them to the highest bidder?  Let’s think about that….🤔🤔🤨🤔🤔

[canderson]

1 minute ago, cruisestitch said:

Why sell them to the highest bidder?  Let’s think about that….🤔🤔🤨🤔🤔

Perhaps because a couple of thousand other people have, in essence, already put in a much larger bid that's being ignored?  It has the feeling of you selling space in MY driveway for public parking.

[Oville]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

Perhaps because a couple of thousand other people have, in essence, already put in a much larger bid that's being ignored?  It has the feeling of you selling space in MY driveway for public parking.

How many people spend a lot of time in the Sky Lounge?  My guess is that it doesn’t hold a couple of thousand and most don’t use it.

[hcat]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

No challenge.  She worked for Park West ...

 

Qualified?  Nope...  Able to spin the bad into good, yep.

interesting...so she brought them back to the ships....too bad that didn't come up in the recent Q and A , or did it?

 

(also too much push and hype of the " free" charms of one jewelry store on board)

[markeb]

10 minutes ago, Oville said:

How many people spend a lot of money in the Sky Lounge?  My guess is that it doesn’t hold a couple of thousand and most don’t use it.

 

Fixed it for you...

 

I generally consider Park West a total ripoff and have no idea why any cruise line (or corporation, because this is RCG wide, minus I would think Silversea) would have them onboard. BUT I've found the Sky Lounge to largely be underused space (other than on our Alaska cruise where it was packed). The people on the thread who talk about enjoying it love it because it's quiet (few people?). That's not a revenue producing space. Even on the Alaska cruise where it was packed going into Hubbard, most people weren't buying drinks. And every buck they make off of the invited guests for Park West is a buck they don't have to add to drink packages, dining packages, and excursions. All of which are a constant complaints on the board.

 

Since they've clearly decided to support this type of event, the Sky Lounge before late night music/dancing/etc. is probably the least disruptive space to use. They already kill Deck 5 next to the WCB on S class ships for the auctions!

[Cruiscs]

14 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

I am currently on silhouette back to back and we have the same situation.  Park West has paid a lot of money for exclusive use of the Sky Lounge for their high purchasing special invited guests  on both cruises. They will be doing this for five straight cruises.  Every day they have the sky lounge closed, some days until three, some days until 9 PM.  Last cruise we had five sea days out of twelve, and this cruise we have four out of twelve.

Closed to 3 PM on sea day or port days? Why would people go on cruises just to buy art instead of going onshore?

[cruisestitch]

On silhouette, Park west is using the sky lounge on every seaday, closing it to other customers until at least 3 and sometimes 9 p.m.

 

sky lounge is open to all on port days.

 

I have no information on why people would buy art on a cruise ship.

[Cruiscs]

17 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

On silhouette, Park west is using the sky lounge on every seaday, closing it to other customers until at least 3 and sometimes 9 p.m.

 

sky lounge is open to all on port days.

 

I have no information on why people would buy art on a cruise ship.

Thanks. That is not too bad. I can live with that

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, canderson said:

Perhaps because a couple of thousand other people have, in essence, already put in a much larger bid that's being ignored?  It has the feeling of you selling space in MY driveway for public parking.

I think that just about sums up the feelings of many of us. If you book a cruise that advertises X bars you expect access to those areas most of the time. You accept that access may be restricted for short spells for specific activities and events but certainly not for day time rest and relaxation and every evening cocktail time…

 

Particularly annoying on sea days with challenging weather…On these days not only does it provide a haven for people to read, chat, drink coffee and relax it does then release space elsewhere in the ship.

Edited August 25 by chemmo