Any opinion on chance of Royal Suite clearing?

[mocro]

Hi, everyone. We'd like a Royal Suite for our first Celebrity sailing - the August 12th 2007 Infinity Alaska cruise out of Vancouver. The suites were booked, but our knowledgable agent suggested we book in Concierge Class. If a Royal Suite becomes available great, if not, we can cancel w/a refund. He says there's a good chance of getting the Royal Suite. Has anyone had this experience?

 

Secondly, if the Royal is not available, would people suggest the Sky Suite or the Celebrity Suite? We prefer 400 square feet as we're sharing the room w/our 15-year old. The Celebrity Suite is more spacious, but it doesn't have a balcony. Maybe that won't matter on an Alaska sailing where it'll be more chilly.....

 

If we do get on this cruise, I'll throw myself on everyone's mercy vis a vis shore excursion advice, but for the moment I don't want to count my chickens. Thanks so much.

[Blanco-Grande]

I have had # 6104 on Millie, loved the room, no balcony but great floor to ceiling windows, plenty of room, we had 4 in the room, room has a doorbell, lol too funny nice size dining room table also, if you do not mind not having a balcony do this room, twice the size of a sky suite, 6104 faces forward..

[Davey Interweb]

The Celebrity Suite, with the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, would be nice on an Alaskan itinerary I think.

 

You'd be surprised at how much use you can get out of a balcony even on an Alaskan cruise. We had a SS on Mercury for a May Alaskan cruise; the weather was phenomenal and we spent pretty much the entire day on the balcony while cruising the Inside Passage. Fantastic.

 

On an M-Class ship, however, I'd take a corner FV in a heartbeat over a SS if it were available. Penthouse aside, there is no better balcony on the ship, and the extra cabin space and storage over the SS is always welcome. X typically won't allow booking less than five passengers during high season, but if one opens up a few weeks prior to sailing it's usually not a problem scoring one.

 

'course, none of these cabins are currently available on your sailing, so this all might be moot. Being that you're still roughly six months out, I'm sure some cabins, including suites, will open up. Keep an eye out.

[Budwheat]

The X Zenith had no balconies, but we took #1014, a suite, with the butler. Spacious enough, lots of stowage room, but the loo is a bit tight for a couple AND a teen! This suite had a massive bed and a convertible couch. Regardless, with the 3rd person, I'd hold out for the Royal Suite on that MV.

[mocro]

Thanks so much for your comments. We'll get out the ship diagram and check out everyone's suggestions. As I'm trying to educate myself about cruises via this terrific site and others, I realize the importance of the adjacencies to your room - not just the size of the room. We're "early to bed, late to rise!" vacationers so we don't want to be above the nightclub or below the pool deck as the chairs are moved for cleaning, etc. I've read too many horror stories. As I browse this site, it really makes me want to sail so hope a suite opens up. Thanks again.

[sailorgirl]

My personal feeling is that a verandah is a must for Alaska. There is a lot of cruising along viewing wonderful scenery. It was never too cold to be outside. Sometimes it's mild. I know the Celebrity Suite with all the windows is lovely and spacious but we spent a lot of time hanging over our railing enjoying the scenery on the Alaska cruise.

[chrismch]

I agree with the other comments that a balcony is wonderful especially for Alaska. Only really cold day we had was when we were cruising around the glaciers. However it was fun having hot cocoa on the balcony even then.

 

Now regards the cancelled suites...as they are at the upper end of the cabin $$$ they will become available much more so than the concierge class. On our Dec cruise we kept checking availability for the concierge class and it never came available. However it seemed that about every 3 or 4 wks a Sky or the Royal would show up again when the rest of the cruise was booked out completely. So just keep checking the Celebrity site several times a week and when you see the room you want call your TA immediately!:p

[Boo's Mom]

ditto: a balcony is awesome for Alaska !

[sailorgirl]

We had a big wonderful surprise when we sailed Millie around So. America last year. Booked into a sky suite, a few weeks before sailing I suddenly noticed from the web site that our location had been changed. I was upset because I had carefully chosen our sky suite. I pulled out the brochure and a magnifying glass and found our new suite to be the Royal Suite. I called and asked if this was a mistake and found it to be true. We were thrilled and still don't know why we were chosen. Someone in the Royal Suite must have dropped out and someone else must have been waiting for a sky suite....and we lucked out.

[mocro]

Thanks for everyone's optimistic opinion re the chance of a Royal opening up. Out TA felt the same. As I've dived into these boards (by the time we cruise I'll be a full-fledged addict!!), I realize we not only have to think about getting the room we want, but @ a place in the ship that's desirable - i.e. not below the dance floor. These boards are so wonderful. I've been getting educated about everything from what constitutes "formal" to the pros and cons of a soda card. If life had a website like this I'd be better off. Can't wait to cruise and thanks again.

[Davey Interweb]

One of the Celebrity Suites is open as I type this... :D