Euro Penthouse Suites

[trixie54]

We are trying to decide between a PS on Eurodam, or PS on Celebrity's Summit. Both have my main objectives: the space & hot tub on the verandah - I just love that! Summit's only appeal over Eurodam right now is the gorgeous master bath, with the inside wh/pl in the window - wow! On the Eurodam it's truly "inside" the bathroom.

 

Please don't flame me for being spoiled, ridiculous, etc. (my mother takes care of all that!) I'm just trying to find someone who's seen both PS's on the 2 ships & can comment on the suite differences & the entire experience.

Thanks!

[PathfinderEss]

We are trying to decide between a PS on Eurodam, or PS on Celebrity's Summit. Both have my main objectives: the space & hot tub on the verandah - I just love that! Summit's only appeal over Eurodam right now is the gorgeous master bath, with the inside wh/pl in the window - wow! On the Eurodam it's truly "inside" the bathroom.

 

Please don't flame me for being spoiled, ridiculous, etc. (my mother takes care of all that!) I'm just trying to find someone who's seen both PS's on the 2 ships & can comment on the suite differences & the entire experience.

Thanks!

No flames here, I think if you can be spoiled go for it. I've not been in the PH on the Eurodam but have stayed in PH's on both the Amsterdam and the Ryndam and I have stayed in the PH on the Infinity. Now I love Hal, have lots of cruises with them and plan on lot's more but I will have to say PH for PH, I really liked Celebrity's better. Most Celebrity's PH's are on the back of their ships, they have huge decks, baby grand piano's in their suite, they truly are magnificent, and if you go to the alternative restaurant, which are fabulous you will think you died and went to heaven. I would have to vote for Celebrity. I love Hal's Deluxe Suite's which I think are better then anything Celebrity has in that category and you can't beat the service on Hal or their cleanliness. Their food in general is better then Celebrity but Hal's PG does not come close to the food in Celebrity's alternative restaurant, and the service in that venue is superb.

[localady]

Many would say I am a HAL cheerleader, but having visited both the PH's on the Vistas as well as the Infinity, I too would select Celebrity's PH. It is truly a magnificent amount of deck space and feels much larger.

Either one you choose, you are guaranteed to be absolutely spoiled ! ;) :D

[InTheWASide]

We are trying to decide between a PS on Eurodam, or PS on Celebrity's Summit. Both have my main objectives: the space & hot tub on the verandah - I just love that! Summit's only appeal over Eurodam right now is the gorgeous master bath, with the inside wh/pl in the window - wow! On the Eurodam it's truly "inside" the bathroom.

 

Please don't flame me for being spoiled, ridiculous, etc. (my mother takes care of all that!) I'm just trying to find someone who's seen both PS's on the 2 ships & can comment on the suite differences & the entire experience.

Thanks!

 

If it helps, here's a couple pics of the Eurodam's

[PathfinderEss]

If it helps, here's a couple pics of the Eurodam's

Yeah, it looks the same as all the other PH of Hals, just different colors and furniture. Didn't think they would change anything else and it appears they didn't.

[PMK]

http://community.webshots.com/album/116570964pMbyCR

[trixie54]

I'm agreeing with the Celebrity PC vote. It looks wonderful! Does anyone know where those stairs go, on the verandah?

 

Another question as I start to look at Celebrity ships/itineraries - any photos or info on the new PHs on the Solstice?

 

Thanks again!

Trixie

[trixie54]

What are the main differences? Is the food really any better? The RCCl also has whirlpools on their PS verandahs, so I'm looking at them now, just for fun.

[Prada Cowboy]

Royal Carribbean is like NCL super mass cruises in a 3 1/2 to 4 Star standart! Celebrity and HAL are 4.5 - 5 Star standart, better food and service as well less children and more relaxing facilities with less announcements!

[Prada Cowboy]

One more thing....

 

If you see the prices for the Penthouses on HAL, they run around for $5k a week per pop, which is a great price for what you get!

Celebrity is around $ 8-10K a pop...honestly I would never pay so much anymore for a mass ship cruise!

 

I would rather go then on Silversea, Seabourn or Regent for that price, where you just get the best of the best, all inclusive, for not so much more!

[HappyCruiser44]

If spending 10K I would opt for a Luxury Line over Mass Market

[PathfinderEss]

What are the main differences? Is the food really any better? The RCCl also has whirlpools on their PS verandahs, so I'm looking at them now, just for fun.

In general the food on Hal is a little bit better then on Celebrity. Both are much better then RC. Though as I said early, Hal alternative restaurant is not as good as Celebrity. Personally RC is at the bottom of my list for cruise lines but its a personal choice thing. Celebrity and Hal are very comparable in most venues including price, again like I said I think Hal keeps their ships cleaner and their crew is a little friendlier then Celebrity's. I like them both and think you would be happy with either cruise line. If you pick Hal PH you get the Neptune Lounge which includes lots of perks and if you choose Celebrity you get a butler who services your PH and lots of other higher grade rooms. Now if you want to up the anti, why don't you go look at Crystal, certainly higher priced but you pay for what you get.

[kryos]

If spending 10K I would opt for a Luxury Line over Mass Market

It's funny, but I've thought about this ... and I've found there's a certain "psychology" at play here. Understand, I'm not making any judgments ... just observations.

 

It would seem that for some people with the means to book luxury accommodations, there is a reason why they don't opt for the luxury lines. There is a certain allure to being treated "special" and on the luxury lines they won't get that. Yes, they'll have a heightened level of service, probably better food, more attention from the staff, lots of inclusives, etc. ... but they won't feel "special" because everyone on the ship is getting those things. It's a luxury line and chances are all of the accommodations are suites and everyone enjoys those same premium ammenities.

 

Now move to a mass market line like HAL or even Cunard, and things are different. Book a Grill class suite on Cunard and you're going to get a much better dining experience than others in lower accommodations. You're going to be able to order something that's not on the menu in the Queen's Grill and you will be accommodated. But go to the main dining room and you'll find that very little customization is possible. I read one review where the reviewer's kid ordered her meal, but asked that her sauce not have the crabmeat in it. She got her meal, minus sauce entirely. In the regular dining room, the menu is the menu and you have to order only those items that appear on it prepared the way they are prepared. Take it or leave it. Had she been dining in the Queen's Grill, however, she would have gotten her sauce sans crabmeat with no problem.

 

Book a luxury suite on HAL and you'll find the same sort of thing. Your sailing experience will not be the same as that of the person in an outside cabin. True, you will have the same dining room access and the same access to the ship's amenities, but you'll have certain privileged access too. You'll have a concierge to handle your daily affairs, make your spa appointments, cash your checks, arrange for a private car in port, etc. The smuck in the outside cabin will have to get in line at the purser's desk for his needs to be met. You'll also be invited to certain affairs that the average joe doesn't get invitations to ... cocktail parties with the officers, etc. There is something definitely appealing in that to some people ... and there's nothing necessarily wrong with it. For them it is satisfying to know that one word to their concierge can get them privileges that others can't have ... such as scoring a couple of tickets to that supposedly "sold out" shore excursion or getting first dibs for the dining arrangements they wish to have.

 

I remember on one HAL cruise, sitting outside on the Lido and hearing this guy bitterly complaining to his friends. Seems his son wanted to take some sort of jetsking excursion and asked his dad to take him. Dad tried to get tickets, but the excursion was sold out. He told his son that they would just arrange to do it independently once they got into the port. The son happened to mention the excursion to another kid he met in Club HAL and mentioned to the kid that maybe he and his dad could go too. Turns out the other kid and his folks were staying in a suite. That kid's dad was able to get tickets for the excursion. The father who was complaining bitterly never did get to take his son. All the time slots that would have worked for getting back to the ship on time were booked solid by HAL. The only thing left would have placed them at very real risk of missing the ship. The father didn't think HAL was fair in telling him the excursion was booked, yet finding tickets for this other kid and his father. I remember hearing him say "how do I explain this sort of thing to my eight-year-old?" I wanted to chime in that maybe it's time for his eight-year-old to get some life reality lessons, and he should approach his explanation in that vein. Money talks ... everything else walks. The kid is gonna have to learn that lesson someday, so he might as well start now.

 

So that's why I think you find some people who, while they certainly have the means to book a cruise on an all-inclusive luxury line, will still opt to sail in luxury accommodations on a mass market line. I guess it's just all a matter of what's important to them.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[westboroatty]

Thank you for your post Rita. You have opened my eyes and explained a fair amount of things from my one and only "real" cruise, the Rotterdam in the Baltic.

 

This trip was a family celebration of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. My paretns were booked in a Deluxe Suite on Deck 7. I was in a varandah cabin one deck below. My parents seem to get things that I'm wondering if I would have been able to get.

 

Their laundry came back in 12 to 24 hours. Mine took 4 days.

 

My parents were able to secure a "standing" table reservation in the very stern of the ship with a beautiful window to watch the port drift away. I'm wondering if I would have been able to do that. On my only other cruise (NCL to Ensananda and the one that turned me off to cruising), I had an inside cabin, and my table at dinner had as nice a view of the ocean as my cabin did.

 

I was not sensative to it while on the ship and this thread got me thinking.

 

It makes sense. When I traveled more for business, I would concentrate as much of my airline flights on one alliance, Skyteam (NW/CO/DL et al). I became an elite traveler with them and enjoyed the perks of being a very frequent flyer: automatic upgrades to first class, seperate and much shorter check in line, private lounge access on international flights, preboarding of flights. It made flying somewhat tolerable.

 

Thanks for crystalizing what has been rolling around in the back of my head for the last month.

 

Rick

[trixie54]

This trip is being planned for winter 2010, & we're taking our daughter & "new" husband. Welllll, they tell us if all goes well, we'll be bringing a new family member! Now how do you all feel about cruise line? We're so excited!

Trixie

[hammybee]

If spending 10K I would opt for a Luxury Line over Mass Market

 

Me too. :)

 

I guess it all depends on what one values, the cabin or the out of cabin experience.

 

One will get a better cabin for the $ with HAL or Celebrity versus a luxury cruise line. The difference is going to be the out of cabin experience is no different than the experience shared by those sailing in the least costly cabins, with the exception of priority dining, seating and excursions when and where there is the ability to accommodate.

 

Only thing that matters is what's right for you.

[hammybee]

[quote name=kryos;16058474

 

The father didn't think HAL was fair in telling him the excursion was booked' date=' yet finding tickets for this other kid and his father. I remember hearing him say "how do I explain this sort of thing to my eight-year-old?"

Blue skies ...--rita[/quote]

 

This is a variation of a very common theme on CC. That HAL and most other cruise lines market to the masses does not mean that it's a democracy. Those who pay more, get more, as they should. This concept is lost on a lot of people.

 

The CC boards are peppered with posts that " I paid my hard earned money" and all passengers should be treated equal, often followed with some snide remark about the snobs in Suites. All this tells us is that the guy in the cheap seats is basing his self worth on what he can afford, or not and feels inferior. It's sad stuff.

 

- Hammybee

Who sails in the cheap seats, more often, than not.

[PathfinderEss]

This trip is being planned for winter 2010, & we're taking our daughter & "new" husband. Welllll, they tell us if all goes well, we'll be bringing a new family member! Now how do you all feel about cruise line? We're so excited!

Trixie

Hey Trixie, with this new added information, if your still thinking Hal or Celebrity, absolutely go with Celebrity. Here's why, you have a mid range cabin next door that has an adjoining door with that PH. Its great, your daughter, her hubby and hopefully the new grandbaby can have their privacy but also have access to your PH. It really can make it fun for your family.

[kryos]

This is a variation of a very common theme on CC. That HAL and most other cruise lines market to the masses does not mean that it's a democracy. Those who pay more, get more, as they should. This concept is lost on a lot of people.

No argument there whatsoever ... with one provisio: As long as nothing I am entitled to is taken away from me, as is the case with those cabanas HAL is renting on the Lido Deck. That's space I'm entitled to enjoy, and HAL is theoretically taking that away from people in favor of giving it to those willing/able to pay additional monies for it.

 

But as for the "perks" ... the concierge, the special privileges, etc. ... I wholeheartedly agree. You pay for those things in the cost of your luxury suite, and therefore you should get them. That's why I said that I wanted to pipe up and tell this guy complaining about the closed out shore excursion on the Lido ... maybe you need to start teaching your eight-year-old some life lessons that will serve him well as he grows up. Not everything in life is necessarily entirely "fair."

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

The CC boards are peppered with posts that " I paid my hard earned money" and all passengers should be treated equal, often followed with some snide remark about the snobs in Suites. All this tells us is that the guy in the cheap seats is basing his self worth on what he can afford, or not and feels inferior. It's sad stuff.

I think the distinction here is whether the "perk" is something that takes away from the joe schmoe in the cheap seats ... something that technically his fare entitles him to as well.

 

For example, I heard quite a bit of complaining on one cruise to the South Pacific where we made a stop in Nuka Hiva. Nuka Hiva is a somewhat remote island. Not much to do there. There are no HAL shore excursions and because the island only gets a few cruise ship stops a year, they really have no tourist infrastructure built up. When a ship is going to be in port, some of the locals will arrive on the pier with their private vehicles offering to take people on tours of the island. Because there are no paved roads going up the huge mountain that makes up the island, you kind of need a vehicle or an animal to see anything beyond the port area. Because suite passengers get first dibs for tendering, they were able to get over to the pier first. Naturally they snagged all the locals for tours. By the time others got over to the pier, it was deserted. People were coming back less than an hour after tendering over. There was simply nothing to do.

 

In that case, perhaps it wasn't fair. To take a boatload of passengers to a remote island, and then let only a privileged few have access to touring options is probably taking away something from the regular passenger who now wastes a perfectly good day sitting on the ship when he would have rather been out enjoying the port.

 

But that's an isolated case and one where maybe an exception should be made with the tendering arrangements.

 

As far as the other stuff ... you're right. If one were to evaluate their own self-worth based on the level of accommodations, and the resulting perks they get, that's very sad. I can be perfectly happy enjoying the ship from my inside cabin, so it doesn't matter a speck to me what the folks in luxury suites are getting. I'm still getting a great cruise, a great ship and some wonderfully good times ... and that's all that matters.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

This trip is being planned for winter 2010, & we're taking our daughter & "new" husband. Welllll, they tell us if all goes well, we'll be bringing a new family member! Now how do you all feel about cruise line? We're so excited!

Trixie

Trixie, just verify with HAL the minimum age that the child must be to sail. I seem to recall some cruise lines having a minimum age below which a baby cannot be brought onboard.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I had an inside cabin, and my table at dinner had as nice a view of the ocean as my cabin did.

LOL ... I got a nice chuckle out of that line. :)

 

As for laundry coming back four days later ... wow! I stay in the really cheap seats and never had mine take more than two days. Must have been a full ship.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Moriah]

I may have misunderstood your comments Rita, but I do want to point out that on HAL the Penthouse experience is no different from that of a suite pax in an SA, SB, or SC suite EXCEPT for the size of the cabin. The Penthouse is very large and has a hot tub on the deck. Other than that, all amenities, and all service is identical to that received by other suite passengers. I've been on all of the Vistas, in SA or SB suites, traveling with friends who had the penthouse(s) on the same cruise. I have not noticed our friends being treated any differently than other suite guests. I love visiting them and attending parties in the PS, but to me it's just another cabin, albeit very large. Any cabin with access to the Neptune has a significantly differnent experience and service level than the other categories on the ship, but there is no difference afforded to penthouse guests IMO.

Moriah

[sail7seas]

Let us know which you choose. :)

 

[ANSalberg]

Kryos made a comment on the Queen's grill on QM2 -I'd like to address that as well as the bigger cabin/more $$$$ etc. On a crossing on the QM2 we chose the Princess [Jr Suites] because of the Princess Grill -and our reasoning was this; I KNOW how noisy a dining room can get; I would prefer the smaller/quieter room for dinner - if we have to pay for that; so be it! The reality was that room was considerably easier to visit with our tablemates [ strangers to us] in the smaller room AND we were delighted with our choice for THAT reason. Understanding what you are receiving and what you are paying for is common sense in the cruising world. I always think much of the unhappiness comes from "I THOUGHT I was getting THIS/ I GOT that"

Before we retired both of us worked full time at stressful jobs that were exhillerating but exhausting. Vacations were business conventions NOT a relaxing week away -in MOST cases - for OVER 30 years! The minute we began cruising people ASSUMED we "had MONEY" up the old wazoo. The reality was' Life had changed for us. Our jobs were over/ our family grown/ our time for LONGER cruises [ and our appetite for them] more readily available. In other words -we paid our dues in our communities-NOW we have a "window of opportunity" to travel while we are both physically able. How much we spend and how we spend it is really nobody's business -as long as what we did was legal [ it was - and beneficial to our communities] AND we appreciate that we are [finally] ABLE to travel in the way we do. An acquaintance of ours invariably makes hurtful remarks about our "affording" our cruising life -she is NO friend and HER vacation history is far more extensive than ours; ours is just NOW; THAT'S the difference. We NOW regularly cruise for 2 or 3 months out of the year, to exotic places [ we took the World cruise on the "Amsterdam" in 2007 -we are leaving in mid September for a 2 month "Grand" cruise to Asia etc -on the "Amsterdam".] To make judgements about others is unconscionable; I didn't do it when I COULDN"T cruise and I don't do it now for EITHER those that sail in higher levels OR lower levels. PH doesn't really interest me but a suite is sheer bliss, and HAL does a bang up job on their amenities for those rooms. The Neptune people are dear to us, and we enjoy that. BTW- we do NOT own an RV nor would we EVER want one -especially at $4 a Gal for gasoline; but judge the people that drive one? NEVAH!

Anne