Concierge Class - Worth the extra cost?

[Soccerfan]

Hi,

 

We have a 10 day Bermuda cruise booked on the Constellation in October.

 

Is it worth paying $700 Canadian more to upgrade from our O/V to the Concierge class?

 

What are the best benefits of this class?

 

Thanks for your help :)

[eandj]

If you are going from a lower class ocean view...(NOT a balcony)...to cc, I think that is fine. The only perk I see as really a value is a balcony for us. And you don't need to be cc for that. The other perks with CC are not worth too much to my dh and me. If you are looking to upgrade, you might just want to look at a balcony cabin.

 

You will get both feelings here. Some people swear by CC and some pople like us, not so much. It would have to be a small amount for us to upgrade to CC from balcony. The money spent for CC can be used for many other things on a cruise.

 

You can see a list of perks at the celebrity site.

 

If you do a forum search, there have been many discussions re concierge class that you can read over.

[6502programmer]

As to whether it's worth it or not, that's solely up to you.

 

To compare apples to apples, you need to look at the cost of CC versus balcony, not CC versus OV. If a balcony is worthwhile, is CC a worthwhile upgrade from a balcony?

 

We sailed in CC in 2007, and absolutely loved it. We did have one tender port, and being able to "jump the line" in tendering was worthwhile. Priority embarkation was irrelevant, as we used the US Direct program flying into Vancouver, so we actually had a dedicated check in area, not just priority lines. The snacks, you can take or leave.

 

For us, the big advantage was having an aft-facing balcony for an Alaska cruise. Would CC have been worthwhile? Maybe for $15 pp per day. Was it worthwhile because it came with a balcony that opened up across the back of the ship? You bet!

[JanineM]

As others have said - it is a big leap from an OV to a balcony, let alone CC. For a 10-nighter, that's an additional $70 per night.

 

Will you use the balcony a lot? Is there much difference in price between a regular balcony and a CC?

 

For us, the "extras" provided with CC don't mean that much - maybe $10 or $15 pp per day ... we enjoy the bottle of sparkling wine, and like having the cheese plate in the afternoon (we always swap that for the canapes). The pillow menu is nice and we do take advantage of that, and there are better choices for room service breakfast. The service really is superior. But the biggest benefit we have seen was the size of the balcony and being able to dine out there. But then the one time we sprung for a CC the weather was miserable and we barely were able to use it!

 

Not much help, I know, but look at the benefits and decide what they are worth to you.

[TomCruises]

CC class is all about cabin location! You can also review all of the perks/benefits on the www.celebrity.com website. Too many to list! We love CC1.

[Lsimon]

"Worth" is a relative term and you have to consider your budget. There are some cruisers who wouldn't consider sailing in anything less than a higher level suite. There are others here who think it is foolish to pay for anything more than a basic inside room. Neither is wrong.

 

For us a CC room, especially on M Class ships like the Constellation, is the right choice. We pick CC primarily for the balcony, cabin location and the slightly larger room size. (On other class ships the CC rooms are not larger). The amenities are nice, but for us probably are not the driving factor - the nicer linens are a plus but the other items are no big deal. For example the champagne is a nice touch but it is a bottle worth less than $20.

 

My best advice: Consider your traveling budget. If a nicer cabin won't make much of a difference on what you'll otherwise enjoy on a cruise then take the upgrade. But if the nicer cabin means you won't be able to afford a night at the specialty restaurant, martinis before dinner, a massage you've been longing for, or that nice excursion you have your eye on then take the lesser cabin and enjoy the other things on your cruise.

[CaroleSP]

I can't honestly say that I would pay $700 more for a CC cabin, but as you have seen here before, an aft balcony is in a class by itself. I would grab a deck 7 aft balcony on the Connie in a second! Watch out for deck 9, it can be noisy. It's too bad they broke out the CC category and made the aft balconies more expensive than other CC's.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[Pat&Paul]

There is an official list for each ship from Celebrity. Here is the list for most pre Solstice class ships:

 

•Welcome champagne•Daily fruit selection•Fresh-cut flowers•Daily hors d'oeuvres•Menu of pillows - Conformance, Body, Goose, and Isotonic®•Duvets and pillow-top mattresses•Leather key holder, personalized stationery and tote bag•Double-thick Frette bathrobes•Hansgrohe® showerhead•VIP invitations to events•Early embarkation and debarkation•Dining and seating preference•Preference on shore excursions•Express luggage delivery

 

Here is a list of perks for Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse:

 

•Welcome champagne•Daily fruit selection•Fresh-cut flowers•Daily hors d'oeuvres•Menu of pillows-Conformance, Body, Goose, and Isotonic®•Duvets and pillow-top mattresses•Leather key holder, personalized stationery and a tote bag, Frette bathrobes•Hansgrohe® showerhead•VIP invitations to events•Early embarkation and debarkation•Dining and seating preference•Preference on shore excursions•Express luggage delivery•Shoeshine service

 

As you may have noticed, they may be adding shoe shine service to this class of ship??

 

:cool:Can anyone that has cruised Solstice confirm the shoeshine service please??

 

 

 

Now, there are also unlisted little perks that aren't discussed on the website and some of those are:

 

• Fruit smoothies, French Toast, and Fruit Parfait on your room service breakfast menu
  
• Use of an umbrella and binoculars while on your cruise (will be charged to your shipboard account if you take them home) :(
  
• More powerful hair dryer (in addition to the crummy one attached to the wall in the bathroom)
  
• Lunch or Dinner from the Daily Main Dining Room Menu served in your cabin (ask your cabin steward for the menu to be delivered with your morning service)
  

In addition, a few of the CC (Conceirge Class) cabins have much larger balconies vs. the other CC cabins. Here are a few that I've noticed and try to book over the years:

 

Mercury - 1200, 1201, 1240, 1241

Connie, Infinity, Milli, Summit - 6135, 6136, 6143, 6144, 7203, 7212, 7208, 7206, 8185, 8176, 8172, 8170, 9201, 9164, 9162, 9160

 

The ones in bold are the most sought after CC cabins on the respective ships. They generally don't cost any more than any of the other CC cabins, so if you have the option, grab them!

 

Well, back to work for now, I hope this enighted anyone who was reading. Feel free to add info about Solstice Class ships if you have any!

 

Pat

[scotandtamcruzn4fun]

We did upgrade from a 2C to a C1 aft balcony for 700$ US. This is our first X cruise and we hope it will be worth it :)

[jackdiamond]

We travel CC1 on M class and AQ on S class; and, we would not have it any other way.

[jackdiamond]

There is an official list for each ship from Celebrity. Here is the list for most pre Solstice class ships:

 

•Welcome champagne•Daily fruit selection•Fresh-cut flowers•Daily hors d'oeuvres•Menu of pillows - Conformance, Body, Goose, and Isotonic®•Duvets and pillow-top mattresses•Leather key holder, personalized stationery and tote bag•Double-thick Frette bathrobes•Hansgrohe® showerhead•VIP invitations to events•Early embarkation and debarkation•Dining and seating preference•Preference on shore excursions•Express luggage delivery

 

Here is a list of perks for Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse:

 

•Welcome champagne•Daily fruit selection•Fresh-cut flowers•Daily hors d'oeuvres•Menu of pillows-Conformance, Body, Goose, and Isotonic®•Duvets and pillow-top mattresses•Leather key holder, personalized stationery and a tote bag, Frette bathrobes•Hansgrohe® showerhead•VIP invitations to events•Early embarkation and debarkation•Dining and seating preference•Preference on shore excursions•Express luggage delivery•Shoeshine service

 

As you may have noticed, they may be adding shoe shine service to this class of ship??

 

:cool:Can anyone that has cruised Solstice confirm the shoeshine service please??

 

 

 

Now, there are also unlisted little perks that aren't discussed on the website and some of those are:

 

• Fruit smoothies, French Toast, and Fruit Parfait on your room service breakfast menu
  
• Use of an umbrella and binoculars while on your cruise (will be charged to your shipboard account if you take them home) :(
  
• More powerful hair dryer (in addition to the crummy one attached to the wall in the bathroom)
  
• Lunch or Dinner from the Daily Main Dining Room Menu served in your cabin (ask your cabin steward for the menu to be delivered with your morning service)
  

In addition, a few of the CC (Conceirge Class) cabins have much larger balconies vs. the other CC cabins. Here are a few that I've noticed and try to book over the years:

 

Mercury - 1200, 1201, 1240, 1241

Connie, Infinity, Milli, Summit - 6135, 6136, 6143, 6144, 7203, 7212, 7208, 7206, 8185, 8176, 8172, 8170, 9201, 9164, 9162, 9160

 

The ones in bold are the most sought after CC cabins on the respective ships. They generally don't cost any more than any of the other CC cabins, so if you have the option, grab them!

 

Well, back to work for now, I hope this enighted anyone who was reading. Feel free to add info about Solstice Class ships if you have any!

 

Pat

I believe that those preferred cabins are now CC1; and, are more expensive than the other CC cabins.

[richsea]

[*]Use of an umbrella and binoculars while on your cruise (will be charged to your shipboard account if you take them home) :(

Pat

 

Wow, we've only had a CC cabin once, & took the binoculars home! Thought they were gratis! (and they didn't charge us!)

[ncdisneynut]

On RCI, you get priority seating at the shows. Does that apply to celebrity?

[Scottygirl1]

Re a post above: I thought everyone could order room service meals from the dining room at lunch and dinner. Is it only CC class that can do this?

[Lsimon]

Re a post above: I thought everyone could order room service meals from the dining room at lunch and dinner. Is it only CC class that can do this?

 

I've never done this, but it is also my understanding that this can be done in any Cabin level.

[Andisue]

Perhaps we just were lucky, but paid only $50.00 each to upgrade from balcony. It was far beyond the $100.00 in so many ways. My favorite things were Dias, the cabin steward, bedding and robes, daily fruit and flowers, afternoon cheese and crackers, NOT FEELING SO CRAMPED, priority debarkation in Icy Strait. After a month of reading comments, I was prepared for an experience I would liken to a poor Carnival cruise. We are 50+, and not into musicals or hanging out any more, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Next time, we're going for Sky Suite.

 

We were disappointed in special cc breakfast. Ordered it twice and it was cold both times (except warm smoothie). Bathroom had some sloppy calk jobs and we found some very unusual things left under bed by previous guest.

 

Other than that, I'd do it in a heartbeat!

[awsmpa]

I originally booked a CC class cabin, starboard SKy deck, and paid an extra $600. Later, I was able to get an available aft-facing cabin on the 8th deck without any extra cost. Now I feel I am truly getting a good value for the extra money. This is also our first Celebrity cruise, and hoping all the extras prove worthwhile.

Marci and Ed

[eandj]

Re a post above: I thought everyone could order room service meals from the dining room at lunch and dinner. Is it only CC class that can do this?

 

 

Yes, you can order off the menu for any room. Just talk to you room steward. However at the levels CC and above, they will serve you by course, I believe. Below CC ,the meal will come in one delivery.

 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong. We have never used the MDR menus to order room service.

[shipshape sam]

We have sailed in CC cabins and in non CC balcony cabins. Sailed this past April in CC cabin for 15 days (8 sea days) and wanted the expanded breakfast room service menu plus the location was where we wanted and you had to book CC to get the aft facing location (on Infinity-M class ships).

 

We are sailing in January 2010 and did NOT book a CC cabin. Booked a more mid ship location for our S. America cruise. Difference was over $20/day/person and we thought we could use the over $500 to enjoy elsewhere as we would not be in our cabin/balcony as much on this cruise.

 

As others have mention, it is a matter of opinion/choice. We do not care for the snacks, we do not drink champayne. Do drink! :). Pillows are nice, not sure about cabin size differences. Can't be very much different.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise whatever you decide! :)

[nfox211]

We stayed in CC on the Millie in June. We ordered dinner off the restaurant menu one evening. It was definitely delivered in one delivery AND took forever to get it. It may have been our cabin steward as he didn't seem particularly happy that we wanted to order from the menu. I'm sure others have had a good experience ordering from the menu.

[Pat&Paul]

I believe that those preferred cabins are now CC1; and, are more expensive than the other CC cabins.

 

I don't think so; at least not yet. All CC class cabins on Mercury sailing Sept 13th 2009 were the same price regardless of location. In fact, when I booked cabin 1201; it was the same price as a balcony!

 

Now I know there might be a change next year (19 April 2010)?? After that there will be two tiers of CC class, C1 & C2.

 

But if it is only a few bucks more, why not splurge for the bigger balcony?

 

Pat

[Andisue]

During our confinement (MED) to our room, we ordered dinner from regular menu, promptly delivered by Diaz. Hot things were hot, cold things were cold, unlike the nasty breakfasts that so many enjoy. He was so gracious about all of the extra things he had to do for us while we were isolated.

 

As a footnote, I am shocked at the differences paid for similar rooms, We originally had reserved a balcony room @ $949 each and upgraded to a beautiful cc room for $50 a person, bringing total cost to $999 each. We booked through Cruises.com (not cruise.com) from this site, and we couldn't have recieved better service.

 

We did get the travellers insurance and are awaiting a compensation for time confined to our room.

[Mysticks1]

During our confinement (MED) to our room, we ordered dinner from regular menu, promptly delivered by Diaz. Hot things were hot, cold things were cold, unlike the nasty breakfasts that so many enjoy. He was so gracious about all of the extra things he had to do for us while we were isolated.

 

As a footnote, I am shocked at the differences paid for similar rooms, We originally had reserved a balcony room @ $949 each and upgraded to a beautiful cc room for $50 a person, bringing total cost to $999 each. We booked through XXXXXXX.com (not XXXXXXX.com) from this site, and we couldn't have recieved better service.

 

We did get the travellers insurance and are awaiting a compensation for time confined to our room.

 

FYI - it is against the board policy to post a travel agency name or site. :)

[pretenda]

We just booked today our first Celebrity cruise in CC on Century. Could anyone tell me please if the CC perks listed in Pat and Paul's post apply to this ship as well.

We are very excited - Any other information greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Glenda

[Bridge Maven]

On an M Class ship, such as Constellation, it is definitely worth it because their regular balcony cabins are quite small. Even though the CC cabins are only 21 Sf larger that difference is quite noticeable.

 

However, on a C class ship I wouldn't pay extra because the CC cabins are the same size as a standard balcony cabin. On C class ships we usually book a sky suite because their balcony cabins are quite small.

 

I also wouldn't do it on a Solstice class ship because their standard balcony cabins, Aqua class cabins, and Concierge class cabins are all the same size. On Solstice Class ships I would either book a standard balcony cabin or a sky suite.