Georgia_Peaches

One of my favorite experiences! It results in a piece of art only you will have. Totally worth it, imo.

Agreed...I guess the streak had to come to an end at some point...😌

Lol...You HAD to go there, huh? I would just like to mention that your guy was given a TD when after further review, which the refs failed to do, but I digress...after further review, was not a TD at all! That, coupled with two unnecessary false starts on the part of the Dawgs, cost us the game! But in all fairness, your guys played the better game, IMO. ☺️ Hate it for my Dawgs though. Then add to that, they didn't make it into the finals. I know they didn't pull out the SEC but you can't tell me they aren't the best team in the country...I won't hear it! 😆 Am I right in assuming you will be glued to the TV this coming Saturday for the Army/Navy game? This game, in the world according to Dh is the only one that matters...I give him this 🙄 every time he says it!

They said is was special for the previews and the maiden voyage. I hope they keep it. It was the best buffet! Lobster tails, shrimp, crawfish, calamari, all kinds of carving stations, lobster Mac n cheese, crab ravioli… truly amazing and very well attended during the lunch hours in the OVC.

Pretty friendly sort of people...to my knowledge.

hope your return to Celebrity doesn't disappoint. Sorry, but what is SD?

So sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply that you weren't...I will admit that it has taken me a while to come around to your point. I have been fixated on Celebrity pulling the rug on what they advertised. But after spending 7 nights on Ascent last week I realized that I really like the size of the Sky suite but am nowhere near enamored by the Retreat or Luminae. I feel like I could easily let those go but boy oh boy did we love the space in the Sky suite!...especially with the bed facing the ocean. So nice!

I, for one would gladly pay for the space of the Sky "suite" and forego the amenities of the Retreat...assuming the price was commiserate with dropping such amenities. Recently, Celebrity dropped gratuities, OBC, and butler service but kept prices the same. Go figure...

Was this in the For You section of the app? I had something similar in that tab on my app. I see it as an opportunity to advertise and wasn’t bothered by it because it was discreet.

Thanks for the clarification on this. I was under the impression that we only met our cabin attendant but not the retreat host or butler. With the renaming of the positions I now know that we met our host (cabin steward) but never a butler. Initially I thought I didn’t meet either of them. How confusing!

This was my experience as well.

It's taken me a while to catch up but OMG what a cruise! You've certainly given me something to think about for future cruises. Stay hydrated!!

Money. No matter how you slice it, it always comes down to the almighty buck.

I'm glad to know that the service in those upper suites was on point...at those price points, it should be...lol. While I love nice things, I don't have the cruising budget to pay what they are asking for the amount of times per year that we cruise. But an interesting observation we made while in the Retreat was the age demographic was, by and large retirement age and beyond while the age demographic outside the Retreat was definitely younger...thirties/forties...perhaps they will graduate to the Retreat at some point as their income levels increase. Celebrity seems to have the E class sweet spot figured out and has offered a really nice experience across all price points. That's a good thing!

Even though I almost walked into myself on more than one occasion, I didn't mind the space...I think it was filled with skinny mirrors! 😁

The prices were totals for 2 people for three nights. So $1216 pp/per night for the RS and and $1500 PP/PN for the Loft Suite. When we had a RS on S class earlier this year we paid $630 PP/PN for a 7 night cruise in a Royal suite. Granted the differences between the 2 comparisons are vast. S class is older and with no Retreat set up like E class...we were on a much older ship, better entertainment on E, and on and on. When I originally made this post it was before we had any experience on E class. Now that we are back from Ascent, I completely understand why some folks pay the prices Celebrity are asking...especially for the upper suites. We didn't experience the superb service that others are reporting from Ascent while in the Retreat so to that end, I'm glad we didn't pay any more than we did for our Sky suite. And perhaps it's due to the fact that it was only for three nights...maybe we need a bigger sample size of cruising nights just to be fair. What I found during the time we were in the Retreat was that there really wasn't anything to distinguish SS guests from Iconic suite guests...particularly on the sun deck. Therefore, snail slow drink service for us was the same snail slow drink service for the guests lounging next to us...who were in an upper suite. Again, I'm not knocking the experience. We had a lovely time in the Retreat. Our experience compared to some who have reported something completely different only serves to prove my point that the E class Retreat has increased it's passenger capacity while keeping it's staff capacity relatively the same...someone somewhere is going to suffer. Anyway, please pardon my very long winded response to your question.

HaHa...we saw you win!! That's awesome! So glad you had a great Retreat experience!

The chocolate dessert offering last night in Luminae was one of the same chocolate tarts you can get in cafe Al Bacio. Only difference was they cut it in fourths and drizzled some chocolate sauce and whipped cream on top.

Good to hear. We have Regent booked for 10 nights in 2025, Italy and Croatia. We took the included business class air but did not book into concierge class.

Just wanted to conclude our wonderful cruise on the beautiful Ascent with a few random thoughts. First, this cruise was definitely not the Guinea pig cruise I expected it to be. The crew of Ascent have their acts together and offered some of the best service we’ve received since our cruise restart. Kudos to Ascent and Celebrity! Second, it was great having a b2b experience comparing Retreat to everything else. We have found that E class ships have managed to elevate the overall experience in and around the ship that access to the Retreat is not necessary in order to have an enjoyable cruise. In fact, aside from the bigger room, we enjoyed our first 4 nights outside the Retreat more than the last three nights. We never met our Retreat host/butler, spent very little time in the retreat common areas, and the one request we had (dinner at Garden Club) we could have easily done ourselves. We found Luminae has lost its intimate feel as it was loud with conversation and very crowded. Since Celebrity have removed some of the perks for Sky suites, I would entertain the opportunity to buy a sky suite room with the option to forego the access to the Retreat/Luminae amenities for a lesser rate. These areas are so crowded now that I see it very difficult for them to elevate the experience for everyone. Too many passengers/too few crew to service them. Third, I regret that it has taken us this long to try E class. We absolutely loved it! Our go-to spots ranged from the Sunset bar by day and the World Class bar and Eden by night. All areas had wide and varied entertainment which is something I felt was significantly lacking on our previous Equinox cruise. Thank you all for following along. I had fun chronicling our journey on the newest Celebrity ship! @twins_to_alaska thank you for your contribution, safe travels home! Here’s some final random pics to include the hall of mirrors leading to Eden and the ingredient list of our 2 favorite drinks. After some food and beverage detox, I plan to try and replicate these cocktails at home. For now, Pipercat and Jane await. Until next time, happy cruising everyone!

Thank you, TR! Though we had a great time, I’m afraid that our currently booked SS for May will be out last suite on Celebrity as well. Our experience over the last three nights, while lovely, no longer has the suite value it once did.

Yes, that would make sense. The room attendants only have so much room on their carts and I suppose it’s easier for room service personnel to pick it up instead.

I will make note of it on my end of cruise survey but haven’t taken the time to discuss it with anyone while on board this trip.

They said it was special for the new sailings. Hopefully, it continues!

Winding down with end of cruise blues.. how is it that anticipation of the cruise takes so much longer than the cruise itself? Not that I don’t enjoy the anticipation too… We had our one and only dinner in Luminae this evening. Service was great and just as I remember from previous sailings. We shared the turbot and the chicken. Both DH and I had the smoked tomato soup as well. I had the almond cake for dessert while DH had the chocolate tart…which happens to be the same exact chocolate tart that cafe Al Bacio was offering this week only dressed up with some whip cream and chocolate sauce. Food was fine. After dinner we went to Eden for a last round of Tom the piano man. He’s excellent and if you’re on Ascent any time soon, I highly recommend you look him up. One more highlight from today…for all you slot players… I rounded out my casino play with a hand pay on the Zeus Orbs machine nearest the exit by Craft Social. I saw a lady get a hand pay from that same machine the day before. Final thoughts tomorrow…