RichYak

No, I'm sorry, it doesn't. I don't need to qualify my own experience. Others can and should feel free share their experience, as you have. But I'm not qualifying my statement because you had a bad butler.

I'm usually one of the combatants, so this is a refreshing change for me. 🤪

This has been my experience also. One or 2 times during a sailing, an entertainer like a solo guitarist, would play a 45 minute set in the lounge. Unfortunately, that's it.

This makes far more sense.

I noticed this too. They only upgraded where it would directly result in more revenue--reclassifying staterooms as Retreat and adding/upgrading more infrastructure to support them.

I really don't know if you're right or wrong so I want to be as respectful as possible. I'm struggling to imagine Luminae on an M-Class ship with only RS and PS (10 total cabins) being permitted to dine there. This is based on the restaurant's size and number of tables alone--to limit that space to 20 or so people for dinner. I just can't logically wrap my head around that even being a possibility.

Thanks for your kind words. I intentionally stayed pretty silent on the "outside the YC" experience for one main reason: this was a sailing out of NYC. It's just a different kind of crowd that sails out of the Big Apple and it comes with it's own madness, regardless of cruise line. Would I be evaluating non-YC MSC or just another NYC sailing? I couldn't be sure. That being said, I didn't have too much of an issue outside YC. We went to one show, which is the typical amount for us, we shopped, visited a couple bars. We walked the promenade frequently, saw one of the dome shows. Some spots were crowded, but it was fine. There are spots on Celebrity that are crowded, but fine too. The big difference that I can see now is that I can do pretty much an entire cruise without leaving the YC other than for laps around the track. I can't possibly do that on Celebrity. Again, that's just us and the way we sail. I just want to put it out there, describing it as best as I can, and let anyone reading this decide for themselves if it's right for them.

Here is the link to Constellation's Roll Call forum. That's where your thread belongs. Enjoy your cruise! https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/193-celebrity-constellation-roll-calls/

No charge for coffee or tea in the morning via room service. I would give a small cash tip to whoever delivers.

Maybe someone got smart and finally removed the stools. This YT video from March 2022 shows the stools on both sides of the center wall. Service has always been very good in the Retreat Lounge for me. In some cases, it's been spectacular.

The last thing I think I need to touch on is Butler service in YC as it compares to the Retreat. At the Captain's cocktail party, all of the butlers were introduced. I didn't really count, but there had to be around 10 of them. There are 92 YC cabins on Meraviglia or 9 cabins for each butler. When you compare that to recent threads referring to one butler covering 20-30 sky suites on X, the difference is clear. Our butler was fantastic. He made sure we had wine and cheese every night in our cabin. There was a fruit bowl, occasional macarons, more still and sparkling water than we could drink (not limited to the head-scratching 2 bottles like on my last Sky Suite sailing), whatever we wanted. My wife mentioned the dates she enjoyed as one of the small plates served in the lounge. The next day, there was a box of dates in our stateroom. Butler service in YC blows away X Sky Suite butler service, or what's left of it, and is more on par with upper suite butler service. I think overall, if you enjoy the comforts and perks of upper suites on Celebrity, MSC YC might not meet your needs. If you regularly sail in Sky Suites, you'll be very happy sailing YC with better facilities than Celebrity ships as a whole, and with better service, AND a lower price. Thanks for following along.

FYI, here are the seats I was referring to in the quoted post. And by the way, this photo is from Celebrity's own Summit fact sheet. They chose to use this photo--a conscious decision. Two stools facing a wall. They're actually highlighting the antisocial nature of this particular Retreat lounge. Make it make sense.

The venue that Celebrity uses for the Retreat lounge on S-Class ships has a bar with seating. The designed-from-scratch Retreat lounges on E-class do not. The M-class venue also has no bar seating. it’s an unexplainable and huge miss IMO.

Retreat Lounge vs Top Sail Lounge On most Celebrity ships, the Retreat Lounge is an afterthought. They took a space meant for something else and turned it into a suite lounge. The Top Sail lounge is the hub of Yacht Club. Some Retreat managers are better about entertainment in the lounge. Top Sail has live music each night—pretty good too. Like the Retreat, there’s a captain’s cocktail party. One day, there was a magician performing sleight of hand tricks. There was also high tea one afternoon. There are 3 key things that Top Sail has that the Retreat Lounge lacks: 1. Bar seating. This is how you meet people or chat with the bartender about different cocktails to try. Huge miss on Celebrity. Retreat lounges are so antisocial. On Summit, there are two seats that face a wall. What are they thinking? 2. Full espresso machine. That self serve coffee-pod machine in Celebrity’s lounges just isn’t the same. There’s no need to leave the YC lounge to get Cafe al Bacio style coffee drinks. 3. Constant small bites of food refreshed all day. In Retreat, the area exists but is only used for breakfast and pre-dinner bites. YC lounge doesn’t have a self serve fridge but it’s not necessary. Your butler will stock your fridge with anything you want and refresh as often as needed. Unlike the Retreat, seating is comfortable in Top Sail lounge. It’s also more comfortable in the restaurant. No lumbar pillows necessary like in Luminae. Landslide win for YC’s lounge. No contest.

For sure, many times. She’s beautiful. The promenade with the video ceiling is stunning and a hub of activity. The pool decks were very crowded.

I agree that OP is confused. Luminae is not typically open for lunch on port days. There is no “update” here.

Yes. It's among the masses but easy to find as it's own group. I just disembarked Meraviglia this morning.

YC Pool Deck vs Retreat Pool Deck I guess this only applies to Celebrity's E- Class ships since they're the only ships with pools. I've only been on Edge so I'm not sure if I can give a fair comparison so I'll just say a few things about the YC Pool Deck and you can compare that to your own experiences on E-class. There always seemed to be plenty of loungers and no chair hogs that I could see. Servers were plentiful (a recurring theme), just like in the lounge The buffet had great choices: grilled fish, carving station, build your own salad, pasta salads, meats, cheeses, fruits. You could also get made to order items like burgers, hot dogs, fries, etc. The buffet also served breakfast including egss made to order any way you want them, pancakes, french toast, plenty of muffins and assorted pastries, breads. Truly full service. The pool itself was heated and saltwater. Very relaxing. I actually didn't go into the hot tub, so no comments there. The sundeck on Meraviglia has wind deflecting glass panels above. They work. You get a nice breeze but no wind. Servers occasionally walked around with snacks like ice cream and finger sandwiches. I really can't think of anything negative to say about YC's pool deck and it's better than any outdoor space I've experienced on Celebrity.

Luminae vs YC Restaurant. This is difficult because food is so subjective. Luminae’s menu is kind if adventurous, sometimes too adventurous. The YC Restaurant is open for lunch on port days. That alone gives YC a head start on my rating scale. Luminae is already behind without me getting in the door. I found the menu choices in the YC Restaurant to be more plentiful with higher quality ingredients. See the picture of the lobster tail I posted upthread and note that filet mignon is available every night. Tonight at dinner I noticed a plate with 2 empty lobster shells being cleared from a table. Lobster was not on the menu. My wife also noticed dumplings I had the night before being served to a nearby table. Dumplings were not on tonight’s menu. Based on observations like these and conversations I’ve had, it’s clear that with proper notice, you can get whatever you want in YC. Impressive. Lets talk service. One thing I’ve always disliked about Luminae is ordering a cocktail. “Yes sir, let me find the sommellier.” Then the wait begins. There’s one person for drinks, one for bread, a waiter, and someone else that clears. In YC, if I want a drink, I ask whoever is in front of me—my waiter, asst waiter, the Maitre ‘d, whoever—and my drink appears. I have a waiter, an assistant waiter, and if they’re jammed, the maitre ‘d kicks in to help. Easy, organized, and efficient. Tonight, after our last dinner, I gave my waiter an envelope with my thank you. It was the first and only time anyone mentioned a survey to me. It was a soft sell mentioned in passing, not the panicked ritualistic plea for 10’s by all Luminae staff. On one occasion this cruise, we had to wait to be seated for dinner. We were asked to go down to the lounge to wait. Much more civilized than waiting outside Luminae. Within 5 minutes, the maitre ‘d came down to show us to our table. Let’s talk staffing. It’s pretty clear to me that the YC Restaurant is adequately staffed. After my last sailing in Retreat, it’s clear that Luminae (and the kitchen) is woefully understaffed. I believe staffing is an issue on Celebrity in general. MSC doesn’t seem to have the same issue. For me, for all of the reasons listed above, YC is the clear winner. It’s not even close. There are so many little things that YC does better. I can’t think of one area where Luminae is better. We disembark tomorrow morning. More to come…

Nope. There were plenty of options that we liked.

With the lousy weather, the pool deck is no longer an option. We didn’t feel like sitting down for lunch so we ordered in-room pizza. Within 30 minutes, pizza and wine were delivered by our butler. In the Retreat, other than sushi when in an upper suite, we never had any interest in room service lunch so YC clearly wins here. And the pizza was delicious.

I’m doing it in this thread in various posts.

It could have gone either way. If I’m being honest, the remainder of my review is going to be so overwhelmingly in favor of YC, I was looking for an opportunity to provide some balance.

I’ve been escorted on board when in upper suites. Even in Sky Suites, the concierges will escort you off the ship at ports. This is particularly useful at tender port stops.

Since you mentioned it, let me comment on this next. I’ve had escorts in the Retreat. I never felt like they were helping me cut the line. In YC, you are definitely cutting lines with the escorts. Now, there are 3 different types of people: those that enjoy this, those that don’t, and those that don’t care. I’m in that third group. I don’t enjoy cutting lines, it doesn’t make me special or more important. I simply paid for that perk and I’m happy to exploit it. if this makes you feel uncomfortable, avoid the escort service. It’s not necessary, but it sure is convenient given MSC’s larger ships and long queues. We saved a lot of time getting on and off the ship. Retreat is the winner here since the service exists but is less uncomfortable.