jagoffee

I suspect someone is confused or exaggerating. As always if you purchased a premium non alcoholic drink with the Classic package you will pay full price. The paying the difference applies to alcoholic drinks only. are you sure you are not looking at a menu that is for a European or Australian based cruise that show the added gratuity on the menus thus the Classic limit is $22 and not $10?

When the HH first started were very few CC members eligible. It was held in the Michael’s club and was fully staffed.

IMO and experience you are correct about the previous unbalanced workload. Some cruisers are very high Maintenance and others do not need much attention. Same situation with the room service staff in all category of cabins.

The availability of a designated Butler is very low on my list not even on my list) why I book a suite. Personally I am not even sure having a group taking care of requests from various people is a negative at all. As long as I receive the service I need it does not matter to me. I have always felt a little uncomfortable with the concept of a Butler.

Seems simple to me. The GTY Cruise Only Veranda is on sale with a great price. The GTY AI Veranda is not on sale. $72 a day per person for a GTY Cruise only veranda is an excellent deal especially when you consider what is included for that price even without the AI. Much less than an Oceanfront hotel and includes much more.

Your experience was different than mine related to a Butler. I do not consider the Butler feature high on my list of suite benefits. I am sure the shared resource will more than meet my needs. I always find it a little confusing as to the responsibilities between the cabin steward, butler, and retreat staff. When I sail in a suite on Princess, the cabin steward more than meets my needs. i would never give up a suite due to the lack of a butler. They are not 100% dedicated to anyone. Happy sailing.

As other have stated, the reasonability of your request depends on the details. Are you willing to give up your current cabin for a GTY rate where Celebrity choices your cabin? you should be able to check the rate on line before you call again. What is included in the quote for $500 less? Perhaps there are differences that you have not noticed? Does your current booking list a GTY rate on your invoice? Good luck

Have you ever cruised in a Celebrity suite with a Butler?

I know you were asking about a move up for your friends. I can tell you the corner S1 on deck 12 (now Sunset SS) are our favorite Sky Suites. The Extra side window and view in two directions is awesome. Neither my wife nor I have been bothered by the scrapping from the OV outside area. I believe the Sunset bar itself is up two decks, so it should not be an issue at all. But everyone has their own tolerance and your friends might be late sleepers. I would take in of those Sunset Sky Suites over any other one. (But we like to cover/shade) They request bids because of the probability of cascading movements and even late cancellations. I am sure the main criteria is the make sure no cabin is empty. It would be nice for to share your Retreat benefits with your friends. Enjoy your cruise.

If you did not place a bid for the Sky Suite or the Sunset Sky Suite, I would think you would only be able to win an Aqua Sky Suite or above. Are you in an Aqua Class Sky Suite? Since you are staying in a suite and there are not, you are significantly reducing their probability of winning a bid for a suite. Personally I would take any suite/Retreat over any non suite cabin. Good luck to them.

Just amazing. Best of luck.

If you submit a bid for a SS and win, you could be for any SS category. But as suggested if the Magic Carpet SS’s are the only category or area showing availability it would more likely, but not a certainty as someone else might move up from another SS category. Good luck.

Thank you for confirming and clarifying this frequently discussed inclusions.

what do you mean that they increased the price six times?

Since we will be cruising on the Summit next month, what is it about the Blu that stood out over Luminae? I will look for some of your posts from that time frame, I do not know how I missed it. We are departing from Iceland on August 15. Thanks

Celebrity’s Sky Suite comes with the premium WiFi and the premium drink package. For an Apple to Apple comparison you would need to get the streaming internet in Oceania. Celebrity’s Premium drink package is much better than Oceania’s best drink package IMO. Also the gratuities are included. Your TA should give you additional refundable OBC instead of the gratuities, since they are already included. The Specialty Restaurants are included for not extra cost on Oceania. We found the overall food to be better in Oceania, so I suggest you try it. You might want to pay for an Oceania Suite above the PH suites since you seem to imply you need something the size of a CS. That category will give you a higher priority for Specialty dining reservations.

I always have the premium drink package,, so I have not direct experience. I thought the Celebrity Vintage wines were not included in the Classic Drink package, therefore there might be a few wines on the HH menu that are not in the Classic package. But I do not know for sure that the Celebrity Vintage wines (made by Kendal Jackson) are not in the Classic package.

Does not seem weird to me. Although I would not be surprised if a TA that does a lot of business with Celebrity could come of with a solution that would benefit the OP.

You may want to understand what it is exactly before you make a decision.

Good point. You are correct.

I would take that bet. If a Sky Suite bids for a RS, I am confident that there is already a generous bid for the soon to be vacated Sky Suite. This would bring significant value to the double transaction. A vacated inside cabin would have little value unless that category was sold out. Thus a higher valued cabin has a significant advantage for winning a move up bid. The bottom line is there is no need to gamble has they will already have bids for most categories. This may be the main reason they solicit bids without current openings. Should be an easy calculation for the maximum revenue. Since Celebrity and the third party do not publish their actual formulas for determine the winning bid, no one know for sure. But anything is possible.

Perhaps.

Sorry that my posting was confusing. I did not mean to suggest that I did not believe what you were saying. I was just shocked that Celebrity was not being more generous, especially because they were forcing you to book at the prevailing rate for a cancelled cruise with less than a year’s lead time. I agree with you and IMO that is total BS from Celebrity. It does not affect me personally, but I am still very disappointed in Celebrity for the cancelled cruises less than one year away. $100 OBC is an insult. I would book with a different cruise line if it happened to me.

Obviously this is messed up. The selection says continue with All Included. It does not say continue with the Retreat. But the rest implies Retreat. It is either the Retreat or it is an error. OP, good luck. it does state MDR dining and Retreat dining would be the Luminae.

AquaClass (if desired) or at most a Sky Suite may be worth a shot.