prmssk

Yes, because the change happened to occur in between our B2Bs. Ultimately we didn’t end up having to pay the difference for drinks suddenly not fully covered by our drink package that second week but it was frustrating having to deal with it and bartenders clearly weren’t trained on the change so it was quite chaotic.

Since the restart, we have cruised Princess, Carnival, and NCL in addition to Celebrity and we keep coming back to Celebrity. We were in the middle of a B2B on Princess when their their new drink packages went into effect and they raised drink prices without notice (without raising the limit on the drink package). We cruised on the the first NCL ship that switched to a fixed MDR menu (same menu every night). We will never be truly loyal to any one line but at least for now, Celebrity remains towards the top of our list when we consider cruises. And what I enjoy most about cruising really isn't something that I can get from a land vacation. I don't like the direction all cruise lines are going but I still see cruising as a good value (aside from Celebrity's suite pricing). We shall see what the next years will bring though.

Are you talking about an Aqua Class Cabin or an Aqua Class Sky Suite? If you are in an Aqua Class Sky Suite, it should be waiting for you on day 1 and your butler is the one to talk to if not. If you are in an Aqua Class Cabin, you would talk to your stateroom attendant about it.

It must not have been consistent early on. I remember the conversation that first day of our December 2017 Carnival cruise as I was a bit taken aback I was being asked to choose. We were also in a balcony room.

CCL actually switched to once a day service in 2017. In the early years of that change, you could request twice a day and most stewards would honor that request but by 2019, that option wasn’t even there anymore.

For those of you looking to Oceania because of Celebrity’s recent actions, I encourage you to read up on all the bad press NCL and NCLH is getting right now (especially related to crew salaries and crew policies) and the recent appointment of Frank del Rio’s son to President of Oceania. (This is not to say there aren’t a lot of other good reasons to try Oceania.)

I don’t know if these package changes have completely gone into effect yet. The change just happened. In the past, this was buried in the terms and conditions which I can’t find anymore. I do see this in the FAQ though:

Someone else posted yesterday evening on a different thread that the non-alcoholic inclusions listed in their cruise planner for the classic beverage package are the same as the classic has always been (no fancy waters, etc.) and on Celebrity's website there is actually a blog with a post implying the classic beverage may not include any non-alcoholic beverages. The section of Celebrity's website about drink packages is silent on this. So I don't know if this truly has changed or not.

In my opinion, restricting your loyalty to just one line likely means you are missing out on other great experiences. (Oceania is on our list to try someday.)

Thanks for the link. I agree with your read of that blog post (which is on the official Celebrity website). However, when I log in to my cruise planner for my May cruise, in the description of the Classic Alcohol package, I see the following about the non-alcohol beverages included in the classic package (which is different than what @poffles posted above): Zero Proof: Acqua Panna water, Evian water, San Pellegrino, Premium coffees, Red Bull & Editions, Sodas, Premium teas, Vitamin water, Bottled Iced Teas, Aqua Spa Fresh Juices, Zero Proof Cocktails Frozen & Non-Frozen (The language about zero proof drinks is identical for both the premium and classic packages in my cruise planner.) The comparison of the two drink packages on the website is completely missing any reference to non-alcohol drinks for either package, except a small reference that smoothies are not included on the classic package. That really is clear as mud.

That would be a huge change. Where are you seeing this?

The description of the classic alcohol package in the cruise planner is now listing the premium waters and everything else that is in the current Zero Proof package except smoothies. So this may have changed with the new packages.

That's a great change (that doesn't appear to be reflected on the website yet)!

I see the compare tool has eliminated the the non-alcohol section for each alcohol beverage package so I agree that it is not helpful. The Classic alcohol package does NOT (at least in the past) include smoothies and premium bottled water (Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino). I can't recall but there might be a few other premium non-alcoholic drinks that are not included (like Red Bull or the fresh juices).

You would lose Elevate if you re-price and there has to be unsold cabins in your specific subcategory (which sounds like there are) in order to get a price reduction. If it is a specific promotion only for new bookings and you have a non-refundable deposit, then you have to factor in the change fee to cancel and re-book. Celebrity won’t talk to you, if you have a TA so I would suggest trying to talk to your TA again.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Wi-Fi or drink package shown somewhere in the app. The two places I have been able to confirm what I have is in the order history on the website (although it’s not always listed there) or through the codes listed on the invoice. And with the beverage package your boarding pass will show PALL (premium alcohol package) or CALL (classic alcohol package). Do you see any codes on your invoice or boarding pass?

In my experience, suites get the first night of the cruise in specialty dining included. Otherwise, they just increased to $35-40 pp depending on the restaurant.

Princess doesn’t have a ship within a ship concept with a dedicated dining room, lounge, sun deck, etc. (although I think this changing when the Sun Princess comes out). So if those things are important to your suite experience, you may be disappointed. On Princess, you get Club Class dining which is just a separate section of the dining room with one additional menu item. There is usually a nice breakfast each morning in one of the specialty dining rooms and you get one mini-bar setup. You also get priority boarding and tendering. There is no butler.

The main three ship within a ship competitors are NCL Haven, MSC Yacht Club, and Celebrity Retreat (especially on Edge class ships). MSC Yacht Club includes some access to the spa/thermal suite and within Celebrity’s Retreat, Aqua Sky Suites include access to the spa. FYI - I have experience in the Retreat, am booked in the Yacht Club coming up, but have yet to sail Haven because the prices have been too high for what I was looking for so I’m not a good person to compare all three yet. Other cruise lines are starting to come out with similar concepts. Royal Caribbean has the Star Class on their newest ships and with the Wonder even included a dedicated sun deck for suites. Princess looks like it will have a similar concept on the latest ship they announced will be coming.

I'm disappointed in this change not because I need a lot but just because it is nice to have someone check on the room in the evening to remove glasses and trash. But to me, the biggest problem I have with this change is the above. Spreading cabin stewards over more cabins and decreasing the pay of some of them (along with the other recent restrictions crew are facing from NCL) doesn't sound like a smart idea at a time when they can't get enough crew to begin with. Why would a current Stateroom Steward sign another contract with NCL after this salary cut?

We had butler Christian and attendant Romer. The space in the penthouse was quite amazing (especially the balcony!). My mother-in-law is the one who stayed in the Sky Suite so I didn't really spend any time there but looking back at the video I created, I didn't notice any parrots.

Thanks - We were port side (in the penthouse and adjoining sky suite) in November and had some challenges with our butler and to a lesser extent our stateroom attendant. I was just curious if they might be the same ones but probably not.

Just curious, were you port side or starboard side?

Upper suites get an expanded room service menu that includes quite a bit for breakfast. Lower suites order off a standard suite room service menu (which is a bit expanded from the regular room service menu). It all depends on your butler how much they will let you deviate from those room service menus.

I have been on two cruises since the restart including one of those being in an upper suite and butlers on both cruises were not offering or willing to deliver drinks to the stateroom (beyond the specialty coffees clearly advertised. The mini-bar also was not included on either cruise for lower suites (we had someone traveling in a sky suite with us when we were in the upper suite). In one case, the butler reluctantly agreed to put a few waters in the fridge for us no charge. In the other, the butler flat out refused to stock anything in the sky suite saying the mini-bar was not included for that type of suite. Inclusion of the mini-bar and drinks delivered to your stateroom (beyond specialty coffees) are absolutely gray area in my opinion (no where does it clearly include these amenities) and the experiences people have had with both of these seems to vary greatly so I really think these things are very dependent on the butler you get. I think you were lucky that you had such great butlers who went above and beyond on your three cruises.