phoenix_dream

I haven't seen much in the way of onboard discounts on recent cruises. Sometimes midcruise you can check in with one of the restaurant Maitre'ds and if bookings are low they might negotiate a deal for you, especially if you are flexible with times. With the elimination of suite OBC going forward you might see bookings decrease but that will take awhile to present itself.

It definitely is different if changing cabins, especially if you have a different room steward. In fact, sometimes they are re-assigned to different cabins which could also affect things. I sail a lot, often on b2b, and I really don't see the issue with following guidelines.

The casinos are contracted out on Celebrity. Not sure to whom.

Agree. And we even had a recent cruise that had to do the same routine inspections even though it was not just back from a TA. It just happened to be time for the inspections.

The Hilton will shuttle you to the Carnival port for free.

They run very small FYI. I could wear the xl top but the bottoms were not comfortable at all. The idea is nice but for us larger size people they often don't work (and I am not all that large - a woman's xl or xxl depending)

You must have been in a high level suite?

Which is what it takes with any cabin. We always come in several days ahead of our cruise so quick laundry turn-around in the beginning is important to us. A small thing in the scheme of things, but when many, many small things happen that becomes a big thing!

(I read through your whole post, but kept just some of the wording so as not to clog up the postings here.) Anyway, I disagree with a good part of it. My PERCEPTION (why are we shouting LOL?) is that I will get what I paid for. My perception is that I will get the perks that were promised to me, in writing, when I booked my suite. My perception is that I will get the same kind of service I have always gotten in Sky Suites. Yes, it is an entry level suite. Also an entry level suite that I am paying $8-10,000 for. It has nothing to do with how many YouTube videos I watch. I've sailed a number of times in Sky Suites and know what the butlers have done for me. Yes, some were a little more diligent than others, but overall I got really good service and a lot of attention. Do I expect the same level of service I got on my one and only sailing in a Royal Suite (heaven knows I could never afford one now!)? Of course not. But I do expect to get what I paid for and was promised. And for them to promote this as an improvement in service is so disingenuous to alone really annoy me. If it was such a big improvement then why didn't they institute it for the highest level suites?

While he is a credible source, I think I would want to hear more than one person's experience before I decide to never book a sky suite again. I have a b2b in sky suites - one port side aft, and one corner S1. I'll see how it goes and then make my decision going forward. I'm hoping for the best and anticipating something less than that, but hopefully not much less

That's an interesting thought. I do not want to short change the room stewards, aka Retreat Hosts, but if we are not getting the same level of service as higher level suites, why would we still be asked to pay the same amount of gratuities?

I remember when Celebrity had topless decks! I don't recall ever seeing anyone using them as such, but they were there.

First of all, not all Aqua Sky Suites are on the hump with a bigger balcony (at least on M and S class, not sure about E class). All they did was take Sky Suites and re-categorize them. So as far as the room itself, there is no difference between Aqua and regular Sky suites. If you luck into a hump cabin then you get the bigger balcony (not sure the cabin itself is any bigger - I think not but never measured so couldn't prove it). What you get with an Aqua Sky Suite is basically the spa access and whatever the heck is a spa concierge (I guess can book spa appointments for you?). All else is the same. Any suite passenger can eat in Blu on a space available basis.

Sometimes we have been contacted and often not. Even when we were contacted and asked for certain things they were usually not taken care of anyway. That said, once we boarded and talked to the butler all was taken care of quickly (exception being one butler who was not good at all, but that was definitely the exception to the rule)

Even though there are alot of people doing PUP IMHO it doesn't really add up to a whole lot of points, especially if you are talking getting to Zenith. It's already pretty easy to get to Elite or Elite Plus, especially if you sail more than once a year. One thing I think did up the numbers alot quicker was the double points they were giving right after restart for awhile. Those helped us get to Zenith probably 6 months sooner than we would have.

And yet it was discussed as something they were looking into. And that's my concern, the programs are very different.

In the video about changes, mention was made about combining the two programs. A better status match would be nice. But combining? I have concerns about it. For example, the upper level Royal perks are much less than Celebrity's Zenith. Would we be downgraded and/ or lose some of our best perks? I think if combining points they would have to significantly raise the point requirements, which really hurts those loyal to Celebrity who are getting close to Zenith. And maybe those already Zenith by being loyal to Celebrity would be at some lower level. I am concerned this would possibly hurt those at lower levels as well. The only ones it may benefit are those who regularly sail both lines. So much for brand loyalty. Call me skeptical but almost all the recent changes have been made to generate or save $$, not benefit the customer so this concerns me. Some on various FB pages say this is a good thing. I'm not so sure its good for most of us. Thoughts?

DH got one, and I didn't. We both receive other Celebrity emails. I just don't get their IT processes!

IMHO E class is considerably more noisy than S or M class.

Don't understand your comments about overpaying for the exact same experience? How so?

And new cruisers are much more likely to spend onboard for shops, shore excursions, photo packages etc., than seasoned cruisers

DH just got upgraded to First Class yesterday. He and I both got upgraded on each leg of a round trip last week. I confess it doesn't happen as often anymore.

Not sure why not. Been having them do my laundry for years. No issues. Sometimes I am away from home for weeks at a time. No way am I packing 3 or 4 weeks of clothes in a suitcase, or 3.

I still think it's a bad idea. Sorry to hear that's how it's handled on Royal as most of the X changes seem to be to Royalize everything.

Wow, just wow. What does age have to do with anything? Yes, most Zeniths are not in their 30s as it can take a lot of sailings to get that level. But that has zero to do with anything. And for your information it wasn't always just a suite area as you state. It's a Retreat area, which until Covid was offered to Zeniths and upper level Blue Chip cruisers as well as suites. So they also had the "right" to be there as you call it. Celebrity also promised that right would be restored, but that was untrue. Perhaps that promise will now once again be fulfilled.