jenlock21

Update: We happened to be at the bar tonight and our neighbor in a CS was there. We were talking and it is their first time in a suite. They said they were disappointed because they had not seen the butler except once in the morning. They said they thought their experience would be a lot different in the suite than it was. Anyone can judge my approach but my husband and I are both in healthcare and if we don’t operate or provide service to the best of our ability we are subject to the highest scrutiny. I am not complaining and only reaching out to a forum of fellow cruisers that may have insight or an outlook that I have not thought of as I have not been in this position before. It in no way makes me feel better because I did not wish to have bad service and I thought this was a space to help people find a resolution. I hate that so many of you took this personal and felt that it was a personal attack. If you do not have a resolution, feel free not to respond as this post is not for you. 
cheers and happy cruising 

4 minutes ago, islabahia said:

I certainly would have addressed these issues on Day 2 or 3 and if you couldn’t find him ask the Retreat Concierge for his number and call him.  Personally I would just have a chat with the Retreat Concierge and ask him/her to remedy the problem.

You are right I should have talked to him or gotten his number. 

9 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

We don’t have his number either!

 

honestly, you don’t want to get him in trouble but you will come complain to us, perfect strangers, who can do nothing?  I don’t get it and I don’t see what geography or religion have to do with it.

Let me reiterate that I was not looking for judgement, only advice. I did not know if someone on here had been through a similar situation and had something helpful to do. This is new to us in all of our years of   Cruising and our first cruise since Covid. I did not know if this was the new normal or not. That was all. I’m not trying to complain just to see if there was a solution that someone else had found helpful. That is the idea behind a forum. 

7 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Why give a big tip if you are dissatisfied?

 

why have you not asked him to come to your suite to discuss this?

 

why have you not talked to the retreat concierge about your expectations?

 

Honestly because I’m southern and catholic. I was not raised to complain, I never want to get anyone in trouble, and I’ve never had an issue that warranted discussion. I suppose I should be more vocal but I do not know his number and have not seen him. 
I will mention it to the concierge tonight when we go in for pre dinner drinks to see if he will be there for our second half. 

2 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

1. Don't leave a great tip if you haven't been satisfied with the service.

2. Talk to the Retreat Concierge about your second week and see if that host is assigned to the RS. If so, comment about what the issues are. (I'm not sure what they are; unless you're asking for specific things, the host isn't a mind reader.)

Obviously I know he is not a mind reader we just have not seen him. I guess we just aren’t used to that. Day one our bags sat outside for hours while we weren’t in the room, the concierge set up my husbands cpap, we have gotten no reminders for spa appointments or dinner reservations, the breakfast tray is propped on the side of the table and the food left in the room for hours, there have been no afternoon canapés….we are new to celebrity so I was just unsure if this was normal. 

I am currently on the first part of a B2B on the Summit. There are less than 400 passengers on board and service for the most part has been amazing. This is one of the best dinning room experiences we have had….from the sommelier, our room attendant, to the server and even the bartender in the lounge and the concierge have been top notch. The problem I am having is with the retreat host aka the butler. Background: this is only our second celebrity cruise. The first was on the reflection and our host was amazing. We don’t ask for much but we didn’t have to. He brought our coffee every morning, snacks in the afternoon, found us several times during the day to tell us about events or to see if we needed anything. Before that we always sailed on the NCL haven about ten times and the butlers there were unbelievable every time. This cruise for the first half we are in a CS. We did not see our host at all day one. Day two was our anniversary and he apologized for day one and put a few balloons in our room. Aside from that we have only seen him once in the morning to bring us coffee and fruit (we fill out the room service card and he collects it and is prompt). We move to a royal suite next and I do not want him to go with us. I will leave him a great tip even though I am not happy with the service but I do not know if I’m being unreasonable, am expecting too much,  or if we have just been VERY lucky on our last 11 cruises. Any thoughts? 

5 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

I have a question to ask and mean no disrespect - just honest curiosity.

When I see couples like you (where one is masked and one isn't) I always wonder what the masked person feels when they get home and are living  in the same space as the unmasked.

If you truly feel it isn't safe to go indoors in public unmasked (and I should qualify that my husband and myself do feel that way and always mask in public) aren't you worried you will catch Covid from your spouse at home?

Again - I am asking respectfully.

I’m not offended it’s a valid question although I’m not sure I have an answer. We both work in healthcare and have to wear our masks for 12-24 hours at a time. I value his decision not to wear a mask and he values mine. As with any illness we pass on to each other (cold, flu, etc) we do not shame the other for it and this would be the same with Covid. Although I will say my husband does not go anywhere but to our golf course or to dinner with friends so he may change his mind once he gets on the ship if it is crowded but I doubt it. We have both made individual, informed decisions. 

On 4/19/2022 at 7:20 AM, viperfoth said:

We will be there on the April 24th trip as well as the May 6th after. We plan on wearing Masks in most cases, especially on elevators (which we rarely take unless we have a bumpy ship).

 

Also plan on using them on our Southwest flight even though Southwest just announced it is optional.

 

And we are the types that if you mask...great... if not... that is your choice. Hopefully everyone else feels the same and does not 'judge' us.

I feel the same way! We are leaving Sunday for an 18 day b2b out of Miami. I will continue to wear my mask on the plane and on the ship but my DH will not wear is. We don’t judge each other or others it is just personal preference. I hope you enjoy your cruise! 

3 hours ago, tulok said:

 

jenlock21 how did you find their name to hire. We want to also play 2 courses. That sounds exactly what we want to do.

 

They came highly recommended by friends and so far I have been very impressed with their responsiveness, reviews, and willingness to be flexible (our days in Bermuda got changed last minute and they were amazing about being accommodating). Their vehicle is a van (from what I’ve read) and from the reviews I’ve read they fit larger parties comfortably even though it will just be me and my husband. We like to golf at most ports, love eating at one local spot, enjoy drinking, and like to see some scenery at every place we visit. We don’t care for shopping. Here is our plans and the prices we were given:

day one: mid ocean course. Transport to and from without tip 45$ each way. Then we plan to play mini golf and get a dark and stormy from the frog and onion.

day two port Royal golf 25$ one way and then 70$ a hour not including gratuity, for Val to take us around the island to a couple of beaches and spots we want to hit. We are paying for 5 hours even though we will probably only need 4 but I wanted to ensure we had plenty of time. But we will lean on Val to take us to some of their favorite spots along with a few places we want to visit…swizzle inn for a swizzle, a couple of beaches etc. 

Apologies for the long post. It is Val and Kareem with A+ transportation bermuda. I will do a report when we return in May. 

My husband and I golf at least once on every cruise and we always book it on our own. We are there in May for two days and we are playing two different courses. We hired a driver to take us to the courses both days and on one when he picks us up after our round he is giving us a private tour of the island. 

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

To be honest we have 4 pair at home and just got another 2 last night,  we've never tried them on.      The ones they delivered are marked Large/XLarge so suspect they are on the large size.  

Thanks. We aren’t big pj people but thought it might be convenient. Reading your posts I think we should move to Europe bc we eat at 6 every night.

Jim,

I’m enjoying cruising along with you and your husband. We will be in the RS for the first time in a couple of weeks and they emailed me about sizing for our PJs saying they run large. Do you find this to be the case? 
thanks!

I am also 40 and my husband is in his 50s. We were loyal Disney cruisers, then when it was just me and my husband we only cruised in a NCL haven spa suite because we loved the spa on NCL (something I think celebrity could do better on) and on a whim tried our first celebrity cruise pre Covid. We booked three more with celebrity since. I think the biggest difference is the passengers. We met so many great people and there weren’t a lot of kids. We don’t mind children but we tend to do adult only resorts and that is what celebrity felt like. As far as food, service, drinks, etc, we did not notice a big difference between any of the three because they were all excellent. We don’t attend the shows so I can’t speak on that but we loved the live musicians, murano dinner, and the solarium pool. 

Which ship are you thinking about booking? It makes a difference because some ships have not been revolutionized and others you can only order off of Luminae menu…it makes a difference in the experience. 

Anytime we visit a new port we always get a local driver to show us around the town. They will take you to any spot you want, some great local spots, and you can move at your own pace. If you do this on the first day, you might find a beach or a spot you want to visit exclusively the next day or they may have a great recommendation of things you should not miss. 

Thank y’all so much for your response and input. It was helpful. I think we will wait until we are onboard so we can see the menus and grab some sushi for lunch on days that we port. We are excited to be back at sea even if we have to sleep on the lounge chairs. 

2 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

If you have a special night I would reserve in advance.   Otherwise you can just ask your Butler or the Retreat Hosts and they will make them for you.

 

About 10 days prior to your cruise the Shoreside Concierge will call you and you can have the make your reservations for you also.   Chic nights and certain times can affect availability so best to book early.     On the down side Summit (M-Class Ships) have limited choices in Secialty Dining in comparison to the larger ships.

Thanks for the response! I have read and thoroughly enjoyed your live reports. It’s getting me excited about cruising again. We will miss Murano on this ship for sure! 

Just now, dcbiker97 said:

You can do both especially if there’s a specific day you know you want. However given the fact that you’re in a RS, the Retreat Concierge should be able to get you into any specialty restaurant any day. 

Ok thank you so much. 

Hello all!  My husband and I will be on our first B2B on the Summit at the end of next month. We will be in a RS for the first time and I was wondering if we needed to make specialty dinning reservations ahead of time or if making them onboard will be sufficient? Thanks In advance for your input and we are beyond excited to get back on board!