terrydtx

Booking as guarantee, did you still get the Premium AI package, drinks, tips and Wi-Fi? I remember something about, at one time a suite guarantee did not come with the AI.

I agree prices for the Retreat have gotten so ridiculously high. We have 4 future cruises in the Retreat that were booked in 2021 at 20-30% less than current pricing. After these, not sure what we will do, Sky Suites have reached the point that premium lines like Oceania and Viking Ocean are now competitive in pricing. We have one Oceania cruise booked for March 2025 that beat the similar Equinox cruise by a bunch. The Retreat pricing and product had been what kept us loyal to Celebrity up to now.

I figured that would be the case, I just do not ever remember seeing any kids in the Retreat lounge.

Now available in the Spa Cafe

Ou cat loved that entree

In FLL you really do not need the priority suites luggage drop.

@GenerationX We will be in the Retreat this summer and our 12-year-old granddaughter is cruising with us, do you know if she can come into the Retreat Lounge with us? Her first cruise and we are introducing her to the Suite Life.

WHAT, no shorts and t shirts in the MDR???? Next you are going to tell me they have unlimited prime rib, prime steaks, beef wellington and more than one lobster tail on SS, unbelievable!! Please don't tell me room service is free too!!!

There is a separate entrance for all suites passengers that will take up upstairs to the VIP lounge for check in then boarding. Our last time we got to the entrance at 11:15 and we were on the ship by 11:35 and on our way to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons.

The OP didn't state anything about their booking being a casino/BCC one, so I was wondering if they may have the Aqua Class AI and just are not aware that they do. In that case bottled (canned)water would be included from any bar.

In the next twelve months we have 5 cruises booked with 47 days total sailing time and 23 days on land with some expensive airfare. My wife and I are both in our mid 70's and very fit and healthy. I have seen many fellow CC members recommend buying annual travel insurance policies and we had out TA look into this for us. She has recommended a policy with Allianz insurance that would provide the coverage we would need for a lot less in cost over buying individual policies for each trip. I am interested in experiences from this forum on both annual policies and with Allianz Insurance, or if any other insurance company is recommended. We have always purchased travel insurance from our TA and last year we had our first ever claim because of getting Covid at the end of our cruise in Italy. Thank in advance for any help and opinions.

Our first retreat experience was on the Equinox, and we found both Murano and Tuscan grill to not be that much better than Luminae to justify the cover charge. In both cases the service was not even close to what we got in Luminae. On our Apex cruise in September, we are only going to try Eden because it is unique to E Class and the rest of our dinning will be in Luminae.

I was under the impression that Aqua class bookings only were with the AI which included the classic drinks package.

Our November K'Dam cruise shows no excursions or dining reservations on the ap, it says to come back later.

That is why I said "Claiming" to be who she said she was. I also reported her to that group's administrator and she disappeared from the group that day.

It was not on CC, this was on another well known social media site. It was in a private group on that site for Celebrity Retreat passengers.

I just checked this hotel out online and it looks fabulous. We will have to try it out next time we are in FLL on our own. Pricing is very reasonable too. We are staying at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale beach resort in June for 3 nights pre cruise with our young Granddaughter who wanted to stay on the beach. Using points and some cash for the Hilton 2 room suite.

Agreed, but the discussion was also about waiting until 6 months out to book with O for air, which IMO is just ridiculous. I was trying to point out we got better deals and flights on our air in November than we could have gotten currently, almost 6 months out from our September cruise.

There has been a similar discussion about Butlers providing adult beverages at no cost with the premium drinks package on the popular social media site we are not supposed to mention here. I posted about our experiences with butlers providing us wine and beer in our Sky Suites at no cost for our 3 post covid cruises. I got a very nasty private message from someone claiming to be a Celebrity Shore concierge service representative, who is a member of that group. She basically called me a liar and that Celebrity's policy is clear butlers are not supposed to do this and that I was misleading people in the group by lying about what we got in our SS. She left a very bad taste with me and I sent here a very nasty response back.

No, that was for a Celebrity cruise, and we booked with Celebrity air. Prices have continually gone up since last November both with cruise line and with booking directly. From all the issues I have seen on CC, I would never book BC with Oceania. I like having control over my flights, seats and airlines, which it doesn't seem you get with Oceania's air. We have a South America cruise booked with O in 2025 and I can already see that prices are going to be high to fly.

Celebrity is pulling out of west coast (Calif) cruises in 2024, so HAL has this segment pretty much to themselves and if they keep the Koningsdam on the west coast they have an even bigger advantage.

Waiting makes no sense at all. We have a cruise from Amsterdam to Athens in September and we booked our business class airfare last November. We booked at more than we wanted to pay, but since then prices have only gone up and BC today on the same flights is $3000 more than we booked back in November.

You are correct the Celebrity Suite will be so far above your Carnival experience. Once we did our first Retreat cruise it made it impossible to go back to anything less on Celebrity.

Have a good flight and even better cruise.

Hawaii no longer has any Covid requirements. Here is the HAL link where you can find health protocols for your cruise. Booking or Voyage Lookup (hollandamerica.com)