terrydtx

Our first Retreat cabin was on the Equinox last year, which we booked with all the extra FCC from canceled 2020 cruises, after that we can't go back now to less. My sister and BIL did a Cruise on the Beyond in a Celebrity Suite in September and absolutely loved the new ship. The biggest Retreat change on the Beyond is Luminae moved to the forward deck 15 and now you have a forward-facing view while dinning. We first sailed on Celebrity after 10 years of cruising on HAL and NCL, and now we are exclusive with them. HAL has nothing to compete with the Retreat and the NCL Haven is a poor attempt to copy the Retreat. Our one exception may be a cruise on Oceania in January 2025 around South America we are looking at.

I am following your great review and postings. We will be on the Apex next September from Amsterdam to Athens. We are also in a Sky Suite. so happy that your first Celebrity cruise was a hit, we love Celebrity, and it is our favorite cruise line. We have found that the Retreat Sky Suites suit us best and love the pampering now that we are retired.

I was able to download the pics and so appreciate the time you took to load them. We will be on the Equinox in June with our 12 year old Granddaughter and then in this cabin on the Apex in September. Have a safe drive back home from your cruise.

I am following we will be on the Apex next September from Amsterdam to Athens, and we are in SS# 11199 the same as the OP. I look forward to some pictures of the cabin. My sister and BIL are in the adjoining cabin 11197. We have never sailed in any of the M class ships but love the S class Equinox and Reflection. We have only sailed on Celebrity in Sky Suites, and I doubt we would ever like a non-suite IV cabin on the E Class ships. I am also surprised about the lack of hand sanitizer stations; on the Reflection in August from Rome they were everywhere on the ship, and we were even greeted by crew members when we boarded at all ports with sanitizers for our hands.

The Edge and Apex have Luminae on deck 12 forward port side. On the Beyond and new Ascent it is located on deck 16 forward under the Retreat sun deck on deck 17.

We did this the first day we boarded the Reflection in August, for my wife and I plus my sister and BIL. Once onboard we visited the specialty restaurant representative greeting passengers as we boarded, and he put our two separate reservations together at one table. We both booked well before departure, but we couldn't get both at the same time, one for 6:30 and the other for 6:00pm, the same representative not only got us a table for 4, but all 4 of us at 6:30pm.

We now only cruise in Sky Suites and love the S Class ships, however the E Class ships take booking a suite and the Retreat to another altogether level of luxury. We have sailed in NCL Haven and HAL Neptune Suites, but they are not even close to the Celebrity Retreat product in both price and facilitiy amenities.

We are taking our 12 year old granddaughter on the Equinox next June, we have 3 sea days but since she has never been on a cruise, she is so excited about doing this. We had looked at RCL Oasis of the Seas for similar itineraries, but my wife and I did not like what was offered with a suite. We are doing a SS on the Equinox and want all the retreat amenities for all 3 of us. Our GD may want to spend a couple of hours in the Camp on sea days which is fine. She also gets a $300 OBC, free premium Wi-Fi and the unlimited non alcohol drinks package since she is in the retreat with us. We took our then 10 year old grandson on an Alaska Cruise in 2019 and he loved the experience and found plenty to do in the Kids Camp, he liked going there after dinner to hang out while we went to the shows. He had been on a Disney cruise with his parents the year before but said he liked the Alaska cruise much better..

This was our first time on the Reflection and we followed this cruise with a Greek cruise on the HAL Oosterdam. I thought the Reflection was in very good shape, she showed some miner signs of wear but overall, not bad. Great service from the crew and our butler. My only big complaint was the quality of the food in Luminae. The beef steaks were some of the worse I've ever had on any cruise ship. I complained to the Luminae manager and he told me they were using a new beef vendor and with all the complaints they were looking for a new vendor. I swear they were using old milk cows for the beef. We had excellent steaks one night at the Lawn Club Grill but they use a different beef provider. My sister and BIL were on both of these cruises with us and overall we thought the food in the Oosterdam MDR was better quality than Luminae. We would not hesitate to sail on the Reflection again.

We were on the Reflection in August in a 12th deck Sky Suite in the Mediterranean. Because of the overhang of deck 14 above us, we had a longer cover which provided more shade on a very hot weather cruise. We loved the balcony and location of our cabin.

Interesting, I have a FCC with HAL, but they will not let me reassign it to another party, I do not intend to use it. If Celebrity will allow it, then this is one more good reason to stay with them.

Good to know the Bees are all fine. Enjoyed your reports.

Our case was very similar, I didn't test positive until the day we got off the ship and it was done with a home text we brought with us. We were dumped in a quarantine hotel in the industrial area of Maestre in Venice, it was a Sheraton 4 Points, one room for my wife and one room for me. The hotel never knew I was positive so I wasn't under lockdown like my wife. For the 3 nights the rooms were $1035 at the Sheraton total, and we had one night at the Mariott Courtyard at the Venice airport the night before we flew home. Our total hotel charges were $1447 and our policy had a $1000 cap per person or $2000 for both of us for hotels, so we were covered 100%. We were told by HAL Guest services on the Oosterdam that our hotel would be directly billed to HAL by the hotel, but that was not the case when we checked in and had to give a CC. HAL also told us my wife would have $100 per diem for food while in the hotel and they would send us the check directly, we have yet to see the promised $300. I do not know if it made any difference for coverage but our total trip including 24 cruise days and 9 land days was all covered by the insurance. We bought the insurance through a company called Leisure Care through my TA's parent company; I didn't know that AON was the carrier until we filed the claim and they contacted us.

AON is not owned by Celebrity and we got a $5400 settlement on the $4100 claim we filed, they paid us for things we didn't even file for, but they felt we were entitled for. BTW our claim was for a cruise with HAL not Celebrity in August.

Why we always buy independent insurance through my TA's company. My wife tested positive for Covid on our August cruise and was in isolation for the last 5 days of the cruise in Italy. Our insurance covered the missed last 5 days by reimbursing us the cruise fare for both of us. I was shocked, when we filed, we only filed for my wife's missed 5 days, but the insurance company AON, decided to pay for both of us and we got the check last week.

We have done the same and out TA has always been able to get Celebrity to waive the $100 penalty. I see no reason to ever book a refundable deposit doesn't make sense.

We got the $100 discount for our booked B2B in January 2024 Sky Suites on the Edge. Since they are considered 2 cruises, we also get the $400pp OBC for booking the retreat on each cruise or $800pp total.

My wife tested positive on our August cruise 5 days before the end of the 14 day cruise, she was put into isolation, but I was not. I wasn't positive until we got off the ship and in isolation in Venice, my positive test was from a home test at the hotel so nothing official. Our travel insurance reimbursed us both for the missed 5 days, even though it was only my wife who had a positive test result from the ship. We were in a suite, so the 5 days for our reimbursement was substantial and we got the check last Monday.

Your butler will deliver all room service orders except ones late at night. It is appropriate to tip at end of the cruise. Make sure to tell your butler to bring "ripe" fruit for your breakfast, a good one will hand pick the riper fruits from the RS kitchen. We have sailed when on HAL in Signature Suites and other than a similar size to a Sky Suite, nothing else is special compared to what you will get in the Retreat. Even in a Neptune or Pinnacle suites on HAL you get no butler, no 24/7 private lounge with full time bar tenders and except on the 3 new ships no private restaurant. Today we were pricing out similar 14 day South American itineraries on both HAL and Celebrity. A HAL Neptune suite is about $200pp less than a Sky Suite but the SS on Celebrity is such a better deal with all that is included over HAL. We are going to book with Celebrity.

Our last two Celebrity cruises, post covid have been in Sky Suites on S class ships, Equinox and Reflection. We loved both ships but we are looking forward to the expanded and updated Retreat facilities on the Apex and Edge we have booked in the next 2 years. My sister and BIL sailed on the Apex in September in a CS and were so blown away they have booked the Beyond for an Atlantic to Europe TA next Spring in another CS.

We were on the Reflection in August and what you are reporting was exactly what we were told by a ships officer. Many on CC were hoping for the Retreat Revolution on this dry docking but from what I was told this will not happen in the next 2 or maybe 3 years, if ever.

On the Reflection in August all suites were full and the ship was at 60% capacity and she never seemed to be crowded in the non-suite areas. Not sure how the Caribbean cruises this winter are being sold capacity wise. Last year our August Equinox cruise was at 40% capacity with all suites again full.

As soon as the new Ascent is launched next year, the Beyond pricing should drop some. This was the case for the previous Edge and Apex pricing. So many want to book the latest and greatest ship until the newest and greatest is launched. I remember that AQ Class and lower cabins on the Edge were outrageous when she was first launched in 2018 but by 2021 they were more in line with M & S class pricing.

Our Equinox cruise next June and our Apex cruise next September have sold out all Sky Suites, which makes repricing during the recent sales very difficult. We book early because we prefer Sky Suites so that we do not get locked out. Our Edge cruise of the Great Barrier reef in Jan 2024 is also sold out of SS.

2024, we have been looking at what airfare would cost for January 2023. Can't see air for 2024 until next March.