andnosyd

Here is another story today about suite guarantee:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2355562

 

 

OP - the room is nice as it has the front and side balconies. Maybe you mentioned it but how old/big are people 3-4? The bed for those two is a pull out couch and it is probably only good for some medium sized kids at the largest.

 

Don't forget to close the shade for the window that faces the side balcony when in the master bath.

Fortunately the 3rd and 4th passengers our are kids (4 and 2). Wonder if they'll bump us up to the villa to open up the OS...but thats just wishful thinking...

9504 sleeps 4, two in the bedroom and two on the sofa in the living room. It's one and a half bath, so shared bathroom. I've never found NCL will to sell a suite either regular or Haven as a guarantee. Are you sure this went through? Usually when a suite shows up as a guarantee, it means they are sold out. I would call and confirm.

It did go through as a guarantee and NCL assigned a cabin right away. Kind of an odd transaction. I thought it was an error and we'd just get bumped to the villa, but it's a nice cabin for a Panama Canal cruise.

NCL already assigned us a room too...9504. There is a connecting cabin, but it's not listed with our confirmation. Not sure what will happen now...

Confirmation is saved. A garden villa is available too, that would be a pretty nice upgrade.

They probably won't let you make that reservation if there are more passengers than allowed.

Have you tried to do it?

The system allowed me to do it online, so I booked it. Not sure if they'll kick it back and say it was a glitch or not or what will happen. But typically it shows 'sold out' when you have more guests than allowed in the room.

I booked an H4 (2 bedroom suite) for the 4 of us on the Jewel and just noticed they have an H3 guarantee available for 4 people. Since the Owners Suite only allows a max of 2 people, what will happen if I book this guarantee for the 4 of us?

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I am looking at booking a Panama Canal cruise on the Jewel in November in the Haven, and NCL shows that the sailing qualifies for the "free at sea" promotion, but when I go through the booking process, there are no choices given for the promo (if you book a lower cabin category) or there is no mention that you receive all the benefits when booking a Haven, besides the banner on the website. Can I assume that I'll receive these benefits for the cruise?

We just got off the Reflection in December with our (then) 7 month old and 3 year old. I liked that ship better than the Constellation (sister Summit ship) that we were on with our then 18 month old. It was easier to navigate with a stroller, the buffet area was also easier to get around with her. The staff loved her and the kids club was nice to bring her to to play for an hour or so a day. We also let her crawl around and play on the grass area on the Reflection, which she enjoyed. You'll have a great time and the staff (and most passengers) will be happy to see your little one.

I think todays tragedy in Tortola when two Celebrity Summit passengers were killed in a bus accident, and many more injured, kind of puts whether Michaels Club is too crowded or not into real perspective.

 

 

Its becomes totally irrelevant.

 

My sympathies to the families and friends of those involved.

This is awful news. I didn't hear anything about it onboard today.

We did stop by at 4, no one was in there. We didn't go for a drink before dinner, so I don't know how busy it was. They have 2 concierges now, and more wait staff. It was a unpleasant surprise yesterday when we boarded and were told this is the first trip that now has sky suites allowed into Michaels and couldn't get a seat. But with the drink package, if it's busy like that again, we'll have to find somewhere else to go.

The other small issue is that the concierges used to recognize you when you walked in, usually after the first day. So far that hasn't happened, but maybe they will later in the week.

Michael's Club was fine on Infinity today, not sure if Sky Suites are allowed yet or not. Boarding with as delayed but no escort after waiting about an hour to board.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPad using fat fingers and Tapatalk

Yeah, I was told by Bogdan ( he was awesome and remembered us from before) that all suites are welcome on this trip. No more face recognition as in the past. I get why celebrity is doing this, but on the reflection it's really going to be a challenge

It wasn't supposed to start until Dec 16. They started it early, apparently. It certainly makes me rethink any higher end suites in the future, at least on the reflection. They used to greet you by name when you walked in, that won't be possible anymore on the reflection with 100 plus suites.

It has completely lost the intimacy that came with it for being in a top suite. This is not a good ship to have Michales open to everyone if this continues the whole trip

Not good, we're in a RS and no escort to board the ship. found Michaels and were told it is now open to all suites. No seats in Michaels club, the place is packed, not a great start. They increased staff levels, but it's not accommodating to all the guests jammed in there.

We did hear back from Diana, who apologized for the delay in responding. We'll see how the requests work out, they were fairly simple, I'm just curious if they are followed through without me having to follow up once onboard.

We made a request of the shoreside concierge when she contacted us a week before our recent cruise. Never heard back from her.

Was the request honored? I'll follow up if I don't hear back, especially if requests made haven't been honored. Thanks for the feedback.

I think I'm probably just impatient, but I sent a few requests to the shoreside concierge in response to her email I got a few days ago for our upcoming cruise on Saturday, but haven't heard back. Is it typical that they respond?

Hey Paul, we'll be with you on the second leg as well. Are the toiletries the Gilchrest ones or have the started to switch back to Bulgari (sp?)? We're in an RS next week and if our 2 young kids can behave, we may actually try Luminae. Any mention of the sky suites accessing Michaels Club? I know it isn't supposed to start for another several weeks, but maybe they had a soft opening...

For some people I assume the extra space is worth it. And before this whole suite class thing come out, weren't all the suite perks basically the same? Many people spent thousands of more dollars for a larger room, why wouldn't they do the same today?

Back when we first started to cruise in 2004, they had just launched concierge class. They actually had the same or more benefits than suites did, minus a butler. Celebrity at that point determined that people book suites for the extra space and concierge class for the benefits. So there was a time when suites really did not have many benefits. A PH had the same benefits as a Sky Suite, but the cost structure was similar as it is today, you were just paying for the larger room.

Then around 2007 they started taking even more things away from suites. The coffee was the same as from the buffet and the afternoon snacks were virtually inedible.

Fast forward to today there are so many more things that are included with suites. The price has gone up, but not significantly from 2004 and so much more is included now than before.

It seems the structure that Celebrity now has with Sky Suites getting MC looks is on par with RCCL. Aqua=junior suite. SS and CS=Standard suite. RS, PH and Reflection Suite=Top end suites.

We get so much more now than we ever did in 2004, so I'm done complaining about MC getting packed. I mean, it used to be a public space for 2000 plus passengers originally.

Onboard currently.

 

The MCC is VERY concerned about the 3X increase in guests to take care of.

 

According to the MCC the Reflection is the ONLY ship to receive an "assistant" MCC:confused:

This is what I was concerned about. The experience will become watered down for the higher suites that are used to more personalized attention in MC.

My issue is not with letting Sky Suites into MC. I was in a SS and my sister in a PH, and they let our family staying in the SS into Michaels most definitely because they were in the PH. It was on the Constellation, and the place was empty most of the time. I highly doubt they will add much if any staff to MC, and if this is the case I see the exclusivity of MC getting diluted.

This is my issue. We've been to MC a few times on different ships and they know our names, what we enjoyed as a drink and the Concierge had time to socialize with us and make us feel like a priority. This all gets diluted with the introduction of SS. The service will not be as good, as it just can't be if they don't add staff. Then this leads me to believe that the premium drinks will not be as premium and perhaps cut the bar hours to 5-8 as more of a social hour. Time will tell, but I don't feel like I'm getting ripped off, I just feel more like I'm getting a product that will become more watered down when we stay in a higher suite.

For me, I've seen Sky Suites where we could get 2 for less than a Celebrity Suite. With the addition of Michaels Club, I will NOT be booking any more CS with the 4 of us traveling as a family. Either they need to make the CS benefits equal to the Signature Suites or reduce the price of the CS closer to the SS, because the benefits to the CS are no longer worth it to me.

I think it kind of takes away from booking a Celebrity Suite or higher for me. The room isn't much larger than a sky suite, but I liked that it included Michaels. I'd take saving a few thousand dollars over the added space if I get Michaels access now.

It'll be interesting to see how they know who are in suites now. Previously they had a sheet with the photos of those in top suites to see if they were allowed in. Maybe they'll just check key cards now? With all the sky suites, it'll be too hard to keep track using the current form of verification.

Does anyone know if Bogdan who was the Michaels Club concierge on the Constellation about a year ago still work for Celebrity? We really enjoyed him and was great with our kids...