Concierge or Not Concierge...that is the question

[kidless]

DH & I just booked our first Celebrity Cruises.... we ended up booking two on same ship because the dates and ports matched up for us.

We took the Concierge Class balcony hump cabins because the little extra perks sounded wonderful to us.

We were hoping any experienced Celebrity cruisers could add more insight and thought then what we see on their website. ...... about the cruise, service, perks, etc in general.

Couldn't find much on Eclipse .... :D

Thanks

[cruisestitch]

There are 61 reviews of Eclipse here on Cruise Critic. Sit down, pour a glass of your favorite beverage, and enjoy reading them....

[kidless]

There are 61 reviews of Eclipse here on Cruise Critic. Sit down, pour a glass of your favorite beverage, and enjoy reading them....

 

Thanks for the good advice. I did actually already look at quite a few of them. Not really look for how easy boarding was......or if the ship was clean, or what people did in port. We have cruised enough to know how these things work.

Perhaps I did not word it correctly originally. Is it worth the extra cost for concierge cabin? Is the service on Celebrity better then Royal Carribean...if so how?

 

We do hope the food and beds are better on Celebrity compared to Royal Caribbean. :D

[SadieC]

Never been on Royal Carribean, but have been on 2 cruises with Celebrity...the last one being balcony cc class. Absolutely LOVED it and would never go back. Little perks are great, but I love having full breakfast menu room service, and enjoying a hot breakfast with my DH on the balcony. The only way to start a day!! The small appies that come to your room are nice too, and we often ask for a cheese plate instead and enjoy a glass of wine or two on our balcony before dinner. Can hardly wait for Eclipse in March!

[scf1270]

Thanks for the good advice. I did actually already look at quite a few of them. Not really look for how easy boarding was......or if the ship was clean, or what people did in port. We have cruised enough to know how these things work.

 

Perhaps I did not word it correctly originally. Is it worth the extra cost for concierge cabin? Is the service on Celebrity better then Royal Carribean...if so how?

 

We do hope the food and beds are better on Celebrity compared to Royal Caribbean. :D

 

In Dec, 2008 we booked a cruise on the Solstice only one week ahead of time. Couldn't find any info on it - was making me crazy. Then I found out it was only finishing week #1, and we'd be on week #3!

 

The Eclipse is very new - still sailing in Europe and doesn't arrive in Miami until mid-November. The Solstice and Equinox are the same class (style/design) and any reviews of those (there are many) would be similar to what you can expect on Eclipse.

 

Is Concierge worth the extra cost? I can absolutely, positively say: "It depends" :rolleyes:. You can find the list of perks on the Celebrity (X) website, so I won't list them here. What is the cost difference between Conciegre and whatever other cabin categories you are looking at?

 

For us, the perks are nice, but only if the cost difference is small. Otherwise, a regular balcony room is fine (for us). We'll be trying Aqua Class soon, but only because it was only $54pp more than what we had chosen. $54 was a no-brainer for us, $540 more - no way!

 

Haven't been on anything other than X, so don't know first hand, but most say that Celebrity is a step above Royal Caribbean.

 

Enjoy!

Sara

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

If you like the perks and the cost wasn't too much more, than Concierge Class will probably be worth it to you. Unfortunately, on the Eclipse and all the ships in that class, the Concierge Class cabins are the same size as the other balcony cabins. On the M class ships you get a larger cabin, a perk that is definitely worth a few extra dollars.

 

I haven't sailed the Eclipse yet, but we did not book a CC cabin even though we've always sailed CC previously. The price difference was huge. We have a 1A.

[cruise kitty]

even though the cabins are the same size on the S class, we like concierge class, if it's not too much more.. We love the bigger towels, the ottoman on the balcony & especially the expanded breakfast.

Another great perk is the extra cruise credit, it will get you to the elite level much faster.

[lvcruiser]

I believe that CC class is worth the price difference if it is small, as previous posters have indicated. My personal break point is $100pp difference.

 

Regarding a comparison between RCI and =X=, I can say unequivocally that Celebrity is a substantial cut above Royal in most categories that are important to me, such as service, food and cabins. That being said, please remember that you are dealing with two completely members of the same family that cater to completely different demographics. Royal gears itself more toward active families and Celebrity tries to capture a more mature and reserved market. If I had to guess at average age of both, I would say 35-45 for Royal and 50-60 for Celebrity. As far as service is concerned, you will find the staff on Celebrity ships to usually be more attentive and helpful.

 

WE also booked a CC cabin on the aft side of the hump for our next cruise because it has a larger balcony than the other CC cabins. Although I like sailing in Concierge, I must admit that doing so on an M class ship has more advantages because of the cabins' larger size. On S class ships, all balcony cabins are cookie cutter - same size and shape - so you don't get more cabin for the extra price if you sail CC class.

 

If you have sailed on Royal in the past, I am sure you will appreciate Celebrity.

[SadieC]

Interesting fact that there is no difference in cabin size on the Solstice ships. The last time we were sailing was on the Millenium and the cabins did seem a bit bigger. On the Eclipse, we're booked in a cabin on the "hump" so hopefully the balcony at least will be a bit bigger. :rolleyes:

[If only]

Interesting fact that there is no difference in cabin size on the Solstice ships. The last time we were sailing was on the Millenium and the cabins did seem a bit bigger. On the Eclipse, we're booked in a cabin on the "hump" so hopefully the balcony at least will be a bit bigger. :rolleyes:

 

If it is on the angle it is definitely bigger, but not the flat part, but the room is still the same size.

[FortyNinerLiz]

DH & I just booked our first Celebrity Cruises.... we ended up booking two on same ship because the dates and ports matched up for us.

We took the Concierge Class balcony hump cabins because the little extra perks sounded wonderful to us.

We were hoping any experienced Celebrity cruisers could add more insight and thought then what we see on their website. ...... about the cruise, service, perks, etc in general.

Couldn't find much on Eclipse .... :D

Thanks

We now do CC rooms on almost all of our cruises. On an Solstice class ship, you get a better balcony location and reclining lounger chairs. Plus you get a bigger deck table for outdoor dining!!! The intro champagne is great and the cheese and fruit plates come at just the right time. The towels are much better and you get field glasses and tote bags, etc. If the price difference is small, take it!

[2SeaWithMe]

Kidless, I think you are on the cruise My DH and I booked, leaving the saturday after Thanksgiving.

 

I haven't cruised Celebrity before, just CCL and RCCL. A C3 cabin was only about $70 more, and the expanded breakfast menu and different pillow choices were the big reason we did it. My last cruise, the pillows were ridiculously awful. I ended up using a sweatshirt because the pillows were so hard. We also like to eat breakfast on our balcony so it's nice to have some better choices than just toast and tea.

[pacheco18]

I do not really care about the so-called CC extras.

 

I choose CC for cabin location. On M class, I want that aft balcony. On S class, I want the hump.

 

Priority tender is the only extra I find truly appealing since we only do private excursions. We do not eat in the cabin and with so much food on the ship, the hors d'oeuvres are not worth $1 more.

[kitkat9438]

Welcome to Celebrity! We've cruised Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and Celebrity is our favorite line. We think the food and service are outstanding and really enjoy Concierge class. We are also trying Aqua on the Eclipse in December as it has the same perks plus much more. For us Aqua was actually cheaper than Concierge class and we get free bottled water, tea and persian gardens. Which hump cabin did you get? Those will have the larger balconies and they look really nice.

[cadburysmom]

We now do CC rooms on almost all of our cruises. On an Solstice class ship, you get a better balcony location and reclining lounger chairs. Plus you get a bigger deck table for outdoor dining!!! The intro champagne is great and the cheese and fruit plates come at just the right time. The towels are much better and you get field glasses and tote bags, etc. If the price difference is small, take it!

This will be my first time in Concierge class so please excuse my ignorance when I ask this....is the bottle of champagne already chilled(on ice) and ready to drink when you arrive in your cabin on embarkation day?

 

Thanks!

[jerspop]

Yes, chilled and ready to drink. Fruit bowl also.

[phoenix_dream]

Whether the difference in price is worth it depends on what is important to you, and how much the difference is. My personal decision price point is also $100. I have not yet been on Eclipse, but on Solstice the beds were very comfortable, as were the pillows. Celebrity is replacing bedding on ships as they upgrade them, and of course the new ships all have nice new bedding.

[jaxflygirl88]

Price difference is $200 each, $400 for both of us, so is it worth it? The only thing that concerns be about going the Guarantee route is that we may get assigned an obstructed view balcony cabin. Views and a nice cabin are important to us as we only get one vacation per year or less! Thanks for the advice...:confused:

[LandlockedinTexas]

Looks as if u have enough cruise credit on RCI to be a DIAMOND member. This will make u CC Elite on Celebrity. Nice perks there. Be sure to register if u haven't already done so. Bobby

[dzcruisers]

I'd look for one of these cabins. That really large balcony is nice. Solstice, Equinox, and Eclipse have the same cabin configuration.

We were in concierge but would have easily given that up if a large balcony had not been available in C2.

 

 

Thought you might find this interesting

Cabins with large balconies

Found this earlier - sounded interesting. I had saved this from another thread. Seems like good info! "I personally LOVED my C1 hump cabin #1243 - about triple the size of a standard balcony - it was HUGE!!!!! Literally the largest non-suite balcony on the ship! The balcony was great for hosting cocktail parties - we had 25+ people out there one day! Being on the aft part of the hump there was virtually no wind issue to deal with. We got sun when we wanted it, and shade if desired as well. Due to balcony depth there were no privacy issues related to the angled shape.

 

There are 58 +/- cabins with the same size balcony we had - they are:

 

Resort Deck: 2105, 2109, 2106, 2110

Penthouse Deck: 1547, 1552, 1601, 1605, 1606, 1610

Sky Deck: 1075, 1044, 1231, 1243, 1247, 1108, 1120, 1124

Panorama Deck: 9155, 9192, 9209, 9215, 9237, 9241, 9266, 9270, 9292, 9296

Vista Deck: 8189, 8162, 8255, 8257, 8253, 8236, 8226, 8232, 8279, 8283, 8252, 8256 from corrected deck plan

Sunrise Deck: 7159, 7206, 7215, 7219, 7241, 7245, 7260, 7264, 7286, 7290

Continental Deck: 6155, 6156, 6209, 6215, 6237, 6241, 6210, 6214, 6236, 6240

 

Most of these are on the hump, but some are forward where the ship starts to indent. The rooms run the range from Category 2C, 1A, C1, or AQ (with the exception of 6209/6210 which are categorized as 07 Obstucted Balcony - great balcony at a small price!). There are also many cabins adjacent to the ones I listed that also have oversized balconies that are about double the size of normal ones, but I would go for the triple sized ones first :D

oncierge 2.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the price of the other catgories.

[TIMETOGOAGAIN]

What I liked about our CC in February on Summit was the size of the cabin (6143), the feather pillows, and taking our champagne to the dining room to celebrate my friend's 40th birthday.

 

For CC you get preferential seating in the dining room and specialty restaurants. Can anyone tell me what this means? We had a nice table next to the captain's table and a great view of the stairs. I assumed it was because of our CC?

What about the specialty restaurants? I've only been to one on Solstice. I remember making my res online but can't remember how far out. How long before do they open up the reservations online.

[jaxflygirl88]

Well the rates dropped this weekend and I got a great Fl Resident rate on C-Class Guarantee XC. It was $500 less than C2! As long as we have a nice Concierge cabin, I really don't care where it is for that price difference :)

 

We have been on R/C for 3 cruises and are not Platinum status yet...Celebrity said you had to be Diamond members to get any sort of recognition on their line.. Is that correct?

 

Thanks

 

We are really looking forward to trying Celebrity Eclipse for the first time :) The reviews sound great.