Elite Benifits Question

[Puffinater]

Will be sailing the Solstice next year and it will be our first Celebrity cruise. We are D+ with RCI so we will have Elite status. I have checked out the Celebrity website but still have a copule questions.

 

Access to the Captain's Club Lounge for coffeehouse style breakfast and evening social hour (open daily except embarkation and the evening of the Senior Officers' Cocktail Party)

 

Is this similar to the Concierge Lounge on RCI ships? What are the hours for breakfast and the social hour?

 

 

Complimentary access to Persian Garden (on one port day of your choice, while the ship is in port)

 

What is the Persian Garden. Could not find much info on it but that may be because I did not look in the right place.

 

Any other insight/ info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your answers.

[GarrenS]

Will be sailing the Solstice next year and it will be our first Celebrity cruise. We are D+ with RCI so we will have Elite status. I have checked out the Celebrity website but still have a copule questions.

 

Access to the Captain's Club Lounge for coffeehouse style breakfast and evening social hour (open daily except embarkation and the evening of the Senior Officers' Cocktail Party)

 

Is this similar to the Concierge Lounge on RCI ships? What are the hours for breakfast and the social hour?

 

 

Complimentary access to Persian Garden (on one port day of your choice, while the ship is in port)

 

What is the Persian Garden. Could not find much info on it but that may be because I did not look in the right place.

 

Any other insight/ info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your answers.

 

There is a breakfast and social hour - they are similar to the CL on RCI ships. When we were on Solstice last Dec, I don't have any specifics on the breakfast, but I believe it was 8-10am (we preferred either room service or the buffet) but attended the Social hour, which was held from 5-7PM in the sky lounge (due to the # of elites on the ship) although we were told it was often in Michael's Club.

There was a list of drinks you could chose from, and a list of available liquor to make other drinks as well. They also had waiters who walked around with appetizers vs having them set up to serve yourself.

The Persian Garden was an area (near the spa I think) where they have heated tile loungers that you can sit on, and hang around and relax. We didn't utilize them, as I'd rather sit outside.

 

Hopefully someone else has some other information for you.

Thanks

Garren

[RMSeadog]

Will be sailing the Solstice next year and it will be our first Celebrity cruise. We are D+ with RCI so we will have Elite status. I have checked out the Celebrity website but still have a copule questions.

 

Access to the Captain's Club Lounge for coffeehouse style breakfast and evening social hour (open daily except embarkation and the evening of the Senior Officers' Cocktail Party)

 

Is this similar to the Concierge Lounge on RCI ships? What are the hours for breakfast and the social hour?

 

 

Complimentary access to Persian Garden (on one port day of your choice, while the ship is in port)

 

What is the Persian Garden. Could not find much info on it but that may be because I did not look in the right place.

 

Any other insight/ info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your answers.

 

There is no dedicated lounge line with Royal. Depending on the number of Elites on board it will form 0800 to 1000 for Breakfast, either in Michael's Club or a larger venue. Evening Happy Hour will be from 1700 to 1900 in Michael's or the Sky Lounge on deck 14 forward. There will be a list of Captain's Club activities in your cabin on embarkation day.

 

One night the Senior Officer's Party will be held in Sky normally for 1945 to 2030. This party is for Seclet and Elite with almost the same drink menu as HH except no Sctoch. There will be another party "The Celebration" which honors the top cruisers on board. Live music, a wee show with the singers and dancers, the string also perform. Lots of food and free drinks too. This is usually held on a sea day near the middle of the cruise. Solstice may hold there on the next to last sea day of the cruise. It will run from about 1330 to 1500. There will be HH that night at 1700. Enjoy!! ~ Ric

 

[Puffinater]

Thanks for the information. I would assume it is ok for the kids to utilize the breakfast area? Don't want to be screwing things up on our first X cruise.

[2Fltravelers]

Will be sailing the Solstice next year and it will be our first Celebrity cruise. We are D+ with RCI so we will have Elite status. I have checked out the Celebrity website but still have a copule questions.

 

Access to the Captain's Club Lounge for coffeehouse style breakfast and evening social hour (open daily except embarkation and the evening of the Senior Officers' Cocktail Party)

 

Is this similar to the Concierge Lounge on RCI ships? What are the hours for breakfast and the social hour?

 

 

Complimentary access to Persian Garden (on one port day of your choice, while the ship is in port)

 

What is the Persian Garden. Could not find much info on it but that may be because I did not look in the right place.

 

Any other insight/ info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your answers.

 

Persian Garden also has a sauna and a steam room as well as 2-3 showers with extra jets, rainforest showerheads. There are floor to ceiling winodws that provide a very nice view from the port side of the ship where it is located, just off the spa and lock rooms. Access is via a special card key from the spa receptionist who will also provide a locker key and robe. I have found that the Persian Garden on S-class ships such as the Solstice are noisier and less private than on the M-class ships. Many people don't understand that it is for relaxation purposes, not idle conversation which carries and echoes due to the tile walls, floor and glass windows. It is much quieter on a port day morning when most passengers are off the ship until late afternoon so use the pass provided then.

[ghstudio]

Thanks for the information. I would assume it is ok for the kids to utilize the breakfast area? Don't want to be screwing things up on our first X cruise.

 

If you are elite, those in your room can attend any elite function.....so it's not a problem.

 

The elite breakfast has limited choices, so you may find that your kids prefer to eat at the regular buffet.

[Puffinater]

Thanks for the additional information.

 

I agree some folks don't seem to get the relaxation aspect of the spa. We paid for use of the thermal suite on the Oasis and it was horrible. Actually spoke to the spa manager and received a refund.

 

We are typically very light breakfast eaters. Fruit, juices and coffe should be just what we are looking for.

[jcrandle]

Thanks for the additional information.

 

I agree some folks don't seem to get the relaxation aspect of the spa. We paid for use of the thermal suite on the Oasis and it was horrible. Actually spoke to the spa manager and received a refund.

 

We are typically very light breakfast eaters. Fruit, juices and coffe should be just what we are looking for.

There will be lots of fresh fruit choices, pastries, cold cuts, smoked salmon and cream cheese with bagels. Also complimentary bloody marys, and belinies (sp).

[cruisegirl1]

Will be sailing the Solstice next year and it will be our first Celebrity cruise. We are D+ with RCI so we will have Elite status. I have checked out the Celebrity website but still have a copule questions.

 

Access to the Captain's Club Lounge for coffeehouse style breakfast and evening social hour (open daily except embarkation and the evening of the Senior Officers' Cocktail Party)

 

Is this similar to the Concierge Lounge on RCI ships? What are the hours for breakfast and the social hour?

 

 

Complimentary access to Persian Garden (on one port day of your choice, while the ship is in port)

 

What is the Persian Garden. Could not find much info on it but that may be because I did not look in the right place.

 

Any other insight/ info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your answers.

 

We recently sailed our first Celebrity (Solstice - January 2012) cruise after many RCCL cruises We LOVED the experience and will likely sail more often on Celebrity than RCCL. (We have just over 400 points on RCCL so the next category jump is simply too far off to continue with RCCL exclusively.)

 

As a comparison, the Elite breakfast was very much like the standard CL breakfast (not Oasis Class) with fruit, juice, pastries , smoked salmon, but with the added treat of smoothies, bloody marys and sparkling wine. Specialty coffee is served, rather than “make your own”

 

The evening event is only held 5 of the 7 nights (on a 7 night sailing), is 2 hours long, has a few served appetizers and has a larger variety of drinks. There is no event the first night which disappointed us as we were sailing alone and had hoped to meet folks. The event for us was held in the lounge near the top of the ship (don’t recall name), was very large and was not really laid out well to meet others.

 

I know this was not one of your questions but we found the Solstice buffet to be FAR superior to RCLL's, in fact except for embarkation we rarely eat in the buffet on RCCL. On Celebrity, we actually preferred the buffet to the dining room for breakfast and lunch.

 

There is also a wonderful Elite Tea.

 

We had an opportunity to use the Persian Garden for a relaxing morning.

 

Lastly - another nice touch is that celebrity lets you know, on the first day, of any Elite events so planning the week is easy.

 

Enjoy!

[cruisegirl1]

Also - like RCCL benefits, Elites are offered a backstage tour. While we waited, Celebrity staff brought around complimentary glasses of sparkling wine!

 

Elites also get a complimentary wine tasting (RCCL used to do this for C&A members)

 

If you are D, then the Elite is a great benefit. If you are D+, it is about the same but still very favorable.

Enjoy

[powelweb]

we sailed on X with our dd who is 8 and used the lounge after getting our main breakfast for DH could get a specialty coffee.

 

Wow- I found they had some great pastries that I could not find in the waterfall cafe ( we were on summit pre-refurb).

 

DD is well behaved and would get a pastry and some fruit and sit with us on a sofa until we were ready to leave. She and I flipped through a celebrity cruise brochure while we snacked and dreamt of future cruises (like a 39 night trans pacific from japan through russia that ended in Alaska).

 

So long the kids respect the space with quiet conversation like the adults, no one even blinked twice that she was with us.

 

enjoy your cruise- we found the benefits on X better than on RCL.

[cruisestitch]

The Elite breakfast can be enjoyed by your whole family, the cocktail hours, are, however, supposed to be for adults only, according to the info handed out on board.

[jackdiamond]

There will be lots of fresh fruit choices, pastries, cold cuts, smoked salmon and cream cheese with bagels. Also complimentary bloody marys, and belinies (sp).

What is a belinies?

[cruisestitch]

It's belini -- a cocktail made of sparkling wine and peach nectar.

[jcrandle]

It's belini -- a cocktail made of sparkling wine and peach nectar.

Since we are clarifying, the spelling should be bellinis,singular form bellini and indeed is is as mentioned, though some find that apricot nectar with sparkling wine is even better. IMHO, it puts a mimosa to shame.

 

The wikipedia reference is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellini_%28cocktail%29

[jackdiamond]

Thank you folks, it sounds good.

[Oville]

The evening event is only held 5 of the 7 nights (on a 7 night sailing), is 2 hours long, has a few served appetizers and has a larger variety of drinks.

 

The OP is Diamond+ on Royal so your statement is incorrect regarding the variety of drinks, Royal has at least as many options and I think even more. Also, for those with late seating, the Royal party is much more appealing since it is opened until 8:30.

[cookie225]

If the "Elite" package is not in your room on embarkation day, go with your seapass that states that you are elite to guest services and they will give you all the coupons for the elite including free laundry, free internet and other perks we get for being elite members. Enjoy and hopefully you will get upgraded like we just did on the beautiful Celebrity Solstice...beautiful ship & crew:)

[cruisegirl1]

Thank you Oville, for your detsiled comments, however, I believe I noted that if one is D then the Elite benefits are generally better than RCCL and if one is Diamond Plus, , then the benefits are about the same.

 

Here is my direct quote.

 

“…If you are D, then the Elite is a great benefit. If you are D+, it is about the same but still very favorable…”

 

In my opinion, there seemed to be a slightly larger variety of drinks offered in the Elite event as compared to the RCCL Concierge lounge or true Diamond Lounge. As that is only my opinion, one certainly has the option to disagree.

 

Yes – the Elite cocktail hours is 2 hours as compared to RCCL’s 3-3 1/2 hours , but even with late dinner seating, we found the 2 hour slot to be more than sufficient to have a drink. We generally spend 30 minutes in the lounge (RCCL or Celebrity) so the 2 hour slot was fine

 

 

One appreciable difference is the Elite cocktail hours was not offered on the first night. As in all cruise ships, there is never a shortage of places to have a nice drink, and Celebrity does not disappoint.

 

To the OP – Enjoy the reciprocal benefits.

M

[Puffinater]

To all who responded. Thanks for all the info. We have been hesitant to venture away from RCI. It seems like on all of our RCI cruises we run into some Celebrity frequent cruisers and hear loads of good things so we pulled the trigger.

 

The bellinis are a great touch. We will have early seating this time because of the grandkids but I am sure we will squeeze a happy hour or two in.

[cruisegirl1]

Puffinator

 

I will be very surprised if you are disappointed, especially since you are taking the Solstice.

 

We too were very hesitant to take the Celebrity cruise with so many RCCL cruises, but once we sailed I can honestly say there was NOTHING that was not on par with RCCL and a few things were better than RCCL.

 

In all of our cruises (60+) we had never stayed on the ship when in port, (even to the point of being in some ports many times in one year. We were in Cozumel 3 times in 4 weeks this past winter.) On the Celebrity trip, we stayed on at a port to actually enjoy the ship. That is a first for us.

 

 

Perhaps the only (very minor) area we missed, and you may too, especially as you note you are traveling with family, is that there are no D+ free photos. As we like a photo reminder – we had a few nice choices for purchase.

Enjoy

[Kellie Poodle]

To all who responded. Thanks for all the info. We have been hesitant to venture away from RCI. It seems like on all of our RCI cruises we run into some Celebrity frequent cruisers and hear loads of good things so we pulled the trigger.

 

The bellinis are a great touch. We will have early seating this time because of the grandkids but I am sure we will squeeze a happy hour or two in.

 

My personal opinion is that the Diamond breakfast in a separate area of the MDR is much nicer than the Elite continental breakfast. I am not at all impressed with the selection. In my opinion it's rather limited. I like the Diamond breakfast because I can order whatever I want, even things that aren't on the menu, and have an espresso, too. The Diamond breakfast also offers bloody Marys and mimosas, I believe.

 

Otherwise, the Elite benefits are great.

[jackdiamond]

My personal opinion is that the Diamond breakfast in a separate area of the MDR is much nicer than the Elite continental breakfast. I am not at all impressed with the selection. In my opinion it's rather limited. I like the Diamond breakfast because I can order whatever I want, even things that aren't on the menu, and have an espresso, too. The Diamond breakfast also offers bloody Marys and mimosas, I believe.

 

Otherwise, the Elite benefits are great.

I believe that the alcoholic drinks are for a fee.

[Puffinater]

I think jackdiamond is correct about the fee. I am sure if it were included we would be heading to the MDR for breakfast a lot more often:). A continent breakfast is more to our liking so the bellinis and bloody mary's will just add to it. Thanks.

[Kellie Poodle]

I think jackdiamond is correct about the fee. I am sure if it were included we would be heading to the MDR for breakfast a lot more often:). A continent breakfast is more to our liking so the bellinis and bloody mary's will just add to it. Thanks.

 

 

You are probably right. I don't drink in the morning so I never asked. I just remember seeing people ordering them.

 

So sorry for having misled anyone.:o