Possible new dining option for suite guests

[C 2 C]

I guess that the restaurant will be open to Zenith level passengers as well as those in suites.

 

We've been told by a Miami exec in charge of the CC program that it will not be a perk.

[uktog]

We've been told by a Miami exec in charge of the CC program that it will not be a perk.

 

I suspect they will be concerned that over time there could be a numbers issue as more reach Zenith

[Orator]

We've been told by a Miami exec in charge of the CC program that it will not be a perk.

 

Several on Century and Connie confirmed that to me as well. However, several agree with my suggestion and think that it could possibly happen in time. Make your opinion known.

[gskimmel]

I fail to understand all this talk about "class segregation" and it not being the American way. What Celebrity are doing is "price segregation" and this, to my outsiders view, is rife in the USA. There are plenty of venues there where you have to pay more to get, essentially, a better product. My understanding is that to avoid "price segregation" you need to live in a truely communist country. Not many of those have ever existed and it is certainly not what I consider the USA to be. Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that you prided yourselves on being THE country where you have the opportunity to be able to work hard to buy the things that you want whoever you are.

 

I totally agree with you. I do not understand why a lot of people are talking about class segregation, either. As far as I am concerned, suite guest passengers are not getting all of these "perks" for free. They are paying for it as part of their cruise ticket. To me, a class system is where people are segregated based off of a particular group they were born into and not how much they are able/willing to pay.

 

Personally, I left Celebrity a couple of years ago because the "perks" of being in a suite did not equate to the price Celebrity was charging. Now that Celebrity is modifying their suite program, I am looking forward to my two cruises with them next year.

[Project_gal]

Personally, I left Celebrity a couple of years ago because the "perks" of being in a suite did not equate to the price Celebrity was charging. Now that Celebrity is modifying their suite program, I am looking forward to my two cruises with them next year.

 

Having spoken to a number of people at Celebrity recently and have been told, unprompted, that this is exactly the reason why Celebrity are introducing these new perks.

[cruiseerf]

I think this is great! We choose off the ship to spend our money at better restaurants with more dramatic settings or we can choose to eat at the local deli. We know with each option we will have a different experience. If we choose to stay in a suite we know we are going to have the butler and space and easy access to reservations and now a private dining area in the main dining room....This is great. If we choose to instead book aqua, we do without the suite perks and enjoy ourselves in Blue.

 

Crystal cruises and Seabourn are competing for these suite passengers as when you enter Celebrity,Royal and Penthouse suite pricing....it begins to look the same and Celebrity NEEDS to compete if they are going to survive. By offering small ship within big ship alternatives, they start to level the playing field.

 

We were huge sailors on Silversea and found that the smaller ships, while nice, were getting old and just too small for our larger groups. We took a Solstice class Celebrity Cruise in large suites 4+ years ago and were sold on the small ship within a big ship concept. We eat every three days in specialty restaurants or Blue or the main dining room and we enjoy the choice that the larger ships offer. I like the Casino and my friends like the shows...The only thing we ABHOR is waiting in line to get off of the large ships with 2000+ people....But if that is the worst, we can deal with it.

 

This new idea makes perfect sense to me. More options.

[sperkins921]

Having spoken to a number of people at Celebrity recently and have been told, unprompted, that this is exactly the reason why Celebrity are introducing these new perks.

 

Though I likely will only cruise in a suite once in a while (ie once every few years) rather than the norm, I think that this is as it should be. If you have the money to spend, you want value for what you buy. This is not meant to be a better than the next man statement, but a literal/general statement. It does not matter whether you're buying gum, a latte, toothpaste, clothes, shoes, car, house, etc. Everyone wants to have the money that they spend be WORTH what they spent. I think that these new perks would indeed do that.

[sperkins921]

The only thing we ABHOR is waiting in line to get off of the large ships with 2000+ people....But if that is the worst, we can deal with it.

 

I'm relatively new to cruising as I had undergrad and medical school/residency to put myself through first before I could really focus on vacationing. I have to say that was the one down side to cruising on the Connie that I felt could have been implemented better- debarkation.

 

It's really really well done on DCL, but then who knows how much of that is having your own terminal at the docks? All I know is it has taken us less than 20 minutes to be off the Dream and the Fantasy and they carry more passengers (and more kids) than the Connie....where it took us about an hour to get off.

 

I do not remember the wait being terrible on the Carnival Victory either, but since that was my first cruise, I had no basis for comparison. It took MUCH longer to get on the Victory so I guess it's a wash.

[cruiseerf]

The Small ship big ship differences really stand out when you are touring AU or NZ. They are agriculturally closed ecosystems so EVERYONE who leaves the ships must be sniffed and checked by dogs and xrays PRIOR to leaving the ship...Add to that random screenings and questions + 2000 persons minimum on the Solstice ....some days we arrived at the wrong time and it took us an hour.

 

If they wanted to really do something nice, they should have a suite priority EXIT line.....Like a TSA pre approved.

 

Alas, First world problems, we enjoy Celebrity's product mostly and still feel there are one of the best games out there for virtually doubling in size in 6 years....We have done Princess and they are not up to it unless you have a great chef onboard....NCL and Carnival are off our list and HAL is ugh. We are trying Oceania as Celebrity has made some errors with our business and look forward to two weeks expanding our horizons this fall. That said, we have a B2B2B coming up next month on Celebrity so that should be fun. Why do my clothes shrink so much in the sea air?

 

Celebrity's itinerary's are getting quite repetitive. How Many times can we see Rome, Santorini, Mykonos,olympia, Kotor and Hvar and Messina and Barcelona.....We have been to these places at least 20 times each at this point. THIS is what might bring us back to the smaller ships. We have a good time at every place however new is good. We are also starting to look at River cruising, which everyone appears to love. Though the lead times for booking these is LONG as the ships are small.

 

Safe travels to all....I repeat...you do get what you pay for....We all make choices as adults.....simple as that.

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Well said.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

 

 

Where have you people been? Everyone is knocking the potential problems of class-disctinct-cruising because those in the bottom inside cabins may get cold soup.

 

Just remember that if you are down there, you’ll enjoy wild parties, good music, and Kate Winslet will take off all her clothes for you and ask you to paint a portrait of her after which, well, she’ll extend the date and you both can fog up the windows together somewhere.

 

I dunno. Cold soup is appealing.

[sperkins921]

Celebrity's itinerary's are getting quite repetitive. How Many times can we see Rome, Santorini, Mykonos,olympia, Kotor and Hvar and Messina and Barcelona.....We have been to these places at least 20 times each at this point.

 

Safe travels to all....I repeat...you do get what you pay for....We all make choices as adults.....simple as that.

 

even though I have 4 weeks of vacation time being in a busy medical practice means that I cannot take them all together. Thus, I just want to say I want either your lifestyle or your vacation time because I've never been any of those places let alone fortunate enough to say that I've been there 20 times lol

 

I do not mean that as a negative it is truly a compliment. Do you have a favorite out of all of those places?

Edited March 23, 2014 by sperkins921

[Charles4515]

even though I have 4 weeks of vacation time being in a busy medical practice means that I cannot take them all together. Thus, I just want to say I want either your lifestyle or your vacation time because I've never been any of those places let alone fortunate enough to say that I've been there 20 times lol

 

I do not mean that as a negative it is truly a compliment. Do you have a favorite out of all of those places?

 

There are not an infinite number of ports where you can dock cruise ships. If one insists on doing all their travel on cruise ships, well duh........

 

Like you I can't take all my five weeks vacation together. Even if you only have a week you can do at a time you can fly over and say spend a week in Italy, France, Ireland, England or Greece and have a wonderful vacation. A med cruise can give you ideas about what to go back to on land vacations. Going to those Med ports 20 times on a cruise, is a waste of vacation time in my opinion.

Edited March 23, 2014 by Charles4515

[sperkins921]

There are not an infinite number of ports where you can dock cruise ships. If one insists on doing all their travel on cruise ships, well duh........

 

Like you I can't take all my five weeks vacation together. Even if you only have a week you can do at a time you can fly over and say spend a week in Italy, France, Ireland, England or Greece and have a wonderful vacation. A med cruise can give you ideas about what to go back to on land vacations. Going to those Med ports 20 times on a cruise, is a waste of vacation time in my opinion.

 

I don't take all my vacation time on a cruise, so I'm not sure if you meant that comment to me- or just in general? Your tone is hard to read on a forum, and honestly, comes over a little harsh.

 

Personally, I'd rather be able to do Europe on a two week basis, which is why I haven't done it yet. Our plan is to begin Europe in 2016. Until then, cruises are quick and easy and fit the bill.

 

Cheers

[Charles4515]

I don't take all my vacation time on a cruise, so I'm not sure if you meant that comment to me- or just in general? Your tone is hard to read on a forum, and honestly, comes over a little harsh.

 

Personally, I'd rather be able to do Europe on a two week basis, which is why I haven't done it yet. Our plan is to begin Europe in 2016. Until then, cruises are quick and easy and fit the bill.

 

Cheers

 

It is not directed at you. It is directed at the person who is complaining about doing the same Mediterranean ports 20 times. Also there are plenty of itineraries in Europe without doing the same over and over. Besides the eastern ports mentioned there are western Med itineraries, Eastern Med that includes Turkey. The Baltic's, the British Isles. The Norwegian Fjords.

[I&J Cruisers]

This isn't really anything new. HAL has had the Neptune Lounge for suites above the junior suite level for years. Norwegian has the Haven that Includes a separate lounge and restaurant for certain suite categories. Msc has the Yacht Club. There may be others that I'm not aware of. If X is losing market share to other cruise lines because they do not offer these extras with their suites the change makes perfect sense. DH said years ago that he thought Blu was an experiment to see if people were willing to pay more for a finer dining experience. I guess the experiment was a success.

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

[sparkymom]

Jediknight-huge LOL!!!

[JEDIKNIGHT]

Jediknight-huge LOL!!!

 

 

Thank you.

 

Here at Jedi Inc we aim to please ;)

 

Happy Cruising to you.

[vulcan1971]

Where have you people been? Everyone is knocking the potential problems of class-disctinct-cruising because those in the bottom inside cabins may get cold soup.

 

Just remember that if you are down there, you’ll enjoy wild parties, good music, and Kate Winslet will take off all her clothes for you and ask you to paint a portrait of her after which, well, she’ll extend the date and you both can fog up the windows together somewhere.

 

I dunno. Cold soup is appealing.

 

I'm not sure why you "quoted" my comment. Chances are you didn't read back to the original posting to understand my reply in context of the conversation going on at that time.

 

Unfortunately, the magic of movies doesn't exist in the reality of today's realm of cruise ship vacations. I make my own fun anywhere I go regardless of my accomodations (sometimes a standard balcony, sometimes a large suite).

[Chazteach1]

When are the changes going to happen? Forgive me if answered already...

[cle-guy]

When are the changes going to happen? Forgive me if answered already...

 

April 15, 2015 is the official start date, but some of the programs are implementing along the way.

[Chazteach1]

April 15, 2015 is the official start date, but some of the programs are implementing along the way.

 

 

In a RS in June/July... hope to maybe see new changes as early as that. I know Equinox is in dry dock for 2 weeks before leaving out again in May.... a gal can hope!

[bonedoc7]

I agree! We have a suite in July and would love to benefit from some of the new perks, free drink package, mini bar replenishment and maybe an extra specialty dinner. I have no interest in the private dining lounge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

We were advised by the HD on the Equinox that they are doing away with Bistro on Five & that will become a dining room for Suite Guests.

 

Considering there are about 66 suites and the size of Bistro on 5 is pretty small, I'm really not sure that would work. :confused: Sectioning off a portion of the main dining room or the select dining makes more sense in my opinion.

Edited March 27, 2014 by DiamondSuiteCruiser

[Orator]

I'm not sure how that will work, when there are about 66 suites and the size of Bistro on 5 is pretty small, I'm really not sure that would work. :confused:

 

People in the know on both Century and Constellation told me that the new Suite restaurant will be located in the MDR. Bistro on 5 will remain as is.

[Cruising89143]

I totally agree with you. I do not understand why a lot of people are talking about class segregation, either. As far as I am concerned, suite guest passengers are not getting all of these "perks" for free. They are paying for it as part of their cruise ticket. To me, a class system is where people are segregated based off of a particular group they were born into and not how much they are able/willing to pay.

 

Personally, I left Celebrity a couple of years ago because the "perks" of being in a suite did not equate to the price Celebrity was charging. Now that Celebrity is modifying their suite program, I am looking forward to my two cruises with them next year.

 

I agree with you about the comments concerning class segregation. It all comes down to what one wants to pay for. Those that pay more receive more. Not too hard to understand. RCI announced a suites only dining room on the new Quantum class.

 

I agree that X suite amenities were short compared to price paid but they were still better than some other lines. We have three upcoming cruises all in suites. Our first cruise with the new perks will be the Summit. I look forward to trying them out.