My take on new Suite Perks - Swing and a miss....

[cynbar]

We had to wait with a beeper several times to be seated in Blu as AQ guests on our Reflection cruise last summer, no way to know if suite guests were taking up some of the spaces but Blu was very crowded every night. I'm hoping the addition of Luminae will help this, Reflection always seemed the worst because of the addition of the AQ suites which are now Sky Suites and presumably eating on the suite restaurant.

[LuAnn]

thanks for your insights and help!! I just don't want to book an AQ stateroom and find out I can't eat in Blu...for breakfast and/or dinner. We are not "spa" people...because my DH can't partake of the "heat" aspect due to his heart conditions...so we book this level of cabin for Blu...which we have so enjoyed!! So thank you for your insights and advice!! While we have long loved/sailed on X...these new "rules" are a bit baffling and appear...to my eye...to be a little inconsistent...guess we will find out on our cruise in June on Eclipse ...when we are booked AQ...I will let you know how it works out!! LuAnn

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

When was this? Everything was wonderful for us in December, January and February.

 

The Thanksgiving cruise and the following one last November.

 

[judyfssw]

I have some questions. On our next 3 cruises, we will be in a SS and a RS. My husband is disabled and our conversation consist of me talking. We will not be traveling with friends. I am an outgoing person and love talking and learning about others. It looks like, as in specialty restaurants, unless you book a table with friends, you sit alone in Luminae. I LOVEd eating in the specialty restaurant because you could choose to sit with others. I'm just wondering if that will ever be addressed in Luminae? What do you think Cle?

[bighairtexan]

~ ~ ~ ~ WAVING AT JUDY~~~~~

As you know Bob is not disabled and OUR conversations also consist of ME TALKING :D ;)

[hulamoon]

Last time X had a big change things smoothed out in a couple of months. So far the more I hear about luminae the more I like Blu. I do hope this changes though.

 

Sorry it was hit and miss Curt.

[Karynanne]

We are sailing on the Reflection next month in Aqua Class and hope the suite restaurant is open for breakfast to prevent overcrowding in Blu. Suite passengers could delay or deny people in Blu if it gets too crowded. I read somewhere on CC that suite passengers are no longer space available and can take priority anytime Blu is open.

 

I thought I read the suite restaurant would be open breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday for the suite passangers. Hopefully Celebrity gets everything worked out.

 

The Reflections arrives in Civitavecchia in a few days and will be departing on the first 11 Day Mediterranean cruise of the season. I hope to read some possitive reports from those on the cruise.

 

 

We just disembarked Reflection today, after the 16 day TA. On sea days Luminae had brunch...on port days, breakfast.

[hcat]

Curt

did your suite have soft towels.?

trying to find out where the upgraded ones went after removed from AQ.. in AQ we.have been getting some worn, ripped, scratchy ones recently!

[C-Dragons]

We just disembarked Reflection today, after the 16 day TA. On sea days Luminae had brunch...on port days, breakfast.

That's what I thought Karen, thanks for posting!

I hope your dining experience in Luminae was very good! :)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Well darn !

 

When I first heard of the dining area for suite guests a few months ago I assumed it would be like the Haven on NCL - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, that's not the case now... it's only dinner, and lunch (brunch) on sea days?

 

Any copies out there showing what some of the dinner menus are?

 

I suppose this means that suite guests no longer get a cover waived in a specialty restaurant?

 

THANKS,

 

Tom

[Iamcruzin]

• Dedicated private restaurant reserved exclusively for all Suite Class guests morning, noon and night
  

* Available on Solstice® Class and Millennium® Class ships only.

 

 

I just copied the above from the full description of a Sky Suite. Maybe when it's fully complete with furniture and new place settings, three meals will be served.

[judyfssw]

Hey Sharon,

Like the hair and glasses. Hope we meet again soon.

[parallax]

My experience in the RS on Reflection was similar in many ways to yours. We had Bulgari, which I love, and will be very disappointed to hear that it's gone.

 

For about half the price of the RS I could've taken an MSC Divina cruise in the Yacht Club and would've had almost everything Celebrity promises plus a private pool with open bar, private check in, with luggage, full daily newspaper and a suite restaurant with three meals a day. We booked this for next year. Celebrity take note.

 

I am sorry to hear that experience did not go as well you hoped. We recently did the Yacht Club and we were blown away. I think the YC has some built in advantages because it truly structured to be a ship within a ship. I agree that some of the kinks will take time to work out and the experience will improve over time.

 

One of the interesting nuggets that I discovered on the Divina was that many of the butlers in the Yacht Club previously worked for Celebrity. I did not ask why they moved so I do not know what to make out of it.

[kenevenpar]

Well darn !

 

When I first heard of the dining area for suite guests a few months ago I assumed it would be like the Haven on NCL - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, that's not the case now... it's only dinner, and lunch (brunch) on sea days?

 

Any copies out there showing what some of the dinner menus are?

 

I suppose this means that suite guests no longer get a cover waived in a specialty restaurant?

 

THANKS,

 

Tom

 

There is a thread started by Need2bespoiled (Jenna) that has menus and pictures.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2191869

Edited April 27, 2015 by kenevenpar

[need2bespoiled]

Tom,

 

Yes, disappointing for sure about lunch.

 

For menus click the link to the April 2015 summit sailing in my signature. 7 of the dinner menus, breakfast and lunch menus as well as pictures of dishes are there.

 

Suite guests still have breakfast in Blu on sea days, and the same complimentary specialty dining except Royal Suite and up which is now unlimited so for lunch on port days they have Bistro on 5. This leaves out CS and down as the sea day brunch menu and times covers lunch as long as they offer it on every sea day. I'm not sure if that's the case on sailings with many consecutive sea days.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 27, 2015 by need2bespoiled

[cle-guy]

Hey Folks, some clarifications and answers...

1. Luminae was open every day for breakfast, except for 1 - the last sea day when they did brunch instead. Mind you on the TA we had a time change 6 times, so that may have determined the final Brunch versus Breakfast and separate Lunch.
   
2. Luminae, Lunch was served every day except embarkation, port days, and the "brunch" day
   
3. Towels, I felt the towels were fluffy and not scratchy. The bathmat was normal, the washcloths normal.
   
4. Amenities, were the "Celebrity" brand by Gilchrest & Soames (? - not sure of spelling) but seemed to be larger portions that normal cabins, nothing fancy or "upgraded" about them other than the size of the tubes.
   
5. Why do I say i felt SkySuties were actually "downgraded" - simply in that the Amenities were no longer Bulgari, everything else seemed there. Only "upgrade" was Luminae, rest of the perks are really "fluff" for CS and Below so far as I'm concerned.
   
6. Sharing of internet. Yes this could be done. You'd have to set up your account, and then give your friend your user ID and PIN code so they can log in. Be aware though that when they do, they will have to log you off of your devices. Not a big deal, just something to consider. Since I got free unlimited internet, I set up my also included Captain's Club account for its free minutes and let a friend use those up, while I was able to simultaneously use my "free package" that I logged into using a special code given to us by the concierge, not by the normal routine of setting up an account.
   
7. The tables in Luminae started out as generic ones with table cloths, and a few days in swapped out with the glass-topped ones. Must have just been a timing issue, as we had all sea days up front, so the tables were on-baord, perhaps need time to assemble. Chairs seemed to be same as MDR, didn't pay close attention to them.
   

 

Overall the tone of my thread is simply hoping Celebrity actually pays attention to the issues they have with training and implementation of programs. It was quite upsetting that the fares increased dramatically, yet they failed to deliver on the promises of the program. Not even a note saying "please bear with us". I think, like others, that management just passes out memos and never trains. Though my butler did say staff got to eat in Luminae to experience it, he pushed Luminae, seems at the same time management should have gone thru the Suite Perks Document, as well a additional in-depth training. I'd have thought it was an issue of no time to gather and train due to the nature of cruising and 24/7/365 activity, but knowing the relevant staff did gather to experience Luminae, that was a huge missed opportunity for extended training and implementation.

 

I didn't bother to discuss the Michaels Lounge issue with the concierge since he had already in no uncertain terms told me "no", and other guests had tried to have this discussion to no avail that I had met in the lounge, and at same time did not want to disrupt the other guest and be a "tattle tail" and ruin his cruise as well. I did raise the issue in my post-cruise survey however. Also didn't bother with the hotel director, as I have in the past, and frankly am tired of discussing the pitfalls of solo traveling with them (even though usually some sort of OBC is granted when I do), so now also raise those concerns in the post cruise survey, and a "strongly worded" letter yet to follow to their customer service department - perhaps doing it via Corporate will result in better overall results than HD to HD ship to ship.

 

If I missed anyone's questions, let me know, happy to reply.

 

It is nice to see that some ships got what has been promised, yet at the same time, disturbing to see how all over the place the implementation is and how each ship is having such variances in the program, yet all are being charged a relatively same premium for the program. I can easily look past "cosmetic" issues such as the tables and chairs in Luminae, but to be missing amenities, have policies enforced differently to different people, and to have to argue (and train) with staff to get what is promised, means they missed the boat to me.

Edited April 27, 2015 by cle-guy

[WNcruiser]

Curt, thanks for the report and the clarification on the meals served in Lumiane. I couldn't imagine them just serving dinner there as it was advertised for all three meals. I would have just stuck with Aqua if that was the case.

 

For those of you discussing suite guests in Blu. On the Eclipse T/A last year we were in a RS and ate in Blu almost every night. We never had to wait and were always welcomed in. As some of you have said, Luminae will definitely cut down on suites guests dining in Blu.

 

Steve

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Thanks for the replies - and link!

 

Tom

[Iamthesea]

Thank you for the Sky Suite clarification, Curt. ;)

[doowopbob]

Curt

How late did they serve drinks in Michaels?

[hulamoon]

Curt

How late did they serve drinks in Michaels?

 

I am curious about this too.

[EagleRocker]

We are on the Reflection now for the Eastern Med cruise that left today, in an aft S1. We have the Bulgaria toiletries. Luminae was very good tonight, not full for an 8:30 seating on a sold out cruise, service was speedy and good, and we enjoyed our vegetarian items.

[Westyone]

Curt, as always, thanks for your informative and rational posts. I also believe it is best to let "the powers to be" know when I /we are disappointed in a courteous but firm way rather than grumbling. It's all about managing expectations on the part of the cruise line. Celebrity put out a fact sheet and as we pay for the suite level experience we expect Celebrity to deliver what they promise. We generally stay in RS because the extra room and service has been helpful given that my husband has a disability issue. One butler even helped my husband fix his prosletic leg when he came into the room as saw my husband had a problem. On the other hand, it is incredible how many times a butler has given us incorrect information in the past. We are sailing on Solstice in two months and i do hope (expect) that all the kinks in suite level experience will have been worked out by then.

[kk99]

Hi Curt,

Thanks for posting your thoughts. We were on the first official sailing with the new Luminae menu and perks.

 

We were on the first official Michael's Club perks and Luminae on the Constellation sailing on 4-4-15.

We had enjoyed the unofficial Michael's Club perks on at least five sailings on three different ships during the prior year.

For our sailing we had a penthouse, a royal and an Aqua cabin

 

I sent a letter to Celebrity so as to hopefully get a response and I am hoping before we are on the Summit again this August, that the roll out items are all being smoothly handled.

 

The absolute pluses were the unlimited internet, Michael's Club and the premium beverage package for the RS and PS, and the wonderful personnel on the ship.

 

We had a friend in the aqua class cabin, and knew we could not bring her into Michael's and did not even ask the concierges(We had both Leo and Gareth on our sailing). I did witness other guests disregard Celebrity's rule on this.

 

The coolers have locks on them in Michael's on the Constellation so if you wanted to go when there was no staff around, you would not have been able to get a water or soda from the case. When we were on this time, there was staff there usually from early in the morning until around 10:30 p.m. on this short sailing to get you the beverage of your choice.

 

They would get you brewed coffees from Café al Bacio. They did have a machine in Michael's but it was more instant than we like.

 

We did have the Bulgari toiletries in the two suite cabins on our sailing.

 

Luminae, which I am sure will improve service and options was a half miss for us.

Service which is brand new was too long for meal times, which I believe will improve with time. I personally thought they could shorten the dining times by skipping the amuse bouche and the sorbet and put that in my comments when asked by the chef and the Captain.

 

The first night, we did not have the option of getting even a plain green salad or getting items from the main dining room. The wine menu for those choices by the glass over and above the premium cost package( which we were willing to pay) was nonexistent on our cruise. We did order different bottles, but really each just wanted a glass or two of different wines the first night.

 

Breakfast was good, and dinner options including salads improved as well as to get an option from the main dining room menu. We paid the upcharge for our friend in the non suite to eat with us at meals.

 

 

The only menu to order to the room was from the main dining room menu as they had not yet implemented the expanded ordering as set out in the brochure.

 

What was a disappointment was that it appeared that no one on the ship had the new benefits sheet at guest relations , Michael's Club concierge or with the butlers. We had many different answers, until I xeroxed and gave them our copy straight from Celebrity's website about what was included to both guest relations and our Butler. I helped the MC concierge find it on their computer, and they downloaded it while I was in there.

 

We were charged for eating at Bistro on Five. We were charged for drinking bottled water in the room. One Butler told us that anything in the fridge was complimentary, and the other suite was told nothing was complimentary except for what was sitting on the counter which was the two bottles of alcohol and the mixers. The Bistro on Five and the water charges were reversed after two trips to Guest Relations.

 

The people in the royal suite had three adults in there, and two had the premium package, and the third was told they did not get anything, even though the brochure said all occupants of the room get the premium drink package included. This also took two trips to Guest Relations by them to get it fixed. The first time, they put the wrong sticker on the guest's card for the classic beverage package. It was fixed on the second trip.

 

I think the staff on Constellation were wonderful, and really like the concierges and butlers, but no one seemed to be on the same page. So when I read that Curt had some similar minor issues, it should have been fixed by the start of the transatlantic.

 

We have three more cruises on Celebrity this year on different ships, and I am looking forward to an improved and smoother suite product. I just wish that the program had been rolled out better and perhaps with some more practice.

 

Some of it almost comical and we always have a good time. I just got the spring Captain's Club mailer last week or so. I definitely think they need to revise the website page to update what is or is not included so people are correctly informed.

[New Hampshire]

Where is Luminae located on each class of ships?