Is a Sky Suite worth the premium over AquaClass?

[miched]

You're likely to receive a number of responses advising that the daily 'classic' menu items are available to order. However on our last cruise in Blu in December we were able to order anything from both menus.

 

The things to bear in mind here are that this was on an M class ship and the maitre 'd knew that we were not overly impressed with food and service this time. That might have swayed his decision to offer this.

 

On the M class they may make exceptions because the kitchen is shared with Blu since Blu was a add on and doesn’t have its own Kitchen.

 

On the S Class Blu was part of the original design and has its own kitchen. So they don’t have access like they do on the M class. There are the very rare occasions where your server may really go out of his way to make a special trip to the MDR kitchen but it isn’t easy to do and while he is gone so is service for everyone.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Londoncruising1971]

I thought I would dig this discussion out of the archives and get it going again as many of us will be rethinking the way we cruise after the crazy 18 months we've all just had. Also added into the mix are the "Always included" percs and the recent addition of the "Retreat sundeck".

We are quite new to cruising with 6 under our belts, 4 of which have been with Celebrity. We are about to sail this weekend on a 6 day "Staycation" cruise on Silly. We will be in a Sky Suite.

We have sailed once on a Balcony, twice in Aqua and once in a Sky Suite previously. I'm celebrating a big birthday this year, and while we planned to be in South Africa watching rugby, we will instead be sailing around the UK.

Mrs C and I have a different take on the whole Suite v standard room debate. We love to eat in great restaurants (on land as well as on sea), and we love good wines and cocktails. The room doesn't really bother us as we spend almost no time in there. We did enjoy Luminae on our previous Sky Suite cruise (also on Silly), and also really liked Michaels. While there's that warm fuzzy feeling of "turning left" when sailing in a suite, my feeling is that we could book one of the nice aft concierge rooms, and eat in Murano every night for less than the cost of a Sky Suite. This is especially true with the on board spend that's now always included. We would also upgrade to a Premium drinks package, but again this wouldn't scratch the surface of the additional cost of a Sky Suite in most cases.

We're really looking forward to our first cruise back though, and will be very interested to see whether the combination of a revolutionised ship and a change to the percs will push us towards or away from booking Suites in the future

[Cruise a holic]

32 minutes ago, Londoncruising1971 said:

I thought I would dig this discussion out of the archives and get it going again as many of us will be rethinking the way we cruise after the crazy 18 months we've all just had. Also added into the mix are the "Always included" percs and the recent addition of the "Retreat sundeck".

We are quite new to cruising with 6 under our belts, 4 of which have been with Celebrity. We are about to sail this weekend on a 6 day "Staycation" cruise on Silly. We will be in a Sky Suite.

We have sailed once on a Balcony, twice in Aqua and once in a Sky Suite previously. I'm celebrating a big birthday this year, and while we planned to be in South Africa watching rugby, we will instead be sailing around the UK.

Mrs C and I have a different take on the whole Suite v standard room debate. We love to eat in great restaurants (on land as well as on sea), and we love good wines and cocktails. The room doesn't really bother us as we spend almost no time in there. We did enjoy Luminae on our previous Sky Suite cruise (also on Silly), and also really liked Michaels. While there's that warm fuzzy feeling of "turning left" when sailing in a suite, my feeling is that we could book one of the nice aft concierge rooms, and eat in Murano every night for less than the cost of a Sky Suite. This is especially true with the on board spend that's now always included. We would also upgrade to a Premium drinks package, but again this wouldn't scratch the surface of the additional cost of a Sky Suite in most cases.

We're really looking forward to our first cruise back though, and will be very interested to see whether the combination of a revolutionised ship and a change to the percs will push us towards or away from booking Suites in the future

We all have different priorities.  We enjoy a larger comfortable suite.  Want decent closet and drawer space as well as a nice bathroom. Really enjoy the suite deck, lounge and restaurant.  The edge has the best suite deck and lounge.  While things changed, we like priority boarding and the special sail away parties and entertainment.  Enjoy the daily tea service and snacks in the lounge.   But of course to each his/her own

 

but as prices continue to rise, we might consider a well located balcony cabin and sn unlimited dining package 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Cruise a holic

[graphicguy]

Never been in an AQ cabin, but just finished a cruise in the Retreat on the Edge, and just booked another for this month.  The balcony cabin I sailed was 10 years ago, and was on the Solstice.  Both Caribbean cruises.  Both around the same time of year.

 

This becomes a price comparison at this point, for me.

 

Solstice was I believe $2,100 fare for the balcony cabin.  I know drinks for both of us were a whopping $900 for the week.  Could I have bought a drink package and saved some $$$?  I don’t know.  But, it sure didn’t seem like we drank that much.  Throw in a couple of dinners at specialty dining (which wasn’t as much of a thing as it is now), and I believe my bill came to right around $3,300 for 2, add in another $100 for tips.  If I had sailed solo, the price would have pretty much stayed the same, except for drinks.  So, for solo, let’s round it off to $3,000.

 

Fast forward to the EDGE.  First, much nicer ship (not that the Solstice wasn’t, but no match for the EDGE).  Believe it or not, the balcony cabin wasn’t much different price wise as it was years ago on the Solstice.  So, that’s a wash.  But, now you get the AI perks, if you want them.  Nice!

 

Where the real comparison gets interesting, is the pricing of the Retreat on the EDGE.  Picking a Sky Suite, you get Premium Bevs, Streaming WiFi, Tips included, $600 OBC.  Plus, you get Butler services (and mine fell all over himself to help me do ANYTHING……room service, dinner service on the balcony, keeping the fridge stocked with soft drinks, water and beer, having my laundry done for me, etc).  The concierges did even more.  ALL of my reservations for dinner, internet problems solved, billing snafus handled without going to customer service, getting me drinks in the Retreat Lounge, setting up excursions, etc.

 

In short, I didn’t lift a finger.  They took care of it for me.

 

Pricing…..for 2 in the Sky Suite it would cost $5,300, all in.  That’s everything….tips, drinks, fees, etc…..EVERYTHING.  But, there’s also OBC, and a rebate from my TA to take into consideration.

 

Where it gets interesting, is booking next month solo.  Same Sky Suite, same premium drinks, WiFi, tips, etc.  Fare is $3,700, all in.  But, I also get $600 OBC (which I believe is refundable) and a $225 rebate from my TA.  So, now I’m under $3,000 for a Suite, in the Retreat, with all the service, The Luminae (which honestly, I’ll just dine there instead of any speciality restaurant).

 

Even for 2, that would be less than $4,500 for a Suite and everything that goes with it, after the rebate and OBC.

 

Price a similar Haven Suite on NCL or a Star Suite on Royal, which would be similar to the RETREAT. You’ll be at 2X-4X more for the same experience.  ON NCL, you’ll still have to pay additional service fees.

 

So, for the money, sailing in a Sky Suite, getting better drinks, Luminae, the service of the Butler and Concierge, getting a private bar, pool and lounge, for roughly $1,000 more, priority embarkation and disembarkation?  I’d take the Retreat.

[downsmead]

We have just returned from sailing in a Sky suite for the first time on the Silhouette. We usually have an Aqua cabin. On this occasion we choose the suite as the upcost from Aqua was very reasonable. We enjoyed the extra perks that came with the suite - premium drinks, fast WiFi and OBC. The room was nice and we appreciated the space. Luminae and The Retreat were good but found that there was not much shade on the retreat decks. A number of the suite perks were ‘not applicable’ on our sailing due to the current constraints.

Overall in future I think I would prefer to book Aqua and use the difference in cost to pay for the extras plus some speciality dining. Though ultimately it would depend on the price difference between the two. 

[Londoncruising1971]

3 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Never been in an AQ cabin, but just finished a cruise in the Retreat on the Edge, and just booked another for this month.  The balcony cabin I sailed was 10 years ago, and was on the Solstice.  Both Caribbean cruises.  Both around the same time of year.

 

This becomes a price comparison at this point, for me.

 

Solstice was I believe $2,100 fare for the balcony cabin.  I know drinks for both of us were a whopping $900 for the week.  Could I have bought a drink package and saved some $$$?  I don’t know.  But, it sure didn’t seem like we drank that much.  Throw in a couple of dinners at specialty dining (which wasn’t as much of a thing as it is now), and I believe my bill came to right around $3,300 for 2, add in another $100 for tips.  If I had sailed solo, the price would have pretty much stayed the same, except for drinks.  So, for solo, let’s round it off to $3,000.

 

Fast forward to the EDGE.  First, much nicer ship (not that the Solstice wasn’t, but no match for the EDGE).  Believe it or not, the balcony cabin wasn’t much different price wise as it was years ago on the Solstice.  So, that’s a wash.  But, now you get the AI perks, if you want them.  Nice!

 

Where the real comparison gets interesting, is the pricing of the Retreat on the EDGE.  Picking a Sky Suite, you get Premium Bevs, Streaming WiFi, Tips included, $600 OBC.  Plus, you get Butler services (and mine fell all over himself to help me do ANYTHING……room service, dinner service on the balcony, keeping the fridge stocked with soft drinks, water and beer, having my laundry done for me, etc).  The concierges did even more.  ALL of my reservations for dinner, internet problems solved, billing snafus handled without going to customer service, getting me drinks in the Retreat Lounge, setting up excursions, etc.

 

In short, I didn’t lift a finger.  They took care of it for me.

 

Pricing…..for 2 in the Sky Suite it would cost $5,300, all in.  That’s everything….tips, drinks, fees, etc…..EVERYTHING.  But, there’s also OBC, and a rebate from my TA to take into consideration.

 

Where it gets interesting, is booking next month solo.  Same Sky Suite, same premium drinks, WiFi, tips, etc.  Fare is $3,700, all in.  But, I also get $600 OBC (which I believe is refundable) and a $225 rebate from my TA.  So, now I’m under $3,000 for a Suite, in the Retreat, with all the service, The Luminae (which honestly, I’ll just dine there instead of any speciality restaurant).

 

Even for 2, that would be less than $4,500 for a Suite and everything that goes with it, after the rebate and OBC.

 

Price a similar Haven Suite on NCL or a Star Suite on Royal, which would be similar to the RETREAT. You’ll be at 2X-4X more for the same experience.  ON NCL, you’ll still have to pay additional service fees.

 

So, for the money, sailing in a Sky Suite, getting better drinks, Luminae, the service of the Butler and Concierge, getting a private bar, pool and lounge, for roughly $1,000 more, priority embarkation and disembarkation?  I’d take the Retreat.

At those prices and with those percs, the Sky Suite looks like a no brainer.

 

We did NCL in the Haven just before the world locked down. Loved the ship (Getaway) as well as the Haven percs, but the service didn't compare. (Another real tick in the box for a suite with Celebrity)

 

We've not been on an Edge class ship yet. We had cruises on Edge and Apex bumped. We had booked Aqua on those, but truth be told I would probably want to go balcony. There are so many restaurants I'd want to try, I'd feel like I was missing out. Regardless, Mrs C makes these types of decisions and you know what they say about sailing once in a suite and never going back!! 

[Londoncruising1971]

10 minutes ago, downsmead said:

We have just returned from sailing in a Sky suite for the first time on the Silhouette. We usually have an Aqua cabin. On this occasion we choose the suite as the upcost from Aqua was very reasonable. We enjoyed the extra perks that came with the suite - premium drinks, fast WiFi and OBC. The room was nice and we appreciated the space. Luminae and The Retreat were good but found that there was not much shade on the retreat decks. A number of the suite perks were ‘not applicable’ on our sailing due to the current constraints.

Overall in future I think I would prefer to book Aqua and use the difference in cost to pay for the extras plus some speciality dining. Though ultimately it would depend on the price difference between the two. 

Which of the percs were "not applicable"?

[Cruise a holic]

Just now, Londoncruising1971 said:

Which of the percs were "not applicable"?

Personally I wouldn’t ever book Aqua again.  Did not enjoy the persian garden, blu or other “perks”