Simply Sail Suite GTY and EDGE Retreat questions

[CruiseAF]

How does this work? I was under the assumption that everything was included in the retreat. do they still ask for your key card in the retreat for alcohol?

 

looking at a 7 day edge in a Suite GTY that's a simply sail restriction

[C-Dragons]

8 minutes ago, CruiseAF said:

How does this work? I was under the assumption that everything was included in the retreat. do they still ask for your key card in the retreat for alcohol?

 

looking at a 7 day edge in a Suite GTY that's a simply sail restriction

No need to show key cards in the Retreat. The staff recognize you by your photo that you upload when you fill out your online check in.

We've never done a Simply sail restricted fare, so not sure about what is required in the rest of the ship.

Edited May 27, 2021 by C-Dragons

[CruiseAF]

Just now, C-Dragons said:

No need to show key cards. The staff recognize you by your photo that you upload when you fill out your online check in.

so they will still give me alcohol for free?

[C-Dragons]

15 minutes ago, CruiseAF said:

so they will still give me alcohol for free?

In the Retreat yes, it's included in the Retreat fare. But since we've never done a Simply sail restricted fare, I'm not sure about what is required in the rest of the ship. You might have to purchase a beverage package.

[wrk2cruise]

Beverages on the rest of the ship will be charged to your seapass card.  

 

Take a close look at your "savings" with the  Simply Sail rate.   Especially with the Retreat consider that gratuities will be $266 (19 *7 *2) and you will not be receiving the $600 of OBC and the stateroom with be GTY.    I don't need a beverage package or wifi and I've never seen the "discount" to make sense to me.

[SHIP TRAVELER]

We have sailed on a Suite GTY in the past.  We had a sky suite and could dine in Luminae and have free drinks in Micheal's club.  We could not have free drinks in Luminae so we drank tap water there and carried in a glass of wine from Micheal's or using our Elite benefit from a bar nearby.  We brought two bottles of wine on board but our butler fixed us up with another bottle of wine and some beers in our room fridge.  You could bring self serve canned soda, beer and bottled water from Micheal"s to have in the room.  We had our Elite drinks and WIFI benefit and only had to pay gratuities.  The staff certainly did not treat us like second class citizens. The waiter in Luminae always put our wine in nicer glass with a smile.  This was before AI and increased OBC for suites.  If the math works out you should consider the GTY.  We were lucky in being assigned a good cabin.  Remember that on some ships some sky suites are located under the buffet and can be noisy. 

 

 

 

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[wrk2cruise]

It's just that with the current Simply Sail discount the math doesn't work for me.   Celebrity is trying very hard to keep the prices HIGH and promote the "value" of AI.  

 

But with the introduction of these rates on lots of sailings this summer it appears they have many more berths to fill.

 

Time will tell

 

[GACRUISER456]

I'm trying to understand how this Simply Sail rate works for the suites on the Edge.  We are Elite status, so we have the happy hour in the evening and enough wi-fi for the week.  We don't need any beverage package.  For us, it seems to work just fine for us to pay the cruise only rate plus the gratuities.  So, is it correct that we will still have access to the retreat with no problem?  It sounds like there are drinks and food there throughout the day that just being in a suite gets us access to?  We have been away from Celebrity for awhile, so I haven't kept up with this new class of category.  Looking forward to coming back though!

[bajathree]

My bet is that they will be working this one out as they go. I have a hard time believing they will be giving unlimited access to free drink in the retreat with the Simply Sail rate. People will just keep going back to the retreat all the time for drinks....kind of defeats the purpose for them offering a "fare only" price with no perks.

Edited May 27, 2021 by bajathree

[wrk2cruise]

2 hours ago, bajathree said:

My bet is that they will be working this one out as they go. I have a hard time believing they will be giving unlimited access to free drink in the retreat with the Simply Sail rate. People will just keep going back to the retreat all the time for drinks....kind of defeats the purpose for them offering a "fare only" price with no perks.

 

Retreat access has always provided complimentary beverages in that venue for everyone with access regardless if you have a beverage package or not.   I wouldn't expect this to change.   In the past I often used resident or senior rates which didn't include perks and no differentiation in Retreat.

 

If the pricing works for you great if you are considering adding gratuities and not getting the OBC.   From what I've been seeing it's been less than $100 difference for me.  Having the beverage package to order a soda at the buffet or in the dining room was worth that to me.   There is also a value difference to me between selecting a stateroom and a GTY.

 

To me Celebrity is grossly undervaluing the value of the difference between AI and Simply Sail.   In the past I've received up to $1500 discount pp for not taking the 4 PERKS on a 10/11 night sailing.  And that was when rates were significantly less expensive.

 

In my opinion just the GTY aspect should be worth  5%.

Edited May 28, 2021 by wrk2cruise

[jagoffee]

5 hours ago, bajathree said:

My bet is that they will be working this one out as they go. I have a hard time believing they will be giving unlimited access to free drink in the retreat with the Simply Sail rate. People will just keep going back to the retreat all the time for drinks....kind of defeats the purpose for them offering a "fare only" price with no perks.

I cannot speak to what happens in the “retreat”, but I have had a lot of experience in the previous Michael’s Club.  The Michael’s did not serve alcoholic drinks all day long.  I am fairly confident that Celebrity would not allow you to just stop by to get a free drink and take it our of the Michael’s Club.  
Before the four perks became  a frequent add on to all suites, it was cruisers often did not have a beverage package.
 

I serious doubt whether the “Michael’s club” area of the Retreat will have two “classes” of people. 

 

 

 

 

[kathynorth]

We booked a last minute suite without perks in the past and were permitted to take drinks out of Michaels. Lots of people did this and there’s really no way of knowing who did or didn’t have a drink package since it didn’t matter in Michaels. The bartender also offered us bottled water and cans of soda to take to our room. 

[wrk2cruise]

I was on one cruise a few years ago where they were strict about not taking drinks out of the lounge.  I suspect it was the bar manager on that particular cruise.   As we sailed with the same concierge a couple of more times and it was never an issue.

 

They generally don't setup the bar with alcohol until about 11 am but never saw anyone have trouble getting a drink if the bar was setup.  The problem is that sometimes there is no bar staff assigned so you may need to ask the concierge and they will find someone to come serve you.  Usually on S class ships one of the Murano staff is assigned but they do double duty doing prep next door.   Usually by afternoon the regular bartenders are there.