Top tips for first time in a Silhouette sky suite

[Momma Rene]

I would love to ask what previous suite passengers have requested from their Butler.  We are going to be in a Celebrity Suite and I'd like to make it a wonderful experience.  I am thinking that if I know the reasonable parameters, it would be helpful.

 

 

[C-Dragons]

59 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

I would love to ask what previous suite passengers have requested from their Butler.  We are going to be in a Celebrity Suite and I'd like to make it a wonderful experience.  I am thinking that if I know the reasonable parameters, it would be helpful.

 

 

We always let the Butlers know that we would like to have breakfast every morning on our verandah. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

Well this whole posting makes us wonder if it was worth the $$ for a sky suite on our October cruise. We will go not expecting much and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised!

[chemmo]

23 minutes ago, lovrccl said:

Well this whole posting makes us wonder if it was worth the $$ for a sky suite on our October cruise. We will go not expecting much and hopefully will be pleasantly surprised!

 

Sky suites are worth the extra $$$ If you will enjoy what they offer...

 

A bigger room

Access to Luminae

Access to the Retreat 

Concierge service

Butler service.

 

Some guests don’t spend a lot of time in their room, prefer to dine ship wide rather than having one main regular dining venue, enjoy a different bar each night and do not particularly want or need a butler...They may, rather than go along the suite route, choose a decent veranda cabin and spend their savings on a speciality dining package and a drinks package upgrade.

 

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer to room choice, just what fits in with what you want out of your experience. As we have got older we do spend more time in our suite and on our veranda, we enjoy having a butler to offer that additional service level and the sweet, suite life adds to our cruise enjoyment....

 

Experiences at present do seem mixed. Perhaps a combination of Butlers new to the role and guests unfamiliar with having a butler? On boarding we will do as we always do and chat with our butler about things we would like daily. If there is anything else we would like later in the cruise we will telephone him. Another reason for mixed experiences at present could be the lack of ‘enhancing experiences’ usually offered in the Retreat. There is usually a ‘meet the officers’ event, musical events, helipad sail away, behind the scenes tours...Obviously the concierge at present will be restricted in what can safely be offered...whilst this is totally understandable I do understand it probably does dilute the ‘normal’ suite experience.

[Keddy72]

On 8/21/2021 at 10:12 AM, chemmo said:

 

A pity, but as you say possibly a consequence of present circumstances. Organising events usually means grouping people together, exactly what they want to avoid at present.

 

Was there a helipad sail away on your cruise? I thought that might be one event they could run...

 

For guests who have not cruised suites before there is usually a letter in your room listing the planned events (meet the officers, musical special in the Retreat...). Sometimes the concierge will telephone to remind you of events but not always so you do need to check your list. Also in ‘normal’ times you can speak to the concierge early in the cruise and express an interest in doing a galley tour, a bridge tour or something else and they usually will do their best to accommodate you.

 

 

The only invite we had was for future cruises.  With regards to another post, the reason I said because of Covid, is because the suites are at full capacity even if the ship isn’t.  They are limited to 24 people in the lounge, using the ensemble as an overspill on silhouette. This means they are reluctant to put on events which would result in them turning people away and potentially upsetting guests. 

[chemmo]

16 minutes ago, Keddy72 said:

The only invite we had was for future cruises.  With regards to another post, the reason I said because of Covid, is because the suites are at full capacity even if the ship isn’t.  They are limited to 24 people in the lounge, using the ensemble as an overspill on silhouette. This means they are reluctant to put on events which would result in them turning people away and potentially upsetting guests. 

 

Totally understand that inside events are probably a no go at this time. Also pleased to hear that they are monitoring the number of guests in the  Retreat Lounge. 

 

 

[Mark_T]

45 minutes ago, Keddy72 said:

The only invite we had was for future cruises.  With regards to another post, the reason I said because of Covid, is because the suites are at full capacity even if the ship isn’t.  They are limited to 24 people in the lounge, using the ensemble as an overspill on silhouette. This means they are reluctant to put on events which would result in them turning people away and potentially upsetting guests. 

 

This is why we've skipped the suites for our upcoming 'staycation' cruise and we are trying a Veranda with extensive speciality dining to see how that suits us as an alternative to the butler/retreat/concierge.

 

In general though we did find the extra services and invites to events made a special difference to other longer cruises, especially when things like tendering come into play.

 

We cruise with Regent as well, but rarely make heavy use of the butlers, but always find them ready and willing when needed. 

[Momma Rene]

6 hours ago, Mark_T said:

 

This is why we've skipped the suites for our upcoming 'staycation' cruise and we are trying a Veranda with extensive speciality dining to see how that suits us as an alternative to the butler/retreat/concierge.

 

In general though we did find the extra services and invites to events made a special difference to other longer cruises, especially when things like tendering come into play.

 

We cruise with Regent as well, but rarely make heavy use of the butlers, but always find them ready and willing when needed. 

Hummmm.. This is giving me cause to wonder why should I pay double for the cruise when I can just get a balcony and the specialty restaurants.....  If they limit the lounge and don't have special events, why bother?  I've had room stewards better than some butlers.

[canderson]

6 hours ago, Keddy72 said:

They are limited to 24 people in the lounge,

24???  What is normal capacity there?  Given that suites are far closer to capacity than other cabins on these early cruises, that's got to be a big limitation.

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, canderson said:

24???  What is normal capacity there?  Given that suites are far closer to capacity than other cabins on these early cruises, that's got to be a big limitation.

 

We usually enjoy the Retreat Lounge for pre and sometimes post dinner drinks. As we tend to dine at 6pm most days the lounge is usually quiet pre dinner. I would think on numerous cruises in a variety of ships at 5.30ish there has rarely been more than 20 guests in. Post our dinner 7.30ish the story is usually very different with nearly every table taken....

 

On cruises where suite guests have not automatically had a drinks package the lounge has been much busier than on cruises where they have. I think on these cruises all suite guests have a premium drinks package? This should reduce pressure on the Retreat Lounge as guests will want to enjoy other areas of the ship.

 

In present circumstances limiting the number of guests makes sense and offering an ‘overspill’ area is a reasonable compromise. We had already decided that if the Retreat looked busy post our dinner we would not go in.

 

Lots of other lovely bars to visit! 

[chemmo]

3 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Hummmm.. This is giving me cause to wonder why should I pay double for the cruise when I can just get a balcony and the specialty restaurants.....  If they limit the lounge and don't have special events, why bother?  I've had room stewards better than some butlers.

 

A consideration, especially if you prefer the speciality restaurants to Luminae and room size and butler are not high up on your list of priorities.

 

Whilst we have not cruised Silhouette before we have cruised on her sister ship Reflection which has the same larger range of restaurants than the other S class ships. We really enjoyed the added venues. Whilst Lawn Grill and The Porch may be cooler on these staycations than on our Caribbean experiences we still intend to enjoy! 

 

Room/Suite choice is all about deciding what suits you..

[Mark_T]

No perfect answer here, and where you are cruising and which ship all play into the mix.

 

Even with a limit on numbers, it wouldn't have changed the availability on the Retreat on our last cruise before Covid as the times we were there it was not busy. (pre-2nd show, post-2nd show and sometimes before an early dinner).

 

Even if the special invitational tours are not happening (which is understandable), if your itinerary is port intensive and especially if there a tender ports you'll enjoy the priority access and escorted exits from the Retreat to your tours.

 

If the Officers are spending less time in the Retreat that is again understandable, but I would miss that part for sure.

 

Any time you cruise in a suite it will be special though and if it the first time then you get a chance to figure out if Luminae is for you and test the other suite amenities at prices right now that may be hard to get in the future.