The Retreat/Suite Experience Tips

[avp1234]

We will be on the Feb. 12th sailing of the Apex to celebrate our birthdays. We've cruised Celebrity many times, but this will be our first time in a suite. Excited about The Retreat! We're on the 9th floor in an S2. Any suggestions or advice on things we may want to check out or do? I've heard great things about Luminae, but looking at the menu online, we may prefer other dining. Super excited about trying the suite experience! Any tips?

[r2h2]

Luminae will probably be crowded. We went to Blu and it was very good and not many people. We dined at appx 630PM. The pool deck at the Retreat was usually crowded but we enjoyed meeting the people there.  The hot tub in the solarium was wonderful. It had some very powerful jets. Just realized you are on the Apex. We were on the Edge but the pictures of the Apex look very similar to what we enjoyed on the Edge. The martini bar was a happening place every night. Really enjoyed that and dancing/listening to a great band that played 70's/80's music.

[mafig]

"Luminae will probably be crowded.'

"The pool deck at the Retreat was usually crowded......."

 

I keep reading this.  🙁  It concerns me.  Does it trouble anyone else?

 

 

[LGW59]

Just now, mafig said:

"Luminae will probably be crowded.'

"The pool deck at the Retreat was usually crowded......."

 

I keep reading this.  🙁  It concerns me.  Does it trouble anyone else?

 

 

nope

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, r2h2 said:

Luminae will probably be crowded. We went to Blu and it was very good and not many people. We dined at appx 630PM. The pool deck at the Retreat was usually crowded but we enjoyed meeting the people there.  The hot tub in the solarium was wonderful. It had some very powerful jets. Just realized you are on the Apex. We were on the Edge but the pictures of the Apex look very similar to what we enjoyed on the Edge. The martini bar was a happening place every night. Really enjoyed that and dancing/listening to a great band that played 70's/80's music.

How crowded Luminae is going to vary from cruise to cruise. On our Dec. 11-20th Apex cruise Luminae was never crowded at the height of the dinner time-7-7:30.

 

Yes the Retreat area was crowded around the pool but if you look for loungers on the other side they were always available. And the servers equally came over to attend to your needs. 

 

The Apex Solarium has two hot tubs vs one on the Edge. 

[39august]

Give Luminae a try. We feel the food is usually very good. If you wish to eat in Blu, you need to clear it with the maitr d' in Luminae first I believe.  Also, if you wish, you may order from the children's menu in Luminae. There is always a filet from that available. And if you ask 24 hours in advance, the chef there will prepare just about anything if the ingredients are on board. 

[r2h2]

Never had trouble getting a lounge chair and Luminae spaced you out fairly well but this was just before the Omicrom surge hit and they began requiring masks.

[r2h2]

1 minute ago, 39august said:

Give Luminae a try. We feel the food is usually very good. If you wish to eat in Blu, you need to clear it with the maitr d' in Luminae first I believe.  Also, if you wish, you may order from the children's menu in Luminae. There is always a filet from that available. And if you ask 24 hours in advance, the chef there will prepare just about anything if the ingredients are on board. 

No need to clear it with anyone.  Just go to Blu and they will seat you .

[kwokpot]

On the night Luminae serves Poached Lobster is a dessert called the Chocolate bomb. That night's menu is pretty astounding. The lobster, scallops, and risotto were all excellent.

Edit: The photos are in reverse order of the night's meal, including the Amuse Bouche.

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by kwokpot

[jelayne]

31 minutes ago, mafig said:

"Luminae will probably be crowded.'

"The pool deck at the Retreat was usually crowded......."

 

I keep reading this.  🙁  It concerns me.  Does it trouble anyone else?

 

 

When we were on the Edge B2B Retreat was fully booked.  This was in October pre omicron and it didn’t bother us.

 

Boarding the Reflection in a couple of weeks and am concerned with the reports of mask requirement not being enforced.  We are in a suite and I expect Move Up will fill the remaining suites.   We will  avoid the Retreat Lounge ( never really cared for it as Michals), Martini bar 😢 (our fav) and spend more time at the Sunset Bar, 

We plan to have dinner on our balcony a couple of nights as well as the Lawn Grill & Porch and Cellar Masters will be a option since it’s rarely busy.

[HALrunner]

I've heard suite guests can have specialty coffee's delivered to their suite. If this is true, should the coffee be ordered on the door hanger breakfast card or how?

[George C]

We did edge and suites were sold out , never had a issue with Luminae getting a table , outdoor retreat area was super nice , pool was super crowded most days, I know there are a few things that you can order in Luminae that are not on the menu, don’t miss the lobster roll for lunch , I think it was the second day. We did a move up from sky to penthouse. Can’t wait for our beyond cruise in November in sky suite.

[miched]

Use your Butler.   We have had some that did nothing for us but then again we never asked or demanded anything.    We had others that did everything they could to please us and we’re disappointed when we didn’t ask or request anything.  
 

We are not demanding or comfortable with others doing what we feel we can do ourselves but it is nice to have Americanos and a few pastries delivered to the suite every morning to start the day. 
 

They get about $10/day/ cabin if they do anything or not.  Those that gave us more got the extra gratuity at the end of the cruise.   Those that didn’t do anything go the same.  
 

A friend told me  that one time they had a butler that wouldn’t do anything that they asked.  It wasn’t anything different then what they had in suites before.  The butler would tell them that they could do it themselves and it wasn’t part of his duties.  The 2nd night they  met and  talked to the suite manager in the Retreat Lounge and they got a different butler that was fantastic 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

[emmas gran]

41 minutes ago, HALrunner said:

I've heard suite guests can have specialty coffee's delivered to their suite. If this is true, should the coffee be ordered on the door hanger breakfast card or how?

Never asked my butler/ Retreat host to go to Al Bacio to get our coffee

[miched]

Be sure to utilize the Retreat Lounge during the social hours in the evening especially on evening chic night and let or make sure that the photographers take your picture with the officers.   It is also nice time to meet the officers.  
 

 Don’t ask why just do it.   I am sure you will thank me later for this tip.  

 

For those that know don’t tell them why.  Although I am sure that

they can figure it out. 
 

Happy cruising.  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[emmas gran]

1 minute ago, miched said:

Be sure to utilize the Retreat Lounge during the social hours in the evening especially on evening chic night and let or make sure that the photographers take your picture with the officers.   It is also nice time to meet the officers.  
 

 Don’t ask why just do it.   I am sure you will thank me later for this tip.  

 

For those that know don’t tell them why.  Although I am sure that

they can figure it out. 
 

Happy cruising.  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I don’t think officers are socialising at the moment 

[miched]

5 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

Never asked my butler/ Retreat host to go to Al Bacio to get our coffee

 
We would request Americano in the morning thru room service along with some pastries and or breakfast and got it delivered.   Never asked them to go to Cafe al Bacio but we would get Americano. 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[verizon]

6 minutes ago, miched said:

Be sure to utilize the Retreat Lounge during the social hours in the evening especially on evening chic night and let or make sure that the photographers take your picture with the officers.   It is also nice time to meet the officers.  
 

 Don’t ask why just do it.   I am sure you will thank me later for this tip.  

 

For those that know don’t tell them why.  Although I am sure that

they can figure it out. 
 

Happy cruising.  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I think the officers no more come to visit retreat because of the pandemic.

This event was pre pandemic.

[miched]

1 minute ago, emmas gran said:

I don’t think officers are socialising at the moment 

We were on the Constellation in Dec and they were.    They wore masks.  At that time masks weren’t required by the passengers in the public area.   

 

Situations may have changed.   But you don’t know unless you try or do it.  
 

The OP asked for tips. Giving mine from past experience that wasn’t promoted and a nice surprise.
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Denny01]

:The OP asked about other dining beyond Luminae so I’ll chime in even though haven’t gone Retreat….yet! Going on Edge in Oct ‘22 and looking forward to giving it a go, so have no opinion of Luminae.

 

Dining is so subjective and don’t know the OP’s dining preferences, but we enjoyed two special dining venues that I’ve posted about before:

Eden Restaurant - excellent and very different choices from a ‘standard’ restaurant. We had Crab Cakes which were pure crab with yogurt binding it. Fantastic. Then the lobster tower which is cold-water lobster piled high. Beyond great.

Raw on 5: a venue with Asian sushi and other many seafood and other items. Ala carte charges. We had raw oysters which were great, then I had Salmon Poke which I loved. Lots of choices and not bad costs at all. Not crowded since not as popular as other spots. 

 

Although I enjoy steaks, I wasn’t that impressed with the Steakhouse on board. Did it on the Edge in 2019. Good cuts and so on, but nothing I’d not had ashore in standard good steak places. seemed very crossed compared to the others.

 

When on cruise, I try different items because I can always change if not impressed, and I step away from what so many see as ‘standards’. Well, beef and red meats aren’t a standard for me as I’m now stepping away from them and trying what I understand is more healthy…..funny how I’ve decided to go ‘healthy’ after, shall we say a ‘few’ decades.  

 

And the Edge class has 4 MDR for standard dining, which Suites can join in also. Smaller than the single MDR experience we get on other ships, quieter and now crowded.

 

den 

 

 

[avp1234]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

On the night Luminae serves Poached Lobster is a dessert called the Chocolate bomb. That night's menu is pretty astounding. The lobster, scallops, and risotto were all excellent.

Edit: The photos are in reverse order of the night's meal, including the Amuse Bouche.

 

 

We will definitely be eating there the night of this menu.  Looks really, really good!

 

[miaminative0853]

1 hour ago, miched said:

Use your Butler.   We have had some that did nothing for us but then again we never asked or demanded anything.    We had others that did everything they could to please us and we’re disappointed when we didn’t ask or request anything.  
 

We are not demanding or comfortable with others doing what we feel we can do ourselves but it is nice to have Americanos and a few pastries delivered to the suite every morning to start the day. 
 

They get about $10/day/ cabin if they do anything or not.  Those that gave us more got the extra gratuity at the end of the cruise.   Those that didn’t do anything go the same.  
 

A friend told me  that one time they had a butler that wouldn’t do anything that they asked.  It wasn’t anything different then what they had in suites before.  The butler would tell them that they could do it themselves and it wasn’t part of his duties.  The 2nd night they  met and  talked to the suite manager in the Retreat Lounge and they got a different butler that was fantastic 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Agree with the tip of using the Butler. We did not on our 2019 Med cruise but we are just off Edge and we had a wonderful person (Anastasiia) and used her services quite a bit. For example she would bring our coffee and crossiants in the morning or handle our room service ordering. She arranged for our laundry and dry cleaning and would answer all of our questions. I made sure to tip her extra throughout the cruise but she struck me as a person who would provide good service regardless. Frankly if in fact Butlers get $10 a day per cabin from the included gratuities that seems awfully minimal to me. 

 

I'm sure the level of service you get is very dependent on the person but don't feel reluctant to ask them for anything reasonable -- that is what they are there for!

[miaminative0853]

1 hour ago, emmas gran said:

I don’t think officers are socialising at the moment 

Agreed. Just off Edge today and saw very little of the officers. Understandable.

[CruiseDoc79]

Thanks for the post.  We will actually be on the same sailing on Apex, which will also be our first in the Retreat. Perhaps we will see you there!  

From all I've read, the biggest perks seem to be Luminae, the sundeck (we aren't big for lounging by the pool though) and lounge, and your retreat host. 

I'm not completely sold that these perks will be as valuable as they would have prepandemic if the rest of the ship really is only half full etc, however we mostly really wanted an actual balcony (no IV).

Looking forward to Feb 12th!

 

[avp1234]

2 hours ago, CruiseDoc79 said:

Thanks for the post.  We will actually be on the same sailing on Apex, which will also be our first in the Retreat. Perhaps we will see you there!  

From all I've read, the biggest perks seem to be Luminae, the sundeck (we aren't big for lounging by the pool though) and lounge, and your retreat host. 

I'm not completely sold that these perks will be as valuable as they would have prepandemic if the rest of the ship really is only half full etc, however we mostly really wanted an actual balcony (no IV).

Looking forward to Feb 12th!

 

I"m wondering the same if the ship's half full.  Everything I've read says we'll never want to go back to a regular balcony, we soon shall see.  Yes, absolutely.  We'll see you there!  If you see someone with a T (University of Tennessee) on his hat, it's probably my husband.  He'll always be a fan, even though I can't remember the last time we had a good season.  I'm excited!