Zenith access to Retreat Lounge

[phoenix_dream]

11 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

That is a real problem.  Today, with so many people aware of the dangers of the sun, more shade should be available, just as smoking areas are limited- so should sunny areas be limited.  My DH has had multiple pre cancerous skin lesions that had to be removed and one melanoma on his nose.  It required plastic surgery, but fortunately he is fine.  Happened about three years ago.  In addition to skin cancer, I am concerned with wrinkles.  It is especially important to keep your children well protected in the sun. Wear rash guard type swim jackets.  The sun can be dangerous.

100% agree. On cruises I cringe looking at all the crazy people frying themselves in the sun, probably so they can go back and flaunt their fabulous vacation.  A good friend watched her husband go through many agonizing years suffering with melanoma before dying in his early 50s. A pretty tan is just so not worth dying for!

[phoenix_dream]

7 hours ago, swjumbo said:

If you’ve paid for First Class on a European or Middle Eastern airline and have frequent fliers trying to sit at the bar you’d be rightly hacked off.

 

Same with Celebrity. Why should they get this ‘right’?

 

With so many lovely bars throughout the ship why is there a need for access to The Retreat?

 

Do they want to laud it up over the rest of us? I’ve seen these people on so many cruises having this perceived right of passage over the ‘younger’ ones.
 

It’s a ‘suite’ area. IMHO it should remain so.

 

Wow, just wow.  What does age have to do with anything? Yes, most Zeniths are not in their 30s as it can take a lot of sailings to get that level.  But that has zero to do with anything.  And for your information it wasn't always just a suite area as you state. It's a Retreat area, which until Covid was offered to Zeniths and upper level Blue Chip cruisers as well as suites.  So they also had the "right" to be there as you call it. Celebrity also promised that right would be restored, but that was untrue. Perhaps that promise will now once again be fulfilled. 

[jelayne]

We make very little use of the Retreat Lounge.  On our last 10N cruise we went 1 evening from about 6-6:45, place was dead so had 1 drink and left.    
We were there about 6 days between 11:30-12:30 reading while the cabin attendant cleaned our suite.  Most of those times we were the only ones other than the Concierge there. 
Other occasions, a wine tasting event and debarkation morning. 
Of course now without a butler we will be there more often to restock the mini bar.

[LMHSRN]

1 hour ago, doghog said:

Good. Thanks for agreeing with me. My only point is, give the CC top three tier levels their own dedicated lounge and let those that pay more for a suite have their own lounge. That's what they have paid for no matter how many cruises they have been on. Until that happens the CC concierge knowing how may Zeniths and suite passengers on that cruise will determine if Zenith members will have access to the Retreat Lounge and all perks. If suite passengers don't like it, to bad.  When I book our cruises, I know exactly what we're getting for that category of stateroom. Not sure what losing a butler has to do with access to the RL.  

OMG.  You want top three tiers to have own lounge and let suite have theirs.  Guess what, they already do.  You are wanting them to share with you or maybe you want to one-up them.

The discussion I was relating to was that someone said Zeniths lost a perk (The Retreat Lounge).  My comment was well, so did SS Suites (The Butler etc.) so why should you (collectively) get the Retreat restored and SS not get the Butler restored?  That was the question.  They both lost a perk but Zenith is getting theirs back.

[LMHSRN]

59 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Butlers for Sky Suites have nothing to do with loyalty benefits.  You are correct we paid for that service and it was removed.  But comparing the two is apples to oranges.

Well, I beg to differ.  Zenith paid for their perks  (# of cruises) just like we paid for our perks.

One is restores and one is removed. apples and apples.  A perk is a perk and they are all paid for one way or another.

[hcat]

3 hours ago, swjumbo said:

I seriously don’t get it. There are so many lovely bars and restaurants throughout the ship why clamour to get into The Retreat?

 

Yes the staff are lovely; but they’re lovely everywhere else too.

 

The Captain, Hotel Director and the rest of the officers are very visible around the ship and equally approachable. Why is it necessary to meet them in Michael’s Club or The Retreat?

 

On our last cruise we were lucky enough to be invited to the Senior Officers’ party because of our CC status. We only got this status because of double points and some suite cruises during Covid.

 

Whilst it was nice to see a few familiar faces, we also know that these officers have a ship to run and can’t spend all their time speaking to us.

 

We realise that we’re not the only VIP’s on the ship. Every passenger is an VIP. Guests should be content with the amenities and areas they have paid for.

 

 

 

again, just WOW! 

[hcat]

This thread is bringing out some very sad personality traits.. Esp among  self titled fantasy  VIPS.

 

Truth is

When most cruisers get home, they make their own beds, shop for groceries, cook and do laundry. 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, tfred said:

"Promised" is a word almost never used in travel hospitality lounges these days.  Delta has basically gutted its loyalty program and lounge access over time and certainly in the last week or so, Go look at Flyertalk.com in the DL forum for that blowback.  

 

X must be seeing a dip in zenith cruise reservations and think that this will stall its decline. It certainly isnt because it is "right". 

 

The total number of zeniths on any given cruise is probably pretty low to allow this without impacting full fare suite customers 

 

I think it is a positive move by Celebrity but not sure it will make any difference in our choice to start sailing other lines.  

 

While it is a big move on the part of Celebrity,  the fact that we have to book with the all inclusive for suites negates any of the benefits of Zenith for us.    Currently Zenith has no value to us when traveling in RS's and only  free laundry when in a CS.   

 

 

[SusieAV8R]

On 9/23/2023 at 5:23 PM, phoenix_dream said:

Don't give them ideas! I think initially Michael's Club access was only upper level suites

No, I was on one of those early cruises where access to Michaels Club was limited to RS and PS, as well as CS and Zeniths.  (We were in a CS.)

[Jim_Iain]

12 minutes ago, hcat said:

This thread is bringing out some very sad personality traits.. Esp among  self titled fantasy  VIPS.

 

Truth is

When most cruisers get home, they make their own beds, shop for groceries, cook and do laundry. 

 

Not necessarily....   After being pampered on so many cruises we were forced to get a housekeeper.  LOL -  I have to admit we had to clean house for 3 weeks before she first arrived.   Just getting back from a cruise it was so nice to come back to a home without a single fingerprint on anything, linen changed and laundered and bets nicely made.  

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

2 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

No, I was on one of those early cruises where access to Michaels Club was limited to RS and PS, as well as CS and Zeniths.  (We were in a CS.)

 

I have to admit that we were on the fist cruises when the change was made to admit Sky Suites.   One would have thought the sky was falling (so to speak).    Like other changes reality was nothing like predictions. 

[jelayne]

43 minutes ago, LMHSRN said:

Well, I beg to differ.  Zenith paid for their perks  (# of cruises) just like we paid for our perks.

One is restores and one is removed. apples and apples.  A perk is a perk and they are all paid for one way or another.

I guess we just have a different idea of a perk, benefit and service.

 

But returning access to the Lounge for Zenith members has 0 to minimal cost.  Returning Butlers for Sky Suites is an expense, so unlikely to happen.  

[TommyD3]

31 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

No, I was on one of those early cruises where access to Michaels Club was limited to RS and PS, as well as CS and Zeniths.  (We were in a CS.)

We were on the very first sailing on the Century (early 2014) with the new Suite and Zenith Michael's Club. Had an amazing array of buffet offerings virtually all day. At the time Sky Suite guests were not allowed.

[RD64]

As my Scottish friend would say - people putting on airs beyond their station in life.

[doghog]

1 hour ago, LMHSRN said:

OMG.  You want top three tiers to have own lounge and let suite have theirs. 

 

Guess what, they already do.  You are wanting them to share with you or maybe you want to one-up them.

The discussion I was relating to was that someone said Zeniths lost a perk (The Retreat Lounge).  My comment was well, so did SS Suites (The Butler etc.) so why should you (collectively) get the Retreat restored and SS not get the Butler restored?  That was the question.  They both lost a perk but Zenith is getting theirs back.

Yes. It works great on RC ships and not just the mega ships we never cruise on. 

 

Non suite Elite, Elite+ and Zenith don't. No. If a suite member isn'r E,E+ or Z. 

[hcat]

54 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Not necessarily....   After being pampered on so many cruises we were forced to get a housekeeper.  LOL -  I have to admit we had to clean house for 3 weeks before she first arrived.   Just getting back from a cruise it was so nice to come back to a home without a single fingerprint on anything, linen changed and laundered and bets nicely made.  

 

 

 

 

well. you guys are not most cruisers, esp now you are on Cunard in the Grills!

 

my point was that person was really being elitist without cause!

 

[doghog]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

The space available idea is rife with issues of all kinds.  And who decides these things? Is it based on a certain number of suite passengers or Zeniths? Or will it be at someone's whim

The Celebrity CC concierge for that specific cruise would have the numbers for both groups and make the decision based on that if Zeniths would be permitted in the RL. The RC CAS LA does that when making the decision to allow Pinnacles in the SL. 

[micruiser2002]

44 minutes ago, jelayne said:

But returning access to the Lounge for Zenith members has 0 to minimal cost.  Returning Butlers for Sky Suites is an expense, so unlikely to happen.  

Do Zeniths automatically get all included?  If not then it could be a cost to Celebrity to allow them into the lounge for free drinks if they have not already paid for a drink package.  

[Orator]

28 minutes ago, TommyD3 said:

We were on the very first sailing on the Century (early 2014) with the new Suite and Zenith Michael's Club. Had an amazing array of buffet offerings virtually all day. At the time Sky Suite guests were not allowed.

I was on that cruise as well. For the first part of the B2B I was in a Sky suite and was denied entry. I was in the less costly Century suite for the second cruise and was invited. I didn't reach Zenith until three or four cruises later. 

[markeb]

2 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Do Zeniths automatically get all included?  If not then it could be a cost to Celebrity to allow them into the lounge for free drinks if they have not already paid for a drink package.  

Zeniths receive a premium drink package (and premium Wi-Fi) so no cost. 

[Northern Aurora]

3 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Do Zeniths automatically get all included?  If not then it could be a cost to Celebrity to allow them into the lounge for free drinks if they have not already paid for a drink package.  

 

Zenith perks include the premium beverage package, premium wifi and unlimited laundry.

[TommyD3]

3 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

Zenith perks include the premium beverage package, premium wifi and unlimited laundry.

At this moment......

[RD64]

As on most cruise line loyalty policies - it is about the free laundry - people will take xxxx number of cruises just to get the free laundry which seems to be the be apex of cruising seniority these days - you aren’t anyone unless you get a free bag of laundry. Has anyone actually ventured to calculate how much that free bag of laundry cost over the years?

[JLMcruise]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

We make very little use of the Retreat Lounge.  On our last 10N cruise we went 1 evening from about 6-6:45, place was dead so had 1 drink and left.    
We were there about 6 days between 11:30-12:30 reading while the cabin attendant cleaned our suite.  Most of those times we were the only ones other than the Concierge there. 
Other occasions, a wine tasting event and debarkation morning. 
Of course now without a butler we will be there more often to restock the mini bar.

We like the Retreat Lounge for our morning Latte/croissants. Its quiet and by day 3 the host had a table set up for us each morning.  It nice - we enjoy talking to the attendant. I am an early morning walker and not a "coffee in the cabin" person. I agree we generally were the only guests in the lounge and it opened before the "CC breakfast". Once our Butlers realized we like a bourbon prior to bed - he had them sent to our room without asking so we stopped going to the lounge to take our "late night" bourbon back to the room with us. -  Our Butler's have been very intuitive. We had the same one a couple of time on different sailings.. Sailing in a Sky Suite in a week - it will be interesting to see what has the change. 

[zitsky]

I love Celebrity.  Advertise something as a suite without any of the benefits.  (Sky Suite)  OK if you say so up front.  Not cool if you take people's money then change the rules.

 

Also interesting how we have these different segments of passengers, each more important than the others.  Upper suites, lower suites, Zenith, Aqua, other pax etc.

 

The way to get repeat business is to treat those pax well, not treat them like trash.

Edited September 25, 2023 by zitsky