Surcharges for drinks in Retreat Lounge

[billc23]

On 12/20/2023 at 4:42 PM, billc23 said:

They have allowed me to bring my preferred bourbon on board if they cannot source what I want. I usually bring a bottle to Michael's club to be kept behind the bar. 

I would like to give an update on bringing bourbon on board re post 70 on this thread. While I was allowed to bring whiskey onto the ship in the past (as a substitute for the included bottles supplied to my suite) I was told today that this would not be allowed. They allowed it in the past because they were having supply chain issues and were not able to procure their usual supply of spirits. Apparently the ship I will be on next, the Ascent, is well stocked. 

I probably will inquire on my next sailing in March to see if the Solstice is well stocked also... One can only hope.

[billc23]

I spoke to the Ascent shoreside concierge (Alex) today regarding retreat lounge drink surcharges. She will contact the Retreat manager and let me know the current policy on the Ascent - which may not apply to other ships. Of course, there may not be surcharges but the availability may not be what it has been. 

[Baynanno1]

4 hours ago, billc23 said:

. . . .  and let me know the current policy on the Ascent - which may not apply to other ships.

 

Really!

Not so surprising though, as much seems to be different from one ship to another as they continue to try and bamboozle is with inconsistencies - or lack of communication and training.

[tfred]

I e-mailed  yesterday and received a call today. The call came from Wichita Kansas so I didn't pick up and they left a VM. I might have if it was a Miami area code but I dont pick up strange area codes 

 

My  email outlined my displeasure of dropping a lot of money on a suite and then getting charged for better spirits and wine 

 

According to the VM, there are no up charges in The Retreat "area". They did not specify if that was the Lounge and Retreat deck as well as Luminae. Sounded like they were reading off a script which is the safe way to do it. 

 

Probably need some on the ship intel to verify but I have seen some posts on FB and they say they are up charged   We are on Apex Sky Suite in two weeks so we will see.   

[Texed]

5 hours ago, billc23 said:

I spoke to the Ascent shoreside concierge (Alex) today regarding retreat lounge drink surcharges. She will contact the Retreat manager and let me know the current policy on the Ascent.

 

Hopefully, you will post the answer because we are on the same cruise as you.  😊

[Baynanno1]

33 minutes ago, tfred said:

I e-mailed  yesterday and received a call today. The call came from Wichita Kansas so I didn't pick up and they left a VM. I might have if it was a Miami area code but I dont pick up strange area codes 

 

My  email outlined my displeasure of dropping a lot of money on a suite and then getting charged for better spirits and wine 

 

According to the VM, there are no up charges in The Retreat "area". They did not specify if that was the Lounge and Retreat deck as well as Luminae. Sounded like they were reading off a script which is the safe way to do it. 

 

Probably need some on the ship intel to verify but I have seen some posts on FB and they say they are up charged   We are on Apex Sky Suite in two weeks so we will see.   

 

I emailed 3 days ago and have had no response.

I did not expect a phone call, but did expect at least acknowledgement of my email.

[billc23]

16 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Hopefully, you will post the answer because we are on the same cruise as you.  😊

I will! see you onboard.

[tfred]

10 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

I emailed 3 days ago and have had no response.

I did not expect a phone call, but did expect at least acknowledgement of my email.

could be the time difference.  The area code was Wichita Kansas (middle of the USA, though they might just be using a US number to route through).  Definitely a non-native English speaker 

 

lets see what happens on board

[billc23]

47 minutes ago, tfred said:

1 hour ago, Baynanno1 said:

. . . .  and let me know the current policy on the Ascent - which may not apply to other ships.

 

1 hour ago, Baynanno1 said:

Not so surprising though, as much seems to be different from one ship to another as they continue to try and bamboozle is with inconsistencies - or lack of communication and training.

 

I added that the policy on one ship may not be the same on others. For example, I was in the PH on the Reflection earlier this year and we had a cost free alcove every day. I have an upcoming sailing on the Solstice and was told that we would not have an alcove included. Something about the discretion of the ships management and I could ask ... go figure that one out. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, tfred said:

I e-mailed  yesterday and received a call today. The call came from Wichita Kansas so I didn't pick up and they left a VM. I might have if it was a Miami area code but I dont pick up strange area codes 

 

My  email outlined my displeasure of dropping a lot of money on a suite and then getting charged for better spirits and wine 

 

According to the VM, there are no up charges in The Retreat "area". They did not specify if that was the Lounge and Retreat deck as well as Luminae. Sounded like they were reading off a script which is the safe way to do it. 

 

Probably need some on the ship intel to verify but I have seen some posts on FB and they say they are up charged   We are on Apex Sky Suite in two weeks so we will see.   

Got a very generic email in response to my email.  Of course there are no upcharges in the Retreat or Luminae. They just don't have the wines that were included in the PBP a month ago  available in the Retreat or Luminae, thus, NO UPCHARGE. How cynical. 

[High on the Seas]

34 minutes ago, billc23 said:

I added that the policy on one ship may not be the same on others. For example, I was in the PH on the Reflection earlier this year and we had a cost free alcove every day. I have an upcoming sailing on the Solstice and was told that we would not have an alcove included. Something about the discretion of the ships management and I could ask ... go figure that one out. 

At least if they are implementing policy to tick off their customer base can’t they at least be consistent and make everyone mad instead of a ship here and there. 

[tfred]

33 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Got a very generic email in response to my email.  Of course there are no upcharges in the Retreat or Luminae. They just don't have the wines that were included in the PBP a month ago  available in the Retreat or Luminae, thus, NO UPCHARGE. How cynical. 

Not having the elevated wine in the lounge is one thing but not having those wines physically in Luminae is another. They will be in Luminae and that will be the tale of the tape 

 

my other big question is Scotch whisky. Not a fan of the blends they have on the Premium list at suite prices. 

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, tfred said:

I e-mailed  yesterday and received a call today. The call came from Wichita Kansas so I didn't pick up and they left a VM. I might have if it was a Miami area code but I dont pick up strange area codes 

 

My  email outlined my displeasure of dropping a lot of money on a suite and then getting charged for better spirits and wine 

 

According to the VM, there are no up charges in The Retreat "area". They did not specify if that was the Lounge and Retreat deck as well as Luminae. Sounded like they were reading off a script which is the safe way to do it. 

 

Probably need some on the ship intel to verify but I have seen some posts on FB and they say they are up charged   We are on Apex Sky Suite in two weeks so we will see.   

We will be on the Edge in two weeks in a SS so I will be able to report back as well.

[terrydtx]

50 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Got a very generic email in response to my email.  Of course there are no upcharges in the Retreat or Luminae. They just don't have the wines that were included in the PBP a month ago  available in the Retreat or Luminae, thus, NO UPCHARGE. How cynical. 

They can spin as good as any politician, LOL

[HMR74]

1 hour ago, tfred said:

could be the time difference.  The area code was Wichita Kansas (middle of the USA, though they might just be using a US number to route through).  Definitely a non-native English speaker 

 

lets see what happens on board

I think the person calling from KS  is the one in exec office assigned to me and my issues. I have her direct number and I can call directly. But I will follow the process unless ther e is an emergency. A lot of them work from wherever they call home.

 

Todays call was on 2 issues, my App was not updating  and I keep getting blue chip promos via snail mail,  to somebody who is either using my address, hacked X, or an X systems problem.

 

The app issue was that the dining room "schedule had the last 2 days of cruise showing at venue closed.Got that fixed, but the rep volunteered to say that we cannot count on menues posted in advance, and we will not know till day of that dinner. did nt discuss it further as I knew shis to teh Caribbena andbad are provisioned for the cruise.

I also know on 7 , 9 and 10 day cruises there is more than enough storage room to have sufficient brands of drinks available for a full ship cruise with "normal " allocation among specific brand. and we all should know it since ships can do 14 and more day cruises without scheduled provisioning.

 

I still contend the problems are starting at the top and 1 down levels where it really appears they are managing by trial and error, and its teh contacts we have who have experience that are fixing the problems on an individual basis rather than revisiting the policy or process.

 

 

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, tfred said:

my other big question is Scotch whisky. Not a fan of the blends they have on the Premium list at suite prices

Last year on the Reflection I was able to get Mccallan 12 year old scotch in the Retreat lounge and Luminae in the PDP. This summer on the Apex there wasn't even any of the same Maccallan scotch on the ship, all they had was the new non dated label blends of Mccallan, and I wasn't impressed.

[Joker54]

I emailed the Exec office Wed about the price structure changes and received a call yesterday. The agent spent 30 minutes with me on the phone working through questions/concerns. He indicated that they (exec office team) had received an email from above stating that there would not be any up charges in the Retreat. I didn’t ask about the Retreat Deck as our next 3 cruises are on Solstice.

 

 I mentioned that not being up charged didn’t mean that we would still have the same drink options in the Retreat as we did 3 months ago. He agreed and did not have an answer for me. He went on that this is a hot topic with a lot of negative feedback - mostly from people like myself who were asking due to what we have read online. I mentioned that with the current track record of surprising guests rather than being proactive in notifying guests of upcoming changes - that we didn’t have a lot of choice other than taking what we see online as possibly being correct. He understood and elaborated that a lot of meetings are being held on the drink price issue. He took notes and said he would contact me after some decision is made.

 

I will post back with whatever response I receive 

 

I felt he was being honest in his responses, they may not be anymore informed than we are. It can be tough facing the customer when they are not the ones making decisions.

 

cheers

[CWatson367]

Just back from Reflection and no upcharges in Michael's.. somewhat limited selection but no upcharges

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 hours ago, CWatson367 said:

Just back from Reflection and no upcharges in Michael's.. somewhat limited selection but no upcharges

Can you elaborate on the brands you were offered without an upcharge?

[CWatson367]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Can you elaborate on the brands you were offered without an upcharge?

Zacapa 23, Woodford Reserve Double Barrell, etc

[tfred]

11 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Last year on the Reflection I was able to get Mccallan 12 year old scotch in the Retreat lounge and Luminae in the PDP. This summer on the Apex there wasn't even any of the same Maccallan scotch on the ship, all they had was the new non dated label blends of Mccallan, and I wasn't impressed.

other than the Aberfeldy 12, everything on the new PDP list is available in 1.75 liter sizes which is generally not an indicator of suite level drinks IMHO

[tfred]

3 minutes ago, CWatson367 said:

Zacapa 23, Woodford Reserve Double Barrell, etc

what did they have with an up charge ?

[terrydtx]

16 minutes ago, tfred said:

other than the Aberfeldy 12, everything on the new PDP list is available in 1.75 liter sizes which is generally not an indicator of suite level drinks IMHO

I believe on the Apex in September, Aberfeldy 12 was the only aged scotch available in the Retreat Lounge. I was surprised however, that John the Retreat Lounge bartender had a bottle of Hennessey's better VSOP cognac hidden under the bar. We did a shore excursion to the Hennessy distillery in La Rochelle France and I did enjoy the cognac he had even though it was not listed on any drink PDP list I saw.

[terrydtx]

15 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Got a very generic email in response to my email.  Of course there are no upcharges in the Retreat or Luminae. They just don't have the wines that were included in the PBP a month ago  available in the Retreat or Luminae, thus, NO UPCHARGE. How cynical. 

Amazing how Celebrity can spin things to make it look like business as usual.

[richczarnecki]

So I posed a follow-up question to Laura:

Just to clarify, when you say "the Retreat", you are including all Retreat guest-only venues, correct?  Including Luminae, the Retreat Lounge and the Retreat pool bar?

 

Her response:

Everything on the menus in those three venues are included in the premium package. There have been and continues to be items for an extra charge and those are available upon request.

 

We are currently redesigning all our wine menus to have more variety, diversity, inclusions, and even more high-end wines by the glass via coravin (those will have an upcharge). We plan to have these in place by the Spring and I know everyone will be pleased. Takes time for us to procure and re-adjust. The team is well into it and I know all our guests will be happy with the options and choices.