Retreat Questions

[pirate_dad]

I have a couple of upcoming cruises on Celebrity in November and then in Feb. and I have a question about a few things that maybe someone can help me with. 

1. I have a retreat suite for both but i am thinking about taking my college age kids (2 of them) and get them their own room. I was going to book them in a inside stateroom near by but I wanted to know if they can eat with us in the retreat and can they go the the retreat sundeck with us to layout etc? I think it would be crazy to get them their own Suite but I don't want to be isolated from them. Can someone explain the best way to do this? Am I better off upgrading to a Royal suite and putting them in my cabin?

2. Can i eat at Blu if i get upgraded from an Aqua Sky Suite to a Celebrity or Royal Suite?

 

Thanks in advanced. We normally go HAL but are just trying Celebrity and liked it the last cruise we did.

[Texed]

1. The kids can eat in Luminae if you pay for their meal/meals.  They can not go to the Retreat Sun deck or the lounge.  If they are a third and fourth in a suite, then they can eat in Luminae and go to the sun deck and the lounge.

 

2.  If you are in an Aqua Sky Suite you can eat in Blu.  You do not have to be in a Celebrity or Royal Suite to do so.  

Edited August 10 by Texed

[jelayne]

All suites can eat in Blu on a space available basis. 
 

[BettyCruiser]

There is a Retreat Privilege Package that you can buy for them. I can’t figure out how to post the thread but it’s easily found by searching retreat.  

[wrk2cruise]

I would call the shoreside Retreat concierge and discuss options with them.  

[chemmo]

7 hours ago, pirate_dad said:

I have a couple of upcoming cruises on Celebrity in November and then in Feb. and I have a question about a few things that maybe someone can help me with. 

1. I have a retreat suite for both but i am thinking about taking my college age kids (2 of them) and get them their own room. I was going to book them in a inside stateroom near by but I wanted to know if they can eat with us in the retreat and can they go the the retreat sundeck with us to layout etc? I think it would be crazy to get them their own Suite but I don't want to be isolated from them. Can someone explain the best way to do this? Am I better off upgrading to a Royal suite and putting them in my cabin?

2. Can i eat at Blu if i get upgraded from an Aqua Sky Suite to a Celebrity or Royal Suite?

 

Thanks in advanced. We normally go HAL but are just trying Celebrity and liked it the last cruise we did.

Re your suggestion of upgrading to a RS…

 

We have cruised many times in a RS with our adult son. This has been on S class which has a spacious lounge, plenty of storage and has an extra 1/2 bathroom (toilet and sink) which takes pressure off the full bathroom. Enough room on the balcony for you all to sit out but only two lie back chairs and footstools.

 

The lounge sofa bed is large and comfortable. If your college kids don’t want to share you can get a roll out which I believe your room attendant will set up and put away daily.

 

The positive…All of you have the premium drinks package, unlimited speciality dining and full access to all retreat areas. The living room space is great during the day, plenty of seating for all of you. The table seats six.

 

The negatives…The 1/2 bathroom is just a toilet and sink so the main bathroom will be used by all for actually showering/bathing. You access the bedroom via the lounge so if you come in later than the kids you will be walking through where they are sleeping. Same in the morning, if you are up first then you will again have to disturb them as you leave for breakfast.

 

For us it worked so much better than having our son in another cabin (he appreciated not being stuck in an inside cabin too). The bonuses outweighed the sharing. The bathroom situation was easily managed simply by discussing the times that suited best. When we cruised as a four (with son’s fiancée) we decided to upgrade to a PH suite as we wanted the two bathrooms but in hindsight I think we would have managed in a RS.

 

 

[TeeRick]

This thread might be helpful to you.

 

 

[1Virgo]

this has come up before. It seems rather unfair to people who are paying the price to be in Retreat/Suite class and have others booked in much cheaper cabins, for a fee, be allowed the benefits of Retreat, for a much cheaper cost than booking Retreat for their friends or family.   First time we have seen pagers handed out to Luminae guests. Maybe that is why it was so busy

[Shadow9612]

2 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

First time we have seen pagers handed out to Luminae guests. Maybe that is why it was so busy

May I ask which ship and approximately what time this was? I have never seen this with Luminae, but I've also not been on E-Class...

[1Virgo]

1 hour ago, Shadow9612 said:

May I ask which ship and approximately what time this was? I have never seen this with Luminae, but I've also not been on E-Class...

was on Eclipse last week of July.  Eclipse not E class   Time …. hard to pin as it varied but say 7 ish.  We had never seen Luminae so full

 

  We ve walked by Blu on other ships and seen them being handed out, but I think X has increased number of Aqua cabins.

[jelayne]

4 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

this has come up before. It seems rather unfair to people who are paying the price to be in Retreat/Suite class and have others booked in much cheaper cabins, for a fee, be allowed the benefits of Retreat, for a much cheaper cost than booking Retreat for their friends or family.   First time we have seen pagers handed out to Luminae guests. Maybe that is why it was so busy

We have never seen pagers at Luminae but we have just gone down/ up to the Retreat Lounge and they would call the Concierge when our table was ready. 

[1Virgo]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We have never seen pagers at Luminae but we have just gone down/ up to the Retreat Lounge and they would call the Concierge when our table was ready. 

As I said, we have never seen this nor Luminae so busy before

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

First time we have seen pagers handed out to Luminae guests.

 

29 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We have never seen pagers at Luminae but we have just gone down/ up to the Retreat Lounge and they would call the Concierge when our table was ready. 

 

 We have never been given a pager.  And have only waited more than 10 minutes for a table twice:

 

  On Millennium we were told approximately how long the wait would be and decided to go to the Rendezvous Lounge and the Maitre'd came and got us when our table was ready, about 15 minutes later. 

 

 On the Equinox we had about a 10 minute wait so we decided to wait in the Passport bar before the hostess came to retrieve us and take us to our table. 

 

 BTW both locations have seats near the host desk were you can also wait should you choose. 

 

[1Virgo]

12 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 

 We have never been given a pager.  And have only waited more than 10 minutes for a table twice:

 

  On Millennium we were told approximately how long the wait would be and decided to go to the Rendezvous Lounge and the Maitre'd came and got us when our table was ready, about 15 minutes later. 

 

 On the Equinox we had about a 10 minute wait so we decided to wait in the Passport bar before the hostess came to retrieve us and take us to our table. 

 

 BTW both locations have seats near the host desk were you can also wait should you choose. 

 

as I said.. ….  this was a first for us seeing pagers handed out for Luminae. And Luminae was busy!   We were in Retreat on Ascent in March, never saw it. However, walking by Blu, lots of pagers

Things change

[bjahil47]

We were on Beyond in Retreat March, 2024 and we were given a pager for Luminae twice.  First wait was over 30 minutes, second time was about 10 minutes.

[MMMCruiser]

We were on the Apex at the end of July and were given a pager to wait for a table on the last night of our cruise.  Luminae seemed much busier that night.  We waited with friends in the lounge and I it took more than a half hour for them to get us a table for four.  I think we showed up around 6 or 6:30.

[George C]

It is rare to have to wait more than a few minutes in Luminae on M class, E class we had some short waits but we normally eat about 8 or 8:30.

[SDWCruise]

Another Retreat question .. we will be joining the Ascent out of Civitavecchia in September. Just checked in but had to select an arrival time! Thought Retreat guests could board anytime? Can any Retreat guests recently sailed out of Civitavecchia confirm this? Thanks in advance .. 😊

[CruisersTimesThree]

19 minutes ago, SDWCruise said:

Another Retreat question .. we will be joining the Ascent out of Civitavecchia in September. Just checked in but had to select an arrival time! Thought Retreat guests could board anytime? Can any Retreat guests recently sailed out of Civitavecchia confirm this? Thanks in advance .. 😊

Retreat guests can board a ship at anytime after it opens to guests. The IT dept for Celebrity is horrible and can’t do certain things. Your allotted boarding time is just a placeholder for your check in. 

[bigbenboys]

While I do remember getting a pager once for Blu. We were on Apex out of Southampton recently during the UEFA European Championship. After the game I went directly to Luminae to get a table for 4. The other 3 said there was a long line of guest wanting to dine. It is called timing and planning.

Edited August 12 by bigbenboys
spelling

[Jim_Iain]

15 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

As I said, we have never seen this nor Luminae so busy before

Curious if this was right after an event in Retreat... e.g. The Officers Soiree.     I have often seen a run on Luminae right after it ends.   Early diners hold off until after the reception causing a surge.

 

I've not seen pagers but usually asked to have a drink in Luminae and they would call when a table was available.

Edited August 12 by Jim_Iain

[1Virgo]

33 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Curious if this was right after an event in Retreat... e.g. The Officers Soiree.     I have often seen a run on Luminae right after it ends.   Early diners hold off until after the reception causing a surge.

 

I've not seen pagers but usually asked to have a drink in Luminae and they would call when a table was available.

No. Was not after an Officers event with a surge of people arriving around same time and it was more than 1x that we saw pagers being handed out.   As I mentioned, it was far busier than we have experienced in Luminae.  

could be X’s marketing. More passengers with the 3rd or 4th person sale and maybe, selling Retreat passes.  Definitely busy
 

(others have commented they saw pagers  for Luminae on different ships)

[Jim_Iain]

Incredible.   Hope you enjoy your cruise otherwise.