HPN-HRL

My understanding of the points you are raising - if I have been misinformed let me know:

The "no happy hour appetizer" and "only 3 (coupons good for the set of drinks normally available at happy hour)/day" rules come into effect only when there are too many Elites to comfortably fit in the large lounge on the top deck, forward (e.g. on transatlantics, where you might have 800+ Elites). On my last two Celebrity cruises (both in 2013) the usual "some appetizers at happy hour" and "all you can comfortably drink from 5:00 to 7:00" rules applied (except for the one day when sailing out of a picturesque harbor; the "Elite" lounge was open to all but Elites received drink coupons that day).

A friend will be on Century this month going to Hawaii; I will post here if any changes to the above occur on that cruise (I will also post if official word is given about the new program level(s)).

DanJ

Even then, it might also be ship (or class of ship) specific as well. I would think the newer ships would have better facilities for elite lounges and such, whereas an older ship like the Century would have smaller rooms. Plus, from my reading, the Century seems to be pretty popular with frequent X cruisers, so it might attract a higher number of elites on a given itinerary, where a Solstice class might attract more first timers (either to X or to cruising in general).

wrp96

Just found out that Royal is giving double cruise points in their loyalty program into solo travelers who pay a single supplement for all cruises 10/3/13 or after (3 points if in a suite). They haven't officially announced it yet, but points have already posted for some solo travelers.

Great news for me as this moves me closer to Diamond Plus even faster.

MiamiFlyer

That is the "official" reason, but it's simply not true. Both the repeat cruisers party and the Captain's party were held in the lounge - they simply split the group into two different times. They could have easily done the same with the lounges for the elites based on their dining times. I met with both the hotel director and the Captain for their explanations, and they both blamed it on "corporate policy". No other reason for not continuing appetizers in Michael's club, or in one of the other venues.

Why take a chance, especially on a long TATL cruise? RCCL seems to handle huge numbers of Diamond/Diamond Plus just fine, and they do a really nice job on a large variety of yummies at happy hour.

MisterBill

Some of us prefer Celebrity yo RCCL. I can't speak as an Elite (plan to be after my next cruise in February) but the line is more important than the yummies. I can always go get sushi at the buffet if I'm hungry before dinner.

MisterBill

Is that at a 50% single surcharge or 100%? Will you get 2x the bonus points for a longer cruise and Concierge or above as well? I.e., for your example, if you're in a suite on a 12+ night cruise, will you get 6 points??

MiamiFlyer

I use to vastly prefer Celebrity over anyone else, even with their price premium compared to other cruise lines. The food was definitely superior. However, as someone who has done about a dozen Celebrity cruises in the last five years, I think their product has lost some of its edge in the last year or two, including some rather stiff charges in their specialty restaurants. Of course, I may be mad because they stopped serving escargot at every meal (although I hear rumors that it is coming back). Elite used to be very very good on Celebrity, now it's just good.

MisterBill

I think they had Escargot on the every night menu on Constellation this summer. I agree that the food is not as good as it used to be. But RCCL's is even worse.

And I agree about the steep prices at the specialty restaurants. The only one I'm really interested in (and willing to pay the price for) is Qsine (which sadly was not on Constellation) and which I try to get for half price by walking in the first day of the cruise. On Cruise Critic people have reported success, and I got it for half price on a Silhouette cruise in 12/11.

Also, no free Internet at the comparable level as Elite with RCCL.

wrp96

It's an extra point as long as you are paying any kind of single supplement. (Even the 10% supplement I'm paying for Oasis at the beginning of November ). So basically 2 points per night for a regular cabin, 3 points per night for a suite - instead of the 1 point per night for regular cabin, or 2 points per night if in a suite.

MiamiFlyer

I'm gonna like this - 56 points for $19.32 a point.
May the official confirmation come soon.

RCCL use to give double points in December - will they still do that this year?

wrp96

Apparently the official announcement is tomorrow.


And no Diamonds in December this year

MiamiFlyer

Just got a call from RCCL Guest Relations about my cruise later this week. Person I talked with "never heard of double points for singles", wasn't sure about December Diamonds. No announcement from RCCL that I could find.

Must be one of the best kept secrets in the industry.......

wrp96

If you log into the C&A member page it's the 2nd thing listed in the Latest News section - right under the Quantum bookings are open announcement.

Also now listed on the benefits table in the Additional Benefits section with reference to footnote 14.

HPN-HRL

My friends got back from their Hawaii cruise on Celebrity Century - the usual elite lounge set-up was done upstairs (only ~250 elites on the cruise); no news on the new program level.

I'm not sure I can agree with your sentence that I underlined above. In the hour or so before late-seating dinner, the public venues on board are generally quite busy. It's one thing to have a lounge taken over for a Captain's party (or similar) one or two nights, but I can understand Celebrity not wanting to overcrowd their other facilities. (FWIW, on my first Celebrity cruise with elite status, happy hour was from 4:00 to 6:00; eventually they decided that they could shift that to 5:00-7:00.) I suspect that, if Celebrity decides to adapt a public space for elites, they will not have a space for all elites but will go ahead and "convert" Michael's Club into a lounge only for suite guests and the top 10 or so cruisers up until 7:00 or so (as they tested out on my Infinity cruise this past summer). I haven't been on RCCL yet (my first cruise with them is next month); I am interested to see if they have enough public space outside the diamond lounge to satisfy demand.

As an aside, I fully agree with you on the escargot debacle. They did bring them back onto the everyday menu in late March of 2012 - just after I disembarked from Infinity SCL-FLL.

piper28

There apparently was some sort of major shortage of escargot for a year or two. I don't remember the details of exactly why it happened, but it basically disappeared off the menus for most cruise lines, because the price had skyrocketed. It's slowly worked it's way back onto the menus as the supply has stabilized. (Although I couldn't tell you if it's been on menus on any cruises I've been on recently, since I have zero interest in it).