As I start a new blog series, I once again preface that I am not employed by any travel agency nor cruise line. I paid for my entire cruise and travel experience and have not been paid or compensated in any way for the forthcoming review.
Celebrity is a cruise line I have sailed with two times before. My very first cruise ever was on Celebrity Solstice in what they call a concierge cabin. Potentially slightly larger balcony cabin with a few perks (less then than they have now). My second cruise was on the same as this one, Solstice's sister ship, Celebrity Equinox. That first sailing on Celebrity Equinox was in a Royal Suite and yes I spent the entire trip sleeping on the sofa bed. It wasn't a true secondary bedroom but the perks made up for it. The suite featured what they called a "guest bathroom/powder room" which was a closet sized half bath off of the main living space (aka my sofa bed) that included a toilet and a sink with mirror. Thankfully, I didn't need a bunch of extra counter space or bright lighting so it was fine for me to do everything but shower in there.
Royal Suites on Celebrity ships can be great, especially for foodies, because it's the lowest level suite you can book that gives you the perk of all specialty dining included. Even gelato was included which some members of this family might just sell their soul to have. We also booked it during a time when not all suite guests got the Premium Beverage Package, Internet, and Gratuities included - just those at Royal Suite level or above. Now, with the rebranding of Celebrity suite cabins as The Retreat across all their ships, booking any suite gets you those perks plus a small amount of OBC.
Now that buying the cheapest or the most expensive suite on board gets you the same standard perks, we decided to reassess whether it was worth paying for a more expensive suite. The only thing that we felt would be missing by not upgrading was the inclusion of specialty dining. We booked this third cruise during a sale that gave us a large amount of OBC. Which of course goes a lot further when you don't have to use it on beverages, internet, or gratuities. So when this new category of cabin showed up in the list to book, we couldn't find very many reasons not to take the plunge.
What is this new category? Well, the easiest way to think about it is to think of an analogy my Dad uses to describe Subway sandwich promotions. There's only so many tubs of ingredients on that fixings counter and that rarely ever changes. They just come up with a new way to combine the existing options or invent a new name.
One of Celebrity Cruises cabin categories is known as AquaClass. Those passengers who book an AquaClass cabin get Blu as their main dining room (MDR). Blu serves a menu that is more on the healthier side. AquaClass passengers also get access to thermal spa (Persian Gardens or Sea Thermal Suite) use whenever they please during opening hours. To read more about what all booking an AquaClass cabin provides for your onboard experience, visit here.
The lowest level (and thus cheapest) of suite cabin you can book is called a Sky Suite. They used the name first before Princess chose to name their most grand suite the same thing after its inception on Sky Princess. Can be a bit confusing when booking Princess' Sky Suite gets you the best cabin and perks (Dad would want me to point out how this should have included unlimited gelato) while Celebrity's Sky Suite gets you the smallest cabin and the minimum perks all suites receive. To read more about what all booking a Sky Suite cabin provides for your onboard experience, visit here.
So what happens when you decide to take a handful of the existing Sky Suites, hike the price slightly, and give those passengers both AquaClass and perks for being in The Retreat? The Aqua Sky Suite is born! Just like when you talk to Princess cruisers and they get confused as to why booking a "mini-suite" cabin doesn't get them all the suite perks, this new hybrid category name confused a lot of Celebrity passengers and crew still to this day who think we must be referring to one class or the other.
Check out my next post for a photo walkthrough of our Aqua Sky Suite 2117.
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