Smart Tips And Tricks For Celebrity Retreat
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If you aren’t used to being pampered, The Retreat might feel a bit foreign to you at first. Following are our tips and tricks for Celebrity Retreat, and how to maximize your experience.
Before Your Cruise
Create Your Online Account And Begin Planning Your Cruise
Once your cruise has been booked, you should sign up for an online account with Celebrity on their website. After you have created your account and your cruise is linked to it, you can begin to make plans for your trip, such as purchasing extra packages, making dining reservations, and booking excursions.
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Benefits Received
As a suite guest in The Retreat, you will receive:
- Premium drinks
- Premium Wi-Fi (first two guests in a suite)
Celebrity MoveUp Program
You may receive an email from Celebrity inviting you to bid on a higher cabin through what is called the MoveUp program. A link will take you to the MoveUp page, where you will see the higher cabins that are eligible for you to bid on.
Bidding does not ensure that you will receive an upgrade to your suite but does offer you the opportunity.
There will be a range in which you can bid, with a minimum bid and a maximum bid. Be aware that the bid you make will be multiplied by the number of passengers in the suite.
You can bid on as many upgrades as you want, but you will only receive one and it will be at Celebrity’s discretion. You will not be able to choose exactly where your new suite will be. If your bid is accepted, your credit card will be charged and your suite number will be changed. You will be notified anywhere between months before your cruise or on Embarkation Day. Surprise!
Shoreside Concierge
You may or may not be contacted by the shoreside concierge via phone or email prior to your cruise to ask about some of your preferences (pillows, clothes hangers, etc.). You can contact the shoreside concierge yourself at 1-877-RETREAT if you don’t hear from them within two weeks or so of your cruise.
Online Check-in
Three weeks before your cruise, your e-docs and online check-in become available. You can access them through your online account. This is when you can choose your check-in time on embarkation day. Be sure to complete your online check-in soon because it closes three days before the cruise embarks.
To access your e-docs and check in, go to your online account, sign in, and click on your name in the upper right corner of the screen. Choose Manage Reservation from the drop-down menu, and a list of your upcoming cruises will populate. An option will appear in the box that says Check-In. Click on this and follow the instructions. If you’re too early for check-in, this will say Check-In Unavailable and will give you the date that check-in will begin.
Celebrity App
This is also a good time to be sure to download the Celebrity app, because it will be extremely helpful for you once you are onboard. With the app, you can:
- Show your boarding passes at check-in on Embarkation Day
- Peruse the day’s activities
- Make a dining reservation
- Check the menus for all of the restaurants
- Text with other members of your group
Your Cruise Team
In The Retreat, you will have a team that will do their best to handle your every need. Each member of the team has specific areas of responsibility as follows:
Your butler will handle anything to do with food and beverages for you. You can ask them for things such as:
- To deliver afternoon canapes to your suite each afternoon.
- Empty your mini fridge of items for purchase and restock it with sodas, beer, and bottled water of your choosing.
- Provide you with orange juice to mix with the sparkling wine left in your suite so you can have mimosas.
- If you order room service, your butler will be the person to deliver it.
- If you’d like coffee in the morning, your butler can bring it.
- If you need laundry service, dry cleaning, or pressing, ask your butler.
Your cabin attendant is responsible for cleaning your suite and making sure it is comfortable for you. You can ask them to:
- Bring you an extra blanket for your bed, or for lap blankets.
- Bring extra clothes hangers.
- Make your bed with a bed topper.
- Change out your pillows to ones of your choosing.
- Bring you extra towels.
Your concierge will help with any problems you might have and to help you with reservations. You can ask them for things such as:
- To answer your questions about excursions, or to help you book or change one.
- To help you make or change a dining reservation.
- To help you book show reservations.
- To print you a new keycard if yours doesn’t work.
- To help you with an incorrect charge on your account.
Make a list of the requests you might have once you get onboard for your butler, cabin attendant, and concierge.
Embarkation Day
Although you choose a time to arrive at the port during your online check-in prior to the cruise, Retreat guests are allowed to come when they like up to two hours before the ship’s departure. I would advise not arriving before 10:00 a.m., though, as the crew will be busy with the prior week’s passengers disembarking.
When you arrive at the port, give your luggage to a porter and look for a Retreat check-in area. Once they check your name off the list, you will be ushered inside the terminal, where you will go through Security. You will then be checked in, and if your suite isn’t ready, you will be seated in an area for Retreat guests and offered refreshments. If your suite is ready, you will be escorted aboard by a concierge.
Once aboard, your concierge will help you find your suite, where you can drop off your carry-on bag. You can go to lunch at Luminae, the suite restaurant, and afterward, return to your suite to get settled in. Your luggage will be delivered outside your suite later in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, take the opportunity to explore the ship. The elevators will be quite busy with all the arriving passengers, so it is a good idea to take an elevator to the top deck, then make your way down deck by deck and take the stairs.
Once you’re done exploring, you can return to your suite and will probably find your luggage waiting. While you are unpacking, your butler and your cabin attendant will stop by to introduce themselves and ask if you have any special requests. This is a good time to let them know if you’re celebrating a special event such as a birthday or anniversary. They will arrange a nice surprise for you.
Before the ship departs, be sure to put your phone in airplane mode and follow the directions left in your cabin to log into to the ship’s WiFi. If you have any problems, go to the Retreat Lounge and a concierge will do it for you.
In Your Suite
When you arrive in your suite on Embarkation Day, an ice bucket containing a bottle of sparkling wine will be waiting for you.
On your desk, you will find tickets for your prepaid excursions, as well as invitations to certain special events.
You will also find luxurious robes and slippers for your use during your cruise, as well as compact binoculars and two umbrellas, one compact and one large.
Luminae
Luminae is the exclusive restaurant for suite guests. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (as posted in the daily newsletter), and reservations are not required.
Guests of the Retreat may bring non-Retreat guests to Luminae for a fee on a space-available basis. Check with your maître d’ for more information.
When you arrive at the restaurant, the maître d’ and hostess will greet you. Give your suite number to the hostess, let her know if you have a certain table request, and she will assign you a table. The maître d’ or a waiter will escort you to your table. It is best if you stick with the same waiter each time you dine, so they will know your preferences without needing to ask every time.
In the restaurant, you will have a team that will attend to your needs. Your waiter, assistant waiter, and sommelier will introduce themselves and learn your preferences.
If you have special dietary needs, let your waiter know right away. They might arrange for a chef to meet with you.
Also, Retreat guests have access to the AquaClass exclusive restaurant, Blu, when seating is available.
Dress Code For Luminae
At the exclusive restaurant in The Retreat, think “relaxed luxury.” You want to be comfortable yet also tasteful.
For daytime in Luminae, casual wear is fine, but this does not include swimsuits, even with a coverup. For example:
- For women: Sundresses, shorts and tops, or pants or jeans and tops. Sandals, sneakers, or low heels.
- For men: Long pants or shorts with T-shirts, short-sleeved shirts, or polos. Sandals or sneakers are fine. Tanks or caps are a no-no.
For evening in Luminae, smart casual is the key. For example:
- For women: Dresses, or skirts, nice jeans, or pants with nice tops are fine. Nice sandals, low heels, or high heels.
- For men: Long pants or nice jeans with collared short-sleeved shirts, polos, or button-down shirts. Loafers or other nice shoes. T-shirts, shorts, or flip-flops aren’t allowed in Luminae in the evening.
Retreat Lounge/Michael’s Club
The Retreat Lounge (or Michael’s Club on older ships) is open twenty-four hours a day, but is typically staffed by a concierge and a bartender from about 9:00 a.m. until late in the evening. Your daily newsletter will have the hours posted.
This is where your concierges are stationed. It is also a nice quiet place to go and relax, get away from it all, and some have panoramic views. The Retreat Bar is located here (or on the Retreat Sundeck, or both).
The Retreat Lounge (and possibly Michael’s Club) will have fridges stocked with sodas, bottled water, and the like for you to take back to your suite if you’d like. They also have a buffet in the afternoon for afternoon tea. Michael’s Club, on the other hand, will have the waiter offer you afternoon tea at your seat.
Unfortunately, Retreat guests cannot bring non-Retreat guests to the Retreat Lounge or Michael’s Club.
Retreat Bar
The Retreat Bar may be located in the Retreat Lounge, the Retreat Sundeck, or both. A bartender on duty there can prepare whatever cocktails you like. They will quickly learn your preferences and will usually only need to be told once how to make a special drink for you. If the bartender doesn’t have the liquor or wine that you’re requesting, they will typically touch base with the other bars onboard to see if they can find it.
Unlike at the other bars on the ship, you will rarely have a wait for a drink at the Retreat Bar.
Retreat Sundeck
Newer ships have a Retreat Sundeck, which has seating areas, loungers, cabanas, and hot tub(s). On Edge-class ships, the Retreat Sundeck has a plunge pool, deep enough to cool off in but not large enough to swim in. A waiter is available to take your order for light fare or for cocktails.
If you want the Retreat Sundeck practically to yourself, go on a port day.
Only Retreat guests are allowed to use the Retreat Sundeck.
Priority Embarkation and Disembarkation
As a suite guest, you will receive priority embarkation (as explained above) and disembarkation on the final day. In addition, you will receive priority tendering, which means that if the ship has to be anchored away from the pier, a boat called a tender will take you ashore. With so many passengers, this can be a lengthy process, so it is a nice perk to be among the first to disembark the ship if you don’t have an excursion and are exploring on your own.
Excursions
If you need help with an excursion, rather than going to Guest Services, you should ask your concierge for assistance.
When you return from an excursion and there is a long line, you can ask an officer to provide you with priority embarkation, and they will escort you to the front of the line. Prepare for the side-eye from fellow passengers, though, who might be a little disgruntled.
Special Events
Suites guests receive invitations to special events just for guests of The Retreat. You may be invited to a cocktail party to meet the officers, or to a private musical event. Events of this type would take place in the Retreat Lounge. You might also be invited to the helipad for a sail-in to a port.
Theater Shows
Retreat guests are offered seating in a reserved area of the theater for popular shows. The concierge can answer your questions about this.
Tipping
There are no tip jars on Celebrity ships, but tipping is common, especially in The Retreat. Some people tip at the beginning of the cruise, some (like me) give a thank-you card with a tip at the end, and others find some happy medium between the two.
How much to tip is a very personal thing, but many people ask for guidelines. Here is what I tell them:
Who to Tip
At a minimum, you should consider tipping your butler, cabin attendant, and waiter. To be thorough, you would tip the above, plus your concierges who helped you, the assistant waiter, the sommelier if you used them, your favorite Retreat bartender, and the hostess at Luminae.
How Much to Tip
Everyone’s situation is different, but it might help to ask yourself what you would expect to be tipped if you were in that person’s shoes.
If you want numbers, some people who tip will do so in the general range of:
- Butler: $10 per day or $100 per week (or more)
- Cabin Attendant: $5 per day or $50 per week (or more)
- Waiter: $10 per day or $100 per week (or more)
- Assistant Waiter: $5 per day or $50 per week (or more)
- Sommelier: $5 per day or $50 per week (or more)
- Hostess: $5 per day or $50 per week (or more)
- Retreat Bartender: $5 per day or $50 per week (or more)
Of course, your financial situation and personal beliefs play a large part in this decision, as well as how much you used the services of each of your team. You do you. Any gratuities you wish to give are appreciated by the crew, and personal thank-you notes are especially appreciated.
Post-Cruise Survey
You will receive a post-cruise survey by email once you’re home. Please be sure to complete the survey and give a shout-out to any crew members who went above and beyond. Their promotions and bonuses are dependent on these surveys.
The ratings are from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, and any ratings below 9 result in the entire group being put under the microscope. Celebrity takes customer satisfaction very seriously.
Miscellaneous
If you would like to book a future cruise while onboard, the concierge can arrange for a Future Cruise staff member to meet with you privately in the Retreat Lounge.
Smoking is not allowed anywhere in The Retreat.
Final Thoughts On Tips And Tricks For Celebrity Retreat
The best advice I can give someone new to The Retreat is to relax, enjoy the pampering, and don’t be shy. Ask politely for what you want. That is what your fabulous team is there for.
Happy cruising!
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