I embark on my $8,000 cruise in The Retreat with Celebrity Cruises onboard the Celebrity Reflection. But is it worth the HIGH price tag? The Retreat is Celebrity Cruises’ suites and features exclusive access to a Retreat lounge and Luminae, which is dining only for those guests staying there.
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This 9-day Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Reflection departed Barcelona to visit the ports of call of Marseilles, Villefranche (Nice), Pisa/Florence (Livorno), Genoa, Sicily, Naples, and Rome.
Celebrity Reflection is currently the fourth oldest ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet of ships, debuting back in 2012. The Retreat on Celebrity Reflection features entry-level Sky Suites, Celebrity Suites, Royal Suites, and many more classes of suite staterooms. My room onboard Celebrity Reflection in the Retreat was a Sky Suite and I paid nearly $8,000 for this room for a solo cruiser.
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In this series of videos from the Retreat on Celebrity Reflection, I will feature all the dining and food onboard Reflection, including Luminae, the Porch, and the Lawn Club Grill. I will also do a full ship tour of Celebrity Reflection, a room tour of my Corner Sunset Sky Suite, and more vlogs to show you what staying in the Retreat with Celebrity Cruises onboard Celebrity Reflection is like.
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00:00 Introduction
00:45 Boarding Celebrity Reflection
02:06 Suite Stateroom Tour
04:56 Why I Booked The Retreat
09:02 Walk Around the Ship
17:05 Lunch at Luminae
18:56 Embarkation Process
21:58 The Butler Issue
29:26 Sail Away from Barcelona
30:40 First Dinner at Luminae
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Thanks for the butler info. It’s worse than I thought. We used our butler for a standing order for coffee and mimosas in the morning on many past cruises. It seems that may be a thing of the past. I cannot ask our room attendant to do that. They’ve got enough to do 😢
Good review, Zach…thanks!
I can't wait for the rest of this series! You held up very well, considering you flew in the day of embarkation! I would NOT have done so well, and probably would have slept the afternoon away (I know, bad idea)! Cabin looks incredible!!!
My wife and I travelled in a accessible Sky Suite in January of this past year on the Equinox. The butler also provided optional services such as unpacking your clothing and hanging things up in your wardrobe.
In Terminal B, The Retreat starts with it's own area set aside for it's guests. On Edge we were among the first dozen on. The Lawn Club Grill is on Silhouette. That's our next cruise. We've been in two Sky Suites, but never a back corner. Now I'm so tempted! BTW, there was no Retreat area in the waiting area in Amsterdam. In the past my butler ironed my dress shirts, offered to shine my shoes, etc. Also went 'all out' to bring cocktails, coffees, anything. Looking forward to the entire series on this trip!
Looking forward to your videos for this cruise. Hope you include some info about disembarking (Civitavecchia?) and any post cruise travel.
$8,000 ? Wow, I am cruising with Celebrity for the first time next March and am price shocked. We are going to have to adjust to cruising in an interior room because I just can't spend that much for a cruise. We are even booked on Cunard and it's only $2,600 for the two of us for a week. For $8,000 I would expect a whole lot of pampering.
The World Europa
Great video Zach. We just got off the reflection not long ago. It’s a beautiful ship needs a bit of TLC in some spots, especially in the passport bar. The seats are looking very tired. The rooms need to be updated also. We will be on the Summit in a months time. This will be the first Celebrity ships we’ve been on that has been fully upgraded. Should be good. I have never done the suite class yet, maybe one day, Good Lord willing 😊
Thanks Zach! We're really looking forward to the rest of this series!
That support pole in the middle of the room is a non-started for me.
In May I sailed from Fort Lauderdale on the celebrity equinox, in a Celebrity Suite. You are correct about the retreat embarkation lounge, it was so special. Group seating with comfy chairs and small tables not at all like the large room you showed in your video. Within minutes of getting to our suite, our room attendant came by and introduced herself, and then our dedicated Butler arrived. He offered to unpack our suitcases, which we didn’t need him to do. But he did insist on putting them up onto the bed, in the separate bedroom that we had. There was a full walk-in closet in the bedroom. And, of course, that very very large balcony. Our suite was just off of the library, right by the mid elevators.
What an amazing trip! Our butler came in every morning with a banana for me, since I need extra potassium. He filled our ice twice a day, and brought in extra water. And as you shared, eating in the Luminae restaurant was an amazing experience. The service was wonderful, with delightful, friendly staff. And the food was absolutely decadent, every meal, every day. I don’t know that I would want to eat food like that every day for any longer than two weeks, it was so rich, but oh, so good. A lot of healthy and very fresh, but a lot of very rich food as well. This was a trip of a lifetime, and I doubt if I’ll ever be able to afford to sail in a suite again, but I am so thankful for the experience. I’m looking forward to my next cruise, even if I will feel a bit sad that I won’t have that same level of comfort and care. I look forward to seeing the rest of the Vlogs regarding your trip in the retreat. Thank you for the time you give to help others learn about cruising.
Why the towels rack is inside the shower ? 🤦♂️🤷♂️
Did you pay single supplement?
Fun! I love Barcelona. I think you're on the cruise we were supposed to be in June, but cancelled due to multiple life factors. The Reflection looks beautiful. Can't wait to sail on her and can't wait to watch the rest of the series. Always informative. Thanks, Zach!
I'm so glad you've done this one – I've been interested in the Retreat concept since sailing on Silhouette last year. I don't think that I'd ever pay this much money for any cruise cabin personally, but appreciate there's a clear place in the market for the much more opulent spaces than my inside cabins…!!
Great video as always, Zach!
You should have contest: Guess how many times Zach said, “retreat” and win a stay in the retreat.
Enjoy your videos Zack but why wiuld anybody with half brain ho eats a normal breakfast and other meals want, to more over the top money fir this when they can spend it on a real luxury ship does not make any send. How many people have a butler at home nt too many I would say?
Didn't you have to pay double given you went solo?
As a solo cruiser, did you pay full price for the suite or was there a solo cruiser discount?
Looking so forward to this video series… I love your honesty… thank you🚢
The Lawn Grill and the Hideaway are both present on the Silhouette too!
Exciting that you've got to try out The Retreat, must be nice to have the extra space.
Zach, I am really glad you are doing a series on the Retreat on the Reflection. I struggle with Aqua Class versus Retreat on the non-revolutionized, non-Edge series ships. Because only the Edge series have a proper outdoor pool area, which is super important to me, I have only booked Aqua Class before and absolutely loved it on the Millenium. I booked a magic carpet sky suite on the Apex and cannot wait for that, in the spring. I like the idea of a "ship within a ship" concept that Edge class has. Separate note: I thought only dedicated Butlers and tips were being removed from the Retreat? I did not hear that the OBC credit was also leaving? Thats usually a promotion to book the Retreat? If so, they better lower those cost like the said they would!!!! Can't wait to see the other videos!
We thought the buffet and the dining room on the reflection was the best we've been on.
Luminae was vastly overrated on Silhouette. Very disappointing. Coastal Kitchen on Royal was much better and the suites are much bigger and the lounge is twice as big as the retreat lounge.
Absolutely not. I'm a big Celebrity fan but shifted away from the mass market lines. All-in they're about the same price as an ultra-luxury line so why bother?
Thanks for doing this review, Zach! We're in The Retreat (also Sunset Sky Suite) in a few months so very interested in your experiences. Will follow the series closely. A lukewarm review for Day 1 – not promising.
Beautiful! Loved your thorough review. Always the best!
I loved the suites and Retreat on the Celebrity Apex & Celebrity Edge! You should experience it on one of the newer ships, it's quite different.
Nicely produced video, with great information, and I love your chill style. PS- I listened to your guest appearance on that podcast; you were terrific. I screamed when you said you were going to Japan in the fall.
Awesome video! My first Celebrity cruise back in January was on Reflection and she's a great ship for sure. The $8,000 price tag is pretty steep but I think I'm correct in assuming you were stung with the dreaded solo supplement so it would normally be $4,000 per person based on double occupancy. That's the main thing keeping me out of the Retreat at the moment but Luminae looks so tempting. I just disembarked Constellation where I sailed in Aqua Class via a "Move-Up" upgrade (I bid the minimum) and adored Blu, but the way Celebrity is pricing their cruises – especially for solos – is making me wary of booking Aqua or Retreat outright.
Zach, is Virgin Voyages on your radar? I really want to try them out and while plenty of others have reviewed them here on Youtube, I'd really think you'd do a good job bringing your own perspective. I was actually really considering booking on Brilliant Lady for this winter, only to have Virgin announce her delay the very next day. 😬
The retreat on the edge class ships cost me about the same (a little less for a 7 day med sailing) and it was incredible. im sure you're sick of these comments by this point, but if you have the chance to do an edge class retreat sailing, it's totally worth it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to show us all of these things if we should book this type of Suite. I pray that you enjoyed this cruise as well. Stay safe. Amen
Great info, Zack. Thank you! I’m so disappointed to hear that your food at dinner at Luminae the first night was just average. I sure hope it got better as the trip went on. We’re doing the sailing right after you so can’t wait for more content!
we were in a similar Sky Suite in March 2016, long before the Retreat and it was still great. The pole in our room was closer to the couch,
As Retreat guests on the Edge-class ships, we have always been accepted at Blu. Personally, I prefer it to Luminae. My husband and I are scheduled to sail in December on the Ascent. It will be the first time that we will experience the revised butler program. Our last cruise was this past June on Apex, and we were in a Sky Suite. I hope all goes well….
It's nice to have a view over the port of Barcelona. We're sailing there in oktober so I can figure the geoography better with your vid (and maps, of course). We'll be on the MSC fantasia, and many other ships will be at port the same day as us, so it's quite cool to see all those (Carnival Freedom, Costa Smeralda, Enchantment of the seas and Queen Elizabeth). I wish they'd all offer a tour everytime they're at port, but if so, I would never make it to see the actual city 😀
Anyway, thanks for the tour and see you on the following vids !
Excited to see the rest of the trip! Did anyone count how many times you said Luminae in this video?
Great video Zach! I'll be doing Celebrity Infinit next November for 12 days, can't wait, want to get Morocco off my bucket list, so excited… Was your flight direct & from where? Thanks so much for taking us along… when did you do this cruise?
I will be in this very room on December 2024.
What is the name of the head butler? We will be sailing on the next TA in a sky suite and would like to know. Thank you.
For the price you pay to be on that cruise, everything should be covered, including everything they say isn't covered. I'm so glad I don't travel because they find some way to rip you off! I can't wait until God says something about all of this in case you don't know about one cruise that charge far more than what you paid and they ended up getting stuck in some frozen water near Greenland. Plus, I don't feel a bit sorry for them 🤣