Inside Celebrity Cruises' The Retreat Suites-Only Experience

We're taking you inside Celebrity Cruises’ exclusive luxury suites class, The Retreat, to show you how this "ship-within-a-ship" concept delivers an intimate small ship experience while giving you access to all the amenities of a large resort at sea. 

You'll discover whether The Retreat's premium perks – from priority boarding and private pool deck to the standout Luminae restaurant and spa access – are worth the splurge for your cruise style. 

We'll share our firsthand experience aboard Celebrity Apex, walking you through a multitude of luxurious suite options, exclusive lounge access, personalized butler service, and how The Retreat creates that coveted escape from the crowds while keeping you connected to all the entertainment and dining a big ship offers. 

Whether you're considering upgrading to a suite on your next Celebrity cruise or just curious about how ship-within-a-ship concepts compare to traditional ocean cruising, you'll understand exactly what makes The Retreat special and who it's perfect for.

To enhance your understanding of The Retreat, see photos and gather additional info on our website: 

• Celebrity Cruises The Retreat Review: Is This Ship-Within-a-Ship Worth the Cost?
• Celebrity Cruises Classes Explained: AquaClass vs The Retreat vs Concierge

Thank you to our sponsor, Riverside Luxury Cruises. Find out more about our experience with this outstanding river cruise line, providing guests with the luxury of choice.

Chapters

• 1:17 Introduction to the Ship Within a Ship Concept
• 3:16 Exploring The Retreat Experience on Celebrity Apex
• 4:25 Celebrity Cruises Ships With The Retreat
• 5:07 Are Kids Allowed in The Retreat?
• 6:21 How to Get Exclusive Access, Amenities & Services to Expect in The Retreat
• 10:22 The 10 Different Types of Suites to Choose From in The Retreat
• 13:55 Additional Luxuries in The Retreat
• 16:00 Exclusive Areas for Guests of The Retreat
• 20:44 Luminae: Private Dining for Retreat Guests
• 22:54 You Have the Entire Ship At Your Fingertips Too
• 24:17 Additional Perks of The Retreat
• 25:08 The Retreat is the Way to Go with Celebrity Cruises

Transcript

Dan (00:35)

Welcome to Small Ship Cruise Talk. Today we're going to talk about not a small ship. Well, we're going to small, we're going to talk about a ship-within-a-ship concept. 

So I'm sure you've probably heard of that before. And I know we've talked about it before, but specifically we're going to talk about The Retreat on Celebrity. When you want that small ship special feeling inside of a big ship, something like The Retreat is what you're going to want to go if you decide to go on a big ship. So Mikkel, tell us kind of what is the ship within a ship concept and you know why are we talking about it?

Mikkel (01:16)

To answer your question, why are we talking about this? It's because maybe you've been on a big ship or even you're a loyal Celebrity cruiser and you want a change or to experience something you haven't on the ship before. 

Or like you said, you're a small ship cruiser and you want to try a big ship, but you're not quite sure if being with the masses is for you, but you like the appeal of having the evening entertainment, the multiple dining venues, the multitude of bars, 12 to 14 decks. You know, you like that appeal and you want to try it. This is a great kind of home base for you that makes it less overwhelming. To answer your question about, "What is a ship-within-a-ship concept?," the easiest way to put it is that it's a suite class with its own private amenities.

So with that said, what you can expect in our conversation today talking about what that means for Celebrity Cruises in what they call "The Retreat."

What kind of suite can you expect? How much availability is there? What kind of restaurant experience can you expect? And what else boarding or priority disembarkation for excursions. So what else can you expect in that Retreat? So let's just dive right into it as we always do.

Dan (02:40)

Today, probably more specifically, we're talking about our experience Celebrity Apex. We were in The Retrat on that ship, and I think it was a Caribbean

Mikkel (02:50)

Mm-hmm, Yeah, yeah.

A big ship for a lot of people, the ship is the destination more so than the ports it's going to. Not to say that you won't get off or the itinerary is not important to you, but I think a ship is great for relaxing on board, having more downtime than you might have on a smaller ship like an expedition ship that you're constantly going on excursions or going on a kayaking, or what have you, off the ship. 

So it's kind of like another opportunity to relax, but also without the crowds because they limit how many people are in there. So as you said, we were on Apex. We've also seen The Retreat on Beyond, which was amazing. I'm so excited. We're going to see The Retreat on XCel that we're going to do a little preview that they have going on in Port Everglades.

So I would say, spoiler alert, it was a 10 out of 10 experience for us.

Let's answer the question of what Celebrity Cruises have The Retreat? All Edge class ships have it. So this includes Apex, Beyond, Celebrity Edge, and Celebrity Ascend. And then additionally, all of Celebrity Cruises "Revolutionized" ships.

have The Retreat. And that's part of their $500 million initiative to revolutionize their entire class of ships and kind of retrofit them to have all of the modern day... Not like it was so ancient back in the 19th century for this cruise line. It was not. But those original ships that came out, to put The Retreat in them as it pertains to what we're talking about today.

Dan (04:25)

Yeah. You know, it is interesting. Usually we talk about small ships and there is, there's that age difference and like kids are not welcome on all cruise lines. That's for sure on the smaller ships, but kids are welcome on Celebrity ships and they're welcome in The Retreat. So this could be a great opportunity to get that multi-gen family together, bring the kids, bring the

Mikkel (04:32)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Dan (04:51)

and have

the big ship amenities and something for everyone, but yet, you know, for all the people that need that small ship... they're small ship people at heart, they need a little bit more of a container.

Mikkel (05:03)

And would say even they enjoy a little bit more of an elevated experience. I don't think that Celebrity cruises overall appeals to a lot of people with young kids, like a Disney cruise line would or Royal Caribbean or Norwegian Cruise Line, maybe even MSC for their kids club. But of course, people are going to want to cruise on Celebrity because it's a fantastic cruise line and bring their kids or their teenagers or their young adult children along.

And I think it's perfect for that kind of multi-gen, like you're saying. We've seen families in The Retreat. Not a ton, but we have seen them.

Dan (05:38)

Yeah. So when you're in The Retreat, what does that look like? What's available and what should our listeners expect if they book in The Retreat?

Mikkel (05:48)

Yeah, so to your point, also how you get in The Retreat? It's open to anybody

Dan (05:53)

Hmm.

Mikkel (05:54)

as long as you book a suite in The Retreat, right? So like you can't decide once you're on board that you want to be in The Retreat if you're not in one of their suite classrooms, you have to pre book it. But it's not like there's prerequisites for booking it. It's open to anybody to book. So, it's about 200 suites. It depends on the ship. 

There's also AquaClass and Concierge. That's not what we're talking about. We have a fantastic article on our website, SometimesSailing.com. I'll link it in the show description that talks about the specific differences between those three classes. I would say The Retreat is the creme de la creme of the different class options on Celebrity Cruises, and definitely the level that you want to book. So you have to be in a suite for this. Now the rooms are beautiful.

Please go on the website, SometimeSailing.com that I just referenced and look up our cruise line category for Celebrity Cruises. I'm gonna link the direct link to the article as well in the show notes and you'll see our review of The Retreat and exactly what our gorgeous stateroom looked like. One of my favorite things about it to answer your question of, "What does that look like?" Quite literally... is that I love that our bathroom,

Dan (07:11)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (07:11)

not only did it have like a shower that almost had like a mini tub in it, right? Like, I love a tub. So that was great. But also that like the that the medicine cabinet kind of opened and you could like see a window into the bedroom so you could see out into the ocean when we were cruising. And that was really cool. That kind of maximized the cruise experience, I would say.

Dan (07:15)

Right. Right.

It turned a, usually what you would think of as a dark bathroom into part of the main living space, but you still had the privacy there.

Mikkel (07:43)

Right, right. And I would say also on an individual level, like not the public spaces with The Retreat — kind of along the lines of your experience boarding was awesome because you get priority embarkation. So you kind of like go to your own separate area to have the porters help you and the the Celebrity cruises or terminal staff help you board the ship earlier. So you really get that more luxurious treatment and specialized attention right from the start. I think Celebrity has done a really great job of giving you that extra attention from the get go once you are ready to embark on your cruise.

Dan (08:23)

Yeah, I would definitely agree. And you feel that throughout. So you've got a butler, you've got the amenities, or I shouldn't say amenities, the staff really, the crew members that are available to you. So one of our excursions.

Mikkel (08:34)

Yeah, I would. I think you're

Dan (08:43)

our butler took us down almost through like the Bat Cave. Like it was the secret, the secret exit, you know? And then we just got like right onto a tender and then went out and I think it was in Belize, but that attention to detail, but also, you know, we skipped a lot of lines is where I'm going with it. And thanks to our butler.

Mikkel (08:54)

Mm-hmm. So it was an "unBelizeable" attention to detail in Belize? If you've ever been to Belize, you know it's "unBelizeable" through and through. 

Dan (09:05)

You hear it, you hear it from the moment you step onto the soil in Belize.

Mikkel (09:18)

It's true. It's true. So okay, so just to review, right? So getting on and off the ship, we have that priority boarding on day of embarkation. Like you said, we have that priority disembarkation at the end of the cruise. And we also have a complimentary Extend Your Stay program, which is something specific to Royal Suites and above. And I do want to mention there are 10 different types of suite options in The Retreat.

So that's a lot to choose from. That is a big range of different suites that you can get. I briefly want to touch on the different types of suites. And again, if you are more of a visual person and kind of want to see this laid out, I encourage you to go to our article discussing The Retreat review, which we linked in our show notes.

So we have the Sky Suites and that is the entry level suite and also likely the most affordable suite option that's going to get you into The Retreat. Up from that is the AquaClass Sky Suite. That's going to give you access to AquaClass if you want some of those features like to be able to eat at Blu in addition to The Retreat.

We stayed in AquaClass and I'm not sure I would do it again just because I didn't love Blu. I didn't feel like that menu gave us anything that we were missing and you get workout equipment if you want as part of The Retreat. How did you feel about that?

Dan (10:46)

It was interesting, like we had workout equipment delivered to the room, like a kettlebell and ⁓ yoga mat and stuff. I used them a few times, but I also went to the gym with everybody else. So, like there was, you know, pros and cons, I guess to it. But not enough that I would say we definitely need to do that again.

Mikkel (10:50)

Right, like dumbbells, kettlebell, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think AquaClass is really tailored towards a certain level of somebody who is very mindful about wellness in a different way. Like the menu at Blu, (which we also have mentioned on our website if you're interested to know more)...the menu at Blu, B-L-U, is kind of more like health-oriented. Ummm, example: On the Caesar salad, instead of bread croutons, there's tofu.

But I didn't actually think the food was that great in Blu, especially compared to Luminae.

Dan (11:39)

Yeah, I would agree there. Yeah.

Mikkel (11:41)

Yeah, moving along with the suites, we have the Celebrity Suites is the next option moving upwards from there. You have the Royal Suites. Now when you hit the Royal Suites class, you do get a couple more perks. It goes to the Edge Villas from there, the Penthouse Suites and a very limited number — for example, there's two of these on Apex — the Iconic Suites. So you are paying top dollar for the Iconic Suites.

And the Royal Suites, you get complimentary daily laundry and unlimited pressing, which is so cool. And you also get exclusive sleepwear. So that's kind of cool too. Especially if you want to take a little bit of your trip home with you — that sleepwear, you know.

So if stressing out about how you're going to pack for your week or two weeks long cruise, especially if you're in the Mediterranean, let's say like, don't worry about it or the Caribbean, because you're going to sweat through some t-shirts.

Complementary daily laundry is major because you can pack more efficiently. And then you also get shoe shining if you want to keep those and neat looking, which is kind of a fun thing. I would say, we don't shine our shoes at home. But if it's one of the perks, why not, right?

Dan (12:55)

Sure, why not.

Mikkel (12:56)

So We're not going to be talking about price of The Retreat because it varies as vastly as any cruise varies depending on the itinerary, the amount of days... It obviously costs more than a non-Retreat stateroom will. But I do want you to also like keep in mind a lot of these packages include Wi-Fi, you know, so like they include the premium drinks package. So keep that in mind. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that The Retreat includes things that wouldn't be top of mind but as you dig deeper, which is why you're listening to this episode and we're glad to have you, you'll realize like a pillow menu, premium bedding, beach towels, binoculars in the room,

Dan (13:34)

Hmm. Right.

Mikkel (13:40)

daily canapes delivered to your room, water service, like you said, a dedicated butler, a destination experience specialist to assist you with all your excursions, and that's really special. So you don't have to wait in line at the excursions desk, you know, if you have an issue or whatever. You can also just wait in the...

Dan (13:50)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (14:00)

Retreat Lounge, which we'll get into, but The Retreat Lounge and have a premium cocktail as you wait to talk to somebody if somebody else is speaking to them. There's a couple of people for the excursions in there, but... you have a suite-to-car escort by your butler for Private Journeys, which is something you can book through Celebrity Cruises. And there's also a short excursion departure lounge just for suite guests.

So we didn't know that. And that's kind of a relatively new thing, I believe. But like you said, the butler took us down through kind of that secret passageway. But there is a short excursion departure lounge just for suite guests. And one of my gripes with big ship cruising is sitting in the theater that fits thousands of people and waiting. And it's just like so much time wasted.

So time is money. You might spend a little more for The Retreat, but think about what you're getting in terms of not having to wait as long to disembark to get to your excursion.

Dan (15:02)

Yeah, that's such a great point is you can chill out in the lounge while you're waiting for your number to be called to get off to go to your excursion. You know, there's, there's just more things available and less downtime.

Mikkel (15:18)

Yeah, so speaking of the lounge, let's talk about the three very special dedicated areas for guests of the Retreat. Now an overview of that is The Retreat Lounge. Also The Retreat Pool Deck, which I'm going to include the Sundeck in that as well. And then the third thing is the dedicated restaurant exclusive to guests of The Retreat, called Luminae. So let's start off with The Retreat Lounge.

Dan (15:44)

Yeah, we went down, or down, I'd say down, I think it was a deck below our suite. But, we would go down in the afternoons, because they always had a little buffet of finger foods and things like that, and then there was a bar down there, and it was a great little quiet place that we could stop and maybe get a coffee or get a drink.

They had a couple options for outdoor seating and indoor seating. Very cozy, nice little lounge.

Mikkel (16:11)

Mmhmm. And they televisions in there. I recall some sporting events maybe playing on the outdoor television. Yeah. They also have afternoon tea there sometimes, which is really nice. The scones were really good. And they also have those dedicated excursions people to help you. They have a dedicated concierge in there that can help you. You can go to other restaurants if you are part of The Retreat. All the restaurants that are open to all the other guests are open to you as well.

Dan (16:14)

Right. I was watching football.

Right.

Mikkel (16:38)

The only exception is Blu, which is for AquaClass guests. But the lounge is a really nice area to have just a few people around you, not thousands, maybe 100 max at any given time. Max! I mean, I would say we were never in there with more than 20 other people. And there's ample room, so we never felt like it was crowded.

I love seltzer and club soda. So you can grab, you know, a Perrier from the fridge. You need a key card to get in.

So your suite room, your stateroom key opens the doors to there. But if you aren't in The Retreat and you try to get in, you can't get in there. 

Dan (17:06)

Right.

Mikkel (17:15)

magnetic key access to get in. I loved watching the ocean from there with a with a drink. I thought that was great. And it is a special place to gather and just kind of unwind away from the crowds, let's say. Let's talk about The Retreat Pool Deck and the Sundeck. So the Sundeck is just part of, you know, the... I would say gated, it is really gated actually, the gated area to The Retreat pool, pool deck area. So there was a pool, it had several kind of fun over-water swings. Just casual, we're not talking, you know, Cancun, spring break, these are just casual, photo-worthy swings that you can dip your feet in over the pool.

Dan (17:58)

Right. Over the pool. Like when you said over water — no, you're not swinging out over the, over the ocean.

Mikkel (18:02)

No.

Yeah, because MSC does have that swing that goes over the ocean on World America, that ship. But no, that was not. Yeah, thank you for clarifying that. That's why like spring break came to mind.

Dan (18:06)

Right, right, that's

Mikkel (18:16)

But they do have those like just casual swings in the little wading area. Wading, like wading in water, not waiting time-wise. My New York accent comes out sometimes and it's hard to decipher what I'm saying.

They do have their own pool. They have their own hot tub and their own lounge chairs out there on that sundeck. One of my favorite things about The Retreat pool deck and sundeck area, not just that they have their own towels you can grab, but if it's really hot as it was for our cruise in the Caribbean, they bring around fruit skewers. And I thought that was so classy. Just something refreshing.

Dan (18:53)

Yeah, that was a really nice touch. 

Mikkel (18:55)

Yeah, refreshing, not heavy.

Dan (18:58)

There is a bar at The Retreat pool deck also, and I think you can get food there, you can get lunch and things like

Mikkel (19:04)

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Dan (19:05)

I was looking for a specific kind of bourbon and they were able to locate it, and so that was waiting for me at that particular bar. So that was a nice touch also.

Mikkel (19:15)

Yeah, and there are restrooms there. I think even one of them had a little shower to rinse before you went in the pool or after. And in terms of the menu, they had a Caesar salad wrap. They had a small Caesar salad. You could get French fries. So kind of all your pool essentials.

Dan (19:21)

Yeah.

Mikkel (19:34)

Pool food, yeah.

Dan (19:33)

Pool food, yeah.

Mikkel (19:35)

Not as extensive as any of the restaurants, of course, or definitely not as extensive as the general buffet. And I happen to really like the buffet on Celebrity. I think they have one of the best Asian and Indian food stations there, which I really love. But no, you can't get that extensive a menu. Just like you said, pool food, just small things that are enough to hold you over or be lunch if you're looking for something a little on the lighter side.

Dan (20:00)

Yeah, yeah.

So speaking of food, we talked about the restaurant that was available to Retreat guests, and that is Luminae.

Mikkel (20:08)

If you have a reason to stay in the Retreat, to me, like Luminae was the reason.

Dan (20:08)

Yeah, absolutely. So smaller, more intimate dining experience.

They know your name when you come in.

Mikkel (20:21)

open for breakfast and dinner. And reservations are not required. Actually, one of the things I really loved about it is that after the first day, miraculously, I do not know how, but they know your room number immediately. And they say, "Oh, welcome back, Mr. or Mrs. Woodruff." It's amazing. Because there are hundreds of people that stay in The Retreat.

Not a lot.

Dan (20:39)

And, and the room numbers are not like seven and nine. It's like two, three, one, one. Yeah.

Mikkel (20:42)

Right, right. They're like four digits. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you don't need reservations. And another one of my favorite things about Luminae, part of The Retreat, is that their drink menu was so good. They have these martinis that I really loved, like a Tokyo martini with like ⁓ basil leaves in it. It was so good. I really I love the martini bar on Celebrity

Dan (20:58)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (21:06)

Edge class ships. I think it's such a great hearth of the ship. But the martinis — and they had other drinks on the menu, but the martinis — in Luminae, I just thought were "mwah!" — chef's kiss! So good.

Dan (21:19)

Yeah, yeah. And they had lobster night. There was always something on the menu that was a standout.

Mikkel (21:26)

Yeah, yeah. like anywhere on the cruise ship, if you didn't like what you were eating, you could try something else. But I did feel like the food was more consistently like a step above the rest in The Retreat in Luminae.

The day we embarked, it was open for lunch. And it's also open for lunch on sea days.

Dan (21:45)

Yep. Great atmosphere and just overall great food.

Mikkel (21:49)

yeah.

So the Celebrity chef of Celebrity Cruises, I would call him, Daniel Boulud — B-O-U-L-U-D, French — is also featured on the menu at Luminae. So I enjoyed kind of seeing what he had put his signature stamp on on the menu. They indicate what those things are when you look at the menu.

Dan (22:12)

So it is interesting. We talked about all the great things of The Retreat, but you also have the rest of the ship. And you know, we were definitely spoiled inside The Retreat, but we were able to explore, go to all the other restaurants that the other guests can go to and understanding that Celebrity has just beautiful ships.

Mikkel (22:18)

Yeah.

Dan (22:34)

So, uh, the lounges and the bars and the restaurants on the ship themselves are pretty impressive.

Mikkel (22:40)

And speaking of, you get special theater seating during the shows. So like you're saying, you can enjoy those theater shows, those big theatrical productions like everybody else. But on top of that, when you're part of the Retreat, you don't have to feel like you have to get there so early to reserve your seat because you get that reserved theater seating.

Dan (22:46)

Mm-hmm.

Right. Yeah.

Mikkel (23:04)

Another thing we haven't mentioned is spa access. So you get complimentary, well, you're paying for it, but let's just say, you know, you don't see a separate line item, but you're getting spa access in addition to the dedicated pool. So you can go in the spa and use, you know, the whatever thermal lounge and sauna that they have available. You're not going to get complimentary massages. That's not what we're talking about, but we are talking about

Mikkel (23:30)

spa access to use all those relaxation areas.

Dan (23:34)

Right.

Really it's a lot to take in because Celebrity has a lot of options for you to mix and match how you want your Retreat experience to be. So I think you could argue it's a feature and it's a bug at the same time, because it's overwhelming with a lot of the options. But if you want choices and want to mix and match things, like this is a pretty good option for you.

Mikkel (24:00)

Do you really feel like it's a bug? Like it's like a not a good thing.

Dan (24:04)

I think you can get some decision paralysis pretty quickly in trying to figure out all the different ways to go or what is offered with what.

Mikkel (24:14)

But I think once you book, you just board and enjoy it. Just make sure when you board you tell them you're in The Retreat so you can take advantage of those perks from the get go.

Dan (24:25)

Right, right.

Mikkel (24:26)

Yeah, very cool. Well, Celebrity Cruises is one of our, if not the favorite, big ship for us. And we love the cosmopolitan feel and The Retreat kind of just makes us feel a little more elevated and like we can get that small ship experience that we are craving on a bigger ship. In the future, we're going to talk about MSC and The Yacht Club because that is their ship within a ship concept. And I think that that is another fantastic option as well.

Dan (24:55)

Yeah, good option for people that maybe, like I said, that multi-gen or they are doing a group trip or something and they are going to go on a big ship. There is an option for you.

All right, so thanks again for tuning in and listening along with us here at Small Ship Cruise Talk. And until next time.

Mikkel (25:18)

Keep cruising. Bye bye.

Dan (25:19)

Keep cruisin'.