Wiseask

My wife and I are veteran Celebrity cruisers but have yet to sail on the Edge-class. We are both dedicated deck walkers and other passengers on our cruises will recognize us doing 40 rounds each day on the outdoor track. 
 

As we are considering booking an Edge-class cruise, we are concerned about the ramped walking tracks spanning two decks on these ships, because our preference is to walk on a level track. 
 

Has anyone heard about or experienced directly any difficulties in walking these tracks which incline up two decks? In other words, is the incline gradual and comfortable — or not. I realize the answers may differ from person to person but I am asking for your thoughts nonetheless. 

 Thanks. 

We were also on this cruise and were not aware of a single passenger diagnosed with Covid nor did we notice any crew “missing” during the week. We also did not notice any passengers ignoring the masking rule, including in the Fitness Center. 
 

The ship was looking a little worn around the exercise track on Deck 14 but was otherwise in excellent condition. The crew could not have been more gracious or friendly, and we felt safer in the protective bubble Celebrity created for us than we did on land. 

All in all it was a fabulous cruise. My only criticism is that it ended too soon.
 

Thanks for your reply. 

Is it possible to delete a post?

Is it possible to edit a Post once it’s been posted? Thanks. 

Sounds rather harsh and extreme for a cruise nearly a year and a half away. So much can happen in that time frame to cause a change of plans. My previous experience with Celebrity was to take advantage of price drops without affecting the refundable deposits. 

I have booked a Celebrity B2B for 2020. The cruise fare comes with two Celebrity perks: OBC and pre-paid gratuities. I paid a combined deposit of $1,400, fully refundable until final payment is due. 

I called my travel agent today after spotting a significant price drop, and she advised me that if I took advantage of the drop I’d lose my perks (as expected), and my $1,400 deposit would becomes non-refundable (which was unexpected).

Are non-refundable deposits for taking advantage of a price drop a new Celebrity policy, and if so, do you know the details?

Thanks. 

Except for that one rainy day in Tenerife and a brief shower during one of the sea days, the weather was magnificent. Mostly sunny with daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s. 

Looking forward to meeting you next November 5.  🙂

Got it. Thanks. 🙂

I know there is a service which for a moderate fee will track price increases and decreases for specific sailings. I’ve booked a cabin for a 2019 Celebrity Reflection TA and want to monitor any price decreases. Can anyone please provide me with the link to this service? Many thanks. 

This was our second cruise on the Celebrity Reflection but our first Transatlantic crossing. We were in a balcony cabin on Deck 8. The ship itself is already several years old but it could have been brand new; it is very well kept and spotlessly clean. Because it was a 14 night cruise in October, the passengers seemed to be mostly retired, in their 60s and older. There were virtually no children aboard. (That’s not a complaint.)

As you might expect on a Celebrity cruise, the crew could not have been friendlier, more helpful or more gracious, whether at the popular Martini Bar or select dining in the Opus restaurant on Deck 4, or the Oceanview Cafe on Deck 14, or the Fitness Center on Deck 12, the places I frequented the most. The service was superb. Our cabin steward was beyond superb. The food was not simply good, it was very good. At many meals it was nothing short of spectacular. Say what you will about Celebrity, you will not leave their ships hungry. 

Also, in a very generous gesture, and as a reflection (so to speak) of Celebrity’s appreciation for returning customers like us, as Captain’s Club members with Elite status Celebrity bought us drinks every night until 7:30 PM (except for the evening of embarkation), so my bar bill was very low. 

In the very subjective category of theatrical entertainment, I do not give Celebrity high marks. My wife and her girlfriend went to all the performances and were not terribly impressed. I went to three shows featuring comedians; only two were funny. 

We had dined in most of the specialty for-fee restaurants before, but they are now outrageously expensive and in my opinion not worth the price, certainly not when compared to the plentiful and multiple very high quality “for-free” dining venues. 

At the beginning of the cruise the ship stopped in the Spanish ports of Barcelona, Cartagena and Malaga. We were blessed with beautiful weather and had booked half-day tours through Celebrity which we found informative and fairly priced with guides who were interesting and easy to understand. It rained during our final stop in Tenerife and Celebrity was kind enough to refund a portion of the supposedly scenic excursion cost. 

The weather during the crossing was generally good with only two instances of rough seas. The temperatures were cool and comfortable until we neared the Florida heat the last two days of the cruise. 

Because there are plenty of sea days on a crossing, my wife, the Queen of Mah Jongg, was able to find a group of girls and played with them every afternoon. I occupied myself with a good book and time in the gym, but the cruise director did a fine job of organizing all kinds of activities for passengers with other interests. 

The bottom line is that we loved this cruise so much that while on board we booked another crossing for next year, leaving from Barcelona exactly a year to the day after this cruise ended in Ft. Lauderdale. We even reserved the same cabin, and asked Celebrity to simply let us keep our clothes in our closet and drawers so packing for next year will be easier. That’s a joke, by the way, but the rest of my review is serious and sincere. 
 

The RCI ships sail at about 110% capacity - what do you think is more likely, RCI keeps finding a whole bunch first time fools or what your wife experienced is not the norm?

Of course she can’t comment about cruises she wasn’t on, but judging by the quality of the comments I’ve read today, I can’t rule out the former. And not just first time fools, either.

Please see highlighted text above. Herein lies the majority of the problem. That, and no prior research.

 

Her experience was preconceived. RCI never stood a chance with your wife.

 

Oh, and I find it hard to believe there were no hand sanitizer dispensers. They are everywhere on every RCI ship I've been on in the past 10 years. This statement alone makes me disregard this entire review.

Okay, you’re excused. Reading comprehension is not your strength. The key word is “despite” the low expectations about the food, she actually found it decent. Those expectations came from somewhere. We’ve seen reviews on Cruise Critic that on some of the newer RCCL ships the food was described as “inedible.” Of course, that’s a matter of taste and opinion, but in her opinion, except for the lack of menu selections in the MDR, she had no complaints about the food on this ship.

I’m pleased to hear about the hand sanitizers you say were on “your” RCCL cruises. Just be thankful you weren’t on this one.

Claiming that Adventure had NO hand sanitizers is an outright lie.

 

Now I have that darn Washy, Washy song in my head.

 

For you to continue to state that there were NO hand sanitizers will surely make everyone disregard your review.

That’s pretty rude talk for someone who wasn’t even on the July 6 sailing. First of all, I’ve known my wife for nearly 50 years and she is no liar. I take offense at your ignorance. Second, she didn’t say there were no sanitizers. She said they weren’t on display and she had to ask for them (though there was one occasion when she did ask and was told there were none). Finally, we won’t accuse you of lying just because you had a different experience on your Adventure sailings.

Apples and Oranges

 

Royal Caribbean is not marketed, nor is positioned in the market in the same place as Celebrity. Royal Caribbean is positioned as a family oriented mass market line with the lowest price point and revenue per passenger of the RCL owned lines. It is also the largest of the RCL lines with 19.2% of the world wide cruise market. Competition Carnival, Norwegian, MSC

 

Celebrity on the other hand is slotted as a Premium Mass Market line that is aimed primarily at adults with a higher income level. It has a higher price point and a revenue per customer ratio double that of Royal. It is a much smaller line with 3.5% market share. It primarily competes with Princess, Holland America and maybe the Haven level of Norwegian and Yacht Club level of MSC.

I disagree with your analogy. Willingness to tolerate dirty public restrooms, rusty accommodations and dirty restaurant tables on “your” cruise ships with cruise ships which are clean is comparing apples with rotten apples, not apples with oranges.

Based on the way you worded her thoughts/review, it sounds like she was looking for things to complain about. And, it seems like she went in knowing full well that she was going to compare every little thing to Celebrity. And that, folks, is why she didn't have an enjoyable time. No one is going to enjoy themselves when they compare and contrast everything to a prior experience. Each ship and experience are particular to only one point in time. Enjoy the moment.!

Any passenger who is willing to accept without complaint no hand sanitizers, dirty bathrooms, dirty restaurant tables and rusty accommodations is a fool. But hey, that’s just us. Without bringing those observations to RCCL’s attention (as she did both on board and in her on-line survey) is denying the cruise line the opportunity to market a better product. Which is a disservice to both the cruise line and potential passengers.

Official word on straws here: https://presscenter.rclcorporate.com/press-release/18/royal-caribbean-to-eliminate-plastic-straws-by-end-of-2018/

 

Celebrity implementing the same policy.

We sailed on Celebrity Reflection to the Greek Isles last Summer and straws were not at issue. We’re sailing on the Reflection again on a T/A this Fall and will see for ourselves.

But you’re missing the point. Citing an ecology excuse, the crew on my wife's cruise were stingy supplying straws with soft drinks — but, inconsistently, not with alcoholic beverages. Don’t straws from an alcoholic beverage pollute the environment just as badly as those from soft drinks?

Personally I'd be more interested in your daughter's opinions. Your wife is a happy Celebrity cruiser and it sounds like she went in with really low expectations because it wasn't Celebrity. I often find expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have low expectations you will see things in a negative light

 

Royal Caribbean isn't Celebrity, and it isn't trying to be Celebrity. It isn't trying to imitate Celebrity, so saying it was a poor imitation would be disingenuous. It would be like if somebody who always drove a Lexus test drove a Jeep and said it was a poor imitation of a Lexus. They are both cars, sure, but they serve different clientele for a different purpose.

 

I'm not saying her arguments are invalid; older ships in particular can be kept in a bit of a worse condition than the newer ships, or a ship fresh out of dry dock. And it's definitely valuable information for people who always sail Celebrity to get an idea of what would be different on Royal Caribbean

Those are fair comments.

I will accept your analogy between a Lexus and a Jeep. I think that accurately sums up the difference between Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. Thank you for making my point.

But not seeing hand sanitizers and seeing dirty bathrooms, and dirty tables, and rusty accommodations isn’t seeing things in a negative light. It’s seeing things as they were.

Our daughter said she had a blast. She’s a trial lawyer by profession and needed a vacation to decompress. She slept late on sea days and spent her evenings at the blackjack tables. On port days she went to the beach. She also said she’s grateful to have such generous parents.

Maybe try Carnival next time......

It actually might be an improvement ...

No shower cap...that's it... never cruising with them again..., or here is an idea..... why not do a little bit of research as to what (and what is not offered) if you are trying a new cruise line.

 

If I went on a totally new brand I would not expect everything to be a mirror image of what I receive on RCI.

Just sayin'.

From my wife’s single experience and objective observations, Royal Caribbean is an inferior cruise line. The cruise was a birthday gift to our daughter and she — not we — chose this cruise based on the destination, shower caps or no and your expectations notwithstanding.

Just sayin’.

Interesting second hand review. A few points, rest rooms are cleaned during the day, there are crew members with blue bags that go around cleaning them. Straws are available on request as is very common in most places these days. Bathroom toiletries have never included shower caps, certain levels of loyalty and cabin do get lotion though. Not going to address anything else as you weren't on the cruise.

If bathrooms were cleaned during the day, they would be clean. But they weren’t. They were dirty.

Oddly, the passengers who ordered alcoholic beverages didn׳t have to “request” straws with *their* drinks.

A shower cap was provided only after my wife asked for it, but caps *are* provided on Celebrity cruises — the comparison being the point of the review.

Not going to address anything else you wrote as you weren’t on the cruise, either.

If you were on the same sailing, why are you describing everything through someone else's eyes?

I wasn’t on the same sailing. The first sentence of my post makes that clear.

I am a member of Cruise Critic. My wife is not. She asked me to post her experience which may be of interest to other Cruise Critic members.

My wife and our adult daughter sailed on Adventure of the Seas on July 6 to the Bahamas. This cruise was our birthday gift to our daughter, who had never been on a cruise before. My wife and I have been sailing almost exclusively over the years with Celebrity. We gave our daughter the choice of a Celebrity cruise to Bermuda or a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas. Both were for one week and both were on older ships. Our daughter chose the Royal Caribbean cruise because of the itinerary. She and my wife shared a balcony cabin.

Some observations, courtesy of my wife:

1. The public restrooms were filthy. There were no attendants to clean them during daylight hours. The bathroom floors on the pool deck were wet, slippery and dangerous.

2. Hand sanitizers which should be ubiquitous on all cruise ships were no where to be found. Sinks at the entrance to the Windjammer buffet restaurant were not used by all passengers. My wife had to actually ask for hand sanitizers and she was told on one occasion that none were available.

3. Overheated passengers returning to the ship from shore were not offered cold face towels or cold drinks to refresh themselves, and of course, no hand sanitizers were on display. Clearly, cleanliness was not a priority on this ship.

4. My wife described the vaunted on-board entertainment, allegedly a Royal Caribbean strength, as nothing special.

5. On a number of occasions the staff was slow clearing dirty plates from tables in the always crowded Windjammer buffet restaurant.

6. Even though disembarking at the port of Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean’s private island) is a ritual the ship performs on a weekly basis, you would think the crew would have learned how and known better. Thousands of impatient passengers were trapped in small, narrow, overheated, confining exit ways for 90 brutal minutes before being allowed off the ship. There were no water fountains at hand. Not surprisingly, under these extremely uncomfortable conditions the mob of passengers became unruly. My wife said she’s seen better organized riots.

7. My wife noted the door frames in their cabin shower were rusty. Same with the floor surface on the balcony. Curiously, these features did not appear in the Royal Caribbean cruise brochure.

8. Although she was Diamond class by virtue of her past cruises on Celebrity, my wife had to actually ask for basics like a shower cap and lotions and a robe. The cabin had no carafe of ice water.

9. Having purchased a soda package, my wife had to continually ask for straws, which the crew were stingy to hand out allegedly due to environmental concerns — but they were ever present on more expensive alcoholic beverages.

10. To be sure, and in fairness to Royal Caribbean, there were parts of the cruise my wife did enjoy. Contrary to her low expectations, my wife said the food was decent, though selections on the MDR menu were limited. She said her cabin attendant and MDR server were very good. But maybe because we booked this cruise late, the fare was no bargain compared to what we pay on Celebrity (where we normally book early) — and yet she received a lot less for our money. For years we’ve heard Celebrity described as an upscale version of Royal Caribbean (they are both owned by the same parent company), but until my wife’s upsetting experiences on this cruise we were unable to appreciate what upscale really means.

The quality of the free coffee can range from "it'll have to do" to hot brown water, IMO. Consider packing some Starbucks Via instant packets or something similar. Hot water s/b available near your cabin 24/7.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

That’s sort of my opinion of Starbucks, but I get your point. Thanks.

Café Promenade

Good. Thanks. 🙂

I’m unfamiliar with Royal Caribbean ships, but on Celebrity ships coffee (regular and decaf), tea and some juices are available in the buffet restaurant — for free — virtually the entire day until late at night.

Is that the same on board Royal Caribbean ships? My question is specific to Adventure of the Seas. Thanks.