Cruisellama

On 12/14/2022 at 1:02 PM, VMI72 said:

The pandemic kinda threw a monkey wrench into the whole "Revolution" thing. All the refurbishments and "Edgeifying" were thrown off schedule and scaled back because of financial issues. Even the very largest cruise lines struggled with cash flow and capital resources. And of course several small cruise lines went belly up. So it was a very rough 2.5 years for the cruise industry. The big 3 cruise line groups are just now crawling out of the hole. Future bookings are strong, so by around 2025 they should be totally back on their feet absent some other world changing event. Anyway, we very much enjoy the E-Class ships, but Edge is our favorite - Beyond not as much despite the superior sunset bar. We are booked on the Apex, Edge and the Inaugural of the Ascent next Dec.  We are going to try the Eclipse in 2024. 

We're really looking forward to sailing Beyond.    We do like E-class the best.  We really enjoy the martini bar and think it was an error on the first 2 E-class ships to position in at the end of the atrium.   It's in the center on Beyond and we're looking to see if that scratches the itch.

On 12/12/2022 at 3:49 PM, George C said:

Totally agree Edge Luminae was far superior to beyond, we done several sailing on M class and always loved there Luminae including on summit in February and we have summit booked for March also. I haven’t experienced S class Luminae yet , my one sailing was before it had Luminae and Michaels, we are in royal suites on our summit cruise would like to try that on S class to get that extra half of a bathroom, which M class doesn’t have.

S-class is a definite improvement.  While we've enjoyed M-class in the past, the IMO, the Revolution upgrades were not comprehensive enough across the dining venues.  Still a lot of "vintage" furniture / carpets so a mixed bag.

On 12/8/2022 at 4:56 PM, morpheusofthesea said:

You are quite mistaken ! We were on the Thanksgiving Beyond cruise Nov 20-27, 2022. Luminae was closed every port day, except embarkation day (had the Cobb salad with the Neuske bacon). We dined breakfast, lunch and dinner in Luminae. Since we no longer bother to get off the ship (Celebrity has no private out island) we had to search for alternative places to eat on board ( we do not eat in self serve buffets). These are two aspects of Celebrity ships that we have to take into consideration before booking future cruises on Celebrity.

I share your position.  Luminae is one of the reasons we book that class.   I found Eden's Cafe to be a decent place to catch a meal for lunch in the event Luminae isn't open.  I understand the port day closures (don't like it), but its needed for sea days.

7 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

Speaking of lunch at Luminae, has anyone else been solicited to purchase a wine corkscrew opener while in the dining room?  We were having a relaxing lunch on Edge in April, but just as our main couse was placed on the table we were interrupted by a sommelier wanting to sell us a wine opener.  We had not even ordered wine.  It was very awkward and unexpected.  We did find the food to be fresher and hotter than at dinner.

 

On the Retreat deck, we found we had to retrieve the food ourselves from the bar as the servers told us they will not bring the food from the outdoor Retreat Bar to other places on the Retreat sundeck despite the few tables being taken.  

 

No one that we spoke with at the time was able to clarify whether the solicitation for the wine opener, or the refusal to deliver food that was ordered was a standard operating procedure, endorsed by management and part of training, or an anomaly.  

Not seen corkscrews offered.  Maybe it was a side-gig, selling off Luminae merchandize ;).  We have had things sold at a "Chef's table".   We purchased a wine aerator a few years ago.   As far as the Retreat deck (and lounge).   Although we think it's a nice space, service isn't the same model as the old Michaels club.  As you note, far too much "self service".   On Apex last month, the Retreat deck staff lost my order.   Waited about an hour before getting my burger (that was cold by that time).  It was a port day, and elected to stay at the Retreat area which failed on the service side that day.  If I recall, many have happened on Edge also prior to shutdown.

On 12/6/2022 at 11:10 AM, George C said:

Luminae is always open on sea days , nice thing now is outdoor retreat is open on port days but very small menu.

That's what I'm used to.  But the APP is only showing a Dinner and Drink menu for Luminae.  Normally lunch is also published on the APP.  As it's not published, it planted the seed of doubt.

On 11/5/2022 at 9:36 AM, mfs2k said:

We returned from our 9 night Beyond repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Bermuda, Curacao, Aruba, and disembarking in FLL and here are some notes:

 

We booked a sky suite so we got to take advantage of the Retreat.

 

Prior to this we've been on 10 Carnival cruises; 1 Norwegian cruise and we sailed on Celebrity Equinox in March 2019.  

Beyond is the largest ship we've been on.  It was also the oldest average passenger age cruise we've ever taken.  According to one of the officers, the average age on this sailing was 70.  I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it seemed about right. 

 

We prefer a younger demographic.  While we're no spring chickens ourselves, (62/63) we do prefer a younger cruise because it's a bit more lively and fun for us (your mileage may vary).  Fortunately we made friends early on with fabulous younger people who we spent most of the cruise with, and had a great time. I think a lot of the crew and passengers thought they were our daughters.  Nope. Just friends.  They pushed our typical boundaries and we did things we don't normally do.  In Aruba, we rented two side by side UTV's and explored the island, both off-road and on-road and had a blast. 

 

 

 

We decided we were going to take full advantage of the specialty restaurants and experience each of them to the fullest. 

 

My wife and I went to Eden the first night alone and really enjoyed it.  We went back another night with our new-found friends and had the wine pairing dinner.  It was fabulous, but the cost/benefit of the wine for me didn't have the value it might have had for others.  The wine add-on was either $100pp or $120pp.  I forget. We sat at 6pm and finished at 10pm.  That was a loooong dinner.  But delicious.  

 

My wife and I went to Fine Cut alone one night.  I really wanted the Tomahawk steak.  the menu said it was for two, but my wife wanted filet mignon.  The waiter said I should order it anyway for just me.  Most of the weight was the bone, and I ate most of the steak. I'm glad I had it.  The server was great.  We went back to Fine cut a second night with our friends and it wasn't as good because the server was aloof and inattentive.  Service makes all the difference. 

 

The four of us went to Le Voyage one night.  We had a reservation for two and tried to change it to 4 guests.  They accommodated us a different night for the four of us and sat us in the restaurant's private dining room. It was great.  We sat at a dining table which could seat 8 and had fabulous food and service.  Instead of the wine pairing set menu, the four of us ordered all 8 starters.  They served them in 2 courses and we passed the plates so we all got to try each of the starters in the course.  Amazing. We each got our own entrees and we shared desserts.  Le Voyage is an intimate restaurant, but when you're seated in the private dining room, the intimacy is even greater.  We sat at 8:15 and left at 11:15. We were the last ones in the restaurant and didn't even know it until we left.  Thank you to the service and kitchen staff.  You're awesome. 

 

We also went to the Rooftop Garden grill one night.  It wasn't nearly the standout the other restaurant experiences were, but I don't think it's intended to be the same level.  The food was good. The smoked wings were phenomenal.  They'd only be better if they used fresh chicken wings vs frozen, (you can tell by the redness of the bones - frozen wings have darker bones when cooked) but I get it.  It's a cruise ship and they're not getting daily deliveries of fresh wings. 

 

Luminae....  Some of our meals were good.  Some of the service staff are totally on point and provide four star service.  Some of the staff are also recently promoted and still have some learning to do.  The Maitre D's and Sommelier are so good.  The kitchen staff needs to step up their game. I wasn't overly impressed. I won't go into overly critical detail but there's a lot of room for improvement.  I did, however, LOVE the veal chop I got one night.  It blew away my expectations. Some breakfast comments: The peach Cobbler French toast was buried in a cream sauce I didn't like (BURIED).  The Waffles were made with potato batter.  I asked for plain waffles with normal pancake batter and got potato waffles.  The eggs Benedict eggs were hard cooked several days in a row despite requesting them runny.  By the end of the cruise we were very specific and redundant and they came out the way they were requested.  We had breakfast one morning in Blu.  I liked their breakfast specialty items better.

 

It was interesting to see how the levels of food changes from one venue to another.  For example, the croissants were biggest in Luminae, a little smaller in Blu and much smaller in Oceanview Cafe.  the bacon was thickest in Luminae.  the juice glasses were biggest in Luminae.  etc

 

The retreat lounge and the retreat outdoor deck were great.  The lounge was my place to go in the morning for coffee and to watch the sunrise.  The staff are incredible.  Loved them all.  The outdoor deck was nice but quiet.   

 

We spent one day in a cabana at the pool the last sea day.  The pool scene was livelier and more fun.  They had officers/guests volleyball in the pool and pool Olympics which were fun to watch.  It was quick enough to be amusing and not overbearing.  I like a party in my brain. Watching is fun.  I'm not participatory but that doesn't mean Im not enjoying it.  FYI, most of the cabanas were empty despite seemingly sold out before the sailing on the cruise planner. 

 

The sky suite cabin was great.  On the first day I asked my butler if he could get me a full sized lounge chair like they had on the pool decks.  After multiple CC threads, I didn't think it was possible but I asked anyway.  He delivered!  We had a full lounge chair all week on our patio in addition to the two chairs and table.  They did fit nicely.  Hw was tipped generously at the end of the cruise and so was our cabin steward.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask politely. 

 

One note if you're sailing on Beyond. I always travel with USB power blocks because our device counts keep increasing between kindles, ipads, phones, airpods, and watches.  I didn't need the power blocks on this ship.  There are enough USB charging ports and outlets on both sides of the bed and on the table that I didn't need to use the blocks. Well done, Celebrity.  Well done. 

 

The weather on this trip unfortunately was rainy for the first 6 days.  Thankfully the last few days were gorgeous.  I think if it were sunny all 9 days I'd come back burned to a crisp.  I did get good color the last few days. 

 

We met some people with an Edge Villa and spent an afternoon hanging out in their private plunge pool.  I liked the villa but I wouldn't pay what they ask for for it.  The two levels make the space seem smaller than a wide suite would. If you're going to give me two rectangle boxes instead of one, I'd prefer them side by side instead of stacked on top of one another like the Villa was. 

 

Misc random notes as I think about them:

• Thank you Kelly, @PinkSandGirl for your pre-trip organization and event coordination.  Loved meeting you and seeing you everywhere we went, it seemed, on the ship.  Your live blog review was great. 
• I did the behind the scenes tour and found it interesting. It felt a little too showy than watching things in action.  For example the garbage room was spotless and no sign of garbage.  The recycling was on display like at a museum.  We didn't see people actually doing laundry in the laundry room.  We saw unattended equipment.  I think the staff are sent on break when we walk through.  The mechanical control rooms were fascinating.  All electronic.  Same with the bridge.  If the generators went out and the ship plunged into electrical darkness, it seems everything would come to a halt as we drift in the sea. That would be an adventure. 
• Bermuda will always be the rainy island for me.  3/3 times we've bene there it's rained. Heavily. 
• Curacao was cloudy.  We met my sister there, who was coincidentally on vacation on the island. She picked us up in a rental car and we explored a little bit  Found a museum at a turn of the century hospital which was mildly interesting and had a great lunch at "Ceviche."
• If I didn't have the retreat lounge, i would have been in Cafe Al Bacio more (did I spell that right)
• Bourbon. I had to search for premium bourbon besides JD, Jim Beam and Maker's Mark. I found Buffalo Trace at many bars hidden away if I asked and I discovered they had hidden Bulleit Bourbon in the Theater bar; World Class Bar and the bar for Fine Cut.  but I never actually saw a bottle on display.
• Bartenders seemed understaffed. There was usually a wait for a drink.  
• Aside from the cruise critic meet and greet when we got on board, I never went to the sunset bar because it was in the back of the ship and we spent so much time at the retreat in the front of the ship,  If I didn't have the retreat, Id probably hang out there. 
• Burgers at the retreat deck and mast grill were great. 
• The Oceanview Cafe was good. I always had something I liked eating.  On the last day the servers kept referring to it as the "extravaganza"  I didn't find it extravagant, but I did find it good. I liked the shrimp.
• The touchless (or minimally touching) had controls for public bathrooms and doors to/from the pool deck were great. 
• There were only 4 children on our cruise and 2 dogs. I liked having a virtually adults-only cruise.  I want a younger demographic but not that young. 
• The beds are hard.
• When we departed we had two sizes of toilet paper in our cabin.  The European toilet paper leftover from the TA had a narrower roll length.  American toilet paper is wider.  
• We went to all three production shows.  I liked the one with the paintings the best. Elements second best, and Stage door third best. The dancers singers and acrobatic artistes were great.  The videographers and stage managers and creators were awesome.
• The magician/illusionist/escape artist dude was great. 
• the music on board was great. 
• The Jazz Joint in the Club was awesome
• I regret not seeing the Eden performers.  Sad.  I need to go back just for that. 
• Awesome, great, phenomenal, fabulous and terrific have been used a lot in this post

 

So where do we go from here? 

I'm realizing a few things about cruising:

 

• Its more fun for us when we are with others who are fun.  I think my wife and I would have been bored on this cruise had we not connected with two very fun people. There would have been more naps. Don't get me wrong.  I cant stay up late like I used to.  I was falling asleep in my chair in the theater a few times, overlooking the martini bar, and other evening locations and went to bed early and up at the crack of dawn.
• I don't know how I could sail again on Celebrity without a suite but I also don't think I'll ever get as good a deal in a suite as I did on this cruise. It's all about the size of the croissant.  lol.
• I want to be sailing with a younger crowd
• I was told the European cruises have a younger demographic. 

 

That's all I have for now.  If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer. If i think of more, I'll add to the comments. 

Question - We're sailing Beyond in March (Sky Suite), we noticed on the APP that lunch menus are not being published for Luminae for sea days.    Is Luminae open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days?  Curious if that's a change from previous ships and sailings.