kwokpot

Just to be clear while there's no BAR in the Retreat Lounge on the Edge drinks are ordered and served TO YOU by the roving waiters. Whatsmore the bars on the other E-Class ships is more of a service bar since there's no seating around the bar, so while you could conceivably stand and lean there and converse I'm not sure why you would do that when there's seating merely 5 feet away.

It would be helpful to know what cruiseline you've been sailing so people can give you comparisons and additional thoughts. As others have said, the Edge Class of ships, expecially the Ascent and Beyond, would seem to fit more to what you're looking for. Other cruselines with similar ship within a ship area would be NCL's Haven Class and MSC's Yacht Club. You should look into those lines as well, the dates you're interested in, and see what ships are available and compare and contrast all three lines. But regarding Celebrity. I would choose the Ascent, Beyond, Apex, Edge in that order.

It's also available in the MDRs.

I'm curious how many waters and sodas you take on average a day during Celebrity's HH? And for the record, I LOVE Celebrity's Elite+ coffee benefit and agree it's far superior to Royal's in lounge offering. My point is if Celebrity went with a voucher system the coffee benefit would remain the same, so you wouldn't need to use the vouchers to get coffees an/or teas and can use the vouchers solely for water and non-alcoholic beverages, of which you could use for premium waters.

I think you're assuming if Celebrity treated Cocktail HH as they do on Royal that the Elite+ Premium coffee and teas benefit would disappear. I don't think that in the LEAST, since Royal has the Crown Lounge with the self service espresso based coffee machine. Since Celebrity has no such thing, the Elite+ coffee and tea benefit would HAVE TO REMIAN in order to have the benefits remain the same. At issue with the Celebrity benefit is the limited nature of the complimentary drinks. Value wise Royal is a better benefit since it applies to ALL drinks up to $14 and those exceeding you pay the difference including tax and gratuity. That's a $70/day drink value for Diamond+passengers. On Celebrity, if you wanted a better and/or drink that's not included you have to pay full price, no discount is given. That's terrible!

The HVAC shuts downs,so that includes heat as well as AC. Yes, closing the bifold doors will help keep the colder air from traveling as fast into the rest of the room,but with the heat off the entire room will eventually cool down from whatever temperature you set. What we did was leave the bifold doors open,open the window,and enjoy the Icelandic fiords without coats until we were too chilly,then close the window to warm up and just enjoy the views with the window closed. Then repeat the process when we and/or the room warmed back up.

Yes,I've been on two different MSC cruises,2 different ship designs,and going on my 3rd MSC cruise the end of the month. The ships are beautiful,more similar to Celebrity's S-Class ships regarding interior design. The Meraviglia Class is almost a carbon copy of Royal's Quantum Class in overall layout. I haven't sailed in Yacht Club but standard class is similar to Royal in overall cruise experience. Food is European style and is ok/good - similar to Royal or Carnival but not as good as Celebrity.

Maybe not on this thread but there are countless other threads where people think it's a better version of a verandah cabin rather than a better version of an OCEANVIEW cabin.

100% agree. For the record I LOVE the IV cabin, for what it really is. The point of these continuous threads about this subject is to educate people about the realities of what the IV cabin is and isn't. I have no problems whether people like or dislike this type of cabin. My pet peeves are twofold;those that pass on erroneous information about these cabins, and those that seem to want to convince themselves of the marketing verbiage that an IV is somehow a BETTER version of a real veranda/balcony cabin;they are nothing alike and in no way shape or form similar. I laugh when people say IV cabins have less noise than traditional verandas;OBVIOUSLY since your always inside your room while on a real balcony/veranda you're standing outside on a platform that attached to the outside of the ship and literally can be interconnected by opening all the partitions.

MSC calls it an Infinite Oceanview. https://youtu.be/wILbkyc9Ams?si=lwH-ilIqKOrvDA6a

You can call to change your cabin to the bed configuration you want as long as it's the same category. You should call and have it changed!

They could be confusing the term as the next cabin category up from INSIDE or INTERIOR, but as you stated there's no cruiseline that uses the term outside for an Oceanview or Window cabin category since it doesn't make any sense.

I agree the marketing is deceptive. The bifold doors are nothing more than room dividers,to create the illusion of a separate space. They aren't airtight or waterproof,and they were never meant to be like traditional balcony sliding doors. Again, an IV cabin is an overview cabin except the window opens. You are never outside. For people who wonder what's it like next time you're in a traditional balcony cabin leave the balcony door open and SIT INSIDE in your cabin next to the open balcony door. That's about how it is in an IV cabin.

That may be because the assistant waiters are not proactively asking whether you want coffee or tea after finishing your entrees (that seems quite common to offer dessert without inquiring about coffee or tea) but it's definitely not because it isn't being offered or there's an additional fees for it. That's patiently false information and you do a disservice to others my spreading misinformation that it's no longer offered or that there's an additional charges.

It was already mentioned on previous posts.

To clarify, do you mean ISN'T ANY IGLU powder?

No. The Elite+ benefit is solely for premium coffees and teas,no other beverages.

Those are generically called hull balconies. Porthole verandas on E-Class ships are also considered hull balcony cabins even though they are higher up. They are what the name implies,a balcony that's behind and within the the hull of the ship. Traditional cruiseship balconies are attached to the outer hull of the ship,so you actually step out beyond the ship onto a metal balcony structure. The sliding balcony doors are in the hull, so you step out of the ship onto your outside balcony. Carnival's new Excel class ships have many of these at the waterline hull balcony cabins.

Correct. There's a contact sensor on the left hand window track that's the control for the HVAC. It's not right at the top, maybe 5" more or less down from the very top of the window track,which is why you can lower the window several inches without triggering the HVAC switch. What people seem to forget is the IV cabin was never meant to be a real outdoor veranda, notwithstanding Celebrity marketing. It really is only a cabin with a window that opens. People want to devise all these 'fix' scenarios about making the bifold doors airtight, waterproofing the end of the cabin,etc. in order to achieve what they want. But that's all fantasy and just garbage talk because they fail to comprehend that the cabin is all an interior room with a window. All the 'fixes' people dream up doesn't make sense from an engineering perspective because it was never meant to be an outdoor cabin. If they Celebrity wanted to a balcony cabin, they would use regular balcony sliding doors. The 'solution' to the IV issue people are proposing would be akin to taking a traditional balcony cabin and putting a window along the balcony railing. Why would anyone do that? Look at what Royal Caribbean did on the Icon. Those IV cabins don't have bifold doors, they have curtains that's you can either close to create the illusion of a separate space or tie the curtains back to open up the space.

Yes, that May be the case. The switch in the window may shut down the compressor or whatever type of cooling mechanism is used but the fan may be still on. It also could be the fan stays on for several minutes before shutting all the way down. That happens all the time in many HVAC systems. But I have to emphasize that there's no switch or mechanism in the bifold door tracks that 'trips' the HVAC. I specifically looked into that when I was on the Ascent in January in an IV cabin and every other E-Class ship. So what the mentioned video about the IV cabins on the Ascent is false. As I continue to remind people I was the first in to report this issue on Cruise Critic way back in December, 2018 on the Edge's second of two inaugural cruises.

100%WRONG and the video is lying. I have been on all ALL E-Class ships, INCLUDING the Ascent in january, and the IV cabins ALL operate the same way There's absolutely NOTHING within the bifold doors that control anything, they are purely cosmetic. What MAY be happening is residual airflow but you can be sure that the AC is SHUT OFF. I don't understand why people enjoy lying and making false claims. I go through this every time I'm on an E-class ship.

Did you ask for coffee with dessert? Did you speak to the matre D? Did you rate the dining room experience as a 1?

LOL, just goes to show you everyone likes/wants different things. I would tend to agree, it's always so dark and dreary. On the E-Class ships I think my favorite spot is Cafe Al Bacio. Since it's so large there's various places you can sit depending on your mood. You can sit way in the far right corner near where they setup the photo background; or right up front facing the walkway near the counter to watch the comings and goings, or by the railing so you can see what's going on down below at the Martini Bar. One spot on all E-Class ships that I failed to mention is on Deck Five right before the entrance to the Eden corridor and just past one of the designer boutiques. It's pictured below from the Apex. I never see anyone sitting there at any time on any E-Class ship, which is ashame since it's out of the way and quiet enough for conversation.

I think you answered the question spot on. For better or worse the design of the E-Class ships aren't conducive for an indoor spot that's quiet for an after dinner drink and conversation. I suppose you could get a drink at the Eden Bar and find a secluded spot on the upper level (or take the seating at the entrance to Eden) which would be less noisy but whenever the entertainment starts it's not going to be quiet. On the newer Beyond and Ascent the World Class Bar would be the best place for a more relaxed and less hurried environment both at the bar area and around the wall at the seating areas. People are correct that the E-Class ships have nothing comparable to the S-Class Ensemble Lounge or the more secluded World Class Bar.

So a forward observation lounge that doesn't serve alcohol and is meant as a quiet place to read,relax,and enjoy the views but no bar would be amenable to you?