kwokpot

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?

To be very frank it's unfortunate that a vacation boils down to all matters related to drinking. I'm no prude but for some people it seems to be all they are concerned with and that's REALLY, REALLY unhealthy. You have people on the Carnival boards bemoaning about the 15 alcoholic drinks/day limit on their beverage package, that's crazy. People want to drink more than 15 alcoholic drinks a day, everyday?

EXACTLY. That's what I meant when I said we NEVER have a problem on any E-class ship sitting in the Martini Bar AREA. People seem to think you can only chat up people sitting at a bar; that's never been our experience, ESPECIALLY on a cruiseship where people chat up each other any and everywhere (For better or worse,lol). I've had this discussion when talking about the Retreat Lounge on E-Class ships and not having a proper sitdown bar, which seem to be a nonstarter for many.I for one find it much more comfortable sitting in a club chair or loveseat and chatting and enjoying music and drinks than sitting at a bar where you have people cutting in to order drinks and having to turn sideways or every which way to chat with people. Is everyone on a cruiseship barflies that have to spend hours on end sitting at a bar to enjoy a drinking experience? I just don't get it.

The point I was trying to make is as you had experienced on the Edge is that the original design of the E-Class ships was to have the bar that is now known as Craft Social be the 'Casino Bar. Once Celebrity decided it wanted to turn it into a cozy and modern Sports Bar the wall was necessary to allow for video screens and more seating. I haven't been on the Edge it a long time so I don't know what kinds of alterations were made, if any. My response was to answer your question why there isn't a casino bar;there is and it's Craft Social. There's isn't room to put it within the actual casino and honestly it wouldn't bring in the revenue for the amount of space it generates. As an aside Carnival has slowly taken away bars that were actually within the casino on their older ships. For Carnival the issue was controlling the smoking that occured at the casino bar.

Craft social WAS the casino bar when the E-Class first debuted. There wasn't a solid wall dividing the bar from the casino, it was more open.

Agree 100%. There are plenty of places to get a drink and sit besides right at the bar. If you MUST ALWAYS sit at a bar to drink then yes,it can be a bit of a challenge to find empty BAR seats. We NEVER have a problem drinking at the Martini Bar on any E-Class ship,but that's because we don't NEED to sit right at the bar. There are plenty of seats that surround the Martini Bar on E-Class ships. The Club is a place people forget that it's not just a dance club but a place you can go get a drink and relax.

I have been on 27 Celebrity cruises and was on the Apex last July out of Rotterdam and we have never, ever had any confusion with regards to ordering coffee in any Celebrity MDR. If I had the exchange you did above I would have immediately asked for the either the head waiter if they weren't or asked to speak to the matre D. If the wait staff has been instructed to only serve espresso based coffees at dinner time that would be inappropriate and something that I would raise holy hell with. That's ridiculous and I don't care what country the ship is sailing from. As an aside when we sailed on a Carnival ship for a TP from Seattle to Brisbane as I was researching the ship some reviews that was from the reverse TP (Australia to Seattle) said something similar and people were complaining that there's a charge for coffee or a pot of tea. Of course nothing of the sort was true. There was never any confusion when we sailed about free coffee or tea vs the premium selections. Edit: The surprise from the waiter at Oceanview Cafe was probably due to the fact that coffee is self-service and if you asked the waiter who was taking bar orders for coffee they assumed you wanted the selections from Segundo Al Bacio.

That is absolutely, 100% INCORRECT and is WRONG INFORMATION. Drip coffee and various teas are available for all three meals, INCLUDING DINNER, in every main dining room.

Also Sky Suites,the lowest level of Retreat/suites. sky suites aren't being mentioned here. TYPES OF CABINS ON E-CLASS SHIPS WITH OUTDOOR VERANDAS So 1) Deluxe Porthole veranda ( a separate,outdoor area which can be accessed even in inclement weather via sliding doors which have curtains to shut out the light. The porthole verandas, sometimes called hull balconies on other cruiselines,are more enclosed than some other balcony cabins but they are totally separate areas from the main cabin and you can sit outside while it's raining. They are very narrow though). 2)Sunset veranda 3) Sky Suites which are part of Retreat class 4) All other suite classes in Retreat Class END OF STORY

In the past when you got an all cruise free Wifi via your Blue Chip Club/Celebrity Casino status you had to go to the ILounge manager and they had a list of all the people that qualified for the casino benefit. They would then give you a logon code which gave you the free wifi;you didn't need to create a wifi logon iD account and password.During that time you COULD give away your free Elite/Elite+ minutes by creating an account and giving the details to the other person. You would still be able to use your free whole cruise WiFi since you logon via a code. When they started to have the Casino benefit wifi already loaded into your profile and accessed once you create an logon ID and password, then you could no longer double dip. As I have said you can plea your case to the Ilounge manager, I would say that it works about half the time. Personally I don't agree since it is an earned benefit that they are taking away. It's not like trying to take advantage of a BOGO deal where you didn't actually BUY the first item but it was gifted to you and you're looking to get a second item for free. You EARNED those free WiFI minutes! Edit: Many time an inexperienced I Lounge manager doesn't KNOW how to create and alternative logon ID for you and/or create an loggon code from your free minutes (Which was how one mgr did it, he crested or gave us a 24 hour wifi code) so they can't accommodate the request.

No you cannot. The only way you can do this is if the free premium package is accessed via a Code. If you need to create a logon ID and password, those are only good for one device at a time UNLESS you have a multidevice package. Otherwise when you try to login it will say another device is using the wifi and do you want to switch devices.

If she already purchased an unlimited Wi-Fi pre-cruise then you are correct, basically the free minutes given becomes wasted. You can technically choose to activate the free minutes first, use it until it runs out,then choose the unlimited pre- purchased package. But that's pointless.

When you go and choose the free minutes before it's activated it will give you the option to apply it to other Wi-Fi packages.