Ipeeinthepools

He/she read it on CC.

Probably. What else does she have to do?

And you won't need to worry about the AC shutting off.

Please tell us. What didn't you like?

I'll agree and disagree. Innovation always takes a chance, but there was no need to eliminate all of the non-suite balcony cabins without understanding how many people use their balconies. I'll also agree that IV cabins may be better for people that don't spend a lot of time on the balconies. But the IV's are simply a big miss for anyone that enjoys spending a lot of time on the balcony. Actually, I like the concept as an alternative to an ocean view cabin, I think you could charge a significant price increase over ocean view cabins. But there was simply no need to eliminate all of the traditional balcony cabins. MSC and Royal understood that, it's too bad Celebrity didn't. Someone at Celebrity needs to be held accountable for that decision and LLP was the person at the top.

Ok, I'll go with your analogy. Celebrity's debt is the best car in a bad garage. BTW, the fact that we can discuss Pintos and Gremlins and understand they are cars says a lot about the Celebrity Demographic.

That may well be true but it doesn't change the fact that RC is in poor financial shape. RC borrowed billions to stay in business and doesn't have any new sources of revenue to repay the debt. BTW are those the same financial analysts that were recommending Silicon Valley Bank just a few weeks ago?

You're correct, but it will only be a small number of cabins not completely eliminating the most common type of cabin. MSC also has some but they are not advertised as a balcony cabin. If you have a few of these cabins, I think they could be marketed as an enhanced ocean view cabin. Eliminating the most common type of cabin was just plain dumb.

The issue with the IV cabins is that it wasn't necessary for everything that you may like about the E-class ships. The suites have balconies, so there isn't anything integral to the ships design that prohibit traditional balconies. There simply wasn't any reason to change the signature feature of the most common type of cabin. Just a bad decision.

The best Wi-Fi and internet I ever experienced on a ship was this past December on the National Geographic Explorer (an old ship) on a round trip to Antarctica. I was able to stream programs from Xfinity, make Wi-Fi calls and Netflix even downloaded recent episodes of programs while I was gone. I wasn't even expecting to have much satellite coverage in that area. Contrast that to my HAL experience on the Rotterdam in February were no streaming or Wi-Fi calling was available (or at least I couldn't figure out how to make them work) in the Caribbean. I'm assuming that HAL blocks those applications. I wish HAL would at least allow Wi-Fi calling.

That's a little harsh. In my updated copy of the CC dictionary. Cheerleaders = People who ignore many obvious flaws because they want to validate their own decision to sail on a particular cruise line. Haters = Anyone that disagrees with me.

Really? LLP approved the E-class ship concept that eliminated the most common type of cabin on the ship for an unproved concept of the IV balconies. For years cruise lines saw the importance of balcony cabins and tried to add as many as possible and LLP eliminated those cabins for the non-suite guests. For passengers that actually use their balcony to sit outside by the ocean, the IV balconies are a non-starter and force those passengers to move to other cruise lines. The IV balconies also resulted in the ridiculous miniature dollhouse furniture because nothing else fit on the IV balconies. And tell me again, what's the purpose of the Magic Carpet? Another expensive ill-conceived addition to the E-class ships. While we're on the subject of ill-conceived, has anyone forgot about the Eden concept? All of these issues are still in the E-class ships. Any CEO that alienates a large portion of the cruise passengers should be sent to the exit gates. Unfortunately, the E-class ships will still be around after many of us are gone. Although not unique to the E-class ships, has anyone forgot about Goop? Who takes responsibility for approving that silly program. The fact that LLP is near retirement age only hides these issues. Bye-bye LLP, many of us won't miss you.

Really? I'm really not sure how Royal or Celebrity's financial position compares to Carnival or Virgin but you need to view financial performance on an absolute scale non a relative comparison. All of the cruise lines took on a lot of debt and are in bad financial condition. Even if your correct on a relative basis, Royal or Celebrity would only be the best house in a bad neighborhood.

Seems like she has the title of President.

It doesn't affect my Loyalty Program with Celebrity. I stopped being loyal some time ago.

Adios LLP. Your decision to eliminate traditional balconies on the E-class ships for non-suite guests has sent me to other cruise lines and ended my loyalty to Celebrity.

Guaranteed to make changes. Any new CEO will give their own direction.

MSC's ship within a ship concept is probably a good choice for the suite guests that want to leave Celebrity but the comparisons don't look as good for the non-suite guests. As a non-suite guest I'm looking to move to HAL for longer more interesting itineraries. It will be interesting to see how it works out. As a non-suite guest, the lack of traditional balconies on the E-class was the final straw sending me to the exit gate.

I'll bet you thought there would always be smoking in the casino in all ships. NEVER GIVE UP.

Never give up. Celebrity has really restricted smoking on board, no reason HAL can't do the same.

If the smoke affects other areas, perhaps HAL needs to move the smoking area.

Just for clarity, it's only a replica of a Mercury capsule. Not the real thing.

The Rotterdam is the newest ship in the fleet with all of latest bells and whistles, you may not enjoy the older ships after you have been on the Rotterdam. What type of cabin would you book? If you are thinking about one of the longer voyages, perhaps you should sail a different itinerary on a ship in the same class as used on the longer voyages. I don't think any of these ships are used on the longer voyages. The ships used on the longer voyages are older and there are not any balcony cabins that are not the more expensive suite cabins. Good Luck

Eliminate all smoking indoors and then we can talk.

Are you expecting cash or FCC?