Bently57

specialty dining is fine, and fun if you have OBC to use up. But it's not worth paying extra for, in my opinion. I like all the MDR. I also like Blu and with Aqua you get that added as a choice (and also for breakfast). Last cruise, we only did Concierge and it was a great time. But on the Beyond, which is our next, we really like the Persian Garden setup on that style of ship, so we went with Aqua.

Has this question been asked a lot? Sorry. I didn’t know. Not everyone is on these boards a lot to know.

If it goes this way, then I probably would find another way to vacation.

I would not be interested in anything like this.

I just read about the new RC ship that will accommodate 7600 pax. For me that’s too much. Is this the new direction for cruise ships or do you think Celebrity will stick to the current number of passengers? I had no issues with the Ascent, which I thought was going to be too much for me. So maybe I am just wrong. I have cruised on an 800 passenger ship before, the Ocean Princess…and though the number of passengers seemed right, the ship bored me.

We were in 11159. A little creaking began on the third night but it was very minimal and if it was still going on for the rest of the cruise, we didn’t notice it.

The seafood extravaganza was the very last day, at lunch.

Well I won’t argue what their normal procedure is cause I don’t know. I DO know I saw them there when we toured the spa on our last sea day, Dec 9th. A passenger was using one. There was an empty one next to him. I assumed they were there all the time. Perhaps not. But I didn’t dream it.

Maybe as you say, it’s too windy to spend much time there, but on a port day it would be nice. Also, someone just posted a photo of the deck on another thread, and there are definitely loungers.

That's correct. And on our Dec 3 thru 10 sailing, there were indeed loungers out there. Someone said in another thread there's nowhere to sit. At least in our visit there to investigate the spa for future cruises...there were.

We saw deck chairs there on the Ascent when we visited the spa.

I don't like the tracks. It gets very crowded on 14 and 15 because there really is no other place for ANYONE to walk. Running? Forget it. You're better off just using the gym. Still...outside of no promenade deck (few new builds have them these days) I still like E Class.

Yes, agreed and understood about the Retreat, Luminae and Sun Deck. We do like access to the outdoor space in front of the ship, just outside the spa...and have been told we get to use that with Aqua class on the E ships. I'm not sure what parts of the actual spa we get to use, because our tour guide said it was ALL included with Standard Aqua Class. Perhaps that is wrong. It's immaterial because I am only really interested in the Thermal lounges and that small area outside. Plus, we do like Blu. We're not doing a suite this time; standard or aqua.

We've cruised in suites before and loved the extra space in the room, but this was always on S Class, before E Class came out. We really didn't know what to do with a butler and rarely asked anything of them. But as I say, we liked the bigger room and access to Blu. We went concierge this last cruise on the Ascent; the inaugural. We enjoyed the four MDRs. I don't regret anything EXCEPT the lack of access to the front of the ship, which is for Suites (the retreat) and the Aqua Spa (for aqua class). Being in concierge, we had NO access to the front of the ship, which I always enjoy...and I didn't realize it would be this way when we booked Concierge. And then, in addition to the lack of a proper promenade deck, it made the ship feel smaller, because the Retreat takes up so much space at the front. I don't know if now it is similar on S-Class if you're not Aqua or Suite, but for our 2025 cruise on the Beyond (E Class), we booked Aqua....so we can at least use the Aqua Spa for the front of the ship (Unless there are some kinds of changes I don't know about). We still loved our cruise on the Ascent. I mean, we booked the Beyond so that's self evident. Still love S Class too. It's just unfortunate that if you're not Aqua or higher, you can't get to the front of the ship. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong!

What statistics are you referring to, if you don’t mind me asking?

Hmmm. It's hard to know what it is that you didn't care for. Maybe you're being vague in order not to offend any of us, LOL. Anyway, I will say this: The Caribbean is a MUCH traveled area for a lot of people, and they have been there many times. Maybe an air of excitement was missing for you because of that. Not that you personally have visited many times, but a lot of the other passengers have. I myself have been to St. Maarten and St. Thomas too many times to count. Also the Bahamas. This last cruise had one port I was excited about that I had not been to (Punta Cana) but unfortunately the weather was mostly sour that day. I have found that Southern Caribbean itineraries are more exciting. St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada and several others are further out and a lot of casual cruisers don't want to take the amount of time it takes, nor do they want to board in Puerto Rico, which is often required for those. As for the clientele on my cruise, it was definitely an older crowd who tend to eat early and go to bed early. You always will have that, but it can vary. And sometimes the older crowd just decides to stay up and party! It's hit and miss with that on any cruise, anywhere. I certainly didn't experience 'crowdedness' except for the first day, because most people are out and about exploring the ship and not in their rooms. There WERE some younger passengers on this cruise. I only saw three kids though, and they were adorable and well behaved. I saw a few young couples with babies. But overall, yes, on this trip the clientele seemed a little older than other Celebrity cruises I have taken to the Caribbean. I don't know what the explanation for that is. Diversity? There was actually a lot of it. That's probably all I can contribute without knowing the specifics of what you found a little mehhh.

It wasn’t a booze cruise, if that’s what you’re asking. I only saw one inebriated person the entire week. It was a port day and she was headed back to the ship. So she must have hit her limit there in town. Not onboard.

For us, it was lunch the last day of the cruise.

Never EVER disappointed in anything except for the one night I ordered cod. In the Cosmopolitan dining room. I was trying to be healthy by ordering fish. And it was served with quinoa which I forgot I am allergic to. So…I cannot fault the preparation of it. I fault myself. The steaks were fantastic. Pork chop in the Tuscany restaurant was outstanding. I like the hamburgers they serve on the pool deck. The buffet had the most variety and quality on any of the 10 cruises I have been on.

I would not pay extra for Blu. I don’t do the specialty restaurants. They’re nice, but definitely not worth the price! Not now. And not when you can get excellent food and service in any MDR. In the early early days, a 25 dollar charge per person seemed reasonable. Any more than that just doesn’t make sense to me. We all have our preferences. For example I DO pay for the Premium Beverage Plan, even tho I know I can’t possibly drink enough to make it make sense financially. I do it for the convenience.

At this point I can’t say I like one better than the other. They’re so different. I like both!

Yes they did.

Yes! They did have a seafood extravaganza. Awesome.

We did get several mementos. A nice book on all the art on the ship, a locket necklace from Effy, a baseball cap, a large photograph of the ship, a bag and several other things. We did not visit any of the specialty restaurants as we have in the past. Reason being; the main dining rooms and buffet were out of this world.

The reservation thing for MDR on E Class is kind of a joke really. But it doesn’t really matter. They will get you in usually less than 5 minutes; 10 max. We tried to make reservations for 7 or 7:30 in all of them and the system would not let us. Could only get 6pm for one night with the reservation system. But as I say, it’s nothing to worry about or spend time on. It was never an issue in getting seated. And as the cruise goes on the wait, if any, gets even shorter. The only night you might have to wait a bit is the first night cause everyone is all jazzed about being onboard. We just got off the Ascent. All the main dining rooms were GREAT.