goodoldan

I'm on the Celebrity Edge right now on the first night of a 10-night cruise, and the dinner selection at the Ocean View Cafe is pure crap... worse even than the reports here but in line with the dismissive Tweet that I received from Celebrity when I inquired about the changes during dinner hours effective January 1st of this year. I experienced some of these changes aboard the Constellation during the first few days of January, but things were nowhere near as bad as they are now aboard the Edge (and presumably now the other ships in the Celebrity fleet as well). I talked with a manager in the OVC tonight, and his first response parroted the response I received from Celebrity corporate about "how much food was being wasted". I feel sorry for Celebrity that they (suddenly?) can't seem to manage a buffet as well as competing cruise lines. Tonight my dinner was a few pieces of cheese, an uninspired slice of pepperoni pizza (virtually the only variety they offer), some leftover pasta salad from today's lunch, and a chocolate eclair so stale I put it down after the first bite. The only available fresh food was from a "stir-fry" station that was so backed up it might have taken 15 minutes to produce an order. Pathetic. The food in Celebrity's main dining rooms and specialty restaurants is generally quite good. But there are reasons why someone might choose to grab a quick dinner at the buffet. Today, I was up at 5 AM to get ready and drive to the port in Fort Lauderdale, go through the boarding process, and grab a nap before some dinner and a show. I didn't really want to spend two hours or more getting a meal in the MDR, so (until now) the Ocean View Cafe would have been a good alternative. Similarly, after a beach day in port folks might want to just opt for the speed and simplicity of the buffet for dinner and just chill out in the evening. Nope... Celebrity says you must either invest a couple hours in a dining room, or eat crap and leftovers in a gutted shell of what used to be an excellent buffet, even (and maybe especially) at dinner. Celebrity is far from the least expensive cruise line, and they generally provide a product that their customers want and will pay for. I don't know what crappy market research might have led them to believe that their customers wanted a buffet that is pitiful compared to a Golden Corral. But it is pretty clear that Celebrity has made a BIG mistake in deciding to gut the Ocean View Cafe

I just responded to Celebrity on Twitter, suggesting that a number of their customers don't seem to agree with their rationale regarding the OVC... https://twitter.com/messages/26728031-388926026

After I called out Celebrity on Twitter about the fleetwide changes to the OCV this year... this is the response I got today... ME: @CelebrityCruises What's up with the way you're gutting the Ocean View Cafe on ships throughout the fleet this year? Poor staffing and fewer selections during the day, and practically shut down for dinner. We love you guys otherwise... don't start cheapening your product now. · Sun 11:04 PM CELEBRITY: Hi. We have adjusted our Oceanview Café offerings during the evening hours only to meet the current guest demand and reduce unnecessary food waste. The revised dinnertime menu will include a daily rotating selection of three entrees inspired by the regions of the world, a variety of handmade pizzas, composed fresh salads and a selection of desserts including cakes, sweets and ice creams. We remain committed to providing a varied and quality culinary experience throughout your time onboard with us. We thank you for your feedback, your input will be shared with the proper teams.

Yes, they played "Deal or No Deal" on our trip aboard the Constellation over the holidays 2022-23.

I've seen it both on the Constellation and the Edge, but my understanding is that it is fleet-wide on Celebrity now.

There's also a "grand finale" "Deal or No Deal" session near the end of the cruise in which players (selected from all players earlier in the cruise) attempt to find a $5000 Grand Prize suitcase. There's also one suitcase that contains an "X", which wins the person who selects that a "free cruise" on Celebrity. On a trip last year, I happened to be one of the people selected to open a suitcase during that last game and picked the "X" suitcase, winning the "free cruise". 😉

Date of Cruise: 11/11/2022 Ship: Celebrity Edge Cabin #: 9139 Deck #: 9 Cabin Category: E1 Cabin Location: Port Forward Bed Position: Outboard, forward wall Balcony Type: Infinite Veranda Balcony/Window Size: Balcony/Window View/Obstruction: None Balcony Overhang?: No Magic Carpet Issues?: No Noise Issues?: No Wind Issues?: No Connecting Cabin? Where Does it Connect?: No, N/A Suite Details: N/A Advantages/Problems/Comments: Not far from forward elevator bank, but little traffic in hall. Location proved to be very convenient. Would You Book It Again?: Yes Photos or Photo Links:

Not sure about the other ships, but the Celebrity Edge-class ships have a WiFi access point in EVERY cabin. A poorly designed or overloaded WiFi design could cause more problems than the satellite connection... and at least on the Edge that doesn't seem to be a problem. A recent trip on the Edge (late November 2022)... it's first with Starlink active.. showed typical speed tests (with the premium package) of about 4 MBPS down and 2 MBPS up from my cabin, and about a 60 mSec (idle) latency. That's about comparable to my 4G cellular connection at home. I conducted several long (like 1 hour) phone calls using Google Voice over the link, and each one was fine, with no drop-outs, etc. Also watched some streaming HD video (recorded on my Xfinity cable box at home) and it was perfect. Going out on the Constellation in a couple of weeks... no telling if they'll have Starlink by then or not.

This makes the StarLink connection (at least using the "premium" package) roughly comparable to a normal 4G cellular data connection with good signal.

I learned a few days before boarding that our 11/11/22 trip on the Celebrity Edge would be the first "go live" sailing using SpaceX Starlink internet connectivity instead of older satellite systems. As a sort of geek, this was a real feature of this cruise for me and I was pretty excited to see how it worked out. A bit of background first. Until recently, internet connectivity on ships at sea was typically accomplished via geosynchronous satellites orbiting about the Earth at an altitude of about 25,000 miles. That altitude allowed a very large area of coverage on the earth from a single satellite, but required complex antennas on the ship and, more importantly as relates to internet and other data, introduces delay (known as latency) due to the time it takes radio signals to make that 50,000 mile trip to the satellite and back to earth (more on this in a minute). That system is also dependent on that one satellite to continue operating correctly. Starlink on the other hand uses multiple (as in thousands) of satellites in low Earth orbit (aka LEO), only about 150-200 miles above the Earth. Since the satellites are SO much closer, the latency is similar to terrestrial data circuits on the Earth. Antennas are much smaller and simpler, and the failure of a single satellite is of little consequence since the many remaining satellites carry on seamlessly. A single LEO Starlink satellite is "in view" from a given point on the ground for a relatively short time as it flies overheard, but then another comes into view and continues to provide service. Think of it like a cell phone network in reverse... one in which you remain stationary (or relatively so) while the cell towers move quickly by you. The latency, or time the data signal is delayed in transport, can produce undesirable effects like "lag" in games, unnatural delays in voice communications, freezing video, etc if it becomes excessive. Keeping this latency to a minimum is important for data integrity and user satisfaction, and for a space-based system Starlink does this very well since the distance to the satellites is relatively small. So... what does all this mean to us folks out there on a cruise somewhere? It means that your internet experience will be very much more like what you might experience in your home or office. I took advantage of this first Starlink cruise on Celebrity to put it through it's paces. I did purchase the "Xtreme" streaming internet package for this cruise which does not promise higher speeds, but does allow streaming video, fle uploads, etc. The Edge-class ships have ubiquitous WiFi throughout (with an access point in each cabin and throughout the ship), so your phone and the Celebrity app become an important part of the cruise experience. Celebrity has provided ample support resources to help folks get the app installed. I tried a few tests that I knew could be challenging. The first were some VoIP (voice over IP) phone calls, using Google Voice from my cell phone ("airplane mode" on to prevent cell phone use/charges, with WiFi enabled). The calls were natural-sounding and effortless. I raised the bar by making a call to another phone on the ship, with each of us using Google Voice but with the call now making two trips through the StarLink connection. Still sounded good. The next test was to watch a HDTV show I had recorded back on my Xfinity X1 cable box at home, using the Xfinity app on my phone. This worked just fine too, without and freezing or pixelating. Since you are sharing the StarLink connection with your shipmates, don't expect the blazing fast internet speed tests you might get on your fiber-connected home internet. To quote Mick Jagger... "You can't always get what you want, but you get what you need". The shipboard network does allocate you enough speed (but no more) on the limited StarLink resource so that it's useful for everyone. The "basic" internet package is likely further "throttled" than was my "premium" package. So... below are what you geeks have been waiting for... actual internet speed and ping tests using Starlink via the shipboard WiFi on the Celebrity Edge:

I just called Celebrity and verified the new testing policy for our Nov 11th sailing on the Edge (that doesn't visit any of the listed exception ports). We'll probably each take a home test and have a negative antigen test photo (or the actual test result) with us when we arrive for check-in, just in case someone didn't get the memo.

Been down all day... still down. Starting to show signs of life, though.

Yep, I got the same and grabbed a nice E1 Infinite Veranda, deck 9 port side on the Edge, for a 10-day to the Southern Caribbean in November. Thank you Celebrity!

Yes, thanks... that helps a lot. I wondered if the room key thing worked via wifi and the app or via NFC (which not all phones have)... as you say I expect it's much easier to just use your card. The guest to guest texting could be useful... if you remember to look at the app (sounds as though it's more like email than texting.). I'll probably spring for the "premium" internet for just one device... there's a pre-sailing discount plus a bit more off for Captain's Club. I thought about trying the "basic" first and seeing what I could make work, but I don't want to be the IT guy on my vacation. Got a smokin' deal on the cabin so I guess I'll splurge a bit on tech. 😉

Do you need an internet plan to use the WiFi-based features in the Celebrity app (e.g., texting to another guest onboard, making reservations, electronic room key, etc?). The app makes it sound like you can connect to the onboard WiFi without an internet plan to do those sorts of things.