lexmiller

YES, I just commented on my total brain meltdown, my directionally challenged brain let me down (again) so it's the porthole verandas which are aft, port side, which are just above the Eden smoking area, which are the concern for the possibility of smoke wafting up.

YES, DUH!! 10 Edge Class cruises, I knew that.......Thank you! BUT STILL, there are Porthole Veranda cabins AFT - that is still my concern. Except for my total faux pas, stay with me here, there are porthole verandas aft as well as forward, so the porthole verandas that are AFT PORT (not starboard - I had myself completely turned around) - would have the concern of the smoke.

My only concern about these cabin, the ones which are forward, starboard - is that they are positioned above the smoking section outside Eden - meaning, the smoke from the smokers, if you've got your balcony door open, could waft up there, effecting your outdoor experience. Anyone comment on that?

I've had to be very careful, as I have indeed seen posts deleted by using that name that shan't be named. So many times I've wanted to be very specific about not only the always-more-active-than-here-on-CC roll calls, but also the info packed ship specific threads, like the one about Summit - not the roll call for this impacted cruise, but the ship specific thread.

More first hand accounts from the people who are on board, who are current passengers - who have been personally effected, and are hearing first hand the announcements, etc. There have been a few of those on this thread, definitely, it's just that there is more information, more accounts, more insights, on the other site - the name of which is not supposed to ever be mentioned here on this platform or comments containing such a reference are deleted. That other site is simply easier to use, more user-friendly, very much so - which is why in general, in a case such as this, you'll find more info.

@hcat definitely check it out, too much information to repeat and it's not my story to tell, but I can direct you there. Lots of first hand accounts, many direct quotes from the captain's various addresses. Some of the flooding appears to have been significant depending upon your deck and cabin location on that deck, the toilets being closed down, etc - many eye witness accounts.

The loss of power and the broken water line were not caused by the weather. There is an active thread about this on another social media platform with many, specific details.

I brought a box of wine onboard (yes, there are some outstanding boxed wines!) and there was no problem whatsoever, no question, no comment, no notice of it, nada. Honestly, the folks who are screening your bags, as I mentioned in another thread, are most concerned that you're not bringing your weapons or hibachi grills onto the ship. Tasking them with being the wine police is "a lot" and I am pretty sure there is some unofficial flex here - depending upon the individual screener.

Please report back on this forum, thank you! I've read many many differing points on this - that at the end of the day, it really depends on who is screening your carry on bags at the port. I've read several times that again, depending upon the individual screener, that they really don't care to take the time and stop you if they happen to notice that you have 2 bottles in your bag. See what I mean? The screener doesn't even know who you're with, or what the makeup of your traveling party is. They're happy not to see a weapon or an iron or a hibachi grill in your carry on, so if there are 2 bottles instead of 1, they may not care at all, as this could be your partner's allowed bottle......personally, I'd put 2 bottles in my carry-on, and your partner, who may be in a different security line, 2 bottles in his/hers. Worst case is that they take 2 bottles and save for your next cruise.

We LOVE all of the game shows! To us, the game shows are one of the reasons we love Celebrity - sure we could sail Regent, but there's nothing "fun" about the luxury lines. And conversely, we also will not sail larger lines - Celebrity has the perfect balance for us - fun activities, amazing entertainment - especially the theater production shows on the Edge Class ships, excellent crew, excellent food, "fancy" but not stuffy and on and on. We are now a bit over 40 cruises with Celebrity, with 8 coming up. Getting involved in the activities on board we feel is what contributes to having a great time - we have met so many people on all of our cruises which have contributed to our enjoyment, many of whom we have maintained friendships. More than a few times, we've boarded a ship on the first day and an Activities Team member will recognize us and come running up to us, so happy to see us again - that's a lovely experience. Back to the particular games - we love the YES/NO game - you are questioned by one of the Activities Team members and have to never use the word 'yes' or 'no' the entire 3 minutes. We have been on a few cruises where the time was reduced to 1 minute in order to give the passengers a chance, lol, as it's truly hard! My husband has done so well, that he often turns the tables and becomes the one asking the questions of the team member, and gets them to say the forbidden word! Get involved! Usually every night, there is a game show at 8pm, between the two theater shows - timed so that you can do the game show and see the theater show. Every night, 8pm, is a different game. The Activities Team members work so hard on these activities, and they do a fantastic job. Get involved, don't be a wallflower - your cruise experience will be vastly enhanced.

The complaints have been for Ascent, and lots of them. But they are resolving, cabin by cabin, as the passengers report the banging issues. I can only speculate that perhaps it's an issue with Edge Class ships out of the gate - the sounds/noises/banging?? I have no idea, but as the ships get a bit older the complaints are minimal. In any case to answer you directly, it's been Ascent that has had the recent complaints (thus my theory, since Ascent is the newest ship!😇)

Definitely not all itineraries will be effected - will depend upon distance between ports and how long it takes to get where Apex needs to go......

Oh, that's VERY unusual!! Never NOT gotten a substantial printout in our room of all of the shore excursions, and our most recent cruise was on Apex in November.......wonder if they're phasing the shore excursion printouts out.......as long as they never do away with the printed "Celebrity Today" daily planners! The app is unreliable and I've been told many times by many different Celebrity Life Activities team members, to always defer to the printed word vs the app - unless of course there is a rain situation and something needs to be moved inside at the last minute. Well, thanks anyway! I was hoping to get a firmer grasp on what Celebrity is offering as far as Mardi Gras directed activities - tempted to do my research (which we of course always do anyway!) and plan all of the parades, etc, on our own but to have reserved seating and bathroom usage is tempting. The transportation aspect that Celebrity would provide to the parades is not important at all to us as we are big walkers, and know how close the venues are to the port......and the 2025 excursions are not yet posted, we will continue to monitor the website.

Does anyone on this cruise still have the shore excursion booklet which is given to you in your cabin on day 1 of the cruise - and if so, would it be horribly difficult to take a few photos of the NOLA offerings and post them here? Thank you!

Chiming in here, as we are veteran Celebrity cruisers - if you have ANY classification of suite, you absolutely have access to the Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club and Luminae, the suite class exclusive dining venue. You also have access to any suite exclusive deck, which on the Edge Class ships is a major deal - private suite only pool and incredible outdoor decks, really amazing actually.

About you preferring a jazz theme - are you aware of the jazz charter cruises - for instance, one just ended on Summit, looked amazing!! It's held every year, the dates for 2025 are out: January 28, 2025 - February 4, 2025 on Summit, out of Fort Lauderdale. The lineup of big jazz names is astounding! The website is thejazzcruisedotcom. I have a good friend who sailed the one which just ended, and it was pretty incredible. Since it is a charter, I'm not familiar how that works, ie I am pretty sure you don't earn Captain Club points, and you don't book it through Celebrity.....

Thank you to all who are posting this real time Celebrity information - super helpful for our planning for our next year's Connie Mardi Gras cruise! Please keep it coming!

We are booked on Connie for next year's Mardi Gras cruise, 8 night - still 2 overnights in NOLA, arriving 10am March 3, departing 5pm March 5. Thank you for your insights and observations! And of course, deepest condolences on the loss of Bella. Can you say anything more in depth about the excursions offered by Celebrity to Mardi Gras itself, ie, are tickets to parades on offer with guaranteed seating, things like that? You did refer to one excursion to a parade, where guaranteed bathroom access at one of the hotels was a part of the ticket......I'd love to hear more about that, to see if we need to be booking things independently, etc, or if Celebrity has extensive ship offerings available. We are veteran Celebrity cruisers, so we understand how all things shippy work, but we've never been to NOLA! Also, just curious, ever been to Commander's Palace? We are seriously thinking of booking dinner there......thank you!

The only "for sure" way to see Egypt is by booking a land tour or booking a Nile River cruise. Ocean cruise ships are not going there for the foreseeable future due to the activity in that part of the Med. And to see Israel as a tourist would seem impossible period for who knows how long due to the unfortunate strife in the region. So if you really want to go to Egypt, booking an ocean voyage is extremely iffy - be ready to be disappointed. We were booked on the Oct 16, 2023 cruise out of Athens which was supposed to have gone to Egypt and Israel, but became a Greek Isles cruise due to the Hamas attacks - substitute ports were Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, and Bodrum in Turkey. Someone above mentioned a reduction in price for the complete change of plan but there was no reduction, no credit, no recompense whatsoever.

Please keep us posted as to how this goes as I think your point about discrimination is spot on. And let's all keep in mind the article in Forbes, I'll repost the link, that calls Celebrity out for the exorbitant single penalty, worst of all the lines. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2024/01/07/solo-penalty-cruise-line-charges-single-travelers-much-more-than-double/?sh=3142d7275a3a

The Forbes article clearly is pointing the finger squarely at Celebrity for being the only line doing this - unfairly targeting and penalizing single passengers. To charge 44% MORE than the double fare is unconscionable. Post #58, the email from LHB dated Jan 12 posted by @johhnnyt, states that "As of the end of next week, approximately 75% of our sailings will be at the same rate as a double (200%) or under than, giving a discount to singles. This will be throughout all our deployment, all quarters and regions of the world". This means that 25% will NOT be at 200% - they will presumably be HIGHER than that, as they are now. So certain "in demand" destinations will remain out of reach for a single passenger, is how I'm reading this. I'm guessing that the "exotic" itineraries such as Asia, Antarctica, etc will be a part of that 25%.......

I don't think this has been posted, sorry if it already has - but here's a link to a terrific article in Forbes about the single supplement, but specifically how Celebrity is blowing it big time, charging more than any of the other lines - damaging their brand and discouraging loyalty. This was published Jan 7, before the letter posted from LHB. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2024/01/07/solo-penalty-cruise-line-charges-single-travelers-much-more-than-double/?sh=e8285815a3a5

Ah, interesting! It's weird though that the original poster would say that about what he himself wrote?? If he didn't read it (even though he wrote it), then why would he think that we would! Though, I did!

I'm definitely not one of the cool kids as I have no idea what "TL;DR:" means - neither the initials nor the use of the semicolon and colon - clueless! But I do understand "Amazing" and so glad you enjoyed yourself! And indeed, the staff - the brothers as co-captains, Luigi the CD and Flori, Activities Staff Manager - all flawless! The Edge Class ships are our favorites. We sail on Ascent later this year. I know the crew will be entirely different, but we also know that we will have an "amazing" time! Thanks for your thorough report.

That's a loaded question, one that has gotten threads shut down by the admins in the past. Similar topic to politics or religion! 😝