Team Stag

I don't know for sure but here is my guess: The tasting menu is the Eden experience. Or at least would be in line with the last 2 times I did Eden. You had a menu of 6 courses and just pick one from each course (of course my wife picked one & I get the other as I assume most would do to try everything). I have heard from some other travelers that the menu was confusing and they wish it just had appetizers and main courses instead. If enough people communicated this sentiment to the right people; it could explain the visual change.

One element to consider is the size of you luggage. Walking on the cruise, the bags you carry on will need to go through an xray scanner with you. While the xray machine appear slightly bigger than the ones in the airport, they are not necessarily the size of larger suitcases. We were on a cruise last year, where someone tried to walk on with a large roller bag. It didn't fit in the xray machine & security basically had to open it and go through it piece by piece. Slowed down the boarding process as well as all the clothes & items had to come out of the bag. Personally, it was the not the way I would want to start a cruise.

I think Celebrity needs to allow the crew to fill out surveys on the passengers. Then based on your rating, it determines if they let you book future cruises. 😂

This is exactly how we are in my household as well. I enjoy cruising and find it a great way to have a relaxing vacation. My wife constantly wants something new & different for vacations.

For us cruising began to lose the sparkle a while about 5 years before Covid (nothing cruising did - just expanded to different types of vacations). But came back to Cruising because it was a vacation that I knew I was guaranteed to return to the states even if I got covid (vs an airline requiring a negative test). We have lowered our expectations based on short staffing, supply chain issues and other challenges seen in the travel industry; and have had 3 amazing cruises since restart. However, eventually that pendulum will swing back to where the expectations will be raised some in the future. And that may influence the sparkle. But at the moment, we have been very happy with cruising.

I'm curious if you found the $15 higher end steak to be a higher end steak / worth it (although I think the term worth is subjective)? Rephrase - was it good enough that you would order it again.

Check out Pro Divers - St Kitts. Their scuba shop is very close to the cruise port. They have received a lot of good reviews from others who have dove with them. You also may want to check out the scuba / snorkeling page on Cruise Critic for more information. (Its under the heading of Cruise Discussion Topics).

You may want to post this question on the Scuba & Snorkeling Page (its listed under the Cruise Discussion Topics Page). They might be able to give you better feedback about this Dive Shop or other operators for your to consider.

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

I agree with OP 100%. We do not care for the IV or all the open air places on the E-Class. We did try it again in a suite & it felt like a completely different experience. We will only sail E-Class going forward when a suite is possible. My wife loves the art and design of E-Class but the balcony (and good AC) is too important of a part of our cruising experience. I also prefer the smaller bar areas than the giant open bars like the martini bar or eden bar on E-Class. Reminds me of those hotels near big convention centers (which then reminds me too much of work - the opposite of vacay 😂). But in the end we have choices which is great. For us now, the S-Class is our preferred ship.

Anyone have any experience with scuba diving in either location? Do you have any operators that you have used that you would recommend (or recommend to avoid)? Is the diving any good in general at these spots? Thanks in advance.