Cap_D

Speaking of lunch at Luminae, has anyone else been solicited to purchase a wine corkscrew opener while in the dining room? We were having a relaxing lunch on Edge in April, but just as our main couse was placed on the table we were interrupted by a sommelier wanting to sell us a wine opener. We had not even ordered wine. It was very awkward and unexpected. We did find the food to be fresher and hotter than at dinner. On the Retreat deck, we found we had to retrieve the food ourselves from the bar as the servers told us they will not bring the food from the outdoor Retreat Bar to other places on the Retreat sundeck despite the few tables being taken. No one that we spoke with at the time was able to clarify whether the solicitation for the wine opener, or the refusal to deliver food that was ordered was a standard operating procedure, endorsed by management and part of training, or an anomaly.

Fun evening, especially if you have OBC to use or want something different to focus on during dinner. People of all ages seem happy and amused dining, which is part of the fun. Great for kids, and makes for a good topic of conversation. Go early to avoid the noise seeping in from the martini bar. The menu is what it is, so check it out beforehand. And, in many ways, it's one more place to have a filet mignon (likely cooked in batches and heated before being served). Have not eaten at Cut or the Grill on Edge or any tasting experience, but don't expect a charbroiled / seared steak. Also, good way to change up the dinner venue. Was good about allergies.

Breakaway or Breakaway Plus Class. Likely Bliss.

For all of you that have cruised in Haven with kids, have you easily found outdoor loungers to take in the ocean, sun, sky, etc. as a family in a relatively peaceful location? Asking because we understand the Haven sundeck is 16+ and Vibe (also restricted by age and upcharge). Has this been an issue (especially if the child is not old enough to be on their own or wouldn't want to be in the kids club). We do realize the Haven Courtyard has a pool and retractable roof (on many ships) and great views of guestrooms, but don't consider that comparable to being on deck. For 1.5k/2k+ a day all traveling members of our family would like to be able to see the world / ocean, relax, etc. outside (preferably with proximity to an outdoor pool). (Before the posters post in support of the age restriction or praise the Courtyard as a substitute, we're not asking if the Haven Sundeck age restriction should be lifted.)

erdoc1 What did you decide on? We have a 5 year old and remain interested in Haven, but don't like the 16+ restriction on the sundeck. We have sailed Celebrity (Edge in April 2022). Their acceptance of children in all Retreat areas was a deciding factor, and we found they treated children as well / better than adults. Beautiful Berner, too.

Did anyone ever determine the answer to the question -- whether Haven would have a sundeck (outdoor area) where kids would be allowed? Significant factor and one that seems ridiculous considering the Vibe is an adults only area. No one goes on vacation to be stuck in a courtyard pool area.

For the cruise or any travel, we suggest traveling with some locks for suitcases, backpacks, and some ski locks (combination lock with wire string that loops back to the lock) and possibly an additional lock box (Master makes one that fits in a backpack that also has a wire string). That way you can lock items closed, and to fixed or heavy objects if the need arises. A locked suitcase under the bed on the ship or in a hotel room can be a nice place to store items that don't fit in the safe (which is probably something one can open by watching a Youtube video). If you're afraid of someone taking the entire bag then you can wire lock it to something in the room or wherever it may be. There's also waterproof bags that can be used for phones and anything that is brought to beaches, which are perhaps the weakest part of the Celebrity experience as compared to a private island that is an extension of the ship bubble. If anyone reading has children and would be considering safety on the ship, and possibly anxiousness of the child, we found on Edge in April that our son was well known to many of the crew even before an introduction and that helped. We surmise, but did not confirm, that a list of children may have been shared with crew. There were only a handful. Crew definitely seemed well trained to be aware of and interface with children in a positive way, and from a safety and security standpoint. Visiting the muster station, trying on a life jacket, meeting some crew, Captain Kostas, security, etc. was helpful. Reza at the OVC ice cream stand also had his head on a swivel, introduced himself to one and all, and had instant recall of everyone's name. Same for Martin the Maitre D in Luminae , of course our butler and attendant, and others throughout the ship. Everyone just wanted to be helpful and friendly. Many cruisers too. (We didn't confuse this with a false sense of security, but it does help a great deal to set the mood -- e.g., posters that have had things returned to lost in found or untouched, etc.) Note: On phones and trackers - don't overly count on tracking working as they do on land. There's plenty written about this elsewhere. Also, consider a battery on phone will drain at some point, and maybe more quickly due to use of the Celebrity App. Also, if one had to wipe a phone remotely, write down somewhere not on your phone the codes you'd need to get into Apple or Google Android profiles to do so. You may not remember them if you don't key them in often. And, two factor authentication may require a device you don't have ready access to. Bank apps will also allow debit cards and accounts to be locked, or limited to certain dollar amounts, without a second step being taken. This can be helpful if you want to know you could access funds if you needed them, do want access to some amount, but also that no one with your access devices could actually obtain the full amounts and liquidate a checking account, etc. Something you may not always do in regular day to day life. And, not a physical security or safety matter specific to ships, have backups of critical docs printed, copied, and uploaded to a cloud drive.

I would also be interested in this answer. Have been considering one of the last Sky Suites for over Christmas. (I welcome holiday suggestions). The cost to experience ratio becomes very off-putting if the food is not edible or the service is intolerable. Anyone could easily go out for multi-course meals with a driver each night and still not come close to what it would cost to dine in Luminae.

Thank you, morpheusofthesea.

Thank you for all of the posts, everyone and the OP. I may have missed this, any comparison to experiences with Haven? We enjoyed Edge retreat in April, despite some criticisms. We have a 5 yr toddler (very well behaved and quiet when appropriate). He loved it. The ideal cruise would be the level and quality of Celebrity Retreat (when Luminae is working) with just a bit more to do for individual /family activities on the ship or private beach. The two ping pong tables and bean bag toss were about it. Yet, not being able to have anyone under 17 in the Haven sundeck area, so being confined to the courtyard or main decks for lounge time, has been a dealbreaker when Haven is compared against Retreat. (Not sure difference between inten of Haven Sundeck and Vibe, except music and use of one day passes). However being realistic, a dedicated kids splash pad areas and fun quotient OR quality beach may be needed in future years. Don't necessarily need all the go-karts and other thrills, or ambiance, that Royal and Norwegian have at the expense of service, fresh ships, etc. Also, I have read the posts on the MSC board and many of the reviews. I also have noticed some travel agents abhor MSC given how they treated customers during the pandemic and what they perceive to be quality issues across the board (customer service and shipboard). Any reaction to those that have had absolutely abysmal experiences and poor customer service? Is it a function of you get what you pay for on MSC? Is Yacht Club something that is at least minimally going to be okay? Or even is that sometimes just abysmal (regrettable time and expense). Btw, agree a private Island would be a terrific addition to Celebrity. It's an amenity/venue missing from the experience. I don't believe it would even need to have a special Retreat section, as generally any private beach would be a standout compared to most of the itineraries in the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico. The possible exception would be Bimini, which seems to be very nice (have not been). The Celebrity experience really seems to stop when one goes to many of the ports.

Thank you for the time and care taken in posting.

This is a great reason why Celebrity could really use a proprietary beach resort option for some of its itineraries in the Caribbean. A private beach / Island, with lockers, controlled access, etc., would reduce the potential for being accosted or robbed by locals. Costa Maya was overrun with stray dogs, people of all ages soliciting, and generally not on par with the on-ship resort experience.

Suggest some flavor/gatorade/electrolyte powder for water.

Probably a non-issue or travel on Virgin (no kids allowed). We were on Edge last year departing Easter Day. There seemed to be no more than 20 kids on the ship, about 5 under 5, plus a small number of babies. No packs of kids, and it is possible the kids we saw didn't have siblings or know anyone on the ship. The kids program had a small number of kids in it each day. There was an Easter bunny and egg hunt the first afternoon that brought out the kids that were onboard. For those with kids, the staff and ship treated all the kids very well. Most staff learned our son's name by the end of the first day. And, we found the kids onboard to be very well behaved.

Thank you very much danceswithphones

Does anyone know what the Celebrity Beyond has scheduled from November 4 - 8? I see it arrives at FLL on November 4, but can't seem to find any info until a November 8th cruise. Thanks.

We did have some service issues with aspects of the Retreat experience, but they were corrected. Looking back, it's relative convenience by and large what Retreat gets you, as well as maybe more square feet with room. Most everything can be accomplished, eaten, or seen without being in the Retreat, but one has to be crafty or work at it relatively a bit more. Complaints generally are when something that should be easy, or would be an issue regardless, occurs. Cold toast or no toast is a valid issue with or without a host, and with any dining experience. Presumably that will happen at times in Retreat just as it happens on land. The frustration is valid, and too many issues and annoyances can cause someone to question the benefit of the extra costs. (Like asking Retreat, premium all you can drink cruisers, to pay for a scoop of gelato that tastes just like the included ice cream product.). For us traveling with a child, the Celebrity Suite configuration is a rare room among many lines and ships due to the ability to enclose the bedroom and still have lights on, tv, etc. We don't need a full second room, or equivalent to a family room, for our child as they are not at the age where it would matter, but we do need some ability to do anything before retiring for the evening (we can switch them out to the pull out). A curtain like most cruise lines use doesn't do it. We did like the see through bathroom in the sky suite, but the separate space at night is more important to us than the daylight while brushing teeth. So glad the CS config exists. The more ship tour videos one watches the more one realizes it is a unique thing to have a separate bed area with walls. We found the retreat host to be helpful so we could continue on with whatever we wanted to do while they did whatever it was requested, including following up on requests of other departments, etc. They also were in many ways a human version of the services one could request by phone or app, without having to navigate that process or listen to VMs. The Luminae maitre'd is critical to the entire dining experience too, and they also troubleshoot.

Does anyone know if corporate bigwigs ever inspect ships for quality, etc. or do they just look for a reason to create a video for YouTube and enhance revenue from passengers by charging more to sail?

On Edge in April, there was better bar and server action on the main resort deck. The retreat bar tenders were burned out, and the servers seemed indifferent. The setup also leads to crowding or standing in the pathway area like a lot of bars. So nothing special. On the main deck they came around with water, soft drinks, and beer, maybe wine. No need to even ask or do anything at all except pick. Plus, if needed, the bartenders were moving and could handle the crowds. The Retreat deck was a lot more fight for your perks and benefits from experience. No one seemed to be in charge from a holistic standpoint. Rather each department has people in retreat and they do their thing. Drinks included. Sometimes it felt like Retreat was an afterthought, and the pace was deliberately lazy and slow. This led to some absurd situations for a luxury experience at the price being charged. Example: We ordered drinks and burgers at the bar because the servers were mia and were told we had to pick up the food at the bar, while they helped with the drinks. We were in loungers on the other side of the pool from the bar. When the burgers were supposedly ready a drink server came to our lounger area to tell us. He did not bring the food, and not ask if we needed more drinks. We then had to go retrieve the burgers. When we got back to our seat area we determined the burgers were not prepared to our requests, and two were raw in the middle. (The famous Luminae Burger was a dud). Then a clown car experience began to unfold. We had to go back to the bar to ask for the correct order. People came out to apologize, but didn't fix the order. Then the OVC manager, who we identified earlier while doing a pass through and he was directing some OVC staff to tear down the breakfast pastries, showed up with the chef who was apologetic. Meanwhile still no correct burgers after two more tries and a lot of time passing. Even McDonald's will bring an order to you if there is a wait, so I don't know why the drink servers couldn't serve food. And, the botched burgers was a problem with the kitchen not having anyone doing QC on the line before the food went out. The attempt to recover was disjointed and showed no one was really figuring out the solution without us having to guide them. The upshot, we had a lot of baskets of fries (same frozen coated product as Mast Grill, sorry to spoil the allure). Bottom line: The Retreat bar waa nothing special. Not even sure they had fresh fruit and higher quality mixers than the most basic of bars around the ship, and the food and beverage availability and execution doesn't fit the concept. The Retreat deck overall needs some work. Celebrity needs to have some holistic managers on duty, not just the future cruise sales concierge team and the butlers (who may not even have access to Luminae) down below. The closest that came to someone on that role was the very well intentioned, and helpful Luminae maitre'd (overworked) who did introduce himself later that day. He seemed to be the only person that acted like a leader. (The somelier tried to sell us a wine bottle opener that seemed inappropriate from the experience, but that is discussed elsewhere on the board).

In Retreat there are also pool hogs. To mitigate againat chair hogs, and make sure all needs are met it would help if there was someone on the Retreat deck that was clearly responsible for the guest experience. All expensive resorts have people in those roles. Lots of talk about butlers and concierges, but ultimately someone should clearly be in charge of the guest experience, monitor guests for attention to their needs, make sure other staff are actually doing their roles, etc. Not split into various functions. Sure there are people walking around in uniforms, department heads by function, etc., but on Edge it was difficult to discern what was really on top of things other than the maitre'd in Luminae. Lots of being asked can I get you anything, but really not clear if the person is able to follow through. The concierges seem to be busy showing paper menus to people who can't use the app, and booking future cruises. Then there are drink attendants that are only that, not even food servers no wonder there is a chair hog issue. We were left to wonder who is actually owning the current cruise experience. Chair hogs wouldn't exist if there was someone going around periodically and socializing the experience, asking if the hog is finished, etc. It does not need to be intrusive. Four Seasons don't have this problem in such a pervasive way it's sport for people. Many of the issues and questions identified on this board are a result of a set it and forget it Retreat that requires guests to fight for themselves.

To dritan: We were on Edge in April with a toddler. We were in retreat, so he probably had the highest non-alcoholic package as it was included in the package. That said, I would probably go with the kids package and for the few times either due to need, availability, or lack of substitues, you need to pay up for an uberfancy frozen drink, you pay. Depending the package you may have, and the order, they may not even really track it. We never really had to think about it, but there was really only a few things our child drank...water (read below), an occasional lemonade (regular and blended), juice because it was ubiquitous during breakfast, club soda with a spritz of cranberry (as a special drink), or twice a frozen fruity drink when everyone else was having one and it was toasty on the resort deck. Most of the time there would not have been time or place to have unlimited frozen drinks, etc. As for what fell in what package, and what drinks were actually available it was sometimes fuzzy in the heat and rush of things. There are menus and qr codes around if one has time. We can confirm what the above poster said re frozen drinks. It depended on the location and ingredients available. We found the bartenders could also improvise as they had access to blenders and clean ice (in contrast some bars not on the ship, for example MGM Grand in Vegas, use slushy machines and can't do anything custom). The ship bars also sometimes have multiple ways to accomplish the same drink. For example, they may have access to Monin syrups, fresh fruit purees, lemons and limes, simple syrup, but also Sprite, or the vitamin water. This mean a few different ways to make a frozen lemonade, which to my knowledge would fall under the regular drink plan. We found it best to ask and engage the bartenders about their recipe or give suggestions, if needed, if somewhere else that may have whatever it is you may need, etc. This was actually the same for alcohol drinks. Sometimes they'd mix the alchol in the blender, but if they were making two virgins and one with alcohol they'd just top off one with rum or the appropriate booze after the blending. At most bars they will have blue cartons of artificial vanilla soft serve mix that is multipurpose and used for creamier drinks. This is also what goes in the softserve machine and possibly even is a hard ice cream base depending on the product. Hard ice cream is available at the scoop stand near the buffet, and across from Bacio 2. Hence why you sometimes see people talk about affagatos. The ice cream in the dining rooms tended to be less interesting and maybe of differing quality. Note, for some reason there is a small charge for gelato. We didn't notice a quality or temp difference between the ice cream or desiganted gelato product, except if it's a flavor you want. No package gets one access to the gelato which is mind boggling considering some of the packages are largely irrelevant for someone not drinking booze or unlimited smoothies, yet cost in excess of the gelato charge. Access to the smoothies, shakes from the ice cream stand, etc. are going to be limited given the locations, need/interest and substitutes. For example, is one having a smoothing immediately after having a burger and softserve from the mast grill? Probably not. Note about water...this will be self evident, but if you are traveling with a child you'll want to talk about and evaluate the aluminum bottles used on most cruises. They can be sharp when opening, and afterward on the cap, rim, and the remaining ring. Many bar tenders will have gloves or bandaids for this reason, and sometimes intentionally open the bottles for guests. In any event, we found it easiest to dump the contents of the water bottle in a water bottle from home. Finally, our child had a fantastic time even though there were few children on board, and none of the splashpads or other stuff some ships have. The kids club staff was gracious and would share some of the supplies and activities for us to do on our schedule. And, it's a great way for a child to have some friends up dining experiences they wouldn't always have. Non-sugar snacks in the afternoon may need to be carefully procureed like veggies and fruit from the OVC or room service. And, salty snacks are hard to come by generally. The crew overall was attentive and respectful of the few kids onboard, and all were well behaved. Tip, if at OVC or somewhere else where an extra hand may be needed to have food and drinks at the same time, ask. There's a lot of staff, and they will be helping someone. Might as well be you. Have a terrific cruise.

Celebrity should make tables available for guests often paying a few thousand dollars a day per cabin.

Moveup can get very pricey, and generally Retreat is selling out so the overall chances of an opportunity to pay for a larger room may not materialize. Price our the next largest sise room and look at availability online. The Celebrity Suite has a rare wall and door between the sleeping and living area. That may be worth something to you, but if you don't plan on needing separate space in your stateroom it may not be with the premium.

How does the Edge-class Luminae sound level and dining room comfort compare to NCL Haven, and the MDRs? While on Edge, we did not dine in the MDRs. However, our impression was visually that the MDR's offered more comfortable seating and sound dampening when compared to Luminae.

Fully agree. The menu could be enhanced by 2-3 basic entree sized salads (not overly fussy) to which a protein could be added (e.g., steak, salmon, chicken). Common feature on menus throughout the U.S, and would be appropriate to Luminae.