Cap_D

On 8/28/2022 at 8:15 AM, cangelmd said:

My DH swears that in the main part of Edge Luminae, the wall between the dining area and the service area/kitchen does not extend all the way to the ceiling, adding to the noise. I think the tables are closer together than on E class. He disagrees, but the room definitely seats more people.

On our last Edge cruise, Luminae was much more crowded and noisy than the MDR - we left Luminae to eat there.

Fully agree the wall doesn't extend to the ceiling and there are no attempts whatsoever to mitigate the noise generated by the diners.  Celebrity should add a few dividers and noise dampening tiles.  That said, Celebrity may want people to not dine in Luminae every night in order to lighten the load and the noise is one way to do so.  The single bathroom is odd, too.  

FWIW, Martin the maitre'd was fantastic and attentive, and the meals we ate in Luminae Edge were always superior in temp and prep compared to other food onboard.  

FYI.  Celebrity was using Monin brand syrups in April on Edge.  Presumably they use Monin fleetwide.  Most of the fruit and herb flavors are going to be derived from using the Monin syrups mixed with a base that may or may not be sweet (club soda vs Sprite).   Even the lavender flavor used in some drinks is a Monin Syrup.  (Monin is a fine product, and used in many places, although perhaps not most high end bars).  The exception may be an Edge Bar, or something similar.  That said, we saw the bartenders have a lot of freedom as to how they accomplish a particular drink due to the various combinations of ingredients at each bar, and tools, including full blenders.  Some bars may also have access to fresh non-syrup versions of some flavors, or cartons of juice/flavors.  They may also have a carton of the same mix used for Vanilla soft serve to serve as a base for certain "cream" drinks, but may also have access to cream.  So, if you know what you like, or are picky in how a bartender gets to a result, don't be afraid to ask and "shop" around.  In comparison, at MGM Grand this past weekend at the pool and other bars they have very fixed ways of making their drinks, and the frozen drinks are limited to the selection in the slush machines.  

Tip:. The vlogger Royal Carribean Blog has a video on YouTube that walks through the app setup for communicating.  In April the Celebrity app was virtually the same.  It was very helpful and avoided having to figure it out while having fomo on the first day at sea.  We tried several other communication methods and the app was the most efficient and reliable.  All our phones were setup on the wifi, however.  We also were on a cruise with less than 20 kids (pre lifting of requirements and pre toddler vaccine).  The crew went out of their way to meet and identify themselves to our junior cruiser.  And, generally crew was very alert and helpful in connecting with other passengers in our party.  

Bring a back up battery pack for your phone, as you may run down more frequently or at the worst time. 

5 hours ago, edgee said:

You are correct, but thats not the way it goes in the cruise business. We were in a Royal Suite on Eclipse last month. Carpets in public areas were worn and some smelled of mildew. While cabin was clean, the couches were old, faded and broken down..looked like a beat up couch in my fraternity house years ago! Crew was amazing and service was fantastic, so we had a great time, but Celebrity's lack of candor about when these ships will by "revolutionized" is very disappointing.

Thanks for the feedback.  Sounds like an expensive experience for worn out furniture and the smell of mildew even if the service is fantastic.  

Something that rarely goes said when comparing lines and traveling with kids is that Celebrity tends to have far nicer rooms and food as compared to Royal. Does anyone else find annoying and is inclined to take Celebrity, but wants some children's geared stuff, find that Royal Carribean rooms often look like 1995, utilize curtains for everything, and seems gimmicky or vice versa?  My view is Celebrity could use just a bit more for kids, or Royal could use a bit more upscale options.   The risk is families turn to Norwegian for the Haven, which has rooms with bedrooms with walls, etc.

Anyone know if this is true?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/comments/wmk52v/content_warning_attempted_rape_on_celebrity_edge/?

On Edge in April they barley had enough entertainers.  The Soul Waves (who were very good, and personable when we bumped into them for a late night snack) may have been flown in or transferred from another ship just to fill out the entertainment on that sailing.  Didn't see signs of anything interesting in Eden.  Mostly 1, sometimes 2 people on acoustic and a lot of furniture that is comfy, but ill positioned (heavy, but moveable) to really watch the show.

If anyone is still reading, how does the state of the room get excused?  The minimum should be no missing tiles, nice towels, no rust on the balcony, etc.  The room sounds like it's 20 years old, and if it was a hotel it would be debadged.  Is the fare significantly discounted?

On the theme of nickel and diming, we were told that Gelato costs extra for passengers, except frequent cruisers of a certain level get one scoop for free.  That is the epitome of nickel and diming when otherwise all alcohol and other basic food is included.  We were also marketed a wine corkscrew in Luminae just after our food arrived and we clearly were not drinking wine.  That smacked of desperation for revenue.  And, perhaps not to the liking of some on this board, X needs a private beach destination for at least some of its Caribbean cruises.  Many of the ports of call have lackluster beaches and all or most of the other cruise lines have some type of private beach.  It doesn't need to be theme park, but something with a nice place to sun, exercise, etc. would put X on par with competitors.   We didn't mind that X takes the position that the entire ship is nice enough that Retreat passengers are not expected to spend every moment in the Retreat areas, but the price to experience ratio seems as if it needs adjustment or there needs to be better and more Retreat only perks that don't relate to F&B or offers that make one question what the cost is for in the first place (e.g., paying thousands to be offered gelato at a price per scoop).      

1 hour ago, Cruising7in2017 said:

Thanks for your detailed reviews, we are on the 8/20 sailing out of Barcelona, staying at El Palace before. We also have The Retreat and Luminae, was curious to know if you had any menus? What was your impression of pool at retreat? Thanks!

We sailed on Edge in April in the Caribbean just before its relocation.  We enjoyed the trip and would go again.  Enjoy your cruise and vacation.  That said in response to your query and some feedback:

We had about 1650 passengers, and Retreat was sold out.   You may or may not find a spot in the Retreat pool and front portion of the deck (plenty of chairs in Retreat on sides and closer to the jogging track) depending on the day and time.  We observed that if there were 2-3 groups (each 2-3 persons) using the pool it was on the verge of being too crowded.  It's essentially a plunge type pool, yet some will lounge for an extended period of time adding to the appearance of the pool being occupied as others come in and out.  The pool is not rated to hold very many.  The main pool doesn't have a large capacity either.  Perhaps around 35 or so (?).   Yet, due to the shape, water ledge for others wanting to cool off, and other happenings, we found there was often better room in the main pool most days - especially port days.  

The Retreat menus were as posted online.  For Luminae our suggestion would be to introduce yourself to the maitre d (Martin, in April, who is very much a take charge and empowered crewmember - more than anyone else we encountered) and to ask if you want substitutions or off menu items from other venues.  It was not evident if any other venue would be as accommodating, and generally the Luminae team seems to realize they are a big part of the Retreat experience (certainly the most contact you'll have with crew on a repeat basis if you don't venture to other venues).  We skipped the MDRs as eventually Luminae has the types of food that would be in the MDR (but without starting over with waiters, etc, and better chance of food being hot and prepared to taste), and there's no shortage of filet / tenderloin ship wide (easiest cut of meat to prepare for any restaurant).  

Luminae for lunch was delightful due to the pace and less crowd.  It will not be open every day for lunch, but check as we did find it open on a port day.  We would encourage going for lunch early in the trip and then making decisions around that experience.  It is essentially the dinner experience, and all the courses you choose.  We didn't mind skipping a sandwich or steak frites for an upcharge at the bistro (seemed silly for Celebrity to charge high paying customers for a sandwich or steak and fries they also have elsewhere on the ship) or navigating the narrow open times for Eden Cafe for a real meal.  (If you have extra OBC, then by all means experiment, but we think if you asked the Luminae staff for a steak and fries you'd probably be able to get it.  They have both on various days, and the fries around the ship were almost always the same w or without truffle spritz).  

On the Retreat deck you may need to do some of the thinking for the waitstaff.  We had ordered burgers and were told we had to pick each one up at the bar by the staff that would then come over to where we were sitting to let us know the food was at the bar.  They didn't seem to want to help carry a plate or two, and had trays to do so.  Martin seemed keen on addressing this, so hopefully not an issue any longer.  

The key to Luminae and the Retreat was not being shy, Martin and perhaps the host and concierges if you need something else or want to cut through a challenge you're having with the app experience or result.  They all coordinate, have access to the digital account they keep on passengers, workflow, etc.  And, we found they will follow-up as appropriate.  Also, while much can be done on the app, the app profile doesn't seem to have the same abilities as the Retreat team in terms of tailoring the experience for you.  We found that like the Celebrity website, the app only kind of knows you're in Retreat.  

2 hours ago, hcat said:

I am enjoying the review.. Thanks for sharing....good info and excellent photos, esp of the food and menus .  Some of the food looks " fancy" for our taste.  

 

Lunch  for us on E class is easy.. the Eden cafe or the extra charge cafe..best on board on EDGE.  And we will try to go to BLU for breakfast if Luminae is crowded..

 

For  dinner on our BEYIND cruise,  we will be assigned to Luminae and don't see very much we might enjoy or want to try..Do they offer an everyday menu where we could order more simply..ex.  shrimp cocktail, onion soup, salad,   and  a plain beef  or fish entree? We do not eat bread or fancy desserts.( med reason) and prefer not to be tempted.

 

If not maybe we can get into BLU or Tuscan or the Grek mdr..our favorites!

 

Enjoy your cruise..thanks for the review

We were on Edge in April.  At Luminae introduce yourself to Maitre D early on, and explain to your waiter your personal favs, etc.  Generally, you should be able to order the MDR classics and anything from a kids menu (that has some basics) at each seating.  In addition, its my estimation, that you're most likely to be able to ask and receive substitutes and customization at Luminae as compared to anywhere else on the ship.  That said, Blu preparations are going to be confined to Blu, and no harm in getting everyone involved to get you a table at Blu or to order the night before as some dishes are prepared in advance.  The main ingredients throughout many of the dining rooms are the same throughout the ship.  And not sure the kebabs and pita, for example, are any different at the MDR vs OVC, and that the filet / tenderloin at LPC is any different than the one being used at Luminae.   

OP:  Thank you for the pictures.  

The issue is it takes one slob to lick their fingers and ruin an entire vat of food.  Better to have the food served regardless of individual responsibility or choice.  

One additional observation two frequently CC members seem to only compare experiences relative to other cruise experiences. The reality is is that celebrity competes with the real world not just itself. Case in point OVC competes with the buffets across the world including for instance the Caesar Bacchanal buffet in Las Vegas. In other words everyone should stop lowering their expectations and expect more given the cost. Staffing shortages are no excuse for wires in fish, and over abundance of stews, using the OVC as the staff cafeteria, lots of staff just mingling around all the time but not really doing anything, undercooked food consistently, or any of the other issues that OP and others have experienced. We observe plenty of staff on Edge in fact so many that they made excuses for each other.  If the local Whole Foods or Kroger has sushi and high quality produce then there's no reason why the most expensive ship in the fleet can't have a similar level of quality especially when it docks literally once every 24 hours at a place that also has those resources available, in a quarter of the labor costs.

As a relatively new comer to cruising, it seems everyone's first inclination when something goes wrong is to suggest cruising on a different line.  That is not an option once one has already boarded or reason to question the quality.  The reality is that unlike being on land, one can't just change up the venue for their vacation, find a new restaurant, etc.  No matter the willingness to pay one I stuck.  And, the entire boat is actually one giant restaurant, with one set of buyers, freezers, qc, and so on. 

So, if Celebrity and/or the team on the ship is content with less than Applebee's quality, or poor food safety, then one is stuck, already paid, and isn't going to get the time or calories back from subpar food.  It's a loss, and leads to a crappy experience.  But, for the price and the amount of resources including the number of staff people on board and equipment there is no reason for many of the issues.  They could handcook all food given the staffing ratios and supplies available, or at least have some ability to get the apology right. 

The OP's issues are valid, and regardless the cost of a cruise on Celebrity is generally more per day than any meal would be on land for similar quality (and Celebrity enjoys less labor costs compared to anything in the U.S.).  

There is no excuse for any of the food issues OP experienced, especially the lack of recovery and recourse by the Celebrity team shipboard and otherwise.  There is a lot of middle management on the ships covering for issues, and the actual managers seem out of touch or incentives to not care. 

No need to defend the indefensible or mediocre.  Also, had somewhat similar experience on Edge in April.  And, there are few places where there is quiet or one source of background noise.  

We'd add that while menu is a consideration, but ambience and the furniture will vary among dining venues.  Also, do a walk through OVC as a baseline.  You'll likely see some of the same dishes like kabobs, roasts, prime rib, fish, and sides as you would find in the dining rooms. That tour may help you gauge the relative pros and cons of a particular menu or preparation, as well as even the noise level.  Some of the dishes in the dining rooms didn't appear to be plated to order, so at least for those in items, the difference between a dining room and OVC is a small amout of walking and portion control.  

3 hours ago, mk960072 said:

if staying in a suite why eat in the MDR?  You pay to have access to Luminae and they have their own dedicated kitchen for that restaurant, menu items you cannot get elsewhere outside of Luminae and a higher quality of food is served in Luminae.  So why pay all that money to eat in MDR?

 

Agree with above poster. Also eventually the Luminae menu cycles through dishes with the same or similar items as the MDRs and elsewhere just fancied up and more likely to be cooked to order or prepared to your specification or special order.  Also, don't be shy about letting your waiter and maitre d know your preferences, including off menu likes or dislikes. I suspect the MDR team would also be accommodating, but think of the Luminae team as being able to access and address anything. E.g., our toddler desired fresh veggies each evening, and that was anticipated after the first night.  Same for our desire for some extra veggies on the table, and espressos. 

We were in an S1 sky suite on Edge in April.  We overall had a terrific time and think that the overall experience should be delightful.  The combination of the ship design and crew will hopefully meet or exceed your needs.

Our room had a couch that was of course horizontal to the wall opposite the doorway, and facing the TV. That couch does have a pull out, is firm, and remains horizontal when set up for sleeping. In front of the couch is a relatively low coffee table that could be pushed out of the way and you would still have decent amount of walking room between the TV wall and the pullout.  You'll need to do something with the chair however. That's the one with the arms that doesn't entirely allow it to be pushed in underneath the counter by the mirror. Next the issue that you might have is that there is a step up into the bathroom of about 6 in or so. I'm assuming that's the case and all the S1 rooms maybe in all the rooms. Others coming on this in places too but the door the bathroom is magnetic and extremely fast the clothes and as we recall somewhat heavy. In order to make it easier for someone to open in the middle of the night we place the washcloth between the closing mechanism and the door frame and maybe there's some better way to do that. This avoided clicking and too much noise when somebody got up in the middle of the night. Our room was not classified as an accessible room and we do not know if there is a difference. I think there's some commenters in the forum on grab bars and we do remember the shower could use a better grab bar or something to help steady one when they are entering shower / tub.

We think you'll probably want to keep the inside table but they could probably find a place for it if you didn't want it. And we also can say there was enough room on the balcony for a third chair, good idea. And the same time you might also ask for a second small table for the balcony if all three of you plan on enjoying some food or otherwise hanging out and needing a table.  Now this is well documented the balcony table is quite small and low to the ground.  The room service tray though can balance itself on the tables and it's possible to eat outside or in the room but not at normal table height

At the time of our cruising retreat was 100% full but the rest of the ship was relatively empty with about 1,600 passengers.  In our view there was more than enough staff that they should have been and generally were accommodating of various requests and needs. We assume you'll ask for anything that you possibly need and should.

We have noticed that there is one YouTube vlogger where the wife is in a wheelchair and they do a terrific job of walking through accessibility issues including things such as bed height. We have not observed them to be on a celebrity ship but it's possible they have done one. If it helps to find them they are not travel agents but did come up and viewing various YouTube videos of cruisers and their experiences post pandemic.

The following may be helpful:

http://media.celebritycruises.com › ...PDF

Celebrity Solstice SMClass Staterooms

On 6/26/2022 at 3:39 PM, 12cruise2 said:

The Infinity served as the covid isolation ship for crew the last few months.   They would bring a tender next to the Equinox and any other Celebrity ship in Fort Lauderdale on days when they were in port and transfer sick/recovered crew members on/off the ship.   I'm sure that's why the a/c is not working correctly--they had it turned way down so as to not pass recirculating air from one cabin to another.  We ran into the same a/c, or lack thereof, problem on another brand of cruise line last month as it turned out we were in cabins that had been used for passenger isolation for a previous, quite long cruise.  Sounds like the Infinity is not ready for cruising in a lot of ways.  So disappointing.  Shows that these cruise lines do not have the cash flow to do what is needed seems to me but desperate to start cash flow. 

This isn't a function of cash flow, it is mismanagement.  Whoever is in charge should be fired if they can't get the a/c to work and put paying customers in the room.  

On 6/26/2022 at 2:46 PM, IDL said:

I am on the cruise in Aqua class on deck 9.  My expectation was after 2.5 years I dry dock that the cabins would be made ready for passenger occupation this cruise but sadly not the case.  As mentioned the a/c is not cooling adequately, our veranda door was off the track, the garbage bin in the bathroom (strangely the only one in the cabin) is broken, the cabin steward informed us he does not empty the mini bar (day two and still waiting).   Registered complaints with cabin steward and called guest relations to no avail.  Ended up going to guest relations last night at 11 PM to get cabin issues address and they sent repair men (oh and by the way we were out of the cabin from 5 PM- 10:30 PM last night and the room steward had not even made the cabin up- bed not made, morning towels still on the floor, etc.).  We have cruised on Celebrity many times but not since the pandemic.  It will be an one and done on the Infinity for me- ship is ready to be retired.   Booked on Oceana next summer on the Vista out of London which I will start looking fwd to as the Infinity experience is lacking for me.  

These issues are inexcusable regardless of what the ship had been doing for the past 2.5 years.  It also begs the question do they not have any quality assurance program?  No a/c for the past 2.5 years?  What type of operation are they running here?  No one should settle for this type of experience even if its a cruise ship, staffing or whatever justification anyone else here has provided.  

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_04_06_SP_Celebrity_Beyond_E-Brochure_Editable.pdf

Find the map and chart with S1, S2, S3 coding as there are differences in room config, for the verandah for those near and under the magic carpet.  

49 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

Infinity was Celebrity's crew covid ship for two years, doubt much was upgraded or even replaced in the 2 weeks it was preparing for paying passengers. 

Ditto.  In recent months it was sitting just off Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.  Hopefully it went through an extra deep clean.  It may have been the busiest ship in the fleet in terms of passenger turnover given the crew rotations.  

FYI, we've seen that they bring the snacks in from the ship galley. 

We were on Edge in April.  The overall experience matched many of the YouTube reviews and tours.  And props to the crew for accommodating our toddler traveler they had never been on a cruise and really a vacation until the trip. That made it worth it.

That said, there's room for improvement and there may be some things that are inherently issues like the noise in practically every restaurant including Luminae.  Also, as one poster commented above, we found it odd that Eden was essentially a place to take a nap most of the day and night even when there was an acoustic set.  The venue has been praised so much, but the pushback they must have received on the creative performances seems to have crushed them.  The Eden Cafe was also something that was a bit of a mystery.  It was closed almost the entire trip, and when it was open it would be for like an hour and not even a full meal timeslot. 

Also the cruise director and staff were seemingly going through the motions.  Lewis and Crystal seem like they might need some shore leave and were not ambassadors for the ship.  With celebrity it's not going to be summer camp, but if they're going to be doing their thing and on payroll they should at least do it in a way that connects with the passengers on a seemingly individual level instead of canned announcements and sleepwalking through trivia on the resort deck.  We also noticed a lot of people walking around that look like they were with the crew but not really doing much.  They seem to come out of the woodwork for Martini Bar activity and to clap and make it difficult to walk around the plaza.  Yet the ship is so nice that it essentially makes up for anything else particularly when the weather is nice. 

The ship could probably use a library or a few more board games or just something that gives people activities other than drinking or walking around looking for the next bite to eat. Also seems like parts of the ship like the theater really go to waste during the day.  They play some movie on in the club but it's not exactly the best viewing experience

And this is a celebrity issue overall, but even with the all-inclusive package with premium drinks they still wanted to charge for gelato when almost nothing else was an upcharge. The cost has to be so de minimis that it makes it even more perplexing that they would waste their time even distinguishing and charging for something out of the same case as ice cream.  It seemed like an unnecessary way to take people out of the experience that the ship promotes.

Also in terms of the food, There was a noticeable use of GFS foodservice items, average bar mixes, some sort of multi-mix for the soft serve that's also doubles for mixer at the bar, commercial mass produced quality  goods like English muffins and Lenders style bagels at breakfast, frozen hash browns, and other things that made us think of a college cafeteria, Disney World or the free breakfast at the Hampton Inn.  That was at the OVC and Luminae.  And if you're spending a lot per day, some of that ends up being perplexing after a few days and you realize that most of the food on the ship is the same regardless of where it's picked up.  And I'm not sure the specialty dining is actually special except the fact that it's an up charge.  Nothing we saw seem to reflect anything more than a well-run chain restaurant as opposed to say high-end food cooked order.  For example, demi glace on a fillet isn't anything particularly challenging or that you would find at a high end restaurant.  That's what they serve at la petite bistro,  we kept seeing on ither menus.  $55 for BBQ was odd too.  It wasn't like an Argentine steakhouse or anything close.  Nothing one would pay $55 for a land or $55 plus whatever you're leaving on the table by not eating at a different venue.

But again the overall experience is made up for by the ship, making requests and having the crew follow up (there's plenty of crew), and that it's the totality of the experience.  With little things that you'll like and some that you might not. There's nothing we've seen to indicate that the experience would be any different on Apex except the funky room on the way to Eden and the sculpture at the pool.  Beyond looks to be an improvement because of the enhanced sunset bar and modified positioning of Luminae if you're in retreat. 

And if you're on a cruise that will allow you to be outside the resort deck generally on the edge class ships seem to be a vast improvement over the pictures we've seen of the older ships.  But morning the pool capacity is only like 35 people or something close.  

And overall celebrity should be appreciated for actually putting some thought into the ship design and overall feel and experience.  Something that looks modern in can compete with a nice hotel room surprisingly took till 2018 to pull off.  Our hope is they work on the destinations, especially a decent island with a well-maintained beach opportunity versus what we saw in Costa Maya.