Cap_D

None taken, it would be nice if Celebrity addressed the sewer gas and possibly mold more proactively and with ongoing effort. Far too much seems to have to be endured, reported, or asked for by passengers. On the other hand, we appreciated and noticed how clean the public bathrooms and spaces were during our two cruises.

We found the scent to blend in with the sewer gas smell that we sometimes dismissed the smell as just the soap products. It's a decent enough brand, and would be an okay scent on its own. The same company that makes the Bigelow products dles6 a lot of the travel sizes and hotel products for various other brands. The liquid soap also may have some ingredient in it to help dissolve mineral based suntan lotion (zinc oxide), as passengers are likely slathered in it on Caribbean/Bahama and Med trips. We usually bring our own preferred soap for trips of any extended stays, and an unscented bar or small bottle of diluted of Dr Bonners castile soap to help with suntan lotion removal, also great on clothing for stains and to help avoid yellowing of whites. (Puracity has a very good stain spray too, would also recommend Laundress stain bar or stain solution, but they had a recall issue and new product is just returning to market. Have not had success with oxi products to address yellowing).

By no means is this medical advice: but I'd bring a Claritin D or generic antihistamine with decongestant (review the label for side effects, etc), and consider bringing an antibiotic, along with Motrin, in case they are needed. That won't address mold or the causes, but it may help you with breathing and inflammation.

The Retreat Sundeck Bar experience would be improved if the beverages were included so that the card didn't need to be produced over and over again. At least one doesn't need to wear a Retreat wrist band. Sometimes they recognize you, but sometimes they don't. The need for a card and swipe also can create a bottleneck of people lined up on the side of the bar. At times, we also found the drink staff to not want to help carry drinks to loungers unless it was a drink ordered from them, and they were also not interested in helping carry food orders. It occurs to me this may have been a gratuity thing. If my memory is right, it was also something the hotel director didn't think should be the case and had corrected. We also had a better experience in 2023 on the sundeck, so it may vary. The retreat lounge, sundeck crew, and Luminae crew also answer to a few different departments. By far the Luminae staff were always the best on the ship, and most thoughtful/anticipatory/impactful.

Recently experienced the same smell issue at a high end Las Vegas property. I'd say the difference in experiences was that in Vegas the hotel management was MIA, and non responsive to reasonable requests to address the issue. On Celebrity we found the shipboard management responsive and marshalled resources to address the issue. One more observation for those reading in the future, in the SS there's a drain in the bathroom floor under the waste basket (and perhaps in the toilet closet), and in the CS the drain is in the toilet closet, along with drains in the tubs and showers. That plus the Bigelow soap seems to create the sewer gas smell. There may be other issues, and certainly visual cues that one may see, too. Our experience was with the smell. We didn't see anything that was visible.

We likely had a similar smell and issue on Apex in CS, and on Edge in SS. On Apex, the odor was coming from the bathroom, and most apparent upon entry into the room and then into the bathroom area after opening the magnetic doors. Like @Jim_Iain we believe it was the floor drain or the vicinity. The smell was made worse due to the Bigelow soap scent. We said something a few times, but it was also amid other service related issues. The insult was we had to use the phone to address this, a few times, and found ourselves standing right over the source (since one of the phones is in the bathroom, none are cordless, etc). The Edge variant seemed to go away, but that cruise was fewer days. Agree: smell something or see something, say something, post something, email, QR code submit it, tell the captain and other stripes when they walk around, etc There is not as much QC or clear lines of responsibility as there should be to prevent it apparently. And, the housekeeping staff aren't on top of it, and possibly don't have a sense of smell if they have been onboard for a while.

With apologies to @Norwaylady for the side notes here on Edge class design: What's odd is they just did a dry dock (everyone was waiting for this, and has noticed wear and tear) and there's apparently nothing notable except that door handles to deck entrance bathrooms are dangling, and nothing was at all improved upon. Plus, RC/Celebrity will often promote that they build physical mock ups of rooms, venues, etc., and now also use virtually reality to test flow and so on. Yet, to name a few issues, they have the IVs that people hate (really hate) far more than anyone really loves or needs, the stretch and noise issues on Beyond (possibly Ascent and Xcel), interior and outdoor furniture that is unusable (not just Eden)(saw chair collapse on someone at Mast Grill, and sunset bar loungers are nearly on the deck), no plugs for one side of the bed in many rooms, areas that could use more wind screening (rooftop garden, walk way to sunset bar on both sides, etc.), lack of bathroom capacity near Rooftop garden/sunset bar area, old Edge and Apex sunset bar design, and the bottlenecks in the Retreat lounge caused by the host stand, future cruise/bar, coffee machine/fridge area, and food counter. Plus no furniture outside MDRs, no way to have a real table in the room (makes room feel larger), lack of stacking Luminae with an MDR or capacity for Luminae fridges to hold a few classics and other items to accommodate reasonable requests, no front view for anyone not on Retreat (and even then it's not climate controlled) vs great view if you're on the elliptical or treadmills (used most frequently by performers and crew). And the theater could use a few more seats and ventilation when there is high demand. Much of this is likely intentional or okay with management since it reduces the appearance of crowds after one realizes it's a lost cause, looks pretty at first, lessens demand on room service, and so on.

The mint ice cream is one of my favorites. Nice to see it make an appearance.

My favorite chip. Let go due to the purge of butlers in August 2023.

We recommend bringing your own salty snacks, and for that matter gummy candy if that is something you enjoy. Perhaps a few as they may go stale quickly depending on storage and climate. On a sailing in Edge class Retreat in March 2023 we saw potato chips as an accompaniment for lunch in Eden Cafe and in the Retreat Lounge. Quantities were sparse. Our butler in 2022 in a SS did bring Lays chips for a snack at some point. He was likely let go, and there are no assurances SS will get any services. On both cruises, we don't recall seeing pretzels anywhere, including no pretzel crisps at the store where Pringles were available. We saw no seasoned bar mix at any bar. Sweet pastries are plentiful. We observed essentially the same frozen fries (with a rice starch coating for crispiness) at all venues. Some may have a spritz of truffle oil or sprinkle of parmesan if it's a specialty. We didn't see any signs of a hand fresh cut fry.

Same experience on refunds for when we booked items in September having previously booked them in August. And, it will come as no surprise that for that March Beyond sailing items we booked over Labor Day weekend are now more expensive with the discount. For reference, we had booked Eden for $44 pp (or a bit less), 3 deal no deal cards for $23, and so on. So, either the discounting is not as good or the base price went up. We were using Retreat OBC, so no actual cash outlay. One can always cancel (at least for now), but perhaps reserve now for any future cruises that have items available. Certain shipboard activities and dining seems to be the last to be opened for reservations.

Actually my post with links to YT and a news site that is a lot like "bee" hive was taken down about 21 minutes ago. I wonder if Blue Lagoon has a PR firm helping them? In any event, my post without links was: The reports speak for themselves. Every board should have info about this tragedy, safety issues with excursions and especially Blue Lagoon. Some reports are this was a Royal Caribbean sold trip, though it's well known Blue Lagoon is sold by many cruise lines, does a big influencer push, and is sold by Celebrity. No doubt many will want to scrub this info from the Web so as to preserve the economic engine that this excursion has been, and avoid doubt about ferries operated at ports of call. Very tragic.

Fully agree with all of the above. And, there are outside tables behind Eden Cafe that are accessible from the cafe. Often underutilized. Eden restaurant food is cooked to order, and the staff are very knowledgeable about the menu and ingredients. They can help you navigate it. FWIW, if you're at all mobility challenged, take the elevator lift in the right side when approaching the stairs on 5 that go to the dining room on 4 and ask the maitre d for assistance. They will be glad to help.

My posts were moved to this "Bahamas" board, so not deleted. Fully agree it's a serious issue with the ferry, and like rideshare and other forms of transportation there is some degree of risk that hopefully those that can address it (cruise lines, local govts etc) step in.

Just noting that at least my posts and a few others were moved from the Celebrity board. Hopefully these are found by anyone considering Nassau excursions or ferry/tender operators and resellers generally.

Enjoy your time unplugged! Thank you for sharing.

Here's more on a deadly shark attack like the one mentioned above (there are a few stories of attacks from recent years involving excursions): https://abcnews.go.com/International/american-killed-shark-attack-snorkeling-bahamas-police/story?id=89417815

Considering the safety issues with at least one popular excursion company, Blue Lagoon, not a great idea to abandon the child (or bring them on some ferries).

I see @The_Big_M and @Jim_Iain addressed this already, but in case you need the proof of what you should be given here's some screenshots from the Celebrity website as of a few minutes ago. Coffee and espresso, and "Luminae room service breakfast menu" are part of the Retreat. We also have had to write in details and specify the number of people. The form is not well formatted. https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/cruise-butler Second picture is from a mock booking for a SS on Edge.

Hopefully things get better, and you're able to let one of the officers know so they can get everything right. As for the sound in Luminae, I also found it to be too much by the I-95 area (great use of the phrase, and much used US highway). The tables behind the maitre d station tend to be quieter, though without as many people watching opportunities. We sat in that area for almost all of our meals on Apex (same configuration), and had previously tried all the spots out when we were on Edge. Also, the spaces at the far front end of the Luminae dining room (front of ship) were surprisingly okay, too. My guess you will both enjoy breakfast in Luminae, which tends to be calmer, and suggest using the lunch opportunities on sea days. I hope dinner service becomes more relaxing, as you seemed to enjoy the spaces of the other dining rooms (are those quieter?). I haven't seen you mention Eden Cafe for lunch, and it probably was not open much on the prior cruise because of the port days. My family enjoyed the cookies and relaxing on the outdoor deck, which we'd arrive at right before closing (after Luminae for lunch, we walked through the stateroom hallway on Deck 12 to avoid the crowd on 5 to make it before closing time).

I believe cruiseplum has tracking, but it may possibly only presents data for rooms that are available. Also, note that since the first week in October 2023 new Retreat bookings do not come with OBC or gratuities, and since August the sky suites do not have butler service. So, price comparisons should factor in those reductions.

Thank you. Was not aware of the "drama" backstory. Cutbacks on staffing are not surprising to me, and track everything else that has been reported. It's the impact that would be a concern, and so I do appreciate the info being shared. I'm approaching a final payment date for a Spring cruise. The first hand accounts are invaluable.

With all the talk of cutbacks, one area that has not received as much chatter is the impact on shipboard service. This video at about 5:26 includes a mention of a trip report posted to FB that provides some first hand info conveyed to a passenger by a manager about crew cutbacks impacting service, morale, and retention. https://youtu.be/446d01Ozv5Q?si=ugfh8Vq2E-mFPQPq

We'd recant most of our concerns we have about Celebrity if they had a credible bagel available, even if they were using a previously frozen par-baked product. It would be really remarkable. Considering the crust and good quality of some of the breads, the bagel and notorious Luminae biscuits are candidates for improvement. And, while we've never experienced this outside a bagel place, if the bagel was a salt bagel....one can dream. I'd even settle for a salt soft pretzel (or maybe just pretzels). I should mention that the night before breakfast service at Eden Cafe, there is prep that goes on. On our first cruise on Edge, when we found ourselves at Eden watching a performance around 10 pm, one of the prep cooks was nice enough to give our then 4y old child a "bagel" (Lenders like) and some fresh fruit (and I think we just came from dinner). When you need a snack, one needs a snack. That's one of those nice acts that made us fans.

Will be interesting to learn if Ascent or Xcel will end up having the same issues?