MustBCruzn

Thank you so much for heads-up on the 2025 itineraries. We just booked an awesome Adriatic cruise for Oct 25 to make up for the May 24 Beyond Adriatic cruise that Celebrity cancelled on us with no notice (I heard it on CC first).

Agree completely. We're Elite+ on Celebrity (which doesn't mean anything anymore), and have loved our cruises. However, for a number of reasons we've begun branching out and have found HAL to be a great fit. The food and service are great, and the itineraries are much more varied than Celebrity's itineraries. The only downside (for us), is HAL's smoking policy in the casino. But that aside, we absolutely love thier newer, Pinacle class ships and have several more booked for 2024.

You're absolutely right. We were on the Apex Baltic cruise which ended July 31st, and ate at Cyprus most nights. The dining room choices were plentiful (and delicous!), and as stated, we could order from any dining room menu. We also ate dinner at the buffet several nights due to late shore excursions, and there were lots of options. All stations were open, unlike previous reports.

DH and I are on the Apex Baltic cruise right now. I just asked our butler about this and he confirmed that there will be staffing changes in the future, but said he didn't have more details. I take that as a yes. 😞

we have 2 chairs and 1 lounger, but there would be room for a second if requested. The weather on our cruise has been fairly cool and overcast, so the lack of shade isn't an issue for us.

DH and I are on the Apex Baltic cruise right now and are in SV cabin 8319, which is adjacent to the suite on the port side. At the time we booked it was the only SV available. While I was hoping to snag an SV more towards the middle as the balconies appear larger, we love our cabin (and the roomy balcony) and wouldn't hesitate to book it again.

Norris, as a nuse for 40-plus years, your description of your inpatient stay really cracked me up! I'm glad they treated you well, and even happier that you're home and recovering.

Thank you so much for the e-mail address. I just sent them an e-mail addressing both the way the Beyond redeployment was handled, and the new vaping policy.

That's what I was told when I called about our cancelled Adriatic sailing next May. We had worked our schedule of family events to make this sailing work, and the thought of trying to find a substitute during this time window was too much so I said to cancel it. The gentleman on the phone stated that we would loose our OBC, and he would send a request to waive our FCC penalty (we had 3 applied to this cruise), but that decision would be made at a higher level. Really??? Needless to say, I'm frustrated. I still haven't received confirmation or an invoice showing how all this plays out.

I agree with all you've said and with the frustration you're feeling. We, too, were caught up in this mess, having our Adriatic cruise cancelled. We had an SV booked at a great rate (nonj-refundable deposit), and had applied several FCC's to the booking. I was stunned when the gentleman on the phone said "Ill see if I can get the cancellation fees waived." You've got to be kidding me. It has been 4 days now, and I still haven't received any type of confirmation or refund (which I know can take some time). However, the reservation no longer appears on my Celebrity account. What a mess for everyone affected by this.

Thank you so much for your great review and stunning pictures. I took many notes for our October cruise.

Our May '24 Adriatic cruise was cancelled because of this switch. I had booked an NRD rate last year directly with Celebrity. To make a very long and very painful story short, the rep (trying to sound upbeat and generous) said, "we'll waive the NRD cancellation fee." That was it. Wow. I'm still reeling from X's generosity. We booked a British Isles cruise on HAL for the same timeframe instead.

We, too, were hit with this mess. DH and I were booked on the Beyond for the Adriatic sailing next May. I had booked a non-refundable deposit and had applied several FCC's to this cruise. I learned of the redeployment here 4 hours before I received the e-mail from Celebrity. I then spent 2 hours on hold before a rep answered. Bottom line, the only thing "offered" was to waive the non-refundable penalty--I said "You have to be kidding, you think that's being generous??? I didn't cancel this cruise, Celebrity did." Good grief.

I'm glad you're excited (and I really do mean that!). We, on the other hand, are really unhappy. We were booked on the Beyond sailing the Adriatic next May. I found out about the change here on CC several hours before I received Celebrity's e-mail. Spent 2 hours on hold with Celebrity to see about a refund, and much of today canceling hotel and transfer reservations and private tours. 😞

Thank you so much for the heads-up, as dissapointing as this news is. DH and I are (were, apparently) booked on the Beyond on May 17th next year and were really looking forward to this cruise. After reading your post I checked the Celebrity website and sure enough, it's gone. Of course not a single word from Celebrity. Wow.

The Beatles! I don't know how I goofed the first reply. 🙂

Norris, Celebrity should be giving you a commission. I just booked Eden for two nights on our Baltic cruise next month--all based on your review and photos. 😁

You got that right! DH and I would reserve a spot in a heartbeat!

Norris - Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews. This one in particular has me especially excited, as we board the Apex on July 19th for a Baltic cruise. We, too, have booked the Radisson Blu City Center for our pre-cruise stay--for better or worse, depending on how the rest of your hotel comments go. On your recommendation we made reservations at the Five Flies restaurant for our last night.

So true! My daughter and I were on a 2-week land trip in Sicily last month and had decided to try carry-on only for the first time, and we're so glad we did. Not only was it super easy to manage our luggage as we toured the island, but on our second to last day ITA announced a strike beginning at midnight. We were booked on ITA from Catania to Rome early the next morning, so we quickly changed our flight to later in the evening to get to Rome before the strike began. The next morning, we spoke with several couples from our Sicily tour who were on our same flight to JFK. None of their checked bags made it from Catania. Because of our positive experience with carry-on only for our 2-week Sicily trip, I've convinced DH to go carry-on only for our Apex Baltic cruise next month.

Great review and pictures. Thank you for taking the time to post. I'll be on the Beyond in September, and your review has made me even more excited.

We were impacted by the ITA strike in May while in Sicily on a land trip. We had to cut our vacation short by a day to get back to Rome for our Delta flight to JFK (which was not impacted). Many people were not so fortunate with changing flights and were stuck at the Catania airport.

Thank you so much for your fantastic review and wonderful photos. We're sailing on the Apex next month on this same itinerary, and your review has added a whole new level of excitement.

Thank you for taking the time to do this great review. We're on the Beyond on this same itinerary in May '24, and your review has us even more excited.

So well said! This describes us exactly. We, too, are Elite + (which no longer means anything). DH and I took our first cruise on the Rotterdam last year. The ship, itinerary, entertainment, and food were outstanding. We enjoyed it so much that we're sailing on her again this June and have a B2B booked for next year. We still have a few X cruises booked for this year and next, but we've definitely found ourselves adding the Rotterdam to our rotation. The lack of regular balcony cabins on the E class (we were one and done with the IV) is what made us look at the Rotterdam.