XCEL - what happened to the additional balcony cabins?

[bandp407]

It’s very disappointing to see that only 4 infinite veranda cabins were replaced with regular balconies! During one of the interviews that Laura Hodges gave she mentioned that we would be seeing the addition of the standard veranda cabins that many of us love. Little did we know it would only be 4 and in the forward section of the ship!!  So 4 out of approximately 1200. What a shame - why did they bother! 

[mahasamatman]

Ship designs cannot be changed instantly. It takes time to redesign a ship and expecting Xcel to have a new design is just unreasonable.

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by mahasamatman
typo

[mahdnc]

Those cabins will be popular stops during cabin crawls.

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, bandp407 said:

It’s very disappointing to see that only 4 infinite veranda cabins were replaced with regular balconies! During one of the interviews that Laura Hodges gave she mentioned that we would be seeing the addition of the standard veranda cabins that many of us love. Little did we know it would only be 4 and in the forward section of the ship!!  So 4 out of approximately 1200. What a shame - why did they bother! 

 

That was never said definitively. There are more regular balcony cabins but 30 out of 36 are suites.   

 

Xcel compared to Ascent/Beyond: 

 

24 more Sky Suites 

6 more Celebrity Suites 

31 more Aqua Class cabins 

21 less Concierge Class cabins 

62 less Infinite Verandas (E1/E2/E3/ES)

6 more Standard Veranda (SV/P1/P2 and the four new V1 cabins)

4 less Ocean View cabins 

6 more Inside Cabins 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Jeremiah1212

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, mahasamatman said:

Ship designs cannot be changed instantly. It takes time to redesign a ship and expecting Xcel to have a new design is just unreasonable.

 

 

 

 

You are right about that.  In the past Celebrity has made seemingly big design changes as new ships were being produced within the same class although there needed to be adequate time to incorporate the changes.

 

When Century came out in 1996, virtually all of the cabins that had balconies were limited to the suites and the balcony craze had already taken hold.  When Galaxy came out in 1997, she had a deck that had balcony cabins and Celebrity thankfully put in more than 4!  I know that ships in the past have been retrofitted with balconies, but if you look at a photo of her, you can see they are not retrofits.

 

Also somewhere along the way, someone saw fit to add an extra deck of cabins to Reflection when she was built whereas none of the 4 predecessors in her ship class have it (thankfully).

Edited November 10, 2023 by mahdnc

[goofysmom99]

Gee, I wonder if the addition of 36 balconies will be deleterious to the vaunted fuel efficiency. 

[mahdnc]

24 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Gee, I wonder if the addition of 36 balconies will be deleterious to the vaunted fuel efficiency. 

it’s a drag

[NutsAboutGolf]

Snippets from this article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2018/11/27/celebrity-edge-new-cruise-ships-cabins-have-walls-glass/2123667002/

 

"Load-bearing steel structure that traditionally runs down the sides of ships between cabin interiors and balconies has been moved inward."

 

"Lutoff-Perlo said outfitting Celebrity Edge with the Infinite Veranda cabins required adding about 2 percent more volume to the vessel than otherwise would be needed."

[Spif Barwunkel]

3 hours ago, bandp407 said:

It’s very disappointing to see that only 4 infinite veranda cabins were replaced with regular balconies! During one of the interviews that Laura Hodges gave she mentioned that we would be seeing the addition of the standard veranda cabins that many of us love. Little did we know it would only be 4 and in the forward section of the ship!!  So 4 out of approximately 1200. What a shame - why did they bother! 

Ascent is not even delivered yet and your raggin' on Xcel. Obviously, you've a sour taste in your mouth for Edge Class. Nothing the matter with that. But, like others of your ilk, why not forget about IV vessels and enjoy the cruising life much more. Delve into other more important IV issues. There are so many out there and they have nothing to do with balconies.    

[PTC DAWG]

4 is more.

[bandp407]

8 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Ascent is not even delivered yet and your raggin' on Xcel. Obviously, you've a sour taste in your mouth for Edge Class. Nothing the matter with that. But, like others of your ilk, why not forget about IV vessels and enjoy the cruising life much more. Delve into other more important IV issues. There are so many out there and they have nothing to do with balconies.    

We do enjoy the cruising life very much & have many booked!  I would not ever have mentioned this if it were not that it was brought up by the powers that be. No sour taste & no other issues other than the IV. Sorry for RAGGIN! 
 

Happy Cruising! 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

That was never said definitively. There are more regular balcony cabins but 30 out of 36 are suites.   

 

Xcel compared to Ascent/Beyond: 

 

24 more Sky Suites 

6 more Celebrity Suites 

31 more Aqua Class cabins 

21 less Concierge Class cabins 

62 less Infinite Verandas (E1/E2/E3/ES)

6 more Standard Veranda (SV/P1/P2 and the four new V1 cabins)

4 less Ocean View cabins 

6 more Inside Cabins 

thanks..Great post!

 

Is XL bigger than the others?

Looks like XL may be more crowded but maybe the 83  cabins lost in concierge, and Inf Verands Class will equal to added AQ  and Suites?

(pricier accomodations!)

... Not good at numbers  sorry!

 

  BLU  and suite areas like Luminae, Retreat inside and outdoor/ pool area  may be more crowded and less exclusive,  unless expanded???

[Cruise till you drop]

I’m guessing that Celebrity had to commit to a certain number of ships in a class and ship designs are quite complex and somewhat fixed with the exception of several “white space” areas that can be modified with each new ship in that class. 

[Lastdance]

Well, when we are able to board, there will be lots who share about the minor differences, not to mention those who feel the ship has a better fit for their needs.  I would just request that some of the prices stabilize...even though I rarely drink Starbucks, their prices went up again!🤑  It seems like everyone is trying to find that sweet spot that customers will pay, at least at the moment.  We certainly cannot take it with us because when we are going our currency has already been paid in full😉

Edited November 11, 2023 by Lastdance

[Jeremiah1212]

16 hours ago, hcat said:

thanks..Great post!

 

Is XL bigger than the others?

Looks like XL may be more crowded but maybe the 83  cabins lost in concierge, and Inf Verands Class will equal to added AQ  and Suites?

(pricier accomodations!)

... Not good at numbers  sorry!

 

  BLU  and suite areas like Luminae, Retreat inside and outdoor/ pool area  may be more crowded and less exclusive,  unless expanded???

The ship is the same size as Ascent and Beyond but actually carries 12 less passengers with 6 cabins overall less than Ascent and Beyond.
 

There has been suggestions made that some public spaces will be completely different but no details yet at all. Blu seems more likely to be able to be reconfigured but I doubt the overall footprint of Luminae could change since the restaurant and kitchen already consume that entire space. 

 

 

17 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

Gee, I wonder if the addition of 36 balconies will be deleterious to the vaunted fuel efficiency. 

 

I’m 99.9% sure that while fuel savings concept was made up in CC. Someone “heard” it on a tour or something. We’ve all heard from really creative “I heard” things onboard over the years…

[Cruise till you drop]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I’m 99.9% sure that while fuel savings concept was made up in CC. Someone “heard” it on a tour or something. We’ve all heard from really creative “I heard” things onboard over the years…

I’m 99.9% sure that there are no environmental laws governing fuel efficiency and cruise lines are doing this of their own accord to maybe save money but more importantly to market that to millennials that seem to have the environment as a top priority.  So as quickly as the concept of fuel savings can be made, it can also be pulled back.