Quick Review of Christmas on Ascent

[mrgabriel]

We were on Ascent for the December 24-31, 2023 sailing. This was our first time on an E-class ship but it was also our 20th Celebrity cruise and fourth since the restart after the pandemic. This will be a quick review. Happy to answer any questions.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation: We arrived on-time for our 12:00 boarding time. Check-in was easy and we were onboard in minutes. Same with disembarkation.

 

Cabin: AQ 9425 - deck 9 - about 5 cabins back from the Aft Elevators. Super convenient location and very quiet. The bed is by the window.

 

Loved the new bathroom with the fancy shower - so much more spacious than on S and M class.

 

Also very much liked the design of the stateroom. There is dramatically more storage space and for once, our counters weren’t strewn with papers, chargers, and generic ‘stuff’ all the time because I could put everything away in the cubbies by the closet. This felt more like a nice hotel room than a cabin.

 

We didn’t like the infinite verandah at ALL and wouldn’t ever again book one. For us, it was a complete waste of money.

 

Our cabin steward was fantastic and stealth-like. Leave the cabin for 10 minutes and it would be serviced!

 

Food: We ate in Blu most nights and for breakfast most mornings. Surprisingly, it was never full. Our waiter told us that it was very busy after about 8 pm, but also that a number of AQ passengers were eating in the main dining room because they were travelling with family who weren’t in AQ. (More on that later.)

 

Food in Blu was excellent, as was the service. No complaints. Very much like what we experienced in AQ pre-2020. (This is in contrast to our experience on Solstice in September when the place was jammed, we waited forever for food, and the servers were overwhelmed.)

 

Specialty Dining: We ate in Eden once (fabulous on all counts), and also in the Rooftop Garden Grill (very good). Specialty dining is too expen$ive, IMO.

 

Buffet: Really good. Many options and we were always able to find seating.

 

Entertainment: We went to one show in the theatre and a couple of game shows in The Club. Liked the concept of The Club. It’s well laid out and easy to see what’s going on.

 

Everything certainly seems to centre on the Martini Bar and yes, that’s where we spent a lot of our time. And in Craft Social watching football games.

 

Drinks Package: We received a Basic package with our booking and I upgraded it to Premium when there was the flash sale in the fall. We are not wine aficionados and were able to always find something that was acceptable for under $17. Some bars, like the World Bar, have priced themselves out except for a couple of choices.

 

Ports: We have been to all the ports before and because this was our first time on this class of ship, we decided to spend most of our port days onboard. We were in Nassau on Christmas Day and took the ferry over to Atlantis for about an hour. In Cozumel we just walked around the port area for a bit. Gosh - the vendors are so annoying that they drive you back to the ship!

 

In George Town, GC we had booked a beach day but there was a Red Flag warning and Celebrity advised that we could cancel our excursion since we wouldn’t be permitted in the water. (Thank you, Celebrity!) Instead, we took a tour and it was not great. Next time, we’ll stay on the ship or just take a taxi to the beach. (Interestingly, the public beaches were open but excursions weren’t allowing people in the water. I understand safety first and all .. )

 

Things we loved:

• The walking track, the general layout with the Martini Bar in the centre, larger CAB, the buffet layout and plenty of seating, the Rooftop Garden, Eden, having a drink on the Magic Carpet, The Club
• The general layout and design of our cabin.
• The hand washing stations outside of the buffet.

 

Things we disliked:

• The infinite verandah. We disliked absolutely everything about it. Yeah, the cabin felt a tiny bit larger but you lost a space that could be used by one person while the other slept or watched TV.
• Ridiculously sensitive elevator control panels. If someone breathed on them, floors would be selected. This was super annoying and became a joke in the elevators!

 

Final thoughts:

 

This was our fourth Christmas cruise and will likely be the last. There were many families/very large groups (like families of 30+ people) on this ship, and while it is wonderful that people spend the holidays with their children and grandchildren, holiday cruises are expensive and we prefer a more subdued environment. 

 

Overall, this was a fantastic cruise and we absolutely LOVED the ship. It’s just beautiful and has so many unique little corners and spaces. We barely got to see everything! We would definitely sail on an E-class ship again - for the right price, and not in an infinite balcony cabin.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks for the review we sail Ascent in a Aqua IV in April.  We love the IV balcony!  To each his own!

[SouKnoMe]

Excellent review. Same sailing, and first time on E-Class.  IV wasn't for me. I felt like I was in a floating building, and while comfortable room -- the lounging part was not there. And, being on deck with tons of people, wasn't relaxing for me.

 

[mrgabriel]

19 hours ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

Thanks for the review we sail Ascent in an Aqua IV in April.  We love the IV balcony!  To each his own!

I know that there are really mixed feelings about that feature and the new President said that they had heard the complaints and she seemed to agree. Don’t know how they’ll fix it if they want to ‘revolutionize’ some IVs into balconies. 

[mrgabriel]

19 hours ago, SouKnoMe said:

Excellent review. Same sailing, and first time on E-Class.  IV wasn't for me. I felt like I was in a floating building, and while comfortable room -- the lounging part was not there. And, being on deck with tons of people, wasn't relaxing for me.

 

Agreed. We missed having a private space where we could have a quiet drink with the wind in our hair. We realized last night that we didn’t sit in those chairs with the window open even once. And when I did want to sit there on the last sea day, the captain had locked the window. 

[SouKnoMe]

45 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

Agreed. We missed having a private space where we could have a quiet drink with the wind in our hair. We realized last night that we didn’t sit in those chairs with the window open even once. And when I did want to sit there on the last sea day, the captain had locked the window. 

I tried sitting there as we arrived into Nassau, legs across the table. It was awkward, and I could hear my mom telling me to not use the furniture that way. And as for that window locking… I thought they were going to clean the windows, waited and didn’t see a difference. 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

Don’t know how they’ll fix it if they want to ‘revolutionize’ some IVs into balconies. 

That will NEVER happen. You can't take an indoor space and make it outdoors. Increasing the mix of Sky Suite type verandahs would have to be done while the ship is being built.I suspect there's a structural issue since the general mix of IV vs Sky Suite type cabins has remained about the same on all versions of E-Class ships. So it seems the issue is more than just swapping out IV cabins for Sky suite type cabins.  

Edited January 9 by kwokpot

[hcat]

To OP

Thanks for a very informative review!

It has heightened our enthusiasm for ASCENT.

 

We will board ASCENT 1/28.. AQ Class with BLU and Thermal Suite.  Have booked EDEN,  FINE CUT and ROOFTOP GRILL..Also will go to shows in theater  EDEN  and activities in the Club.

 

We have managed with the INF Veranda.. Sunroom..not a fav but gives more space in the cabin!

 

Suggest you try an SV with the 4 mdrs. They are very nice..larger cabin plus real outdoor balc. large..great aft views!

[mikeysed]

On 1/8/2024 at 1:16 PM, mrgabriel said:

We were on Ascent for the December 24-31, 2023 sailing. This was our first time on an E-class ship but it was also our 20th Celebrity cruise and fourth since the restart after the pandemic. This will be a quick review. Happy to answer any questions.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation: We arrived on-time for our 12:00 boarding time. Check-in was easy and we were onboard in minutes. Same with disembarkation.

 

Cabin: AQ 9425 - deck 9 - about 5 cabins back from the Aft Elevators. Super convenient location and very quiet. The bed is by the window.

 

Loved the new bathroom with the fancy shower - so much more spacious than on S and M class.

 

Also very much liked the design of the stateroom. There is dramatically more storage space and for once, our counters weren’t strewn with papers, chargers, and generic ‘stuff’ all the time because I could put everything away in the cubbies by the closet. This felt more like a nice hotel room than a cabin.

 

We didn’t like the infinite verandah at ALL and wouldn’t ever again book one. For us, it was a complete waste of money.

 

Our cabin steward was fantastic and stealth-like. Leave the cabin for 10 minutes and it would be serviced!

 

Food: We ate in Blu most nights and for breakfast most mornings. Surprisingly, it was never full. Our waiter told us that it was very busy after about 8 pm, but also that a number of AQ passengers were eating in the main dining room because they were travelling with family who weren’t in AQ. (More on that later.)

 

Food in Blu was excellent, as was the service. No complaints. Very much like what we experienced in AQ pre-2020. (This is in contrast to our experience on Solstice in September when the place was jammed, we waited forever for food, and the servers were overwhelmed.)

 

Specialty Dining: We ate in Eden once (fabulous on all counts), and also in the Rooftop Garden Grill (very good). Specialty dining is too expen$ive, IMO.

 

Buffet: Really good. Many options and we were always able to find seating.

 

Entertainment: We went to one show in the theatre and a couple of game shows in The Club. Liked the concept of The Club. It’s well laid out and easy to see what’s going on.

 

Everything certainly seems to centre on the Martini Bar and yes, that’s where we spent a lot of our time. And in Craft Social watching football games.

 

Drinks Package: We received a Basic package with our booking and I upgraded it to Premium when there was the flash sale in the fall. We are not wine aficionados and were able to always find something that was acceptable for under $17. Some bars, like the World Bar, have priced themselves out except for a couple of choices.

 

Ports: We have been to all the ports before and because this was our first time on this class of ship, we decided to spend most of our port days onboard. We were in Nassau on Christmas Day and took the ferry over to Atlantis for about an hour. In Cozumel we just walked around the port area for a bit. Gosh - the vendors are so annoying that they drive you back to the ship!

 

In George Town, GC we had booked a beach day but there was a Red Flag warning and Celebrity advised that we could cancel our excursion since we wouldn’t be permitted in the water. (Thank you, Celebrity!) Instead, we took a tour and it was not great. Next time, we’ll stay on the ship or just take a taxi to the beach. (Interestingly, the public beaches were open but excursions weren’t allowing people in the water. I understand safety first and all .. )

 

Things we loved:

• The walking track, the general layout with the Martini Bar in the centre, larger CAB, the buffet layout and plenty of seating, the Rooftop Garden, Eden, having a drink on the Magic Carpet, The Club
• The general layout and design of our cabin.
• The hand washing stations outside of the buffet.

 

Things we disliked:

• The infinite verandah. We disliked absolutely everything about it. Yeah, the cabin felt a tiny bit larger but you lost a space that could be used by one person while the other slept or watched TV.
• Ridiculously sensitive elevator control panels. If someone breathed on them, floors would be selected. This was super annoying and became a joke in the elevators!

 

Final thoughts:

 

This was our fourth Christmas cruise and will likely be the last. There were many families/very large groups (like families of 30+ people) on this ship, and while it is wonderful that people spend the holidays with their children and grandchildren, holiday cruises are expensive and we prefer a more subdued environment. 

 

Overall, this was a fantastic cruise and we absolutely LOVED the ship. It’s just beautiful and has so many unique little corners and spaces. We barely got to see everything! We would definitely sail on an E-class ship again - for the right price, and not in an infinite balcony cabin.

Thanks for the review. On this itinerary were evening chic nights 2 and 5?

[mrgabriel]

6 hours ago, kwokpot said:

That will NEVER happen. You can't take an indoor space and make it outdoors. Increasing the mix of Sky Suite type verandahs would have to be done while the ship is being built.I suspect there's a structural issue since the general mix of IV vs Sky Suite type cabins has remained about the same on all versions of E-Class ships. So it seems the issue is more than just swapping out IV cabins for Sky suite type cabins.  

 

Yes - DH is an engineer and he noted that this was basically a permanent solution. That's not to say that some smart engineer wouldn't find a way to open up the spaces if they threw enough money at them. However, this non-engineer figures that they COULD change the interior folding door to make it an exterior door and remove the a/c cut off so there are two separate spaces. 

[mrgabriel]

5 hours ago, hcat said:

To OP

Thanks for a very informative review!

It has heightened our enthusiasm for ASCENT.

 

We will board ASCENT 1/28.. AQ Class with BLU and Thermal Suite.  Have booked EDEN,  FINE CUT and ROOFTOP GRILL..Also will go to shows in theater  EDEN  and activities in the Club.

 

We have managed with the INF Veranda.. Sunroom..not a fav but gives more space in the cabin!

 

Suggest you try an SV with the 4 mdrs. They are very nice..larger cabin plus real outdoor balc. large..great aft views!

 

Thanks for that suggestion! Likely out of our price bracket but you never know when I'll win a lottery 😄

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, mrgabriel said:

 

Yes - DH is an engineer and he noted that this was basically a permanent solution. That's not to say that some smart engineer wouldn't find a way to open up the spaces if they threw enough money at them. However, this non-engineer figures that they COULD change the interior folding door to make it an exterior door and remove the a/c cut off so there are two separate spaces. 

If they do what you propose what happens with water? It has to drain somewhere?

[mrgabriel]

2 hours ago, mikeysed said:

Thanks for the review. On this itinerary were evening chic nights 2 and 5?

 

This particular sailing they were day 2 and day 6. Day 2 was Christmas Day, Day 6 was George Town, GC. 

[mrgabriel]

Just now, kwokpot said:

If they do what you propose what happens with water? It has to drain somewhere?

 

That's not an insolvable problem. Raise the floor slightly, add a drain. As I said, with enough money you can do anything. Imagination is good for the brain! 

[kwokpot]

Just now, mrgabriel said:

 

That's not an insolvable problem. Raise the floor slightly, add a drain. As I said, with enough money you can do anything. Imagination is good for the brain! 

You realize that when much older ships add balconies it's NEVER EVER been the way you propose. That's not how ships add balcony cabins. 

[mrgabriel]

27 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You realize that when much older ships add balconies it's NEVER EVER been the way you propose. That's not how ships add balcony cabins. 

 

🙄

The purpose of this thread was for my to detail my experience on Ascent.

 

I didn't say that I have any knowledge of how to build a ship but I do know how to imagine things and whether or not those things can come to fruition isn't up for argument with you.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, mrgabriel said:

 

Thanks for that suggestion! Likely out of our price bracket but you never know when I'll win a lottery 😄

Hope you win.. but follow the sales.. price without perks might become in budget...

[Lastdance]

I totally agree about doing a cruise over Christmas; not only is the price more, but so many other things are not as special either.  I did not enjoy my Caribbean cruise during the first part of December.  Yes, winning the lottery would make pricing so much better.   Thank you for your review!  ****If you haven’t been to Europe, just go!

Edited January 10 by Lastdance

[Trainer]

I was on Ascent earlier and just wanted to note how much storage there was in an IV room.  Everywhere possible was a shelf or a drawer .  The big drawer under the sink was especially nice.  However I did miss having a drawer under the shelf by the mirror. 

[denby]

Love the Infinite Verandas, nothing better than waking up in a Norwegian Fjord with a floor to ceiling view on Apex last June. We were also on the Ascent on December 10th cruise and loved it for a Caribbean cruise. We’ll be on Silhouette in a few weeks. I know that we will once again enjoy a traditional balcony. So many choices…so little time!