cruisellama

Weather dependent. It can be rough - when it is, some folks don't do so well. Otherwise its fine. The times we've used it, they were not overly crowded, but the opposite could be true.

Perfect material for FL. I lived in the panhandle at one time and couldn't figure out why they weren't using block construction. Hope that's the norm now. Lousy termites.

I did enjoy HAL . Service was nice as was food. As a more seasoned clientele, far easier to have a relax and enjoy a vacation. But the sidewalks rolled up at 10pm and not a whole lot to do. So I wouldn't throw out the whole company, just the flagship line.

Sailed once because of a family commitment and determined we would never sail them again. Service - none, food quality - poor, public areas were not maintained / dirty, noisy, not a relaxing environment. If you're a kid on spring break - its a wonderful environment. (It didn't help that we sailed during Hurricane Sandy, when we got back to port, everyone cheered.) Had my first cruise been on Carnival, I would probably not be sailing today.

Was told by a Celeb agent last fall "Edge class" ships were the fleet priority at restart. Just taken much longer than any of us like. With the surprise Caribbean season starting from non-US ports, allowance for smaller ships like Milli in the mix. Apex starts its first passenger sailings from Athens. Would hope that its "all systems go" and everything is working on-board for those lucky passenger sailing from Athens.

Might be mistaken, didn't the Evian come delivered in glass bottles and Dasani is delivered in plastic? Definitely preferred the Evian and would purchase the case on-board.

At this point, timeline for crew positioning (vaccination and quarantine) is in the window to support a mid-Jul go. (If the triple mutant strains stay away_

You don't get Royal points, but if your Royal status is honored on Celebrity. So if you're Diamond on Royal, you would be Elite on Celebrity. Same with the other tiers.

I understand the governors objection to a gov't creating vaccination passport, but is he considering the vaccine cards a travel passport? They're just a shot record like those of the past. Not seeing why showing proof of vaccination that big a deal? Don't schools require shot records for student enrollment? Seems like the mandatory PCR testing for travel is just as intrusive from the health privacy issue.

Add an air horn, or flashing red light, maybe even a small electric shock? Chair hogs need to be embarrassed. Next time they ask for a pool towel, they would be given one with a porky image.

They (and we) need to get a larger ship in there so isn't the new terminal is a must? Already booked (for the 2nd time) on Allure in '23.

Pfizer - 1st - sore arm day #2. 2nd - sore arm day 2, but less painful. I didn't think either shot was as bad as a tetanus shot.

Crew is getting their vaccinations.

Even if not in a suite, there are more dining options. Four main dining options: Normandy (French), Cosmopolitan (American), Cyprus (Med), Tuscan (Italian) - all included. As the MDR consists of 4 separate venues/themes - they're a little more intimate, less noise as guests are spread out between the 4. There are specialty dishes that go with the themes. You can rotate across all of them or just use the one you favor. Eden Cafe - breakfast and lunch, . Oceanview cafe - buffet like the Windjammer, Mast Grill, Specialty - Terrace Grill, Fine Cut (Steak), Le Grand Bistro (French), Eden (comes with entertainment), Le Petit Chef (dining with table special effects), Raw on 5 (Seafood), Magic Carpet dining (lunch/dinner - weather permitting). Aquaclass gets you BLU and Suite gets you Luminae. Both of those are also on Reflection. Reflection has a single 3 level MDR.

The room temperature control is connected to the window position so if you have the window open, the A/C is inhibited. In some areas, this causes the room to heat up (solar loading) to the point where the a A/C can't recover the room temperature fast enough when the window is closed. For those who haven't sailed with a balcony, the infinite veranda has good reviews. For those have, the infinite veranda has less favorable reviews.

We've sailed both. Reflection is my favorite Solstice class ship, and I really like Solstice as it has some nice upper deck features like a grass lawn. Spacious interior, all the legacy Celebrity Dining options. But after sailing Edge, we're hooked on that class. Edge introduces new concepts to the experience. I believe they provide more culinary diversity and choices. Reflection has the standard MDR, but Edge breaks the MDR into 4 unique venues each specializing in a particular region like French, Continental, Italian, and Mediterranean. If you spring for suite class, then the Edge configuration is far superior to that of a Solstice or Millennium class ship. Edge designed special suite lounge areas into the baseline architecture so they're larger and offer more dining, drink, and relaxation options. Reflection does have Michaels club which is the legacy suite lounge. Very nice, but not the Retreat. I would argue the original ice Martini bar featured in Reflection is superior to the Edge Martini bar configuration. (On Celebrity, the Martini bars tend to be gathering place for bar tender entertainment and great drink options.) While Edge put the Martini bar in the center atrium, they failed to provide sufficient bar space for seating and allowed the bar to go beyond Martini's which changed the character of the bar. Reflection Martini bar holds to the fleet traditional way of menu, seating and entertainment. (I believe Beyond corrects the errors in the original Edge Martini bar) We found Edge specialty dining options topped Reflection as did Luminae setting (its newer). Again more options on Edge to include a Garden Terrance restaurant. Eden is another option for bar, formal or casual dining, and entertainment. Rolling entertainers roam the area during the evening. On board shopping is notably different between Edge and Reflection. Edge is all high end, Tiffany's, Bulgari, Cartier etc. Reflection has the more mid-level concessions, designer, but not uber high end. Edge casino has a lot of nice upgrades that Reflection doesn't have. I would also like to plug Edge's jogging track. Its a well thought out figure-8 that moves across 2 deck levels so you get to walk/jog up and down hill. The figure 8 design gets it to 1/5 mi long which I think is the length of an oval Oasis class track. We're now hooked on Edge , but still plan on sailing Reflection in the future due to alternative itineraries.

I paid a fish to come over to re-key my guitar, piano and drums. He was a professional tuna.

Sometimes I like to stand in front of my fishbowl, eating a tuna sandwich. Let 'em know who's boss.

Good point. Azamara offered overnight port stays, more immersion, and with the smaller ships could access smaller less traveled ports. I don't see Edge 1.0 & 2.0 class being able to do that. Quickest way to achieve return on investment is collecting a higher fares - which is the path they're showing with Beyond. Twangster's Beyond observations are spot on when comparing to SS fare base for similar length cruises. Certainly has me rethinking whether I would book Beyond (unless there's some price contraction). One of the keys to stellar service is higher crew to passenger ratio and while Celebrity is very nice, its still a mass market line. Butler service in Retreat level is not as personalized as Star Royal Genie. As I rant, I would like to point out the Edge class "infinite" balcony rooms are a disappointment to those who have sailed with actual open balconies. That design is somewhat a step back from early year Celebrity marketing of maximizing balcony options to passenger. Marketing to a new generation, but the older generation has the $$ at this time (at least for a while longer).

I would agree with that. Probably politically incorrect to bring that topic up in a Celebrity leadership/board meeting. Could you imagine the conversation between leaders. Just built 2 and fielded 2 Edge class ships, oops there's been a lot of feedback about the ship, not all stellar. "We can tweet the design" "You mean we have to change the carpet on the next one? "Nope we have to stretch it 20m and add a 17th deck, and fix all the interior passenger flow issues." "That sounds like new ship class." "No we'll keep the big elevator on the side, and call it Edge class like the other 2." (Or call it Edge class 2.0)

Which could equate to a slow buildup of the fleet to operation.

Those are substantial changes. Interesting that much on the structural side with the stretch this early in that class. (They fixed some passenger flow issues on Apex from what I could see on the deck plans - but this upgrade is beyond expectations (pun intended).) 20m and additional deck - impressive - gotta charge extra for that In 10-15 years, is that a revolution upgrade for Edge/Apex.

Interesting there's and exceptions for BLU. In the past, Retreat passengers could use BLU on a space available basis. In some ways, I found that menu to be better than Luminue.

+350 additional passenger capacity. I wonder if they needed to add an additional lifeboat/tender/raft or increase capacity on existing boats ? Practical crew/passenger capacity is limited by available lifeboat seating.

Movement of Luminae makes sense. Retreat food was prepared in the Luminae galley so the movement will improve food quality, transportation (wait time) to the Retreat area. Edge martini bar design was criticized because it lacked space and did away with the "ice top". Sounds like they fixed the design in Beyond with the 360 design like in the legacy ships. Probably left the ice top off as that's an additional health complication due to cleaning and sanitization. Now that's worth the high cost -- ?