cruisellama

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 -- ?

That is a good add. Get the spa access which normally isn't part of Retreat class except on port days.

Good adds. Lessons learned from the first Edge - hope they put more wind baffling around Magic Carpet so it can be used more for dining. Once in the Retreat area, you tend to spend most of your spare time there as the bar and food service is far more responsive - more space is good welcome. "Le Voyage" doesn't interest me yet - will need to see first hand. - I found the Daniel B menus Chef's table and Luminae offerings not be to all that great (IMO). If you sail Celeb often - the DB offerings became too repetitive (like the standard offerings in other dining areas). Preferred when the ship executive chef created their own specialty dishes that were different between ships and allowed their own creativity to show.

And SS has higher prices too, without the overhead rate of a larger ship (less restaurants, toys, attractions, but better crew/passenger ratio). Supply is a factor in pricing, low quantity of high desirable service/product allows for price inflation - Econ 101. I'll agree Celebrity charges a premium rate, and if they have problems filling cabins, you'll see prices adjust accordingly. And Celebrity has always jacked up the price on new ships - especially Edge class. We held off a year on sailing Edge because the early cruises were stupid high for suites. Rates came down, and we got a decent deal. Now Apex is getting the premium rate over Edge. Next year, I'm sure we'll see Apex adjust. The premium price can result in greater margin for the company. - especially since they've been sucking wind for over a year.

I'm only seeing Beyond itineraries out to 4/23 - still pent up demand for less Celebrity cabins. How are you comparing cabins, foot print or just class. Lowest/highest Star against an Iconic Suite? Older Q/O class to new Edge class (Beyond). There's quite a swing in Celebrity Retreat classes. Edge class ships are smaller than Q or O class so less inventory per ship (3000ish passenger to 5000ish). Agree Beyond pricing is reaching beyond the Stars (pun intended). Royal offers far more inventory.

Cruising hasn't started yet. A lot of pent up demand, with limited cabins/sailings available for the next year. Low supply - high demand - high prices. If the industry gets back to normal next summer ('22) with full fleet deployment and new ships sailing, I think we'll see those prices come down. Betting there's still a notable percentage of passengers that won't come back for a while (or may not cruise again).

This could have been the reason the call was delayed a week.

Did anyone see an updated capacity limit? Could use that to cover statistical uncertainty (slop) in the 95% guideline.

There were discussions to share those with Mexico.

Those instructions looked like they're adapted to the current conditions - not 100% good, quick turn on review of simulated voyages - good.