Mariastreby

When we approached Antigua this morning it was hard to tell we were even moving - so smooth. But last night, when the show was going on, and aerialists were doing daring stunts, the ship was definitely swaying. Not sure about extra cabin noise that people heard overnight, but I held my breath watching those young athletes doing their aerial and balancing “gymnastics”. They were awesome, but even more so when the stage under them wasn’t steady.

I couldn’t agree more with those people who say that exact thing when they haven’t experienced the noise themselves. We are really crossing our fingers and toes that our same good luck right now in 9173 on Beyond will carry over to the Ascent. Just reserved the same cabin number for the April 20, 2025 crossing from FL to Rome. I really hope we don’t regret it. 🤞🤞

Where in the cruise (like 8th or 9th day) was that Q & A? We’re on the ship now, and would love to know how she’d deflect that question. Sorry about your bad cabin noise. We’re just up the hall in SS 9173, and have totally lucked out. Perhaps a maintenance person could have dealt with that fridge issue. Now we’re more nervous about booking the same cabin on the Ascent next year. But has anyone seen if there’s also a thread about noise issues on it also? I imagine it would have the exact same shipyard building faults.

I totally believe that is the company line at this point, deflecting to “ongoing”. They know this is a lemon ship, but they’d lose too much money taking it back across the Atlantic to have it worked on by the shipyard. Meanwhile, unsuspecting passengers continue to book on this ship and the Ascent (I assume it also has problems). We are thinking of booking our same number cabin for a transatlantic next spring on the Ascent. But just because we like our current quiet cabin doesn’t mean the same cabin on that ship will be quiet as well. Soooo frustrating!

Last night’s show WAS phenomenal! We’re onboard too, in Sky Suite 9173 (blessedly quiet), but haven’t heard anything about a Captain Kate Retreat appearance. Maybe tonight at the Silent Disco there will be numerous officers, I heard. Maybe you can bring this continuing noise issue up with someone there…?? 🤷‍♀️

Sounds awful! We’re getting on the Beyond this Friday, port side SS near to the forward elevators. Cabin 9173. Fingers are crossed. I’m more nervous about our Thursday flights to FL - we are expecting a very stormy day here, and still somewhat stormy in Atlanta where we connect. My fingers are crossed that neither flight gets delayed, and I HATE turbulence in the skies!

For you, and possibly others who mentioned MC SS’s in the past, are you in one of the two corner cabins on the MC, or one of the two in between? It always looked to me as if those corner cabins would have more wind and air stream pushing against them. In other words, that there is more stress put on various joints in the cabin.

I assume you’re referring to the Beyond? Hard to believe it was even in an interior hallway! And deleting comments…? That reeks of something pretty bad, trying to cover this issue up. We are embarking on the Beyond this Friday, in a SS. Ninth deck, 9173. Closer to the forward elevators. I used to think this noise thing was always on IV cabins, but obviously not. I can only cross my fingers, and pack earplugs.

Where is that situated, among the four suites that are there? One of the corners, or in the middle? I haven’t heard of other Magic Carpet cabins having issues, but they make more sense because of sticking out like they do. So sorry it was so bad. We get onboard a week from tomorrow, a Sky Suite on Deck 9, port side. Towards the front elevator bank. Our fingers are all crossed about getting a noise free cabin. The Beyond is now 2 years old, and it’s ridiculous that these issues haven’t been fixed well enough by now!

Glad to hear that. We will be in a SS on the port side on April 12. In 9173, so it was in a similar area to yours from 2022. Even though the problems seem mostly to be in IV cabins, we’ve heard of several instances with Sky Suite noise as well. But fingers crossed, and we’ll bring earplugs!

A couple of other cruise lines you might consider are Oceania and Viking. The food is usually extremely good, and every specialty restaurant is included. Wine and beer at meals are included, then cocktail packages or a la carte drinks are rather reasonable. We usually cruise on Viking, which is quite laid back, but they have some great itineraries and staterooms. We were trying Beyond for the large ship experience and entertainment, plus the Retreat amenities. Sounds like they will be disappointing, as Viking’s service is usually stellar, and crew remember your names just a couple days into a cruise. So, I guess we’ll find out how the Beyond stacks up in 3 months. 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for the reassurances about smooth southern Atlantic sailings. Plus the fact that rain may tend to be brief showers rather than all day long. Interestingly, the cruise we’re taking prior to the fall one is on the Celebrity Beyond. It’s in April, 10 days southern Caribbean itinerary, so I’m not worried about micro burst storms. Though the one you went through did sound a bit scary. We are taking the cruise not for the itinerary (only getting off on 2 of the 5 islands), but for the ship itself, and the Retreat experience. We knew that on a warm temperature sailing, we’d hate an Infinite Veranda cabin where you really shouldn’t open the window due to the ac shutting off. So we’re splurging for a real balcony, and to see what a bigger ship is like, as we’ve become so used to the smaller sized ships. But there’s another widely discussed (on CC) issue with the Beyond, and that’s horrid banging and extremely noisy cabins, even in mostly calm seas. Obviously caused by poor building practices and little project oversight at its French shipyard. So we are also crossing our fingers for that one, hoping our cabin has been fixed to some extent if it was one of the bad ones to begin with.

I actually had looked at historical averages for about 5 of our ports on various weather data sites. And almost every country in the Med seems to be the rainiest in November. Temperatures (daily highs) did indeed fluctuate between lower 50s to upper 60s (F), and lows were about 15 degrees less. Countries like Greece are the warmer ones, as expected, but can be rainy. Obviously November has shorter days. I actually started this topic because I did want to get people’s experiences. Maybe some of the more common ports just weren’t as rainy as they are made out to be. Or they get quite cold in the evenings. I just felt that what had been experienced by other travelers might make some of the weather sound more appealing than what the historic weather charts were showing. And I agree - with the much warmer temps of the last couple of years, perhaps November will remain warmer longer. On the other hand, we are having some of the most unpredictable winter storms and cold in the US right now. So with climate change, I suspect weather will remain less predictable than ever. We will stick to packing various layers. For 24 days, we’ll be packing a lot anyway, especially as we dress “country club” or “elegant casual” most evenings as well.

Thank you for all of the details (I edited some out). Obviously what ship one takes doesn’t matter. Unless it is very small or has a bad stabilizer system. Our ship, the Vista, should have the latest technology for that, and it’s neither an overly small or large ship. Hopefully it won’t encounter a huge storm causing ship damage, like the one you mentioned. That would have freaked me out totally!! What I’m learning is that there’s an advantage to a ship taking a longer voyage, if it means taking that southerly route. Rather than starting from, say, Lisbon, heading to the Canaries sounds better. Or not trying to dock in Bermuda on the way! Having a good chance at “pond-like” waters sure sounds good to us! I haven’t heard much about how the Mediterranean Sea is from early to mid November. Probably like anytime, it may be prone to storms, but I don’t know how quickly or severely autumn storms there can form. Or whether eastern parts (Greece, the Aegean) or western areas are more susceptible. It’s nice to hear your report, like others, that most ports’ weather will tend to be milder than I had thought. As for rain, that’s like predicting it anywhere. Other than places known for seasonal rainy periods. So thanks for your helpful input!

Thanks for all that weather info about the ports! We loved the “new” Riviera last March! This B2B cruise starts 11/11 in Athens, then ends leg 1 in Rome. Then about 11 nights till arriving in Antigua, then Puerto Rico before getting “home” to Miami on December 5. Due to a much lower flight cost, we will fly to Athens a full 4 days prior to embarkation. So we can take full advantage of visiting all the un-crowded tourist places and the Plaka district while staying at a highly rated hotel… but at amazing low season rates. We don’t stop in Barcelona, but will go to Valencia I think on November 21, so hopefully we will get your weather! But we will wear layers at that point, but probably not our puffy jackets! Oh, and good luck with your caucusing on Tuesday in what they say is supposed to be quite bad weather. 😉 Not that we even understand how caucusing is done. It’s just a fun word for the rest of the country to say and spell! 😁