RobertoF

The pitch I made for the fifth and final Edge-class ship: Celebrity Coda. Short; fits with the four-letter theme of Edge and Apex; has alliteration; and evokes the final movement of a beautiful piece of music.

I believe I heard one complaint about noise on an inside cabin on the Beyond. Staff at customer relations seemed confident that if we slept in an inside cabin there would be no noise. I would be very confident that there will be no noise on an inside cabin on the Beyond, based on everything I have heard about the ship. The fact that the noise went away when I opened the IV window tells me the problem is with certain IV cabins. From what I have seen and heard, I would say the vast majority of the noise complaints, perhaps 90% or more, are from people staying in IV cabins. That is why I am so confident that an inside cabin should be fine (along with oceanviews and probably sunset verandas as well since they do not have the stupid IV window).

This video was taken from our original room on day 2. They moved us to another room that was quieter but still had some occasional "popping" noises like in the video (nowhere near as bad though). They also gave us access to another room to sleep in that was quiet. We are hardly in our cabin except to sleep, so we managed OK with the accomodation, and we were appreciative that Celebrity was responsive and did not simply deny there was a problem. We also noticed that if we opened the veranda window the noise stopped (although the AC turns off), so if it bothered us during the day we would just open the window.

You can also ask to see the menu for the next day if you like to plan out your meals or want to ask them to make something off the menu for you.

Agreed! Ever since Park N Fly closed Park N Go and others raised their rates. So there really is no cost savings. If you have difficulty making the short walk from the garage at Port Everglades to the ship then I guess it is worth the extra time to take the shuttle and not have to walk at all. But we just park at the port now because the cost is the same and it is faster and more convenient. I am almost positive the $15 includes taxes.

The best way to find out what is really going on is to listen to the quarterly conference calls for RCL, CCL, and NCLH. They are all doing some cost cutting. Right now bookings are pretty strong for 2023, although the next few months tend to be a little weak. The cruise lines make better money when they move ships to Europe and Alaska. They should all have a strong summer 2023. The question then will be how strong will the bookings be for the fall 2023. The cruise lines still think they are a value proposition relative to land vacations and I tend to agree. I am OK with some cost cutting that results in slight service reductions and perhaps reduces some of the more extravagent and wasteful passenger behavior. I think some cost cutting and some increased pricing is appropriate, and better than no cost cutting and bigger price increases. If onboard spending per passenger and bookings continue to be strong, there is no reason why the cruise industry cannot slowly reduce its debt to manageable levels. RCL/Celebrity is the strongest of the group with newer and more efficient ships and stronger brand recognition. So it should recover the fastest. Carnival serves more of the mass market so it should be fine as well. NCLH is in a bit more trouble because it has a fairly good fleet but weaker brand recognition. I think NCLH will struggle the most. Hopefully if inflation can be brought under control the cost cutting can stop and the cruise lines can all make a better profit. We all want low fares and great service but more than anything we need the cruise lines to survive so cut them some slack on the service reductions.

I know this is an old post but we sure do miss Bert. Last I heard he was in Nashville writing original songs. I selfishly hope he comes back but also wish him great success as a song writer. He is a very talented guy.

I was told the frustrating thing is that it is not the same cabins making noise each cruise. Now, maybe it is just a function of which people complain. But I can tell you from experience it is not like there is a row of cabins that are causing problems. And I was specifically told that they are getting complaints on different cabins for different cruises. Now, hopefully they are keeping a list so, for example, if they consistently get complaints about cabin 10231 they will take that cabin out of service. But it's hard to take IV and AQ cabins out of service, especially when they are probably getting complaints only sporatically (since many people don't complain). It is certainly easier to give an empty inside cabin away, and easier on the bottom line. But I certainly agree that the cumulative damage being done to their reputation and the reputation of the Beyond ship specifically needs to stop, even if it means taking prime cabins out of circulation or cancelling a sailing to do some major work if necessary.

I'm glad to hear they had people from the ship builder on board to troubleshoot. Hopefully they will have a plan in place by the time Beyond sails to Rome in April. I also hope the fix is relatively quick and easy and they do not have to dry dock it at Saint-Nazaire.

They took our liquor coming back on Beyond recently in Cozumel. We weren't planning on drinking it on board anyway, and got it back the second-to-last night.

We are on the Edge in the Mediterranean in June and staying in this exact same SV cabin, so the review and cabin pictures are especially appreciated. There are not too many twenty-somethings on Cruisecritic, and fewed that leave reviews, so thank you for taking the time and sharing your perspective.

Have fun on the Hawaii cruise. Please report back on your experience with Carnival. We tried NCL a few times. We had a different experience with service on NCL in that I found it cold and standoffish. I always say on Princess if you approach a crew member and ask a question the answer is always "yes" -- yes, we will find a way to do what you are requesting (even if it is technically against the rules). With NCL I felt the answer was always "no" and then I would get a canned answer that some lawyer in corporate wrote. I was particularly annoyed when we had a big family cruise (20 people) and 6 young kids and the youngest was 8 days from his birthday that would have put him in the older group with his cousins and they refused to move him. I even offered to sign whatever waivers they wanted but the answer was a cold "no" and all of the kids left the club so as to not leave out their youngest sibling/cousin. After that I vowed to not sail NCL again and so far I have kept that vow.

You definitely have a point. Maybe we'll give Carnival another try with Celebration or Horizon at some point. Those are the two newer ships close to us. With Princess and Celebrity we have been on old and new ships and the experience has been similar. There are things we like better about the old ships (wrap-around promenade decks; traditional large dining rooms; real balconies) so it does not feel like a significant downgrade to be on the older ships on these other lines.

You have nothing to worry about. We are recently off Beyond (and Apex not too long ago) and, while the dinner reservation system is a mess, you will not have trouble getting an early table. It is best to show up early when they first open (5:30). You will get a seat right away. Just pick one of the four restaurants. If one is too busy they will send you to another. We like to keep the same servers throughout the cruise, so if you want to do that just ask your maitre d'. So long as you show up at 5:30 you will have no problems. Enjoy the cruise. Apex is beautiful.

We are fairly young for cruisers and love Princess. I used to bash Carnival even though we had never been on a Carnival ship (unfair, I know). So this year we went on Carnival Sunrise and it was everything I feared. We hated it and will not go back on Carnival. Everything was lower end and more crowded on Carnival. That East Villiage club/mosh pit party atmosphere just did not appeal to us. More recently we have been sailing Celebrity. It is more expensive, but if you find Princess to be a bit dull I would say try out a Celebrity Edge-class ship (Edge, Apex, Beyond). We have been on each of these ships and loved them all and now Celebrity is our go-to cruise line. Celebrity has elegance like Princess or HAL but more activities (including late night like club DJs and silent disco) and more and better entertainment (particularly the quirky shows in Eden). Also, Celebrity has great smoke-free casinos.

I think Sox Fan Cruiser's description of Princess being about family and Celebrity about professionalism hits the nail on the head. Both have great service but Princess feels a bit warmer and personalized, and Celebrity is military-style precise. I like the newer Edge class Celebrity ships to the newer Princess ships, although Medallion gives Princess the tech edge. In my experience Princess has better small venue entertainment and Celebrity has better main venue entertainment (including Eden). Celebrity has better casinos. I won't say much about food because it is so subjective, but both are excellent in main dining, buffet, and cafes. You really can't go wrong with either. We are addicted to the Edge class ships right now but are always looking to get back on Princess ships for that classic experience, especially for our next trip to Alaska, which Princess does better than anyone.

Not double anymore since Park N Fly closed. Park N Go and others raised their prices and there is hardly a savings anymore to parking off site unfortunately.

Must haves: a wrap-around promenade deck and Crooners.

My 2 cents: I prefer a traditional balcony to the IV. The main upside to the IV is that the room definitely feels bigger (because it is). So if you just want a bigger oceanview then you will like the IV. But if you want a real balcony that you can stand on and put your hands on the rail, and dry clothes on the chairs, etc. you are going to be disappointed.

I noticed the same thing on the app, but then on Beyond a few weeks ago there was no mention of any boxing classes on the ship. I believe the app listed it as cardio boxing. I did not ask anyone on the ship, so maybe I just missed it. I recall about 6-12 months ago on either Apex or Edge there was a small room for classes that had at least one heavy bag hanging and some gloves. I assumed they used that equipment for the boxing classes, but I did not inquire. If they have the classes they certainly don't advertise them very well.

The seas were calm leaving Nassau. That's when I realized it was not just a function of rough seas or high wind. Initially, guest services told us the noise was likely coming from the lifeboat outside our window and said someone would better secure it. I don't think that ever happened, but I also never thought that was the problem, since the noise was coming from so "close" to the cabin. Also, when I opened the window and the noise stopped I knew it was not the lifeboat (opening the window would have made the banging louder if it was the lifeboat). I will be interested to hear of other's experiences and whether Celebrity is able to come up with a relatively easy an inexpensive fix, which I hope they do. Noise complaints on Edge and Apex are rare, so it seems like maybe there is something about the lengthening that is causing the problem. I believe Ascent is the same design/size as Beyond, so hopefully Celebrity is addressing the issue in the Ascent build.

Celebrity did move us and Guest Services was very concerned and accomodating. I don't want anyone to think I am trying to trash Celebrity or that Celebrity blew off our concerns. Quite the opposite. They recognize they have a problem and are trying to deal with it. I really hope they can get it figured out because it is not right for guests to wind up in a cabin with noise like that (even if Celebrity really does not know beforehand which cabins will be "haunted"). A lot of people don't know to ask to switch or would even know this is not normal. We knew it was not normal but we were not going to ask to switch cabins until someone here suggested it. We are glad we did. But guests should not be put in this situation. Hank is right that Celebrity has a big problem and needs to figure out how to fix it. Beyond is a beautiful ship and should not become a black sheep. Celebrity might have to send it to dry dock at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, maybe when it sails to Rome in May. This should be the shipbuilder's problem to fix. I hope the fix is not too difficult. If they can identify the haunted cabins, one option might be to just replace the mechanic veranda window with a fixed window and sell it as an oceanview. I would love to see them scrap the infinite verdana concept all together and convert the balconies into traditional open balconies with sliding glass doors. But it seems Celebrity is too invested in the infinite verdana concept to change course now.

Finally had time to upload a video of what our cabin 6176 sounded like. I unfortunately did not take a video of the first night leaving Port Everglades, since it was late and we were trying to sleep. But this video of us leaving Nassau in calm conditions will give you an idea of what we endured: https://youtu.be/W8kbP54Jj9c

Helen, sorry to hear you have one of the haunted cabins, but I love the moniker "Beyond Ghost". That is a good way to describe it. You might want to check if they have any empty cabins you can switch to, since we found that cabins right next to each other could be loud or quiet. Maybe if they have an available empty cabin sit in it for a little while as the ship is moving and if it is quiet ask if you can switch.

Thanks everyone for your comments and ideas and feedback. We are back and had a great time. The noises woke us up a few times but were unpredictable. Hopefully someone smarter than me at Celebrity will figure it out. I tried to determine if it was wave height, speed, wind direction, etc. and could not find a pattern other than the rougher seas did seem to make the noise worse. We will continue to sail Celebrity and the Edge class ships (already have an Edge sailing set for June and three future deposits). This experience has not soured us on Celebrity at all. I just wish they could figure it out. We were at 78% capacity so we had the option of switching rooms, which was helpful. I feel like Celebrity would have done anything possible to address our concerns. That kind of customer dedication keeps us coming back, despite some hiccups here and there.