Is Beyond tackling Edge?

[Nemanoxer]

Hey there.

 

I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge.

 

From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember.

 

Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

Edited September 7, 2022 by Nemanoxer

[Lastdance]

6 minutes ago, Nemanoxer said:

Hey there.

 

I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge.

 

From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if the Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember.

 

Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

You left out Apex, but sounds like you want new, glitz and an excellent staff.  No one can promise what your experience will be like, but I have Apex coming up and then Beyond.  I haven't booked Ascent yet; however plan to do just that when more interesting itineraries are released.  Not all excellent crew members transfer to new ships, as some like it where they are.  You just need to find out where that happy place is for you.  Good luck, as things are still a little crazy on the seas.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We just sailed on the Summit and had som of our best staff yet.  Our butler told us that they prefer the smaller ships as they are better able to offer excellent service when the "competition" among staff to provide for their guests is not as great.  He said that when he competes against 3 other butlers instead of 17 other butlers on the larger newer ships he is better able to procure what he needs.   That being said, as Zenith members we have never been by any crew members on our sailings

[lv2cruisgrl]

We have done Edge and Apex love them both. Never a issue with food or staff.

[mac_tlc]

I know time flies, but the Edge maiden voyage was December 9, 2018, so she has been sailing with paying passengers for less than 4 years, really less than 3 after the Covid shutdown is factored in. 
 

We have sailed Edge 4 times, probably twice since they may have reassigned crew to Beyond. Never an issue with service that we noticed

 

 

mac_tlc

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

Hey there.

 

I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge.

 

From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember.

 

Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

Crew post Covid was a subject covered in a Q and A session with Senior Officers on a Silhouette cruise in May.

Their explanation was as follows:

Overall 70% of the pre Covid staff had chosen to return. Therefore as the first ships started sailing they had no problems with getting experienced crews. As more ships started the problem became greater and greater. An additional problem was fitting in the training not only for new staff but also for the others because they hadn't worked in the demanding atmosphere of a ship for over 2 years. The continued requirement that all crew have to be fully vaccinated was also an issue as not all of the countries where X has traditional recruited could provide the necessary vaccinations. The need for the quarantining of all staff also led to delays between recruitment and the day they could start work.  The situation between Russia and Ukraine was also reducing the number of crew available from those countries. To meet this shortfall X was increasing its recruitment in other areas including the Caribbean and South America.

Despite all these problems we enjoyed a high level of service on both our May cruises and you could see that the crew were delighted to be back working.

Yes perhaps some times things were a bit slower but that was to be expected just relax and enjoy.

 

[Nemanoxer]

My Equinox cruise in May did not have toooooo much service issues. Food was quite bad, compared to her early years. Food on Edge was nuch better during her maiden trip.

 

But I don't wanna compare Equinox to the new ships, anyway. She was a benchmark in 2012. Hard to beat that.

[Cruise a holic]

actually, I went on an early Edge sailing.  Service overall  wasn't great.  I believe many staff members weren't trained.  We will be sailing on the apex later this year on a back to back.  Since the ship is out a while now, I anticipate well trained employees and excellent service.

[Whinenowine]

I sailed both the Edge and Millie this year and the service on the latter was hands down far superior.  Butler, steward, Luminae/Specialty restaurant staff, coffee bar, etc, etc.  Personally I like the Edge class style (which I know many dislike  and will be on Apex in Feb....but Millie and her crew more than made up for being 22yrs old.  

[Lastdance]

You can see that ships, food, service and preference is very subjective.  Just make your choice on these qualities, along with itinerary and funds.  Expect the best, but realize it could be less or even better.

[cangelmd]

35 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Crew post Covid was a subject covered in a Q and A session with Senior Officers on a Silhouette cruise in May.

Their explanation was as follows:

Overall 70% of the pre Covid staff had chosen to return. Therefore as the first ships started sailing they had no problems with getting experienced crews. As more ships started the problem became greater and greater. An additional problem was fitting in the training not only for new staff but also for the others because they hadn't worked in the demanding atmosphere of a ship for over 2 years. The continued requirement that all crew have to be fully vaccinated was also an issue as not all of the countries where X has traditional recruited could provide the necessary vaccinations. The need for the quarantining of all staff also led to delays between recruitment and the day they could start work.  The situation between Russia and Ukraine was also reducing the number of crew available from those countries. To meet this shortfall X was increasing its recruitment in other areas including the Caribbean and South America.

Despite all these problems we enjoyed a high level of service on both our May cruises and you could see that the crew were delighted to be back working.

Yes perhaps some times things were a bit slower but that was to be expected just relax and enjoy.

 

We done 4 cruises since restart - Equinox, Silhouette, Edge and Apex, 2 in suites and 2 in veranda cabins (1 was an IV, of course). The worst service,was the 3rd cruise, end of March 2022 on Edge. Ship was half full, but suites were full. Some crew had been onboard for up to 9 months with no shore leave and there was a pretty significant Covid outbreak going on on board. The staff was exhausted, short handed and frankly demoralized. Staffing was inconsistent because the numbers of passengers and the cabins they sailed in kept bouncing around from one sailing to the next. Luminae was so unpleasant that we just left and had dinner in an MDR and in the OVC a couple of nights - had great service in the MDR, but the room was maybe one-third full.

Having said all that, how much was cost cutting and how much was staff doing the best they could - who knows?

You have to pack your patience right now and just enjoy the cruise, it will get better.  Think the worst may have passed

[JBare]

We are currently on the Silhouette, the ship is over 90% full and the service everywhere has frankly been excellent. We were on the Beyond "Maiden" voyage and the service was about the same, certainly not better.

[mauimary]

We were on the Beyond in July and several crew members were on their first contract that we spoke with.  Hence one cannot say they picked the most experienced staff for the new Glitzy Beyond.  Capt Kate also said that she did not hand pick her staff. 

[cdn_tbird]

We were just on the Eclipse. No complaints at all about any of the staff, in fact our stateroom attendant was one of the best we've had. The staff in the MDR were also very good. 

[southernbreezes]

19 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

Hey there.

 

I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge.

 

From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember.

 

Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

We were on the Edge in July and we had by far the best crew ever on any cruise. From the Captain (he was so fun) on down it was wonderful.

[miched]

We were on the Apex in Feb.  We were in a SS.  One of the servers in Luminae told us that it was the first time ever working on a cruise ship.  
 

I have found it to be more of wishful thinking that the best are on the newest ships and/or being in suites and AQ.   The staff is filled by those that are available    The best may being getting close to the end of their contract or don’t want to be on a new ship.   Some prefer serving in the MDR instead of Blu or Luminae. 
 

One cruise we were in AQ.  The cabin attendant was a rookie.   It was also their first time on a cruise ship. We had to tell him everything that was included in the AQ cabin.   You would have thought that they had a check list.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[George C]

We were on Edge and just loved it , we had a sky suite and did move up to penthouse, they treated us like royalty.

[Denny01]

18 hours ago, Lastdance said:

You can see that ships, food, service and preference is very subjective.  Just make your choice on these qualities, along with itinerary and funds.  Expect the best, but realize it could be less or even better.

Agree. Personally, I think the varying opinions on which ship has better service and better dining is mainly due to individual biases, tastes, and what each expect from staff. Ive seen more than a few specific service-related complaints that I would not even notice.  

 

One posted complained about the staff because his steward couldn’t get him an extra umbrella at a rainy port and complained at the Help Desk. The staff woman gave him her personal one and asked him to return it to the desk. He ‘forgot’ and left it in the room, but still complained in a post And on the Ship evaluation. Classy. 

 

Den

 

Den

[actuarian]

On 9/7/2022 at 10:39 AM, Nemanoxer said:

Hey there.

 

I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge.

 

From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember.

 

Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

My understanding is that the officers are paid based on their rank, not on which ship they are on. For example, the Captain of the Millenium makes the same salary as does the Captain of the Beyond. However, when given a choice, officers often prefer to operate a smaller ship like an 1109-stateroom M-Class ship than to operate a newer larger 1646-stateroom ship like the Beyond. I am pretty sure that the officers with the most seniority are most likely to be given a choice. Regardless of all that, I have always been just as impressed with the quality of service on M-Class ships as with the quality of service on newer ships.  Those M-Class ships still have a lot to recommend them and I for one would never say that the newer ships are better; only that they are different.

[Fly and Sail]

Edge is working very well at the moment. A lot of the same staff that was here last December and renewed the contracts for the same ship, nice to see familiar faces.

[LXA350]

It is true that you will find a large number of staff that opened Edge, were moved after to Apex and are now on Beyond. This has more to do that these staff members are in the meanwhile very familiar with the launch process of a new cruise ship, hence it's more efficient to use especially the best performance repetedly to bring in their gained experience. Nevertheless the company wants to keep a certain minimum standard fleet wide, hence you should be able to expect the same great service on Milenum as on Beyond. As we are dealing with humans, there can be a hit and miss everywhere.

[Whinenowine]

1 hour ago, LXA350 said:

It is true that you will find a large number of staff that opened Edge, were moved after to Apex and are now on Beyond. This has more to do that these staff members are in the meanwhile very familiar with the launch process of a new cruise ship, hence it's more efficient to use especially the best performance repetedly to bring in their gained experience. Nevertheless the company wants to keep a certain minimum standard fleet wide, hence you should be able to expect the same great service on Milenum as on Beyond. As we are dealing with humans, there can be a hit and miss everywhere.

 

Indeed.  We were on Millie last month and our steward and butler had only ever worked on that ship (12 years and 16 years, respectively) and had no interest in moving to a different ship.  I agree that a happy crew is much more likely to provide top-notch service, so I can only assume that head office takes this into account on where/how crew are placed.