Is it time to exit the "X"?

[doghog]

4 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

 

True but I also seem to remember that the actual bar area is still not accessible for those who may be in wheelchairs.  There are a few steps up to the bar area itself.  I don't remember a ramp to get to that area, is there one?  Neither of us use a wheelchair but last fall on the Apex I was recovering from hip surgery and still using a cane, didn't like this area for several reasons but the  lack of  access was one of them.

Just commenting that you can get to the MB using the elevators or stairs. Correct if you want to sit at the bar.  Not an issue for us as we prefer not to sit at the bar. 

Edited July 29, 2023 by davehathy

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, davehathy said:

Tell your friend 😉 that we also had early dining. 6:00 PM on the Apex, March 2023. We always arrived at the MB  around 5:00 P.M. and gone by 5:45 P.M.  We never had a problem getting a good seat and service. 

Thanks.  We attempted to go after dinner and it was always full.

[VegasVic14]

On 7/28/2023 at 8:45 AM, NMTraveller said:

1.  No Sky Lounge or forward looking view.

2.  Very few balconies.

3.  There are fewer bars on E class and they are larger and loud and shouty.  The martini bar on S class is much nicer than on E.  It is much easier to get a drink on S class.

4.  No Cellar Masters or World Class bar.

5.  There are very few windows while walking around the ship.  You do have views of the expensive stores.  Ugghh.

6.  You can easily take pictures from the lawn club while sailing into port from multiple angles.  The deck on E is obscured.

7.  The magic carpet is nice for excursions but it is overhyped as it is too windy when the ship is moving.

8. The specialty restaurants on E class tend to be more loud and shouty.  S class Muranos has rooms of rooms which are more intimate and quiet.

9.  I could add more but do not want to pile on.

So... in short, the E class sucks?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, VegasVic14 said:

So... in short, the E class sucks?

Yes 😁

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, VegasVic14 said:

So... in short, the E class sucks?

E class is on my no sail list along with Carnival and Royal.

 

The suite cruisers tend to like it though...

Edited July 30, 2023 by NMTraveller

[hcat]

diff strokes for diff folks!

[doghog]

This non suite cruiser liked the Apex. Looking forward to our Edge cruise. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 hours ago, VegasVic14 said:

So... in short, the E class sucks?

Yep, that’s correct.   LLP’s legacy will live on for decades, but they will do so without me.

[phoenix_dream]

On 7/28/2023 at 4:22 PM, Gracie115 said:

Not only are there NO windows in the Martini Bar on E class ships it's more like a cavern at that bar.  Situated basically between 3 decks, not accessible except by stairs from the top as I remember, and very loud music a good bit of the time.  It is not a welcoming atmosphere although some enjoy it no doubt.  Not for us.  Much prefer the Ice Bar of the "S" class.  

 

Luminae on the E Class is closer to being a small MDR than a specialty restaurant for Suite class.  Ask the wait staff that have worked on both which they prefer. We sailed on Apex twice and the staff that we spoke with prefer the other classes. (they do like the crew quarters more on E class) Luminae is far smaller and more intimate on both M&S ships.  It is a VERY noisy room during busy hours and we were told that for the Beyond and Ascent it has been made even larger.  This REALLY detracted from the ambiance in the room.  

 

We found Eden impossible to find a seat for any show unless you showed up WELL in advance.  Most of the chairs have very low seats and are not particularly comfortable. The small "deli" type restaurant that serves lunch on sea days was good but again, if you didn't show up well before noon it was basically a "to go" experience as there was no seating available at a table.

 

Something good?  The theater.  It is amazing, best we've seen at sea.  Also, although we did not like the ship itself the staff did their best to take care of all the guests.  Our room attendant, butler, wait staff were wonderful.  We hope we encounter them again sometime but it will have to be on a different class as we have no plans at all to sail on the E class again. This class, in our opinion, was built for younger demographic and it appears they have achieved that.  

Agree with all your points. Martini bar area loud and always jammed.  Never could find a seat before dinner for a nice drink. Luminae very loud and cavern like. The theater is great, but too small.  Every night there was a good show it was 100% full with two rows of people standing in the rear. The pluses- the shows were great, as was the staff, although that’s been true on all Celebrity ships.

[shipshape sam]

We sailed Beyond, E class this past January.  We liked the ship overall, but as always we have choices.  We did not like IV cabin and without spending time to research it, my guess is 90% of balcony cabins are IV.  Lots of people like them and will choose to sail because of them.

 

On our sailing, we liked Eden, we liked the Oceanview Cafe.  IMHO, I think OC is the best buffet area around.  Very tall and spacious feeling too.

 

We actually did not try any Speciality restaurants.  We did enjoy eating at the 4 themed MDR's.  Loved the Lamb Shank. We did not hang around the pool area, Martini bar was not a wow without the frost.  Al bacio was great as usual for us. We only did one show and it was not memorable.

 

IF given the choice of sailing S or E class, we would chose S right now.  Could change after our next S class sailing, but even that is in distance future as we are sailing more now with Royal due to grandkids and sailing HAL Rotterdam because, for us, it provides us more of the things we like and remember how sailing with Celebrity was.  We get a nice cabin with a balcony, have a walking deck around whole ship, have a great musical entertainment area that plays not just a few times a cruise, but everynight there is music.  We liked Rudi's which is similar to Murano's which we loved. Dutch Cafe was very good, but like sweets on Celebrity ships better.

 

I think Celebrity is targeting TINK's (Two Incomes, No Kids)  and a younger age bracket and that is the reality.

 

We have moved on from  M class ships with all the conversions to more cabins from previous public space.

 

My final thought/comment is Royal Caribbean Corp (Celebrity and Royal) just had one of their best quarters financially and I for sure wish them then best and DO have multiple cruises booked with Royal and would love to sail Celebrity again soon. 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by shipshape sam

[Duanerice1]

On 6/10/2023 at 8:41 PM, kiterp said:

 Wow, you spend tens of thousands of dollars for cruises and are given a 30 minute window!

Holy crap.  If you are spending that much I would think they'd throw in a drink package.....

[cgolf1]

5 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

E class is on my no sail list along with Carnival and Royal.

 

The suite cruisers tend to like it though...

 

I know this is the X board, but surprised by Royal, as the Adventure and Brilliance are in our top 3 or 4 ships. We haven't cruised them post pandemic, so maybe a lot has changed.

 

Royal had a very diverse group of cruisers the time we were on. From kids to retirees, and if I had to guess there weren't a ton of kids onboard. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by cgolf1

[NMTraveller]

3 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

I know this is the X board, but surprised by Royal, as the Adventure and Brilliance are in our top 3 or 4 ships. We haven't cruised them post pandemic, so maybe a lot has changed.

 

Royal had a very diverse group of cruisers the time we were on. From kids to retirees, and if I had to guess there weren't a ton of kids onboard. 

Hmmm.  Interesting.  My experience on Royal has been the megaships with the teens running around the halls at 2 AM.  If the older ships are similar to S class I may have to try them out.  Thanks.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Just now, NMTraveller said:

Hmmm.  Interesting.  My experience on Royal has been the megaships with the teens running around the halls at 2 AM.  If the older ships are similar to S class I may have to try them out.  Thanks.

Don’t sail on the Voyager, the ship should be beached 🙄

[NMTraveller]

21 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Don’t sail on the Voyager, the ship should be beached 🙄

Beached?  Anyways I did peek at Voyager itineraries and they were too short for my preferences.

 

I was booked on a smaller Princess ship during C19 and Princess sold the ship to some luxury line that charged 4x the Princess price.

Edited July 31, 2023 by NMTraveller

[montythecat]

I very much agree with Shipshape sam’s endorsement of HAL’s 
Rotterdam and specifically the comments about the availability 

of a range of music every night on the Pinnacle Class ships. We

are very happy with everything else provided by Holland America

which explains why X is no longer our first choice cruise line.

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

8 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Beached?  Anyways I did peek at Voyager itineraries and they were too short for my preferences.

 

I was booked on a smaller Princess ship during C19 and Princess sold the ship to some luxury line that charged 4x the Princess price.

We were on the Arctic TA last September, the ship needs a major renovation, 

I am not talking about a bit of rust , major water leaks, no hot water for a couple of days , when the silver backing on the bathroom mirror is off it is reno time 

[cgolf1]

10 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Hmmm.  Interesting.  My experience on Royal has been the megaships with the teens running around the halls at 2 AM.  If the older ships are similar to S class I may have to try them out.  Thanks.

 

We did also sail in Jan/Feb which after the holidays likely drives down the number of kids on board. We also used to sail Disney lol, so our perception of not that many kids may be different than others since Disney was overflowing with Kids.