New Celebrity "Journey" Cruise Ship

[mari10]

No more card room, expanded spa, bar in Library, no more martinis bar on deck 5 expanded casino..some good things..some not so great..

Jan

*****

Hi Jan,

Looking at the deck plans, I see the Martini Bar on deck five. It's located right next to the dining room. Are you looking at a different deck plan?

Hi Dave,

Jumping in on your question, but I think Celebrity is turning the library into Michael's Club. So it'll look like a library, but be a drinking venue. Maybe they will keep the books...

Mari

[Rev22:17]

pilewski,

 

i just booked 2 sky suites for the 8/4/07 sailing on journey to bermuda. i was informed by the celebrity travel representative that the ship has children's facilites and the ship mates club for kids 3 to 17. i'm hearing and viewing so many conflicting information about this ship, though. has anyone seen the ship yet? when will x post the pictures? i have to say that i am a bit concerned that this ship will not be what i am used to with celebrity. i am bringing 3 kids, ages 7, 4 and 2 with me. there better be something for them to do. i don't want to switch cruise lines. i've gotten so usd to x and have always had a great time, especially with kids.

 

I'm sorry that your somebody apparently has missed the distinction between "Celebrity Cruises" ships and "Celebrity Expeditions" ships. They are operated by the same company, but they are two entirely different products. The information that you received is for the "Celebrity Cruises" product only. Like MY Celebrity Xpedition, neither of the new "Celebrity Expeditions" ships, originally built for "adults only" line of Renaissance Cruises (now defunct), has a children's center, a youth center, or a teen center.

 

Historically, there were very few minors on cruise ships as recently as twenty years ago. Indeed, the original plans of Celebrity's MV Horizon and MV Zenith did not provide dedicated facilities for minors. Rather, the custom of the cruise industry was to deploy professional counsellors to the ships to operate programs for minors whenever there were fifteen or more minors booked on a particular cruise, but these programs occurred in lounges or other spaces that the ship normally would have used for adult activities. The intervening years have seen a progression of larger and more elaborate facilities configured for more and more age groups, with full time staff, aboard the larger ships.

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity has not announced what will happen when there's a "large" number of children aboard MV Celebrity Journey or MV Celebrity Quest as yet. I hope that the line will dispatch counsellors to these ships for cruises that have fifteen or more minors, but we won't know for sure until the line makes an announcement.

 

Norm.

[Rev22:17]

astralj,

 

Adding: "While Celebrity is frankly adult-oriented, their Club X program offers excellent activities for children year-round. Youth activities are arranged by age groups, which vary between high and low seasons: Shipmates, 3-6, Celebrity Cadets, 7-9, Ensigns, 10-12 and Admiral T's, 13-15 and 16-17. 18 year olds are welcome to use the teen facilities. The youth program maintains the same hours whether in port or at sea: 9 a.m. to noon; 2 to 5:30 p.m.; and 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. Group babysitting is available in the youth room for children ages three to 12, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., at a fee of $6 per hour per child. Private babysitting is available in your stateroom for $8 per hour per child, with a maximum of two. When Mother and Pop are scheduled to dine formally, "Parents' Nights Out," are declared, and youth counselors take children to a pizza party, at no extra charge."

 

Unfortunately, that write-up is speaking about the "Celebrity Cruises" fleet rather than the "Celebrity Expeditions" fleet. They are two distinct entities offering two radically different products, even though operated by the same cruise line. MV Celebrity Journey and MV Celebrity Quest will join together with MV Celebrity Xpedition to form the latter.

 

Norm.

[Rev22:17]

Randyk47,

 

I noticed just yesterday....and it may have been that way for awhile so I'm not saying it's new....that Celebrity has broken Journey and Quest into a separate "class" called the Journey Class. Seems to me the original ads, news releases, etc., advertised the Journey and Quest as an expansion of the Xpedition Class. Could be that Celebrity is still developing their marketing approach for these two "new" ships.

 

No, MV Celebrity Journey and MV Celebrity Quest can never become part of a Celebrity Xpedition class because they are of completely different design. Referring to ships as the same "class" or as "sisters" means that they share the same basic design (hull, decks, structures, compartmentation, etc.), though some differences in secondary partitioning, furnishing, and actual use of some spaces. Each "class" of ships is customarily named for the first ship of the class, so these ships are properly called the R1 class -- the first ship of this design originally being named MV R1. There is precedent for renaming a subset of a "class" of ships that receives a major conversion as a new "class" named for the first ship to receive the conversion, but the refit that Celebrity has planned for the ships that will become MV Celebrity Journey and MV Celebrity Quest does not appear to rise to that level. OTOH, I can see why Celebrity does not want to market these ships as the R1 class....

 

Anyway, what Celebrity did say in the press releases announcing the transfer of MV Blue Dream (to become MV Celebrity Journey) and MV Blue Moon (to become MV Celebrity Quest) is that these ships will join MY Celebrity Xpedition to form the "Celebrity Expeditions" fleet, and that there will be major differences between the "Celebrity Expeditions" fleet and the "Celebrity Cruises" fleet (which will consist of MV Century, MV Galaxy, MV Mercury, MV Millennium, MV Constellation, MV Infinity, and MV Summit following the transfer of MV Zenith to Spanish sister line Pullmantur Cruises this month). Among the differences, the "Celebrity Expeditions" vessels have "casual" dress every evening, open seating for dinner in their main dining rooms, NO children's, youth, or teen centers, and much simpler shows than the "Celebrity Cruises" vessels.

 

BTW, just to make life more confusing, the company also has adopted a difference in spelling between "Celebrity Expeditions" (with an "Ex" and MY Celebrity Xpedition (with an "X")....

 

Norm.

[Rev22:17]

Albert,

 

Journey and Quest are part of the Expedition Class, and the Xpedition will also be part of this class. Aimed to provide smaller ships to new and more varied ports.

 

Sorry, but "class" is the wrong word here. See my last reply (to Randyk47) for an explanation as to why.

 

Norm.

[astralj]

Have been out of town this week and want to post and clarify an earlier post before we leave on a 2 week Canal Repo.... There is no children's program on either the Journey or Quest.... They will of coures have private babysitting available for the children onboard... Smaller ships, adult indulgences, smaller ports, private attention and exceeding expectations is indeed their motto. Perfect for those golfers wanting T-time in Bermuda.... yes it can be arranged ahead of time.