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My husband and I are so excited ! After watching many of your videos we are sailing on our first cruise together at the end of march on the Ascent. As newcomers it’s a bit overwhelming but my husband is a 3 time cancer survivor so I’m pretty sure we can handle it! Lol. and we were married on my birthday so it’s a triple celebration for us. It’s all in how you choose to enjoy it! Life is so precious I think we are in for a real treat! Praise God! And Thankyou so much for your videos! Such a blessing! 😊🥰
We sailed on Celebrity Apex last month. We loved everything about it! Celebrity Cruise Line is the only one we can sail on because there is no smoking inside the ship, not even in the casinos. I wish other cruise lines would follow suit. We booked Celebrity Reflection for next year.
Virgin Voyages has a separate room of the casino that allows smoking. It supposedly has a separate ventilation system. I don't know how they do it, but the rest of the ship doesn't smell at all, not even in the casino. There is a small smoking area on the pool deck as well. Of course there are people on all lines who don't understand that "no smoking on balcony" means just exactly that.
We have been on the Apex twice and a dozen Celebrity cruises. On our Apex cruise last month, the service in the dining rooms was the worst we ever experienced on Celebrity.
Hi Ilana!! Finishing up the Amazing Ascent cruise as I write !❤ The ship is beautifully designed and magical. The entire cruise ship 18:49 is kept spotless ( even the common bathrooms!) and they are constantly cleaning the tables for the next guest! The entertainment is spectacular offering two shows( get there early as they are very popular)! The service is excellent and the storage is excellent while suitcases under the bed! I would recommend bringing surge protector power extender with multiple plugs. It really helped! ❤ It’s been a fabulous week!! 🎉
Just went on my first cruise and you were so helpful. We followed your suggestion about thank you cards with thank you in their native language. Our main dining servers really made each dinner special so we made sure to learn where they are from and figured out their dialect. We left an extra tip within the thank you card. We did the same for our cabin Stewart and a specific bartender. It was the staff that really made the cruise. Thanks for all the help!
We are on the Beyond as I write this. The ship is beautiful and the service fantastic. We are in a suite so we get extra special service. The Steakhouse is great and going to the Rooftop Grill Friday. We love Celebrity and this cruise has met all out expectations. Happy cruising Ilana.
Cruising is what YOU make of it! We are always grateful to be able to cruise, and enjoy it all! On the beyond for our anniversary in April. Happy sailing!
we’ll be in the Retreat on the Beyond in 8 weeks ourselves. Looking forward to Luminae (and Blu?), plus all the other restaurants open to all. Plus Eden. I figure that Ascent and Beyond must be nearly identical other than artwork and statues.
We did a 13 night cruise and NEVER got off the ship. It was so classy and comfortable, we never felt like we wanted to leave. We are going on the Accent in April.
We love port days on the ship. It's so much more quiet and relaxing. Especially during our Mediterranean cruise on the Beyond, we've been to most of the ports via land holidays before, so out of the 9 port days (only had 2 sea days in an 11 days cruise) we only got off the ship once. When on a gorgeous ship like that, the last thing I would want to do is get in a bus to go somewhere or stand in queues in the heat (Santorini). It was great 🙂
Went on the Equinox in January. Great cruise, but the ship was tired in many places. In particular the cabins. Celebrity is focusing on their newer ships at the expense of the older ships.
Hi Ilana! We sailed on Ascent on Feb 4th to 11th ourselves, and found the food outstanding- with high standards as fellow Montrealers. ❤ I would agree with you that Normandie was the best restaurant, including the quality of service, in particular, there. Cyprus was our next favourite, followed by Cosmopolitan. Dinner at Tuscan was essentially American shopping mall Italian food and the service in the dining room there verged on flat out unprofessional. On our cruise we found the crowd swung much older- the average age looked to be about 60-65, I was surprised to hear the age was so much younger when you went! We found the ship to be beautiful, with expansive open spaces, luxurious finishes and fixtures everywhere. One thing we noted and loved was how music was always very ambient in public spaces and never overbearing- from the coffee bar to the pool bar, whomever was in charge of designing the playlists did an excellent job creating the right balance of atmosphere. Same with the lighting on board in the restaurants and public areas. They really hired the best of the best in the business to put together a dazzling sailing experience. We would highly recommend and will definitely sail again with Celebrity. I’ve previously sailed with Cunard on the QM2, so my expectations were high… delighted to say that Celebrity met them!
Thanks for sharing your review! Always great to hear from fellow Montrealers. I agree we tend to be a little bit critical on food as we have such great dining here.
My wife and I took many cruises from the mid 1980's to around 2005 and now have scheduled our first cruise since on the Summit March 4th (first time on Celebrity). I've watched many of your videos and have really enjoyed them, they're very helpful regarding what to bring (or not bring), things we should make a point of buying to add to the experience and all the super helpful tips. Really excited to get cruising again. Thanks for the tips!
We sailed to Bermuda on the Summit last June and also did a 3 day Key West/Bahamas cruise in April of ‘22. My family and I LOVE this ship. Smaller size so no big crowds anywhere. Service is top notch. Try the Tuscan Grille for a great steak dinner-usually can get for $30 each on 1st night of Sailing. 😊
I've been on twice in the last year, and I love it. I was on the silhouette and the reflection I have nothing but high accolades for the food and service that was perfect.
We're on the Ascent on March 10.. we'll be dining at Le Petit Chef, Le Voyage and Eden! We loved Le Petit Chef and Eden on the Apex in 2022... and we love love love Cafe Al Bacio! Eden is also open for breakfast and it is simple, healthy and yummy!
We sailed on the Solstice last Sept. service was excellent but food was disappointing. Both husband and I caught covid at end of our cruise. Made getting g home from Vancouver challenging
I was on the Ascent B2B the first two weeks of January. My favorite restaurant was the Normandie. The scallop casserole appetizer was excellent. The entertainment was great just be sure to get to Eden and the Club early as they are smaller venues and get quite crowded.
We loved the Ascent, we did the Inaugural on December 3rd. We didn’t have a single complaint, food was excellent everywhere we ate, and on the last sea day, the Lunch Extravaganza was incredible.
We were on the Maiden also but we were in Aqua, so we had Blu and also dined in Eden, Rooftop Garden Grill, and Raw on 5. NO complaints with these choices. Just about perfect. If I had one minor complaint, it would definitely be the lack of quality wine. I definitely think they need to up their game there.
@@pamelabrauer9450 we have done Aqua in previous cruises, and Blu is excellent, have eaten in Eden and love it, the best crab cake is from Eden. Yes, wines could get better!
Went on Equinox last May. Food was regularly served cold at dinner. Food was fair. Entertainment was quite poor. Found lack of activity at night. Service was good.
I have no intention of EVER going on a cruise because I get severe motion sickness, but your videos are so, so entertaining I can’t stop watching them! I actually can’t believe I’ve watched so many videos about cruising, but that is a testament to your ability to present information.
We love the Edge class ships & have been on the Apex twice, the Beyond & just last month we were on the Ascent. We love all the restaurants on board but we're changing things up & taking a 10 night Spain cruise on the Equinox. We were on the Equinox back in 2014 & will celebrate our 20 yr anniversary on her! How exciting!
My twin sister and I were on your cruise and we did our best to find you to say hello but did not see you, A little known secret is the Edge class ships have what is called an Deluxe Porthole view with Verandah cabin. These are only on a few decks and there are not many of them and usually at the front of the ship and a few towards the aft of the ship. If you look at the ship from the outside, these are the cabins with the round pothole window. There is a small balcony but it's a balcony for those who like to sit outside The cabin is slightly smaller than the infinite verandah cabins but has the same storage, etc . We celebrated our birthday at Eden and they spoiled us so I would highly recommend anyone with a birthday to book there and let them know it's your birthday. I like eating in the buffet and the food selection is always great. I really enjoy that every meal has cut up fresh fruit and a huge variety of fruit. . We also ate at Rooftop Garden and had the filet and it was one of the best steaks I have had in a long time. We like Cypress and I like that you can order something from another dining menu such as the yellow corn soup from Cosmopolitan. I am glad Cafe al Bacio finally has some savories and what we tried were all very good. Those were easy to take to the cabin and put in a zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator to eat on a morning when we had an early start . We did a back to back and that process was seamless and we were back on the ship in no time and were treated to lunch at Tuscan which was a nice touch. There are a few oddities about the ship but all in all it is a beautiful ship and the staff that we encountered were amazing and the service was amazing and the foot was amazing !
You can leave a note with the Guest Services, if you know someone is on board, you'd like to meet. I did this 2 cruises ago, and met up with a old college friend and his wife for drinks.
@@LifeWellCruised Not really. It was a much older crowd. Leaving the ship was like leaving a nursing home. I can go back to Celebrity in another 20 to 25 years and I may fit right in.
Thanks for sharing - we will be on her sister Edge (old in cruise ship lexicon) in New Zealand, Australia, South Pacific next spring. Spent 21 days on Apex in Northern Europe in the larger interior - lovely cabin and we are looking forward to our return to the E class.
I was on its first (pre maiden) voyage in November. The ship was amazing and we had a great time. Zero complaints. I prefer the solstice class though. It felt more like a resort than a ship. I like the classic “ship/cruise” feeling of the older ships. I’m excited for our upcoming 9 night cruise on the Constellation next week!
It's not older vs. newer. It's the style and intimacy and presentation that's different. It's trendy vs. evolutionary. The Edge ships are trendy. The Solstice built on what the Horizon, Century, and Millennium class ships where the Edge tries to depart from that in significant ways. Ship lounges, presentation, intimacy, those things were removed from the Edge ships and more emphasis is put on multi-purpose, multi-level spaces, brightness, exclusive suite spaces. Yes, the restaurants were retained but the only real Celebrity style I see in the Edge ships is the Normandie restaurant. It's a modern take on a classic style. That used to be most of Celebrity style and that's lacking in the Edge ships.
We just sailed on Ascent from January 21-28 and had a deluxe interior cabin. The cabin was very nice and quite spacious( over 200 sq ft. The food was very good and the rest of the ship was absolutely gorgeous! We hope to sail on another Apex class ship in the near future. Well done Celebrity!
We’re presently on the Celebrity Eclipse returning from Antarctica and it’s our third Celebrity cruise. The ship seems fully staffed and crew has been excellent. The food does seem to be a bit below our prior experiences. It’s not bad but just seems a bit tired. It’s a busy cruise so the buffet has been consistently jammed with a lot of entitled passengers so we have been using the different dining rooms.
Wow the food looks amazing it was on the solstice’s as well when we went 6 years ago we went on 2 Princess cruise last year May and December the food in the dining room was probably 3 or 4 out of ten 🇦🇺🇦🇺
I sailed on Summit for my first time with Celebrity (many cruises with other lines). It was nice, but I was expecting a more upscale experience. I didn't get that, and did find some rather snobby passengers.
Sounds like they are making improvements which they needed to do. The last Celebrity cruise I went on summer of 2023 the food in the dining room was horrible. Thank you so much for your videos.
We went on the Eclipse last October and there was no resemblance to previous Celebrity cruises. Dining room food tasteless and cold. Disinterested dining staff. It appears that all emphasis is on new ships.
Thank you for the review. When we were on the Beyond, the food at Eden was the best we've ever had in any restaurant, not just on a cruise ship ! We were lucky to get loads of onboard credit with our cruise, so used part of that to eat at Eden 3 nights out of the 11 night cruise.
@@NicoleE12388 there are many ways, some I’m sure I don’t even know about. The two ways I do know about are (1) book your next cruise onboard your current cruise, if you negotiate you can even get more than what they initially offer you (2) book through a travel agent, they usually have deals that include OBC and in our case the travel agent had an extra chunk of OBC she received from Celebrity as a promotion, so she got that added onto the base OBC that came as part of the booking (3) just remembered this one, if you make a valid complaint you get OBC a lot of the time as a goodwill gesture. I think there’s OBC deals associated with the casino as well, but we don’t gamble, so don’t know the details
Thanks for the great in depth review! We should be sailing on the Celebrity Ascent on the 2nd of September out of Barcelona. The cruise will be sailing to Italy and France as well. We might be staying on the ship during the stop over at Rome Civitavecchia as we have been to Rome so many times. I guess it would be a good time to roam around the ship whilst most of the passengers are on their excursions! Thanks again for a great review.
We are sailing on Ascent in November for Thanksgiving - I am so much more excited about this cruise after watching this video, as well as your infinity veranda video! We will also have our 11 year old and 9 year old cruising with us. I’m hoping there are enough kid-friendly activities for them as well.
I'm really enjoying your videos! Husband and I have our very first cruise scheduled for Nov. 2024 on the Ascent and are looking forward to the experience. All the information you provide will have us well prepared - thank you!
We were on teh Ascent the same time as you! I saw youa few times, but you were enjoying family time, so I didnt want to bug. We stayed in a Porthole balcony and honestly, we loved it. We loved the food, the loved the drinks and most of all the upbeat vibe of the ship. The ship its self is most beautiful. So pretty. We loved the staff but I agree with you that more staff is needed as we did have wait more then a few times to get a drink. It was a perfect cruise for us!
Just got back from their last Caribbean cruise before they went to Europe and the ship is as advertised. By far the best ship on the ocean. Capt. Tasos was amazing. The adult only comedy was the most ridiculous hour belly laugh ever. Alejandro the host is like you said energetic. Shows we're world class in the theatre and Eden. So much to do from a morning stretch and walk to the martini bar. This is the Lamborghini of ships. Ship was full but plenty of space. Casino was awesome. Just a joy. Can't wait for my next one.
So my wife and I will be on the Ascent on March 17th doing the exact same itinerary you did. We’re so excited. We were on the Edge in Nov. ‘22 and loved it. Thank you for your pointing out in a previous video about the different set-ups of the infinity balcony cabins with the bed either towards the balcony or closer to the closet. We agree with you that we prefer the bed closer to the closet. I checked our cabin on the Ascent and determined as you did in this video that there is a bump-out in the floor plan where the bed goes, so our bed is towards the inside (yay). We usually are in Aqua class so we eat at Blu but we’re in just a regular balcony cabin in March, so we were happy to hear that you thought the food was great in all four dining rooms. We will likely stay on the ship in at least one port, as we’ve been to all ports before. Also, we’re doing a side-to-side cruise. The day we get off the Ascent in Ft. Lauderdale, we’ll be getting on the Celebrity Reflection (and interestingly staying in the exact same cabin as we were in on the Reflection in December). We love your vlogs, Ilana. Keep up the great work.
Hi Larry, my husband & I are going the same cruise as you. We are first time-ers!!! (my big birthday celebration). We will be in Aqua Class so will be dining at Blu most nights (tried to book at the other restaurants but only bookings now available are 9pm). The Blu restaurant looks nice though so happy with that. We might bump into you onboard! Claire & Steve :)
Really enjoyed the Edge last year and looking forward to the Ascent in the Med June 2025. Great tip about the beverage package. We upgraded alsom and did the same with the wifi. There are so many specials to watch for.
Love your videos they are so informative. Do you have any information on the obstructed view infinite veranda on the port side on deck 8. I have this booked on Ascent for next April. I can't find any information on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Very nice video. My wife and I are planning on a Mediterranean cruise in June on the Ascent. Your review on everything was very informative and looking forward to this trip. Going to spend a few days in Spain before our departure and likewise in Italy before we had back home.
I have been on Millennium in Alaska, Apex in the Caribbean, and going back to Millennium for Japan. We adore Celebrity even as a Family. I love how the rules allow for those old cruisers who are rigid and cant grow to enjoy a more modern cruise as well as people like my family that wants to be on a ship for an adventure.
I was disappointed with our Navigator of the seas cruise. Drinks were weak, pool side only about 4 mixed choices. Formal night in the main dining room the table next to us had 8 people in beach wear and ball caps.
I am cruising solo on Celebrity Edge in less than 3 months. I’m so looking forward to cruising. I haven’t researched the food yet, so your video helps. Thanks
When we went on Apex last year we dined in Tuscan every night, but our waiter let us know that we could order off the menus from any of the main dining rooms.
Hello Llana , My wife and I will be sailing on Celebrity Ascent ( our first time sailing on a edge class ) October 20th 2025 out of Rome Italy for 11 nights in a prime Aqua Class cabin on deck 9 and yes we checked the cabin configuration. Lol. as we don't want the bed close to the floor to ceiling Infinite balcony . Also we will be sailing on Ascent again for 11 nights March 16th 2026 in a Aqua Class Sky suite to the Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean as well. Any suggestions for our October 20th 2025 trip to Europe? The cruise starts on a Monday and we plan to fly to Rome Italy on Friday so we have a couple days to explore before the cruise starts. We need to find a upscale and safe hotel to stay in that's walking distance to attractions/ sites to visit etc. Thanks for ALL you do! Peace & Kind regards.
It's all about personal perspective. That's the big thing. Some folks will say lacking, not up to standards etc and other will say I didn't have that experience. Don't let others opinions make your decision and judge for yourself.
Absolutely, for this reason, I like to include a lot of cruise ship footage, both with the ship is busy with passengers and quiet. These videos should only serve as a resource, but people should, of course make up their own mind.
Good vlog, Illana, especially the visuals as having extensive and peculiar food allergies (and not gluten or diebetic), i picked out fruit and salad greens possibilities! It'll be our first Celebrity cruise (Apex) and being it's a Trans, good tips to know! Thanks 😊
One comment on the dinner buffet on Celebrity that also applies to Princess and HAL. The selections at dinner are roughly HALF as you would find at lunch and no more than that. Likewise, the crowd is less than half. If you take out the crew and entertainment staff, you could get very lonely in the buffet at night. My only buffet complaint with Celebrity is the lack of late night options.
Thank you for the great review! I was on the Ascent in December. I have been on all the edge class ships and the Ascent is the winner! Luigi the cruise director is one of the best entertaining directors of any cruise ship! We loved the food and shows. Trying to get a seat u. Eden or the club for the special shows was challenging. Also Celebrity has increased their bar drinks too much. Other than that we are booked on Beyond in December for the Panama Canal cruise!🚢
All of the Celebrity's Edge class of ships are stunning! While we enjoy cruising with Celebrity and have cruised with Celebrity on 20 cruises, with 4 being on the Edge Class of ships, we have mixed feelings about the Edge class of ships. We have four main concerns: 1). Not having an assigned table or not being able to make advance reservations in the four main dinning rooms. Paying thousands of dollars for a cruise and having to stand in line to get a table is not our definition of a fun cruise. To help with this issue on our last cruise, we purchased a five-night speciality dinning package to eliminate having to stand in line in the main dining room. I will say that the food and service in Fine Cuts, Roof Top Grill, and Eden were outstanding. We also enjoyed lunches in the Eden Cafe and in the main dinning room on sea days (the walnut cookies in the Eden Cafe are amazing). 2) While not limited to the Edge class of ships, the inability to make speciality dinning reservations (dinning packages) before getting on the ship requires having to stand in line (30 minutes - last cruise) once you get on the ship. This is not how you want to start your cruise. 3) Infinite veranda - while we really like the concept, we have found that on most cruises in the Caribbean, due to the heat, you have to keep the shade down most of the time to get your room cool which reduces the infinite effects 4). The limited number of chairs on the pool deck due to the majority of the area on the starboard side of the pool being taken up by the pool cabanas. For us, when the aggravation, exceeds the enjoyment, it's time to look for other options...
You can make a reservation for any main dining room on the app for the time that is right for you.. And you can also make a reservation on the app for any specialty restaurant that is open for dinner. Keep checking your app when that opens up to reserve so you can get the time you want
Hi gatorguy, you are able to book ahead for the four main dining rooms, it seems they only take so many in advance and then it is full. For your 1) what we have done in the past is book all nights in the same restaurant so that we may have the table reservation we want and the same servers, which we love to get to know them and they get to know us. If you would like something off of one of the other dining menus, just ask, no problem.
We were on the Apex last week and reservations could not be made on the App for dinner in the main dinning room. I checked with Guest Services and the Captain Club Rep and was told by both that reservations could not be made for the main dinning rooms, In the past on the Apex, we have made reservations for the main dinning room on the App, we were told that this is no longer available. I checked the App frequently and reservations were not an option for any restaurants. Relative to speciality restaurants, the App option was also not available, unless you want to purchase a new reservation. We have learned by experience, when you have a dinning package, you want to book your reservations as soon as you get on the ship (a tip from many cruise blogs) to get the times you desire. Thanks for the feedback... @@lucyn9279
I could not agree with you more, but our experience last week on the Apex was very different as we were told that reservations could not be made for the main sinning room as we have done in the past. No one could never give me an answer. We did have several large groups on the cruise, maybe this was the issue, I do not know, All I know is whenever we went by any of the four main dinning rooms there was always a long line waiting to get into dinner. @@birdsnest26
I didn't make one reservation for the MDR on the Apex and the longest I waited was 5 minutes. And I didn't want to be tied down to a time so it worked just fine. The pool lounge issue I do after with. The Cabana space to me is is wasted. Oh and the food was fantastic. Choices were not bad and I am like Ilana I love Normandie
...... Also , there is something surreal-magical about staying onboard, especially at a popular port where EVERYBODY gets off. If you've visited the port before it's worth staying on.
We sailed on the Ascent mid-August ‘24. We stayed in the RETREAT Aqua Sky suite. It was more expensive, but value for the dollar. The MDR’s were awful compared with Luminae and Blu.. We made a big mistake going to the Tuscan which we thought was like the specialty restaurant Tuscan we knew from the Solstice class ship, however it was nothing even close (bad service, pepper mill empty, food average). We walked out after 15 minutes and ate at Luminae. As elite plus cruisers, we will never book anything but the RETREAT. As a matter of fact our upcoming cruise is again on the Ascent May ‘25 to Italy, Greece & Turkey, in a Celebrity 2 rm suite. The RETREAT is like a “ship on a ship”, never lines or crowded, includes premium drink package and premium WiFi but the best was the entire front of the ship on 4 decks were RETREAT only plus a concierge lounge manned by 2 concierges all day, so they will book you and solve problems without going to customer relations. Luminae is worth the price.
I will be on the Ascent, same itinerary as yours, at the end of March. 4th time on an Edge class ship so I pretty much know what to expect. However the only difference is for the first time ever, I’m going solo. I booked Aquaclass as I love Blu and enjoy the spa facilities. I’ve been to all the ports before and actually booked two shore excursions that looked interesting as a way to get off the ship but I too may stay on board in Grand Cayman as I was there in November with Oceania (I do recommend the stingray and snorkeling excursions which was booked independently).
Can you please provide more information on the drink you mentioned? Beyond Signature? Trying to find it on their menus but unable to. Look forward to trying it. Sounds delish! Thanks!
I sailed on the EDGE last year. I loved my cabin with the infinite balcony. Loved Eden and the MDR choices. Only thing I did not like was the size of the ship. I have mobility issues and found it difficult for me to get to some parts of the ships directly, had to follow a maze. The lack of mid ship elevators was part of the problem. Overall, the experience was awesome.
According to staff on the Beyond, you can order any dish from any of the four included restaurants- you don't have to move around based on the daily specials. You indicated the opposite for the Ascent. Did you ever ask the staff to be certain that the Ascent won't accommodate that? I was told that the newer Celebrity ships all do that because the kitchen for all 4 included restaurants is centralized.
I'm dying to try this class of ship - we've got one of the EDGE class ships coming to the UK this year, so I'm going to try and get on (even just for a short cruise) - they look stunning!
Thanks for such an informative video! We're sailing Ascent this Sunday, exactly the same itinerary that you did, Ft. Lauderdale, Bahamas, Cozumel, Grand Cayman.
Love Edge class! We found a wine we enjoyed in Cosmopolitan that wasn’t offered in the Rooftop Grill, so we asked the crew to go get it at Cosmopolitan and they gladly did so. You just have to speak up and tell them what you want. Agree with you, Eden is the best!
Solstice class ships are quite different. I much prefer them. There are plenty great videos and tours on the Solstice class ships. They have most of the same restaurants as the Edge ships but a different feel to other areas such as the Martini Bar. And they have spaces on them that are missing in the Edge ships like a library, a quiet space called the hangout, a large observation lounge, and cozier, more intimate spaces on them. The big difference is they have one large main dining room opposed to four smaller ones.
Two time Disney ship cruiser. We love it and want to cruise more. We want to try another line. Less kid-centric. What do you recommend? Also where is your video talking about infinity verandah/balcony?
We did a transatlantic on the Apex last spring. We had miserable weather- cold and windy and wet. The Apex was a gorgeous ship, but had very little inside space to sit or spend time during the bad weather. That was my only complaint. In chatting with other cruisers who had been on the Beyond, I guess there is more inside space on the newer Edge class ships. The outside spaces were so gorgeous, I would have loved to have had some nice weather to enjoy the outdoor bars and sitting areas. It made the ship feel very crowded.
We sailed on the Beyond in March 2023 when Luigi was the cruise director there. I agree that he is the best cruise director of any I’ve experienced . We cruise mostly on Royal.
We are booked on the Ascent for November 2025 on deck 7. I’m going to check the floor plan😊. We are looking forward to it and will see if we like the infinite veranda.
Hi Elana, I’m going on Ascent in April. Did you visit p Persian Garden? How much it was? Do they have a dry sauna at the spa change room like it was on Eclipse?
We are going on the same cruise in March. I wish Celebrity would come up with something for us folks that don’t drink a lot of alcohol. We’ve done the math and it does not compute…barely drink 2 drinks a day on vacation. 1 or 2 days nothing but water, feel like they are pushing cocktails 🍸 🍹 Been on the Edge twice, looking forward to seeing the Ascent.
I love your helpful videos! I'm thinking about taking a cruise with just me and my husband in March or possibly this October. We have taken our five kids on our previous cruises. We have taken Carnival to Catalina and Ensenada, Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean to Eastern Mediterranean. We've enjoyed every cruise, but found Royal to be a little nicer than Carnival even though service and food were great on both. I'm not super picky and I just want to see cool places and enjoy the ship. My question for you is, what is your absolute favorite cruise destination and ship? I'm a little overwhelmed looking for a cruise for two when we could go anywhere, lol! I'd love to hear from Ilana if you're not too busy, or any other fans of the page. 🙂
Sailed on Edge last month in New Zealand. If you like sushi, Raw on 5 is excellent with high quality fish and the best value on the ship. Blu is outstanding from the food to the staff. Love having tea and watching the ocean go by at Cafe El Bacio. Tuscan "specialty" food was terrible and heard other passengers say the same.
This ship is so beautiful... I wish that I could sail on her! I'm not a fan of the huge ships but this one would DEFINITELY tempt me! Thank you for your review!
This past summer we sailed Alaska on an older style Celebrity ship. It was "OK" but certainly not spectacular. We were instructed to find a seat BEFORE getting food when in the buffet since there wasn't enough seating - and there certainly wasn't. It seemed there were way to many passengers for the amount of restaurant space available. Our daughter was on an NCL Alaskan cruise the week before we went and they had numerous and better ports of call. After seeing your videos, I'm eager to try the new Edge class ship and hope it can live up to all it's hype.
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My husband and I are so excited ! After watching many of your videos we are sailing on our first cruise together at the end of march on the Ascent. As newcomers it’s a bit overwhelming but my husband is a 3 time cancer survivor so I’m pretty sure we can handle it! Lol. and we were married on my birthday so it’s a triple celebration for us. It’s all in how you choose to enjoy it! Life is so precious I think we are in for a real treat! Praise God!
And Thankyou so much for your videos! Such a blessing! 😊🥰
I’ll see you there 😊😊🎉
We sailed on Celebrity Apex last month. We loved everything about it! Celebrity Cruise Line is the only one we can sail on because there is no smoking inside the ship, not even in the casinos. I wish other cruise lines would follow suit. We booked Celebrity Reflection for next year.
Virgin Voyages has a separate room of the casino that allows smoking. It supposedly has a separate ventilation system. I don't know how they do it, but the rest of the ship doesn't smell at all, not even in the casino. There is a small smoking area on the pool deck as well. Of course there are people on all lines who don't understand that "no smoking on balcony" means just exactly that.
We have been on the Apex twice and a dozen Celebrity cruises. On our Apex cruise last month, the service in the dining rooms was the worst we ever experienced on Celebrity.
Just got off the Ascent in Barcelona after a beautiful 13 days Mediterranean cruise. It was perfect.
I love staying on the cruise ship when in port. It’s so peaceful and quiet and you have the pool deck to yourself
Hi Ilana!! Finishing up the Amazing Ascent cruise as I write !❤ The ship is beautifully designed and magical. The entire cruise ship 18:49 is kept spotless ( even the common bathrooms!) and they are constantly cleaning the tables for the next guest! The entertainment is spectacular offering two shows( get there early as they are very popular)! The service is excellent and the storage is excellent while suitcases under the bed!
I would recommend bringing surge protector power extender with multiple plugs. It really helped! ❤
It’s been a fabulous week!! 🎉
Just went on my first cruise and you were so helpful. We followed your suggestion about thank you cards with thank you in their native language. Our main dining servers really made each dinner special so we made sure to learn where they are from and figured out their dialect. We left an extra tip within the thank you card. We did the same for our cabin Stewart and a specific bartender. It was the staff that really made the cruise. Thanks for all the help!
1 of my choices for next year's cruise. Looking at Celebrity Ascent and MSC Seashore.
Luigi is the ABSOLUTE BEST cruise director! We love Celebrity!
We are on the Beyond as I write this. The ship is beautiful and the service fantastic. We are in a suite so we get extra special service. The Steakhouse is great and going to the Rooftop Grill Friday.
We love Celebrity and this cruise has met all out expectations.
Happy cruising Ilana.
Awesome!! Enjoy every minute - the campfire cookie at rooftop is amazing
Cruising is what YOU make of it! We are always grateful to be able to cruise, and enjoy it all! On the beyond for our anniversary in April. Happy sailing!
@rikkk6600.
We are also currently on the Beyond. It’s been a wonderful cruise.
we’ll be in the Retreat on the Beyond in 8 weeks ourselves. Looking forward to Luminae (and Blu?), plus all the other restaurants open to all. Plus Eden. I figure that Ascent and Beyond must be nearly identical other than artwork and statues.
We did a 13 night cruise and NEVER got off the ship. It was so classy and comfortable, we never felt like we wanted to leave. We are going on the Accent in April.
We love port days on the ship. It's so much more quiet and relaxing. Especially during our Mediterranean cruise on the Beyond, we've been to most of the ports via land holidays before, so out of the 9 port days (only had 2 sea days in an 11 days cruise) we only got off the ship once. When on a gorgeous ship like that, the last thing I would want to do is get in a bus to go somewhere or stand in queues in the heat (Santorini). It was great 🙂
Went on the Equinox in January. Great cruise, but the ship was tired in many places. In particular the cabins. Celebrity is focusing on their newer ships at the expense of the older ships.
Hi Ilana! We sailed on Ascent on Feb 4th to 11th ourselves, and found the food outstanding- with high standards as fellow Montrealers. ❤ I would agree with you that Normandie was the best restaurant, including the quality of service, in particular, there. Cyprus was our next favourite, followed by Cosmopolitan. Dinner at Tuscan was essentially American shopping mall Italian food and the service in the dining room there verged on flat out unprofessional. On our cruise we found the crowd swung much older- the average age looked to be about 60-65, I was surprised to hear the age was so much younger when you went!
We found the ship to be beautiful, with expansive open spaces, luxurious finishes and fixtures everywhere. One thing we noted and loved was how music was always very ambient in public spaces and never overbearing- from the coffee bar to the pool bar, whomever was in charge of designing the playlists did an excellent job creating the right balance of atmosphere. Same with the lighting on board in the restaurants and public areas. They really hired the best of the best in the business to put together a dazzling sailing experience. We would highly recommend and will definitely sail again with Celebrity. I’ve previously sailed with Cunard on the QM2, so my expectations were high… delighted to say that Celebrity met them!
Thanks for sharing your review! Always great to hear from fellow Montrealers. I agree we tend to be a little bit critical on food as we have such great dining here.
Too long. Edit.
My wife and I took many cruises from the mid 1980's to around 2005 and now have scheduled our first cruise since on the Summit March 4th (first time on Celebrity). I've watched many of your videos and have really enjoyed them, they're very helpful regarding what to bring (or not bring), things we should make a point of buying to add to the experience and all the super helpful tips. Really excited to get cruising again. Thanks for the tips!
I sailed to Bermuda on the Summit and loved it.
We sailed to Bermuda on the Summit last June and also did a 3 day Key West/Bahamas cruise in April of ‘22. My family and I LOVE this ship. Smaller size so no big crowds anywhere. Service is top notch. Try the Tuscan Grille for a great steak dinner-usually can get for $30 each on 1st night of Sailing. 😊
I've been on twice in the last year, and I love it. I was on the silhouette and the reflection I have nothing but high accolades for the food and service that was perfect.
That's good to know! I'm sailing on the Reflection in May and the Silhouette next January
We're on the Ascent on March 10.. we'll be dining at Le Petit Chef, Le Voyage and Eden! We loved Le Petit Chef and Eden on the Apex in 2022... and we love love love Cafe Al Bacio! Eden is also open for breakfast and it is simple, healthy and yummy!
We always enjoy staying on the ship on one of the port days. It is nice to have a day when most passengers are off exploring.
We were on the Solstice in April 23 and the cruse and service were fabulous.
We sailed on the Solstice last Sept. service was excellent but food was disappointing. Both husband and I caught covid at end of our cruise. Made getting g home from Vancouver challenging
We love Celebrity. Have been on 21 cruises with four different lines and we always come back to Celebrity. We have four booked now, can’t wait 😅
I was on the Ascent B2B the first two weeks of January. My favorite restaurant was the Normandie. The scallop casserole appetizer was excellent. The entertainment was great just be sure to get to Eden and the Club early as they are smaller venues and get quite crowded.
We are sailing on Celebrity Beyond March 1-11 and plan on staying on the ship on Port days just to enjoy the ship itself.
I love staying on the ship on a port day. Thank you for your video! I’ll be on Beyond in two weeks.
Yay!! Exciting
We loved the Ascent, we did the Inaugural on December 3rd. We didn’t have a single complaint, food was excellent everywhere we ate, and on the last sea day, the Lunch Extravaganza was incredible.
We were on the Maiden also but we were in Aqua, so we had Blu and also dined in Eden, Rooftop Garden Grill, and Raw on 5. NO complaints with these choices. Just about perfect. If I had one minor complaint, it would definitely be the lack of quality wine. I definitely think they need to up their game there.
@@pamelabrauer9450 we have done Aqua in previous cruises, and Blu is excellent, have eaten in Eden and love it, the best crab cake is from Eden. Yes, wines could get better!
Went on Equinox last May. Food was regularly served cold at dinner. Food was fair. Entertainment was quite poor. Found lack of activity at night. Service was good.
I have no intention of EVER going on a cruise because I get severe motion sickness, but your videos are so, so entertaining I can’t stop watching them! I actually can’t believe I’ve watched so many videos about cruising, but that is a testament to your ability to present information.
I’m the same way but if you stay mid ship I promise you’ll be fine. Try a weekend cruise first. Hope that helps. I love the videos too
There are many good cruise videos. Try Dramamine: I have a problem with motion, but it worked very well on my last Alaskan cruise.
We love the Edge class ships & have been on the Apex twice, the Beyond & just last month we were on the Ascent. We love all the restaurants on board but we're changing things up & taking a 10 night Spain cruise on the Equinox. We were on the Equinox back in 2014 & will celebrate our 20 yr anniversary on her! How exciting!
My twin sister and I were on your cruise and we did our best to find you to say hello but did not see you, A little known secret is the Edge class ships have what is called an Deluxe Porthole view with Verandah cabin. These are only on a few decks and there are not many of them and usually at the front of the ship and a few towards the aft of the ship. If you look at the ship from the outside, these are the cabins with the round pothole window. There is a small balcony but it's a balcony for those who like to sit outside The cabin is slightly smaller than the infinite verandah cabins but has the same storage, etc . We celebrated our birthday at Eden and they spoiled us so I would highly recommend anyone with a birthday to book there and let them know it's your birthday. I like eating in the buffet and the food selection is always great. I really enjoy that every meal has cut up fresh fruit and a huge variety of fruit. . We also ate at Rooftop Garden and had the filet and it was one of the best steaks I have had in a long time. We like Cypress and I like that you can order something from another dining menu such as the yellow corn soup from Cosmopolitan. I am glad Cafe al Bacio finally has some savories and what we tried were all very good. Those were easy to take to the cabin and put in a zip lock bag and put in the refrigerator to eat on a morning when we had an early start . We did a back to back and that process was seamless and we were back on the ship in no time and were treated to lunch at Tuscan which was a nice touch. There are a few oddities about the ship but all in all it is a beautiful ship and the staff that we encountered were amazing and the service was amazing and the foot was amazing !
Fantastic summary! Thank you.🥰
You can leave a note with the Guest Services, if you know someone is on board, you'd like to meet. I did this 2 cruises ago, and met up with a old college friend and his wife for drinks.
I’m so sorry we didn’t meet on the cruise but I’m glad to hear about your experience. I’ll have to try that type of cabin sometime. Happy birthday!
Thanks for replying! And thank you for the birthday wishes. Maybe one day we will be on the same cruise again and get to meet
We are sailing the Ascent in August 2024. Embarking in Rome, disembarking in Barcelona. Celebrity is our favorite cruise line!
I went on the Celebrity 14 day transatlantic. Celebrity has gotten to be very expensive.
True it can be expensive. We did enjoy it though. Did you?
@@LifeWellCruised Not really. It was a much older crowd. Leaving the ship was like leaving a nursing home. I can go back to Celebrity in another 20 to 25 years and I may fit right in.
Thanks for sharing - we will be on her sister Edge (old in cruise ship lexicon) in New Zealand, Australia, South Pacific next spring. Spent 21 days on Apex in Northern Europe in the larger interior - lovely cabin and we are looking forward to our return to the E class.
Wonderful video and I agree with your suggestions for Celebrity. It’s a nice cruise line.
We are sailing on this beautiful ship on April 14 , transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona… can’t wait!
Impressive Cruise Experience! Thanks for sharing your detailed review and insights. Celebrity Ascent sounds like a must-try!
I was on its first (pre maiden) voyage in November. The ship was amazing and we had a great time. Zero complaints. I prefer the solstice class though. It felt more like a resort than a ship. I like the classic “ship/cruise” feeling of the older ships. I’m excited for our upcoming 9 night cruise on the Constellation next week!
It's not older vs. newer. It's the style and intimacy and presentation that's different. It's trendy vs. evolutionary. The Edge ships are trendy. The Solstice built on what the Horizon, Century, and Millennium class ships where the Edge tries to depart from that in significant ways. Ship lounges, presentation, intimacy, those things were removed from the Edge ships and more emphasis is put on multi-purpose, multi-level spaces, brightness, exclusive suite spaces. Yes, the restaurants were retained but the only real Celebrity style I see in the Edge ships is the Normandie restaurant. It's a modern take on a classic style. That used to be most of Celebrity style and that's lacking in the Edge ships.
We just sailed on Ascent from January 21-28 and had a deluxe interior cabin. The cabin was very nice and quite spacious( over 200 sq ft. The food was very good and the rest of the ship was absolutely gorgeous! We hope to sail on another Apex class ship in the near future. Well done Celebrity!
We’re presently on the Celebrity Eclipse returning from Antarctica and it’s our third Celebrity cruise. The ship seems fully staffed and crew has been excellent.
The food does seem to be a bit below our prior experiences. It’s not bad but just seems a bit tired. It’s a busy cruise so the buffet has been consistently jammed with a lot of entitled passengers so we have been using the different dining rooms.
Thanks for sharing. Have a good rest of your cruise.
Wow the food looks amazing it was on the solstice’s as well when we went 6 years ago we went on 2 Princess cruise last year May and December the food in the dining room was probably 3 or 4 out of ten 🇦🇺🇦🇺
I sailed on Summit for my first time with Celebrity (many cruises with other lines). It was nice, but I was expecting a more upscale experience. I didn't get that, and did find some rather snobby passengers.
We had the same experience with Summit on our first cruise with Celebrity in October. Nice but - not feeling like it was totally worth it in the end.
That’s too bad. Thanks for sharing
Was it the ship, food or service? I am sailing on this ship the end of the year.
Love the cold towels after being out from the ship!
For us the ship and service were good. Food was going through some changes and things were either delicious or meh. @@daveduffy2823
Sounds like they are making improvements which they needed to do. The last Celebrity cruise I went on summer of 2023 the food in the dining room was horrible. Thank you so much for your videos.
Did you sail on Solstice ?
I went with Solstice last month and now I think I don't want to cruise with Celebrity again.
Same! We ate at the buffet every night because the dining room was so bad
We went on the Eclipse last October and there was no resemblance to previous Celebrity cruises. Dining room food tasteless and cold. Disinterested dining staff. It appears that all emphasis is on new ships.
I will be on my first Celebrity cruise on March 24th. I will be sailing on Celebrity Ascend to the Caribbean. Soooo exciting!! 🛳
Thank you for the review. When we were on the Beyond, the food at Eden was the best we've ever had in any restaurant, not just on a cruise ship ! We were lucky to get loads of onboard credit with our cruise, so used part of that to eat at Eden 3 nights out of the 11 night cruise.
How do you get onboard credit for Celebrity?
@@NicoleE12388 there are many ways, some I’m sure I don’t even know about. The two ways I do know about are (1) book your next cruise onboard your current cruise, if you negotiate you can even get more than what they initially offer you (2) book through a travel agent, they usually have deals that include OBC and in our case the travel agent had an extra chunk of OBC she received from Celebrity as a promotion, so she got that added onto the base OBC that came as part of the booking (3) just remembered this one, if you make a valid complaint you get OBC a lot of the time as a goodwill gesture. I think there’s OBC deals associated with the casino as well, but we don’t gamble, so don’t know the details
This video is really helpful. Great info. We needed it, thanks!
Thanks for the great in depth review! We should be sailing on the Celebrity Ascent on the 2nd of September out of Barcelona. The cruise will be sailing to Italy and France as well. We might be staying on the ship during the stop over at Rome Civitavecchia as we have been to Rome so many times. I guess it would be a good time to roam around the ship whilst most of the passengers are on their excursions! Thanks again for a great review.
We are sailing on Ascent in November for Thanksgiving - I am so much more excited about this cruise after watching this video, as well as your infinity veranda video! We will also have our 11 year old and 9 year old cruising with us. I’m hoping there are enough kid-friendly activities for them as well.
I'm really enjoying your videos! Husband and I have our very first cruise scheduled for Nov. 2024 on the Ascent and are looking forward to the experience. All the information you provide will have us well prepared - thank you!
Thanks for watching! I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic cruise
The Beyond Signature was my wife's favourite cocktail as well 🙂
Will be on b2b on Ascent, March 3 and March 10. Been on Beyond and Edge.
We were on teh Ascent the same time as you! I saw youa few times, but you were enjoying family time, so I didnt want to bug. We stayed in a Porthole balcony and honestly, we loved it. We loved the food, the loved the drinks and most of all the upbeat vibe of the ship. The ship its self is most beautiful. So pretty. We loved the staff but I agree with you that more staff is needed as we did have wait more then a few times to get a drink.
It was a perfect cruise for us!
Thanks! We've been on Edge and are booked on Ascent's first TA in April. This showed us we made a good decision.
Just got back from their last Caribbean cruise before they went to Europe and the ship is as advertised. By far the best ship on the ocean. Capt. Tasos was amazing. The adult only comedy was the most ridiculous hour belly laugh ever. Alejandro the host is like you said energetic. Shows we're world class in the theatre and Eden. So much to do from a morning stretch and walk to the martini bar. This is the Lamborghini of ships. Ship was full but plenty of space. Casino was awesome.
Just a joy. Can't wait for my next one.
So my wife and I will be on the Ascent on March 17th doing the exact same itinerary you did. We’re so excited. We were on the Edge in Nov. ‘22 and loved it. Thank you for your pointing out in a previous video about the different set-ups of the infinity balcony cabins with the bed either towards the balcony or closer to the closet. We agree with you that we prefer the bed closer to the closet. I checked our cabin on the Ascent and determined as you did in this video that there is a bump-out in the floor plan where the bed goes, so our bed is towards the inside (yay). We usually are in Aqua class so we eat at Blu but we’re in just a regular balcony cabin in March, so we were happy to hear that you thought the food was great in all four dining rooms. We will likely stay on the ship in at least one port, as we’ve been to all ports before. Also, we’re doing a side-to-side cruise. The day we get off the Ascent in Ft. Lauderdale, we’ll be getting on the Celebrity Reflection (and interestingly staying in the exact same cabin as we were in on the Reflection in December). We love your vlogs, Ilana. Keep up the great work.
Have a fantastic cruise and thank you so much for your lovely comments
Hi Larry, my husband & I are going the same cruise as you. We are first time-ers!!! (my big birthday celebration). We will be in Aqua Class so will be dining at Blu most nights (tried to book at the other restaurants but only bookings now available are 9pm). The Blu restaurant looks nice though so happy with that. We might bump into you onboard! Claire & Steve :)
Really enjoyed the Edge last year and looking forward to the Ascent in the Med June 2025. Great tip about the beverage package. We upgraded alsom and did the same with the wifi. There are so many specials to watch for.
Great video thank you!
I’m on Ascent next month aft cabin leaving 24th. Very timely review! 😊
We are traveling on the ascent in January 2025. This video has really helped. Thanks again😊
Love your videos they are so informative. Do you have any information on the obstructed view infinite veranda on the port side on deck 8. I have this booked on Ascent for next April. I can't find any information on it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Very nice video. My wife and I are planning on a Mediterranean cruise in June on the Ascent. Your review on everything was very informative and looking forward to this trip. Going to spend a few days in Spain before our departure and likewise in Italy before we had back home.
I have been on Millennium in Alaska, Apex in the Caribbean, and going back to Millennium for Japan. We adore Celebrity even as a Family. I love how the rules allow for those old cruisers who are rigid and cant grow to enjoy a more modern cruise as well as people like my family that wants to be on a ship for an adventure.
I was disappointed with our Navigator of the seas cruise. Drinks were weak, pool side only about 4 mixed choices. Formal night in the main dining room the table next to us had 8 people in beach wear and ball caps.
I am cruising solo on Celebrity Edge in less than 3 months. I’m so looking forward to cruising. I haven’t researched the food yet, so your video helps. Thanks
I heard solo passengers pay more than 2 people in a cabin. Is that your experience?
@@jeffreywagner5234 I purchased last year, before they started that nonsense. This will be my first time cruising Celebrity, and probably my last.
When we went on Apex last year we dined in Tuscan every night, but our waiter let us know that we could order off the menus from any of the main dining rooms.
Hello Llana ,
My wife and I will be sailing on Celebrity Ascent ( our first time sailing on a edge class )
October 20th 2025 out of Rome Italy for 11 nights in a prime Aqua Class cabin on deck 9 and yes we checked the cabin configuration. Lol. as we don't want the bed close to the floor to ceiling Infinite balcony .
Also we will be sailing on Ascent again for 11 nights March 16th 2026 in a Aqua Class Sky suite to the Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean as well.
Any suggestions for our October 20th 2025 trip to Europe? The cruise starts on a Monday and we plan to fly to Rome Italy on Friday so we have a couple days to explore before the cruise starts.
We need to find a upscale and safe hotel to stay in that's walking distance to attractions/ sites to visit etc.
Thanks for ALL you do!
Peace & Kind regards.
Any suggestions for Silhouette. Ps. I love all your videos very useful information. Thank you
I'm going next week on the Ascent. San Juan, St Kitts, and... I can't remember. Looking forward to it.
It's all about personal perspective. That's the big thing. Some folks will say lacking, not up to standards etc and other will say I didn't have that experience. Don't let others opinions make your decision and judge for yourself.
Absolutely, for this reason, I like to include a lot of cruise ship footage, both with the ship is busy with passengers and quiet. These videos should only serve as a resource, but people should, of course make up their own mind.
I was on the Ascent in January. It was really nice.
Good vlog, Illana, especially the visuals as having extensive and peculiar food allergies (and not gluten or diebetic), i picked out fruit and salad greens possibilities! It'll be our first Celebrity cruise (Apex) and being it's a Trans, good tips to know! Thanks 😊
One comment on the dinner buffet on Celebrity that also applies to Princess and HAL. The selections at dinner are roughly HALF as you would find at lunch and no more than that. Likewise, the crowd is less than half. If you take out the crew and entertainment staff, you could get very lonely in the buffet at night.
My only buffet complaint with Celebrity is the lack of late night options.
Thank you for the great review! I was on the Ascent in December. I have been on all the edge class ships and the Ascent is the winner! Luigi the cruise director is one of the best entertaining directors of any cruise ship! We loved the food and shows. Trying to get a seat u. Eden or the club for the special shows was challenging. Also Celebrity has increased their bar drinks too much. Other than that we are booked on Beyond in December for the Panama Canal cruise!🚢
All of the Celebrity's Edge class of ships are stunning! While we enjoy cruising with Celebrity and have cruised with Celebrity on 20 cruises, with 4 being on the Edge Class of ships, we have mixed feelings about the Edge class of ships. We have four main concerns: 1). Not having an assigned table or not being able to make advance reservations in the four main dinning rooms. Paying thousands of dollars for a cruise and having to stand in line to get a table is not our definition of a fun cruise. To help with this issue on our last cruise, we purchased a five-night speciality dinning package to eliminate having to stand in line in the main dining room. I will say that the food and service in Fine Cuts, Roof Top Grill, and Eden were outstanding. We also enjoyed lunches in the Eden Cafe and in the main dinning room on sea days (the walnut cookies in the Eden Cafe are amazing). 2) While not limited to the Edge class of ships, the inability to make speciality dinning reservations (dinning packages) before getting on the ship requires having to stand in line (30 minutes - last cruise) once you get on the ship. This is not how you want to start your cruise. 3) Infinite veranda - while we really like the concept, we have found that on most cruises in the Caribbean, due to the heat, you have to keep the shade down most of the time to get your room cool which reduces the infinite effects 4). The limited number of chairs on the pool deck due to the majority of the area on the starboard side of the pool being taken up by the pool cabanas. For us, when the aggravation, exceeds the enjoyment, it's time to look for other options...
You can make a reservation for any main dining room on the app for the time that is right for you.. And you can also make a reservation on the app for any specialty restaurant that is open for dinner. Keep checking your app when that opens up to reserve so you can get the time you want
Hi gatorguy, you are able to book ahead for the four main dining rooms, it seems they only take so many in advance and then it is full. For your 1) what we have done in the past is book all nights in the same restaurant so that we may have the table reservation we want and the same servers, which we love to get to know them and they get to know us. If you would like something off of one of the other dining menus, just ask, no problem.
We were on the Apex last week and reservations could not be made on the App for dinner in the main dinning room. I checked with Guest Services and the Captain Club Rep and was told by both that reservations could not be made for the main dinning rooms, In the past on the Apex, we have made reservations for the main dinning room on the App, we were told that this is no longer available. I checked the App frequently and reservations were not an option for any restaurants. Relative to speciality restaurants, the App option was also not available, unless you want to purchase a new reservation. We have learned by experience, when you have a dinning package, you want to book your reservations as soon as you get on the ship (a tip from many cruise blogs) to get the times you desire. Thanks for the feedback...
@@lucyn9279
I could not agree with you more, but our experience last week on the Apex was very different as we were told that reservations could not be made for the main sinning room as we have done in the past. No one could never give me an answer. We did have several large groups on the cruise, maybe this was the issue, I do not know, All I know is whenever we went by any of the four main dinning rooms there was always a long line waiting to get into dinner. @@birdsnest26
I didn't make one reservation for the MDR on the Apex and the longest I waited was 5 minutes. And I didn't want to be tied down to a time so it worked just fine.
The pool lounge issue I do after with. The Cabana space to me is is wasted.
Oh and the food was fantastic. Choices were not bad and I am like Ilana I love Normandie
...... Also , there is something surreal-magical about staying onboard, especially at a popular port where EVERYBODY gets off. If you've visited the port before it's worth staying on.
Always do an on ship day on one of the ports on a cruise. Love to have the ship nearly empty to go to the spa or just wander the ship.
We sailed on the Ascent mid-August ‘24. We stayed in the RETREAT Aqua Sky suite. It was more expensive, but value for the dollar. The MDR’s were awful compared with Luminae and Blu.. We made a big mistake going to the Tuscan which we thought was like the specialty restaurant Tuscan we knew from the Solstice class ship, however it was nothing even close (bad service, pepper mill empty, food average). We walked out after 15 minutes and ate at Luminae. As elite plus cruisers, we will never book anything but the RETREAT. As a matter of fact our upcoming cruise is again on the Ascent May ‘25 to Italy, Greece & Turkey, in a Celebrity 2 rm suite. The RETREAT is like a “ship on a ship”, never lines or crowded, includes premium drink package and premium WiFi but the best was the entire front of the ship on 4 decks were RETREAT only plus a concierge lounge manned by 2 concierges all day, so they will book you and solve problems without going to customer relations. Luminae is worth the price.
I will be on the Ascent, same itinerary as yours, at the end of March. 4th time on an Edge class ship so I pretty much know what to expect. However the only difference is for the first time ever, I’m going solo. I booked Aquaclass as I love Blu and enjoy the spa facilities. I’ve been to all the ports before and actually booked two shore excursions that looked interesting as a way to get off the ship but I too may stay on board in Grand Cayman as I was there in November with Oceania (I do recommend the stingray and snorkeling excursions which was booked independently).
We are going on the Celebrity Ascent in March. Can't wait!!! Everything looks amazing!
I’m sure you’ll love it!! Enjoy
Not ASCENT, but the original EDGE in 4 months, their first season sailing ALASKA. I booked EDEN for my Bday dinner!
Never sailed but nice ship!!! Thanks for sharing 🛳️🛳️
Can you please provide more information on the drink you mentioned? Beyond Signature? Trying to find it on their menus but unable to. Look forward to trying it. Sounds delish! Thanks!
9:58 Kyndal Fire 🔥 is the Best! Jubilee via Galveston Aggie alumi
I sailed on the EDGE last year. I loved my cabin with the infinite balcony. Loved Eden and the MDR choices. Only thing I did not like was the size of the ship. I have mobility issues and found it difficult for me to get to some parts of the ships directly, had to follow a maze. The lack of mid ship elevators was part of the problem. Overall, the experience was awesome.
I could understand, there are some spaces that I could see as a challenge
According to staff on the Beyond, you can order any dish from any of the four included restaurants- you don't have to move around based on the daily specials. You indicated the opposite for the Ascent. Did you ever ask the staff to be certain that the Ascent won't accommodate that? I was told that the newer Celebrity ships all do that because the kitchen for all 4 included restaurants is centralized.
I didn’t ask, but we share information here so I’m glad you pointed that out
I'm dying to try this class of ship - we've got one of the EDGE class ships coming to the UK this year, so I'm going to try and get on (even just for a short cruise) - they look stunning!
Thanks for such an informative video! We're sailing Ascent this Sunday, exactly the same itinerary that you did, Ft. Lauderdale, Bahamas, Cozumel, Grand Cayman.
Have a fantastic cruise!!
Love Edge class! We found a wine we enjoyed in Cosmopolitan that wasn’t offered in the Rooftop Grill, so we asked the crew to go get it at Cosmopolitan and they gladly did so. You just have to speak up and tell them what you want. Agree with you, Eden is the best!
Well, great to know I didn’t even try that. Thanks for sharing
The ship looks absoutely beautiful!
I did find the detail your video shows for the Edge. So probably not available for the Solstice class. 🤔
Solstice class ships are quite different. I much prefer them. There are plenty great videos and tours on the Solstice class ships. They have most of the same restaurants as the Edge ships but a different feel to other areas such as the Martini Bar. And they have spaces on them that are missing in the Edge ships like a library, a quiet space called the hangout, a large observation lounge, and cozier, more intimate spaces on them. The big difference is they have one large main dining room opposed to four smaller ones.
I'm on here because I am looking for a seniors singles world cruise. Thanks for the heads-up from the single in respect of pricing.
Two time Disney ship cruiser. We love it and want to cruise more. We want to try another line. Less kid-centric. What do you recommend? Also where is your video talking about infinity verandah/balcony?
We did a transatlantic on the Apex last spring. We had miserable weather- cold and windy and wet. The Apex was a gorgeous ship, but had very little inside space to sit or spend time during the bad weather. That was my only complaint. In chatting with other cruisers who had been on the Beyond, I guess there is more inside space on the newer Edge class ships. The outside spaces were so gorgeous, I would have loved to have had some nice weather to enjoy the outdoor bars and sitting areas. It made the ship feel very crowded.
We sailed on the Beyond in March 2023 when Luigi was the cruise director there. I agree that he is the best cruise director of any I’ve experienced . We cruise mostly on Royal.
Thanks for sharing! I don’t think I’ve ever called out a cruise Director in a video before, but he was that good
We are booked on the Ascent for November 2025 on deck 7. I’m going to check the floor plan😊. We are looking forward to it and will see if we like the infinite veranda.
Hi Elana, I’m going on Ascent in April. Did you visit p Persian Garden? How much it was? Do they have a dry sauna at the spa change room like it was on Eclipse?
Sorry I didn’t
We are going on the same cruise in March. I wish Celebrity would come up with something for us folks that don’t drink a lot of alcohol. We’ve done the math and it does not compute…barely drink 2 drinks a day on vacation. 1 or 2 days nothing but water, feel like they are pushing cocktails 🍸 🍹 Been on the Edge twice, looking forward to seeing the Ascent.
I love your helpful videos! I'm thinking about taking a cruise with just me and my husband in March or possibly this October. We have taken our five kids on our previous cruises. We have taken Carnival to Catalina and Ensenada, Royal Caribbean to the Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean to Eastern Mediterranean. We've enjoyed every cruise, but found Royal to be a little nicer than Carnival even though service and food were great on both. I'm not super picky and I just want to see cool places and enjoy the ship. My question for you is, what is your absolute favorite cruise destination and ship? I'm a little overwhelmed looking for a cruise for two when we could go anywhere, lol! I'd love to hear from Ilana if you're not too busy, or any other fans of the page. 🙂
You always do such a fantastic job of covering everything! I really enjoyed this concise format. Thanks for all you do!!❤️
So glad you enjoyed the video 😊
Sailed on Edge last month in New Zealand. If you like sushi, Raw on 5 is excellent with high quality fish and the best value on the ship. Blu is outstanding from the food to the staff. Love having tea and watching the ocean go by at Cafe El Bacio. Tuscan "specialty" food was terrible and heard other passengers say the same.
The fact that they are charging solo passengers (way) over double occupancy has put me off Celebrity for the foreseeable future.
Understandable. Hopefully they’ll rectify this
This ship is so beautiful... I wish that I could sail on her! I'm not a fan of the huge ships but this one would DEFINITELY tempt me! Thank you for your review!
This past summer we sailed Alaska on an older style Celebrity ship. It was "OK" but certainly not spectacular. We were instructed to find a seat BEFORE getting food when in the buffet since there wasn't enough seating - and there certainly wasn't. It seemed there were way to many passengers for the amount of restaurant space available. Our daughter was on an NCL Alaskan cruise the week before we went and they had numerous and better ports of call. After seeing your videos, I'm eager to try the new Edge class ship and hope it can live up to all it's hype.