Too many smoking areas for me! And those sun bathing loungers-you’d have to be Houdini… I hate art auctions! Thanks for the thorough ship tour and tips. Nice narration and editing.
What's turned me off about cruising are the extra charge venues and, this may be controversial, too much emphasis on restaurants. Even this tour emphasizes them. For instance, for me the Ensembles Lounge is a destination all to itself and not just a gateway drinking spot to the dining areas. It can be used as such but I like it as a softly lit spot to enjoy music and meet and mingle. And that aspect of cruising, meeting and mingling and dancing is being replaced by hanging out on your private "verandah," multiple ways to spend money at some different dining venue, and multiple eateries to spend more money like specialty coffee shops and specialty ice cream and such. I really don't care all that much about the Martini Bar shows where the bartenders juggle either. Celebrity was a much classier line when the bartenders served drinks and talked to passengers about the drinks or other things rather than put on a show. What I like about the Martini bar are the small enclaves of seating, not necessarily the bar area. Let the passengers meet and mingle and have the entertaining bartenders be on other lines. The Edge ships have now made this a centerpiece show as the Martini Bar is now some space in the Grand Plaza, aka lobby/foyer, of that overrated ship. I do like the Solstice class but to some degree they did emphasize the growing amount of specialty restaurants on ships. And they've also done something else I dislike. They've made Michael's Club a retreat lounge. That should be a lounge for everyone. As I said before, lounges are good, they're for meeting and mingling and Michael's Club was another distinct place to meet and mingle. Originally a smoking lounge it was really entertaining and fun as a piano bar and I think that's what it should be. Celebrity ships in general need more meet and mingle areas like karaoke bars and lounges, comedy clubs, jazz and blues clubs, dueling pianos, and maybe cut out a few restaurants or make them tapa spaces with an attached lounge/club. I used to love Celebrity but I don't like the direction the product has taken and especially don't care for the Edge ships.
Thanks Benjamin I really appreciate the time you have taken to make these comments and observations. This was our first Celebrity cruise so it was new to us. We have seen many changes over the 25 years that we have been cruising on other lines. We used to find the most important things on a cruise to us was meeting and enjoying other peoples company. There are a lot of very insular people cruising these days who want tables for 2 and don't like mixing. This may be a sign of the times. With regards to speciality dining and the reintroduction of the class system, I think it's a way cof cruise companies keeping the headline cost lower and then having to make their money in other ways.
![COLOMBIA vs. CHILE [4-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 10](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TDjN4W3yy1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi both ,
A very enjoyable video, looks a classy ship .😊
Thanks for watching Jane as I am writing this we are just sailing into Lisbon
Too many smoking areas for me! And those sun bathing loungers-you’d have to be Houdini… I hate art auctions! Thanks for the thorough ship tour and tips. Nice narration and editing.
Thanks Cheri
What's turned me off about cruising are the extra charge venues and, this may be controversial, too much emphasis on restaurants. Even this tour emphasizes them. For instance, for me the Ensembles Lounge is a destination all to itself and not just a gateway drinking spot to the dining areas. It can be used as such but I like it as a softly lit spot to enjoy music and meet and mingle. And that aspect of cruising, meeting and mingling and dancing is being replaced by hanging out on your private "verandah," multiple ways to spend money at some different dining venue, and multiple eateries to spend more money like specialty coffee shops and specialty ice cream and such. I really don't care all that much about the Martini Bar shows where the bartenders juggle either. Celebrity was a much classier line when the bartenders served drinks and talked to passengers about the drinks or other things rather than put on a show. What I like about the Martini bar are the small enclaves of seating, not necessarily the bar area. Let the passengers meet and mingle and have the entertaining bartenders be on other lines. The Edge ships have now made this a centerpiece show as the Martini Bar is now some space in the Grand Plaza, aka lobby/foyer, of that overrated ship.
I do like the Solstice class but to some degree they did emphasize the growing amount of specialty restaurants on ships. And they've also done something else I dislike. They've made Michael's Club a retreat lounge. That should be a lounge for everyone. As I said before, lounges are good, they're for meeting and mingling and Michael's Club was another distinct place to meet and mingle. Originally a smoking lounge it was really entertaining and fun as a piano bar and I think that's what it should be. Celebrity ships in general need more meet and mingle areas like karaoke bars and lounges, comedy clubs, jazz and blues clubs, dueling pianos, and maybe cut out a few restaurants or make them tapa spaces with an attached lounge/club. I used to love Celebrity but I don't like the direction the product has taken and especially don't care for the Edge ships.
Thanks Benjamin I really appreciate the time you have taken to make these comments and observations. This was our first Celebrity cruise so it was new to us. We have seen many changes over the 25 years that we have been cruising on other lines. We used to find the most important things on a cruise to us was meeting and enjoying other peoples company. There are a lot of very insular people cruising these days who want tables for 2 and don't like mixing. This may be a sign of the times. With regards to speciality dining and the reintroduction of the class system, I think it's a way cof cruise companies keeping the headline cost lower and then having to make their money in other ways.