niksmom630

My bid fell flat 🙃 max bid for sunset suite and sunset sky suite. 🤷🏼‍♀️ So here we are for the week….

Great views all around….

@abbydancer Here you go…..

yes, my SIL had a tower room with a balcony and it was like night and day. There is signage around promoting the upcoming renovations in the main building. You are spot on about the location being great, but the layout itself is just a bit disjointed. Like having to exit the back of the building in street traffic to get to the pool…

Boarding was a breeze. We got to the terminal a bit early10:25 ish. And there were a few lines outside, but we were quickly ushered into the terminal , thru security and on board by 10:55. completed our muster check in right after we dropped off the carry on on the room. Celebrity wins over Royal in this category. What a convenience to not have to lug those carry ons around. also Kudos to Celebrity for making it clear in the terminal that you should proceed to your muster station to complete the drill. Royal tries this but on Oasis class it’s spotty, most of the time the crew tries to shag you when you board and then the afternoon is filled with announcements about the numbers of people who have not completed the drill 🙄 we checked on some pre dining reservations to make sure we’d be seated together, (La Petite Chef and the Edge) then off the explore and have a few beverages. Bags had arrived, but had to get them from a location down the hall. AirTags fir the win….. photos coming up

good to know. I’ll put that on my list of options!

Breakfast was moderately priced by Fort Lauderdale standards way too much food….😜 spied with my little eye an Italian bakery across the street from the restaurant…

yes! The good news is I was able to cancel our room post cruise, and switch over to the Hilton! 😊

Took a stroll down Los Olas, which is hopping on Friday night. That would be a plus for this hotel….lots of dining options… we opted for appetizers and a few beverages…. Stopped by the front desk to inquire about port transportation options. We had planned on just grabbing an Uber, but there are 7 of us, so it would have been two. Arranged a shuttle for 12 pp, 10 am pick up. Review to follow 😉 trying my best to stay awake 😵😵‍💫 was feeling really proud of myself til I realized it’s only 7:30 pm cst 🤦🏼‍♀️ will probably be strolling the property at 4 am now…. another plus for this property….🙄 literally right across the hall….😂

The “restaurant” is also across the street. decent bar type food and nice views if you can get a table outside No chance of this happening ….😳 Pool

Our go to hotel in FFL has primarily been the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, but my SIL has stayed at the Riverside Hotel on Los Olas and recommended it. Their room is apparently quite nice and has a balcony and view of the water. Ours has a window and view of the parking lot. 😜 the bathroom is….. well akin to a service station, but with a shower. Room aside, not sure I’d recommend this place for a few reasons. Some pluses but mostly minuses…. sadly, the “wall conditioner” was not working, so we were assigned another room. The new king room is even smaller than the last, with an oddly shaped bathroom with a door that opens out into the room. I’m 5 feet tall and when seated on the commode, my knees are barely 2 inches from the wall. No more room photos. It’s too depressing. I’ve settled in by the pool, which incidentally is across the street. Strike 2.

small world, I also grew up in the city in Rogers Park! ☺️ we were on Farwell near Clark St. Hawaii sounds amazing. That’s also a bucket list trip of mine

yes, I am there often actually 🤑 we are the same person 😂

haha! We are your neighbors to the west just outside Hoffman Estates! Key West is super fun. 🥳 we like Irish Kevin’s ☘️

The Edge was the first of several “bucket” list sailings for me, post retirement. It was a gorgeous ship but with such a port intensive itinerary, I felt like I didn’t have much time to enjoy it. next up was Spain and Portugal on the Infinity in spring of 2023. Obviously a much older ship, but I was pleasantly surprised. The crew was fabulous, and I knew there would be more Celebrity sailings in my future. 😊 it’s always hard saying goodbye to our fur buddies. They were blissfully unaware of our impending departure last night. its all fun and games til the suitcases roll past….

thanks! We are on Ascent next November!

When the alarm went off at 3:45 am, I was really regretting booking such an early flight. but the weather in Chicago in December is unpredictable so we always fly in a day early and leave as many back up flight options as possible between boarding. breakfast of champions…. our itinerary for this sailing….Puerto Plata is also a first for us

Greetings from onboard United flight 592 from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale! “niksmom630” here, a.k.a. Chris, about to kick off my 2nd review on the Celebrity board. As my signature discloses, I’ve primarily sailed Royal for the last few decades, but sailed on my first Celebrity cruise from Rome to the Greek Isles in 2022 on the Edge. It was amazing trip, and sold me on sailing the brand, and the Edge class in the future Santorini is stunning by the way. Definitely a stop to add to one’s bucket list 💕

thanks, I was on the Edge last year, but was always able to get coffee when I woke up, which is several hours later than DH! 😂

the spa cafe does have hours in the app, as does “Il second bacio” which is inside the ocean view cafe (or the buffet) on deck 14, 6:30 am til 1 am. @PTC DAWG so based on what you said, and what @drakes2 said, there is no coffee available before 6 a.m. unless you order room service? used to RCI ships so forgive my ignorance, lol. DH is an early riser And if there’s no coffee available anywhere before 6 or 6:30 am, he won’t be a happy camper. Nor will I be if I have to be awakened by room service at 5 am everyday for him to get his coffee! 😬

We are on Apex in a few weeks…the app doesn’t contain information on opening times for the Cafe. Is in a 24 hour venue, or if not, is there a 24 hour coffee station located somewhere on Edge class ships?

thanks @cruisegal415! I never paid any uplift charges and I had many frozen drinks with Myers rum, which I know is included, but those type of drinks on royal are easily 12-14 dollars, so I assumed it followed a similar drink limit. good to know for my upcoming sailing on Apex! and ugh…. That delayed arrival in Porto was really unfortunate for anyone with a ship excursion. We just lucked out with our private excursion that they were able to accommodate our late arrival.

we printed our Celebrity luggage tags at home, and attached them to our checked bags before we arrived at the port. The lines were not bad, but there’s a good amount of walking once you exit the terminal. see photo…. This walkway next to the ship was a good walking distance. Not “ramp” like and winding like the access ramps I’m familiar with in the states.

@cruisegal415, curious did you just pay the difference? I didn’t realize there was a $10 maximum on drinks covered under the basic package…

This was definitely one of my favorite sights in Barcelona…We didn’t get a map, which turned out to be a bad idea, so we walked around rather aimlessly. Fairly certain there were things we missed….There was an app you could download as well, and there were also guided tour options. We just purchased the entry tickets, which were 10 Euro each. If I had to do it again, I would have gone with a guided tour… We also had issues (again) with getting a taxi back to our Airbnb. It was almost 4 miles, and the FREENOW taxi app just stated all the drivers were busy, and to try later. Uber didn’t work either, nor did waiting at a few of the “signed” taxi stops. We wound up walking almost 2 miles back in the direction of our Airbnb before we finally got a taxi. Again another reason to try and figure out the train system. Or at least have it as a back up plan.