LIVE from EDGE - 12/9/18 - 7 night Western Caribbean Maiden Voyage

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, gadabout60 said:

Adam

Thank you very much for a great review. We are based in the UK and don’t really do sun cruises but I love the S class ships and was intrigued by Edge. It sounds to me like the Magic Carpet is a bit of a gimmick and probably not worth the premium prices.

glad you both had a great trip - set you up nicely for Christmas 

 

Thanks. The MC did really seem like a gimmick before I boarded but I have to say that it surprised me. It was quite nice being out there. I’d say to enjoy it as a bar when it’s hanging off the pool deck, enjoy it for lunch off of Raw on 5 or maybe do the Brunch on the Edge if they ever offer it. The dinner was overpriced and underwhelming in part because we were docked and not at sea and because you can’t see much at night.

[Julie Jean]

Fabulous - review - thank you so much

[Georgia_Peaches]

Thank you for the review of your voyage on the Edge.  You've highlighted some very interesting aspects of the ship and the itinerary.  I'm looking forward to our spring break trip on the Edge.  I think there are going to be some things from the S class ships that I will miss but trying something new will be fun.  I hope you enjoy your next cruise on the Summit.

[MACruisers]

Adam, 

 

As usual your review is fantastic. I have a question. We are elite plus.  What is the elite plus discount for specialty restaurants?  We booked the 3 night package for both weeks of our B2B. As you know, you cannot pre book restaurants with the package. We are thinking about canceling the package and booking individual restaurants and applying our elite plus discount we when we are on board.  Any help you can give to a Mass guy would be appreciated. 

[cgolf1]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

This morning we woke up at 6am. We headed to Luminae for breakfast a little after 7. This was our first breakfast there the whole cruise. There was no waiting and we finally got a window seat! Mike had a basic scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast while I had the Eggs Benedict with bacon and hash. Everything was good and put a nice finish to our dining on this cruise. After breakfast we headed up to the Retreat Lounge to wait for our number to be called for disembarkation. The lounge was pretty full but we managed to find a seat. Within ten minutes they called groups 1-4  which was the entirety of suite guests, so everyone moved in one big mass to the elevators.

 

 

 

Awesome review. 

 

Question about debarking because we have a 10:30 flight, because that was our only real option. 

 

Does celebrity allow people to keep all their luggage and walk off right away like other lines? Since we are staying in an inside room guessing our number will be last. 

[hcat]

9 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

Awesome review. 

 

Question about debarking because we have a 10:30 flight, because that was our only real option. 

 

Does celebrity allow people to keep all their luggage and walk off right away like other lines? Since we are staying in an inside room guessing our number will be last. 

Similar question if you get a chance..

 

.We always do walk off..so will we have the same long walk to customs and then again to the parking garage across the street?

 

As for the live  from review  BRAVO..thanks for everything!

[WonderMan3]

33 minutes ago, MACruisers said:

Adam, 

 

As usual your review is fantastic. I have a question. We are elite plus.  What is the elite plus discount for specialty restaurants?  We booked the 3 night package for both weeks of our B2B. As you know, you cannot pre book restaurants with the package. We are thinking about canceling the package and booking individual restaurants and applying our elite plus discount we when we are on board.  Any help you can give to a Mass guy would be appreciated. 

 

Thank you! Discount is 15% per person. It will apply to all specialty dining on Edge except for Dinner on the Edge (or Brunch on the Edge) as they consider those to be “special events”

[WonderMan3]

10 minutes ago, hcat said:

Similar question if you get a chance..

 

.We always do walk off..so will we have the same long walk to customs and then again to the parking garage across the street?

 

As for the live  from review  BRAVO..thanks for everything!

 

Thanks! Yes, you can do walkoff with your own bags. It is mentioned in the debarkation information I posted further up. You will still have that long run to walk to the end of the terminal where the exit is. From that point I’m not sure if you have to cross through the luggage room after passing through the facial recognition or if there is another exit for those who have all their bags. I think there might be as there was someone directing us saying “if you are retrieving bags go this way”. It will still be a longish walk to taxis once you exit the building.

[happicruzer]

Today’s walkoff around 8:15am - from the ship to the parking garage - was close to one half mile (I-watch) walk.  For some reason, we were given timed departure tickets even though we’d marked walkoff.  Our ticket number of 23 with an 8:30 departure - for checked bags - meant we’d have stood in the terminal as luggage through number 11 was only available for pickup.

 

Having been exposed to a similar walk with the older terminal, outside in the pouring rain, much prefer walking inside.  We passed one woman (she had been passed by many) - she mumbled, why are they in such a hurry?  Yes, it is a long walk from the ship to passport facial recognition/passport check.  The sidewalk should have been poured wider as people, many pushing/dragging luggage in each direction to/from the parking garage means someone needs to give way.

 

i didn’t pass the facial recognition, my husband did.  Meant showing passport.  A secondary point of exit asks if you have something to declare.  Only one agent to process those that answered honestly.  About ten in that line.

 

Be advised, there was a super long line of walkoffs at 7.15.  The announcement finally came that the ship had been cleared.  We walked off at 8:20,  by 9am, we were on I-95 (always pick a short line at payment kiosk that takes twice as long!).  It was interesting that one was asked to name the ship you traveled on.

 

[grnidlad8]

Thank you, Adam, for a wonderful review!  I have a group of 16 friends, mostly all of them first time cruisers, sailing on Edge In April.  With that in mind, could you please answer one beverage package question?  Some only opted to having the Classic Package. Do you recall at the maximum amount of a drink is for that package?  Seeing the high prices of some of those drinks, I am wondering if Celebrity may increase the cost of the upgrade before long. 

[Carlett]

Adam, thank you for a balanced and excellent review of the Edge and sharing your experiences.  
I can relate to you in losing your husband to the smokers lounge as mine has a tendency to do the same thing! LOL

We are long time Celebrity cruisers and now Elite Plus having sailed all the ships, in various categories from
Concierge, Aqua and now mostly suites.   We booked the Edge the second day they released bookings and secured a sky suite for an April sailing.  I am a bit apprehensive after reading all the reviews on Cruise Critic, but we will give the Edge a chance and form our own opinion after our sailing.   We are seasoned travellers and prefer modern ships.  For us it doesn't matter if a ship is small and older, as long as it is well maintained, has great service and good food.  Eden during the day sounds wonderful from the various reviews we've read, but the whole performance act at night sounds like

a major NO for us and something we will avoid.  We live in Los Angeles and travel to Vegas, New York and Europe on a frequent basis, and Eden sounds like a gimmick we would rather not be a part of.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

Thanks! Yes, you can do walkoff with your own bags. It is mentioned in the debarkation information I posted further up. You will still have that long run to walk to the end of the terminal where the exit is. From that point I’m not sure if you have to cross through the luggage room after passing through the facial recognition or if there is another exit for those who have all their bags. I think there might be as there was someone directing us saying “if you are retrieving bags go this way”. It will still be a longish walk to taxis once you exit the building.

Thanks...we plan to pack fairly light...only a 7 day cruise...and wheelie bags make it easier...glad someone  will be  there with directions!

[hcat]

1 hour ago, happicruzer said:

Today’s walkoff around 8:15am - from the ship to the parking garage - was close to one half mile (I-watch) walk.  For some reason, we were given timed departure tickets even though we’d marked walkoff.  Our ticket number of 23 with an 8:30 departure - for checked bags - meant we’d have stood in the terminal as luggage through number 11 was only available for pickup.

 

Having been exposed to a similar walk with the older terminal, outside in the pouring rain, much prefer walking inside.  We passed one woman (she had been passed by many) - she mumbled, why are they in such a hurry?  Yes, it is a long walk from the ship to passport facial recognition/passport check.  The sidewalk should have been poured wider as people, many pushing/dragging luggage in each direction to/from the parking garage means someone needs to give way.

 

i didn’t pass the facial recognition, my husband did.  Meant showing passport.  A secondary point of exit asks if you have something to declare.  Only one agent to process those that answered honestly.  About ten in that line.

 

Be advised, there was a super long line of walkoffs at 7.15.  The announcement finally came that the ship had been cleared.  We walked off at 8:20,  by 9am, we were on I-95 (always pick a short line at payment kiosk that takes twice as long!).  It was interesting that one was asked to name the ship you traveled on.

 

Thanks..very  helpful..We remember the old walk...outside,   and what a bottleneck at the little room they had for luggage as we  had to pass by,!

 

Where did you line up for walk off?..we wil not be in a suite.

 

We are always on line by 6:45...wish we could trust the Cruise Line with our luggage but have reason not  to.,...Rain will be a bummer ! Funny about the payment kiosk!

 

I may wait with the luggage while dh gets the car,.we'll see how things develop..

Edited December 17, 2018 by hcat

[barb in ga]

Thanks so much for the great review!  DH and I have been cruising for about 12 years, mostly on Royal, with one trip on Solstice

around 8 years ago. We were in Aqua class and found the food and service to be amazing on the Solstice, but were disappointed by the entertainment.

 

We have been intrigued by the info surrounding Edge, and have booked an April cruise in an IV. Thanks for all the input--you help make the anticipation of a new  cruising experience part of the fun. Now that we've achieved D+ status on Royal, it's time to check out Celebrity again.

 

Barb in GA

[Bhick1]

@WonderMan3 I believe you mentioned you had made reservations pre-cruise but was wondering if you heard/noticed availability issues with dining ressie.. Debating on whether to purchase a 3/4-meal specialty dining package or best to book specialty dining ala carte..  I'm concerned about not having availability for places like Petite Chef when I get on board... we are Sky so would check with Concierge but they can only do so much..

 

Appreciate your opinion/experience either way..

 

BTW: Thanks for this great thread.. fantastic stuff.

[nednrom]

On 12/15/2018 at 1:14 AM, WonderMan3 said:

Finishing off with Thursday’s activities...

 Mike went to smoke while I headed up to the sundeck.

 

 

 

Quick Question - My husband smokes and you mentioned that smoking areas had been changed.  Where are the smoking areas now and can he smoke in the casino?

[Bo1953]

19 minutes ago, nednrom said:

 

Quick Question - My husband smokes and you mentioned that smoking areas had been changed.  Where are the smoking areas now and can he smoke in the casino?

X does not permit smoking indoors anywhere aboard its' ships at anytime, unless there is a fire and even then that will extinguished rather quickly.

 

As for other places on the ship where smoking is permitted, is covered in earlier posts on this thread.

 

bon voyage

[gottacruisemore]

On 12/15/2018 at 12:35 PM, kearney said:

Can someone with a scooter get onto the tender? 

 

you might find this useful

 

[alishac]

8 minutes ago, gottacruisemore said:

 

you might find this useful

 

Hmmm... "Pubic Areas?" 🤔

[gottacruisemore]

Just now, alishac said:

Hmmm... "Pubic Areas?" 🤔

 

 

oh wow! i did not notice that.

[WonderMan3]

15 hours ago, Carlett said:

Adam, thank you for a balanced and excellent review of the Edge and sharing your experiences.  
I can relate to you in losing your husband to the smokers lounge as mine has a tendency to do the same thing! LOL

We are long time Celebrity cruisers and now Elite Plus having sailed all the ships, in various categories from
Concierge, Aqua and now mostly suites.   We booked the Edge the second day they released bookings and secured a sky suite for an April sailing.  I am a bit apprehensive after reading all the reviews on Cruise Critic, but we will give the Edge a chance and form our own opinion after our sailing.   We are seasoned travellers and prefer modern ships.  For us it doesn't matter if a ship is small and older, as long as it is well maintained, has great service and good food.  Eden during the day sounds wonderful from the various reviews we've read, but the whole performance act at night sounds like

a major NO for us and something we will avoid.  We live in Los Angeles and travel to Vegas, New York and Europe on a frequent basis, and Eden sounds like a gimmick we would rather not be a part of.

 

Thank you. I think you will have a good time. We enjoyed the ship. Food and service were top notch. The Retreat area is very nice and I really like the main pool. We skipped Eden at night save for a brief stop in and you can too as there are plenty of other things to do on the ship in the evening. I liked the vibe around the Martini Bar.

[WonderMan3]

12 hours ago, Bhick1 said:

@WonderMan3 I believe you mentioned you had made reservations pre-cruise but was wondering if you heard/noticed availability issues with dining ressie.. Debating on whether to purchase a 3/4-meal specialty dining package or best to book specialty dining ala carte..  I'm concerned about not having availability for places like Petite Chef when I get on board... we are Sky so would check with Concierge but they can only do so much..

 

Appreciate your opinion/experience either way..

 

BTW: Thanks for this great thread.. fantastic stuff.

 

We didn't hear anything from other people about dining reservation issues. We did have to move our Rooftop Grill reservation to the following night due to wind and had no problem getting a space. The night we ate there and the night we ate at Fine Cut there were tables available although it was only outdoor tables open at Fine Cut (It was really nice eating out there btw, and quiet!) You can take the risk by not reserving in advance but you might not get your ideal times. If it is important for you to eat at particular times then you should reserve in advance.

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, nednrom said:

 

Quick Question - My husband smokes and you mentioned that smoking areas had been changed.  Where are the smoking areas now and can he smoke in the casino?

 

Smoking only on Deck 16 next to the Sunset Bar on starboard side and there is a smoking deck slightly above the main pool area on starboard side. Casino is on Deck 4. So your closest option to smoke is to go from Deck 4 all the way up to Deck 14 to the pool area.

[garda]

Adam,

 

Thanks for the review and awesome pictures.  I really enjoy your live threads.

 

Just wondering, was your husband Mike bothered by the fact that he had to go all the way up to Deck 14 or 15 to have a cigarette?  We really enjoyed smoking after dinner, in between shows, and taking a break from the Casino.  

[shanebbb]

Adam (and Mike):

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation to provide information and enjoyment for all of us!  You did an awesome job.

 

When I finally made it to page 8 and the cruise was over I actually felt a very slight twinge of that same depression I feel when our cruises have been over!