IV--Would You Book or Book Again?

[kearney]

I never used regular balcony.... between getting burned and the heat.... I never stayed out on it long. DH on the other hand will take a book and sit out there for hours. I liked the IV... he preferred the regular style. For me I loved the privacy and laying in bed looking out at the view and listening to the waves against the ship. Now would I book it again..... sure... but to be honest... not at the prices currently being charged. While I did like the ship.... I just did not like it twice as much as S class.

[cluso]

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Yep, that's true.  That's been the reports.  I'd like to understand why people have that observation if the cabins are the same size.

I think I read the beds are king size instead of queen size.  That would take up more room.

[ecslady]

5 minutes ago, cluso said:

I think I read the beds are king size instead of queen size.  That would take up more room.

 

That is correct. KIng size so they take up more room as well.

[cluso]

1 hour ago, Esprit said:

Seems to me that there are some Celebrity diehards that will find the smallest thing to complain about but to see so much negativity from people who haven't yet been on the Edge is incredulous.

 

It's not really negativity--it's just people doing research, asking questions, and submitting their opinions.    If you are buying a car, do you go out and buy every car that interests you, then settle on the one you like the most?    You don't have to go on the Edge to decide that you like it or don't.  That's the great thing about these forums--information flow. Everyone has their own idea on what a cruise should be like, or not.  Some people are fortunate enough to have the money to "test" the new ships.  Others don't, and what to make an informed decision.

I am the OP and asked the question based on how much we use a real balcony.  So far, I would say we would not book the Edge. We go on cruises for the connection to the sea, not shows, games, casinos, and shopping.  Bottom line, this thread has given us a lot of information.  That's a good thing.  BTW, we are not Celebrity diehards.  We cruise various cruise lines, to include Star Clippers; rent boats on the rivers and canals of Europe; self charter sailboats as far away as Tonga; rent international villas; and do our own driving trips all over.  This all takes research, but our money is well spent.  

[cruzdude1]

We cruised on the Edge 12/9/18, great service, food, love the dinner concept. There is no way I will ever book an IV again. It is a glorified ocean view. When we cruise I love sitting on the veranda. It was locked often. I remember numerous times I told the wife I needed to get out of the cabin because I felt confined without veranda access. 

[ohhbother]

8 hours ago, boscobeans said:

 

We have been cruising the Caribbean exclusively for almost 20 years and always in what are the months of January, February and March.  

In our experiences over those years leaving our veranda door open would almost always make our stateroom extremely uncomfortable to say the least.  Maybe they have discovered something new with the IVs?? 

 

 

We had the exact opposite experience with the IV in our Dec. 1. cruise. If we had the window open, the room became uncomfortable hot and muggy very quickly. So we just didn’t open the window. We wouldn’t book an IV again, as I’ve said previously. 

[Hlitner]

Some of these posts are very interesting and will likely be noticed by Celebrity.  Leaving a window or balcony door ajar compromises the closed-AC system for an entire section of the ship.  Not only does it waste valuable energy, but causes A/C issues in other cabins....and the corridor.   It is likely that the Edge has a system that allows the main Control Room to monitor cabins who have doors/windows ajar.  This type system exists on other newer vessels.  Given the nature of the current Celebrity senior management I can imagine a future when they charge extra fees to anyone who leaves a door/window ajar for more then a few minutes :.)  

 

Hank

[boscobeans]

1 hour ago, ohhbother said:

 

We had the exact opposite experience with the IV in our Dec. 1. cruise. If we had the window open, the room became uncomfortable hot and muggy very quickly. So we just didn’t open the window. We wouldn’t book an IV again, as I’ve said previously. 

 

I believe that is the point that I was making.

[Silkroad]

4 hours ago, Esprit said:

S class ships have a stupid staircase that descends onto a tiny dance floor.

I love many things about the S class ships, but I must say I agree with your assessment of the grand staircase leading to the minuscule dance floor (and I miss ballroom & Latin dance music too).

 

4 hours ago, Oville said:

The cabin itself however is very much like an S Class veranda cabin but with a bigger and nicer bathroom.

This is how the cabin appears to me too. 

 

3 hours ago, kearney said:

DH on the other hand will take a book and sit out there for hours. I liked the IV... he preferred the regular style. For me I loved the privacy and laying in bed looking out at the view and listening to the waves against the ship. 

We don’t sit on the balcony for hours, but we do spend perhaps 15-45 minutes on it, several times per day. Like you, we enjoy lying in bed, looking at the view, and listening to the sea. My fear is that the IV will be locked too often to allow us to enjoy either of these as often as we would like. Should that be the case, I would feel that we had paid a very high price for a half time Veranda/half time OV. 

 

I am reading the posts on this thread with great interest, and I cannot overstate how much I appreciate those of you who have actually sailed Edge taking the time to share information and photos with the rest of us. Thank you! 

 

We haven’t yet sailed, and we have no intention of canceling our Concierge IV booking. We’ll have 15 nights to assess the cabin, and also assess the wisdom of our choice lol. Seriously, as two of the original Edgies, DH and I were intrigued by the IV concept from the moment we saw the initial marketing release. We are disappointed with the lack of useful tables, and the veranda being smaller and less useful (with bifold doors closed) than indicated by the initial CAD drawings. However, having read reviews and posts by people who had been amongst the first to sail other new ships, we knew we were risking disappointment. Marketing doesn’t always equal reality, and a new ship is always overpriced IMO. Yet here we are. I booked on the day the schedule was released to CC members. Our cabin fares have nearly doubled since then, so I guess others are also willing to give it a go😉 

 

We can’t wait to explore Edge, experience her wonderful art, and try as many of her beautiful public venues as possible. We love some things about both the S class & M class ships (preferred original M class with gorgeous restaurants). We expect to love some aspects of Edge, and dislike others. Based on our prior cruises, we’re fairly confident that, with perhaps a couple exceptions, we’ll think the crew is stellar. Based on ongoing reviews, we believe Celebrity is still working out kinks, and we also believe they are responding to passengers’ criticisms and concerns by making some changes. Believe me, I’ll post an honest review, with photos, about our 15 nights aboard🙂

Edited December 25, 2018 by Silkroad

[boscobeans]

7 hours ago, marylander2 said:

If I may kindly ask you, what specifically was making your room extremely uncomfortable while leaving the door open?
We have sailed for years with balcony, including Caribbean, and the only reason was that we love to open the door slightly while sleeping. Except a few very hot nights here and there (South Pacific, Indian Ocean etc.), it is a very pleasant experience, which we always enjoy...

 

Maybe my wife and I are different than most others in that we enjoy the heat of the Caribbean in the Caribbean and not in our stateroom.

Same when visiting Florida in August, we enjoy the air conditioning in our hotel and the heat on our room's balcony.

 

You ask, "...what specifically was making your room extremely uncomfortable while leaving the door open?" 

Well simply put, what makes our room uncomfortable are temperatures that can easily reach or exceed 90 degrees with humidity to match when the doors are open. 

 

Whether leaving a veranda door open or not has been discussed to death on this and every other cruise line forum and the general consensus is that it affects the HVAC system in not only your cabin but in other areas and staterooms. 

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by boscobeans

[Silkroad]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Some of these posts are very interesting and will likely be noticed by Celebrity.  Leaving a window or balcony door ajar compromises the closed-AC system for an entire section of the ship.  Not only does it waste valuable energy, but causes A/C issues in other cabins....and the corridor.   It is likely that the Edge has a system that allows the main Control Room to monitor cabins who have doors/windows ajar.  This type system exists on other newer vessels.  Given the nature of the current Celebrity senior management I can imagine a future when they charge extra fees to anyone who leaves a door/window ajar for more then a few minutes :.)  

 

Hank

Hank, I value your opinion and appreciate the useful information you’ve posted on these forums, but I must disagree on this point. Based on posts by those who have sailed in an IV, the AC goes off whenever the IV window is opened, regardless of whether the bifold doors are open or closed. If Celebrity indeed made such a ridiculous design decision, they had better not charge passengers for sitting on their supposedly usable Veranda, with window open and bifold doors closed.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Silkroad

[ecslady]

2 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

Hank, I value your opinion and appreciate the useful information you’ve posted on these forums, but I must disagree. Based on posts by those who have sailed in an IV, the AC goes off whenever the IV window is opened, regardless of whether the bifold doors are open or closed. If Celebrity indeed made such a ridiculous design decision, they had better not charge passengers for sitting on their supposedly usable Veranda, with window open and bifold doors closed.

 

Correct,  the AC goes off when the window is open.  And, the doors have lots of gaps so they do not form an air tight seal for the cabin. As I said before , the doors are worthless IMO.

[Silkroad]

4 minutes ago, ecslady said:

 

Correct,  the AC goes off when the window is open.  And, the doors have lots of gaps so they do not form an air tight seal for the cabin. As I said before , the doors are worthless IMO.

Based on your review, as well as the reviews by others, I certainly wouldn’t book an IV for the Caribbean, but I do believe the bifold doors will be more useful in less hot climates. At least that is my hope. I will be on the first passenger cruise leaving Florida for Europe, so I imagine I’ll have a chance to test my theory...

[kearney]

27 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

I love many things about the S class ships, but I must say I agree with your assessment of the grand staircase leading to the minuscule dance floor (and I miss ballroom & Latin dance music too).

 

This is how the cabin appears to me too. 

 

We don’t sit on the balcony for hours, but we do spend perhaps 15-45 minutes on it, several times per day. Like you, we enjoy lying in bed, looking at the view, and listening to the sea. My fear is that the IV will be locked too often to allow us to enjoy either of these as often as we would like. Should that be the case, I would feel that we had paid a very high price for a half time Veranda/half time OV. 

 

I am reading the posts on this thread with great interest, and I cannot overstate how much I appreciate those of you who have actually sailed Edge taking the time to share information and photos with the rest of us. Thank you! 

 

We haven’t yet sailed, and we have no intention of canceling our Concierge IV booking. We’ll have 15 nights to assess the cabin, and also assess the wisdom of our choice lol. Seriously, as two of the original Edgies, DH and I were intrigued by the IV concept from the moment we saw the initial marketing release. We are disappointed with the lack of useful tables, and the veranda being smaller and less useful (with bifold doors closed) than indicated by the initial CAD drawings. However, having read reviews and posts by people who had been amongst the first to sail other new ships, we knew we were risking disappointment. Marketing doesn’t always equal reality, and a new ship is always overpriced IMO. Yet here we are. I booked on the day the schedule was released to CC members. Our cabin fares have nearly doubled since then, so I guess others are also willing to give it a go😉 

 

We can’t wait to explore Edge, experience her wonderful art, and try as many of her beautiful public venues as possible. We love some things about both the S class & M class ships (preferred original M class with gorgeous restaurants). We expect to love some aspects of Edge, and dislike others. Based on our prior cruises, we’re fairly confident that, with perhaps a couple exceptions, we’ll think the crew is stellar. Based on ongoing reviews, we believe Celebrity is still working out kinks, and we also believe they are responding to passengers’ criticisms and concerns by making some changes. Believe me, I’ll post an honest review, with photos, about our 15 nights aboard🙂

I think you will find that the IV is locked while in port. I don't recall it being locked while moving. We generally had good weather.. although there was an occassional shower...but we were not testing to see if it was locked then. We were in the cabin at one point when they came by. It was like a car wash, in terms of the force of the spray... You would not want your window open. However.... I do wonder if the system can be set up to lock them only while the washers are in the general area of your cabin....  Anyway while we were sailing I do not recall the window being locked.  To be honest I think Edge is going to be such a personal experience... you need to be aware of comments... but I would not judge until you get a chance to experience it yourself. There were many aspects of the ship that I loved... but on balance just not quite enough to pay a premium in the future. But it was worth the experience. I just wished I had gone on the MC. It is just that it was so windy whenever I was on that deck that I kept deciding to wait... and I missed it. 

[Hlitner]

So let this novice understand.  You mean to say that you cannot use your IV while in port?  When we cruise we will often have breakfast on our balcony, especially when we are docked (or anchored) since there is generally not a lot of wind.   If I understand what you are posting, the IC's cannot be used in such a situation?  This does not make a lot of sense.   One pays more money for this ship and an IC cabin, but then has its use restricted?

 

Hank

[kearney]

21 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So let this novice understand.  You mean to say that you cannot use your IV while in port?  When we cruise we will often have breakfast on our balcony, especially when we are docked (or anchored) since there is generally not a lot of wind.   If I understand what you are posting, the IC's cannot be used in such a situation?  This does not make a lot of sense.   One pays more money for this ship and an IC cabin, but then has its use restricted?

 

Hank

It is not closed all the time.... just when they are cleaning windows.... the salt spray tends to leave a spotty finish on the windows. In your typical veranda... I believe the room attendant or someone else... comes along and cleans them... on Edge this massive machine comes by run (I guess) by the guys sitting in the unit... I did not notice them manually wipe down the window. I have heard it can be locked for quite a while... we did not time it... just noticed that periodically we could not open the window.

[Hlitner]

1 minute ago, kearney said:

It is not closed all the time.... just when they are cleaning windows.... the salt spray tends to leave a spotty finish on the windows. In your typical veranda... I believe the room attendant or someone else... comes along and cleans them... on Edge this massive machine comes by run (I guess) by the guys sitting in the unit... I did not notice them manually wipe down the window. I have heard it can be locked for quite a while... we did not time it... just noticed that periodically we could not open the window.

Thanks, that makes perfect sense and is similar to the practice used on most ships (although they do not lock your balcony doors).  On our most recent cruise (MSC) they simply sent a warning to the cabins about the time they would be cleaning.  If one was on their balcony at the time, they had to run fast or find themselves sprayed :).

 

Hank

[boscobeans]

3 minutes ago, kearney said:

. I believe the room attendant or someone else... comes along and cleans them... on Edge this massive machine comes by run (I guess) by the guys sitting in the unit..

 

Most ships have this type of cleaning system mounted on rails along the veranda decks.  This is a photo of one of them on the Eclipse.

[marylander2]

5 hours ago, boscobeans said:

 

Maybe my wife and I are different than most others in that we enjoy the heat of the Caribbean in the Caribbean and not in our stateroom.

Same when visiting Florida in August, we enjoy the air conditioning in our hotel and the heat on our room's balcony.

 

You ask, "...what specifically was making your room extremely uncomfortable while leaving the door open?" 

Well simply put, what makes our room uncomfortable are temperatures that can easily reach or exceed 90 degrees with humidity to match when the doors are open. 

 

Whether leaving a veranda door open or not has been discussed to death on this and every other cruise line forum and the general consensus is that it affects the HVAC system in not only your cabin but in other areas and staterooms. 

 

I hope that answers your question.

 

Yes, to a certain degree 🙂

 

I guess it depends on how wide you are opening the balcony door - with a/c working and the two finger-wide split I would doubt that it affects the HVAC that much. I am not going to debate this, because I foresee plenty of angry CC members going after me for "affecting the airflow" in their cabins as well 😂 (I bet there  also will be plenty of those who are enjoying a whiff of sea breeze through the crack of door opening and the soothing sounds of waves outside while going to sleep...).

I just don't open it fully, thus it does not jack up the temp to 90 F inside, and does not increase the humidity. I manage to find an optimal width of opening, that is all. 

Earlier I asked those who already experienced the IV if it is possible to lower it only by a couple of inches, and most of the answers were "impossible" - it either stays fully closed or fully open.

When it is fully open, I am certain that having a/c working will affect the circulation - thus, Edge IV cabin is designed the way it is - a/c shuts down when the window is open...

But thanks again for your answer, appreciate it. Merry Christmas.

Edited December 26, 2018 by marylander2

[ohhbother]

6 hours ago, boscobeans said:

 

I believe that is the point that I was making.

 

I was responding to the last part of your statement about possibly something new being discovered with the design of the IV cabins. Just wanted to clarify there’s no new solution - they have the same problem, probably even worse, than a standard balcony room where the door is left open.  

[Esprit]

Our IV window was definitely never locked whilst in port. Nor did the Captain see the need to lock them when he had the stablizers out on our penultimate sea day.

Everytime I went onto the veranda I opened the window.

You can lock them yourself from the wall mounted touch screen by the toilet so perhaps some guests. locked it and forgot to unlock it. 

 

[Esprit]

You can DEFINITELY lower the window by a couple of inches and leave it there.

You simply take your finger off the wall mounted button at the desired height.

[ipeeinthepool]

10 hours ago, kearney said:

It is not closed all the time.... just when they are cleaning windows.... the salt spray tends to leave a spotty finish on the windows. In your typical veranda... I believe the room attendant or someone else... comes along and cleans them... on Edge this massive machine comes by run (I guess) by the guys sitting in the unit... I did not notice them manually wipe down the window. I have heard it can be locked for quite a while... we did not time it... just noticed that periodically we could not open the window.

 

Does anyone know if the windows are locked in port during fueling operations?   It seems reasonable that they may lock windows on one side of the ship.

[Esprit]

1 minute ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Does anyone know if the windows are locked in port during fueling operations?   It seems reasonable that they may lock windows on one side of the ship.

No, they are not locked whilst refuelling takes place. 

Just as standard balcony doors are not locked on all other cruise ships whilst refuelling takes place

[Ritanita]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 9:35 AM, miched said:

Do you have to have both bifold doors open at the same time or can you just open and close one or crack one open enough to walk out? 

 

Where would it be better to have the bed, by the bath or window? 

 

Thanks 

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We just got back on Dec. 23rd.  We had the IV cabin.  As for the bed positioning, ours was by the  "veranda."  Since my husband uses a C-PAP, he got the interior side for his plug.  We never closed the doors because I would have had to get into the bed on his side or from the bottom.  The doors are THAT close.

 

Now, if the bed is near the bathroom, access to the closet becomes dicey as the bed is fairly close, from what I saw in a video.

 

Not a bad cabin at all if you're not an open veranda enthusiast.