VTcruising Is Living On The Edge Again: The LIVE Saga Continues (1/20/19)

[Oville]

A bit disappointed that Edge is not using its tenders today.  Oh well no big deal, we’ll spend another day on this beautiful ship.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Oville

[MVPinBoynton]

24 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

It is easy to miss...

 

It is indeed; but fortunately, you found it. It is certainly a fast way off the ship, if the stairs and elevators are clogged up.

[cgolf1]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

Thanks for  all the details..I am packing my earplugs!

 

We were hoping for the Whitney Houston tribute..no screeching allowed for humans or violins!

 

Kaleidescope is the aerial show we want to see..probably easier than trying to follow some of the wierd non plots of the shows!

 

Agree about the  recent messaging....we  try to ignore it!

 

ENJOY the next few days...looks like a soggy departure day...unless the rain starts later on !

 

I am sure you have a plan, for your bags and the rain, but will toss out this tip. 

 

Since our bags got soaked once on the way home, we have been packing our clothes and stuff in packing cubes and putting the cubes in those big ziploc bags. Hopefully this would keep our clothes dry should we get hit with one of those Florida pop up showers:)

[vtcruising]

Chef's Market Tour continued...

 

I forgot to mention that two Edge chefs were with us: Chef Krystos (?sp), who oversaw Luminae, Raw on 5, Le Grand Bistro, FCSH and Chef Paul, who oversaw Blu. They traveled with us from place to place and made a few comments and we could ask them questions.

 

We went to a market - very clean and friendly. These ladies make tortillas to sell:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could buy empanadas - we shared three types for $3 - cheese, pork and chicken. They were hot and soooo good!

 

 

We then walked to an ice cream place and had a frozen fruit bar. There were about 20 types - I chose mango.

 

We were then whisked off to the tequila place!

 

 

This lovely guy gave us a nice talk about tequila making and then we sampled several types. This was our favorite - very smooth! (extra anejo- the most expensive, of course - only $129/bottle).

 

These were the others we tried:

 

We were all in high spirits when we headed for lunch (yes, we still had to eat lunch yet - also, I forgot to mention Henry's chocolate Margarita at the chocolate shop - yum!). to be continued...

Edited January 25, 2019 by vtcruising

[alishac]

Thanks for the dailies! I may have missed it, but have they been showing any movies in the Rooftop Garden or doing any special sail away events there? I thought I had read somewhere that these types of events were planned for that space... 

[vtcruising]

Chef's Market Tour continued....

 

While we were in tasting tequila there was a huge downpour and I mean really drenching rain. When we walked to Pancho's for lunch 10 minutes later, it had cleared up. Amazing!

 

At Pancho's we were treated to a wonderfully authentic Mexican lunch. It is a lovely restaurant by the ocean. We had 3 types of tacos and hibiscus water:

 

 

 

 

The food was delicious and we boarded the bus for the ride back to the ship. We napped and got ready for yet another meal in the evening!

 

Last night Chef Krystos met us in the Cafe al Bacio (at the long table in the back) at 6:15 for champagne. He was great about answering questions and talking about the ship.

He then took us on a galley tour in Cyprus' galley in the middle of dinner service - what a zoo!

 

We were then seated at two large tables in Cyprus for a ? 6 course dinner using Mexican ingredients - I lost count. They served wine continuously - I have no idea how many glasses I had because my glass was never empty!

 

 

fresh-caught grouper:

 

Chateaubriand with mole sauce:

 

There was much more including chips and guac, a wonderful soup and chocolate dessert. It was a fun time, but I did leave at 9:00 to see the show as I couldn't even look at any more food (the event lasted for at least 3 hrs 🙂).

[vtcruising]

3 minutes ago, alishac said:

Thanks for the dailies! I may have missed it, but have they been showing any movies in the Rooftop Garden or doing any special sail away events there? I thought I had read somewhere that these types of events were planned for that space... 

Football was on at Sailaway (on a Sunday night). There have been movies up there - Casablanca, Footloose and others. We have had some windy days - hopefully tonight will be quieter up there. 🙂

[hcat]

39 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

I am sure you have a plan, for your bags and the rain, but will toss out this tip. 

 

Since our bags got soaked once on the way home, we have been packing our clothes and stuff in packing cubes and putting the cubes in those big ziploc bags. Hopefully this would keep our clothes dry should we get hit with one of those Florida pop up showers:)

 

Forecast for boarding time is 100 % chance of rain,.heavy at times. Still hope we can get in during a break in the rain..never has this issue in many years of cruising!

 

Thanks for the tip..too late for packing cubes but hope we will do okay.will look into that for the future.  Our clothes are wrapped in plastic inside the suitcases. 

 

I posted on the port departures board  asking about how easy it will be for my husb to drop me, our luggage and the  carry on at the entrance to the  pier building...and then go back to the parking garage.  We had planned to walk together but dropping everything off may keep it drier....He has a  windshirt and umbrella.

 

Do you know how easy it will be for him to get back to the mid point garage.?

Do you know what happens to the luggage after it is given to the porters?

Wonderman, a suite guest, reported that his luggage and the clothing inside was  soaked...wonder if it sits outsude or goes immediately  to the ship. We are in Aquaclass...ironic!

[cgolf1]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

Forecast for boarding time is 100 % chance of rain,.heavy at times. Still hope we can get in during a break in the rain..never has this issue in many years of cruising!

 

Thanks for the tip..too late for packing cubes but hope we will do okay.will look into that for the future.  Our clothes are wrapped in plastic inside the suitcases. 

 

I posted on the port departures board  asking about how easy it will be for my husb to drop me, our luggage and the  carry on at the entrance to the  pier building...and then go back to the parking garage.  We had planned to walk together but dropping everything off may keep it drier....He has a  windshirt and umbrella.

 

Do you know how easy it will be for him to get back to the mid point garage.?

Do you know what happens to the luggage after it is given to the porters?

Wonderman, a suite guest, reported that his luggage and the clothing inside was  soaked...wonder if it sits outsude or goes immediately  to the ship. We are in Aquaclass...ironic!

 

For us I just worry that my dinner clothes would get wet and my boarding clothes wouldn’t make the cut in a Celebrity MDR. I guess Florida is getting impacted by the nice polar blast we are seeing. 

 

We we are hoping to upgrade to aqua class if the price is right, last time I looked there were a lot of them open. Time will tell. 

[hcat]

Chefs Market tour looked and sounds great...thanks for all the great photos and info,,. The Chefs really went all out!  Love Panchos, love tequila..sounds well worth the price.. We don't  do Western Carib itins much anymore but will  definitely keep this excursion in mind! ( always rains on us in that port, but usually not for long!)

[Oville]

Hcat, very easy to drop u off, garage is a five minute walk half sheltered.  Katie

[hcat]

12 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

For us I just worry that my dinner clothes would get wet and my boarding clothes wouldn’t make the cut in a Celebrity MDR. I guess Florida is getting impacted by the nice polar blast we are seeing. 

 

We we are hoping to upgrade to aqua class if the price is right, last time I looked there were a lot of them open. Time will tell. 

 

We have our rain gear and  dinner clothes in our carry on, all wrapped in plastic.  Even though BLU is never fussy ( but no shorts for dinner)  , we change for first night's  dinner, and on EDGE, we understand there is a Cap Club event in EDEN on the boarding night,  Our Sailaway has also been moved there as well.

Still looking forward to a great cruise...

[CruisingTheWaves]

2 hours ago, vtcruising said:

 

Here is the way down - I'll try to get a picture of the way up. 🙂

 

Entrance to staircase on right, from GP 3 in back of Martini Bar (across from where the "old" GP Cafe was located😞

 

 

 

Any talk of making this into anything else? I know people said it wasn't utilized but I still planned to check it out. Would be interested to see what they turn it into.

[hcat]

54 minutes ago, Oville said:

Hcat, very easy to drop u off, garage is a five minute walk half sheltered.  Katie

 

Thanks..we usually stick together but this is probably the better plan. Plus I don't get wet...ha ha.

 

We also decided not to do walk off this time at the end of the cruise...Our luggage is bulky whenever we drive over to the port...and we don't really have a plane to catch..going to visit  grandma,..then back to the west coast...

 

Wish you and Vt were staying onboard....would love to meet you both in person,,..maybe next time!  Enjoy the next few days

[Oville]

32 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

Thanks..we usually stick together but this is probably the better plan. Plus I don't get wet...ha ha.

 

We also decided not to do walk off this time at the end of the cruise...Our luggage is bulky whenever we drive over to the port...and we don't really have a plane to catch..going to visit  grandma,..then back to the west coast...

 

Wish you and Vt were staying onboard....would love to meet you both in person,,..maybe next time!  Enjoy the next few days

We never walk off, way to much “stuff” when we arrive by car.  Having a relaxing breakfast Luminae/Blu is a good way to end a cruise.

 

Staying on board today was a great decision.  We had a drink on the MC then lunch outside Eden Cafe.  MC is a wonderful outdoor bar weather permitting and EC is great.

 

 

Now we are enjoying some R&R on the Edge ramp.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Oville

[vtcruising]

It was great to see you relaxing in Eden outside, Katie. What a lovely venue with great food. Henry loved his clam chowder and I enjoyed the daily carved roast open-faced sandwich (rustic fresh bread). Bread and meat were delicious! Potato salad was awesome! Henry liked his chocolate cake. Lovely spot to watch the ocean and the tenders go back and forth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TeeRick]

4 hours ago, vtcruising said:

Yesterday we were in Cozumel and did our Chef's Market Tour.

 

We had a quick continental breakfast on the outside deck in the Retreat Lounge. It was empty again and we enjoyed a nice quiet breakfast overlooking the ocean.

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, we headed for the end of the pier and were met by Adrian, our tour leader. He was a great tour guide for our small group of 19. We were in a good-sized, comfy bus so went from place to place in comfort. Adrian talked about Cozumel, the history, culture, food, etc. and discussed the island's complete dependence on the mainland for food, electricity and pretty much everything, while we went to each place. He made it all very interesting.

 

We first went to the chocolate factory and learned about chocolate's discovery and the importance in the health and culture of the people (the food of the gods). We first had to be cleansed before entering by an actual priest (notice the parrot who interrupted Adrian all the time, but not the priest):

 

 

(Adrian is on the right)

 

 

Cocao beans:

 

This fun guy showed us how to make chocolate (Adrian's BIL):

 

Jazzbeau found this in the gift shop - we almost bought it to place in the Retreat, but reluctantly left it behind.😎

 

 

Another hippie van😊

[ecslady]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

Thanks for the tip..too late for packing cubes but hope we will do okay.will look into that for the future.  Our clothes are wrapped in plastic inside the suitcases.

 

I just several of the giant Zip-Loc bags for my clothes.  Works well.

[Freestyle Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

We never walk off, way to much “stuff” when we arrive by car.  Having a relaxing breakfast Luminae/Blu is a good way to end a cruise.

 

Staying on board today was a great decision.  We had a drink on the MC then lunch outside Eden Cafe.  MC is a wonderful outdoor bar weather permitting and EC is great.

 

 

Now we are enjoying some R&R on the Edge ramp.

 

I smile when I see the people walk off with 1 suitcase each. We will never be that couple.  Love your photos of the MC and swinging chairs. Looks so luxurious and tropical. 

[gw2fll]

Nancy:

 

Thanks for all your hard work and great information you are providing. 

 

Had two quick questions I hope you can help with:

 

1) Do they offer a "Behind the Scenes" tour of the ship like they do on Solstice Class? I see the "Backstage" tour in our cruise planner, but I am looking for the one that goes to the Galley, Engine Room, Bridge, etc. 

 

2) Are you aware of anyone that has posted the Dailies for the Eastern Caribbean cruise? I have tried to search, but cannot find anything.

 

We are sailing in an S1 Aft, so the information you shared really helped so we know what to expect vs what we thought from the marketing materials.

 

Thanks again for your help and assistance. 

 

Doug

[vtcruising]

3 hours ago, CruisingTheWaves said:

Any talk of making this into anything else? I know people said it wasn't utilized but I still planned to check it out. Would be interested to see what they turn it into.

Interestingly, just went by there and found this - it is on one side of what was the GP Cafe. 

 

I asked a bartender what it was and he said it was a serving station for the bar (bartenders can grab wine, etc without going to the bar).

[vtcruising]

5 hours ago, MVPinBoynton said:

 

It is indeed; but fortunately, you found it. It is certainly a fast way off the ship, if the stairs and elevators are clogged up.

Here is the entrance from DG:

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks so much for those pics. That is a really nice stairway.  

[hcat]

Stairway with those lights  not  good for me with my transitional lenses but maybe in Nov it will come in handy!  Thanks for sharing your discovery

 

How did your husband enjoy thermal suite?  Did you use the gym at all?

[ecslady]

44 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Interestingly, just went by there and found this - it is on one side of what was the GP Cafe. 

 

I asked a bartender what it was and he said it was a serving station for the bar (bartenders can grab wine, etc without going to the bar).

 

Sounds like you could have just helped yourself as you were passing through.  Is this the answer to help servers out since there are not enough? And who keeps restocking this little area all evening?

Edited January 25, 2019 by ecslady