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

[ecslady]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

Michelle.... unless they make the veranda bigger... there is no way to have a larger table or chairs that recline. The veranda is 40% smaller than similar veranda on Silhouette (in terms of usable space... not architectural drawings). Too late for Edge and Apex... perhaps the ships that follow can be modified to at least have deeper verandas... wider is not likely since that has a compounding impact on length of the ship.... I too complained about the designer picking these items... but once you see the space... the poor designer couldn't add space...had to deal with the space given. I had suggested a pub table design where you could pull leaves out from under the top... but there is no room to maneuver and pull out leaves. Frankly I think they should only have one chair on the veranda.. but I am sure they did not do that because people would object..... Now I will say as I have before... despite this I liked the IV cabin...DH preferred regular veranda... I never sit out in the sun... so this was a great way for me to enjoy the outside view. I would book this again..at the right price however... I am not sure DH would join me however.

 

VT cruising - Thanks for your efforts to write to X, and including thoughts on the IV cabin as well.

 

At the very least, the veranda chairs can have a recline on them, and a foot rest that can be stored under the chair.

 

Go back to  the queen size bed in the IV, and you gain 18 inches (I think Queen is 60 and King is 78 if my memory is correct). Then, just makes the veranda 18 inches more deep, problem solved!  If you want the King size bed, then get a suite.  Personally, had no issue with the bed size on the M or S class.

Edited January 28, 2019 by ecslady

[Essiesmom]

'Queen' beds on ships are actually 66 inches, as each twin is 33".  I measure such things...EM

[Freestyle Cruiser]

1 hour ago, ecslady said:

 

VT cruising - Thanks for your efforts to write to X, and including thoughts on the IV cabin as well.

 

At the very least, the veranda chairs can have a recline on them, and a foot rest that can be stored under the chair.

 

Go back to  the queen size bed in the IV, and you gain 18 inches (I think Queen is 60 and King is 78 if my memory is correct). Then, just makes the veranda 18 inches more deep, problem solved!  If you want the King size bed, then get a suite.  Personally, had no issue with the bed size on the M or S class.

 

These are two great solutions!

[kearney]

1 hour ago, ecslady said:

 

VT cruising - Thanks for your efforts to write to X, and including thoughts on the IV cabin as well.

 

At the very least, the veranda chairs can have a recline on them, and a foot rest that can be stored under the chair.

 

Go back to  the queen size bed in the IV, and you gain 18 inches (I think Queen is 60 and King is 78 if my memory is correct). Then, just makes the veranda 18 inches more deep, problem solved!  If you want the King size bed, then get a suite.  Personally, had no issue with the bed size on the M or S class.

I thought the same thing about just running the tile into the cabin to add a foot or more... but the side of the cabin... at least mine... only comes in straight on one side. On the other side the wall is not flush...it bends in about 10" as I recall... so you would have to get rid of the bifold doors.... so no way to keep heat out of cabin by closing doors. I had also thought that space could be used to put a curtain... but then you have to get rid of side table. That is why I don't see an easy way to correct current structural design. The chair leans back some... I would not call that a recliner...Perhaps a small footstool under the chair (would only do one) but that is just more items to move when you close blinds. After seeing it... I am just not sure how it can easily be addressed without causing other issues. 

[Silkroad]

4 hours ago, kearney said:

Michelle.... unless they make the veranda bigger... there is no way to have a larger table or chairs that recline. The veranda is 40% smaller than similar veranda on Silhouette (in terms of usable space... not architectural drawings). Too late for Edge and Apex... perhaps the ships that follow can be modified to at least have deeper verandas... wider is not likely since that has a compounding impact on length of the ship.... I too complained about the designer picking these items... but once you see the space... the poor designer couldn't add space...had to deal with the space given. I had suggested a pub table design where you could pull leaves out from under the top... but there is no room to maneuver and pull out leaves. Frankly I think they should only have one chair on the veranda.. but I am sure they did not do that because people would object..... Now I will say as I have before... despite this I liked the IV cabin...DH preferred regular veranda... I never sit out in the sun... so this was a great way for me to enjoy the outside view. I would book this again..at the right price however... I am not sure DH would join me however.

Thanks Kearney. Thanks to you & others who have occupied IVs, I think we have an accurate sense of the veranda spatial relationships. I don’t fault the interior design team for the size of the veranda, but I do fault the ship’s designers. That said, I do blame the interior designers for the stupid veranda furniture (and they put the same furniture on larger verandas). We fully expect to enjoy the IV cabin, but have our doubts about the IV veranda space. It’s clear that Celebrity can’t retrofit the “veranda” space to reflect the dimensions of the initial marketing videos without removing the bifold doors, and possibly reverting to a Queen bed. We’re not into lying in the sun either, but we do enjoy time on our balcony, and we do enjoy the occasional room service breakfast. The current chairs and tiny table don’t seem designed for comfort or relaxation, but we’d definitely rather have two chairs than only one. You mentioned price, which is really the crux of the matter. We could have booked an ocean view cabin for much less than our IV, so I hope we feel the poorly designed IV “veranda” is worth the higher price.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Silkroad

[BridgeBabe]

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 9:52 AM, vtcruising said:

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 🙂).

We are doing this on our March 31st cruise...Will be our 2nd one and you have just made me even more excited! Bless you for all your insight! I am thrilled with each of your reviews and so grateful for your positive attitude!!! You are a real Edge Treasure!

 

[vtcruising]

We are waiting to take off in Newark and then home! Will answer questions later!! Miss all my cruise buddies!! It was so much fun to meet everyone! 😀

[CanadianTourist]

VT  - I am curious....if you had to choose just one positive and one negative for the actual cruise experience....

 

biggest disappointment?

 

most pleasant surprise?

 

 

 

 

[vtcruising]

9 hours ago, angelhelly said:

Vt, Thank you for the picture for the Chef market discovery. We didn't take any since we didn't have our phone, so if it's ok, I might save your pictures for prosperity 🙂

Of course! I have more if you want me to post them. It was a fun day!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

On 1/27/2019 at 7:00 PM, vtcruising said:

Just to show that you can fit the phone on the smaller nightstand so that you can charge your phone with the USB port. The phone cord is very long so you can run the cord along the wall to the other side. The phone itself is cordless so that you can walk around the cabin and talk. I did notice that there is no caller ID - that is a pain because I felt that I needed to answer every call (I might let CC reminders go to message, for example).

Wonder why no caller ID?  That's the standard these days.  A pain not to have it.

[vtcruising]

2 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Wonder why no caller ID?  That's the standard these days.  A pain not to have it.

I agree! Maybe I missed it? Did anyone else see caller ID on those phones?

[RICCruisers]

4 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

I agree! Maybe I missed it? Did anyone else see caller ID on those phones?

Maybe the Art Auction people got rid of Caller ID so we wouldn’t know it’s them calling and we ignore the call. 

[angelhelly]

7 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Of course! I have more if you want me to post them. It was a fun day!

Thank you!!

 

It was!

 

For us, it was the best excursion we ever had. Would recommend to everybody in a heartbeat. 

 

My husband had some of the tequila he bough that day tonight. He said it's still as great. I can't have any, but he highly recommend it. 

[vtcruising]

17 minutes ago, angelhelly said:

Thank you!!

 

It was!

 

For us, it was the best excursion we ever had. Would recommend to everybody in a heartbeat. 

 

My husband had some of the tequila he bough that day tonight. He said it's still as great. I can't have any, but he highly recommend it. 

We didn't bring credit cards and we didn't think we had enough cash so we reluctantly left without a bottle. Once we got to Poncho's I found a hundred dollar bill in my purse (my emergency slots stash that I thought I had given to a bartender by mistake instead of a $1 tip) - we were close to running back to the tequila place....😉

Edited January 29, 2019 by vtcruising

[vtcruising]

angelhelly, did you hear that the St Maarten one was cancelled last time and might be cancelled this week as well?  Chef Krystos wasn't sure why, but thought it had to do with the local company that did the St Maarten tour part. That was an excellent tour too - I hope that they will be able to continue with it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I wish that when this problem occurs they would offer just the second part (champagne, galley tour and private dinner) at a reduced rate. 

[vtcruising]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I wish that when this problem occurs they would offer just the second part (champagne, galley tour and private dinner) at a reduced rate. 

Great idea! They could even add a Chef Q&A time. I sat next to the Chef on our St Maarten CMT and asked him a million questions during lunch. 🙂

[vtcruising]

7 hours ago, BridgeBabe said:

We are doing this on our March 31st cruise...Will be our 2nd one and you have just made me even more excited! Bless you for all your insight! I am thrilled with each of your reviews and so grateful for your positive attitude!!! You are a real Edge Treasure!

 

Thanks for the kind words!

 

Lucky you on having an Edge cruise to look forward to.  I'm definitely going to have major Edge envy until I get back onboard! 😉

[Reel Love]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

I agree! Maybe I missed it? Did anyone else see caller ID on those phones?

You did not miss it......there was no caller ID on the phones.  I was surprised at this as well as we have always had caller ID on Solstice ships.

[angelhelly]

58 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

angelhelly, did you hear that the St Maarten one was cancelled last time and might be cancelled this week as well?  Chef Krystos wasn't sure why, but thought it had to do with the local company that did the St Maarten tour part. That was an excellent tour too - I hope that they will be able to continue with it.

Yeah.  A Couple sitting next to us at diner were on that St Maarteen tour. They were doing a back to back and they booked the Cozumel one in lieu of the St Maarteen one. Christos tried to call his wife during dinner (which is working for the shore excursion desk) to confirm the status of that excursion..

 

That's the kind of service we got on the ship. They were really doing every they could to make you happy.... 

[vtcruising]

6 hours ago, CanadianTourist said:

VT  - I am curious....if you had to choose just one positive and one negative for the actual cruise experience....

 

biggest disappointment?

 

most pleasant surprise?

 

 

 

 

Interesting questions!

 

The most pleasant surprise was definitely Eden. I didn't go there as much during my first cruises and the music we like wasn't being presented there very often. I spent some quality time there on this cruise and loved the Eden Cafe for breakfast and lunch, the comfortable seating areas all over the venue (and leading up to the venue), including some outside, the breathtaking views and the relaxing vibe during the day and early evening. We had our favorite spot up above on Eden 6 along the rail for listening to the music events (many more offered there now). The amazing singers/bands with the backdrop of the gorgeous wake was something I have never experienced before and gave me chills every time.

 

 

I think I was most disappointed in how RTG and MC were so weather-dependent and we had a lot of windy weather on this cruise. On the first 3 cruises I was able to enjoy those venues more and loved both of them. I was sad to go to listen to music at RTG (my favorite on the early cruises) and have the set canceled or go to have a drink on the MC and see that it was too windy at that time (and our dinner that was to be out there was canceled). I think because there was so much more to do on this cruise, the times we might finally have a minute to go to the MC for a drink, it happened to be when the weather wasn't good. I know we also had some nice days, but must have had other things to do at those times. Anyway, I'm looking forward to those venues being improved so that they are more usable. We enjoyed them so much during the Nov-Dec cruises.

 

I will be posting a list of winners and losers on this cruise, but for now, these two things came to mind. 🙂

Edited January 29, 2019 by vtcruising

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

The most pleasant surprise was definitely Eden. I didn't go there as much during my first cruises and the music we like wasn't being presented there very often. I spent some quality time there on this cruise and loved the Eden Cafe for breakfast and lunch, the comfortable seating areas all over the venue (and leading up to the venue), including some outside, the breathtaking views and the relaxing vibe during the day and early evening. We had our favorite spot up above on Eden 6 along the rail for listening to the music events (many more offered there now). The amazing singers/bands with the backdrop of the gorgeous wake was something I have never experienced before and gave me chills every time.

This! 

I think all the posters that haven't sailed on the Edge yet that have been so turned off by the one entertainment program that they literally won't sail on the ship really is quite nonsensical. As I stated in a previous post the space that is Eden is not just about that controversial evening program but so much more. If you really don't want to see and experience the Edenists then just don't go to the evening show. But to avoid the whole space is really just plain STUPID. 

Edited January 29, 2019 by kwokpot

[hcat]

We are on the EDGE...TOTALLY AMAZING! Love the cabin, love the ship, happy crew and Officers!

 

 Our Roll call Sailaway was  excellent..as was the Cruise Critic Connections party and the Cabin Crawl....

 

best ever big birthday!...great spa day, got an EDGE necklace...amazing show tonight....Kaliedescope..I will try to start some type of review but just so  much fun going on and I feel internet time pressured!

 

Most  of all sincere thanks to you  VT cruiser  for the beautiful birthday card and fabulous gifts you left for me,,.....You are the best...so many  people send their best to you!!! 

[Oville]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

Interesting questions!

 

The most pleasant surprise was definitely Eden. I didn't go there as much during my first cruises and the music we like wasn't being presented there very often. I spent some quality time there on this cruise and loved the Eden Cafe for breakfast and lunch, the comfortable seating areas all over the venue (and leading up to the venue), including some outside, the breathtaking views and the relaxing vibe during the day and early evening. We had our favorite spot up above on Eden 6 along the rail for listening to the music events (many more offered there now). The amazing singers/bands with the backdrop of the gorgeous wake was something I have never experienced before and gave me chills every time.

 

I think I was most disappointed in how RTG and MC were so weather-dependent and we had a lot of windy weather on this cruise. On the first 3 cruises I was able to enjoy those venues more and loved both of them. I was sad to go to listen to music at RTG (my favorite on the early cruises) and have the set canceled or go to have a drink on the MC and see that it was too windy at that time (and our dinner that was to be out there was canceled). I think because there was so much more to do on this cruise, the times we might finally have a minute to go to the MC for a drink, it happened to be when the weather wasn't good. I know we also had some nice days, but must have had other things to do at those times. Anyway, I'm looking forward to those venues being improved so that they are more usable. We enjoyed them so much during the Nov-Dec cruises.

 

I will be posting a list of winners and losers on this cruise, but for now, these two things came to mind. 🙂

Well said, we couldn’t agree with you more.  Katie 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Oville

[MVPinBoynton]

8 minutes ago, hcat said:

We are on the EDGE...TOTALLY AMAZING! Love the cabin, love the ship, happy crew and Officers!

 

 Our Roll call Sailaway was  excellent..as was the Cruise Critic Connections party and the Cabin Crawl....

 

best ever big birthday!...great spa day, got an EDGE necklace...amazing show tonight....Kaliedescope..I will try to start some type of review but just so  much fun going on and I feel internet time pressured!

 

Most  of all sincere thanks to you  VT cruiser  for the beautiful birthday card and fabulous gifts you left for me,,.....You are the best...so many  people send their best to you!!! 

 

So glad you are enjoying the wonderful Edge.  It is a most enjoyable experience.  Make sure you go to the Eden show a couple times at night.  It will grow on you.  I really enjoyed on the most recent cruise after being most disappointed on the first.