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CHICAGOPAUL - LIVE!!!!!! CRUISE BLOG - The EDGE February 24th!

chicagopaul

By chicagopaul,
in Celebrity Cruises

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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It is that time again for another LIVE cruise blog! This time we are thrilled to FINALLY try to Celebrity Edge. As I type this I am sitting at home at 3pm on a Thursday having a drink that I will have many of on board, a Ketel One and grapefruit juice. I figured I might as well have one while I write this and put together my intro video to the cruise. It will help me get in the right spirit! Plus a little cocktail will help take the edge (pun intended) off packing which is on my to do list next.

 

For those of you who have not followed my blogs before please let me introduce myself. My name is Paul and my partner is named Edward. We live in Chicago and this will mark cruise number 17 on Celebrity for us, but it will be our first cruise on the Celebrity Edge. I am 31 (soon to be 32 next week) and Edward is 36. We are very much looking forward to escaping the winter weather here in Chicago. While we’ve had worse winters, the past month has been pretty cold with lots of random snow and random freezing rain so it will be a much appreciated break from winter.

 

If you’d like to follow me on Instagram my Instagram name is PaulKBlackburn  If you find a profile with me in a suit and a bunch of drink and cruise photos then you’ve hit the right profile. On Instagram I’ll be using the story feature a lot since it allows me to post quickly and efficiently short 15 second videos and photos. But I will also be posting a minimum of 10 photos per day on here, as well as keeping you all updated on the daily papers, all activities on board, etc. but most importantly my thoughts on the new Edge. I’m very much looking forward to bringing you my first hand thoughts on a ship I’ve been waiting over 2 years to sail!

As in previous blogs I am going to be completely transparent with everything we do. I’ll tell you the pricing of everything we have whether it is the cost of the cruise, airfare, upcharges for restaurants, drinks, car service, hotel, etc. I know talking about money can sometimes be taboo but at the end of the day vacations cost money and lets be honest, we’re all curious what people are paying for things even if we won’t admit to others (or even ourselves sometimes). Plus I think going over these basic costs can help you plan your future trip.

 

So without further delay, lets talk about the biggest cost here, the cruise itself.

 

Cabin: We are staying in a suite. We are booked in a Sky Suite, but the lowest category of Sky Suite available, a S3. We booked this the first hour bookings were available for the Edge. I was watching the Facebook live reveal while talking to fellow cruise friend Dawn (who will be joining us on this trip with her sister Lisa for their birthdays!) and e-mailing my travel agent. Ironically, without even planning it Dawn and Lisa had booked the cabin right next door to us! So what did we pay?

S3 Cabin: $2,709 Per Person with GO BEST meaning it includes all 4 perks (Premium Drink Package, Unlimited Internet, Prepaid Gratuities, On Board Credit).

On Board Credit: $925 total. Part of this was $300 from using a booking we booked on board which we transferred to this booking.

 

Flights: We are flying out in the wee hours of the morning at 5:45am on Southwest, MDW non-stop to FLL.  On the way back we’re departing FLL at 11:50am on Sunday to MDW, again non-stop.

Going there our flights were just over 10,000 Southwest points each, so roughly $160 per person. On the way back we cannot find a record of payment, haha. We may have used a gift card, still tracking that down.

 

Hotel: We are staying in Fort Lauderdale at the Ritz Carlton. We are paying $446 for one night and this includes the resort fee and taxes. The resort fee here actually includes a couple bottles of water by the pool plus one cocktail each so at least you get something for it I suppose.

 

Travel Insurance: Medical / Medical Evac coverage only as we have trip protection etc. with our credit card. AIG Travel Guard - $66.00 total for 2.

 

Thank you again for following along! Please feel free to ask any questions you'd like and I will do my best to answer. I know some things on the Edge are still evolving so I’ll do my best to get you up to date information.

 

Here is a quick little intro video in case you’d like to put a face to the name.

 

https://youtu.be/ptkSoDo-5fo

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chicagopaul

chicagopaul

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Thank you everyone for the nice comments! We’ve arrived at Midway. We ordered an Uber Black and left our building around 3:50. It was roughly a 17/19 minute ride to the airport. No traffic at all which is usually the case at 4am. Cost for Uber was $56. If we used a regular UberX it would’ve been around $34. A cab would’ve been around $34/36 as well. 

 

We self tagged and checked our bags. TSA Prececk was open earlier than I thought and we breezed through security in a matter of minutes. 

 

Its 4:30am now. We are sitting at our gate with 45 minutes until boarding. Unfortunately the bars are not open yet so we will wait until the flight for a “morning beverage.” 

 

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MInurse

MInurse

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Safe flight! Enjoy the Ritz. We will be boarding as you disembark. We are in an aft sky suite. I’m wondering if the showers still leak on the floor. Are you doing any specialty restaurants? Fun, fun, fun. Can’t wait to follow along.

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Fighterone

Fighterone

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Paul, thank you for posting about your upcoming cruise and offering to answer questions. We are also booked in an S3 in a couple of months. What deck are you on if you care to mention it. I am concerned about the Magic Carpet passing by our balcony. It appears that we have an adjoining room and I am a bit concerned about the noise coming from the adjoining door. 

 

Never had a suite on Celebrity so not sure what Michael’s Lounge has to offer and how it compares to the Top Sail Lounge on MSC another favorite line of ours for their Yacht Club area. With this in mind, I’ve been looking at pictures of The Retreat on Deck 16 forward? Is food served here or is there only a bar, pool and sundeck?

 

Concerning “Luminae at the Retreat”, is  The Retreat what used to be called Michael’s Lounge? I cannot seem to find anything about Michael’s Lounge on this ship. 

 

Also curious to know about the menus available at Luminae and the quality of the food here and at the OVC. 

 

Will you be checking out the 4 MDR dining venues also, Tuscan, Cosmo, Normandie and Cyprus or will you be satisfied with Luminae? I had made reservations for these until I realized that they are part of the MDR. 

 

What specialty restaurants did you book if any? 

 

TIA 

 

Cheers and looking forward to learning a lot from your experience!

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iSailor

iSailor

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22 minutes ago, Fighterone said:

Paul, thank you for posting about your upcoming cruise and offering to answer questions. We are also booked in an S3 in a couple of months. What deck are you on if you care to mention it. I am concerned about the Magic Carpet passing by our balcony. It appears that we have an adjoining room and I am a bit concerned about the noise coming from the adjoining door. 

 

Never had a suite on Celebrity so not sure what Michael’s Lounge has to offer and how it compares to the Top Sail Lounge on MSC another favorite line of ours for their Yacht Club area. With this in mind, I’ve been looking at pictures of The Retreat on Deck 16 forward? Is food served here or is there only a bar, pool and sundeck?

 

Concerning “Luminae at the Retreat”, is  The Retreat what used to be called Michael’s Lounge? I cannot seem to find anything about Michael’s Lounge on this ship. 

 

Also curious to know about the menus available at Luminae and the quality of the food here and at the OVC. 

 

Will you be checking out the 4 MDR dining venues also, Tuscan, Cosmo, Normandie and Cyprus or will you be satisfied with Luminae? I had made reservations for these until I realized that they are part of the MDR. 

 

What specialty restaurants did you book if any? 

 

TIA 

 

Cheers and looking forward to learning a lot from your experience!

Concerning “Luminae at the Retreat”, is  The Retreat what used to be called Michael’s Lounge? I cannot seem to find anything about Michael’s Lounge on this ship. 

Michael's Club is gone.They is now a new lounge called Suite lounge.

Loyalty means nothing to Celebrity any more and now they only focus on making PROFIT for the company.

I felt so sorry to myself to be so loyal to this company.

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Pier290

Pier290

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Hello back from Chicago!  Perfect time to be escaping our winter ....it definitely has been a long February....anyhow we're going on the 10th day Southern on Equinox in September..... looking forward to your Edge review!!!  Happy sailing!! 🍸🍾🍷

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