Just off the Edge

[landbc]

Hello all! I don't post here much, but wanted to give a quick Pro's/Con's review of my families Edge sailing last week. First of all, we are a family of three. My wife and I are in our early forties and my daughter is eight. This is our fifth cruise with Celebrity.

 

Pro's

• Embarkation at Port Everglades was amazing! No more than 20 minutes from leaving the parking garage to being on the ship. I had a noon boarding time and showed up around 11:10AM. I was on the ship by 11:30. 
• Ship was very modern, clean and aesthetically pleasing. Personally, I liked a lot of the artwork and enjoyed the overall looks of the ship.
• Select dining was nice. Made reservations for all four restaurants the first four nights. Ate in the Normandie the first night and in the Tuscan the second night. We fell in love with our waiter and sommelier, and stayed with the Tuscan all week. We did have lunch in the Cosmopolitan both sea days. Big shout out to Slavitka, our head server and Sebastian, our Sommelier in the Tuscan. Probably the best restaurant staff we have had on a cruise. Both were amazing. I won't go into food, since it's so subjective, but my whole family very much enjoyed our meals. Some better than others, but all good.
• We felt like the breakfasts and lunches that we had in the OVC was improved over our previous Celebrity cruises. Hot food was always hot and cold food was always cold. Loved the hand washing station right outside the OVC. They should be mandatory on all ships.
• Overall, we enjoyed the shows in the theater. The two female lead vocalists in the performances were fantastic, their two male counterparts just mediocre. The accompanying acrobatics were always a highlight for my daughter. 
• My daughter liked the pool. It was a nice size compared to the other ships we have been on. 

Con's

• First let me say that we enjoyed our Infinite Veranda stateroom. But, like many others have said, they are not a veranda. I don't think Celebrity should be allowed to use the term veranda when selling these rooms. They are a wonderful oceanview sunroom, with a sliding window, but nothing more. The light they let in during the day is fantastic and the shade does a wonderful job of blocking out the light when needed. We put our window down for a few minutes every day, but you lose your A/C and everything fogs up in your room. 
• Not enough bars or bar staff on a ship of this size. We aren't huge drinkers, but always like a pre-dinner martini(more on this below), wine at dinner and a beer by the pool once in a while. 
• They ruined the martini bar and grand foyer all in one ship. The Edge has combined two of the most iconic locations on their cruise ships and I personally don't like it. I want the two to  each have their own space and audience. 
• Eden was different. I liked the space, but I didn't like the drinks or the incense smell they pipe in. Some days the smell was better than others. I never went in late at night, so I didn't get to see any of the performers. It's a big space that they could do so much more with. It was empty most of the time.
• The Club is way too small to hold shows in. I tried to take my daughter to the "Mirage" acrobatic show there twice and could never get a seat to see the stage. Their can't be more than 50-75 decent seats in the club to see the show. I'm not sure why they don't do these in the theater.
• My daughter hated the kids club. She loved the Summit this summer but hated the Edge. The activities and the staff were way better on the Summit. 

 

We all have our opinions and these are just a few quick gut reactions to my 7 days on the Edge. The Edge is one and done for me. I probably won't be back unless it's a price too good to pass up. For me and my family, we will stick with the older ships in the fleet. That being said, any day on any cruise ship is better than a day in the office!

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited December 2, 2019 by landbc

[NMTraveller]

29 minutes ago, landbc said:

Hello all! I don't post here much, but wanted to give a quick Pro's/Con's review of my families Edge sailing last week. First of all, we are a family of three. My wife and I are in our early forties and my daughter is eight. This is our fifth cruise with Celebrity.

 

Pro's

• Embarkation at Port Everglades was amazing! No more than 20 minutes from leaving the parking garage to being on the ship. I had a noon boarding time and showed up around 11:10AM. I was on the ship by 11:30. 
• Ship was very modern, clean and aesthetically pleasing. Personally, I liked a lot of the artwork and enjoyed the overall looks of the ship.
• Select dining was nice. Made reservations for all four restaurants the first four nights. Ate in the Normandie the first night and in the Tuscan the second night. We fell in love with our waiter and sommelier, and stayed with the Tuscan all week. We did have lunch in the Cosmopolitan both sea days. Big shout out to Slavitka, our head server and Sebastian, our Sommelier in the Tuscan. Probably the best restaurant staff we have had on a cruise. Both were amazing. I won't go into food, since it's so subjective, but my whole family very much enjoyed our meals. Some better than others, but all good.
• We felt like the breakfasts and lunches that we had in the OVC was improved over our previous Celebrity cruises. Hot food was always hot and cold food was always cold. Loved the hand washing station right outside the OVC. They should be mandatory on all ships.
• Overall, we enjoyed the shows in the theater. The two female lead vocalists in the performances were fantastic, their two male counterparts just mediocre. The accompanying acrobatics were always a highlight for my daughter. 
• My daughter liked the pool. It was a nice size compared to the other ships we have been on. 

Con's

• First let me say that we enjoyed our Infinite Veranda stateroom. But, like many others have said, they are not a veranda. I don't think Celebrity should be allowed to use the term veranda when selling these rooms. They are a wonderful oceanview sunroom, with a sliding window, but nothing more. The light they let in during the day is fantastic and the shade does a wonderful job of blocking out the light when needed. We put our window down for a few minutes every day, but you lose your A/C and everything fogs up in your room. 
• Not enough bars or bar staff on a ship of this size. We aren't huge drinkers, but always like a pre-dinner martini(more on this below), wine at dinner and a beer by the pool once in a while. 
• They ruined the martini bar and grand foyer all in one ship. The Edge has combined two of the most iconic locations on their cruise ships and I personally don't like it. I want the two to  each have their own space and audience. 
• Eden was different. I liked the space, but I didn't like the drinks or the incense smell they pipe in. Some days the smell was better than others. I never went in late at night, so I didn't get to see any of the performers. It's a big space that they could do so much more with. It was empty most of the time.
• The Club is way too small to hold shows in. I tried to take my daughter to the "Mirage" acrobatic show there twice and could never get a seat to see the stage. Their can't be more than 50-75 decent seats in the club to see the show. I'm not sure why they don't do these in the theater.
• My daughter hated the kids club. She loved the Summit this summer but hated the Edge. The activities and the staff were way better on the Summit. 

 

We all have our opinions and these are just a few quick gut reactions to my 7 days on the Edge. The Edge is one and done for me. I probably won't be back unless it's a price too good to pass up. For me and my family, we will stick with the older ships in the fleet. That being said, any day on any cruise ship is better than a day in the office!

 

Thanks for reading!

I agree.

[edgee]

Just disembarked Edge on Nov. 24. Agree with your Pros. On the con side would add:

1. Lack of elevator capacity for number of passengers. We have cruised on over 30 ships, large and small. Never had such long waits and amount of very crowded elevators.

2. Lack of shaded areas and whirlpool capacity adjacent to outdoor pool.

3. Lack of seating capacity in main theatre.

4. Lack of adequate service staff at Café Al Baccio and ice cream bar in O.V, resulting in long lines.

 

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, landbc said:

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for sharing. 

[nucroozer]

Thank you all for sharing. 

 

Will be on the Edge on the 15th (party of four adults and two kids) and was wondering about the disembarkation process.  We have a flight out of Fort Lauderdale at 10:00am and getting anxious if we will have enough time to make it to the airport.

 

[Mirage]

Thank you for your review we have the Edge booked for April.

 

Open minded about the Infinite Veranda, I do think as you described it is actually a Ocean view with a window that opens.  

I does not seem it is possible like other ships to sit on the Veranda, close the drapes and keep the air conditioning going in the room. 

[NCHPcruiser]

Thanks for the review!  We board the Edge in early February.  Patience is not my strong suit so I'll need to work on that before heading down to the Martini Bar from what your review and several other's have mentioned.  Same with Cafe al Baccio.  We meet the friends we are sailing with every afternoon there and have always had (for the most part) prompt service on other ships.  Edge reviews have consistently mentioned slow service in these two areas so I would like to think improvements would be made but I won't hold my breath for them to make any changes.  

 

[edgee]

If you self disembark (carry all of your own luggage) you should be able to leave the ship by 7:45, will likely have no problem making your flight. If you leave your luggage out night before and ask for earliest disembarkation group, you probably can count on being off of the ship by 8:10. These estimates come with the huge caveat that there can be delays in the ship being cleared, immigration delays and delays in luggage being unloaded. Also, a senior officer on Edge told me that whatever disembarkation number you are given you should take the projected time of disembarkation associated with that number and add 20 to 30 minutes. Not what you want to hear when you are in a rush to make a flight.

[slei15]

2 hours ago, landbc said:

 

• My daughter hated the kids club. She loved the Summit this summer but hated the Edge. The activities and the staff were way better on the Summit. 

Can I ask what she hated about it? We are taking our two boys (10 & 7) on the Edge over Christmas and it is their first time on Celebrity (They have been on Royal, Carnival, NCL, and MSC). We have heard nothing but great things about their kids club, and speaking to the staff in January when we were on without kids, it sounded right up our boys alley which is why we booked it. Was it very activity/science/art oriented?

[nucroozer]

1 hour ago, nucroozer said:

Thank you all for sharing. 

 

Will be on the Edge on the 15th (party of four adults and two kids) and was wondering about the disembarkation process.  We have a flight out of Fort Lauderdale at 10:00am and getting anxious if we will have enough time to make it to the airport.

 

thank you!

[nucroozer]

1 hour ago, edgee said:

If you self disembark (carry all of your own luggage) you should be able to leave the ship by 7:45, will likely have no problem making your flight. If you leave your luggage out night before and ask for earliest disembarkation group, you probably can count on being off of the ship by 8:10. These estimates come with the huge caveat that there can be delays in the ship being cleared, immigration delays and delays in luggage being unloaded. Also, a senior officer on Edge told me that whatever disembarkation number you are given you should take the projected time of disembarkation associated with that number and add 20 to 30 minutes. Not what you want to hear when you are in a rush to make a flight.

thank you, Edgee!!!

[landbc]

1 hour ago, slei15 said:

Can I ask what she hated about it? We are taking our two boys (10 & 7) on the Edge over Christmas and it is their first time on Celebrity (They have been on Royal, Carnival, NCL, and MSC). We have heard nothing but great things about their kids club, and speaking to the staff in January when we were on without kids, it sounded right up our boys alley which is why we booked it. Was it very activity/science/art oriented?

My daughter felt like she did a lot more art/science/STEM type activities on the Summit. She just didn't care for it. She also like the staff better on the Summit. She never wanted to leave the Kids Club this Summer on the Summit, but she was done after about two hours on the Edge. We encouraged her to go back for a bit the second sea day, and we did a scavenger hunt with her, so day two was a bit better. But she did really love the giant Lite-Brite on the Edge. That was her favorite part.

[slei15]

26 minutes ago, landbc said:

My daughter felt like she did a lot more art/science/STEM type activities on the Summit. She just didn't care for it. She also like the staff better on the Summit. She never wanted to leave the Kids Club this Summer on the Summit, but she was done after about two hours on the Edge. We encouraged her to go back for a bit the second sea day, and we did a scavenger hunt with her, so day two was a bit better. But she did really love the giant Lite-Brite on the Edge. That was her favorite part.

Thanks! Assuming this was a Thanksgiving sailing...Were there a lot of kids on board? There were less than 20 in January when we went. 

[landbc]

Yes, it was the Thanksgiving sailing. Maybe 30 kids under the age of 12 on the ship.

 

Also I forgot to mention that the chef made turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing and cranberry relish a special option on the menu on Thanksgiving. I saw this question asked several times before sailing.

Edited December 3, 2019 by landbc

[Cruisegirl6]

I also will be on the Edge on the 15th but we have to disembark asap to make a flight out of Miami for 10:50am, I think we make it walking our luggage off the ship.

[hurwitz5]

We are booked on the January 26 and February 2 sailing on the Edge.  We have sailed on 20+ Celebrity cruises - our last one was on the Summit in September.  We saw Edge videos on the cabin TV and were impressed by the design and new features.   We were also intrigued by the idea of a new ship.  Does anyone know if Guest Relations has Mah Jong sets to be loaned out to passengers?  All previous ships had Maj Jong sets and other games.  Since the Summit no longer had a game room, we were allowed to play MJ in  Blu (off hours) and in areas of the buffet when the area wasn’t busy.  

[Yoshikitty]

We have been on Edge in November and we never had to wait for our drinks longer than 5 minutes when we where at the Plaza Bar. 
The new concept is able to accomodate significantly more people than on Solstice Class ( even if I include Solstice Martini bar), in our opinion the central bar is one of the main improvements.

 

as for comments, that IV staterooms are oceanview cabins with an opening window:

 

We had huge concerns about the IVs and we certainly changed our minds. We loved the IVs, there is much more light in the cabin and you have the additional space. Compare this with an oceanview with a tiny window.

[Cruise a holic]

We didn't like the IV at all.  Small extended area called a balcony, but really a window area.  I would suggest an aft balcony cabin instead of the IV.  

 

We experienced many pro's on the ship- but also many cons'    I suggest people read the reviews to understand what to expect.  We have booked another Edge cruise in a sky suite as the suite perks are excellent as is the suite sun deck and lounge.

[nextariel]

Thanks for insight. We board in 10 days, but trying to have an open mind. 

[Pushka]

On 12/3/2019 at 8:51 PM, Yoshikitty said:

We have been on Edge in November and we never had to wait for our drinks longer than 5 minutes when we where at the Plaza Bar. 
The new concept is able to accomodate significantly more people than on Solstice Class ( even if I include Solstice Martini bar), in our opinion the central bar is one of the main improvements.

 

as for comments, that IV staterooms are oceanview cabins with an opening window:

 

We had huge concerns about the IVs and we certainly changed our minds. We loved the IVs, there is much more light in the cabin and you have the additional space. Compare this with an oceanview with a tiny window.

But the IV’s are marketed as a balcony not an ocean view. Big difference. And the fact they can be locked shut is the reason why we won’t book one. 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Pushka

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

But the IV’s are marketed as a balcony not an ocean view. Big difference. And the fact they can be locked shut is the reason why we won’t book one. 

We loved our IV last December and it wasn't locked once. Too much scare mongering regarding them IMHO

[edgee]

7 minutes ago, Esprit said:

We loved our IV last December and it wasn't locked once. Too much scare mongering regarding them IMHO

Agree. Our IV was locked during a rainy sailaway at Port Everglades last month, but that was only time during our 9 day cruise. 

[Cruise a holic]

27 minutes ago, edgee said:

Agree. Our IV was locked during a rainy sailaway at Port Everglades last month, but that was only time during our 9 day cruise. 

However if you had more rain during the cruise, it would have been locked more often- depends upon the weather and the captains direction

[fragilek]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

However if you had more rain during the cruise, it would have been locked more often- depends upon the weather and the captains direction

I would think if its raining the IV would be a plus over the traditional balcony- a bit like a conservatory in the rain - that's when its most useful.  However, I have yet to sail so may be I am wrong - soon find out.  However, from reading about these cabins it seems that the occupants view depends on 2 things-

1. if they are used to larger more expensive balconies

2. if they enjoyed other aspects of the Edge-so that may be a  rose tinted glasses effect.

As well have sailed and enjoyed cabins of all grades from insides to regular balconies more recently maininly ocean views and insides, I am sure we will enjoy the upgrade from them to these.

 

 

[Yoshikitty]

6 hours ago, Pushka said:

But the IV’s are marketed as a balcony not an ocean view. Big difference. And the fact they can be locked shut is the reason why we won’t book one. 

I believe that under the weather conditions that will make the bridge decide to lock the windows (wind/rain/wave spray), not many people would to use a traditional balcony.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Yoshikitty