Ready to cruise on the Edge

[hcat]

14 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I agree 110%!  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1130

 

Here are some more notable quotes from the Cruise Critic editors:

 

But it is one of the most unusual and appealing cruise ships we've seen in a decade, and it was very much built to appeal to the contemporary traveler. (Note we didn't say cruiser.)

 

 

With all these changes, there's a good chance past Celebrity cruisers, expecting the quiet sophistication that they've come to know and love from the line, are not going to be thrilled. In fact, many traditional cruisers may have a hard time with the ship. There are no quiet lounges for casual evenings of light music and a drink with friends, and for those who like to eat at the same table and time every night with the same tablemates, space is set aside in only one of the four main dining rooms.

 

 

 

Fellow Passengers

Celebrity Edge is a different ship from the rest of the Celebrity Cruises fleet and was designed to attract people who have never cruised before. Celebrity typically draws middle- and upper-class folks in their mid-40s and older. During school holidays, the line's ships usually see a number of families with children, and the same may occur on Celebrity Edge (although the ship was not designed with families in mind).

When the ship is in Europe, you can expect to find a fairly international mix of passengers.

 

Sorry to say that  some of these comments do not reflect our experience on 2 cruises..7 and 10 night in AQ Class in an  IV/ BLU, and Sunset Veranda  with the 4 MDR Plan. But agree it is unusual ( fresh) and appealing..at least to us!

 

We found quite a few cozy  spots, enjoyed both dining plans, especially the 4 mdrs and met many interesting people along the way.  Loved EDEN by day,

 

Not sure what  group  the ship was "designed" to attract, but we are seasoned, mature, Celebrity  cruisers,  and enjoyed the ship all around. A few improvements to gen acoustics in public spaces are needed,  plus screens for  windy areas and more shade  in sunny areas like Rooftop Grill  would be an improvement. They are working on it,

 

Food, service and gen  ambiance were excellent. We enjoyed  sev  excellent  production shows in the modern theater,  and lots of varied music around the ship, other than Eden show itself, which for us was way over hyped! The Art collection is amazing! Crew and Officers are very friendly.

 

In just a short time span, EDGE has evolved with a personality and style that is quite appealing. We are looking forward to APEX!

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by hcat

[TeeRick]

15 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I agree 110%!  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1130

 

Here are some more notable quotes from the Cruise Critic editors:

 

But it is one of the most unusual and appealing cruise ships we've seen in a decade, and it was very much built to appeal to the contemporary traveler. (Note we didn't say cruiser.)

 

 

With all these changes, there's a good chance past Celebrity cruisers, expecting the quiet sophistication that they've come to know and love from the line, are not going to be thrilled. In fact, many traditional cruisers may have a hard time with the ship. There are no quiet lounges for casual evenings of light music and a drink with friends, and for those who like to eat at the same table and time every night with the same tablemates, space is set aside in only one of the four main dining rooms.

 

 

 

Fellow Passengers

Celebrity Edge is a different ship from the rest of the Celebrity Cruises fleet and was designed to attract people who have never cruised before. Celebrity typically draws middle- and upper-class folks in their mid-40s and older. During school holidays, the line's ships usually see a number of families with children, and the same may occur on Celebrity Edge (although the ship was not designed with families in mind).

When the ship is in Europe, you can expect to find a fairly international mix of passengers.

 

NMT- this is all in print on the CC site by these CC editors.  Everybody should check out the full article perhaps not just your select quotes.   That is OK with me but I just want to point out here for a balanced perspective that those same CC editors gave Edge a 4.5 rating in the same review.  They also named it 2018 Best New Ship.

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, Moby Jones said:

 

I have no stats to back this up but what I have noticed is that new ships tend to score poorly after their initial launch. I'd expect Edge ratings to improve slightly in time. Maybe we revisit this thread three years from now! 

Some of the industry reviews are quite interesting stating that Edge is a "bit hit and miss" or words to that effect. It's also interesting that Cruise Critic itself refer to it as a  "A hip-at-heart ship that may challenge the expectations of experienced cruisers." I've always thought that the CC editorial staff were 'heavily influenced' by the Celebrity marketing team so was a bit surprised by this. 

You are quite right.  Edge CC member passenger ratings for whatever they are worth were more negative after the first month or two of cruises than they are now so it is probably an indication of improvements made after the initial sailings.  Or that some of the more traditional Celebrity cruisers who perhaps wanted just a newer version of S-Class had their say early on.

[ipeeinthepool]

6 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Edge CC member passenger ratings for whatever they are worth were more negative after the first month or two of cruises than they are now so it is probably an indication of improvements made after the initial sailings.  Or that some of the more traditional Celebrity cruisers who perhaps wanted just a newer version of S-Class had their say early on.

 

Or maybe people read the reviews and chose not to sail on the Edge.  All of these theories are just speculation, we don't have the data to support any of them.  However if you enjoy the Edge, that's great enjoy your cruises.

[TeeRick]

On 12/27/2019 at 9:14 AM, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Or maybe people read the reviews and chose not to sail on the Edge.  All of these theories are just speculation, we don't have the data to support any of them.  However if you enjoy the Edge, that's great enjoy your cruises.

IP-  As I mentioned here many times, I enjoyed my Edge cruise but I had some things I did not like about it too.  I signed up for Edge on the first day available without benefit of any reviews at all.  But now hopefully everybody reads a range of reviews and not just focus on the very positive and very negative extremes.  I personally will try to look for similar comments and trends one way or the other across a lot of reviews.  After a while it is pretty easy for me anyway to spot reviews here with some ax to grind.  Or reviews in paradise mode.  The best situation for me is that I know the reviewer from their track record here on CC and if I tend to find their comments valid over a long period of time- then I trust those more than others.  I do not pay much attention to the 1-5 star ratings as those are mostly worthless as everybody rates differently.  No standards.  But I will pay some attention to experienced ratings like the CC Editors here.

Edited December 28, 2019 by TeeRick

[lilghallinsf]

On 12/26/2019 at 6:09 AM, Bo1953 said:

Okay, okay, okay... T.

 

I will go ahead and do my review by this weekend... given those stats I need to just go ahead and register my thoughts and experiences (good or poor) about The Edge and IV's.

 

Nothing like first hand experiences shared that make it overall worthwhile reading.. 😎

 

bon voyage

Let us know when you post the review

[Bo1953]

3 hours ago, lilghallinsf said:

Let us know when you post the review

l - I did write it up, just waiting for approval from the mods...

 

As time goes along, I keep remembering more! LOL

 

I wonder if there is any way to amend the review? I will ask...

 

Thank you and bon voyage

[hcat]

Why not post it and then supplement your new thoughts here on the boards?

We are looking forward to the review, esp with  your group's  perspective...

[shipshape sam]

On 12/26/2019 at 9:18 AM, Moby Jones said:

 

I have no stats to back this up but what I have noticed is that new ships tend to score poorly after their initial launch. I'd expect Edge ratings to improve slightly in time. Maybe we revisit this thread three years from now! 

Some of the industry reviews are quite interesting stating that Edge is a "bit hit and miss" or words to that effect. It's also interesting that Cruise Critic itself refer to it as a  "A hip-at-heart ship that may challenge the expectations of experienced cruisers." I've always thought that the CC editorial staff were 'heavily influenced' by the Celebrity marketing team so was a bit surprised by this. 

 

We have seen both good and bad on new ships.  To me, other than the actual physical differences is this: 'Are the reviews, in general, trending positive or negative, even neutral?'  For sure Celebrity will do some fine tuning.  I have said for years, the suits are NOT stupid.  May not agree with them, but they do a lot of research and do not make decisions in a vacuum.

 

I hope the Edge is a success as we like Celebrity and Royal, but have not yet sailed on Edge do to a number of factors, like cost, time, other cruises planned, ship itinerary , other land trips planned.  We sailed to Cuba and Alaska in 2019 and would do again over sailing Edge as the determining criteria.  We will for sure consider Edge and future sister ships if not only just to try that class of ship out and make our OWN decisions as to Edge class being what we want to sail on.

 

For sure too, we like very much,  the thoughts and opinions of others, but in the end, each of us has to decide based on our own criteria.

[jd99]

 I am the original poster on this topic and we are back and we LOVED the Edge. Everything about it. I am writing a detailed review of the ship and doing some comparisons vs. Disney.  I just posted the first two installments on my new travel blog - dadtravels dot com.   I hope it is helpful to some!  

[Jokerkimmie]

Jd99, went to your travel blog. Really enjoyed your reviews About the Edge and look forward to the next instalment. My friends and I sail on her on March 29/20

[hcat]

9 hours ago, jd99 said:

 I am the original poster on this topic and we are back and we LOVED the Edge. Everything about it. I am writing a detailed review of the ship and doing some comparisons vs. Disney.  I just posted the first two installments on my new travel blog - dadtravels dot com.   I hope it is helpful to some!  

Glad you loved it..thanks for reporting back.

Will check the blog

 

[ywgckp]

We were on the same cruise as you (over New Years).  This was also our first time on Celebrity, after four prior Disney cruises.  It was my wife, my 8 year old son, and I.  Agree with everything you put in your blog -  we loved it and I'm not sure we'll go back to Disney. 

 

Service was at the same level as Disney if not better.  Despite being at the prime age for DCL, my son actually preferred the more structured activities in the kids club and made friends easily, as opposed to getting lost in the crowd.  We loved the main dining room - the main dining rooms on Disney can be so loud, high energy, and chaotic at times.  This felt much more relaxing, and our serving staff was engaging.  OVC was also far superior to Cabanas - more choice, more seating, better quality food, and much less crowded.

 

We also liked the IV - we kept ours open for most of the day, and it brings the outside air and light into the cabin.  We always had a verandah on DCL but we used this much more.

 

We're booked on Harmony of the Seas later this month for our first time on RCCL (winter is cold in Canada!!) - and while we're looking forward to that trip my wife and I both said when we got back from the Edge we wish we had booked a second week on Celebrity instead...

[VitaminSea53]

On 1/15/2020 at 7:10 AM, jd99 said:

 I am the original poster on this topic and we are back and we LOVED the Edge. Everything about it. I am writing a detailed review of the ship and doing some comparisons vs. Disney.  I just posted the first two installments on my new travel blog - dadtravels dot com.   I hope it is helpful to some!  

It is good to hear some positive feedback about the Edge. And you loved the IV.....!
There have been so many grumblings about what people don’t like, thanks for balancing the scale. 

[mafig]

jd99, are you going to post your review on Cruise Critic also?

[jd99]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:57 AM, mafig said:

jd99, are you going to post your review on Cruise Critic also?

Perhaps after I finish - but it is so much easier to just post to the blog (dadtravels dot com). I' hope you'll visit there. Just posted my next installment. One more to go.  We actually just returned this weekend from a Disney Cruise (3 night Dream) and now have another blog coming to underline what we love about the Edge even more.  Never thought I'd say this but we probably won't return to Disney for a seven nighter again - the shorter cruises maybe - but if the edge class ever starts cruising long weekends that may be it for us!  

[jd99]

Hello!  Just finished my Edge review on my blog - dadtravels dot com.   Check it out!