LIVE Suite Review 1/30-2/6: A (Solo) Woman on the Edge

[lori-annk]

Thank you for sharing your experiences on your vacation!! I smiled so many toned reading your snippets of the day! I was still a bit anxious about returning to cruising, now after following this, I feel almost back to normal!! Pre Covid we cruised at least twice a year on celebrity.  Excited and packing for our first SUite experience and our first time on Edge at the end of the month!! Your smiles and photos were awesome to see!! I am inspired to dress up again!! Safe travels home. 

[quicklabs]

You looked so gorgeous in the gown you wore to the VC dinner.  You have exquisite fashion sense and you wear it all so well.  Thank you for your posts.  I am so excited to start my Edge B2B2B today!  Wishing you happy and safe travels always.

[dateacher]

I am tempted to change my March Silhouette to the Millennium just so I can sail with you.  While I do go with my husband, by 9:00 he's back at the cabin. I need some young, fun friends to cruise with.  Thanks so much for keeping us entertained.

[GenerationX]

Good morning from…ugh…Port Everglades.

 

Celebrity doesn’t test all passengers upon disembarkation so I packed a binax home test to take this morning, just as a courtesy to my fellow flight passengers.  I am pleased to report that I remain COVID NEGATIVE and have no symptoms!
 

Just to be safe I’ll also be working from home and self quarantining for a week when I get home and will retest then. 
 

After I finish my huevos rancheros it’ll be time to say one last goodbye to the Retreat lounge crew and then head off of the Edge. 

 

My flight today isn’t till 3:30 so I’m doing the Everglades tour shore excursion to kill some time.

 

Some catch up posts, in no particular order coming soon!  Now, back to trying not to cry into my breakfast.

 

 

 

[sjayo]

Thanks GenX. But now you have your next cruise in March to look forward to. Thanks again for the great stories and inspiration. If you have a formal cruising blog page, we will follow you. Time to pass the baton.

Safe travels home.

Jay and Sara

[GenerationX]

13 hours ago, maren91 said:

Thanks for the awesome review and this dress and yourself does indeed look fabulous! I'm curious if you attempted to swap out the amuse bouche with something else or are there no substitutions? I would also love to do this dinner but like you, would be unhappy with raw oysters. 

Thank you!  At the beginning of the dinner they said there were no substitutions unfortunately, but the chef did make some tweaks for two guests who were gluten free, so I assume they do accommodate special dietary needs.  Too bad I’m not allergic to oysters!

[mcclarke1]

Thank you so much for your cruise reviews!  My husband, bgnurick and I are currently sailing on the Equinox in the Southern Caribbean and will sail again on the Edge in March (with our 2 teenage boys and one of their friends).  You have given us so many options to check out and enjoy on our next cruise.  We were lucky to sail on the Edge in June for the first US trip since pre-Covid and were blown away by the size of the ship and caught up in all the excitement of being able to cruise again.  Can’t wait to try some new experiences based on your reviews.  Looking forward to your next posts!!  We are also returning to cold, snow and ice at the end of next week.🥶

[ILgirl]

As one who missed this sailing due to a positive test result, I want to thank you again so much for taking me along on this sailing.  Your enthusiasm is truly contagious….and expensive.😀. Even though the bargain solo pricing is not available, I decided to book the Edge for the end of February.  I will be mirroring some of your on board activities and dining selections and eagerly await your comments on the Roatan excursion.  Thx again and safe travels!

[DQGal]

3 hours ago, quicklabs said:

You looked so gorgeous in the gown you wore to the VC dinner.  You have exquisite fashion sense and you wear it all so well.  Thank you for your posts.  I am so excited to start my Edge B2B2B today!  Wishing you happy and safe travels always.

We will be joining you in 2 weeks, we are also from Ohio.   Enjoy!!

[WineandRoseLady]

Thank you for entertaining us and taking us along on your cruise.  Now we're really looking forward to the Edge later this month!   Stay healthy!

[GenerationX]

While I’m on the bus to my shore excursion, shall we talk about my very breezy dinner at Rooftop Grill? And when I say breezy I mean BREEZY!  So much so that, no joke, at one point the croutons on my salad blew right off my plate and across the floor of the restaurant.

 

The maitre d had to switch my wine from a stemless Riedel to one of the mason jar water glasses so that it wouldn’t blow away. 

 

Atmosphere challenges aside, the service was wonderful (a running trend on the Edge) and the food I had was some of my favorite of the cruise.  The Caesar salad was good even without the croutons (which are probably floating somewhere off the coast of Cuba as we speak).  I also had the trainwreck fries which were ridiculously good.  But to be fair, I think you’d have to try pretty hard to make French fries topped with cheese, bacon, ranch dressing and peppers NOT taste amazing.  

 

For my main course I had the lamb chops and my server encouraged me to try the bacon Mac n cheese on the side as well.  The Mac n cheese was ok, but I’m admittedly biased due to growing up with my grandmother’s outstanding Mac n cheese recipe.  

 

The lamb chops I loved!  They were perfectly seasoned and cooked right to my medium rare. For the UK folks following, mint jelly was offered on the side but being the uncouth American that I am, I declined.  When I go again, I think I’ll skip the salad  and mac n cheese (no way am I ever missing those fries) and order a double helping of that lamb.

 

I finished the meal once again with that highly addictive warm chocolate cookie a la mode.

 

I don’t know if it’s always that windy in that restaurant at night, but even it if is, I will gladly risk being blown away again (literally) for the food and service. Especially that cookie and the lamb chops.

 

 

 

 

[GenerationX]

22 hours ago, M&Msmom said:

Will be traveling on Edge in a sky suite.  for the first time in April, actually first time on Celebrity. A while back, you mentioned you asked for a “mattress softener” ? What were they able to do, and did it work?im hoping it helped, my back and hips will thank you.

Yes, they put a mattress pad on my bed under the sheets and it worked great.  It sounded like there may even be different types that they can try. My room steward told me to just let him know if I still wasn’t comfortable and if not he had something else he could put on.  Every night after he put the pad on I slept like a baby though!

[GenerationX]

23 hours ago, graphicguy said:

As a man, I concur with this assessment.....throw in a bottle of Pappy Van Winkel, and you can sail for a month.  LOL!

Oh if I get him drinking Pappy he may completely forget he has a wife at all!  lol

[Barwick Cruiser]

I’m guessing that since you’re on a tour before heading to the airport that your attempts at a casino windfall didn’t go over too well? Too bad but it sounds like you’ve had an exceptionally great cruise this week and you have another booked next month! Thanks again for the wonderful review and safe travels home!

[Calico Jack Sparrow]

17 hours ago, sjayo said:

The CDC definition of yellow is greater than 1 per 1,000

Edge apparently is at 2 per 1,000

If there are 2,000 people on the ship (passengers and crew), this means 4 people tested positive.

 

What's interesting is the statement that at least one was asymptomatic. Why would an asymptomatic person ever get a Covid test?  Because they have to be tested, which means they're likely to be members of the crew. If B2B cruises are required to be tested before going, it could be one of them, but there can't be too many B2B cruisers. 

 

Bottom line!!!  That observed risk of Covid is significantly lower on the ship than off it.

Could be someone with a reported "close contact", as well.

 

[mchell810]

18 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I’m sitting sipping my Cotes de Rhone and eating my lunch in Le Grand Bistro. I thought it would put me in a properly French mood to finish my write up about the Veuve Cliquot dinner.

 

I did this dinner in October on the Summit and it was a highlight of my cruise (please feel free to check out my live review of that  cruise for context).

 

When I arrived for dinner last night, I was pleased to see that my 2 favorite courses from that dinner: the sea bass crudo and filet mignon, were on the menu again!  

 

I was a little disappointed to see the amuse bouche had been changed from the shrimp and delicious deep fried potato and ham ball to a raw oyster treated with a rose’ sauce.  I’m sure those with more sophisticated taste than I are thinking: are you mad, GenX? It doesn’t get more first class than champagne and oysters! You know what? When they’re fried or baked Rockefeller style I’m all for them! 

 

But personally,  I just can’t stomach raw oysters. It’s a texture thing. They make me gag.  I wasn’t the only one who felt this way because 4 of the people at our table of 10 ended up eating the oysters for everyone.

 

The pear salad was nothing special, same as on Summit. But the Veuve Rose it was served with was the real star of that show anyway, just as it should’ve been.

 

The sea bass crudo and filet mignon along with their exquisite wine pairings made me oh so glad I had my accidental mini meltdown to get into this dinner.

 

Dessert is where I died a little inside…as you can see, my menu listed the dessert course as a tiramisu.  A disappointment to me because on Summit, the apricot soufflé dessert course was one of the best desserts I ate the whole trip.  Then, in chatting with my table mates we found that half our menus listed tiramisu as the dessert and the other half listed it as the apricot soufflé!  I had about 5 minutes of a glimmer of hope that this tiramisu nonsense was just an unfortunate misprint.  Alas, when the head waiter came back he brought the bad news that it was the soufflé menus that were misprinted and dessert would be tiramisu.  I had to fight the urge to incite my table mates and start my own French Revolution.  Vive Le Soufflé!

 

The tiramisu tasted ok, but I’d already given my heart to the falsely dangled soufflé. Le sigh.

 

The only other criticism that I can come up with is that event was held in the wine room at Fine Cut which is lovely, but right near the grand plaza. While I enjoyed hearing the music from the plaza during my steak dinner at Fine Cut, with a sommelier trying to make himself heard in a group presentation his N95 as he gave all the course and champagne presentations, the music made it hard to hear.  Not a biggie for me since I’d heard the presentation before, but probably would have been disappointing if it was my first time.  With the ships as empty as they are it seems like this event could’ve easily been held in part of the much quieter main dining rooms to make it more intimate and easier to hear.

 

Overall, I still enjoyed the event though and was so glad I was able to attend. Menus and course pics below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful dress and you make it look fabulous!  I’ve been really enjoying your travels. I have my first solo cruise coming up in June and you’ve removed all worries about being on my own. Hope you have a safe journey home. 😀

Edited February 6, 2022 by mchell810

[BridgeBabe]

I am looking forward to your next cruise!  We will be on Millie in May and you will help me suffer the wait!

Thank you so much for this fun ride with you! Safe travels!

[raudacruise]

Want to say how much I appreciate your review, I know it’s a lot of work. Such a fun read! Your writing style is like chatting with a friend. You wear fashion so well and I really like that your wonderful selections range from budget Amazon (Globe Dress!) to couture. 

 

Love the foodie pictures too. Have to say I’m a fan of raw oysters but I think it was a poor choice for the fixed menu VC dinner. They should know better.

 

Reminds me of a Chef’s Table I attended that featured white truffles. I loved it but… The lady sitting next to me HATED truffles (she just wanted to be social) so she kept sneaking her food over to her husband’s plate.

 

I know you’re not done posting, but I’m already looking forward to your next review. Please cruise frequently and stay safe.

[CocoCronut]

Really loved your review @GenerationX 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share so many elements of your holiday 💖

[GenerationX]

Currently having a pre-flight margarita at MIA after my post-cruise shore excursion.

 

I booked the airboat Everglades tour through Celebrity since it included airport drop off and the price wasn’t much more than what an Uber would have cost me from the port to the airport. Plus anything beats spending 5 hours hanging around the airport.

 

It’s about a 25 minute drive from the port to the airboat park and on the drive our tour guide gave us info on the Miami—FLL area and it’s history.

 

The boat tour place is very touristy (to be expected) but the guide was hilarious and helped us spot several alligators and other wildlife.  We had beautiful weather to be out in the ‘glades and it was a nice amusing way to kill time till my 3:30 flight.

 

I only had one negative experience on the excursion and I hesitated to even write about it as I worry about repercussions for the employee involved, but I feel like I should mention it as I know there are at least a few other current and potential women solo travelers following.

 

In my early morning post-cruise depression haze, I misread the instructions for meeting up for the excursion.  I thought I was supposed to have the Retreat concierge escort me off the ship, get my bags, clear customs and then meet the tour at the tour bus.  I didn’t realize until I was off, through customs and had a porter grab my bags that I was actually supposed to meet the group in the Club on the ship!  Obviously there was no way I could get back onto the ship at that point so I asked one of the port employees what to do and he said it happens all the time. He pointed me to the tour bus we’d be using and said just to go on down there to the bus and talk to the driver and be sure to have my tour ticket handy and the tour guide and the rest of the passengers would be along shortly.

 

When I got to the bus, the driver (who was an older man, I’d say late 60’s early 70’s) started putting my suitcases under the bus and making conversation with me.  Pretty normal conversation and questions I often get as a married woman traveling solo at first, but I just had a little gut vibe something was off.  Enough that when he told me I was welcome to go sit on the empty bus to wait, I decided I’d rather stay outside in the fresh air and where I could be seen by all the other buses, loading taxis and sheriffs deputies directing traffic.  Unfortunately things took a turn where the bus driver began behaving inappropriately.  He asked me for my phone number so he could fly me back to Miami sometime and “show me a good time”.  I’d already mentioned my husband and child at home (I usually do this very early on in conversations when traveling solo and 99.9% of the time it’s enough to preemptively ward off any unwanted attention), so I reminded the driver of said husband and told him I was not interested and had no intention of giving him my number. 

 

He responded by further pushing for my number and saying that if I was “worried about my husband getting mad” we could “keep our fun a secret”.  

 

At that point I was glad I had decided to wait on the sidewalk.  I again told him no and walked away from him went over and sat on a bench near a sheriff’s deputy and started chatting with him.  At that point the driver got back on the bus to wait in his seat and I stayed on the bench until the tour guide and other passengers came up.

 

As a solo woman traveler I’ve had these types of encounters occasionally (but on the whole pretty rarely) but never on a Celebrity cruise and this is the first time the party making the advances was an employee of a sponsored tour operator while on the job.  

 

A key part of the reason I pick cruising, and Celebrity in particular, so often for my solo vacations (and often go with the Celebrity sponsored shore excursions instead of making independent tour arrangements) is because my fellow passengers are so respectful and I can always count on the Celebrity crew, staff and tour operators to be professional and behave in an appropriate manner.

 

I’m going back and forth about whether to mention the incident and/or the name of the driver in my post cruise survey.  I know these days some places have a zero tolerance policy for that kind of thing and I would feel badly if an older man lost his job because of me, especially in these tough financial times.  After all, most likely he’s just a harmless older fellow from a different time and perhaps different culture (he spoke with a bit of an accent) where maybe that kind of propositioning while on the job isn’t as frowned upon (if frowned upon at all).

 

But I also think Celebrity really does value guest feedback and wants to know if their excursion vendors have staff that aren’t behaving up to Celebrity standards and don’t want their behavior reflecting badly on the cruise line.

 

I also probably wasn’t at risk of anything more inappropriate occurring (other than perhaps an even more uncomfortable conversation if he’d had the opportunity to talk to me “away from prying eyes”) had I gotten on the bus and he been there alone with me, but when it comes to my solo travel I try to go with a “better to be safe and sometimes have to appear a little rude than be sorry” approach and it’s a good reminder to always be aware of surroundings and trust your instincts.

 

Anyway, let’s get back to talking about much more pleasant subjects!  Pics from the Everglades below and next up all about Honduras and my last lunch onboard!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[goofysmom99]

GenX, as an atty, you know what constitutes sexual harassment...write it up.

[sjayo]

First report on board -- safety first.

Pier 25 was extremely efficient -- it took about 15 minutes to board. Vaccine status was checked twice.

Everyone is masked.

 

We've now toured most of the ship -- this is our first time on an Edge class. This is unlike any other ship we've been on, and in a way, it reminds me of our early days with Celebrity when everyone was escorted to their room and it was an elite experience. This is definitely several steps up from other Celebrity ships. The overall feel is of roominess. The engineers thought this through very carefully and virtually every room from the workout facilities to the retreat lounge to the restaurants and cafe have much more space than we're used to seeing. 

 

Everyone onboard is masked up; the crew is over the top friendly and glad we're here; the hand washing area when entering the buffet (which we are unlikely to ever eat in) will be the new norm. Tables are well spaced; chairs in the retreat are far apart; basically, it would take some effort to get into someone else's space anywhere on this ship. The e-muster drill is brilliant -- it takes 2 minutes in your room watching a video, and a 15 second visit to your muster station to get checked in. No more crowds -- e-muster drills will be the new norm going forward for sure. There are HEPA filters throughout, so it's not possible to have an exposure by breathing the air in your room.

 

Initial estimate is that 1,100 people are scheduled to board -- we'll see how many make it. There were only a few covid cases last week onboard and all were disembarked. The crew is required to test once each week, and they're not allowed to leave the ship; so it's almost certain Covid is being brought onboard by passengers. This is an educated guess, but it's likely most of the small number of people that test positive in any one week were likely crew members that were exposed from passengers during the previous week.

 

With a positivity rate of 0.2% on this ship, I'll state once again that it's safer to be here than on land. We came across multiple unsafe conditions on Las Olas blvd the last two nights -- no masks, close quarters, packed bars, you name it. My view so far is that the 48 hours between testing negative and boarding the ship is when passengers are likely to pick up the virus.

 

We're feeling extremely safe on this ship. Where else can you go and be guaranteed that everyone near you has tested negative in the last 48 hours and is vaccinated? I made this point to Sara when we went to Joe's Stone Crab yesterday for lunch -- lot's of people, great food, but no guarantees like on this ship.

 

My initial assessment is that Celebrity has gone overboard (excuse the pun) in securing the safety of passengers and crew. If you can get on this ship at a bargain rate (which we did); with one-third the normal number of passengers (could be less this week); and all the safety features you won't see anywhere else; my goodness, it's a hands down go go go. 

 

Incidentally, the lunch we had at Luminae was fabulous -- and GenX is right, the fries are amazing.

 

And guess what -- our personal retreat host is the delightful Anastasiia. She speaks highly of you GenX.

 

* The opinions expressed on this thread are my own and do not represent the opinions or views of my University or School of Public Health.

Edited February 6, 2022 by sjayo

[abbydancer2003]

1 minute ago, goofysmom99 said:

GenX, as an atty, you know what constitutes sexual harassment...write it up.

I would agree with that.  Not everyone is as savvy as you are.  

 

FYI, I've been to the Holiday Park a few times and always enjoyed it.  I like the show with the rescue alligators. 

[sbcs5390]

I had been on the fence about a later flight and the Everglades expedition but overall think I’d rather be in charge of myself and a little earlier return to reality. I had a bad logistical time getting off Crystal Symphony in December with their transfer. So sorry you had a sour end to this and I do think you should say something in your survey and maybe via another channels as well. Probably this happens a lot there and that can help prevent other people from going through that. 
 

If you’re on the Millennium 3/7 or 3/17, I’d love to say hello! 

[carolyn22]

27 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

GenX, as an atty, you know what constitutes sexual harassment...write it up.

You are spot on!  This wasn’t some guy calling her sweetie or honey or saying “Aren’t you cute.”  His persistent behavior made her uncomfortable and that alone needs to be reported so that he doesn’t do it to other women. If he loses his job, it’s his own fault.