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

[MzShae]

I hope that GenX returns to wrap up "her" review.  I really enjoy reading about her experiences.

[travelsoftwo]

GenX, what a fantastic review - thank you! One thing I must ask that I don’t think anyone else has queried. Your beautiful yellow and black trousers (or should I say pants) - where on earth can one buy these? They are truly beautiful!

[GenerationX]

Hello from cold, grey Missouri!

 

This is day 4 back on land and I’m still adjusting.  Last night I did the last of my cruise laundry and as I threw a dress into the washer I got a quick whiff of the glorious smell of the Edge. 

 

I’m happy to report that I was met at the airport by my wonderful husband and not a divorce attorney.  Though I do think he may have considered returning me to sender when we got home and I looked at the cleaning job he’d done on our master bathroom and said “well you’re no Danilo [my fantastic stateroom attendant], but I suppose this’ll do.  So, what’s for happy hour canapés?”

 

Now that I’ve put out the work fires that were awaiting me on my return, I wanted to do just a couple more posts.  Quick reports on my shore excursions in Roatan and Cozumel and then a wrap up on final thoughts on my week on the Edge.

 

I’ll also go back through and do my best to respond to any questions that I missed.

 

So without further ado, let’s talk Roatan!

 

This was the only port on our sailing where we were required to have a Celebrity excursion to go ashore and Celebrity was VERY serious about that requirement.  My tour ticket said to meet on the pier at 8:30 and when I went down to leave the ship at 8:20, I was made to wait on a bench in the lobby by the metal detectors on deck 3 and wasn’t allowed to scan my seapass and step off the ship until EXACTLY 8:30.

 

Similar situation on the way back.  When our tour bus arrived back at the pier, we were ushered straight from the bus back towards the ship.  There were a few shops and restaurants open within the port area (most were closed) but Celebrity had staff standing in the pathway to them trying to urge people not to shop or visit them and just go back to the ship.  I’ve never seen anything like that before.

 

For the excursion itself, I booked tbe Gumbalimba Park tour.  I was attracted to this one as a lover of animals and hiking because it included a 1.5 mile jungle hike in the nature park with opportunities to see and interact with parrots and monkeys.  As a plus it advertised that the park had a beach with loungers and a restaurant, so I envisioned a nice hike followed by a little beach time and getting to try some Honduran cuisine (a big plus since the port restaurants were a no no/no go).

 

The hike was everything I was hoping.  Not too demanding but there were a few areas of rock stairs and rope bridges that would be difficult for anyone with serious mobility challenges.  That rope bridge took a few years off my life. That was the point where I figured out what the 250lb weight limit on the excursion was for.  We got to see lots of parrots, monkeys and beautiful plants as well as take a short break in a small air conditioned museum about the history and insects of Honduran and our guide did a great job of sharing information about the island and its plant and animal life.  

 

Heads Up: Large bags weren’t allowed on the hike and there was a $10 charge cash for rental of a locker. So if you plan to bring a tote or backpack make sure you have enough cash. 

 

Now as for the beach and the restaurant…I’m guessing because of the limited tourist activity during covid, the park has scaled back.  The restaurant was closed even though it was peak lunch time.

 

There was a beach, but it was a little rocky in most places and hadn’t been cleaned well of seaweed, branches, etc. in a while. It didn’t look too inviting for swimming.  There were no lounge chairs anywhere to be found and as soon as you got within a few meters of the path down to the sand you were approached by several pushy beach vendors.  

 

I get that their business is hurting like every other tourist industry these days so the harder sell is understandable, but it sealed my decision to not linger and head right back up to take the next bus back to the ship to get some lunch.  To get back, you had to wait until enough people were ready to go back to fill one of the park’s buses.  Fortunately (probably due to the limited post-hike food and diversion opportunities) it didn’t take more than 15 minutes for enough of us to be gathered to head back.

 

Overall I’m glad I did the tour just for the beautiful hike, but it really felt like an incomplete experience.  I would love to go back to Roatan and to the park once all the Covid restrictions are gone.  In the meantime, if I pull in a multimillionaire client next month and suddenly have funds for a May cruise, if it stops in Roatan     and all the restrictions are still in place, I’d probably stay onboard.

 

Sharing some fun photos from the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GenerationX]

12 hours ago, travelsoftwo said:

GenX, what a fantastic review - thank you! One thing I must ask that I don’t think anyone else has queried. Your beautiful yellow and black trousers (or should I say pants) - where on earth can one buy these? They are truly beautiful!

Thank you! Do you mean the ones with sort of a peacock print? If so, it’s actually a skirt and I got it from Amazon. It’s an Amazon store called Afibi and they specialize in African-inspired fabric prints. Their prices aren’t bad either. I think I paid less than $30 for it.

[GenerationX]

On 2/8/2022 at 7:43 PM, go.without.you said:

I know you posted the link where you bought the globe dress from Amazon but I cannot find it. Help!!!

Here you go!

Fanient Womens Sleeveless Dress Casual Print Scoop Neck Sundress A Line Midi Dresses https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088M4MHDR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_P892XGV5FQWFGG3MAY2C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

I’m hoping that some day I’ll be on a Celebrity ship on embarkation day and see the crowd dotted with ladies in the map dress and be able to go “oooh!!! You guys all follow my live reviews!!!”

[sjayo]

Update on St. Martin.

 

It was practically empty there -- the streets were almost empty as were the stores and the beaches; so it was a pleasure walking around. There was no mask mandate, but most people walking around were wearing them. There were signs on most stores indicating that masks were required, then when entering, most of the employees weren't wearing them.  Just before getting on the boat to return to the ship, Sara went into the duty free shop and was checking out the perfumes. Had several sprayed on her and they were just OK -- no purchase. Then on the boat on the way back, the scent changed dramatically and she fell in love with one of them. We bought a return ticket; went back to the shop and found the wonderful lady helping us, and she was able to identify the perfume -- I believe it was Michael Kors; then she bought two others.

 

There have been no cases of Covid reported on this ship so far this week, unless I missed it.

 

It's possible the mask mandates onboard most ships could disappear in the next week or so; the evidence is strong that the pandemic is coming to a close. The cruise industry will likely roar back.

 

We had dinner last night at Le Petite Chef. Adorable, and the food was outstanding. Highly recommended. Dinner at Luminae tonight -- they have been consistently outstanding, and the crew treat you like you own the ship.

 

We enjoyed this cruise so much, I booked rooms for our entire family on the Apex in March of 2023 during Spring break.  The folks that do this will come up to the Retreat lounge to book future cruises -- no waiting in lines.

Edited February 11, 2022 by sjayo

[sjayo]

Update: still no reported cases of Covid on the ship this week. If I had to guess, I would anticipate price increases within the next month as restrictions are relaxed and pent up demand comes to the surface -- that's why I booked our cruise for next year yesterday -- I'm anticipating some pretty stiff price increases.

 

My view of this ship may seem biased -- it's not. The fact is that Celebrity did an excellent job of thinking through just about everything on the Edge.

 

The two suggestions I have are probably easy to address:

 

1. How can there be no electric plug in the bathroom by the sink/mirror? I've never seen that before -- was this some kind of design mistake? You could theoretically plug in across the way by the mirror that only my wife uses, but the cord would have to be very long to stretch to the sink.  Not a big issue, but this should be easily fixable.

2. The dinner venue last night for Le Petite Chef took place right next to a public venue the floor below with live music. The live music often interfered with the presentation of the animation -- so much so that we couldn't hear it at times. This too is easily fixed since the timing of everything in Le Petite Chef is choreographed. Why not pass along this information to the folks performing so they're not doing so, or doing so quietly, while the animation is operational. I was not a fan of the loud music outside of this venue; although I would have enjoyed it had I been there for that purpose. A simple timing issue.

 

That's it.  Sara has a gluten allergy and every food venue on the ship -- especially the finer restaurants -- took good care of her so that her enjoyment was not interrupted. People that are gluten free can enjoy this ship without hesitation. I don't know about other food allergies, but they do ask everywhere you go whether there are any food allergies they need to be aware of, so my guess is that they can accommodate anyone.

 

Relaxing in the Retreat today. I've still not seen anyone use the pool up here yet. This area isn't even 10% used.

Edited February 11, 2022 by sjayo

[Covepointcruiser]

Funny about Tortola, is Pussers so longer there?    it was always such a fun place with, obviously, great rum.    A good alternative if you are not into snorkeling or sailing.

[GenerationX]

Happy Friday CC!  

 

I can’t believe this time last week I was sipping champagne on the Edge.

 

Instead of caving to my urge to play with more cruise dummy bookings for late spring, I’m writing a little about my excursion in Cozumel.

 

I was thinking of just staying on the ship in Cozumel too, but I figured it’d be a shame to spend thousands of dollars to go to the ocean and not really get to swim in it, so I decided to book the Fury catamaran sail and snorkel.  On past cruises I’d watched people board the catamaran for this excursion right from the pier and liked the idea of not having to deal with a crowded tour bus (got enough of that in Honduras, thanks).   I’d never snorkeled in Cozumel before but wasn’t expecting much.  The snorkeling was surprisingly decent though! Not as good as Aruba or Bonaire in November, but I’d say better than when I was in the Dominican Republic last summer.

 

There were some beautiful colorful fish, a few blowfish and a small ray!

 

After snorkeling the boat took us to a small private beach with lounge chairs, kayaks and inflatable water toys all included.  There was a little open bar with Mexican beer on tap and margaritas.  The margaritas were about as good as you’d expect open bar margaritas to be, but the beer was nice and cold.  

 

There was a snack bar with burgers and chips for an extra charge.  I was planning on lunch on the boat, but when I saw they had Sabritas chips, I got a bag to munch on and a bag to take home to the states.  By the way, if you’re a salty snack person and you’re in Mexico, find yourself some Sabritas!  They’re the Mexican version of Lays chips, but much less oily and not over salted.  I got addicted to them at an all inclusive last winter during the shutdown and I’m not ashamed to admit that getting my hands on some was one of the highlights of this excursion for me.

 

After drinking, swimming and chip munching on the beach for about an hour, the boat crew called for us to reboard and we sailed back to the port with dance music and the crew passing out (slightly better) margaritas and beer.

 

It wasn’t anything fancy as far as excursions go but it was a great way to get out into the sunshine and warm ocean water.   
 

 

 

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

3 more weeks and we will be in Lauderdale anticipating our cruise on Silhouette.

[sjayo]

Good news

Zero (0) cases of covid onboard this week.

Word is that beginning on Sunday the mask mandate will only apply in the casino and during shows

Crew will be able to get off the ship beginning on Sunday

Now is a great time to be cruising because the cruise line still hasn't increased the minimum number of passengers beyond half capacity.

I'm hopeful the pandemic is winding down quickly -- the numbers beginning in January look exactly like the end of the 1918-1919 pandemic; implying the end should be in March.

 

[sjayo]

A couple of new tidbits.

 

There is a quiet area outside of Cut Steakhouse on deck 5 that no one sits at -- outdoors.

 

Breakfast at Luminae was fantastic. The pistachio croissant was a 10

 

They serve a very nice breakfast inside and outside of Eden -- never saw that before. Very quiet.

[sjayo]

Health update.

 

2 cases of Covid reported -- either asymptomatic or mild symptoms. Since this is when the crew gets tested each week, I'm close to 100% certain that it's crew and not passengers. Chances are the crew was exposed last week.

 

If it's true that there were only 2 cases, the color code should change back to green.

 

Retreat area was full today -- we couldn't find a spot out of the sun. Plenty of spots in the sun; and there were actually 2-3 people in the pool today. 

 

Lunch at Luminae -- consistently outstanding. I always feel like I should wait to pay for the meal -- it's nice leaving a fine restaurant and not getting a check.

[sjayo]

Experiment completed: Luminae vs Steak House

 

Winner -- Luminae by a country mile.

 

I ordered a ribeye in both places, and I'm 99% certain the steak that came out at the steak house was a strip steak (elongated, no cap, not much fat); and I'd say it was mediocre at best even though it was supposed to be prime. I took a few bites. I also ordered the "tater tots" with gruyere cheese (completely tasteless) and the mac and cheese (passable). Sara ordered the filet and loved it.

 

I would not go back to the steak house -- it was extremely disappointing. The only highlight was the sundae at the end -- that was excellent.  Every other dinner on this ship was fantastic so overall I'd give the food a solid A; it would have been an A+ if the steak house came through.

 

We'll be back on the sister ship a year from March.  Well done Celebrity!!!!!

 

* And Sara won a nice hand pay jackpot in the casino just before coming up for the evening. Nice way to end the evening.

 

Time to pass the baton.

 

Jay and Sara

[sjayo]

Disembarking is not like it used to be. After collecting our luggage we walked to a facial recognition device, so there was zero wait. We never filled out one of the declaration forms; we were never asked if we were carrying any prohibited articles or fruit from another country; and we were not asked to declare any purchases. We were well below the maximum anyway, but I'm curious how they enforce this as there is no way to know what someone purchased overseas and no opportunity to even make a declaration.

 

Breakfast in Luminae was great as usual.

 

I'll be doing a very nice write up on Anastasiia -- our cabin attendant.

 

When I told my grandson that he was going to have a butler on his cruise next year, his eyes lit up. "Does that mean I can order a thousand scoops of ice cream, and she has to bring it to me?" he asked.

"Of course", I said, "as long as you mom and dad will allow it." He's so looking forward to the Apex.

 

 

[Yvonne]

4 minutes ago, sjayo said:

Disembarking is not like it used to be. After collecting our luggage we walked to a facial recognition device, so there was zero wait. We never filled out one of the declaration forms; we were never asked if we were carrying any prohibited articles or fruit from another country; and we were not asked to declare any purchases. We were well below the maximum anyway, but I'm curious how they enforce this as there is no way to know what someone purchased overseas and no opportunity to even make a declaration.

 

Breakfast in Luminae was great as usual.

 

I'll be doing a very nice write up on Anastasiia -- our cabin attendant.

 

When I told my grandson that he was going to have a butler on his cruise next year, his eyes lit up. "Does that mean I can order a thousand scoops of ice cream, and she has to bring it to me?" he asked.

"Of course", I said, "as long as you mom and dad will allow it." He's so looking forward to the Apex.

 

 

Why didn’t you just start your own trip report thread instead of hijacking GenX’s thread?

[sjayo]

I tried to do that, but I don't know how.  If you're willing to explain, I'm happy to learn.

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, Yvonne said:

Why didn’t you just start your own trip report thread instead of hijacking GenX’s thread?

That was quite harsh and unnecessary!  Seems to me that @GenerationXwelcomes comments from others on her threads and @sjayo said nothing offensive, frankly others may find it helpful.  

[sjayo]

I actually consider the continuation of a thread a compliment. She did such a wonderful job generating good will -- allowing the rest of us to follow to experience her cruise vicariously. She has a great writing style and focused on her unique experiences as a solo traveler. I think of this as passing the baton to the next person on the ship; and my focus was on health, with a splattering of experiences so people following could experience our week vicariously.

 

Now if GenX was monetizing this, that's a different story and I would never interfere with that.  When I started I tried to figure out how to start a new thread and could not find a simple link to do so. I'm sure it's there -- I just don't know how to do it.

 

No hard feelings to the questioner. Hijacking was perhaps the wrong word, but no worries either way.

[Yvonne]

7 minutes ago, sjayo said:

I actually consider the continuation of a thread a compliment. She did such a wonderful job generating good will -- allowing the rest of us to follow to experience her cruise vicariously. She has a great writing style and focused on her unique experiences as a solo traveler. I think of this as passing the baton to the next person on the ship; and my focus was on health, with a splattering of experiences so people following could experience our week vicariously.

 

Now if GenX was monetizing this, that's a different story and I would never interfere with that.  When I started I tried to figure out how to start a new thread and could not find a simple link to do so. I'm sure it's there -- I just don't know how to do it.

 

No hard feelings to the questioner. Hijacking was perhaps the wrong word, but no worries either way.

You’ve been a member here for 14 years and you’ve never started your own thread?  There is a big blue box on the first page of threads that says “start new thread.”

 

 Maybe others think it was a harsh question to ask but I’ve been here over 20 years and have never seen anyone add their own trip report to someone else’s.  I would never think of doing that.  Sorry, but it just seems odd and a bit rude to me.

[sjayo]

That is correct -- I've never started a thread in 14 years.

In fact, I never actually followed anyone in the same 14 years until GenX started her thread and did such a great job. I learned so much about the ship that it altered and enhanced our journey. In fact, I was hoping GenX and her husband could have stayed on our cruise so we could have extended a token of appreciation with a dinner in Eden.

If you find extending her good will as rude, then I feel sorry for your acidic view of the world.

 

 

[Yvonne]

9 minutes ago, sjayo said:

That is correct -- I've never started a thread in 14 years.

In fact, I never actually followed anyone in the same 14 years until GenX started her thread and did such a great job. I learned so much about the ship that it altered and enhanced our journey. In fact, I was hoping GenX and her husband could have stayed on our cruise so we could have extended a token of appreciation with a dinner in Eden.

If you find extending her good will as rude, then I feel sorry for your acidic view of the world.

 

 

I don’t view your piggy backing off of her review as her extending her good will.  Just because I feel it’s wrong to put your own review into hers doesn’t mean I have an “acidic view of the world.”  That’s quite a stretch.  But I hope we can agree to disagree on it being rude.  You don’t feel it is, I do.  But I won’t continue the conversation about it.  I’m glad you enjoyed her review, I did too.  She does a great job.

[sjayo]

I came across GenX through my search for any information on health aboard cruise ships -- ours in particular -- in advance of our own cruise. Her engaging style caught my attention, along with a lot of others -- those are ideal reviews for people to read that are boarding in subsequent weeks. That's the first time I've ever followed anyone. My comments focused mostly on health (at what I hope is the tail end of a global infectious disease pandemic) since that's my area of expertise, and because it's on the minds of so many cruisers right now.

 

It would be very difficult to conclude that my posts were in any way rude or hijacking, unless of course, you actually didn't read them -- in which case, you view is not well informed. Those terms imply malicious intent, and you'd really have to read that into them through your own world view to arrive at those conclusions.  I feel bad for GenX that her wonderful thread had to end with acid, but unfortunately, there are people that bring acid with them.

 

To GenX -- if we're ever on a cruise at the same time, dinner is on us.

 

Jay and Sara

[bunnyette]

8 hours ago, sjayo said:

I tried to do that, but I don't know how.  If you're willing to explain, I'm happy to learn.

Go to the celebrity board and click start new topic…hijacking another’s thread is impolite 

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, bunnyette said:

Go to the celebrity board and click start new topic…hijacking another’s thread is impolite 

find a real life problem