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

[sjayo]

I forgive them all for the negativity. Life is too short to deal with such nonsense.

 

We love cruising; cruise critic has been a wonderful way for us to connect with complete strangers enjoying a common experience; and GenX is a perfect example of what is best about these boards.

 

No hard feelings, and I will eventually try to figure out how to start a thread.

[JFontaine]

1 hour ago, bunnyette said:

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

Hijacking???  GenX's  cruise is over.  

 

Really awful comments when a cruiser took time out of his cruise to help future cruisers. Not in the spirit of what we do here. Feel free to check how long I've been here. 

[mlambert]

I appreciate all of your information, Sjayo.  You have a nice writing style also. It was great to have everything about the Edge in one thread.  Boarding in April and can’t wait.  Let’s all love one another.

[sjayo]

One more update. When I return home from trips like this, I do write ups for Trip Advisor when I find a gem of a restaurant or store while on travel. The restaurant owners particularly appreciate this.

 

In this case I found something totally unexpected. Who would have anticipated the presence of a world class coffee shop on St. Maarten? When you get off the boat that takes you to the island, go to the main street and turn right. Go down to the end (a 5 minute walk) and you'll see signs for a place called the Coffee Lounge [https://m.facebook.com/sxmcoffeelounge/]. You have to climb stairs to get to the lounge. 

 

It's a beautiful large shop with comfy couches and chairs; an area to sit outside; nicely air conditioned; freshly baked french pastries; and a broad range of hot and cold coffee options. On the day I was there is was very hot, so imagine sitting outside with a cool Java Chip coffee concoction with whipped cream, nuts, and chocolate chips; and sipping this during the heat of the day -- munching on a fresh authentic french pastry. I'll be going back there every time I visit the island. The owner was kind enough to sell me a pound of her freshly roasted coffee beans to take home.  Highly recommended.

[39august]

I assume you are saying turn right on Front Street, not turn right on the boardwalk?

[sjayo]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

I assume you are saying turn right on Front Street, not turn right on the boardwalk?

Correct -- turn right on Front Street. You can also turn right on the boardwalk and go down to where the other french coffee shop is located (where there are lots of newly planted trees between the boardwalk and the ocean); turn left down there where there are shops; and walk a minute or two to the end where you'll also run into the shop that way on the right side.

[eas2225]

I enjoyed GenX's review so much, but had to stop reading on Feb. 5th so we get ready to board the Edge on Feb. 6th. Her style(both writing and fashion) are incredible and I wanted to learn everything there is to know about the Edge, even though we were just on her in October.

 

So sjayo, we were on the same time as you!  We even had dinner the same night at Le Petite Chef.  Such a unique concept.

 

We spend a lot of time in the casino, and as a result don't get to enjoy the shows, music or mingling at the martini bar(our choice).  However, after following you both with all your insights and recommendations, this time we made sure to go to every show, and found the entertainment to be so high energy and different, in a good way.  Sorry it took so long!

 

Congrats on your wife's jackpot.  I'm sure we crossed paths at some point in the casino.

 

Did you happen to hear about the WW11 veteran and his wife who were on this cruise?  He is 97 years old and they've been married 73 years.  We met them in the casino, and he had some amazing stories!

 

Guess I've annoyed some because of this hijacking, so I apologize in advance.

 

 

[sjayo]

I did see the WWII vet and his wife -- what a great story.

 

Sara and I both loved Le Petite Chef. I actually have a video of some of it, but I didn't want to spoil the enjoyment for anyone that hasn't had this experience before so I didn't post it -- it's best experienced without knowledge of exactly what is going to happen. The food was fabulous, and this and all of the restaurants were extremely careful about gluten (and I'm sure) other allergies.

 

We really missed cruising during the last two years, and I was pleased that the safety measures taken by Celebrity made it possible to feel so comfortable and safe on the ship. We celebrated a valentine's dinner last night, and as I looked around, there was no guarantee (like on the ship) that everyone was vaccinated and tested negative 48 hours before getting together.

[fsdorado]

On 2/11/2022 at 9:31 AM, Covepointcruiser said:

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.

 

We were on Edge last week as well.  Pussers is still open.  It wasn't crowded at all when we stumbled across it after our snorkel excursion.  The shop in the back has some interesting stuff.  When we were planning ports, you couldn't explore on your own in Tortola.  Apparently, this changed last week so after we got back from our excursion, we changed into dry clothes and wandered out to explore the town, what there was of it.  We didn't end up eating anything there because we had a reservation at Fine Cuts in a couple of hours.

 

 

Frederick

[59impala]

Im hoping Generation X will be back to give us the wrap up of her experiences, especially Solstice Class versus Edge Class. 

We have sailed both and both are fantastic! We have never had a bad Celebrity Cruise, they sure beat the day job......

[lori-annk]

GenerationX we leave in a week! Few days pre cruise in FLL, I really can’t thank you enough for your entertaining and insightful live review. On your recommendations we’ve booked a few of your favorites! A cabana day, Eden, Reidel and a Spa massage.  We have notes on the rest, lol. It’s our first suite experience we usually are Aqua, and have always enjoyed Blu. Hoping it’s warming up for you at home and work isn’t too stressful. I am so looking forward to our first cruise since the pandemic canceled 2 of them on us!!

[MzShae]

I'm looking forward to reading the last few days & wrap up of GenX's review! 

[GenerationX]

Better late than never everyone!

 

I’m coming back to finally wrap up my review.  I apologize for the extended delay. Real life gets in the way of vacation thoughts so quickly when one gets home!

 

Anyway I just wanted to share some final thoughts on my trip on Edge and E-class.

 

As I hope came through in my reports, overall I had a fantastic week on the Edge. I was very nervous to try E-class given some of the reviews I’d read, but I’m so very glad I did.  There were definitely things that could be improved (e.g, the shade issues on pool and retreat deck and at the Sunset Bar, no World Class bar, limited seating at the martini bar), but from what I’ve read some of those already have been improved on Apex and/or are being further improved on Beyond. 

 

I would definitely sail Edge class again and can’t wait to do so. In fact I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon talking myself out of booking a 5 night on Edge in April.  Sky suites on that one are going for more than I paid for my 7 night due to the higher solo supplement. I briefly considered just booking a basic Sunset veranda (woohoo! more of that short rib pasta in Tuscan!) but I’m already taking vacation time from work in March and May, and if I get fired I’m too far past my prime to pay for all these cruise bookings and handbags with my good looks and charm.

 

A girlfriend of mine who’s a fellow Celebrity loyalist asked me recently whether going forward, if money was equivalent, I would book E-class over S-class.  I had to think about it for a minute but it really feels to me as if E-Class and S-class are apples and oranges. Both have charms that the other doesn’t and the vibes felt completely different. 

 

I think I would probably lean more S-class when I’m cruising more for the ports/destinations and want a comfy, warm feeling luxury ship to come back to each evening, and more E-class when I really just want a few days of modern, upscale pampering and classy partying onboard.  

 

While I did find some stand out dishes in the specialties on Edge, I overall I think I like the specialty restaurants in S-class more. At least with the exception of the lunch French restaurant which I’m loving the addition of. My assessment may also be just because I need to spend more time dining in E-class and trying things to find the favorites like I did many cruises ago on S Class. (No, Charla, you do NOT need to go on that April Edge cruise!)

 

Overall, I think the suite experience that Celebrity created on E-class beats out S-class, except that I would love if there were maybe 10-15% less suites to give it the more intimate and personalized feel I get in S-class and M-class.  But I know that’s wishful thinking.  You don’t make money off billion dollar ships by cutting back on making/selling the most expensive cabins…at least not without making those cabins even more expensive…which is the LAST thing I want.

 

So, what’s next for me in cruising life? 

 

Well, first of all, I’m definitely not going on an Edge cruise in April [cough].  I’m not. I’m really not.

 

But seriously, I’ll actually be leaving next week to fly out for a short 4-night cruise on Millennium!  Intro post for that live review to come soon! (Teaser: On that cruise I’ll be sailing with a surprise special guest and in a stateroom category I’ve never been in before. 😁) 

 

Hubby and I were hoping to cruise in May for our anniversary but alas we couldn’t find an itinerary that matched up with our vacation days, so we’ll be doing a land vacation in Mexico.

 

After that, we’ll be home bodies until we sail on Eclipse to Alaska in July to celebrate my 40th birthday!  We’ll be sailing out of Vancouver and will be spending a few more days there post-cruise to check out a new city.  Dining and diversion suggestions welcome!

 

After that will be another cruising hiatus as we conserve funds and vacation time until a tentatively planned bucket list Galapagos cruise on Flora in early 2023!

 

A big thank you to everyone who followed along and jumped in to share recommendations and help answer questions!

 

One of my favorite pastimes between cruises is reading others’ live reviews and when making the investment to cruise, I love all the info I can gather in advance from others’ experiences to help make the most of my trip.  I hope folks have enjoyed following along with me and found some good info here too!  

 

Cheers! Bon Voyage! And talk to you all soon about Millennium!
 

 

 

 

 

[Janthere]

22 hours ago, GenerationX said:

 

 

After that, we’ll be home bodies until we sail on Eclipse to Alaska in July to celebrate my 40th birthday!  We’ll be sailing out of Vancouver and will be spending a few more days there post-cruise to check out a new city.  Dining and diversion suggestions welcome!

 

 

Really enjoy reading your live reviews and will definitely follow your next Millenium adventure. We are doing our first Sky Suite on  Eclipse July 10 out of Vancouver - if we are lucky enough to have you on our sailing, would love to meet up for a drink 🙂

[GenerationX]

16 hours ago, janbear said:

Really enjoy reading your live reviews and will definitely follow your next Millenium adventure. We are doing our first Sky Suite on  Eclipse July 10 out of Vancouver - if we are lucky enough to have you on our sailing, would love to meet up for a drink 🙂

Thank you!  Unfortunately we’re going to be on the July 24th sailing so we’ll miss each other. 😢  I hope you enjoy your first sky suite and if our cruise paths do cross in the future I would love to take you up on that drink invitation! 

[dateacher]

GenX I will miss your reviews and hope to be on a cruise with you one day,  You know how to do it right as a solo cruiser.  

[abbydancer2003]

4 hours ago, GenerationX said:

Thank you!  Unfortunately we’re going to be on the July 24th sailing so we’ll miss each other. 😢  I hope you enjoy your first sky suite and if our cruise paths do cross in the future I would love to take you up on that drink invitation! 

Darn - we'll be on the July 31 Eclipse.  So we get on when you get off I guess.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Enjoyed your review.  Sorry it got hijacked.  Hope to see more in the future.

[scrapcreator]

I have been enjoying your reviews. Looking forward to your next one.

 

Vancouver ideas: Riding bikes through Stanley Park (Spokes bike rental, Stanley Park Brewing). Granville Island. Sun-Yat Sen Park. The bike ride was fun!

[CruiserRob]

@GenerationX thanks for the link to your dress.  DW loved it on our recent Reflection cruise.

[GenerationX]

15 hours ago, CruiserRob said:

@GenerationX thanks for the link to your dress.  DW loved it on our recent Reflection cruise.

You are very welcome! She looks gorgeous!  Please tell her that I LOVE her cardigan.  I’ll have to look for one before next Valentine’s!

[dani negreanu]

15 hours ago, CruiserRob said:

@GenerationX thanks for the link to your dress.  DW loved it on our recent Reflection cruise.

 

8 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

She looks gorgeous!  Please tell her that I LOVE her cardigan.  I’ll have to look for one before next Valentine’s!

 

I love the cardigan too... so special 🌺

[CruiserRob]

56 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

You are very welcome! She looks gorgeous!  Please tell her that I LOVE her cardigan.  I’ll have to look for one before next Valentine’s!

Apparently she got the cardigan at Bealls Outlet.

 

Robert

[Laurab23]

GenX I have not seen anything posted if you followed up about the bus driver harassing you.

I hope you did report him to someone.

 

Laura

[Jim_Iain]

13 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

GenX I have not seen anything posted if you followed up about the bus driver harassing you.

I hope you did report him to someone.

 

Laura

She has a new thread going about her All Girls Cruise.   You may get an answer from her on her new thread.