Back from the Edge Review of Feb 20 Sailing and hints and Tips I wish I had known before I sailed.

[The Flying Pirate]

Eden Namaste 

[The Flying Pirate]

Eden Tidal Pool, the catch of the day was Grouper

[The Flying Pirate]

Eden Life after Death tenderloin. This was amazingly good

[The Flying Pirate]

The best part of dinner at Eden is the dessert, this is called the Looking Glass. The "moss" is actually cake. 

[The Flying Pirate]

The other choice was this one called "Forbidden Fruit" 

[The Flying Pirate]

The Forbidden Fruit was more complicated than it appeared. Here is the inside

[The Flying Pirate]

Additional dessert, because you're on a cruise you need more food right???  This is the Eden surprise dessert. 

[The Flying Pirate]

If you are sailing Aqua Class here is Blu on Edge 

[The Flying Pirate]

In St Maarten we went to the Sunset Bar to get pictures of airplanes and people getting blasted by the sand. Here is Air France arriving from Paris, one of the few "big airplanes" to arrive that day. 

[The Flying Pirate]

When we got back to Fort Lauderdale, we had all day to kill before our flight. In the past we have booked a ships excursion that takes you and your luggage, you go do whatever and they drop everything off at the airport. Easy. 

 

This time there was only one option, the Everglades Air Boat Tour. We have done it in the past and didn't have a need to do it again and it was the only option. So we found a day room. If you are in this position I recommend getting a resort pass. There are several websites out that sell them, we used resortpass.com. It allows you to have the use of all the hotel facilities, pool, beach for a fraction of the price of renting a room. It is a good alternative for a shore excursion especially if you have a big family. 

[The Flying Pirate]

14 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

Do you know if the sunset verandas on Edge allow the dividers between balconies to be removed, allowing for a larger shared balcony space?  This is one of the best features of any regular balcony cabin when traveling with others.  It appears the infinite veranda eliminates that perk.

That I am not sure, maybe one of the others on here can better answer that question. You are correct the Infinite Veranda does eliminate that perk with traveling with a group 

[The Flying Pirate]

46 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Sunset Veranda is definitely the way to go.  I have booked SV on two Edge sailings.  

Enjoy.

That is good information. We had done Concierge Class and Aqua on other ships and liked it and wanted to try the new Infinite Veranda to see if we liked it. I would definitely do it for Alaska or transatlantic but I missed the traditional balcony in the Caribbean  

[The Flying Pirate]

44 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Thanks for the great review.

I have sailed twice on Edge and hope to return at some point.  Your pictures are fabulous!

Susan

Thanks for the compliment, I missed the old school reviews people used to do with lots of pictures. I think the pictures help get people excited about being on the ship sometimes. 

[Tyler414]

1 minute ago, The Flying Pirate said:

That I am not sure, maybe one of the others on here can better answer that question. You are correct the Infinite Veranda does eliminate that perk with traveling with a group 

If you look on the deck plans for the SV the "thick lines" between veranda's cannot be removed, the "thin lines" is where you can open the up to the neighboring veranda.

[r2h2]

We were in a Sky Suite Aft(port corner) on Edge and the balcony divider could open to a next door Sunset Veranda balcony if needed.

[FBrew]

8 minutes ago, The Flying Pirate said:

When we got back to Fort Lauderdale, we had all day to kill before our flight. In the past we have booked a ships excursion that takes you and your luggage, you go do whatever and they drop everything off at the airport. Easy. 

 

This time there was only one option, the Everglades Air Boat Tour. We have done it in the past and didn't have a need to do it again and it was the only option. So we found a day room. If you are in this position I recommend getting a resort pass. There are several websites out that sell them, we used resortpass.com. It allows you to have the use of all the hotel facilities, pool, beach for a fraction of the price of renting a room. It is a good alternative for a shore excursion especially if you have a big family. 

We are in Fort Lauderdale all day after we disembark the Apex. We would like to get a day pass.  Which hotel did you stay for the day? How far was it from the airport?   Thank you

[PTC DAWG]

Thanks for posting this..nice camera work and commentary. 

[The Flying Pirate]

1 minute ago, FBrew said:

We are in Fort Lauderdale all day after we disembark the Apex. We would like to get a day pass.  Which hotel did you stay for the day? How far was it from the airport?   Thank you

We stayed at a place called Hotel Dello. It was like 5 min from the airport. I think we might look for another place next time. Dello was clean but the breakfast area was a fiasco and expensive (not that we needed food after the cruise) But there are a lot of options. I would try something else next time. 

[TheHawk1]

22 minutes ago, The Flying Pirate said:

That I am not sure, maybe one of the others on here can better answer that question. You are correct the Infinite Veranda does eliminate that perk with traveling with a group 

Thanks for the rest of your review.  I'm booked on the Edge for the first time next February, so good to hear about the other positives of the ship.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks for your review and for warning off the hijackers.  They are getting annoying lately.

 

I think you have convinced me to cancel the cruises I have booked in one of those infinite veranda rooms as it will be hot and I'll be essentially stuck with an expensive oceanview cabin.

 

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Thanks for your review and for warning off the hijackers.  They are getting annoying lately.

 

I think you have convinced me to cancel the cruises I have booked in one of those infinite veranda rooms as it will be hot and I'll be essentially stuck with an expensive oceanview cabin.

 

Agree, I think I could handle the Apex or Beyond where you can close the dividers and have the AC on, but the Edge would get hot quick with it shutting off. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

21 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Agree, I think I could handle the Apex or Beyond where you can close the dividers and have the AC on, but the Edge would get hot quick with it shutting off. 

 

Where did you get this information from?  Unless this is a brand new change or retrofit for the Apex, this isn't true,...

Edited March 2, 2022 by NutsAboutGolf

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, The Flying Pirate said:

If you go to Tortola the diving is amazing. I have been there before. The wrecks are world class. It was a shame the cruise line didn't take advantage of that. There were no scuba options. So if you are a diver, plan ahead to book your own dives. 

 

It's because of a few things.  If the port is requiring X to have bubble tours, tour operators now have to adhere to the bubble tour requirements which include insurance requirements various covid protocols including an entire dive boat exclusive for X passengers.  Another possible reason is the cruise ships arrival and departure time, dive boat operators simply may find it more profitable to offer non-bubble/open to anyone including land based tourists at fixed times.

[The Flying Pirate]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

It's because of a few things.  If the port is requiring X to have bubble tours, tour operators now have to adhere to the bubble tour requirements which include insurance requirements various covid protocols including an entire dive boat exclusive for X passengers.  Another possible reason is the cruise ships arrival and departure time, dive boat operators simply may find it more profitable to offer non-bubble/open to anyone including land based tourists at fixed times.

This is becoming a non-issue as the ports are easing restrictions, with changes seemingly daily. 

 

The problem I had was finding a boat operator that I could get to before they left and get back before the ship sailed. I think this was due mostly to the schedule changes caused by the decision to go to Nassau instead of San Juan. I am hoping that this becomes less and less of an issue. 

 

It is also highly likely, although speculation on my part, that they don't get as many scuba divers on Celebrity as other lines. So since they are running with fewer excursions total they went with more mainstream options. Again that is just speculation

[lola2013]

We’ll, after reading your fabulous review, I have decided to switch next December’s Reflection cruise to Apex.  Edge isn’t in the Caribbean in December so I’ll give Apex a try.  Same fabulous experience, I am sure.  Back to my SV! Thanks!