Report From The Edge - 7/9/22

[Aloha 1]

This is a recap of our first Celebrity Cruise since Reflection in 2015. We’ve sailed Oceania, Regent, Princess, and MSC since then. The following is my opinion of the ship and ports. Barcelona  to Rome 7/9/22. We are Elite +:

 

TRAVEL TO BARCELONA AND EMBARKATION

 

Took our Emed tests 2 days prior as required and flew into Barcelona on United and Lufthansa. UA Polaris does not live up to it’s hype. Found the business class seat very small, tight, and generally uncomfortable. I’m 6’, 200 lbs so generally average. LH service as expected, with punctual departure from Munich and decent lunch. Arrived BCN and the Le Meridien Hotel at La Rambla.

 

Highly recommend Citat Contal for tapas. Just off Placa de Catalunya at the top of La Rambla.

 

Embarkation was very efficient. arrived at the cruise terminal on schedule at 11:30 AM next morning. Being in the Retreat we skipped the main crowd and showed our negative tests, boarding passes, answered the standard health questions we all used to fill out on paper and that was it. On the ship inside 15 minutes from arrival. Proceeded to Suite and our butler was waiting for us with our key cards. Very nice touch.

 

CELEBRITY SUITE

 

Well appointed with a few niggles. The rocking chair is very comfortable to sit in but it does stick out and bite you in the legs when you least expect it. There are no bars to hang towels or washcloths on in the  bathroom. The shower in the tub is a real kluge. A better solution would have been shower only as the tub is really only large enough for children.

 

Some of the lighting controls require a bit of work to figure out what they turn on/off. The lanai is very nice but every morning they hose it down including the chairs which are NOT waterproof . That means you sit down and then feel a cold presence on your backside. Bed is very comfortable and the room is very quiet from noise.

 

THE EDGE

 

First Edge Class cruise for us. The ship is beautiful with subdued earth tones throughout. It is chopped up a bit as to get to certain parts of the ship you need to navigate through part of one deck then down to another. All restaurants except Raw, Fine Cut, and Le Bistro, are aft.

 

We have had exceptional seas with less than 1 foot waves and very little wind so this cruise feels like I’m in a hotel on land. I do miss the “motion of the ocean”. Only 1700 on board out of a 3,000 capacity so service is exceptional. Passenger mix is 50% Euro and 50% North American.

 

Masks not required anywhere despite Celebrity saying they are a must in the Casino and Theatre. No reports of Covid from the bridge but interestingly, today as you reboarded from our day in Corsica, a crewman was handing out medical grade masks to all who didn’t have one. Hmmm?

 

I must note that this cruise is the start of our one month Europe vacation. We go to Trieste after disembarkation to sail on Oceania Nautica to Lisbon. Hence, we are wearing our KN95 masks everywhere on board except when eating or drinking plus making sure we stay as far as possible away from other occupied tables as we have to test twice more this trip. I swear we are the only ones other than the crew wearing masks but C’est La Vie.

 

FOOD AND BARS

 

First nights dinner was at Eden. Superb! Fleet Executive Chef Garcia is on this cruise so that may be part of it but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of cooking and presentation. Had a chance to chat briefly with Chef and complemented him on his attention to detail as he examined each plate coming from the Eden kitchen. Definitely put this venue on your map. We liked it so much we are going again tonite.

 

The concept of 4 separate dining rooms is brilliant . Each one has a specialty menu keyed to it’s name. Example was Cyprus. The greek foods were outstanding. Grilled Sea Bass, Greek salad, Saganaki. Opaa! Only thing missing was Ouzo for desert.

 

Cosmopolitan is typical modern cuisine. We had the pan sautéed Hake with cannelloni beans and bacon broth. Very good.

 

Fine Cut also produced a better Filet Mignon than I’ve had on Oceania in Polo and my DW said her Dover Sole prep was excellent. If you sense a fish pattern here, you’re right. The mark of good chefs is how they cook fish. The team on Edge is knocking it out of the park.

 

Raw On 5 delivered some excellent sushi. They did have some supply issues as in a few sakes or edamame not being available. The rolls are huge with at least 8-10 pieces each . We asked to leave out oysters from our seafood tower and were substituted extra shrimp and crab claws.

 

Although we have access to Luminae or Blu we have not found a dinner menu to our liking so far. Breakfasts there have been very good but the menu is static. However, beats the Ocean View by a mile.

 

The OVC has been fine for lunches with decent variety. With fewer passengers the usual scrum has been non existent and tables have been plentiful. I especially like that Celebrity has gone to serving you in the OVC instead of everyone helping themselves. That needs to stay post Covid.

 

Very disappointed in the Martini Bar compared to the S class ships. The focal point is more about the bandstand and music as opposed to the martini “show”. General at 5 PM each night there are very few people there and only one bartender. On the S class, at 5 PM you would never find an open seat. The martinis however are still good!

 

More to come….

 

[Azulann]

Having not sailed on a E class ship , I am enjoying your detailed review. Food sound amazing  at the various dining venues you chose. 

[PTC DAWG]

Nice review, I agree about shower comments, it could have been a really nice shower…

[Aloha 1]

Off to the Small Group Pasta Experience this morning. Will add more later today.

[bye-seaya]

Hi Aloha 1 -  Looking forward to following your journey. Thank you for posting! 

We will be sailing on the Edge in May with this same itinerary so I’m sure we will learn a lot from your experiences. This will be our first out of Barcelona. 

Question for you - how did you like staying at Meridien Hotel at La Rambla?  Would you recommend it?

I’d like to hear your thoughts as I’m in search of a place to stay 3 nights before embarkation. 

TIA. Wishing you smooth sailing. 😀🛳

[cazo90]

Thank you so much for this review! We are on this sailing next Saturday July 23rd and this just adds to our excitement. Can't wait to hear more.

[dazey]

Agree with the Martini Bar on Apex and Edge not at all as fun as the original one on S ships. We recently sailed on both Apex and Edge and just recently were on Summit. We  enjoyed the Martini Bar for an hour or so before dinner on Summit.  Fun vibe. Really do not visit the Martini Bar on Apex and Edge much.

[Surfguyxxx]

Thank you for that.  Great read.  Haven't done an E class yet as I've been working on achieving Pinnacle with RC but looking forward to it now.  Thanks again.

[ILgirl]

8 hours ago, bye-seaya said:

Hi Aloha 1 -  Looking forward to following your journey. Thank you for posting! 

We will be sailing on the Edge in May with this same itinerary so I’m sure we will learn a lot from your experiences. This will be our first out of Barcelona. 

Question for you - how did you like staying at Meridien Hotel at La Rambla?  Would you recommend it?

I’d like to hear your thoughts as I’m in search of a place to stay 3 nights before embarkation. 

TIA. Wishing you smooth sailing. 😀🛳

We sailed on Azamara at the end of May out of Barcelona.  We stayed three nights pre cruise at the Hotel Colon. It was very nice.  More of a mid priced property but clean rooms, great breakfast and friendly staff.

[Aloha 1]

OK, back to finish this report. I’ll explain the delay further on.

 

PORTS

 

After leaving Barcelona, we visited Valencia. Shuttle bus to the City Center to see the old church, bull ring, Roman ruins etc. Being a Sunday most everything was closed so back on board we went.

 

Following Valencia, we stopped at Ibiza Island. Essentially a beach stop. we climbed up to D’Alt Villa - the Old Town. Great views from there on a very hot day.

 

After a sea day we reached Portofino. Rather than do a ship tour, we opted to use Trenitalia to visit the Cinque Terre - along with a few thousand others! The 5 hill towns are very picturesque and the trains were frequent to go from one to the other. Had lunch in Riomaggiore at a little family run restaurant. Real Italian Pizza and excellent Bruschetta of tomato, buffalo mozzarella, basil. American style pizza just does not compare. We arrived back in Portofino around 5 PM about 30 minutes before the ship tour.

 

Next stop was Corsica, birthplace of Napoleon. A very pretty town which makes it’s living on tourism and the late Emperor. Toured the house where he was born and raised and went to the Imperial Chapel where his heart is buried but, as luck would have it, it was Bastille Day, a national holiday in France, and most everything was closed.

 

At La Spezia, our last stop before Rome, we took the Pasta Experience and farm lunch tour. The very small pasta factory in Lari was about a 15 minute stop then on to the Agricola for a wonderful local lunch. Plenty of Vino, antipasti, pasta with meat sauce and pasta with veggies, salad, and vin santo dessert wine. They sell an unbelievable honey with truffles here along with wine, jams, etc. The family has lived there for over 600 years!

 

So our last nite on the ship found us back in Cyprus restaurant for another round of Greek sea bass. As good as the first visit. A little final packing for departure and another donation to the casino. Our last couple days were fairly busy so no real time to post anything.

 

On disembarkation day, we had one last breakfast in Luminae then grabbed our carry on’s and waited in the Retreat Lounge until 9AM to leave the ship. Shuttles to the port entrance were readily available and dropped us off to pick up the port bus to the train station, 3 euros each. After 3 trains, much dragging of luggage, and 10 hours, we arrived in Trieste for the second part of our journey on Oceania Nautica.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

I frankly did not expect the food quality to be as good as it was on Edge. It is obvious that X has stepped up it’s game here. Our Suite was very comfortable and service was outstanding from all across the ship. Solarium pool was generally empty which made lap swimming very easy. Ship was kept very clean. While the package wines were not top shelf they were quite adequate. With only 1700 on board, it never felt crowded and the elevators were fast. The Huevos Rancheros in Luminae were so good, I had them for breakfast envy morning!

 

Given an interesting itinerary, we would sail on Edge again. Happy to answer any questions.

 

I’ll be continuing this report on the Oceania forum to provide a comparison between the two lines.

 

Ciao, for now.

 

[Aloha 1]

On 7/15/2022 at 7:15 AM, bye-seaya said:

Hi Aloha 1 -  Looking forward to following your journey. Thank you for posting! 

We will be sailing on the Edge in May with this same itinerary so I’m sure we will learn a lot from your experiences. This will be our first out of Barcelona. 

Question for you - how did you like staying at Meridien Hotel at La Rambla?  Would you recommend it?

I’d like to hear your thoughts as I’m in search of a place to stay 3 nights before embarkation. 

TIA. Wishing you smooth sailing. 😀🛳

The hotel is in a great location. Room was fine and staff very friendly. As I am Marriott Platinum, we received free breakfast which was very good. Cab to the port took about 7 minutes and cost 15 euros. You could easily walk to the main sites as you are on La Rambla. We always enjoy Barcelona.

[Aloha 1]

Forgot to add one thing. We needed to take another antigen test within 2 days to board Oceania Nautica. I was a bit apprehensive to do it using ship wifi but I figured if I could log in to eMed and get a connection to a proctor we'd give it a go. No problems. Took 3 tests in about 50 minutes and results emailed back immediately. Still, I'll be glad when testing ends and removes one more uncertainty from travel.

[chemmo]

Sincere thanks for your review, happy onward adventures!

[Cruising7in2017]

Thanks for your detailed reviews, we are on the 8/20 sailing out of Barcelona, staying at El Palace before. We also have The Retreat and Luminae, was curious to know if you had any menus? What was your impression of pool at retreat? Thanks!

[Cap_D]

1 hour ago, Cruising7in2017 said:

Thanks for your detailed reviews, we are on the 8/20 sailing out of Barcelona, staying at El Palace before. We also have The Retreat and Luminae, was curious to know if you had any menus? What was your impression of pool at retreat? Thanks!

We sailed on Edge in April in the Caribbean just before its relocation.  We enjoyed the trip and would go again.  Enjoy your cruise and vacation.  That said in response to your query and some feedback:

 

We had about 1650 passengers, and Retreat was sold out.   You may or may not find a spot in the Retreat pool and front portion of the deck (plenty of chairs in Retreat on sides and closer to the jogging track) depending on the day and time.  We observed that if there were 2-3 groups (each 2-3 persons) using the pool it was on the verge of being too crowded.  It's essentially a plunge type pool, yet some will lounge for an extended period of time adding to the appearance of the pool being occupied as others come in and out.  The pool is not rated to hold very many.  The main pool doesn't have a large capacity either.  Perhaps around 35 or so (?).   Yet, due to the shape, water ledge for others wanting to cool off, and other happenings, we found there was often better room in the main pool most days - especially port days.  

 

The Retreat menus were as posted online.  For Luminae our suggestion would be to introduce yourself to the maitre d (Martin, in April, who is very much a take charge and empowered crewmember - more than anyone else we encountered) and to ask if you want substitutions or off menu items from other venues.  It was not evident if any other venue would be as accommodating, and generally the Luminae team seems to realize they are a big part of the Retreat experience (certainly the most contact you'll have with crew on a repeat basis if you don't venture to other venues).  We skipped the MDRs as eventually Luminae has the types of food that would be in the MDR (but without starting over with waiters, etc, and better chance of food being hot and prepared to taste), and there's no shortage of filet / tenderloin ship wide (easiest cut of meat to prepare for any restaurant).  

 

Luminae for lunch was delightful due to the pace and less crowd.  It will not be open every day for lunch, but check as we did find it open on a port day.  We would encourage going for lunch early in the trip and then making decisions around that experience.  It is essentially the dinner experience, and all the courses you choose.  We didn't mind skipping a sandwich or steak frites for an upcharge at the bistro (seemed silly for Celebrity to charge high paying customers for a sandwich or steak and fries they also have elsewhere on the ship) or navigating the narrow open times for Eden Cafe for a real meal.  (If you have extra OBC, then by all means experiment, but we think if you asked the Luminae staff for a steak and fries you'd probably be able to get it.  They have both on various days, and the fries around the ship were almost always the same w or without truffle spritz).  

 

On the Retreat deck you may need to do some of the thinking for the waitstaff.  We had ordered burgers and were told we had to pick each one up at the bar by the staff that would then come over to where we were sitting to let us know the food was at the bar.  They didn't seem to want to help carry a plate or two, and had trays to do so.  Martin seemed keen on addressing this, so hopefully not an issue any longer.  

 

The key to Luminae and the Retreat was not being shy, Martin and perhaps the host and concierges if you need something else or want to cut through a challenge you're having with the app experience or result.  They all coordinate, have access to the digital account they keep on passengers, workflow, etc.  And, we found they will follow-up as appropriate.  Also, while much can be done on the app, the app profile doesn't seem to have the same abilities as the Retreat team in terms of tailoring the experience for you.  We found that like the Celebrity website, the app only kind of knows you're in Retreat.  

 

 

[Triplekim]

Question about the shuttle bus from the port to the city center in Valencia - were these provided by Celebrity? Was there a fee and how often did they run? Thank you

[Aloha 1]

On 7/18/2022 at 2:29 PM, Cruising7in2017 said:

Thanks for your detailed reviews, we are on the 8/20 sailing out of Barcelona, staying at El Palace before. We also have The Retreat and Luminae, was curious to know if you had any menus? What was your impression of pool at retreat? Thanks!

Pool is small but generally was empty. We only had breakfast in Luminae so did not really look at the menu for dinner. Cyprus, Cosmopolitan, Eden, and Fine Cut were all excellent.

[Aloha 1]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:56 PM, Triplekim said:

Question about the shuttle bus from the port to the city center in Valencia - were these provided by Celebrity? Was there a fee and how often did they run? Thank you

No fee. They ran about every 30 minutes. Same for Ibiza

[Susanb10567]

Thanks for the review..we are headed on the Edge hopefully 9/1-

that is if Flights by Celebrity will book us another flight since United canceled it..

 

This  will be my third Edge cruise since the restart and are looking forward to going to Greece.

[Beamafar]

16 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

Thanks for the review..we are headed on the Edge hopefully 9/1-

that is if Flights by Celebrity will book us another flight since United canceled it..

 

This  will be my third Edge cruise since the restart and are looking forward to going to Greece.

Looks like we’ll be on the same cruise (Sept 3rd - you must be flying out on the 1st). Thankfully we have a direct flight booked for this cruise.  (The one through Schiphol is for an Azamara cruise in 2 weeks’ time). 

[Susanb10567]

5 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Looks like we’ll be on the same cruise (Sept 3rd - you must be flying out on the 1st). Thankfully we have a direct flight booked for this cruise.  (The one through Schiphol is for an Azamara cruise in 2 weeks’ time). 

Yes..we are supposed to fly out 9/1 for the 9/3 cruise…I just hope we get our flights soon

[Beamafar]

Just now, Susanb10567 said:

Yes..we are supposed to fly out 9/1 for the 9/3 cruise…I just hope we get our flights soon

Fingers crossed for you. 🤞

[Aloha 1]

One more thing I forgot to mention. Two days before we flew to Barcelona , my right big toe was acting up, ie; sore and a little swollen. I have a bunion there and thought it was just that. Well, it kept getting worse and worse so I did some text medicine with my physician son who said I needed antibiotics and to send him the co-pay. ( ungrateful kid😂). Went to Sick Bay and one of the two doc's on board concurred with his diagnosis, lanced the infected area and prescribed the antibiotic. Very impressed with the facility and service. As I looked around the room I saw that Edge was fully equipped for almost any emergency and had complete capability to intubate if needed. Also impressed that the bill was only $235, well in line with what my personal physician would have charged and fully submittable to my Blue Cross coverage.