katie8203 Posted July 12 #1 Share Posted July 12 Adding my first-timer thoughts on the Edge - just got off the ship on July 5 from Alaska/Dawes Glacier. We had "anytime dining" but via our sailing's FB page I was notified that reservations had opened a little while before the cruise so I went to see what was left. Not much. We ended up having to eat at 8:30 one evening which is later than we'd like but it turned out fine. We went to one MDR without a reservation and were told we could have to wait up to an hour, so we ended up in OVC. Not sure if anytime dining really is anytime when all of their reservations are full. I wish our TA (or Celebrity itself via the app) had sent a notification or made some sort of announcement about reservations opening up, as well as excursions opening up. We nearly missed getting the ones we wanted because a lot were sold out already by the time I found out they were open. We did one specialty dinner during our cruise which was Eden, and it was excellent. Bacio had great coffee drinks and nutella croissants in the AM. 🙂 We were not happy with the classic drink package, and realize that maybe we should have just picked premium and not worried about it. There was too much nickel and diming and receipt-signing when you wanted a drink above your classic $10 minimum. (You are charged the difference between your package limit and the drink price, then sign receipts accordingly.) We commented many times that our "package" on a previous Virgin Voyages trip was much less stress (they don't have drink packages, just amounts you can put on your account towards drinks and you just pay with your wristband and there aren't any conversations of "is this wine included in our package or not? what liquor would make this fit the classic package?") Virgin does a lot right when it comes to that/their wristbands/their food (we found beyond our Eden dinner, food on the Edge was just okay and nothing to write home about). My middle schooler had a wonderful time in "The Basement" and made some friends he still is in contact with - my recent high school graduate didn't have a lot to do in terms of others his own age beyond maybe one gathering, so he hung with us or his brother most of the time - which was fine. The point was having time together! Our infinite veranda connecting rooms were spacious and clean, and well-kept throughout the week. For a cold-weather Alaska trip, the infinite verandas were great. I'm not sure I'd like them on a hot weather cruise when opening the window means A/C goes off and it takes forever to cool your room down again. We enjoyed the IVs, but didn't like that as an early riser, I couldn't sneak out on the balcony without waking my husband. The night blind is so loud coming up - we did hear the blinds and window mechanism opening and closing in the rooms on either side of us. Overall we had a wonderful time. All of our excursions were great (Ketchikan Duck Boat, Juneau small group whale watching, and White Pass Railway in Skagway). 9 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnlcruise Posted July 12 #2 Share Posted July 12 Nice report. Thank You for taking the time to tells about your adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastdance Posted July 12 #3 Share Posted July 12 (edited) I don’t understand why you could not eat dinner anytime you wanted, as you really do not need reservations for the 4 main dining rooms. Rather than FB, why didn’t you inquire about this on Cruise Critic, as that, IMHO, is a much better source for important information due to the plethora of long-time cruisers. I am sorry that you did not know this ahead of time, but I read a lot of false information on other sites. Thanks for your report! Edited July 12 by Lastdance 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 12 #4 Share Posted July 12 7 hours ago, katie8203 said: Adding my first-timer thoughts on the Edge - just got off the ship on July 5 from Alaska/Dawes Glacier. We had "anytime dining" but via our sailing's FB page I was notified that reservations had opened a little while before the cruise so I went to see what was left. Not much. We ended up having to eat at 8:30 one evening which is later than we'd like but it turned out fine. We went to one MDR without a reservation and were told we could have to wait up to an hour, so we ended up in OVC. Not sure if anytime dining really is anytime when all of their reservations are full. I wish our TA (or Celebrity itself via the app) had sent a notification or made some sort of announcement about reservations opening up, as well as excursions opening up. We nearly missed getting the ones we wanted because a lot were sold out already by the time I found out they were open. We did one specialty dinner during our cruise which was Eden, and it was excellent. Bacio had great coffee drinks and nutella croissants in the AM. 🙂 We were not happy with the classic drink package, and realize that maybe we should have just picked premium and not worried about it. There was too much nickel and diming and receipt-signing when you wanted a drink above your classic $10 minimum. (You are charged the difference between your package limit and the drink price, then sign receipts accordingly.) We commented many times that our "package" on a previous Virgin Voyages trip was much less stress (they don't have drink packages, just amounts you can put on your account towards drinks and you just pay with your wristband and there aren't any conversations of "is this wine included in our package or not? what liquor would make this fit the classic package?") Virgin does a lot right when it comes to that/their wristbands/their food (we found beyond our Eden dinner, food on the Edge was just okay and nothing to write home about). My middle schooler had a wonderful time in "The Basement" and made some friends he still is in contact with - my recent high school graduate didn't have a lot to do in terms of others his own age beyond maybe one gathering, so he hung with us or his brother most of the time - which was fine. The point was having time together! Our infinite veranda connecting rooms were spacious and clean, and well-kept throughout the week. For a cold-weather Alaska trip, the infinite verandas were great. I'm not sure I'd like them on a hot weather cruise when opening the window means A/C goes off and it takes forever to cool your room down again. We enjoyed the IVs, but didn't like that as an early riser, I couldn't sneak out on the balcony without waking my husband. The night blind is so loud coming up - we did hear the blinds and window mechanism opening and closing in the rooms on either side of us. Overall we had a wonderful time. All of our excursions were great (Ketchikan Duck Boat, Juneau small group whale watching, and White Pass Railway in Skagway). Thank you for this. We have an upcoming trip to Alaska on Edge. In the app we have “early dining” which is what we want but due to the overall confusion/conflicting info I’m going to go address this as soon as we board to ensure we get a 5:30-6:00 set dining time. We love good food so your report on that is a bummer, but maybe that’ll help me stay on track from a weight standpoint! Silver lining… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 12 #5 Share Posted July 12 19 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said: Thank you for this. We have an upcoming trip to Alaska on Edge. In the app we have “early dining” which is what we want but due to the overall confusion/conflicting info I’m going to go address this as soon as we board to ensure we get a 5:30-6:00 set dining time. We love good food so your report on that is a bummer, but maybe that’ll help me stay on track from a weight standpoint! Silver lining… Food is so subjective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauimary Posted July 12 #6 Share Posted July 12 25 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said: Thank you for this. We have an upcoming trip to Alaska on Edge. In the app we have “early dining” which is what we want but due to the overall confusion/conflicting info I’m going to go address this as soon as we board to ensure we get a 5:30-6:00 set dining time. We love good food so your report on that is a bummer, but maybe that’ll help me stay on track from a weight standpoint! Silver lining… Yes if you really want a 5:30 seating which usually is not too hard. In the summer families are traveling and with kids many want to eat early. The best way to insure this is to show up about 5:15 as there will be a line forming. 7:30 is a very popular time as the early show is getting out and everyone is showing up for dinner. We have found that even though the hostess says it might be an hour we have waited in reality for about 15 min. The less pickier you are on location the sooner you can get in. Move around to the various dining venues. We have found Tuscany and Normandy to be the hardest on our cruises. In our last sold out cruise we had the best experience in Cosmopolitan and we showed up at 7:15 to beat the show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katie8203 Posted July 12 Author #7 Share Posted July 12 46 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said: Food is so subjective. You are right. Some of you may think it’s the best you’ve ever had. It was good but nothing we are still talking about like some of the dishes we have had on the other cruise we took. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katie8203 Posted July 12 Author #8 Share Posted July 12 32 minutes ago, mauimary said: Yes if you really want a 5:30 seating which usually is not too hard. In the summer families are traveling and with kids many want to eat early. The best way to insure this is to show up about 5:15 as there will be a line forming. 7:30 is a very popular time as the early show is getting out and everyone is showing up for dinner. We have found that even though the hostess says it might be an hour we have waited in reality for about 15 min. The less pickier you are on location the sooner you can get in. Move around to the various dining venues. We have found Tuscany and Normandy to be the hardest on our cruises. In our last sold out cruise we had the best experience in Cosmopolitan and we showed up at 7:15 to beat the show! We showed up at 530 hoping to eat earlier and were told it could be up to an hour to wait. I had made enough reservations - we ate in everything but Tuscany (due to late excursions) plus Eden. I definitely recommend Eden for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katie8203 Posted July 12 Author #9 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 4 hours ago, Lastdance said: I don’t understand why you could not eat dinner anytime you wanted, as you really do not need reservations for the 4 main dining rooms. Rather than FB, why didn’t you inquire about this on Cruise Critic, as that, IMHO, is a much better source for important information due to the plethora of long-time cruisers. I am sorry that you did not know this ahead of time, but I read a lot of false information on other sites. Thanks for your report! We were asked for our reservation time everywhere we went. We did not try to change anything after being turned away that initial time. We just settled for our super late dinners and it was fine. I received conflicting info from all sources including our TA. 🤷🏻♀️ she said no reservations needed and our info said “anytime” but I was so worried about it i just took what reservations were available.it was only that one day we didn’t have something set up but there is such a great variety in the OVC we were fine. Honestly we were more irritated by the drink package discrepancies than the food. I’d just advise on getting the premium and not worrying about it if you want to try each bars speciality cocktails etc. i did really enjoy the Mai Kaab Tai from the sunset bar! Edited July 12 by katie8203 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 12 #10 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 15 minutes ago, katie8203 said: You are right. Some of you may think it’s the best you’ve ever had. It was good but nothing we are still talking about like some of the dishes we have had on the other cruise we took. It varies from cruise to cruise in my experience… I always sail with premium drinks, I prefer the higher line liquors and the slips just bug me too. Edited July 12 by PTC DAWG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 12 #11 Share Posted July 12 14 minutes ago, katie8203 said: We were asked for our reservation time everywhere we went. We did not try to change anything after being turned away that initial time. We just settled for our super late dinners and it was fine. I received conflicting info from all sources including our TA. 🤷🏻♀️ she said no reservations needed and our info said “anytime” but I was so worried about it i just took what reservations were available.it was only that one day we didn’t have something set up but there is such a great variety in the OVC we were fine. Honestly we were more irritated by the drink package discrepancies than the food. I’d just advise on getting the premium and not worrying about it if you want to try each bars speciality cocktails etc. i did really enjoy the Mai Kaab Tai from the sunset bar! We did upgrade the drink package to premium so all good there (although I think we may still end up with upcharges but have some OBC.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 12 #12 Share Posted July 12 9 hours ago, katie8203 said: Adding my first-timer thoughts on the Edge - just got off the ship on July 5 from Alaska/Dawes Glacier. We had "anytime dining" but via our sailing's FB page I was notified that reservations had opened a little while before the cruise so I went to see what was left. Not much. We ended up having to eat at 8:30 one evening which is later than we'd like but it turned out fine. We went to one MDR without a reservation and were told we could have to wait up to an hour, so we ended up in OVC. Not sure if anytime dining really is anytime when all of their reservations are full. I wish our TA (or Celebrity itself via the app) had sent a notification or made some sort of announcement about reservations opening up, as well as excursions opening up. We nearly missed getting the ones we wanted because a lot were sold out already by the time I found out they were open. We did one specialty dinner during our cruise which was Eden, and it was excellent. Bacio had great coffee drinks and nutella croissants in the AM. 🙂 We were not happy with the classic drink package, and realize that maybe we should have just picked premium and not worried about it. There was too much nickel and diming and receipt-signing when you wanted a drink above your classic $10 minimum. (You are charged the difference between your package limit and the drink price, then sign receipts accordingly.) We commented many times that our "package" on a previous Virgin Voyages trip was much less stress (they don't have drink packages, just amounts you can put on your account towards drinks and you just pay with your wristband and there aren't any conversations of "is this wine included in our package or not? what liquor would make this fit the classic package?") Virgin does a lot right when it comes to that/their wristbands/their food (we found beyond our Eden dinner, food on the Edge was just okay and nothing to write home about). My middle schooler had a wonderful time in "The Basement" and made some friends he still is in contact with - my recent high school graduate didn't have a lot to do in terms of others his own age beyond maybe one gathering, so he hung with us or his brother most of the time - which was fine. The point was having time together! Our infinite veranda connecting rooms were spacious and clean, and well-kept throughout the week. For a cold-weather Alaska trip, the infinite verandas were great. I'm not sure I'd like them on a hot weather cruise when opening the window means A/C goes off and it takes forever to cool your room down again. We enjoyed the IVs, but didn't like that as an early riser, I couldn't sneak out on the balcony without waking my husband. The night blind is so loud coming up - we did hear the blinds and window mechanism opening and closing in the rooms on either side of us. Overall we had a wonderful time. All of our excursions were great (Ketchikan Duck Boat, Juneau small group whale watching, and White Pass Railway in Skagway). What a truly objective and well balanced review! THX! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 12 #13 Share Posted July 12 4 hours ago, Lastdance said: I don’t understand why you could not eat dinner anytime you wanted, as you really do not need reservations for the 4 main dining rooms. Rather than FB, why didn’t you inquire about this on Cruise Critic, as that, IMHO, is a much better source for important information due to the plethora of long-time cruisers. I am sorry that you did not know this ahead of time, but I read a lot of false information on other sites. Thanks for your report! CC, FB, a TA or Celebrity themselves, we all know there is conflicting, differing and/or incorrect information provided from all of these "sources". IMO one should not have to go to an outside or off ship source to get good intel for a cruise they are on. All of that information should be readily and easily available on board. Celebrity and a lot of other cruise lines are failing in this regard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottC4746 Posted July 12 #14 Share Posted July 12 10 hours ago, katie8203 said: Adding my first-timer thoughts on the Edge - just got off the ship on July 5 from Alaska/Dawes Glacier. We had "anytime dining" but via our sailing's FB page I was notified that reservations had opened a little while before the cruise so I went to see what was left. Not much. We ended up having to eat at 8:30 one evening which is later than we'd like but it turned out fine. We went to one MDR without a reservation and were told we could have to wait up to an hour, so we ended up in OVC. Not sure if anytime dining really is anytime when all of their reservations are full. I wish our TA (or Celebrity itself via the app) had sent a notification or made some sort of announcement about reservations opening up, as well as excursions opening up. We nearly missed getting the ones we wanted because a lot were sold out already by the time I found out they were open. We did one specialty dinner during our cruise which was Eden, and it was excellent. Bacio had great coffee drinks and nutella croissants in the AM. 🙂 We were not happy with the classic drink package, and realize that maybe we should have just picked premium and not worried about it. There was too much nickel and diming and receipt-signing when you wanted a drink above your classic $10 minimum. (You are charged the difference between your package limit and the drink price, then sign receipts accordingly.) We commented many times that our "package" on a previous Virgin Voyages trip was much less stress (they don't have drink packages, just amounts you can put on your account towards drinks and you just pay with your wristband and there aren't any conversations of "is this wine included in our package or not? what liquor would make this fit the classic package?") Virgin does a lot right when it comes to that/their wristbands/their food (we found beyond our Eden dinner, food on the Edge was just okay and nothing to write home about). My middle schooler had a wonderful time in "The Basement" and made some friends he still is in contact with - my recent high school graduate didn't have a lot to do in terms of others his own age beyond maybe one gathering, so he hung with us or his brother most of the time - which was fine. The point was having time together! Our infinite veranda connecting rooms were spacious and clean, and well-kept throughout the week. For a cold-weather Alaska trip, the infinite verandas were great. I'm not sure I'd like them on a hot weather cruise when opening the window means A/C goes off and it takes forever to cool your room down again. We enjoyed the IVs, but didn't like that as an early riser, I couldn't sneak out on the balcony without waking my husband. The night blind is so loud coming up - we did hear the blinds and window mechanism opening and closing in the rooms on either side of us. Overall we had a wonderful time. All of our excursions were great (Ketchikan Duck Boat, Juneau small group whale watching, and White Pass Railway in Skagway). Edge June 2024 was our second X cruise and first on Edge and we loved it. The ship is beautiful and felt more like a floating resort hotel than a cruise ship. The only gripe I had was if you took the wrong lifts to the 3rd deck you were a bit like a hamster in a maze trying to find the way out. We learned when going somewhere always check the signage at the lifts and it will tell you if you need the forward or aft lifts to get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgabriel Posted July 13 #15 Share Posted July 13 Thanks for your review! We're sailing in September and will be in the main dining room for the first time in several years (normally in Blu) so I appreciate you mentioning the anytime dining issues. I don't mind waiting 30 minutes but an hour or more, or eating after 8:30 PM is a no-go. Re: Drinks Package. Different lines have different offerings. I calculated the price difference between Classic & Premium and figure it will cost me about $20 a day to get what I want, which is a lot less than the price to upgrade to Premium. Only sharing this as it always helps me to think of how much I'm saving over the course of the sailing while I fume about having to sign that chit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 13 #16 Share Posted July 13 33 minutes ago, mrgabriel said: Thanks for your review! We're sailing in September and will be in the main dining room for the first time in several years (normally in Blu) so I appreciate you mentioning the anytime dining issues. I don't mind waiting 30 minutes but an hour or more, or eating after 8:30 PM is a no-go. Re: Drinks Package. Different lines have different offerings. I calculated the price difference between Classic & Premium and figure it will cost me about $20 a day to get what I want, which is a lot less than the price to upgrade to Premium. Only sharing this as it always helps me to think of how much I'm saving over the course of the sailing while I fume about having to sign that chit! I was able to upgrade from classic to premium for $8.99pp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgabriel Posted July 13 #17 Share Posted July 13 1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said: I was able to upgrade from classic to premium for $8.99pp. I haven't seen that one for quite a while - and I'm in Canadian dollars so $8.99 per person US is, like, $200 Cdn. (Joking - but it's more). Without a special, the current price differential is $CDN 32.72. My point was more that you have to calculate what you would actually spend and then analyse it. I hate the thought of leaving money on the table for booze. And I also don't want to drink just because I spent money upgrading a package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisetonowhere10 Posted July 13 #18 Share Posted July 13 2 minutes ago, mrgabriel said: I haven't seen that one for quite a while - and I'm in Canadian dollars so $8.99 per person US is, like, $200 Cdn. (Joking - but it's more). Without a special, the current price differential is $CDN 32.72. My point was more that you have to calculate what you would actually spend and then analyse it. I hate the thought of leaving money on the table for booze. And I also don't want to drink just because I spent money upgrading a package. I agree on both points. I’m actually hard pressed to think I’m going to drink enough to hit why I’ve paid. I drink one coffee (may as well get a speciality one) and then maybe a few drinks before/during dinner. And probably not every day. In April we are going to test out not getting a package at all and see how it compares. For me that kind of activity is fun. 🤩 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiationman Posted July 13 #19 Share Posted July 13 Haven't been on Celebrity in years. Last time we cruised we were in Blu. First night we arrived about 19:15 and were told about 1 hour wait. Ridiculous. Spoke at length to Maitre D and made a "reservation" for 19:30 for every night. Time guaranteed table not, worked out well! We have done this on other lines as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billc23 Posted July 14 #20 Share Posted July 14 On 7/12/2024 at 3:42 PM, PTC DAWG said: Food is so subjective. Objective too! Does anyone want hot food served on cold plates or hot food that is served cold? Most do not like undercooked food, especially poultry! No one wants overcooked food, especially fish. Getting hot, crispy French fries are preferred by most people. A steak cooked to a degree of desired “doneness” has a precise internal temperature that is not subjective. Professional chefs are not embarrassed to use a temperature probe to check. A low quality cut of beef, or any protein, is not the same as a prime cut regardless of if the preparation to one’s liking. Does anyone want roasted carrots done to the point of dehydration? I could go on, and maybe some will see my point, but while food preferences are subjective there are many objective factors too that I rarely see discussed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billc23 Posted July 14 #21 Share Posted July 14 On 7/12/2024 at 4:44 PM, PTC DAWG said: It varies from cruise to cruise in my experience… It certainly does! I can order the same food or drink and it is often very different cruise to cruise. I asked my favorite bartender in the WCB why he measures each ingredient when making a drink? He replied that consistency is a measure of quality and no matter how busy he is he refuses to cut corners by "free pouring". He let me peruse the WCB bible of drink recipes and said it is unfortunate that not all WCB bartenders follow the recipes. I enjoyed sidecars in the Retreat lounge but it was frustrating that they were alway a bit different from the same bartender. Fortunately the effects were consistent! I do prefer a generous free pour of bourbon over a measured shot... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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