OrcaGirl

After some chillin’ in the shade, we headed to The Club for Deal or No Deal. Alas, unlike last cruise, I only won $5 in free slot play. I guess the husband isn’t as lucky as The Fox as a travelling companion. We then decided on some pool time, with a side of Miami Vices (Vici?) and margaritas with unnecessarily long straws. Afternoon snack was a pair of hot dogs. Much better buns than on the Solstice (they lost structural integrity almost immediately). Watched a bit of the bean bag toss game. Randomly we watched a bit of the National Cornhole Championships on ESPN 8 the Ocho last month. Yes, it’s a thing. Commentators, coaches, sponsorships, etc. Major Dodgeball vibes. I’m not a huge fan of the hot tub quantity and placement. After the pool got too chilly, I headed up to one of the two outdoor hot tubs but it’s two storeys up and a bit of a production to get there. The husband came up after me and actually ended up taking a full lap on the jogging track trying to figure how to get to the hot tub. So the size of each individual hot tub is nice but only having two and so far from the main pool seems weird. Random observations: Apparently 2,713 guests on board this sailing, and 64 different nationalities. Maybe don’t ask random Canadians if Canada also “has problems with illegals coming across the border” and then immediately start talking about how many bear you’ve killed on hunting trips to our country? 🐻 The smoking areas on the ship don’t make sense. Why would they allow people to smoke right at the main pool bar? So weird.

Hung out at the Sunset Bar for a bit, drinking a way-too-strong-for-11am strawberry daiquiri, before returning to the cabin to wake Hungover Beauty. By then it was lunch time so back to the buffet. Lunch options are still looking good and plentiful. First course: all the veggies! Second course: all the carbs and cheese! Random observations: The in-app messaging seems to work well but doesn’t send a notification when you get a message so I had to trust that the husband would be actually checking the app when he woke up to know where I was. Based on photos, my mom is convinced that my husband isn’t having a good time. I had to reassure her that’s just his ‘angry German resting face’ (he’s not German) and he’s actually incredibly thrilled with the ship. And the drink package she bought us. 👍 I could spend hours just staring at the ship’s wake. (Our cancelled January cruise was going to be our first aft cabin and I’m still a little sad about missing out on that.) The outdoor pool and the solarium are PACKED. Or at least every seat is claimed by a towel. I think we’ve seen one or two teenagers, and no little children at all. Either they’re all sticking to the kids clubs or most parents don’t pull their kids out of school for 10+ days in February. (Update: I have since spotted one toddler and two tweens.) We met our cabin steward today, he seemed lovely and we were very impressed that after one night, he figured out that the husband needs the bed sheets left untucked due to his stupidly long legs. And I get to practice my Indonesian — terimah kasih banyak!

Like others have mentioned, I had sailed ONCE on Celebrity like 5-6 years ago. I probably spent under $100 on slots, my husband maybe a couple hundred on table games. We are not big gamblers by any means. But we started getting the emails with free cruise offers last summer, and who am I to say no? 🤣 My October 2022 on the Solstice was also a BCC free cruise, and yea, that sailing was EMPTY. But this is a 10-day sailing on the Edge, and it’s very full. So I don’t think it’s about just filling poor-selling cruises anymore.

Manicure time! I got my first fancy shellac mani-pedi on the Solstice back in October, and the polish lasted *2* months. I still wish there was a ‘no upsell, promise I’ll tip extra’ option but alas, no. But the mani turned out super cool, even if they didn’t have any glitter/sparkling colours like on the Solstice. Saw a Princess ship sailing by in the opposite direction but couldn’t tell which specific ship. (My next cruise is on the Discovery Princess in April.) A bit of a squall blew in for a bit nearby but the weather is otherwise lovely. I tried to head to Eden for a quick bite but forgot that they wrap up the breakfast service at 9:30am. So back up to the buffet. Busy, but excellent food choices. If you read my previous live threads, you’ll know I have strong opinions about hash browns. These were very, very good. I also enjoyed the bacon-mushroom-onion-Swiss omelet, but wish the ordering queue was a bit clearer and that there was space to wait that didn’t block a whole station. Now enjoying a mimosa while reviewing the day’s activity options and pondering how long I have to wait before waking up the husband by lowering the verandah window thingy.

Good morning! Is the ship rocking or is that my hangover? But wow did I love waking up to this view. We tried leaving the verandah window down a crack, as we love falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, but even just open a smidge, it was hella loud so we had to close it all the way. Alas that meant that the husband’s thunderous snoring kept me awake much longer than I would have liked. Oh well. I woke up a bit before my alarm, and headed down to Cafe al Bacio for some much-needed coffee. And a Nutella croissant. And a coffee and cherry danish for the husband because I’m a good wife. Then it was off to the spa for my manicure appointment. The ship wifi is apparently slow for the staff, and they couldn’t get their iPads to work for the check-in and waivers, so it was back to pen and paper.

Evening activities and observations and shenanigans: Before and after dinner, we explored the 3-4-5 levels of the ship. Again, absolutely gorgeous. Eden is especially stunning; we had a reservation for dinner on the final night (all that was originally available) but the Concierge was able to move us to Monday night. Squee! The all-girl band playing in the atrium was good. “Mmm, toothpaste pairs surprisingly well with Heineken.” — my classy husband I love the little bite-sized treats at Cafe al Bacio. The lemon meringue tartlet was delightful. The husband wishes Sim Cruise was a thing. Not like metaverse, but a game like SimCity where you try to build a profitable and well-functioning ship. We observed the True or False game show, and then played ‘general knowledge’ trivia as a team of two. We tied for first-place but lost the tie-break. Dang. The husband declared that the men’s rooms have a “bold new urinal design” more suited to the tall gentleman. (He’s 6’5”.) I will not be asking further questions or requesting photos. We swung through the casino, each dropping $20 with no success. Oh well. No one said free cruises are cheap. Question: anyone know how the free $5 match play works? Stopped by the martini bar, ordering espresso martinis in an ill-guided attempt to caffeinate up to stay up past 9pm. Delicious, but the server said they weren’t serving the small size so it cost an extra $7 each above the Classic beverage package. Speaking of, some people are making really good use of the drink packages already. No judgment, but from previous experience I hope they pace themselves. And no more dancing on the martini bar! The 80s Flashback party was super fun, with songs by the all-girl band (Magnifica). They played Annie Lennox, Rick Astley, Banarama, early Madonna, etc. I mostly chair-danced, but the husband (a former 80s new wave club kid) hit the floor for Soft Cell and A-ha. Although I do argue that Cher’s Do You Believe In Love After Love is decidedly NOT 80s. Great song, but I was in ****ing university when that come out. (Fact-check: 1998!) We stuck around for the DJ… The husband requested some Bowie. I should have snuck over and specified Magic Dance but Let’s Dance was good too. (The husband’s 3rd favourite song.) Oh god they got me dancing. Damn Journey and Bon Jovi. I better not remember this tomorrow. To the very enthusiastic young lady with Big Anna Kendrick Energy who complimented my husband on his dancing: thank you, you made his night, his week, his year. “Ha ha you’ve got to get up early for a manicure.” — my ******* husband after keeping me up until midnight Who cuts off the bang bang bang on the door baby tin roof rusted part of Love Shack?!?! Uncool Mr. DJ!

Confession time: I assumed that everyone talking about the Oceanview Cafe cutbacks was… exaggerating? Maybe not big users of the buffet in the first place? Chicken Littles? Negative Nancies? But no, it’s actually quite bad. My husband typically prefers the buffet; on our last NCL cruise, we ate dinner in the buffet every night. And even he, who finds something good everywhere, was struggling to find something interesting to eat tonight other than nachos and pizza. He was so certain that the baked potato bar he spotted at lunch would be available at dinner too, and was disappointed to not see it. On the plus side: the pizza was indeed really good. And the desserts look good? And it wasn’t hard to find a seat? … that’s all I got for positives. I’ll be dragging him to the MDRs for the remainder of the cruise. So yeah. I’m sad about the current state of things. I did notice one woman expressing her displeasure about the buffet situation to the manager, who seemed to take a “those decisions are made above my pay grade” approach to answering her. Photos:

Afternoon observations: Our bags had arrived by the time the husband woke up from his sleepytime, so we spent a few minutes unpacking. After initially saying there wasn’t much storage space, the husband changed his tune as I kept pointing out more options. Our shore excursion tickets and invitations to various loyalty program and Concierge things were tucked inside the printed dailies — would have been very easy to accidentally miss all that. We spent some time at the pool before sailaway, and the DJ was playing a weird mix that I absolutely loved. I can’t describe it other than it was bizarre and awesome and at the perfect volume. There is what appears to be soot marks on all of the white cushions around the pool. And I’ve got mystery black smudges on my arm. The captain’s announcement mentioned something about swells up to ??? high? For once, the audio quality of PA annouent was fantastic but I didn’t hear due to cocktail-induced loss of attention-paying. We watched sailaway from near but not in the sunset bar (packed!) See my Instagram Stories for the time-lapse video. The 2-level walking/jogging track is hella cool but needs more directional signage. The husband loved the slice of cheese pizza he grabbed as an afternoon snack. Said it was nice and garlicky. While checking my email on the verandah that we booked for ‘free’ via the Blue Chip Casino Club, I received another free cruise offer. Sigh. It’s a rough life. Premium wifi has been good so far, but video kept dropping during a FaceTime call with my mom.

After lunch, we checked out the upper deck areas, including the Rooftop Garden, before going to tour the spa. It’s truly a beautiful ship. Obviously I’ve watched videos and read trip reports so I knew what to expect, but it was cute seeing the husband react. He keeps saying that it doesn’t really feel like a cruise ship. We especially wanted to see the thermal suite in the spa, since we love love love the thermal suite on NCL. But alas, gorgeous as the space might be, without the pool and hot tub, it’s just not worth the cost for us. I did get a sample ‘massage taster’ with the accompanying hard sell of massage services. I’ve booked a manicure for tomorrow but will wait to see how we do at the casino or Deal or No Deal before booking any of the pricier treatments. The husband needed a crash nap so we headed back to the room. I sat out on the verandah while waiting for Sleeping Beauty to wake up.

Apres Starbucks, we hustled back to the hotel, took cold showers, and quickly repacked everything. Ordered a Lyft to the port, which came in at $25USD + tip for an XL. Smaller vehicles were $16-$20. The car arrived within 3 minutes, and the drive was ~10 or so. And then driver tells us to have our passports out, because security will check them before letting the car into the terminal. So I unzip the pocket of my backpack where I *always* keep my passport. No passport. So I check all of the other pockets. No passport. I’m panicking but trying to stay calm, wondering if my nexus card will be enough or if the ship will be okay with the PDF scan of my passport that I keep in a Dropbox. And then my husband goes to pull out his passport… and it’s mine. He had grabbed my passport, thinking it was his. He had both of them without realizing it. I love him, but damn, dude. 🤣 Anyway, the Celebrity Edge is docked at pier 25. The terminal building is beautiful; the husband is suitably impressed after only sailing out of San Juan, Los Angeles and Seattle for the past few years. We arrived a good hour before our check-in time (12:30) and so — after dropping off our luggage with the porters — we chilled in the shade for a bit. But around 11:45 they called out for everyone to come on in. Embarkation took about ~15 minutes max, from the first check of our SeaPasses at the door through security and check-in. And then right on board! We headed to our room (more on the room later but SPOILER: it’s gorgeous) to drop our carry-on bags and grab our cruise cards. The husband still thinks that leaving our keys on the doors is weird, but I guess the risk is low? The Edge is still offering the new/better version of the muster drill, which is fantastic. Watched the video on our phones, headed to our muster station, got scanned in. Then, to the buffet. It’s embarkation day, so naturally it was crowded and chaotic. But the husband loves himself a DIY taco bar. We each grabbed a plate of food and found a table in the outdoor seating area. When the husband went back for round 2, he returned with a delightful strawberry daiquiri. Yum. (We’ve got the classic beverage package.) Random thoughts: The husband is thrilled that it’s a Coke ship versus Pepsi. It almost makes up for the lack of Starbucks. Based on a few observations over lunch, I feel like there’s a lot of new staff. And I sensed a lot of micro-frustrations between them and management. Also witnessed one cruiser get snippy at a server for [checks notes] daring to start to clear a plate from a table. Apparently despite the fact that people leave full plates behind all the ****ing time, she should have somehow known that his pizza slice was not to be touched. (Despite there being no sign that he was returning to the table.) The husband saw a manatee! But I missed it. 😢

We stayed at the Comfort Suites in Dania Beach. It was perfectly fine for a post-flight / pre-cruise hotel, and we got it for a good price (~$250CDN with breakfast included.) It was about a 10-15 min walk to Outback last night, despite what Google Maps said. This morning we partook of the breakfast buffet, which had the usual suspects (egg patties, surprisingly good sausage, cereal, yogurt, toast, fruit, and a waffle station) and a pleasant and bright seating area. We are Starbucks addicts (one reason we typically sail on Norwegian) so after a quick breakfast we walked up to the nearest Starbucks for a final iced Americano for the next 10 days. Hotel check-out is at 11am, so we’ll mosey on back and order a Lyft to the port. P.S. — Geckos! P.P.S. — it’s so hot out, wearing jean capris was a bad idea, as was leaving my sunglasses in the room for our walk.

Quick update on the excitements of last night: The husband’s phone was recovered!! The Lyft driver didn’t respond for 2+ hours, and there was a bit of a language barrier to overcome, but he drove back with the phone. In addition to Lyft’s $15 lost item return fee, the husband tipped him an extra $60 cash for the trouble. So, phone returned, we settled in to our hotel room to watch another episode of The White Lotus. Only to have the fire alarm go off! That thing was PIERCING. I’m not great with loud noises at the best of times, AND we’d just had a fire alarm go off in our apartment building last week. At least this time we only had to climb down six flights instead of 30+. It took about 30 min for the fire truck to arrive and another 15 or so to get the all-clear to re-enter the hotel and go back upstairs.

The Lyft XL was $85USD with tip, and took about 40 minutes once we got picked up. There were cheaper options but we weren’t light packers and wanted extra space for our luggage.

Well, %$&@. The husband left his phone in the Lyft, so that’s put a damper on things right out of the gate. But beer and cocktails help alleviate the anxiety, right? Right?!?! After trying and failing to contact the Lyft driver, we decided on the Outback Steakhouse as the appropriate place to drown our sorrows. (Also it was closer than Red Lobster.) Random notes: I feel like a bad Canadian for not realizing it earlier, but the NHL All-Star Weekend is *this* weekend… in Fort Lauderdale. We won’t have time to see any of the activities, but may be able to spot some of the hockey shenanigans on the beach from the ship.

The husband recently upped his airline loyalty status, and we’re enjoying living the Maple Leaf Lounge life. Grabbing some light breakfast in the lounge sure beats waiting AN HOUR in line for Tim Horton’s. The flight was full but uneventful. Watched a movie (Love & Basketball) and the first two episodes each of Inventing Anna and The White Lotus. (No spoilers please!!) Landed in Miami, grabbed our luggage and ordered a Lyft to our hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Got checked in to the hotel, and will be headed out for dinner shortly. The big question: Outback Steakhouse or Red Lobster?

Air Canada just recently reinstated direct flights from YVR to MIA 3x per week (last offered in 2004!!!), and we were so excited to book this option. Totally beats connecting through Toronto or Chicago or [shudder] Dallas-Fort Worth. The plane is completely full so hopefully its popularity means the route sticks around. Very few people are masked on the flight, which I don’t love. This will be our longest flight since March 2020 (getting home after our NCL cruise was rerouted from San Juan to Port Canaveral), and I’m not thrilled about wearing a mask for 6 hours but c’est la vie… I’d rather be a little uncomfortable now versus risk being sick on the cruise. We’re booked into a Concierge cabin. Can’t wait to see it, and especially to check out the infinity verandah for ourselves.

Hey everyone, At the Vancouver International Airport right now, about to start our journey to Miami. On Friday we’ll be embarking on the Celebrity Edge for the 10-day Southern Caribbean itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale with stops in St Maarten, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, and St Kitts. We’ve been to most of these ports many times, except for St Kitts which will be new to us. This is my third time sailing Celebrity, and first time on an Edge-class ship. We booked this cruise quite last minute via a Blue Chip Casino ‘free cruise’ offer, after needing to cancel an early January cruise on Norwegian when my mom got sick over Christmas holidays. She felt so bad that we missed our original cruise that she paid for our drink package on this one. Thanks mom! I’ll try to post 2-3 times each day with what we’re up to, though my particular focus will usually be cocktails, food, entertainment, and excursion adventures. (I’ll also be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want all the photos and none of the commentary.) Here are links to my two most recent “semi-live from…” threads: I’m happy to try to answer questions as we go, so feel free to ask away.

After *three* attempts to call BCC with 1hour+ on hold times, I finally got through. Unfortunately the best discount I could get this time around was 10% off stacked on top of the 'book in advance' discounts. For what it's worth, we booked this trip just this month and did get the $10pp/day Concierge 'upgrade'.

Yes, this was fall 2022. I'm actually on hold with BCC right now to check on discounts for wifi and drink packages for an upcoming cruise. Will report back.

It wasn't advertised on the perks sheet, but on my last cruise booked via Blue Chip, I was able to get 30% off the purchase of the classic beverage package, as a lowly Pearl.

Thank you so much for reporting from the ship. We're on the Feb 3 sailing of Edge with this itinerary, and it's been soooo exciting to see the pictures and hear about your experience. We even booked the Eden dinner for the final night based on your pics. Apologies if I missed it, but if you still have the dailies from the final sea day, can you post them? Thanks!

Yes. You have to call to book it, as it can't be reserved online. It was $35pp when I last booked it in October '22. The meeting point is near the baggage carousels. Depending on which terminal you arrive at and how bad LAX traffic is, it can be a long wait for the bus to make its way to the pick-up location.

In the Celebrity App, you can change the date to any sailing, so I set it to the most recent 10-day Edge cruise with the same itinerary as the one I'm booked on, and checked the daily activities / menus / etc. There's also a current "live from" thread from that same cruise, so I've been cross-checking against the posted dailies.

I'm also on a 10-day Edge cruise in Feb, and the evening chic nights are showing as night 2 and night 9.

We just booked a balcony cabin on a 10-day Edge sailing out of Miami to the Southern Caribbean for just fees, taxes & grats, so it's not just the 'unpopular' routes that are being offered.