The EDGE of Glory: a live 12/1 trip report

[ohhbother]

A couple of our photos taken by the ship’s photographers. The digital package is really easy to use. I was able to go online and download these directly to my phone. Very cool!

[Loracpin2]

8 hours ago, ohhbother said:

And here’s a view of our IV - I would think this should be labeled as obstructed view going forward. We wouldn’t book it again. 

Thanks for this photo. Not only is this definitely an obstructed view, the obstruction is much more of an eyesore than the deck six obstructions of the 2D balconies on the S-Class ships.  I would categorize this view as 75% obstructed.

The MSC Seaside is currently on the Cruise Critic opening page. Their lifeboats seem to be located along deck 3. I don't understand why Celebrity didn't learn a lesson from the S-Class Deck 6 obstructions when designing the Edge Class.

[sierrafloridacruiser]

I haven’t taken any pictures yet (ugh I’m such a bad photographer) but to the poster who wants pictures of the Celebrity Suite, I will take some in the morning when we have some good light and try to figure out how to post. I really do like the Suite and love the balcony but I do wish they had done a few things differently. I skimmed  another review about the shower/tub with the panel and wow, what a fail. It’s about 1/3 of the whole tub, and the entire bathroom floor was wet (along with the bath mat) after my husband took a shower. They are going to have to rectify that somehow. I also noticed the mirror in that bathroom and the adjacent half bath got majorly foggy and took a long time to unfog. Very minor quibble but just trying to post the smaller details. 

 

We ate at Luminae - no reservation required and we arrived about 8:00 pm but had only a couple of minutes before we were seated. The menu is fairly limited but everything we ordered, from the bread and butter and a ham croquette amuse bouche, to our filet entrees was very tasty and the service was good.  We skipped dessert but there is a coffee/and dessert bar in the grand plaza that has delicious cookies and other treats. We brought some back to the room and are having an early night.

 

Tomorrow we are also staying on board. Have been to Nassau and the Bahamas numerous times and the Edge Spa is calling our names!  

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, ohhbother said:

Just came back to the stateroom. Some recap thoughts for day one:

- As someone else noted, check-in was incredibly easy. No lines of any sort. Just walked in, someone scanned my pass on my phone and scanned my passport, asked us if we’d had flu symptoms in the past seven days and then that was it. Easy peasy. No forms to fill out. No keys to pick up. Keys were delivered to our stateroom by our steward. 

- Dinner at Normandie was delicious. I had the baked Brie, crispy Thai beef spring roll, beef tenderloin and guava sorbet. Mark had the potato tart, some sort of salad with arugula, the beef tenderloin, opera cake and guava sorbet. The standouts were the appetizers - all three were delicious. The baked brie was divine. 

- The “light show” above the martini bar is a lot of fun. If you’ve ever seen Trans Siberian Orchestra perform, it’s very similar. Dancing lights synchronized to electric-pop-classical music. Very loud. Fun vibe but I imagine it was impossible to have dinner conversation in the nearby restaurants. 

- We bought the unlimited digital photo package for $130. We’ve already had more than a dozen photos made. We’re going to get our money’s worth!

 

 

 

 

 

Have there been ship photographers out and about all over the ship all day? Might consider getting this package to get my other half and I together in some shots.

[hcat]

Enjoying this review,.,thanks for sharing!

 

What  times are the martinin Bar light show with the loud music?

Will this be every evening?

How long does it last?

Hope it does not conflict with FCSH dining res..

 

Enjoy the spa....can't wait to hear how you enjoyed it,

Edited December 2, 2018 by hcat

[kearney]

Anyone on the ship with an iphone....and no wifi package... but using ships wifi for app. With airplane mode in place... try texting someone off the ship using the apple message function. You have to text another iphone. Let me know if that works... it did using Royal IQ on Harmony. Now it crapped out on me after a few days but DH was still able to text. Frankly we were only texting to see if it worked... read about it someplace...probably CC. Just wondering if that 'glitch' is also with the Celebrity app

[dmwnc1959]

13 hours ago, ohhbother said:

I’m not sure what I think of the infinite veranda. It’s really not like a balcony. It’s more like having an open window in the room since you never step outside. You don’t get the feeling of being outdoors. 

 

Long time lurker here on these Egde threads. Your observations on the Infinite Veranda are pretty much exactly what I was thinking when this “novelty” of an innovation was revealed. It’s really not like a real balcony. There’s a distinct difference between actually stepping outside of your stateroom and being outside, as opposed to just lowering the glass on this panel, even if you can separate the outer edge of your stateroom with the bifold doors. 

 

For that reason I’d probably never book one of the IV staterooms. It just doesn’t let you sit outside, feel like it’s outside, when compared to a real balcony. 

 

It would be interesting to see, maybe in another thread based solely on this observation, what people who have experienced the IV vs a real balcony think of the benefits vs drawbacks. 

[ecslady]

Ohhbrother - two questions.

 

 You  stated that the room steward brought you your key cards.  When did he do that?  Did you have to go find him? As soon as I get to the cabin, I like to drop my stuff and go out exploring. Would I need to wait for him to come with the cards?  

 

What time is the "light show" at th Martini bar and about how long is it? Do they do this every day?   Love TSO so I think I may enjoy this.

[TeeRick]

9 hours ago, sierrafloridacruiser said:

I haven’t taken any pictures yet (ugh I’m such a bad photographer) but to the poster who wants pictures of the Celebrity Suite, I will take some in the morning when we have some good light and try to figure out how to post. I really do like the Suite and love the balcony but I do wish they had done a few things differently. I skimmed  another review about the shower/tub with the panel and wow, what a fail. It’s about 1/3 of the whole tub, and the entire bathroom floor was wet (along with the bath mat) after my husband took a shower. They are going to have to rectify that somehow. I also noticed the mirror in that bathroom and the adjacent half bath got majorly foggy and took a long time to unfog. Very minor quibble but just trying to post the smaller details. 

 

We ate at Luminae - no reservation required and we arrived about 8:00 pm but had only a couple of minutes before we were seated. The menu is fairly limited but everything we ordered, from the bread and butter and a ham croquette amuse bouche, to our filet entrees was very tasty and the service was good.  We skipped dessert but there is a coffee/and dessert bar in the grand plaza that has delicious cookies and other treats. We brought some back to the room and are having an early night.

 

Tomorrow we are also staying on board. Have been to Nassau and the Bahamas numerous times and the Edge Spa is calling our names!  

 

Looking forward to your pics of the CS.  We are staying in one in January.  Too bad about the bathroom.  Can you take a pic of the balcony furniture?  I understand no lounger or footrest.  Another miss.

[dazey]

I wanted to look at any obstruction(I know Magic Carpet) for our cabin so I went to your Deck 6 site but could not change it to Deck 3.  Can you help me with this?

 

Also we have the "pleasure" of having Cabin 3158 right beside the Martini Bar and you mentioned a band.  So with the music and the Magic Carpet on each side of us I am not very happy with my TA's choice of cabin.  Also if you hear about people who have specialty dining plans having trouble getting reservations, I would appreciate knowing.  I guess so I can just worry about that too.

 

Still glad to be going on the 2/3 sailing.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip and thanks for posting.

[C-Dragons]

14 minutes ago, dazey said:

I wanted to look at any obstruction(I know Magic Carpet) for our cabin so I went to your Deck 6 site but could not change it to Deck 3.  Can you help me with this?

 

Also we have the "pleasure" of having Cabin 3158 right beside the Martini Bar and you mentioned a band.  So with the music and the Magic Carpet on each side of us I am not very happy with my TA's choice of cabin.  Also if you hear about people who have specialty dining plans having trouble getting reservations, I would appreciate knowing.  I guess so I can just worry about that too.

 

Still glad to be going on the 2/3 sailing.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip and thanks for posting.

Cabin 3158 is not “right beside the Martini Bar”. The cabins are in a corridor that runs parallel to the Grand Plaza. Your cabin is not near the corridor entrances so, imo, you shouldn’t be bothered by the music. The MC however may or may not present a noise problem.

[bajathree]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

 

Long time lurker here on these Egde threads. Your observations on the Infinite Veranda are pretty much exactly what I was thinking when this “novelty” of an innovation was revealed. It’s really not like a real balcony. There’s a distinct difference between actually stepping outside of your stateroom and being outside, as opposed to just lowering the glass on this panel, even if you can separate the outer edge of your stateroom with the bifold doors. 

 

For that reason I’d probably never book one of the IV staterooms. It just doesn’t let you sit outside, feel like it’s outside, when compared to a real balcony. 

 

It would be interesting to see, maybe in another thread based solely on this observation, what people who have experienced the IV vs a real balcony think of the benefits vs drawbacks. 

I was not a fan of the IV. These are honestly ocean view cabins with a window that opens. It is not a feel of a true balcony. Like I mentioned in a prior thread I sailed in cool weather but my first thoughts were this isn't going to work well for hot weather. Even if you close the folding doors they don't seal which i believe is going to be an issue with leaving the window open and trying to keep the cabin cool. The "balcony" portion in very crowded feeling...I was constantly moving furniture around to get to the window and open and close the folding doors. Also the fact that there is no curtain on the outside of the folding glass doors in the cabin means one person can't sit on the balcony end enjoy the view while the other sleeps.

[Freestyle Cruiser]

14 hours ago, sierrafloridacruiser said:

. I really do like the Suite and love the balcony but I do wish they had done a few things differently. I skimmed  another review about the shower/tub with the panel and wow, what a fail. It’s about 1/3 of the whole tub, and the entire bathroom floor was wet (along with the bath mat) after my husband took a shower. They are going to have to rectify that somehow. 

 

Sorry to hear you are experiencing the same shower water everywhere problem that we did. Maybe this cabin should just have a nice shower with doors and not a tub. The combined shower/tub setup is not working. I love a separate tub, but this one is not separate and the bathroom setup is too small for one. A curved shower rod would be an improvement. 

 

A suggestion is to widen the bathroom by 1’ to get a wider tub with a glass door or a nice stand alone shower with bench seat and a longer vanity. The main entry hall was over 5’ wide, so adding 1’ to the bathroom is doable.  The Hall cabinets behind the bedroom tv could be made into a tall cabinet/ locker/ cubbie, to replace of the closet by the door.

 

The sky suite has two bathroom setups. Maybe the celebrity suite can have 2 setups. One with the cut up bathroom if you need that if you are sharing the cabin and a second layout, say a “celebrity couples suite” with a fabulous bathroom, like the signature suite.

[kkmiausa]

23 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

I saw a post on Instagram the other day that showed $15 for regular size and $18 for extra large format martinis. It was my understanding that the standard size was covered by the premium package but the extra large was not and you’d pay a $3 difference.

Why not just order a second "Regular" size wouldn't that make more sense?  LOL  Pretty chintzy I would say especially when you supposedly have no limit with premium package. 
 

[kearney]

Question-- can you get a regular martini... bar vodka... with the classic package? What about a manhattan? Asking for a friend

[kearney]

Another question..... why a bathtub ... wouldn't a nice big shower be sufficient. I hate step in showers personally... not a suite person... but if I was... I would not want this

[WonderMan3]

40 minutes ago, kkmiausa said:

Why not just order a second "Regular" size wouldn't that make more sense?  LOL  Pretty chintzy I would say especially when you supposedly have no limit with premium package. 
 

 

That's what I would do. I think this extra large format would only make sense for people who don't have a package.

[NCNina]

17 hours ago, ohhbother said:

- Dinner at Normandie was delicious. I had the baked Brie, crispy Thai beef spring roll, beef tenderloin and guava sorbet. Mark had the potato tart, some sort of salad with arugula, the beef tenderloin, opera cake and guava sorbet. The standouts were the appetizers - all three were delicious. The baked brie was divine. 

 

So glad to hear!  DH and I are on the April 14th cruise and thought Normandie might be a great dining choice for us. I do have a concern, though, about the proximity of the two-tops in the MDR's.  From videos we've seen, it looks like they are very close together-- most in the "bench seat" configuration.  One of the things we relish the most about cruising is unplugging from our hectic lives and reconnecting.  We always request a table for two and have never enjoyed sitting mere inches from other guests, as we feel it inhibits natural conversations as a couple.  Did you get a sense of this?  From the diagrams we've seen, it appears there may only be a few options in each of the MDR venues that have two-tops as stand-alone arrangements.

 

I'd appreciate any observations you (or anyone else!) may have about this.

 

Thanks so much!

[ohhbother]

Hi all. Enjoying a relaxing day aboard the Edge as she’s docked in Nassau. Some observations from today:

- I’m not loving the Oceanview Cafe. There’s not a wide variety of food at lunch. Maybe it’s just because I’m craving Asian and there’s none to be found, but the selections have seemed limited. 

- There were plenty of loungers on the top decks today. My DH and I sat on Deck 15 for awhile and had a whole section to ourselves. We then went to the main pool area after lunch and grabbed loungers in the second row from the pool. There were plenty to choose from. 

- The hamburgers at Mast Grill are really tasty. DH and I split one after deciding we didn’t like the Oceanview Cafe choices. 

 

To answer some questions from the thread:

- Regarding room keys, when we got to the room, the door was unlocked. We came on in and looked around. We didn’t want to leave our stuff since we didn’t have keys, so we went back to the hall. We ran into our stateroom attendant in the hall, and she gave us a folder with our keys in them. I don’t know that this is more efficient than just giving them out at check-in. I assume if we hadn’t run into her, she would have delivered the keys to our room at some point. 

- There are photographers around the ship. Last night, we had candid photos made outside the restaurant after dinner, while walking through the Grand Plaza and as we entered Eden. 

-  I’m not sure there’s a “schedule” for the martini bar light show. It seems like there’s a five-minute show with music and lights every few minutes. We haven’t stayed in that area long enough to determine if there’s a regularity/pattern. 

- We asked for a table for two in Normandie and were seated by ourselves at a table for four. So there were no other diners near us. It did seem some of the two-tops are pretty close together, but we have no firsthand experience with those yet. 

 

Some neat things we’ve noticed:

- The “do not disturb” signs for the staterooms are actually magnets. They say “deep sleep.” I like them - they stay put rather than falling in the floor like the plastic ones tend to do. You just slap the magnet on the outside of the door when you want to be left alone. 

- The layout of the stateroom is very functional. We have the bed near the balcony and like the flow. We have so much storage that we have entire drawers that are empty. I’m confident we’d have plenty of storage space for a seven-day cruise. 

- The bathroom is really spacious. Love the bigger sink. And the shower is very nice. The “shaving ledge” is such a nice touch - wish more places did that. No shower acrobatics trying to shave my legs!

- We’re really torn on the IV. It allows a ton of light into the cabin. And in the sense of the window, we use it far more than we do a traditional balcony - we can relax on the bed and clearly see the ocean - love that! But because it gets hot in the room, we don’t open the window very much. So it’s much more like an Oceanview room with a really big window.  I’m sitting on the bed now. Here’s my current view. Much better than you’d have from a traditional balcony. So in that sense, the IV is nice. 

 

[Freestyle Cruiser]

2 hours ago, kearney said:

Another question..... why a bathtub ... wouldn't a nice big shower be sufficient. I hate step in showers personally... not a suite person... but if I was... I would not want this

 

I am not sure, but I think there is some unwritten rule that they provide a bathtub in a “suite”. Granted a separate bathtub is preferred. As is a walk-in shower. But in the S1 and CS they provide a combo BT/SH.  

 

A 2nd commode and a stand up shower would provide a better use for the CS cabin and IMO enhance the bathroom too. Grab that 12” from the entry hallway 

[kearney]

52 minutes ago, ohhbother said:

 

 

I notice you have a davit outside...does that bug you? We have had lifeboat views in the past... without the davit and it did not disrupt the view..but his is more clunky so I wondered if it bothered you at all

Edited December 2, 2018 by kearney

[GuinnessGal]

On 12/1/2018 at 5:13 PM, kearney said:

Out of curiousity... what cabin number. They did update their obstructed cabin list... but missed a few. This one should have made the list because of the davit.... the thingy that holds the lifeboats and tenders. VT located this document somewhere... not sure of her source... but I do know that they missed a few near the back of the ship...

EDGE_50Percent_Obstructed_View.pdf

There  is a more comprehensive list (I've included it here for you) and it includes the OP's cabin (6243) - listed as 50% obstructed.

EDGE_Percent_Obstructed_View.pdf

[kearney]

2 minutes ago, GuinnessGal said:

There  is a more comprehensive list (I've included it here for you) and it includes the OP's cabin (6243) - listed as 50% obstructed.

EDGE_Percent_Obstructed_View.pdf

Finally.. it took them a while. I have to say... when I booked my cabin last April... I studied the deck plans and realized that my first cabin had a davit... so I moved to the cabin next to it... when photos were available I was able to confirm that I had made the right choice. Now if I can figure that out... Celebrity should have been able to do so early on. We have had D2 cabins on S class ships before... so you know if you are on Deck 6 there could be issues...but early on the only obstructed cabins they listed where those next to sections that stick out... but they should have known better...does not take a genius to figure this out. This pdf will be useful when planning future cruises..thanks

[ohhbother]

27 minutes ago, kearney said:

I notice you have a davit outside...does that bug you? We have had lifeboat views in the past... without the davit and it did not disrupt the view..but his is more clunky so I wondered if it bothered you at all

 

For a short cruise, it’s really not that bothersome. The view is still great. I did notice this morning there were crew members walking around on the life boats. So they were right below us - I could hear them clearly. 

 

Also, to answer an earlier question, the stateroom stays cool if you shut the folding doors while the balcony window is open. So that’s nice - gives a little more “balcony” feel to the space. 

 

Tonight is evening chic night. We’re going to a comedy show at 7:15 and then to dinner in Tuscany at 8:30.

 

I was able to successfully cancel our Eden reservation for tomorrow night (used the app to do so - very easy), and the charge has already been refunded to my account. We made a reservation for Cosmopolitan instead - though we may change our mind and go back to Normandie. The baked Brie was that good!

 

I wish we could get in to La Petit Chef, but no reservations available. Oh well - something to look forward to in April!

[kearney]

12 minutes ago, GuinnessGal said:

There  is a more comprehensive list (I've included it here for you) and it includes the OP's cabin (6243) - listed as 50% obstructed.

EDGE_Percent_Obstructed_View.pdf

I need to study this... but it still is missing obstructed cabins... I can not find 11176... just next to MC... I need to look more closely... but I also don't understand their level of obstruction.... how can you say 11158 (which is right next to MC so you can not see anything aft... ) is 20% obstructed.... but 6173 is 50% obstructed (which has a davit below the rail but a clear view to the bow and aft above the rail). Personally I can overlook a disturbance below the rail...but having a 10foot wall blocking half my view is a bit more than a 20% obstruction... just saying.