Celebrity Edge- Major Ship Envy!

[stickey_mouse]

I just watched a couple of walkthrough videos of the new Celebrity Edge. I'm impressed! What I worried was going to be too much of a whimsical, technology-driven ship actually appears to be a beautiful, modern, well laid out vessel. A masterpiece? It's too early to tell- we will have to wait to see how she functions under full capacity. Sure, there are some odd components of the ship, such as the Eden venue, which doesn't seem too sure of what it wants to be. But Celebrity has mastered the art of open public spaces (we already knew that, given the Solstice class design). Just check out the Edge's tall ceilings and windows in the buffet area. And it's outside garden on the top deck. Wonderful spaces. I love HAL, but HAL seems to favor tighter spaces, lower ceilings, and lengthy corridors over open areas. 

 

After seeing videos of the Edge, I must say, I'm jealous! I'm currently booked on the Nieuw Statendam, and don't get me wrong, I'm very excited to sail on her. But I have a bit of ship envy now. Too bad Edge's pricing is so high at the moment, which I suspect is the result of much enthusiasm for this new ship. 

[mcrcruiser]

You are  very correct  the pricing is way too high for Edge  .HAL's  value is better imo   

[Cruiser Bruiser]

She seems sexy, but Celebrity is charging a huge premium for Edge that is well above their already high prices. 

[nimiq]

Very excited from what I saw on the Edge video but for now this ship is to expensive for our likings. I can get almost as much on the Solstice class. As for HAL newer builts they are nice but not the same feeling or crowd. 

[sppunk]

For her prices you can cruise a premium and luxury line.

[OlsSalt]

22 minutes ago, sppunk said:

For her prices you can cruise a premium and luxury line.

 

But this way you can cruise with 3000 other people on itineraries to basically no where. No wonder they make the onboard experience so distracting and  "high energy". Might be cheaper to just check into  a luxury hotel. Crowds would be smaller.  No thank you. But it is good there are ships like this out there to harvest off this  share of the market.

Edited December 2, 2018 by OlsSalt

[stickey_mouse]

Price is where supply and demand meet, no? The ship must be selling fairly well at that price point, and I recently heard that Edge bolstered Royal Caribbean's recent earnings report. So we can gripe about the price, but value is entirely subjective, and people are voting with their dollars. I was shocked, but pleased, to find that our Nieuw Statemdam sailing was one of the most affordable offered by that tier of cruise lines. But it also made me a little worried for HAL that it's shiniest, newest ship did not come with a premium price. 

[OlsSalt]

6 minutes ago, stickey_mouse said:

Price is where supply and demand meet, no? The ship must be selling fairly well at that price point, and I recently heard that Edge bolstered Royal Caribbean's recent earnings report. So we can gripe about the price, but value is entirely subjective, and people are voting with their dollars. I was shocked, but pleased, to find that our Nieuw Statemdam sailing was one of the most affordable offered by that tier of cruise lines. But it also made me a little worried for HAL that it's shiniest, newest ship did not come with a premium price. 

 

HAL is forced to offer low prices right now to get travel industry attention because no one can find them, let alone book their cruises, on the new HAL website. 

Edited December 2, 2018 by OlsSalt

[stickey_mouse]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

But this way you can cruise with 3000 other people on itineraries to basically no where. No wonder they make the onboard experience so distracting and  "high energy". Might be cheaper to just check into  a luxury hotel. Crowds would be smaller.  No thank you. But it is good there are ships like this out there to harvest off this  share of the market.

 

I still consider myself a novice cruiser so can't address the "itineraries to nowhere" comment, but I do know the itineraries I compared between HAL and Edge were nearly identical. 

 

And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the passenger space ratio for the Edge better than that of the Koningsdam and even that of the Nieuw Amsterdam?

Edited December 2, 2018 by stickey_mouse

[OlsSalt]

For comparison- 7 days in the Spanish Garden Inn in Santa Barbara vs 7 days on The Edge in a low end verandah cabin:

http://www.spanishgardeninn.com

[stickey_mouse]

3 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

For comparison- 7 days in the Spanish Garden Inn in Santa Barbara vs 7 days on The Edge in a low end verandah cabin:

http://www.spanishgardeninn.com

 

So, for the price, the Spanish Garden includes all meals, alcohol, entertainment, casino access, and transportation to various ports? Ya know, just since we're comparing. 

[ski ww]

It seems on all these new mega ships the ship is the destination and not the itinerary. They want people to spend time and money on the ship. They may as well just cruise around in circles off the coast for a week. 

[mcrcruiser]

My bet is with the HAL fleet  & we are Elite + level with Celebrity . We live here in the San Diego cruising market & both Celebrity & Royal Caribbean just will not home port  one of their ships here in southern California  ,either SD or San Pedro . Additionally ,as a Carnival corp share holder we can get extra on board credits added to what we get from our TA  & the cruise line  

 

 The problem with Celebrity or Royal Caribbean is that any special deals are never combinable for share holder credit  .That is another turn off for us 

 

 We will be sailing on 3 HAL cruises & then 3 Princess cruises  with in this next year  . Because Celebrity & Royal Caribbean ships require us to fly to them ,is another reason we prefer HAL & Princess .We save the airfare cost & hassles of todays flying 

 

 Celebrity has just 10 ships  &  Princess got a better rating that Celebrity  

[Krazy Kruizers]

I don't care how glitzy she is or how expensive she is or what all is included in some of the categories, she is just too big for us.  Just looking at her outsides, and she is ugly.

[cruisemom42]

I like the Solstice class ships of Celebrity but I wondered if the Edge would end up being "a bridge too far" for me.  Jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't book that type of ship for a destination-focused cruise, but Celebrity for the moment has been my go-to line for things like a New Years Caribbean cruise with my son. However, at current prices, I wouldn't book Edge...  

[stickey_mouse]

5 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

 Celebrity has just 10 ships  &  Princess got a better rating that Celebrity  

 

Better rating at what exactly? 

[hal lover]

My travel agent posted some pic's.  She is a beauty for sure.  However, I love HAL and will be staying with them.  

[iancal]

I believe that RCI,  Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Azamara, have left all of the Carnival Corp cruise lines in the dust when it comes to cruise ship design and innovation.  We have not sailed on the big RCI ships.  They are not our preference.  Clearly others do like them.   I believe that RCI is differentiating themselves from others in marketplace through innovative design and on board offerings.  They always seem to be headed where the puck is going, not where it was in the last play.

 

It seems to me that they are continuing this lead.  Not certain if we will end up sailing on the new platform or not.  We are not hung up on what cruise line we sail on.  However after our first sailing on Equinox, a Solstice class ship, the first thing DW asks me when we have our choice narrowed down to two or three ships is if one of them is a Solstice class ship  (as opposed to asking if the cruise line is Celebrity).

Edited December 2, 2018 by iancal

[stickey_mouse]

8 minutes ago, iancal said:

I believe that RCI,  Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Azamara, have left all of the Carnival Corp cruise lines in the dust when it comes to cruise ship design and innovation.  We have not sailed on the big RCI ships.  They are not our preference.  Clearly others do like them.   I believe that RCI is differentiating themselves from others in marketplace through innovative design and on board offerings.  They always seem to be headed where the puck is going, not where it was in the last play.

 

It seems to me that they are continuing this lead.  Not certain if we will end up sailing on the new platform or not.  We are not hung up on what cruise line we sail on.  However after our first sailing on Equinox, a Solstice class ship, the first thing DW asks me when we have our choice narrowed down to two or three ships is if one of them is a Solstice class ship  (as opposed to asking if the cruise line is Celebrity).

 

I agree 100%. The Celebrity brand is very much full speed ahead right now, which I think will pay dividends for them in the coming years. I applaud HAL for trying to be a little more progressive with its most recent ships, but will it be enough? 

[stickey_mouse]

7 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

I don't care how glitzy she is or how expensive she is or what all is included in some of the categories, she is just too big for us.  Just looking at her outsides, and she is ugly.

 

I take it you also didn't like the K-dam? 

[a.madruga]

IMO...you can have large passenger vessels...I'll stick with the smaller ones and not feel like your a $$$ sign to those large vessels..again just MO

[stickey_mouse]

14 minutes ago, a.madruga said:

IMO...you can have large passenger vessels...I'll stick with the smaller ones and not feel like your a $$$ sign to those large vessels..again just MO

 

Just curious, but where do you draw the line in the HAL fleet?

[BarbinMich]

15 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

I just watched a couple of walkthrough videos of the new Celebrity Edge. I'm impressed! . . . Just check out the Edge's tall ceilings and windows in the buffet area. . . .

We were on the Celebrity Eclipse (launched 2010) in 2014 .  Its buffet area also had tall ceilings and windows. Also, multiple food stations so never much of a line to get what you wanted.  Loved that space!

[sammiedawg]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

I believe that RCI,  Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Azamara, have left all of the Carnival Corp cruise lines in the dust when it comes to cruise ship design and innovation.  We have not sailed on the big RCI ships.  They are not our preference.  Clearly others do like them.   I believe that RCI is differentiating themselves from others in marketplace through innovative design and on board offerings.  They always seem to be headed where the puck is going, not where it was in the last play.

 

It seems to me that they are continuing this lead.  Not certain if we will end up sailing on the new platform or not.  We are not hung up on what cruise line we sail on.  However after our first sailing on Equinox, a Solstice class ship, the first thing DW asks me when we have our choice narrowed down to two or three ships is if one of them is a Solstice class ship  (as opposed to asking if the cruise line is Celebrity).

 

Pretty much agree.  We are not celebrity cheerleaders but have sailed  them previously.  

The decor of Edge is pretty gorgeous and reminds me of Viking Ocean. Layout of the atrium levels reminds me of Viking Ocean which has a stunning look. 

Edge space per passenger is very good for mass market at 44.  Kdam (dumb name that I cannot spell ) is 37.   Space per passenger is more important than generalizing whether a ship is big or small. 

 

I totally get the price Edge commands and will consider trying it out. 

[stickey_mouse]

18 minutes ago, ronbe65 said:

Celebrity Edge reality

1. Class segregation as a manifest of the company's way of cruising. Access to the premium part of the ship is suite guests only. No free access to the front deck unless you pay for the spa pass. Forward views are not for the plebs.

Premium part of the ship? Not sure what you mean here. You mean the suite sundeck? While it looks fantastic, I'm not sure it is "premium," as the ship as a whole looks great.

2. Design (think of the Eurodam as a benchmark for comparison)

2.1 No observation lounge. Imagine Eurodam without the Crow's Nest.

The observation lounge has been moved down = The Eden

2.1 No promenade deck. Imagine the Eurodam without this.

2.2 No "serene" sun deck. Imagine the Eurodam without the sun decks above the Crow's Nest and Tamarind.

I will take a Celebrity solarium over a "serene" sun deck anyway. One of my favorite spaces on a Celebrity ship.

2.3  No proper spa. Imagine the Eurodam without the T-pool in the spa.

Not sure what you mean by a "proper" spa, or if that's just your opinion of what a spa should have?

2.4 No sports court. Imagine no sports court on the Eurodam.

On two HAL cruises, I have only ever seen children using a sports court. I won't miss it. 

2.5 No open pool area for adults. Imagine the Eurodam without the aft pool.

Edge has an open air pool. It's not aft, but..?

2.5 Narrowed cabins (somewhat compensated by the "balcony-porch combos").
Another industry-wide cruise trend. I've read so many similar comments about K-dam. I don't like it, but I appreciate the added square footage of interior space brought by the new balcony concept. 

 

Innovations?

Other than the way the balconies are done - marketing dust.

"Leave the "Magic carpet" and "Rooftop Garden" behind".

I personally think the Rooftop Garden is stunning, and a great melding of the "large TV on deck" trend with a comfortable space. I could live without the Magic Carpet. And "other than the way the balconies are done"- don't write this off. I think this is an amazing idea, and other cruise lines will follow suit. 

 

What is the age of the Edge?

It's 10 years old now. MSC Cruises launched their first Edge in 2008 giving a start to a "new" (last century) trend - class segregation on cruise ships.

No, the Edge is about a week old. You can't bash a ship for being based on an older design. It's like my saying the Rotterdam is 100 years old because it is based on a classic design. 

 

 

 

I, too, have done a great deal of research and disagree with a lot of what you say. I've added some comments above, in orange/red. But to each their own, opinions are just that.