Edge Review December 16-23rd 2018

[Silkroad]

Thanks Vt. I’d seen a photo of those before, and wondered what they were. At first glance, they appeared to be perfectly frosted banana chunks🤣

[ckck]

Thanks for the thoughtful review! We enjoy live music, so the mix of old and new will be welcomed. We sail on her in February, so we will definitely be checking out the various theater, bar, and club musicians.

[vtcruising]

1 minute ago, Silkroad said:

Thanks Vt. I’d seen a photo of those before, and wondered what they were. At first glance, they appeared to be perfectly frosted banana chunks🤣

They looked like marshmallows to me, but I have to agree that they taste like what asbestos must taste like.  😉  To top it off, I think Doom or Gloom brought them to us (furry shoulder guy).

 

Luckily we most of the food there was excellent. 🙂

 

 

[kearney]

1 hour ago, Silkroad said:

Thanks for posting a thorough & balanced review, Johnnyt. We sail on her in April, so it’s lovely to see some balanced, positive reviews to offset the balanced, negative ones. When we dine in Eden, we shall definitely be wary of the “asbestos” biscuits😉 We are booked in an IV, and we hope we’ll find the window locked much less often than some of the earliest passengers did. On a fifteen night cruise across the Atlantic, I guess we’ll find out if the IV is right for us😂 I’m very pleased to see your comments about the live music. I love the concept of mixing old and new, and you had me at Coldplay😁 Some of the early reviews about the music & shows puzzled me because I wondered when it became a “thing” to only enjoy music for which one already knew the words. I become enchanted with new music all the time, and I learn the words. I feel a lot of empathy for the the crew, especially the CD & entertainment staff, as they try to get so many new things flowing. I know we’ll love the ship herself, and I’m sure the crew is still finding their rhythm, and changing things passengers dislike, where possible. Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences with us. 

I really liked the IV cabin... I am probably in the minority. I am not a sun person... burn ... used to get prickly heat often as a child. Despite this I love cruising the Caribbean... but avoid the pool, stay in the shade. DH prefers the regular veranda style... he does sit out. We did not spend much time in Eden... but in the afternoon the enterainment was a wonderful girl band... really enjoyed them. The entertainment in the atrium was usually live music... enjoyed that. Tried the theater...but arrived late and with a scooter there was not place to go... that we could see... the entertainment was different. my complaint was that I could not understand the lyrics... the background music seemed to drown it out. The comedian they had one night was great. The ship is beautiful. Hardly noticed the MC. I think wind will be an issue on a TA cruise...but to be honest we hardly noticed it..unless in port. The staff was great... love 4 dining rooms and I recommend if you have select seating that you rotate among them. Cyprus was our least favorite... not that there was anything wrong with it... just preferred the others. Looked in on the lazor maze.. that looked like fun. Saw people painting in the atrium and that looked like fun. They are trying to mix things up... I appreciate that... some will work... some will not. But when you disrupt the industry... you will not please everyone. I think Henry Ford once said something like if he asked consumers what they wanted, they would not have said a car but faster horses. I do think the size of the veranda in IV cabins is a problem that is not easily solved. But for me... I like the open view. One idea is if they could put cameras shooting out at different places... so when you wan to see outside you can see multiple views on TV and not be bothered with opening the screen and waking your partner

[cluso]

Good to hear there is a blend of old and new music.  One reviewer said when they asked the DJ's to play some older tunes the DJ's said they were not allowed to play anything before the 1990's.  The reviewer then followed up with Guest Relations and was told the same info, it was a corporate decision and no one on the ship could override it.  Sounded pretty crazy to me...   Not sure if this was ship wide or limited to certain venues.  

[johhnnyt]

4 minutes ago, cluso said:

Good to hear there is a blend of old and new music.  One reviewer said when they asked the DJ's to play some older tunes the DJ's said they were not allowed to play anything before the 1990's.  The reviewer then followed up with Guest Relations and was told the same info, it was a corporate decision and no one on the ship could override it.  Sounded pretty crazy to me...   Not sure if this was ship wide or limited to certain venues.  

They had a mix of 60s70s80s90 ,and on up, as i remember being poolside when the DJ played one of my favorite Ray Charles/BB King song Sinners Prayer

[vtcruising]

We loved Michael Reddon singing/playing guitar at the RTG - I remember him singing John Denver and James Taylor songs (70's-type stuff) and some current songs. The Reckless Charms sang tunes from several eras - James Taylor, Justin Timberlake, Adele and some folk/bluesy-type tunes - they had a very unique sound. They all played together one night at the RTG and it was amazing. Looking at the 7 night dailies, it looks like they are singing all over the ship at various times and,  with johnnyt's description of Fusion, we should be happy campers in January. 🙂

Edited December 31, 2018 by vtcruising

[citruscruiser]

In regards to the question about food on the MC, they did offer occasionally lunch on the MC, not associated with the Raw Bar.  They had sushi rolls, soup, sandwiches, all for a fee. The sushi was $10-$12(?) and the full bar.  You have to keep an eye on the MC as sometimes it was open for drinks in the afternoon and early evening.  A couple of times it was on deck 16 for bar only, no food, early evening, and closed at 8pm. Apparently the Captain decides, as necessary, which deck it will be on. Don't rely on the app for the correct time and deck as it changes and then you miss out.

 

There is no World Class bar but Eden does have some unusual drinks that are covered by the premium package.  The bar menus in The Club and Martini area offer unique beverages also.

[bhwestgrove]

Thanks citruscruiser-great information. As I think about it I’m guessing this can’t happen the night we’re in San Juan as the MC is the platform for embarking and disembarking. I think VTcruising is right-checking immediately at boarding, and be flexible with the nights we already have reservations. 

At the risk of overstaying my welcome, one more question-is the menu in Luminae similar to the MDR with some selections remaining for the full week with others changing nightly? Thanks again-you are all very generous with your feedback!

[cruise kitty]

Thanks for your review & terrific photos, very helpful.    Looks like a gorgeous ship,  but somehow those IV's just don't appeal to me.   I like an ice cold cabin with a sea view.   

 

[citruscruiser]

In San Juan the MC is parked up on the upper floors since we were docked.  The Destination Gateway (DG)(deck 2) is your access for tender or docked ports.  We only used it on the Western Caribbean for Grand Cayman. The DG is a great open area used for other things/events when not in use.  I believe it was used San Juan evening for DOTE for Lisa and friends.

[johhnnyt]

29 minutes ago, bhwestgrove said:

Thanks citruscruiser-great information. As I think about it I’m guessing this can’t happen the night we’re in San Juan as the MC is the platform for embarking and disembarking. I think VTcruising is right-checking immediately at boarding, and be flexible with the nights we already have reservations. 

At the risk of overstaying my welcome, one more question-is the menu in Luminae similar to the MDR with some selections remaining for the full week with others changing nightly? Thanks again-you are all very generous with your feedback!

The Luminae Menu is same one that you see on every other Celebrity Ship. It changes all the dishes every night( not sure how many night rotation it is), but I know on a two week cruise you see some of the dishes a second time, so guessing its either a 7 or 10 day rotation.

[johhnnyt]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

We loved Michael Reddon singing/playing guitar at the RTG - I remember him singing John Denver and James Taylor songs (70's-type stuff) and some current songs. The Reckless Charms sang tunes from several eras - James Taylor, Justin Timberlake, Adele and some folk/bluesy-type tunes - they had a very unique sound. They all played together one night at the RTG and it was amazing. Looking at the 7 night dailies, it looks like they are singing all over the ship at various times and,  with johnnyt's description of Fusion, we should be happy campers in January. 🙂

I agree as we saw Michael sing with the band Impulse one night,  TRC(Reckless Charms)  band did a set with Impulse on another night, and all played together another time as well. One thing I did notice though was from an acoustic standpoint, the sound was crystal clear one level up looking down on the Martini Bar area, while was noticeably not as perfect down in the martini bar/seating areas

[vtcruising]

52 minutes ago, johhnnyt said:

I agree as we saw Michael sing with the band Impulse one night,  TRC(Reckless Charms)  band did a set with Impulse on another night, and all played together another time as well. One thing I did notice though was from an acoustic standpoint, the sound was crystal clear one level up looking down on the Martini Bar area, while was noticeably not as perfect down in the martini bar/seating areas

Good to know - thanks!

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, bhwestgrove said:

Thanks citruscruiser-great information. As I think about it I’m guessing this can’t happen the night we’re in San Juan as the MC is the platform for embarking and disembarking. I think VTcruising is right-checking immediately at boarding, and be flexible with the nights we already have reservations. 

At the risk of overstaying my welcome, one more question-is the menu in Luminae similar to the MDR with some selections remaining for the full week with others changing nightly? Thanks again-you are all very generous with your feedback!

There are 14 menus, but the ones they choose for each cruise may vary. I was on a 14 night on the Eclipse and I'm pretty sure they went through all of them, but the order was different than the numbers on the menu (I asked the hostess to share the order of the menus with me so we could plan our specialty reservations on that cruise).

 

The menus are a bit limited when compared to the MDR and Blu, but we became more adventurous and found that we liked almost everything we tried. On other X ships, you can order from the MDR/Blu menu in Luminae, but on the Edge they are too far from those galleys. It sounds like you may be able to get something off menu if you ask the night before (and they are great at changing up the offered items to your taste). They said they may start offering an everyday menu of common MDR-type items there. A work in progress. 

[vtcruising]

2 hours ago, citruscruiser said:

In regards to the question about food on the MC, they did offer occasionally lunch on the MC, not associated with the Raw Bar.  They had sushi rolls, soup, sandwiches, all for a fee. The sushi was $10-$12(?) and the full bar.  You have to keep an eye on the MC as sometimes it was open for drinks in the afternoon and early evening.  A couple of times it was on deck 16 for bar only, no food, early evening, and closed at 8pm. Apparently the Captain decides, as necessary, which deck it will be on. Don't rely on the app for the correct time and deck as it changes and then you miss out.

 

There is no World Class bar but Eden does have some unusual drinks that are covered by the premium package.  The bar menus in The Club and Martini area offer unique beverages also.

Thanks for the tips, M!

[Bo1953]

Hello all, I would like to take a quick moment to apologize for my post/response to a poster, which was subsequently deleted by a moderator.

 

It was never my intent to offend anyone, as such I need to apologize as someone most likely flagged the message(s) to have them deleted as being offensive.

 

I still believe in what I wrote, though.

 

Again, for anyone or the person who was offended, I do apologize.

 

j - thank you again, for the review, I along with others appreciate it no matter the tilt.

 

bon voyage

[journeycollector]

Wonderful pictures...thank you for taking the time to share!

[bhwestgrove]

This is really helpful vtcruiser, thank you. 

[Host Anne]

johhnnyt ~ thanks so very much for the review and all the terrific photos.  I saw some new and different photos in your album and appreciate your taking the time to share them.  We'll be onboard next week at this time and I'm anxious to see the ship for myself.

 

Thanks again for sharing!

[msteries]

Thank you so much for a review that cheered me up.  Were you really in 9180?  You say SS1, but I have 9180 booked for February and it is a SS2.  But if it is my cabin-to-be — a double thank you for the photos!!

[bacm]

Thank you for this complete and balanced review. We are sailing in March and I have been gearing up for a mostly disappointing experience. After reading your review and perspective, I’m happy again & feel that all the reasons why I booked this ship are there. 

[Plato123]

Very good review and I agree with many of the observations as we were on the same cruise.

We were in an aft S1 and I would not do that again.  The layout is not at all like that in the review, I is more like a Solstice class aft S1 minus the pole and the side round window and with less useable space.  It did have a huge deck area that we made good use of after our butler brought us two loungers to augment the simple chairs and not too useful table that is standard.

The layout also meant that I constantly banged my foot on the rocking chair which is itself a nice touch.

The chaise type lounge is OK but too short and not as comfortable as the sofa in a Solstice class S1.

The separate toilet is nice but could benefit from a coat hook and moreso a shelf as I, like many, like to multi task  while using the toilet.

Our tub/shower really got wet when showering regardless how careful we were.  The reason seems to be that there is no slope on the tub rim to redirect the water back into the tub.  Our cabin attendant provided pool towels that prevented water from escaping over the tub rim. and onto the floor into the small makeup area where the hair dryer was used!

My wife is not tall so the position of the magnifying makeup mirror was OK but for a tall person the lack of full flexibility would be a problem.She still prefers the makeup mirrors on the Solstice class suites.

Overall we enjoyed the ship, the crew and the food, but next time we will avoid the aft S1 suites.

 

[johhnnyt]

13 hours ago, Host Anne said:

johhnnyt ~ thanks so very much for the review and all the terrific photos.  I saw some new and different photos in your album and appreciate your taking the time to share them.  We'll be onboard next week at this time and I'm anxious to see the ship for myself.

 

Thanks again for sharing!

Anne:

      Here are a few don't misses

• One of the Evening performances of Eden (Free and generally between 6-midnight)
• Was the consensus of our group that Kaleidoscope was the most fun dancers/singers show just in terms of general appeal, music, aesthetics
• Try Le Grand Bistro For at least one lunch, enjoy the daily specials, it's one of the best values onboard ($20)
• If able to get a dinner reservation for the Magic Carpet, grab it, as you literally need to get a reservation as soon as you go onboard as they only do dinner once per cruise ((at least that was the plan). If you can't go for dinner at least visit it once for a snack/atmosphere
• Download and Use the App, it actually is very helpful from the guided tour, to the functional aspects it provides in your room, and during checkin
• Enjoy the onboard entertainers, loved both the bands they had, as well as the solo performers. It was nice too that they combined talent in some venues and really had some fun

[johhnnyt]

9 hours ago, msteries said:

Thank you so much for a review that cheered me up.  Were you really in 9180?  You say SS1, but I have 9180 booked for February and it is a SS2.  But if it is my cabin-to-be — a double thank you for the photos!!

Yes , I was in 9180, and it's a wonderful location and sky suite. and looks like you are right and it is an SS2, not an SS1, I like it too as its not that far from the Magic Carpet, and loved watching it being moved.