Edge Review - Exceptional - Hits - Misses - Failures - Edenists

[Host Anne]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Not sure how you conclude this.  How is the Retreat area related to the lack of main lounges?  There is another large indoor lounge on Edge (the Club) too.  We enjoyed it in there a number of times.  And of course there are outdoor bars.   But we still hear the comment about lack of lounges.  I think the Martini Bar was limited because it is connected to the Grand Plaza with plenty of seating.  Eden has a lot of seating.  The Club has two levels of seating and two bars.  I think one more bar like Cellar Masters or World Class Bar could be added as a nice touch on Edge or Apex.  But I would take out a very high priced shop and put it there.  No conflict with the Retreat.

 

On the S-class ships, the Sky Lounge occupied the space that some of the Retreat takes up.  Not deck for deck but in essence, the Retreat and suites takes up two decks at the front of the ship where the Sky Lounge was located.  So that is definitely a loss of a large lounge.

 

I consider the Martini Bar and Grand Plaza to be one in the same.  There is no real distinction between these areas.  And while there is a good deal of seating here, it isn't enough. Most nights between 7:00 - 8:30 PM, it was very difficult to find seating in this area.  

 

As for Eden, while there is plenty of seating, the incense smell was often overwhelming, preventing us from staying in Eden very long.  Perhaps they've reduced the amount of incense (or whatever the smell is) to make it less offense.  I often likened it to beef jerky.  

 

The bottom line for us is that there are no lounges on Edge that were comparable to the lounges on past Celebrity ships, especially when you take out Eden for the overwhelming smell.  

[hcat]

5 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

My biggest issue with the Martini Bar is the lack of seating at the bar itself and the overall feeling you get. There were only 4 bar stools on one side and about 8 wide low chairs on the other side. It took away from the ambiance of the Martini Bar on  the S Class ships. It was more of the bar that serviced the whole Grand Plaza area, not a separate Bar with its own identity. If you did happen to get one of the bar stools you slid forward off of them. I miss the circular bar where you got to know the bartenders during the cruise. They now have a behind the scenes area where they are making drinks and the bartenders are serving them. The staff is constantly rotating from being at the actual bar or out in the Grand Plaza taking orders and going to the back to make them and then serving.  

 

To make a comparison to a restaurant, the Martini Bar went from being a Specialty Restaurant to the Oceanview Buffet. 

We sat in the area just up from the M  bar.  Drink service was fine but the gen noise level was unbearable.  Could not hear the band just below...totally drowned out.

We started going to the theater  early for the 9 pm show and enjoying our after dinner drinks in our seats,,

 

Maybe during  daytime hrs the M bar area is quieter...better for music!

[MisterBill99]

15 hours ago, hcat said:

Have to question whether  devoting such a large space to this area is worth it..considering the feeling of less space overall throughout the ship.    We would rather have  an Ensemble Lounge or passport Bar!

 

They did use the space for Future Cruise talks, Art Auctions and some of the shopping guide's talks. I'm not sure that the space could have been used for a bar or lounge given the deck 2 location. They could have made the teen club bigger since its right next door (and I suppose put the kids club there instead of deck 3 near the aft elevators and then used that space for something else).

[MisterBill99]

6 hours ago, hcat said:

We sat in the area just up from the M  bar.  Drink service was fine but the gen noise level was unbearable.  Could not hear the band just below...totally drowned out.

We started going to the theater  early for the 9 pm show and enjoying our after dinner drinks in our seats,,

 

Maybe during  daytime hrs the M bar area is quieter...better for music!

 

The acoustics in that entire area were terrible. They know about the problem but I'm not sure if they'll be able to fix it.

Edited February 18, 2019 by MisterBill99

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, Host Anne said:

 

On the S-class ships, the Sky Lounge occupied the space that some of the Retreat takes up.  Not deck for deck but in essence, the Retreat and suites takes up two decks at the front of the ship where the Sky Lounge was located.  So that is definitely a loss of a large lounge.

 

I consider the Martini Bar and Grand Plaza to be one in the same.  There is no real distinction between these areas.  And while there is a good deal of seating here, it isn't enough. Most nights between 7:00 - 8:30 PM, it was very difficult to find seating in this area.  

 

As for Eden, while there is plenty of seating, the incense smell was often overwhelming, preventing us from staying in Eden very long.  Perhaps they've reduced the amount of incense (or whatever the smell is) to make it less offense.  I often likened it to beef jerky.  

 

The bottom line for us is that there are no lounges on Edge that were comparable to the lounges on past Celebrity ships, especially when you take out Eden for the overwhelming smell.  

Anne,

The Sky Lounge was never designed to be on Edge so technically it cannot be considered a loss.  But it is a loss or partial loss on other ships if some of the space is converted to the Retreat.  The Club replaces Sky Lounge on Edge albeit no where as nice of a space having no outward view.  As for Eden we used it quite a bit and only had to deal with the incense a few times so we left as well at those times.  But it is quite an easy fix to eliminate it entirely with enough customer feedback.  Then Eden would serve for most as a wonderful bar with amazing outward (but aft) views.  That being said, Edge needs at least one additional inside bar so I agree with you there.  Remove one of the ultra-pricey shops that command so much space and were mostly completely empty on our cruise.  Put in an equivalent to Cellar Masters at least.

[alishac]

Anne, do you (or anyone else who's sailed Edge) remember how long the main shows were each night? If we have an 8:00 dinner reservation, can we do the 7:15 show and still make dinner on time? 

[RICCruisers]

They usually ran 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the performer or show.  The December '63 show on our cruise probably ran over an hour.  Too much applause between songs.  It would be tight to try the 7:15 show for an 8:00 reservation.  It is a 3-4 minute walk from the Theatre to the MDR's and longer if you  stop to grab a martini at the Martini Bar on the way.  We normally go to the 9:00 show and maybe the schedule is not quite as tight since most people attending have already had dinner.

[lovewine]

We are on September 9th 11 night Edge cruise and we are trying to plan our dining and show times.  Does anyone know what times and days the shows are on?  Thanks!

[ecslady]

25 minutes ago, lovewine said:

We are on September 9th 11 night Edge cruise and we are trying to plan our dining and show times.  Does anyone know what times and days the shows are on?  Thanks!

 

Shows on the EDGE and actually any Celebrity ship are usually at 7 or 9 PM every day. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by ecslady

[vtcruising]

5 hours ago, alishac said:

Anne, do you (or anyone else who's sailed Edge) remember how long the main shows were each night? If we have an 8:00 dinner reservation, can we do the 7:15 show and still make dinner on time? 

We sailed a couple of weeks after Anne's cruise and the shows were always at 7 and 9, like we are used to on X. Maybe they trialed 7:15 and 9:15 for a few cruises and got complaints about dinner reservations that were made by people used to 7 and 9? Anyway, they could have changed it again.  We usually make our dinner reservations at 8:15 or 8:30 - when we do 8, it seems a bit rushed to use the restroom and make our way with the crowd to the dining areas, but we've never missed a meal. 🙂

[ecslady]

5 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

We sailed a couple of weeks after Anne's cruise and the shows were always at 7 and 9, like we are used to on X. Maybe they trialed 7:15 and 9:15 for a few cruises and got complaints about dinner reservations that were made by people used to 7 and 9? Anyway, they could have changed it again.  We usually make our dinner reservations at 8:15 or 8:30 - when we do 8, it seems a bit rushed to use the restroom and make our way with the crowd to the dining areas, but we've never missed a meal. 🙂

 

For those who like to eat first, we do our reservations at 6:30 pm and haven't missed a 9 PM  show yet. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by ecslady

[Caymus88]

Shows are still 7 and 9.

After the 7 o’clock show they would have something going on in the Club.

 

I was told the Club was torn apart because acoustics were bad.

Then the cabins above it were blasted by noise so they put sound deadening in.

Still a work in progress 

[hcat]

Some issues  on the 1/27 cruise developed because the early shows had fairly  light attendance,  and the 9 pm  shows  were SRO or even more crowded...some folks turned away,

 

  They adjusted BLU and maybe other mdr hrs  to be a bit early but folks still had trouble getting to the first show, ..  Some dining early in BLU  left  way before coffee and dessert to get to the early show.

 

Used to be easy...early  seating went to the late show and late seating went to the early show...more complicated now !

 

In addition, the middle area of the balcony was reserved for suite guests, and  I heard that once or twice the whole balc was for suites,  Theater is small and not many other evening choices,,  EDEN, if you care for the shows there,   or the  dark  Club..  or noisy .M bar,..

 

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by hcat

[MisterBill99]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

In addition, the middle area of the balcony was reserved for suite guests, and  I heard that once or twice the whole balc was for suites,  Theater is small and not many other evening choices,,  EDEN, if you care for the shows there,   or the  dark  Club..  or noisy .M bar,..

 

Not the whole balcony was reserved, but the front row of the right hand section (in addition to the entire middle section) was reserved. I think that's only on Chic night, maybe because dinner takes longer? Then there was the a-hole who had reserved 8 seats in the front row of the other side with him sitting on one end and his wife on the other. I gave them some choice words before grudgingly moving away. Fortunately that was before they started reserving the other side for suites.

 

Also not sure why the 1/27 was much worse than the 1/20 sailing for late show seating. I had asked someone and was told there were not significantly more people on that sailing than the previous one.

Edited February 20, 2019 by MisterBill99

[Host Anne]

On 2/18/2019 at 8:36 AM, TeeRick said:

Anne,

The Sky Lounge was never designed to be on Edge so technically it cannot be considered a loss.  But it is a loss or partial loss on other ships if some of the space is converted to the Retreat.  The Club replaces Sky Lounge on Edge albeit no where as nice of a space having no outward view.  As for Eden we used it quite a bit and only had to deal with the incense a few times so we left as well at those times.  But it is quite an easy fix to eliminate it entirely with enough customer feedback.  Then Eden would serve for most as a wonderful bar with amazing outward (but aft) views.  That being said, Edge needs at least one additional inside bar so I agree with you there.  Remove one of the ultra-pricey shops that command so much space and were mostly completely empty on our cruise.  Put in an equivalent to Cellar Masters at least.

 

Ahhh....Rick ~ we tend to disagree somewhat here.  I consider the Club on Edge to replace the Quasar on the S-class ships .  You're right, Sky was never designed for Edge  but the fact remains that it's one less significant lounge area that the S-class ships has that Edge does not.  I haven't seen a redesign of the S-class ships yet but I have to imagine that in order to make the Retreat anything like Edge that some of Sky is going to go.  I'm almost thinking that Sky will become the Retreat Lounge.  It will be interesting to see what they do with the "revolution" of the S-class ships.

 

We liked Eden but it certainly doesn't have an "intimate bar feel" like Ensemble or Cellar Masters or even Martini on the S-class.  

 

We do agree on the high end retail shops.  It's really hard to believe that they sell enough to justify the space they occupy.  Time will tell.  

[ecslady]

25 minutes ago, Host Anne said:

I consider the Club on Edge to replace the Quasar on the S-class ships . You're right, Sky was never designed for Edge  but the fact remains that it's one less significant lounge area that the S-class ships has that Edge does not.  I haven't seen a redesign of the S-class ships yet but I have to imagine that in order to make the Retreat anything like Edge that some of Sky is going to go.  I'm almost thinking that Sky will become the Retreat Lounge. 

 

I agree.  The Club is not a replacement for the Sky Lounge, and I really missed the Sky Lounge on the Edge.  The Club is very dark, even Quasar was more inviting IMO. Would hate to see the Sky go on the S class ships, as I very rarely cruise in a Suite.

[wowgirl/itguy]

On 1/14/2019 at 7:15 PM, Host Anne said:

Celebrity Edge Review

 

January 6 – 13, 2019

 

Cabin 7275 – Infinite Veranda switched to Cabin 9209 – Sky Suite

 

As you read through this, please remember I’m relating my experiences on Edge last week.  I always try to write fair and honest reviews of our cruise experiences that may help others. 

Host Anne - We cannot thank you enough for the non-emotional, statement of fact review.  We are headed out on the Edge in less than a week (after booking the cruise 2 years ago) and have been anxiously awaiting the experience.  Many of the reviews we have read are super negative and while the IV's and Eden seems to be the most contentious points, you have framed all of the aspects in a way that makes it accessible to everyone to create their own impression.  We LOVE having a balcony and although we don't go on cruises for them or for the food for that matter (cruises are more a means to get from place to place without unpacking) we are excited to try out the IV.  

After reading your review we are planning to try for an upgrade as you did; we had a sky suite previously and very much appreciated the extra room in the cabin and your review of the retreat solidified that it is worth trying for - provided it is less than they are wanting today for the upgrade - yikes!!  As someone who tends to write many reviews, I just wanted to thank you for your giving us your thoughts.  

[Host Anne]

On 2/19/2019 at 11:34 PM, wowgirl/itguy said:

Host Anne - We cannot thank you enough for the non-emotional, statement of fact review.  We are headed out on the Edge in less than a week (after booking the cruise 2 years ago) and have been anxiously awaiting the experience.  Many of the reviews we have read are super negative and while the IV's and Eden seems to be the most contentious points, you have framed all of the aspects in a way that makes it accessible to everyone to create their own impression.  We LOVE having a balcony and although we don't go on cruises for them or for the food for that matter (cruises are more a means to get from place to place without unpacking) we are excited to try out the IV.  

After reading your review we are planning to try for an upgrade as you did; we had a sky suite previously and very much appreciated the extra room in the cabin and your review of the retreat solidified that it is worth trying for - provided it is less than they are wanting today for the upgrade - yikes!!  As someone who tends to write many reviews, I just wanted to thank you for your giving us your thoughts.  

 

Thanks so very much for your kind words.  I try very hard to write objective, well-balanced reviews.  When I'm reading reviews I look for those that are written this way and I try to return the favor.  I hope you have a fantastic time on Edge and best of luck with getting the upgrade.  Come back and let us know what you thought!

 

Safe journey and Bon Voyage!

[tere247]

On 1/15/2019 at 1:46 PM, Host Anne said:

 

No....you do not put your Seapass into anything to make the A/C work but your veranda window (IVs) or veranda door (regular balconies) MUST be closed and locked for the A/C to work.  

 

Wait a minute. Are you saying that if I want to sit on the balcony and my DH wants to take a nap inside, I have to be locked out in order for my DH to get AC?

[Bo1953]

1 minute ago, tere247 said:

Wait a minute. Are you saying that if I want to sit on the balcony and my DH wants to take a nap inside, I have to be locked out in order for my DH to get AC?

No, yet for maximum efficiency, it is said, that the IV should be closed.

 

bon voayge

[tere247]

2 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

No, yet for maximum efficiency, it is said, that the IV should be closed.

 

bon voayge

Ok then. That's a relief.   Thanks for the reassurance. Glad there's no need to lock the door.  My husband sleeps like the dead.  I was worried how I would get back in.

Edited May 5, 2019 by tere247

[Bo1953]

16 minutes ago, tere247 said:

Ok then. That's a relief.   Thanks for the reassurance. Glad there's no need to lock the door.  My husband sleeps like the dead.  I was worried how I would get back in.

LOL... or you can have him sleep in the IV while you relax in the cabin...

 

bon voyage

[ecslady]

1 hour ago, tere247 said:

Ok then. That's a relief.   Thanks for the reassurance. Glad there's no need to lock the door.  My husband sleeps like the dead.  I was worried how I would get back in.

 

But you do need to have the window closed for the AC to work.  So the cabin will warm up.

[Host Anne]

2 hours ago, tere247 said:

Ok then. That's a relief.   Thanks for the reassurance. Glad there's no need to lock the door.  My husband sleeps like the dead.  I was worried how I would get back in.

I was referring to the IV window and doors to the regular balcony, not the door to your cabin.  Sorry for the confusion.