Edge Review Feb 24-Mar 3: Observations, Opinions, Hearsay, Food Photos

[BeeMinor]

My husband and I recently returned from a gloriously warm and sunny week on the Celebrity Edge. After following along other ship reviews with great anticipation/trepidation in the weeks leading up to our trip, I am going to hopefully pay it down the line with some info of my own. 

 

I type fast and I have a lot of opinions, so I tend to go on and on and on. If you're not interested in reading a multi-post novella about what I think about the Edge, here's the condensed version:

 

Overall Impressions

 

 

We loved the ship! We sailed in a sky suite and Celebrity has created a very good soup-to-nuts experience for suite guests. Our room was nice, the Retreat area is well done, and the public areas in general are very appealing. We ate at several restaurants and found the food to be consistently the best we've had on Celebrity—at times really on par with what we had last summer on Silversea—except for the buffet, which was just okay. We enjoyed the variety of bars/lounges and live music onboard, and had a good time exploring the ship and checking out the artwork. It's no 21C Museum Hotel but there's lots to see. I was delighted to discover that that the Haunted Forest is actually an infinity mirrored room:

 

The ship isn't flawless. Activities and entertainment options seem to be evolving and I suspect the staff isn't quite sure whom to program for: the people in their 60s and 70s who are actually in the majority on the ship, or the people (like me) in their 30s-50s who I think X would like to have more of on the ship. I'm very glad I'm able to hoof it up four or five flights of steps rather than waiting for the elevators which were usually slow and crowded. Based on chatter around the ship the IVs are somewhere between "tolerated" and "wildly unpopular." On an extremely practical note, the public bathrooms have the most frustrating automated doors and our suite bathroom sometimes smelled like a campground pit toilet. 

 

The overall vibe felt more modern than the kind of country club casual environment of the other X ships we've sailed (Constellation, Summit, Equinox), but, I thought, not as "edgy" as some of the more breathless Celebrity promos suggest. Celebrity seems to be really, really trying with Edge to position themselves as a less-stodgy, bigger-ship competitor to more upscale lines. The result will not to everyone's taste, and is somewhat different from the traditional Celebrity cruise. Literally everyone I talked to or heard discussing the cruise while onboard had booked the ship at least a year ago, so I would anticipate something of a natural sorting over the next several months as folks decide whether the Edge-class experience is for them. It was a good fit for us and we booked a 2021 sailing on Apex, although the word on the ship from the crew was that Apex would be "very different" based on Edge customer feedback.

 

Other reviewers have covered day-to-day ship life better than I could, so I'm going to break up this sure-to-be-overly-long review into categories rather than doing a straight recap. I will post some photos, too, but there are so many other excellent photo collections of the ship out there that I'll try to avoid being repetitive. I am also happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

 

ETA:  Check back later for such exciting topics as "I Took a Lot of Food Photos," "Class and Price List from the Fitness Center" and "Mysteries of Eden—Sort of Solved!" 

Edited March 6, 2019 by BeeMinor

[Sandy1975]

7 minutes ago, BeeMinor said:

My husband and I recently returned from a gloriously warm and sunny week on the Celebrity Edge. After following along other ship reviews with great anticipation/trepidation in the weeks leading up to our trip, I am going to hopefully pay it down the line with some info of my own. 

 

I type fast and I have a lot of opinions, so I tend to go on and on and on. If you're not interested in reading a multi-post novella about what I think about the Edge, here's the condensed version:

 

Overall Impressions

 

 

We loved the ship! We sailed in a sky suite and Celebrity has created a very good soup-to-nuts experience for suite guests. Our room was nice, the Retreat area is well done, and the public areas in general are very appealing. We ate at several restaurants and found the food to be consistently the best we've had on Celebrity—at times really on par with what we had last summer on Silversea—except for the buffet, which was just okay. We enjoyed the variety of bars/lounges and live music onboard, and had a good time exploring the ship and checking out the artwork. It's no 21C Museum Hotel but there's lots to see. I was delighted to discover that that the Haunted Forest is actually an infinity mirrored room:

 

The ship isn't flawless. Activities and entertainment options seem to be evolving and I suspect the staff isn't quite sure whom to program for: the people in their 60s and 70s who are actually in the majority on the ship, or the people (like me) in their 30s-50s who I think X would like to have more of on the ship. I'm very glad I'm able to hoof it up four or five flights of steps rather than waiting for the elevators which were usually slow and crowded. Based on chatter around the ship the IVs are somewhere between "tolerated" and "wildly unpopular." On an extremely practical note, the public bathrooms have the most frustrating automated doors and our suite bathroom sometimes smelled like a campground pit toilet. 

 

The overall vibe felt more modern than the kind of country club casual environment of the other X ships we've sailed (Constellation, Summit, Equinox), but, I thought, not as "edgy" as some of the more breathless Celebrity promos suggest. Celebrity seems to be really, really trying with Edge to position themselves as a less-stodgy, bigger-ship competitor to more upscale lines. The result will not to everyone's taste, and is somewhat different from the traditional Celebrity cruise. Literally everyone I talked to or heard discussing the cruise while onboard had booked the ship at least a year ago, so I would anticipate something of a natural sorting over the next several months as folks decide whether the Edge-class experience is for them. It was a good fit for us and we booked a 2021 sailing on Apex, although the word on the ship from the crew was that Apex would be "very different" based on Edge customer feedback.

 

Other reviewers have covered day-to-day ship life better than I could, so I'm going to break up this sure-to-be-overly-long review into categories rather than doing a straight recap. I will post some photos, too, but there are so many other excellent photo collections of the ship out there that I'll try to avoid being repetitive. I am also happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

 

ETA:  Check back later for such exciting topics as "I Took a Lot of Food Photos," "Class and Price List from the Fitness Center" and "Mysteries of Eden—Sort of Solved!" 

Looking forward to reading your review. Finally I will get to see fitness class and prices!

[BeeMinor]

Meet Your Tour Guide/Pre-Cruise and Planning

 

Oh hey! You came back for the next post! I'm BeeMinor and I sailed on the Edge Feb 24-Mar 3 with my husband, Kevin. For review context we are 40-ish creative professionals and probably part of Celebrity's target audience for the Edge. This is our daughter:

 

She did not travel with us because she has a ruff life. Did I mention that I enjoy puns?

 

This was our sixth cruise overall, fifth on Celebrity, and somehow the third in the past year. If you're so inclined you can also read about our experiences on the Summit in Nov 2018 and Silversea's Silver Whisper (aka the weirdest cruise ever) in June 2018. 

 

I booked this cruise way back in March 2017 by transferring an existing onboard booking for who even remembers what else to the Edge at $2799 pp for our S2. We almost cancelled it about a dozen times; we don’t want to cruise for every trip and like I said, third one since June. But with the steep hike in Edge prices since booking, we decided to hang onto it.

 

Celebrity offered us $100 pp OBC as an incentive to make final payment about a month early, so we wound up with a grand total of $750 OBC. With so much to spend I pre-booked the inside access ship tour at a flash sale rate, a Celebrity-run excursion to the Baths at Virgin Gorda, and specialty dining at Fine Cut and Le Petit Chef—and we still boarded with more than $200 left in credit. I got really good deals on excursions for our Summit cruise via the flash sales, too, so I recommend checking them out if you have OBC to burn.

 

We spent the night before boarding at the Pier 66 Hotel and Marina near the cruise port. It was conveniently located to the port and we liked Pelican Landing, the on-site marina bar and grill, but the room had a very musty/mildewy smell, the tile floor was not very clean, and there were bugs in the shower. I wouldn't stay there again.

 

Mediocre room

 

Good conch fritters

 

Boarding

Thanks to this board I knew there would be coffee and snacks at the terminal, so we headed over early, arriving at about 10:15. The suite check-in presents a very good first impression; it's off to the side from the main entrance, and you are greeted warmly and whisked into a private elevator. There is a separate security line so the whole process from dropoff to waiting room took maybe 3 minutes. Kevin especially loves skipping lines, so that was a wow moment.

 

We got there early enough to check out the Retreat terminal waiting area. There's a seemingly little-used deck upstairs with nice views of the ship:

 

 

I won't lie: from the outside the IV rooms reminded me very strongly of stackable plastic shoeboxes. Anyway, we were able to board the ship about 20 minutes after arrival. Loved being able to go drop our bags in the room right away. Absolute gold. Hope that rolls out across every ship I am ever on.

 

The Retreat

As some of the first people on the ship, we were able to check out the Retreat while the area was quite empty:

 

 

Maybe this is a chair? Or maybe it's just in the way?

 

The Retreat is really a nice space spread out on the sundeck/pool level and the lower lounge level. I was worried with the increased number of suites and thus suite guests we'd feel crowded, but that wasn't the case. Plenty of pool and sundeck loungers, comfy chairs, and some nice shady nooks. The concierges in the lounge were always helpful and the butlers were often around in the early evening in you wanted to connect with them. The staff did organize music during happy hour a couple of evenings. We found the Retreat to be a better and more useful space than Michael's Club, which for us always seems dark, stuffy, and a little uninviting. Sitting in the airport on Sunday morning we had our usual "What was your favorite part of vacation?" conversation and both my husband and I agreed that it was the Retreat.

 

Suite and Suite Amenities

 

We had suite 10195, picked basically at random by asking for something on the non-Magic Carpet side and above/below other staterooms. Kind of a haul to the Retreat and Luminae, but super convenient to other ship amenities. The rocking chair shown in the renderings was gone, so there's plenty of open floor space but limited inside seating. (I heard some rocking chairs are kept in storage if someone specifically requests one.) 

 

Here are a couple of photos taken from before the rooms were officially ready although I think if you've seen one Sky Suite you’ve seen them all at this point:

 

 

 

You can see the famous balcony pole through the door. It wasn't a big deal but given the option I'd pick a room without it.

 

Loved the room setup, loved the storage, loved the color palette, loved the bathroom, loved using the app to open the blinds onto the ocean view first thing in the morning. (More on the app later.) I absolutely hate the smell of the Bulgari products used on other X ships and was thrilled with the Bigelow selections. My husband also used them with no complaints.

 

Other reviews have laid out the major negatives: the couch and mattress are super firm and not very comfortable, there are too many throw pillows, there is nowhere to eat room service comfortably. We did have the not-awesome campground pit toilet smell in our little toilet cubicle at sporadic times, which I mostly fixed with a $2 gel air freshener purchased at Walgreen's in San Juan. If you are in suite 10195 and it's still there, you're welcome.

 

It's not a perfect room, but it was my favorite of any room I've had on a ship. There was nothing that was a deal breaker for us unlike, say, the overhead buffet rumblings that make the S-class sky suites a 100%-never-again-not-even-if-the-cruise-was-free. Based on comments by crew I'd expect some adjustments in the furnishings over time and on Apex.

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by BeeMinor
Photo gremlin

[BeeMinor]

8 minutes ago, Sandy1975 said:

Looking forward to reading your review. Finally I will get to see fitness class and prices!

 

Thank you! The sheet is still in my suitcase but I will definitely scan and post. Spoiler alert, I was not super impressed with the classes I took.

[Sandy1975]

13 minutes ago, BeeMinor said:

 

Thank you! The sheet is still in my suitcase but I will definitely scan and post. Spoiler alert, I was not super impressed with the classes I took.

I have done classes before and I am pretty used to intense levels and classes were not even close. I signed up to have internet and will stream my beachbody on demand videos but may still try a class or 2.

 

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on Virgin Gorda. We are in our early 40s as well and also signed up for the same excursion.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Sandy1975

[coloradosmom]

following

[BeeMinor]

Without further ado . . . 

 

Fitness Classes

 

Here's the listing of the week's rotation of fitness classes and fees:

 

 

Note that all prices have an added 18% gratuity (because you normally tip fitness instructors?) which makes a $19 class $22. It shows up as a spa charge on your folio. Classes are promoted as being an hour, but the two I took were only about 40 minutes long.

 

Class packs for some class types were available for pre-purchase through the cruise planner, but the class packs aren't a good deal because of the limited availability; the barre pack was $60 (plus gratuity), for example, but only three classes are offered, which is a total of $57. The center was pushing a "class pass" for unlimited classes at $119 for the week during orientation. Class pass purchasers get priority if a class is full, which I guess could maybe happen? Both the boxing and the barre class I attended were far from full, but an instructor said spinning had filled up around the holidays. You are encouraged to sign up for classes in advance but it makes absolutely no difference as far as I could tell.

 

Here's some detail on classes I queried/attended:

 

Yoga: I asked what style of yoga was offered in the classes, and was told that they didn't really do a specific style because there was such a variety of experience and ability levels. "Mystery yoga" isn't my thing so I didn't take the class, but I would assume it means not to expect a typical vinyasa class and probably more of a gentle/non-flow class.

 

Boxing: This class was fine but the equipment was not. We did 8 short rounds of boxing interspersed with cardio sprints (squats, twists, crunches, planks, burpees, jumping jacks, etc.) so you can work as hard as you want. The instructor gave very brief descriptions/demos of each punch or cardio move, but no form corrections. The fitness center provides heavy bags and (inappropriate) lightweight/speed bag-style gloves but no wraps. The staff didn't seem to know that wraps are essential for stabilizing your wrists and fingers—I asked about it and was told, "you'll just have to wash your hands after they've been in the gloves." Okay? I am a hard hitter and my hands were tingling the next day. 

 

Barre: I have taken literally hundreds of barre classes over the past few years. I queried the staff about the style and challenge level during the fitness orientation and was told "barre instructors have attended and been happy with the class" which I cannot believe is true. Whatever that class was, it was not barre. The instructor was nice enough and said up front it was more of a yoga/pilates hybrid, but I'm not even sure it was that. It was mostly leg lifts lying on the floor and squats, and used practically no technique that is typically associated with a barre workout--like, the squats were squats and not a barre-supported chair pose. The instructed moves also put noticeable pressure on the knees and lower back, which again, not barre and not safe. 

 

IMO, if Celebrity wants to offer specialized fitness classes, they should either partner with a major chain to provide properly trained instructors and real classes or just open up the motion studio and let people stream classes on their own. 

[Sandy1975]

47 minutes ago, BeeMinor said:

Without further ado . . . 

 

Fitness Classes

 

Here's the listing of the week's rotation of fitness classes and fees:

 

 

Note that all prices have an added 18% gratuity (because you normally tip fitness instructors?) which makes a $19 class $22. It shows up as a spa charge on your folio. Classes are promoted as being an hour, but the two I took were only about 40 minutes long.

 

Class packs for some class types were available for pre-purchase through the cruise planner, but the class packs aren't a good deal because of the limited availability; the barre pack was $60 (plus gratuity), for example, but only three classes are offered, which is a total of $57. The center was pushing a "class pass" for unlimited classes at $119 for the week during orientation. Class pass purchasers get priority if a class is full, which I guess could maybe happen? Both the boxing and the barre class I attended were far from full, but an instructor said spinning had filled up around the holidays. You are encouraged to sign up for classes in advance but it makes absolutely no difference as far as I could tell.

 

Great summary and review of the classes offered! I originally considered that pre-cruise packages as it read it was good for 4 classes or more but when dailies started to come out, I could only count 3 (like you stated) so it wasn't that great of a deal. My concern was also intensity level and you confirmed my suspicions. I would love to have classes geared towards advance levels but I understand that it may not be possible. I think that based on the description here I will pass. Thanks again for this!

[Silkroad]

Following. Thanks for confirming my misgivings about the quality of the fitness class instruction.

[hcat]

Interesting  review so far.....thanks for sharing,

 

Tastes and expectations  can differ  widely but we liked our EDGE cruise , and are in a somewhat  "older" demograohic." 

 

We thought  the gym was nice although  the  equip seemed a bit low end to us.. but we managed to get our workouts done ...We did not take any classes.....they were pushing healthy body evaluations quite a bit...it was annoying . May take classes in Nov..  if they improve....returning for a longer  EDGE cruise!

 

We differ about the  haunted forest that we had to traverse daily to BLU and EDEN. Found it to be a visual hazard ...I wear  graduated lense eyeglasses and it was not so  easy to see in there.    Also observed scooter guests  having  close  calls getting through.  Art concept may be great,  but perhaps it might be  better located  someplace else other than is a  narrow two way corridor.

 

Hope to hear more!

[BeeMinor]

21 hours ago, Sandy1975 said:

Great summary and review of the classes offered! I originally considered that pre-cruise packages as it read it was good for 4 classes or more but when dailies started to come out, I could only count 3 (like you stated) so it wasn't that great of a deal. My concern was also intensity level and you confirmed my suspicions. I would love to have classes geared towards advance levels but I understand that it may not be possible. I think that based on the description here I will pass. Thanks again for this!

 

Thank you and my pleasure! If you have specific expectations, agreed, I would go with streaming classes or even hitting a yoga or pilates studio in port. I'm sure San Juan would have some options. 

[BeeMinor]

20 hours ago, Silkroad said:

Following. Thanks for confirming my misgivings about the quality of the fitness class instruction.

 

Thanks! After digging through these boards and not finding much on the classes, I figured it was a good use of OBC as an experiment if nothing else!

[BeeMinor]

20 hours ago, hcat said:

Interesting  review so far.....thanks for sharing,

 

Tastes and expectations  can differ  widely but we liked our EDGE cruise , and are in a somewhat  "older" demograohic." 

 

We thought  the gym was nice although  the  equip seemed a bit low end to us.. but we managed to get our workouts done ...We did not take any classes.....they were pushing healthy body evaluations quite a bit...it was annoying . May take classes in Nov..  if they improve....returning for a longer  EDGE cruise!

 

We differ about the  haunted forest that we had to traverse daily to BLU and EDEN. Found it to be a visual hazard ...I wear  graduated lense eyeglasses and it was not so  easy to see in there.    Also observed scooter guests  having  close  calls getting through.  Art concept may be great,  but perhaps it might be  better located  someplace else other than is a  narrow two way corridor.

 

Hope to hear more!

 

Thanks! I agree there's no reason people a decade or three older than I am wouldn't enjoy the ship if they enjoy its style and features, in the same way that I have had a perfectly lovely time on ships like the Summit. I'd be surprised if the forest installation was exactly like that on future ships. It's such a specific thing and I've never known Celebrity to directly repeat art.

[BeeMinor]

Entertainment and Events (other than Eden)

 

I feel like some of the early reviews suggested that there wasn't enough music around but I sometimes felt like the only thing going on around the ship was live music. There was a band or solo/duo performer in the Grand Plaza pretty much continually any afternoon or evening that we were sailing, and music in Eden, the Rooftop Garden, the Club, or the pool from time to time. Song selections mostly spanned 1970-2010. This was the last cruise for the Reckless Charms, who were the best of the music groups, I think. I didn't find the music to be too loud anywhere except for the buffet. I was up with the sun one morning and nobody wants to hear Britney Spears at top volume before her first cup of coffee. 

 

The evening shows had a heavy emphasis on guest entertainers: a Paul McCartney tribute, multiple comedians, a comedy magician, and a violinist. I would speculate that this means the production shows are getting some pushback and being re-evaluated. We saw one, "Kaleidoscope," and it was packed. That kind of super poppy dance show isn't my thing, but it was extremely professional; unlike other Celebrity production shows I've seen (looking at you, Chandelier) it did not seem like a Titus Andromedon flashback on the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. "Land of Khalida" was relegated to late show status and "Hot Summer's Night Dream" was at the end of the cruise. 

 

We noticed people watching a movie with the Silent Disco headphones up in the Rooftop Garden one evening. Smart idea. No noise intrusion in the surrounding area. 

 

We attended the Captain's Club wine tasting/gaslighting seminar presented by the cellar master. The tasting comprised four very small tastes of I'm not even sure what wines because he never really said but they were gross. He spent most of the time talking about wines that weren't the ones we were drinking—30 minutes discussing Champagne, which was definitely not one of the offerings—or making odd blanket statements like "88% of all people worldwide drink red wine and 12% drink white wine," or telling people that they could make their own rosé wine at home by mixing together red and white wines. ("Just pour a couple of tablespoons of red wine into a bottle of white wine until it's the color you like!" Or how about you don't do that.)  We considered leaving early but the presenter would literally stop mid-word and stare down people who arrived late until they sat down. Awkward.

 

The only other wine event was Blendtique, and the sommeliers were pushing it hard; we didn't take part so no idea how that went. We've done the world of wine, the premium wine tasting, and the Riedel seminar in the past, and I missed having at least one of those available. I also missed having a culinary demo.

[BeeMinor]

Entertainment and Events (Eden)

 

Eden is a very lovely space. I was actually almost disappointed we didn't have a rainy day because I think it would be really cool to sit in there and watch it rain. I predict it will be very busy during the day on cool weather cruises. 

 

 

Let's do Eden as a Q&A.

 

Q. What's that smell?

A. There is a very distinct, funky smell in Eden. I was not alive in the 1970s but it is what I imagine the 1970s smelling like. What it actually is is the cocktail smoker. 

 

Q. Are the Edenists out touching people's hair and throwing pillows around during the day?

A. Not that I ever saw. I saw some of the performers in street clothes practicing in Eden one afternoon—answering one of my personal questions, how do they practice this thing anyway?—but Celebrity has pulled back on the all-immersive all-the-time thing.

 

Q. What is up with the main Eden show?

A. Okay. This is what I have pieced together, drawing on personal observation, conversation with others, and my own background knowledge.

 

The show is a pretty literal modern interpretation of the Old Testament story of the garden of Eden. At the beginning a higher power grants a group of people—the Edenists—a beautiful garden to enjoy as their home (Eden). They frolic and play innocently (the part with all the bells and juggling by the character named Zoom). Then, through the influence of the breakdancing snake man and (maybe) the lady in the red catsuit (I couldn't actually see what she was doing, and I think that was Bloom) they are introduced to more sensual pleasures. ("Look, those ladies are really shocked by all the hugging!" my husband commented to me while scanning the audience during this part—maybe that was during the Pink Floyd song.) Next there's a section in which the characters realize that they have engaged in "sinful" behavior and the voices of realization and/or regret torment them (the part with all the movie samples). I would assume that this is the titular "Revelations" set piece.

 

At this point we were kind of done—it is a REALLY long show—and left, so the remainder is purely speculation. I would assume that after this there's some kind of expulsion from Eden or, if they really wanted to flip the script, everyone is forgiven and Zoom goes back to juggling. If someone else has seen the ending please feel free to hop in.

 

Q. To confirm, you're saying that this is a show grounded in Judeo-Christian ideology, specifically the concept of Original Sin?

A. Yep. 

 

Q. Why though?

A. Yeah, that does seem like an odd choice for a mass market cruise ship. 

 

Q. Who is this show even for?

A. The exact question my husband and I discussed while watching it. He proposed "aging hippies" and "drama school parents." I proposed "people who attended guitar Mass" and "fans of Redmoon [an erstwhile experimental/experiential theater troupe in Chicago]." I am sure there are younger people who would enjoy it, but I do not think that the answer is, uniformly, "Millennials."

 

Q. Did you see anyone enjoying the show?

A. Some people did seem to be into it, especially people who got into the interactive aspects. 

 

Q. Why do all the characters have rhyming names?

A. No idea. In my head I named one of them KABOOM and another LOOM and another ROOM.

 

Q. So what is "Sinful at Eden" all about?

A. Unless we missed something by leaving early, it was just a late-night dance/hangout party with the duo performing pop songs. They started out with Maroon 5 and as I have a strong personal aversion to Maroon 5, we bailed fast. 

 

Q. How do they water the hanging plants?

A. I asked around and this seemed to be a mystery even to the staff working in Eden. 

[spammie]

Thank you so much for sharing.  We are in an S1 Suite on the April 7th sailing.  We also booked March 2017 and considered cancelling and switching to another cruise a few times.  I'm getting really excited for our cruise now.  :)  What were your thoughts on the inside ship tour and how long was it?  Thank you again!  

[cricketgirl]

Thanks so much for your summation of Eden - answered most of the questions I've had.

[hcat]

43 minutes ago, cricketgirl said:

Thanks so much for your summation of Eden - answered most of the questions I've had.

Enjoying your review.. a delightful fresh approach.

 

As  a 60s person, nothing about the EDEN show attracts me,  although the space is great..needs a few ergonomic chairs, more seating for the cafe and sun shades but the space itself was great! Would love to see more variety in  entertainment there!

 

Losing the sprayed  incense would be  good thing!

[Sandy1975]

1 hour ago, BeeMinor said:

 

Q. What is up with the main Eden show?

A. Okay. This is what I have pieced together, drawing on personal observation, conversation with others, and my own background knowledge.

 

The show is a pretty literal modern interpretation of the Old Testament story of the garden of Eden. At the beginning a higher power grants a group of people—the Edenists—a beautiful garden to enjoy as their home (Eden). They frolic and play innocently (the part with all the bells and juggling by the character named Zoom). Then, through the influence of the breakdancing snake man and (maybe) the lady in the red catsuit (I couldn't actually see what she was doing, and I think that was Bloom) they are introduced to more sensual pleasures. ("Look, those ladies are really shocked by all the hugging!" my husband commented to me while scanning the audience during this part—maybe that was during the Pink Floyd song.) Next there's a section in which the characters realize that they have engaged in "sinful" behavior and the voices of realization and/or regret torment them (the part with all the movie samples). I would assume that this is the titular "Revelations" set piece.

 

 

You are the first one I have read that has put the Eden show into words! Based on the original marketing of Edge, your interpretation seem pretty spot on. Now I can probably go and watch it better having an idea of what it may be about. I understand now why there isn't a description out there provided by Celebrity because if it is the modern interpretation of the Old testament, then it can upset many people.

 

What are your thoughts on the specialty cocktails at Eden? I am sure I will miss the World Class Bar and I was hoping that Eden would be a good substitute but the description of some of the drinks sound very unappealing to me! Is it worth the extra charge over the premium package?

[BeeMinor]

3 hours ago, spammie said:

Thank you so much for sharing.  We are in an S1 Suite on the April 7th sailing.  We also booked March 2017 and considered cancelling and switching to another cruise a few times.  I'm getting really excited for our cruise now.  🙂 What were your thoughts on the inside ship tour and how long was it?  Thank you again!  

 

My pleasure! I am jealous of your upcoming visit with the lovely Retreat. We enjoyed the inside access tour! It was about 2.5 hours altogether. I'll post some more details soon, along with some notes about the Virgin Gorda tour, as those were our two "excursions."

[BeeMinor]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Enjoying your review.. a delightful fresh approach.

 

As  a 60s person, nothing about the EDEN show attracts me,  although the space is great..needs a few ergonomic chairs, more seating for the cafe and sun shades but the space itself was great! Would love to see more variety in  entertainment there!

 

Losing the sprayed  incense would be  good thing!

 

Thanks so much! The main Eden show was only on three nights of the cruise, and the other nights were given over to silent disco, music, and I think a DJ, and by far the busiest I saw it was the "Sinful" night with just music. During the day they were using the rear part of the main level for the golf putting challenge and a very well-attended art class. So I would think that space will continue to evolve.

 

Agreed about the need for more cafe seating. We ate there twice (photos to come with that chunk of this magnum opus) and if the outdoor seating isn't usable there are limited options. I think it was intended to somewhat of a grab and go, but I'm not sure where else you'd go.

[BeeMinor]

2 hours ago, Sandy1975 said:

 

You are the first one I have read that has put the Eden show into words! Based on the original marketing of Edge, your interpretation seem pretty spot on. Now I can probably go and watch it better having an idea of what it may be about. I understand now why there isn't a description out there provided by Celebrity because if it is the modern interpretation of the Old testament, then it can upset many people.

 

What are your thoughts on the specialty cocktails at Eden? I am sure I will miss the World Class Bar and I was hoping that Eden would be a good substitute but the description of some of the drinks sound very unappealing to me! Is it worth the extra charge over the premium package?

 

Please let me know how the ending turns out if you go! I 100% agree with your reasoning on why the info on the show is limited. I think one of the issues is that this kind of experience works best if there's a level of audience familiarity you can tap into--people love places like theme parks because they have experienced the world building from movies, books, or whatever and can immediately connect with the characters and setting. Without a licensed (expensive) property around which to build an entire venue Celebrity has somewhat limited choices for cultural touchpoints that are in the public domain and would be accessible to a broad audience. Celebrity could easily put the Midsummer's Night Dream update in the "Woodland" (Eden) instead of a Biblical reinterpretation but they seem to have doubled down.

 

Anyway. Speciality cocktails! Eden is the craft cocktail opportunity on the ship for sure. Between my husband and me we tried about half the drinks over the course of the week and they were all pretty good but not amazing. We both really like mezcal and I enjoyed the Pina especially; I think he preferred the Planter. We had so much OBC that the extra dollar or two here and there was no big deal. The Eden bar does have a full selection and a remarkably wide selection of bitters, so if you wanted to get an old-fashioned with a twist or something like that I'm sure they could accommodate it. Based on conversations with the bartenders there is some guest frustration because people don't fully read the menu or know what the ingredients are and are quite disappointed when, say, the Pina tastes like a smoke bomb and not like a Pina Colada.

 

The casino bar had the widest selection of high-end liquors and was the only place on board that I could consistently get the actual Champagne that's in the premium package.

[hcat]

46 minutes ago, BeeMinor said:

 

Thanks so much! The main Eden show was only on three nights of the cruise, and the other nights were given over to silent disco, music, and I think a DJ, and by far the busiest I saw it was the "Sinful" night with just music. During the day they were using the rear part of the main level for the golf putting challenge and a very well-attended art class. So I would think that space will continue to evolve.

 

Agreed about the need for more cafe seating. We ate there twice (photos to come with that chunk of this magnum opus) and if the outdoor seating isn't usable there are limited options. I think it was intended to somewhat of a grab and go, but I'm not sure where else you'd go.

Glad to hear they are making diverse use of the space...

The DJ  (Dragon) we had for the White Night deck party was awesome..great playlist!  We loved EDEN cafe...great concept!

 

[Sandy1975]

47 minutes ago, BeeMinor said:

 

Please let me know how the ending turns out if you go!

 

The casino bar had the widest selection of high-end liquors and was the only place on board that I could consistently get the actual Champagne that's in the premium package.

I will be on Edge in 17 days! I have an aqua class room but I am hoping for a price drop on the move up bid minimums for a Sky suite. I wish I would had booked a suite back then when prices were reasonable!

I will do a review of my sailing and will definitely touch on this if we are able to stay to the end!

 

Thanks for the tip on where to get the Premium package Champagne. It is annoying when the menu lists all offerings and then only a portion is available!

[Lastdance]

Many thanks, BeeMinor, for providing a very interesting review, along with your take on Eden which I find extremely informative...Please keep sharing your impressions of Edge with all of us!

 

Questions:  What name is the equipment  found in the gym?

 

So far, what has impressed you the most about Edge?

 

~Following with an open mind and a kindred spirit...

Edited March 7, 2019 by Lastdance