Extremely long-winded Edge Review - Inside cabin and S3 Sky Suite

[BrendaJ]

We just spent two weeks on the Edge - the first week in an inside cabin (12168) and the second in an S3 Sky Suite (11160 under the Magic Carpet).  After reading so many negative reviews about various things, I felt for the first time in a long time that I had to submit a review.   We cruise primarily on Celebrity and have been on all their ships except the Eclipse numerous times.

 

First thing - the ship is gorgeous!   I think it was designed primarily to be a knock-out.   The artwork is all beautiful and contains a lot of photographic prints - all tasteful and lovely.   Much different from the M-class which had some truly mystifying art that made you stop in your tracks and go “What the what?   That’s art?   I think there’s something that looks like that growing in the back of my fridge!  Cha-ching!!!”   We found the layout easy to navigate and found all of the public spaces really lovely.

 

Now, I will admit to being a glass-half-full kind of person.  That doesn’t mean I was blind to a few things that could be improved, however, I’m happy to report that we thought the Edge was fantastic.  I think that Celebrity has listened to early complaints and made note, as some things I read complaints about were definitely no longer an issue.

 

Improvements over other Celebrity Ships

 

Technology

 

The technology on this ship is remarkable, especially if you use the Celebrity app with your smartphone.  Imagine being able to adjust the cabin temperature while you’re in the dining room, so the cabin is nice and cool before bed.   Or checking your on-board charges anytime, anywhere.  Of course, the app is still in beta, and there are a few glitches and navigation challenges, but once you get used to it, it really is fabulous.   From what I recall, the app was also used to do Timeplay trivia in the theatre before the show, similar to the movie theatres at home.  It was really fun but it turns out I am not as smart as I thought, as the app lets you know your rank after the trivia is over.   Judging by the numbers, either a lot of the audience was playing, or I am dumber than a bag of hammers.  We never got around to trying the trivia in The Club but I suspect it was the same.  The regular trivia they had multiple times a day in the Grand Plaza and Eden was the same old stuff as the other ships using paper and pencil - very well attended and we actually won it one day, due to a husband whose brain is full of useless nonsense, and a wife who had a lucky day with wild guesses.

 

The panel near the door offers many of the same features as the app when it comes to adjusting the lighting and temperature of the cabin - the themes for the lights were handy (morning, movie, sleep, etc.).   You can also control the television with the app.  I can just imagine how that goes when you are sharing your cabin with children with their own phones and tablets.  I suspect more than one teenaged genius has thought it would be delightful to be out and about on the ship and use their phone to turn the cabin lights and TV on and off when their parents are in the cabin trying to relax.

 

The elevators have a screen showing what deck the Magic Carpet is on or where the gangway is, as well as videos of cruise destinations.   The elevators are very large, and although there are only two banks, they seemed to arrive quickly, even if it appeared that there was always someone who wanted to get on or off at each floor.   There seemed to be an uncommonly large number of power scooters on board, and those using them never once offered me a ride, even when I was wearing heels.  Somewhat disappointing.

 

Pool

 

The main pool is enormous and you really could swim laps with little issue first thing in the morning.   Not that anything like that ever entered my mind.   I also hear there was a gym on board, where some pool souls ran like mice on a wheel.  To each their own.  We had considered using the gym on board while we were still safely on land, but once we got on board, it became a duel between the gym and croissants, and the gym was never going to win that battle.  The walking track on this ship was fantastic, ramping up and down two levels.  It had two lanes, both going in the same direction - one for walkers and one for runners.   There did not seem to be a lane for those of us going in the wrong direction, heeding the call of French fries or ice cream.

 

We went to the pool after dinner a couple of nights and had the entire pool deck and hot tubs to ourselves.   It was a bit shocking to be totally alone in such a large space around 10pm.  Although on sea days, the pool deck did seem very busy, with the usual characters saving lounge chairs, if you weren’t bound and bent to be right beside the pool, you could always find a lounge one deck up.   I did find the activities microphone very loud around the pool, but that was the only time I had an issue with volume on the ship.  Other than the day they were doing some type of crew training exercise and they blasted the ship’s horn.   My husband jumped about 3 feet in the air, and I’m pretty sure he had to change his underwear.  

 

There seemed few to no roaming waiters on the pool deck in the morning.  Getting a drink from the bar was no problem but sometimes you’re just too lazy to get out of your chair at 9 am for your breakfast Bellini or Bloody Mary.   Don’t judge me.   I’m on vacation and sometimes I need either hair of the dog or the actual dog.   Our waiter in Luminae, Vichal, never once gave me the hairy eyeball when ordering a morning beverage - sometimes he actually talked me into it.   Boy, I miss that guy a lot.

 

The big problem at both the main pool and the Retreat pool was a lack of shade.   I must admit to being a bit of a vampire, trying to avoid getting too much direct sun, but there were only a few spots at each pool where you could depend on shade, unlike the S-class where there are lots of lounges in the shade.   There are a few spots one deck up from the pool with really comfortable loungers (more like Bali beds) under a roof, so I would advise heading out right after breakfast if you want a shady spot.   Darn!   I wasn’t going to tell anyone about those!   Ignore that.

 

The cabanas looked nice, but at $$$ a day, they sat empty for most of our two cruises.  I think converting that area to more pool lounges would make a lot of people happier, as then at least there would be a bit more shade up for grabs. 

 

Martini bar

 

On the S-class ships (and what I can recall of the M-class), getting a spot at the martini bar was very difficult anywhere around dinner time.   They have solved that problem on this ship.   The martini bar basically takes up the whole 5th deck area of the Grand Plaza.  It is open in the early afternoon, and they frequently have entertainment and trivia there.    We never found the music too loud, and were only once not able to find a seat.   Bar servers are plentiful and attentive, even during Elite cocktail time.   The bar tenders do an enthusiastic flair show, and the bar itself has a unique design with both bar stools and regular height chairs, which I expect would make it possible for someone in a wheelchair to sit at the bar, which is a rare opportunity, I am guessing.  The martini tasting was a blast - I don’t recall if this was a case for martini tasting on the other ships, but on the Edge, you get your choice of 6 martinis to taste, out of what seemed like dozens on the menu.  It was really hard to choose but I think I chose well.   I don’t really remember a lot about that evening, other than needing the much loved hair of the dog the next day.

 

Elite beverages

 

I’m not sure if this change is fleet-wide or just on the Edge, but we were able to have unlimited beverages (from the list) at any bar on the ship between 5 and 7, with the exception of the Magic Carpet.   We had absolutely no problem getting service in the martini bar during these hours, or at the pool bar, and it was a vast improvement over having to have your drinks in a separate lounge, in my opinion.

 

Four Main Dining Rooms

 

In my opinion, so much better than one big room.  It’s nice to have a chance to visit different rooms, even if it is mostly the same food.   Select dining really shines on this ship, as you can just pick the room that appeals to you the most.   All of the dining rooms are beautiful.  I’m not sure I would have been happy choosing traditional and having to stick to one of the rooms.   We dine early and never once had an issue getting a table.   We found the food great, although I’m not the best person to ask.  One look at me and you can tell I’m not a picky eater.

 

Of course, Luminae is in a class all by itself and we were determined to never miss an opportunity to eat there.  The menu is unique and inventive and always delicious.   Although you can no longer order from the main dining room menu in Luminae, you can choose from the main dining room’s anytime menu.   The Luminae menu did lean quite heavily on seafood which was fine with me, but on at least one day, there were no appetizers that weren’t either seafood or vegetarian.   Man want meat.   Red meat.  Says the guy next to me.  I loved everything about Luminae, especially the service.   10/10 every time, every meal.  Luminae is also a truly gorgeous room, done in black and white with red accents.

 

Theatre

 

The theatre is unique with a sort of theatre in the round set-up, with lots of seating and large screens that were used to create an interesting backdrop for the shows.   There seemed to be plenty of waiters on hand to fetch drinks before the show, which I have found to be a challenge on the other ships at times.   There I go, talking about drinks again.   You’re going to think I have a problem.   Which I don’t, as long as I have a drink in my hand.

 

Rooftop Garden

 

This space is really lovely, although once again, very little shade can be found, and some of the seating, like the long, curved wooded benches, was awkward unless you were about 7 feet tall.   The large screen gave a great back-drop for musical performances, and we saw some sports being broadcast during the day which seemed to be popular.   Not to me, mind you.   I don’t want to play sports, much less watch someone else play them.  More shade would make that area a favourite for me, much improved over the S-class lawn which I found to be nice, but a bit of a waste of space.

 

The Retreat

 

The Retreat pool area was one of the reasons we booked the suite for this cruise.   It did not disappoint, except for the lack of shade.   The Retreat lounge is sooooo much nicer than dark, stuffy old Michael’s Club.   I know some people love Michael’s Club, but unless I’m going to take up smoking cigars and discussing the difficulty of hiring qualified grooms to care for my polo ponies, that atmosphere just seems claustrophobic to me.   The Retreat is bright and sunny, with beautiful views, attentive service and nice little snacks.   My next husband is going to be loaded, so I can always sail exclusively in suites from now on.  My current husband just needs to find himself a trophy wife, and I’m off to convince George Clooney that he’s better off with me than that young, probably-work-obsessed bride of us.   I’m not obsessed with work, George.  I will think about nothing but you and the wonderful foot rubs you’re going to give me.

 

Cabin

 

We found the storage more than adequate in both the inside cabin and the Sky Suite.  In fact, it felt like the inside cabin had more space, as there was a large drawer under the couch (3rd bed) which could be used.  I found that much easier to work with than the overhead bins on the S-class, which are probably great if you’re 7 feet tall and have arms like an orangutan.  The fridge in both cabins was very cold and nearly empty, allowing us to put some of our own things in it.   Our butler in the Sky Suite was really eager to do things for us, including bringing my husband’s favourite beers and putting them in the fridge.  In a Royal Suite on the Summit a few years ago, we asked the butler the first day if he could bring us some craft beers for the cabin, and he told us to just go to a bar and fetch them ourselves.  I’m not sure that guy was the most keen butler in general.   Edwin, who we had in S3 11160 on the Edge was the perfect butler I would have expected in a Royal Suite.  I miss that guy a lot too.

 

For anyone who wonders what the S3’s (between the rails of the Magic Carpet) are like, we thought it was great.  The carpet very seldom was moved, and made a bit of noise when it did, but we thought it was great fun to go on the balcony and watch it come down.   If you had one of those grabbers on a stick, you could probably steal bottles of liquor from the bar as it’s going by.  And no, we forgot our grabber.  It wasn’t us.  Hic.  There was never anyone on the carpet when it was moving, at least not that we could see.   The balcony for our cabin was huge and the glass rail was spotless (there was a large window on the left side of our balcony that overlooked the side of the ship, leaving some of our neighbours with a bit less privacy than they might have expected, but that window was generally wet and therefore not much fun to look through - your secrets are safe with me, naked yoga guy.)  Only issue with the suite location was that, when the Magic Carpet was above us on deck 14, taking a photo of the sunrise or sunset was obstructed from above a bit.   If you’re into taking photos from your verandah, you might want to avoid those suites.  One thing was notable - in the Sky Suite, there was no sign of the much-maligned Kelly Hoppen enormous rocking chair.   We heard that they had all been removed - where to, I can only guess - RIP - they kinda sounded like fun, especially in rough seas. There was certainly no lack of floor space in our cabin.   Perhaps they are now in Neptune’s basement, serving as dolphin seating.

 

One strange thing is that, two days before we sailed, there seemed to be cabins available to book in nearly every category.   I took this to mean that perhaps we could buy an upgrade while on board, but I went to guest relations when we boarded and was told the ship was full.   Not sure what happened to all of those cabins in two days, but perhaps they are offered to local travel agents or charitable organizations last minute.   The ship never seemed crowded, and I was surprised to hear it was full.

 

Although I was nervous about staying in an inside cabin, since we haven’t done that in over 25 years, I must say, the inside cabin was surprisingly nice and I would not hesitate to book one again, except that I like to know when it’s getting light out, and my husband likes having a balcony, to get away from me when I’m getting ready.  Okay, I admit it, I dash around the cabin like a squirrel on crack when I’m getting dressed, so we’ll probably get verandah cabins in the future to save the dear boy’s sanity.

 

Embarkation and Debarkation

 

If you do the on-line check-in with the app, including uploading an appropriate photo, you can be on and off the ship in about 5 minutes, no exaggeration.   I’m not sure what happened to Customs and Immigration (and we are Canadian).  I think they may use the ship’s facial recognition during debarkation, but in any case, we were out of there without even speaking to a customs agent.   From sitting in the lounge to sitting at the gate at the airport took us less than an hour.  There were shuttles right outside the terminal which would take you to Fort Lauderdale airport for $11 per person.   Much less hassle than the taxi line.

 

The Destination Gateway is a vast improvement over the areas on other ships used for entering and exiting the ship.   There is a bathroom right there, a fixed counter selling water, and some benches for resting while your spouse empties 10,000 items out of his pockets.  We were disappointed that the new tenders were not used, even though we tendered in Grand Cayman, but I suspect Grand Cayman has some type of agreement that their tenders are the only ones used there.   I expect they will be a big hit in Europe.

 

Little things I think could be improved

 

I would love to see more hooks in the cabins - maybe they could make some decorative ones from parts of gigantic rocking chairs.   You cannot have too many hooks.   We bought some magnetic ones at the drug store before boarding, but they weren’t strong enough to hold more than a couple of pieces of paper.   Curse you, CVS.  I get that hooks aren’t pretty, and this ship was definitely designed to be beautiful, but maybe there’s some type of wall art they could design which is cleverly made of a variety to hooks to hang stuff on.  Wait.  That sounds like a million dollar idea.   I should keep that one to myself.

 

And now that the rocking chair in the Sky Suites is no more, may I suggest a coffee table?   It seemed very strange to have no table in the suite.   When delivering snacks, the butler would fetch the little table from the balcony to hold the food.   We never ate a meal in the cabin, and I think it would have been tough.   Of course, we wouldn’t have dreamed of eating a meal in the cabin when Vichal was waiting to delight us in Luminae.  For those who like to dine on the balcony, how about a larger table that can be raised and lowered as needed?   Wait!   That sounds like another million dollar idea.   Scratch that.   In the regular cabin, the “Tom Tom” seemed like a neat idea but the thing was heavy as heck and there wasn’t really enough room in the cabin to do much with it.  Perhaps the suites could have a larger Tom Tom with the top being able to be flipped over to be an ottoman.   Yet another million dollar idea!   I’m on a roll today.   The suite balcony had more than enough room for chairs with ottomans or lounge chairs plus regular chairs.   The chairs we had were fine but weren’t particularly comfortable and we did miss the footrests from other ships.

 

More shade.   Nuff said.   Both the main pool and the Retreat Pool had very little shade.    I’m surprise some fist-fights didn’t break out for the few chairs where you could avoid skin cancer.   The Retreat pool area has such nice, comfortable furniture, but we couldn’t enjoy most of it because 99% of it was in full sun.   The Retreat pool bar could also use an expanded food menu for port days when Luminae is closed for lunch and you refuse to drag your lazy self off the ship in order to wander through jewellery and souvenir stores, wondering why you left the Retreat in the first place.

 

I would love to sail this class of ship in a cooler climate, perhaps in one of the much-complained-about infinite verandahs.  We briefly saw one and I thought it looked pretty neat, but if you can’t keep it cool when someone is on the “verandah”, that’s not going to work for me in the Caribbean, where I’m constantly in danger of bursting into flames.   We set our cabin temperature to the lowest setting (66 degrees) and I never once felt the need to wear long sleeves.

 

Some of the seating in the public areas is a little uncomfortable; certainly not the majority, but some seem to have been designed for form rather than function.   Like airplane seats, it is my opinion that anyone who designs seating should legally be required to spend 100 hours in their creation and see what they think.  

 

SUMMARY

 

All in all, I would sail the Edge class again anytime, assuming I could afford the currently inflated pricing and the itinerary was desirable.   We sailed these two cruises just to experience the ship. 

 

I hope I put at ease some of you who have read negative reviews of the Edge and have maybe regretted booking this beautiful ship.   Don’t worry - unless you’re certifiably insane , or don’t want to experience something new and different, you will love it.

 

 

[fstuff1]

great review!
pics of your inside and S3?

 

[MustBCruzn]

33 minutes ago, BrendaJ said:

The regular trivia they had multiple times a day in the Grand Plaza and Eden was the same old stuff as the other ships using paper and pencil - very well attended and we actually won it one day, due to a husband whose brain is full of useless nonsense, and a wife who had a lucky day with wild guesses.

 

Thank you for the wonderful review! I absolutely love your sense of humor...especially about your husband's command of useless information--my husband exactly! I've always told him that he's a solid contender for world trivia champion. Reading your review made me laugh out loud several times. 🙂

Edited March 16, 2019 by MustBCruzn

[opa&oma]

A great read!  I'm impressed with your writing skills!  A lesson in how to make a review fun to read. (said the teacher). 

[mafig]

Thank you for your review.

Makes me want to experience Edge for myself!😃

[hcat]

Thanks for your review..very nicely done!

It sent me back to my own pics, the art book and post cards they gave out on board, and Vt cruiser's " Edge Art thread"....Most of the art was amazing..some quite odd...but definitely well curated...We were in AQ and BLU but will experience the 4 MDRs in November....looking foward to it!  If anyone clicks on the art thread, pics may take awhile to load...

 

 

 

 

 

[BrendaJ]

34 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

great review!
pics of your inside and S3?

 

No photos of the inside - not sure why not.  Here are some of the S3.

[BrendaJ]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

Thanks for your review..very nicely done!

It sent me back to my own pics, the art book and post cards they gave out on board, and Vt cruiser's " Edge Art thread"....Most of the art was amazing..some quite odd...but definitely well curated...We were in AQ and BLU but will experience the 4 MDRs in November....looking foward to it!  If anyone clicks on the art thread, pics may take awhile to load...

 

 

 

 

 

Darn!   We saw those things in the suite but didn’t think we were allowed to keep them.   Not that my suitcase wasn’t overweight at the airport as it was (nothing more annoying than having to move stuff from one suitcase to another right in front of the chec-in counter to avoid $100 charge). 

[George C]

Thanks for review, would love to try a sly suite on this ship once price goes down. 

[Cruise it or lose it]

Wonderful review, informative and funny. Thanks! 

[C-Dragons]

BRAVO!!

What a wonderful review... While reading I kept saying to myself, “yes, so true!”. Your humor is infectious, I couldn’t stop laughing. We will be back on the Edge next month and I am really looking forward to the 15 days we will be on board this time.Thanks so much! 🌺🌼🌺

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for a wonderful fun read.

[Jesseslola]

Hello fellow Canadian,

 

Luv luv your review..you r so funny. We are also in an inside this Aug 17 to Amalfi, but I am hoping to beat a better deal before our final payment or upon check in.

 

The IV yesterday went down by 1000k. Used to be 5.7k , yesterday it was 4.7 USD. Still 2k can over what we paid a year ago.

 

Thanks for all the info. We r looking forward to the trip. Hopefully they have/ will introduce more daily activities for our 11 day cruise.

[MizDemeanor]

Wonderful! Thank you so much!!!

[C-Dragons]

Just one question... you mentioned a storage drawer under the bed/couch in the inside cabin. This is the first I have heard of this. I'm guessing the S3 suite did not have the same storage drawer? We were not aware of a drawer under the couch in our S1 on the aft. But  I'll be happily surprised if there is one.

(I just remembered that our S1 was double occupancy only, so no extra bed and no storage drawer.)

Edited March 16, 2019 by C-Dragons

[Bo1953]

Thank you for your review...

 

Fun read and helpful...

 

bon voyage

[clskinsfan]

Thanks for the laughs! Great review!

[BrendaJ]

1 hour ago, C-Dragons said:

Just one question... you mentioned a storage drawer under the bed/couch in the inside cabin. This is the first I have heard of this. I'm guessing the S3 suite did not have the same storage drawer? We were not aware of a drawer under the couch in our S1 on the aft. But  I'll be happily surprised if there is one.

(I just remembered that our S1 was double occupancy only, so no extra bed and no storage drawer.)

I didn’t actually check the couch in the S3, but as it only sleeps 2 people I expect it was a completely different type of couch.   The drawer in the inside cabin was apparently set up to be used as a 4th berth (one person on the couch/bed and one person beside them on the floor (the drawer evidently holding another mattress.  I can only imagine how cramped the space would have been with the drawer open all the time.   I’m not close enough with anyone to want to jam 4 people into a cabin (unless the other 3 people include George Clooney, Tina Fey and James Cordon.   No worries, George, you won’t have to sleep in the drawer.

[FloatSomeMore]

Love it!!!

[vtcruising]

Great review, but why was my husband with you? When you talked about the 10,000 items being emptied at Security, I figured it was him (the alarm goes off every time - you would think he would learn).

 

I like your style - a drink in hand and a positive attitude (maybe related? 😉). Thanks for the review, but I was already having Edge withdrawal so this didn't help! 🙂

 

If you have time to review your cabins, please do. Thanks!

 

 

[vtcruising]

A couple of questions:

1) Was the Edenist show done every night in Eden or was other entertainment offered there on some nights?

2) If you went to Eden after 6 PM, did you smell incense?

3) Were they doing any Dinners on the Edge (on 14 or 16) - they stopped doing them on my Jan 20 cruise, but I thought someone reported one happening on a later cruise (maybe it was as the Magic Carpet Restaurant on 5)?

4) Was there any entertainment offered in the Retreat Lounge?

 

Thanks!!

 

 

[first mate]

I loved reading your review lol!  Thanks for taking the time to write it.  We did a B2B on the Edge (in Aqua & S3) so I could relate to a lot of what you said.  

[Stonewolf Cruiser]

Very interesting and helpful review.  Thanks for taking the time to post.

[BrendaJ]

34 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

A couple of questions:

1) Was the Edenist show done every night in Eden or was other entertainment offered there on some nights?

2) If you went to Eden after 6 PM, did you smell incense?

3) Were they doing any Dinners on the Edge (on 14 or 16) - they stopped doing them on my Jan 20 cruise, but I thought someone reported one happening on a later cruise (maybe it was as the Magic Carpet Restaurant on 5)?

4) Was there any entertainment offered in the Retreat Lounge?

 

Thanks!!

 

 

1.  I’m not sure.  We checked it out for a few minutes one night but it was pretty crowded so we left. 

2.  I noticed a strange scent one day - it was fairly faint.  I don’t remember a scent at night.  

3.  Not sure about Dinner on the Edge but I do recall hearing someone talk about getting a booking. 

4.  There was a guitar player there before dinner a couple of nights but that’s all I remember seeing.  

 

Sorry VT - I loved your detailed reviews and it probably sounds like I wasn’t even on the ship.  We spent most of our time lazing about, looking forward to our next meal.  This will sound strange but we stayed away from Eden at night in part because I wanted to leave something new to experience the next time we sail on an Edge-class ship.  

[vtcruising]

7 minutes ago, BrendaJ said:

1.  I’m not sure.  We checked it out for a few minutes one night but it was pretty crowded so we left. 

2.  I noticed a strange scent one day - it was fairly faint.  I don’t remember a scent at night.  

3.  Not sure about Dinner on the Edge but I do recall hearing someone talk about getting a booking. 

4.  There was a guitar player there before dinner a couple of nights but that’s all I remember seeing.  

 

Sorry VT - I loved your detailed reviews and it probably sounds like I wasn’t even on the ship.  We spent most of our time lazing about, looking forward to our next meal.  This will sound strange but we stayed away from Eden at night in part because I wanted to leave something new to experience the next time we sail on an Edge-class ship.  

Thanks!  I totally understand lazing around waiting for the next meal. That sounds like a great cruise to me! 🙂