The future of Edge-class?

[Silkroad]

2 minutes ago, richsea said:

As a long time Celebrity cruiser, & a retiree on a fixed income, I can safely say that I will not be sailing an Edge class ship, especially at premium prices. We sail in Balcony rooms & Edge does not offer any. If that makes me a naysayer, so be it.

I expect the prices to settle down after the first couple seasons. There are a few balcony cabins toward the bow of the Edge, though they are not like balconies on M or S class ships. Edge also has lovely Sunset Veranda cabins with large balconies. 

[twodjs]

5 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Yes it is true.  The control of the window position comes from the ship’s Bridge.

I completely disagree! The key word from the OP is "often". Once for refueling (for everyone's safety) and once for window washing is NOT OFTEN! And you are notified ahead of time, just like they do on all ships when they are washing the balcony or windows. We were on the starboard side. Never closed for refueling, since they refueled on the port side. Your second sentence is correct.

 

[Reel Love]

11 hours ago, blueboro said:

I think the thing most likely to keep us from sailing on the Edge class is the infinite verandah. We travel with 4-6 couples and love the fact we can open up our balcony partitions and have one large area to get together and relax.

We also sail with three or four other couples and always open the balcony partitions as you do.  We sailed four couples on Edge in IV cabins and couldn't believe the difference it made not being able to meet out on the balcony!   Felt way more "isolating" than I would have thought.  Did not keep any of us from having a great time, but certainly did change the dynamic of the usual practice of meeting on the balcony several times a day to catch up with each other.

[twodjs]

So that is why Celebrity offers different design choices on M, S and E class ships. Edge IV works great for us, but if you desire multiple cabins with common balcony access, stick with the M and S class ships. Then we're all happy!

[Nanny2Trey]

13 hours ago, Fairsky84 said:

 

Agree. I can understand the 70yr old passenger whose cruise 40+ times not being a fan of Edge. That’s acceptable IF the ship is effectively drawing 35yr olds to cruising for the first time. Is there any evidence it’s working? 

 

While Edge-class might ultimately be ok for Celebrity once they work out the bugs and make some adjustments, can anyone think of another new class debut from RCI/Celebrity that has been met by so much criticism? Sure, every ship has its oddities but Quantum-class, Oasis-class, S-class... all were nearly universally praised for their design, innovation, cabin comfort, and layout. I don’t recall any M-class fans criticizing S-class when it launched. It was widely embraced as a step forward. Edge is the first new class I’ve seen that has received this degree of pushback, even if it’s not “most” passengers complaining the % is enough for Celebrity to take notice. 

Careful on the 70 year old. Lol. I’m close to that and we have cruised a lot. We thought the Edge was delightful and beautiful! There are some things that could be improved. For sure the closet is a tiny thing and we travel light. I couldn’t believe it. But the bathroom was great! We were in a regular Infinite balcony cabin. We didn’t opt for Concierge or Aqua. I’m not sure why. As far as the Infinite balcony, we have had much better balconies. It’s hard to beat the very aft balconies on the M class ships. We would definitely cruise Edge again and wished we had done a BTB. We booked so far out that we had a much better price than it was going for even a year out. So this old person would and her old husband would definitely book again. Now, I didn’t get too caught up in the Magic Carpet. Seemed kind of silly. But it was usually full and people seemed to enjoy it. 

Linda

[TommyD3]

6 hours ago, avcruiser7 said:

Yes, the room needs some kind of curtain to block light from the IV, even at night when in port.

We sailed in a Concierge class cabin. It had an electric blind that completely blocked the light (except at the two sides). Actually preferred to the curtains on the M and S class ships.

Do the normal IV cabins NOT have the electric blind?

[Shadow9612]

14 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Call me a dinosaur, but the library was one of my favorite places on the ship.

I feel the same...was sad to hear there's no library on the edge 

[cgolf1]

It is interesting to me reading the different dislikes people have. Limited bar space and a library being 2 of them. The libraries we saw on RCCL were little used and have zero draw for us. To us the point of a bar is to walk up ask for our drink, we leave after we get it and drink it elsewhere. 

 

These two seem to be recurring concerns, do Celebrity cruisers like to spend more time socializing at the bars than other lines? The Edge had comparable bar space to other ships we have sailed if not more. What is the library used for other than to grab a book? On a longer Disney trip someone just hung a shopping bag outside their door and we had a book exchange on our floor, no library on Disney. 

 

[Cruising Forever!]

13 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

 

My wife's words for it, was a combo of beef jerky and urine, which is why she couldn't stick around, made her nauseous. It didn't bother me quite as much but I didn't like the scent. My wife did talk to Celebrity about our survey on the phone and she made sure to make mention of this.

Ew- that's really GROSS!  Hope they fix that before we sail her next year!

[fleckle]

2 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

. What is the library used for other than to grab a book? On a longer Disney trip someone just hung a shopping bag outside their door and we had a book exchange on our floor, no library on Disney. 

 

 

We think that HAL has the best libraries we have seen on cruise ships, spacious, inviting rooms with comfortable, relaxing recliners in front of large picture windows looking out to sea. 

 

They have a wide variety of books, newspapers and current magazines appealing to differing interests, a beverage-snack bar located right there,  internet terminals to use, tables with jigsaw, crossword and sudoku puzzles, and an actual librarian to answer questions and help you find things. 

 

She kind of doubled as a concierge in that she answered concierge-type questions, as well as keeping everything organized, putting books and magazines back where they belonged so that it didn't all end up in the kind of hodge-podge mess we see in other cruise line libraries.

 

Those libraries were attractive, appealing places to spend time, unlike the windowless, interior Celebrity ship libraries where we walk in, quickly browse the shelves to see if we can find anything we want, and immediately leave. 

 

I think those big windows looking out to sea are what make it especially inviting, as well as the extensive and varied collections of available materials. 

By the way, we saw younger people hanging out in there too - not only old people.

(Just thought I would mention that because HAL is known as a cruise line that attracts older passengers.)

 

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by fleckle

[Cruising Forever!]

We are booked aboard Edge next year in an infinite veranda (IV).  I've posted this elsewhere but once again, I think people need to do their homework before booking any cruise ship... especially a brand new class of ship.  Celebrity certainly didn't post any misleading videos or previews when they introduced the concept a few years ago.  I haven't sailed her yet, but she looks exactly like the product I'm envisioning.

 

I know two couples who sailed Edge earlier this year.  Both couples are Celebrity fanatics (like us).

One couple loved this ship immensely calling it the "Best cruise ever!" (Suite guests)

The other couple said, "Gorgeous ship, excellent food, great service... and we'll never set foot on Edge again" (IV guests)

 

Apparently the couple that didn't like Edge had two major gripes... a very small dance floor and no forward views of the sea unless you were in a suite.  (the no forward views does bother me, I have to admit... we can't afford a suite next year)  They also felt there wasn't enough to do aboard.  (we prefer "not a lot to do" cruises... give us a poolside chair, excellent food and drinks, and shows and we're HAPPY!)

 

My gut as a cruise reviewer tells me we will love this ship and it's unique spin.  My wife and I are pushing 60, so we can't be described as "younger gen", but we love tech innovations and we love cell phone access to info (we always forget those paper planners but our phones are always with us as these are our reading libraries as well).  As long as Celebrity doesn't tamper with their food excellence taking it down to RC's level (RC restaurants are ok, but the buffets on their ships are becoming awful), I'm a happy camper.  I was sad to read that the Edge Martini bar has done away with the ice surface on the Solstice class ships.  (Can't imagine why they'd do this as this is the most crowded bar on Celebrity S class ships!  Super popular)  Maybe this can be added to later versions of the Edge series?

 

For those considering Edge, I highly recommend viewing the plethora of YouTube video reviews - both pro and amateur- to give you a better idea of this ship.  I've noriced that Celebrity cruisers tend to be comfort zone people - they tend to resist change a bit more than others.  (No, not all, but certainly a large group)  When Solstice class came out ten years ago, there were PLENTY of hate reviews here on CC about how these ships were terrible compared to the Millenium (M) class ships and that they would "ruin" Celebrity forever.  We never sailed M class but we did Horizon way way back... so I can't comment on M class.  But I've seen plenty of videos on the M class  to know that while they look very nice, I'm a firm believer in the Solstice product.  I'm sure as I'm writing this now, there's a growing "E" class club out there.  I think (hope) we will be amongst them.

 

[Fabius]

We booked our B2B cruise on EDGE one and a half year before sailing. It was clear that it will be a huge difference to the S-class ships which we really love. I read all the reviews from the beginning very carefully but interested but there were no reason for us to cancel that trip. My opinion is that taste is very individual and a lot of complaints I respect and understand (furnishing on the balcony a.s.o.) but I know that it will not really impact me in my cruising routine. We just wanted to figure out on our own and not pre-judge.

 

We sailed on the 3rd of March for two weeks and we really liked it. I still don't like to compare the ship classes because there are pro and cons. We liked the ship itself, open spaces, food, dining concept, EDEN during daytime a.s.o. The crew was amazing!!!

 

For me personally I don't like to lay in the sun allday and I found the limited shade on the open decks a problem for me, especially during the carribbean season. On S-class ships we switch usually to our balcony and that was the really thing which I missed in our IV. I expected that it will not be the same with the booking so no complaints.......I also like to wake up early and watching the docking from my balcony. Watching it out of a window is not really compareable.

 

At the end we had a beautiful trip which was of course much more expensive than any other other trip we did before. Was it worth it? Yes!

Would we go again? Yes! Maybe in other (colder) regions and when the prices will fall.

 

The only complain I have that the marketing department of Celebrity Cruises forces expectations which are not reality. The Magic Carpet is a nice venue to have a drink, but not more. Most of the time it's to windy for dinner. Wind on a cruise ship, what a surprise! Everyone wants to try out that fancy tenderboats but they will not use them the most time. The most of the tenderports on the itinery are operated by local boats. They say they can's use them when it's to windy. When was it not windy in Grand Cayman, Santorini or Mykonos?

 

For the reason that EDGE is the first type of her class they have to learn and hear what the customers are saying. I think a few things can be change easily. I just can recommend to balance out before if the ship might fit your cruising routine or just be open and give her a try.

 

 

[cgolf1]

5 hours ago, fleckle said:

 

We think that HAL has the best libraries we have seen on cruise ships, spacious, inviting rooms with comfortable, relaxing recliners in front of large picture windows looking out to sea. 

 

They have a wide variety of books, newspapers and current magazines appealing to differing interests, a beverage-snack bar located right there,  internet terminals to use, tables with jigsaw, crossword and sudoku puzzles, and an actual librarian to answer questions and help you find things. 

 

She kind of doubled as a concierge in that she answered concierge-type questions, as well as keeping everything organized, putting books and magazines back where they belonged so that it didn't all end up in the kind of hodge-podge mess we see in other cruise line libraries.

 

Those libraries were attractive, appealing places to spend time, unlike the windowless, interior Celebrity ship libraries where we walk in, quickly browse the shelves to see if we can find anything we want, and immediately leave. 

 

I think those big windows looking out to sea are what make it especially inviting, as well as the extensive and varied collections of available materials. 

By the way, we saw younger people hanging out in there too - not only old people.

(Just thought I would mention that because HAL is known as a cruise line that attracts older passengers.)

 

 

 

I have also heard Cunard has an amazing Library as well from someone we talked to onboard. I do love to read a lot and listen to audio books, but my average is around 1 book for a seven day cruise and I usually pack a library book from home. We tend to sit out on the promenade deck to read and hear and see the ocean. There is something to the sound of a ship cutting through the water that is very soothing. 

 

My wife would have enjoyed a daily sheet with sudoku puzzles that I remember her picking up daily at the library on RCCL. This of course was in inside room so definitely not as inviting as you described. 

Edited April 3, 2019 by cgolf1

[hcat]

9 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

We sailed in a Concierge class cabin. It had an electric blind that completely blocked the light (except at the two sides). Actually preferred to the curtains on the M and S class ships.

Do the normal IV cabins NOT have the electric blind?

I think all IVs have the elec shade..but not the suites...and maybe the  other  non IV categories.

[hcat]

10 hours ago, twodjs said:

So that is why Celebrity offers different design choices on M, S and E class ships. Edge IV works great for us, but if you desire multiple cabins with common balcony access, stick with the M and S class ships. Then we're all happy!

I was just curious how you used the 3rd hanging bar on EDGE..  We could only use 2  main ones.  It was annoying that the third one did not fold back as it does on other ships..

 

We will manage  okay for 9 nites in the closet dept. because our cruise is port intensive and we are going more casual...Our first time on EDGE was a big birthday celebration...dressed up  more than we normally do, and have some beautiful prof photos ...

 

 

[TeeRick]

Those CC members who are signing up for Edge and Apex now are well aware of all of the feedback from previous cruisers.  The original passengers signed up sight-unseen or without actual passenger feedback. Some loved it.  Some were disappointed and some were negative. Some have tried and prefer S- and M-class going forward.  It is nice to have all of this information and it is great to make fully informed choices.   Everybody should now understand that Edge is a bit different from previous Celebrity ships.  They should understand about IV's and the neutral color schemes.  That being said I would think that going forward most CC members here signing up for Edge will tend to be more positive about the ship since they knew exactly what they were getting and decided Edge was appropriate for them.   Just like the other commentators here who have evaluated the data and feedback and have stated that Edge is not for them.  This is not really about Celebrity missing the mark with Edge or Apex.  It is about offering a new ship design and new cruising choice to those who want it and want to pay more for it.  But prices will level to the market demand eventually. 

[hcat]

Oops..should have posed this question on the Edge closet/ storage  thread

Will re post it there..,too late to remove it here!

[deliver42]

TeeRick, I agree with what you say with one caveat. If you are looking at a 7 night Caribbean  cruise after the Apex comes out, there are no options on X for another class of ships. I know there are other lines, but that's not my point. I think, or rather wish, they'd keep either an M Class or S Class ship for a choice.

[Fabius]

8 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Those CC members who are signing up for Edge and Apex now are well aware of all of the feedback from previous cruisers.  The original passengers signed up sight-unseen or without actual passenger feedback. Some loved it.  Some were disappointed and some were negative. Some have tried and prefer S- and M-class going forward.  It is nice to have all of this information and it is great to make fully informed choices.   Everybody should now understand that Edge is a bit different from previous Celebrity ships.  They should understand about IV's and the neutral color schemes.  That being said I would think that going forward most CC members here signing up for Edge will tend to be more positive about the ship since they knew exactly what they were getting and decided Edge was appropriate for them.   Just like the other commentators here who have evaluated the data and feedback and have stated that Edge is not for them.  This is not really about Celebrity missing the mark with Edge or Apex.  It is about offering a new ship design and new cruising choice to those who want it and want to pay more for it.  But prices will level to the market demand eventually. 

Totally agree!

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

TeeRick, I agree with what you say with one caveat. If you are looking at a 7 night Caribbean  cruise after the Apex comes out, there are no options on X for another class of ships. I know there are other lines, but that's not my point. I think, or rather wish, they'd keep either an M Class or S Class ship for a choice.

I am of the opinion that Celebrity will move ships around when new schedules are announced as they always do so I'm not overly concerned about this.  But I do understand your point.

[hcat]

2 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

TeeRick, I agree with what you say with one caveat. If you are looking at a 7 night Caribbean  cruise after the Apex comes out, there are no options on X for another class of ships. I know there are other lines, but that's not my point. I think, or rather wish, they'd keep either an M Class or S Class ship for a choice.

 

We looked at the other  ships and itins  for  E Carib in  late 2020,  and decided to go with APEX in a  Sunset Veranda...It was not a bad itin, ( have not been to St Kitts in awhile)  and 7 days was what we wanted.  We enjoyed EDGE so we have a sense if what APEX will be like ( hate the name!)

[mnocket]

I think it really comes down to the infinite verandas - everything else can be changed if necessary.

 

If the IVs become generally viewed as oceanview cabins with large windows that open, it will impact the desirability of Edge class ships on warm weather itineraries. It's too early to tell if this will happen or not.  

 

One sign to look for is whether or not other lines adopt the IV concept.  The cruise industry seems to "follow-the-leader".  If one ship/line introduces a feature that proves popular, the competition will often follow suit.  If the industry sees the IV concept as the way of the future, I would suspect we will see it in future ship designs (yes this will take time).  If not, I suspect we will see the Edge class ships moved to cold weather itineraries and X return to traditional balconies on follow-on ships.

 

So what do you think?  Will other lines introduce IVs in the future?

[richsea]

I would be shocked if any other line introduced IVs.

[Fairsky84]

8 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I think it really comes down to the infinite verandas - everything else can be changed if necessary.

 

One sign to look for is whether or not other lines adopt the IV concept.  The cruise industry seems to "follow-the-leader".  If one ship/line introduces a feature that proves popular, the competition will often follow suit.  If the industry sees the IV concept as the way of the future, I would suspect we will see it in future ship designs (yes this will take time). 

 

I think you’re absolutely correct. Right now I’m unaware of any other ship that will definitely have IV cabins. However, Richard Fain said Royal Caribbean’s new Icon-class will. That was before reactions from Edge cruisers were in, and it could change.

 

Also, some have speculated that MSC’s World-class ships will have some IV cabins (see image of the model below). However, based on these images if those are IV cabins they represent only a fraction of cabins with most still having traditional balconies. I wonder if MSC will position IVs as a step between Oceanview and Balcony at an intermediate price point. If so, that would indicate Celebrity made a blunder by filling their premium Edge-class ships with almost all IV cabins. 

 

[hcat]

That is ugly....might be the camera.  At least the life boats are tucked in and do not block cabin  windows

 

The  EDGE IVs should have been priced much lower...not real balconies,  but they are  probably a majority of the cabins...