Multi-part review of Edge Rome-Barcelona Cruise

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Folks,

 

I will be using this thread to post a detailed, multi-part review of my family's experience on the Edge in 2 staterooms (IV 8172, Interior 8174).  A little about us:

- Our one previous, recent cruise was a UK round-trip cruise on the Royal Princess one year ago

- We are a couple in their mid-40s from the US with two daughters, 12 and 15 (both geeky and big readers)

- We are a tech-savvy crew and tend to be over-planners.

 

So, this review will often compare the Royal Princess to the EDGE.  Also, note that we took this trip during an all-but-unprecedented heatwave in Europe, which had a material effect on the cruise and ports.  We will start with some specific topics that cover both the locales and general items (dining, technology/telecom, staterooms) and then cover each port.  We will try to focus on common questions we have seen on the boards.

 

Note - our review will not cover many Celebrity excursions (we used only one, which we loved), and we will not cover any specialty restaurants.  We were not in any of the bars, as we carried aboard our own wine.  We did attend a lot of the main shows and will discuss them.  This will come over the course of several days.

 

First, I will try to post the dailies. hopefully in the hour or so.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Here are the dailies, scanned as B&W for readability, not to be pretty...  Apologies they are rotated, but Chrome and Edge browsers can rotate them for you when you view them via one button.

 

day1.pdfday2.pdfday3.pdfday4.pdfday5.pdfday6.pdfday7.pdf

[Jesseslola]

OMG, the request I have been waiting for!! The dailies!

 

Although our itenerary is Rome to the Greek Isle 11 days, I would assume there will be similarities in the activities.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review, especially how you managed with the heat.

 

Our group is mostly the same age group as you are and are mostly ITs and professionals in the health industry. They will be happy to read your comments.

 

Thank you for sharing your experiences!!!! And the dailies!!!

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Next - technology and telecommunications:

 

- Cell phones: we purchased Orange France 8GB SIMs (200 SMS, 30mins voice) for our phones (2 iPhones, 2 Androids) from Amazon.  They cost about 20 USD each and they were simply perfection.  We inserted them in our (unlocked) phones on the airplane and the moment we touched down in Rome until the moment we took off from Barcelona, they were flawless.  On previous trips to the UK, we've gone into Vodafone stores once we were already downtown.  In this case, we were saved by these SIMs, as we needed to call the hotel from the airport to check the progress of the car we ordered to pick us up.  We loved these, and found the 8GB were more than what we needed for the 11 days.  We had coverage in every port, and often well into the evening after sail-away.  We believe this was our best tech choice this entire trip, and one of the best decisions of the entire trip.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NLCL9SP

 

- Celebrity App: we were deeply disappointed in most aspects of the app onboard.  Unlocking the room was dodgy at best and we gave up.  Controlling the room was similarly dodgy, and the onboard messaging was not reliable and for some unknown reason, neither the iOS nor Android apps had good notifications support.  The events listing each day was often incorrect and we gave up using it.  It was GREAT for checkin.

 

- We did not use the onboard wifi, as we considered it WAY too expensive for an itinerary that was so port-intensive.  When we needed to connect our laptop, we did so in port by tethering to our phones.  This was always the plan, since we do not like to access financial accounts over semi-public wifi.

 

- Wifi in port: We found municipal wifi far less common in Italian and riviera ports than we did in the UK last year, but we generally found good wifi in museums and cafes where we were often in during port days.

 

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Embarkation and Disembarkation

 

We did express checkin online before we left the US.  We had one bit of mess because we had our two girls in an inside stateroom right across from us, and we could not use the app to check them in.  We had no trouble checking in the girls online, but our teen was NOT listed as "Express Checkin".  We also had two different times for arrival.  HOWEVER, that can be changed on the website.  We knew we would be getting there early, so we set it online.  We also decided to try going to the express line even though one of our crew did not have it listed.

 

On the day, we decided to check ONLY our one large checked bag and roll aboard with our backpacks and 4 travelpro roll-aboards.  This was exactly the right call.

 

We had purchased 4 bottles of wine beforehand, since they noted 2 bottles per stateroom (even though only two of us are drinking age).  There was no question on embarkation, and this saved us hundreds onboard (well, maybe not, we'd have just skipped).  The only "issue" was that having brought aboard enough wine (more, really) for the cruise, we found our TA had sent us a bottle of Clicquot (totally unexpected).  We had more than we should have had at that point...  But our favorite Champagne is Clicquot, so it was another wonderful surprise on a great embarkation day.

 

We arrived at the port at noon.  Keep in mind that we have ZERO status on Celebrity and were in "normal" rooms.

 

Embarkation was nothing short of amazing.  We walked into the terminal, found the entry for express, and walked right up to the representatives.  They took our photos, checked our passes, and gave us special "express" cards.  Once we went through security, we walked right by the entry lines and right onto the ship.  There were no lines.  Before we knew what had happened, we were walking to the stairs with glasses of prosecco in hand.  We went straight to our stateroom to drop our bags and found them completely ready!  We dropped our bags, used the restroom and went to the buffet for lunch.

 

The experience blew Princess straight out of the water.  We were literally laughing at the experience.  It really said "welcome to your cruise"!  DEFINITELY do express checkin!  We got what felt like suite experience for n00b/normal passengers.

 

For disembarkation, there were no complex forms like there were on Princess.  We simply received our luggage tags and they had our info.  We decided to roll off with all but our big checked bag.  No waiting in the theater, etc like Princess.  They told us to go and we walked right off of the ship.  The bag was easy to find on the conveyor and they pointed us straight to our bus.  And boom, we were off to the airport.

 

The experience in both Rome and Barcelona with Celebrity was outstanding, and we were SO happy we kept our rollaboards with us, since we could drop them so quickly.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Staterooms:

 

The adults were in an IV stateroom, 8172 and the girls in the interior across the hall, 8174.  Both rooms felt spacious and nice, and I should note that 8172 is a bed-near-the-window stateroom.  We decided we preferred it that way in the end.

 

I should come out and declare our "religion" straight up - for THIS itinerary, for the uncommon heat (even for the riviera in June/July) and for US, the IV was an upgrade from a classic veranda.  We never closed the glass partition, and simply treated the IV as more of the room.  The higher "bar" across the verandah compared to a classic veranda on the Royal was a step up for us, as it meant that in the verandah chairs, the bar did not cut right across our view.  We actually found the chairs on the IV quite comfortable, but we have to admit that the two chairs and the table make for a very tight fit.

 

The bed was great, comfortable and supportive.  We did feel as if the center "break" in the bed was more obvious than the bed on the Royal.  The rounded foot corners made it easier to get around in the room.  We like a king bed, so the tradeoff of space was worth it for us.  The couch in the room was nice, and I sometimes read on it as a lounger.  Storage was great in the room, with lots of option and a decent (if not huge) in-room safe.  Note that if you have a medium-to-large laptop (i.e. 15" or larger screen), it is NOT likely to fit in the safe.  We loved the design of the slide-in desk, although we never saw the need to slide it in.

 

The bathrooms were a revelation after the Royal Princess.  Spacious, well-appointed, and with bath gel, shampoo and conditioner dispensers well-positioned in the shower.  The shower had a shaving step and the rounded shower door made for a much more comfortable and large shower than on the Royal Princess.  We loved it.

 

One thing to note...  Be careful when making your way to the bathroom at night.  I reached to turn on the bathroom light, missed and hit the touchscreen controls.  Which woke the touchscreen and fired off the "open windowshade" command.  I was not popular with my roommate...

 

The fridge was decent, and when we asked our steward to clear the minibar, he did so later the first day.  Note, however, that it appears common for the minibar to be emptied into the combination stool/table unit near the couch.  I was shocked it was so heavy when I tried to move it, only to find out it had the full contents of the minibar in it...

 

The TV was high quality, although the girls noted that 1) it could be easy to end up on a paid movie instead of a free one (note that our steward proactively walked us through this beforehand, so it is clearly a common issue, and they are on top of it) 2) the free movie selection was smaller than on Princess.  They still found plenty to watch when they wanted to.

 

The inside cabin felt very large for an inside, and the girls loved it.  Theirs was set up as two beds on arrival and it worked well.

 

One key item we wanted to note as an issue.  We found that low-frequency sounds like doors closing in the hall and especially the cabinets in the room next to ours were transmitted FAR too well into our room.  It seemed to be a design flaw; unclear if it affects all rooms, but it meant that if our next-door neighbors were getting ready for bed after we got into bed, we were not going to sleep any time soon.  It was the one significant disappointment with the room, and I fear it is an architectural limitation of the Edge.

 

Specific to our room, the main lifeboat used as a tender is directly (3 decks down) under 8172.  As a result, on the two tender mornings, we got quite the boat-davit wakeup call.  It was loud enough to wake us, took about 20mins to complete, and definitely meant we were awake for the day.  On the other hand, it meant that at the end of the tender days, our geeky crew got to watch the entire process with a great view, which was fun.

 

We did not find the Magic Carpet or its tracks to impinge much on our view, and it was not close enough to be loud.  However, you will hear the IVs on adjacent cabins open and close.  We are fascinated to see how reliable the IVs are over time, especially the folded-paper blinds that run in tracks.

 

To close out on the IV - for our cruise, our windows were locked for only 3 hours the entire cruise, for the weekly washing.  We often opened our IV even when we were lying in bed reading, just to get the breeze and hear the ocean.  But be careful - make sure to hold the button until the IV is FULLY closed, or else you'll appear to have a sealed room but will come back to an un-air-conditioned room.  Happened to us the second day.  But we would actively seek out IV rooms again.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Dining

 

We did not use any of the specialty restaurants, and ate in one of the four main dining rooms each night.  We used the buffet for lunches when onboard, afternoon snacks and late desserts.  Some of us used it every morning for breakfast, some split between it and room service for breakfast.

 

Room service breakfast for non-special guests was an upgrade from Princess, as hot items were included officially.  It always came on-time and was nice, although it was normally augmented by the buffet-goers delivering pain au chocolat on the way back from the buffet.

 

We found that the buffet was better than the well-regarded Horizon Cafe on the Royal Princess.  Where the Royal's buffet was huge, it had duplicates of every station and the food could be uninspired.  On Edge, at least for this crowd/itinerary, there was REAL choice.  Lunch included a wide range, including Indian (veg and meat) and Asian stations every day.  Lots of standards and quite a few dessert choices.  We liked it a lot. The beverage stations were self serve (including coffee and tea) and could get very crowded.

 

However, seating at the buffet on Edge was more limited than on Royal, and so seating was at a premium at many times on this port-heavy itinerary.  

 

The buffet almost ALWAYS seemed to have something available, which was really nice.  Even late-evening items like pizza and pastas.  And there was complimentary soft-serve AND firm ice cream, which was great.

 

Breakfast in the buffet was also full of a variety of options, but did a good job of catering to the clientelle (which skewed American, British, Aussie, Chinese and South Asian).  For example, you could put together a full cooked English including black pudding every morning, if that appealed to you.  The pastries changed a little each day, as did the flavors of the French toast, but the other breakfast items did not.  So the choices were wide, but not heavily varying over the course of the week.

 

The main dining room "concept" of 4 individual restaurants was a great concept, but in practice it did not really pan out.  The choices that were specific to each restaurant were about 3 starters and 3 mains, but did not seem to change day to day.  The Celebrity standards took up a good bit of the menu and were the same across all (however, note that unlike the Royal Princess, there was steak and salmon every day, if that's your thing).  And then the cross-restaurant nightly items changed each night.  We found the food to be high-quality and enjoyable, and rarely disliked things we ordered for quality reasons.  One oddity is that different starters could be WILDLY different in size.  One night, we had some form of cheese tart on one diner's plate and a short rib dish on another's.  It became a joke, because the beef could have been a starter, while the tart was tiny.  So it could be hard to judge the overall size of your meal.  But the staff was always very accommodating.  Also, there was a decent vegetarian menu that our younger daughter could review each night and see if something there caught her more than the main menu.  I overheard that there were also some other special-diet menus available, but it was not clear to me the full set.  Overall the main dining room food was quite good, but I recall none of it being outstanding (but we _had_ just spent 3 days in Rome, where we felt like every place we tried was at least "darn good" and often amazing)

 

We had made most of our bookings before we got onboard online, a process that was not the most enjoyable, especially if you are adding guests from a different reservation number.  It could be tough to schedule available slots around the late sail-aways and show times.  On the last night, we had a late excursion and tried to book a dinner the day before.  Nothing available.  So we showed up at about 8:30 and asked if we could get in.  We had a table in about 10mins.  However, there was a party of 5 in front of us, and they were told to go to another restaurant. 

 

The dining staff was very helpful and friendly.  Attire varied widely, but on the two evening chic nights, we recall seeing _one_ person in a tuxedo, and that was full Scottish attire.  The ladies seemed to going out for it more.  But of course, this was a riviera cruise during a heatwave...  I don't recall anyone in truly shockingly-bad attire in the dining rooms, although I think I do recall shorts (don't get me started on the number of tourists showing up to Roman churches, the Great Synagogue, and other religious venues in tank tops and shorts...).  Note - even in the heat, those who get cold from A/C should pack a suitjacket or drape for the dining rooms; the temps in there could vary a lot.

 

The sweets at Cafe Il Baccio were nice, and always available, so a good choice for delaying desserts.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Entertainment

 

We attended most of the major production shows (3) in the main theater, and also one Eden show and two instances of an acrobatic show at the Club.  For us, the entertainment was better than Princess.  However, this may be specific to our family - the Edge currently has a LOT of acrobats and aerialists onboard.  All three of the main shows we attended included a mix of singers, acrobats and aerialists, and it really took the shows beyond the usual.  The main theater included a very active, dynamic stage system, with rising and spinning elements.  The lighting was good and the entire backdrop consisted of movable projection screens which could open to reveal the live band or more singers.  These shows often included trampoline, silks, strap and handstand post acrobatic elements.  We enjoyed these a lot.  We found seats easy to get 15mins before the show, especially in the balcony on level 5, which actually seemed to have the best view.  The sound was never painfully or objectionably loud for us, which was nice.  All shows were almost exactly 45mins, making it easy to plan.

 

We also went to the Mirage acrobatic show in the club twice.  This show was presented by a dedicated troupe and was repeated a total of three nights.  The show involved some very nice mid-scale acrobatics and aerialism.  Note, while we had no issue for our girls, I can imagine that more conservative families might find the show a little too "suggestive" for their kids.  Note that the acrobatic group was a part of Les Farfadais, but if you look up their acts online, I will note that the show on Celebrity was a little less suggestive than many of the ones they do in European venues.  As I said, we did not find the act inappropriate for our tween and teen, but we are perhaps less concerned than some.  Just a note.

 

We also attended Eden's "Revelation" show.  We ended up really enjoying it; the show had more to offer than some of the previews seem to imply.  Yes, there is a certain bit of modern/new-age setup that you need to be willing to enjoy or at least let pass by, but the show itself had some cool dance, juggling and acro/aerialism.  oh, and if you happen to be a Pink Floyd fan, you love at least one part, a rendition of The Great Gig in the Sky, live rendition of Clare Tory vocal included.  We liked the show a lot, but do not come expecting a classic cruise ship revue show.  It definitely falls more into the Experience category.

 

We did not listen to any of the small combos other than in passing, and they seemed fine.

 

One thing we feel Edge does poorly compared to Royal Princess is outside movies.  Putting some odd light panel on the pool deck where Royal has their video screen is a mistake, we think.  The seating for the smaller screen movies on the garden deck was poorly set up, inflexible and lacking in capacity.  On Princess, the nightly movie by the pool was something our girls did often.  They never bothered with the Edge's movies on the garden deck after seeing part of one.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Wow - totally missed one important item in the stateroom description; in a move that I can only call stunningly bad for a ship that is so modern, if you have an IV stateroom with the bed by the window (maybe others, too) and the bed is made up as a King, there is no power plug on the side of the bed near the window!  For those of us who keep our cellphones by us on the bedside table every night, it was VERY annoying for the person sleeping on the window side of the bed.  Maybe it was there, but we never found it, and we kinda tried moving things around to look.  Given they are trying to pull a younger, tech-savvy crowd on Edge (something I am now certain of, having cruised her), this was, to be blunt, a boneheaded omission.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Oh, and following on to charging, we found that the USB ports in the white boxes on the desk provided VERY low current and charged the battery tanks we tried to charge there very slowly.  I strongly recommend bringing your own 120/240V charger blocks, ESPECIALLY if your devices are any form of QuickCharge (Apple or Android).

 

[ginak1112]

Excellent review! We were on the same sailing. I wondered why my flat iron kept blinking, I guess it was the low current you mention! Funny, I did the same thing during the night trying to turn the bathroom light on lol. I then realized that there was a night light that remained on in the bathroom and was adequate enough lol. Wish we were still on the ship! 😢

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Security

 

We had seen all of the horror stories about summer in Rome, Naples and other ports here for pickpockets.  We ended up doing the following, and in 3 days in Rome at major sites and the other ports, we never felt that anyone was even close to losing anything.  Of course, we were also stunned at how others carried their stuff, so maybe we were just not enticing to thieves.  Which was, in the end, the whole point.

 

- We carried the adults' US driver's licenses and copies of all four of our passports with us in Rome and the ports in a money belt.  Anything more than minor spending money went in the money belt, and we only carried more than spending money when we HAD to.  This was the case in ports where our drivers or guides required cash payment.  We NEVER carried our actual passports outside of the hotel or ship.  They stayed in the safe the entire trip.  Take this for what you will; we do not mean to restart that argument.

 

- Our "daybags" were a pair of wonderful Travelon bags with various safety features https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0793FBC7G.  We loved these; they have a pair of water bottle pockets, which was pivotal in the deadly 94-99F heat we experienced on this trip.  They were not heavy, and the clippable zippers were secure without being a pain.  It is not clear we ever needed them, but we loved them.

 

- For our cellphones, husband carried his in the velcroed breast pocket of his columbia shirts.  Wife kept hers tucked under her shirt in her bra strap.  Girls kept theirs, when needed, in the Travelon bags.

 

- We used tap-to-pay (AKA contactless, GooglePay, SamsungPay, ApplePay) whenever possible.  It was far from ubiquitous, especially in France, but we found it was often supported, especially in Rome.  The trick seemed to be to ask to use "tap" or "contactless".  This was nice, as it generally avoided the chip-and-sign issue.  However, we found less resistance/confusion by retailers on chip-and-sign in France/Italy than we did in the UK.

 

In the end, our only run-in with pickpocketing or theft was finding a poor, distraught American woman outside the Jewish quarter in Rome who said she had just realized her phone was stolen.  After talking with her (initially with our hands on our own bags, just in case she was somehow a distraction) and helping her find the police, we used our own phones to find and take her to a Vodafone store, where she bought a new phone.  It was a good reminder of why we needed to be vigilant; it is SO easy to make a mistake when one is travelling.

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Itinerary

 

I realized that I never noted that actual itinerary of this voyage; since the ports are next, I'll list them (including when we left the port for another city)

 

- Day 1 Embarkation in Rome

- Day 2 Naples (we also went to Herculaneum)

- Day 3 At Sea (we had a ship's tour)

- Day 4 Livorno (we went to Florence and Pisa)

- Day 5 Monte Carlo (we went to Nice)

- Day 6 Cannes (we went to Antibes; note this is a short day, all aboard was 3pm)

- Day 7 Las Palmas, Majorca (arrival not until noon, meaning Day 6 PM and Day 7 AM formed a sort of "virtual sea day")

- Day 8 Disembarkation at Barcelona

 

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

As noted in the Dailies, the "evening chic" nights were the nights with no port or early departure: Day 3 at sea, and Day 6 in Cannes.

 

 

[Jesseslola]

Amazing, so detailed, thank you, especially the sims suggestions.

[tompeter]

Thanks for the report!

[kat228]

1 hour ago, MrsEmmaPeel said:

Wow - totally missed one important item in the stateroom description; in a move that I can only call stunningly bad for a ship that is so modern, if you have an IV stateroom with the bed by the window (maybe others, too) and the bed is made up as a King, there is no power plug on the side of the bed near the window!  For those of us who keep our cellphones by us on the bedside table every night, it was VERY annoying for the person sleeping on the window side of the bed.  Maybe it was there, but we never found it, and we kinda tried moving things around to look.  Given they are trying to pull a younger, tech-savvy crowd on Edge (something I am now certain of, having cruised her), this was, to be blunt, a boneheaded omission.

 

 

Yes! My husband kept his plugged in at the box, mine was at the nightstand since I was where the outlet was. Worked out okay since I'm the one who turns on the alarm, but it would have been nice to have one at each beside instead of 2 on one. 

 

1 hour ago, MrsEmmaPeel said:

  

We also attended Eden's "Revelation" show.  We ended up really enjoying it; the show had more to offer than some of the previews seem to imply.  Yes, there is a certain bit of modern/new-age setup that you need to be willing to enjoy or at least let pass by, but the show itself had some cool dance, juggling and acro/aerialism.  oh, and if you happen to be a Pink Floyd fan, you love at least one part, a rendition of The Great Gig in the Sky, live rendition of Clare Tory vocal included.  We liked the show a lot, but do not come expecting a classic cruise ship revue show.  It definitely falls more into the Experience category.

  

 

 

I think an "experience" is a good way to describe it. We loved it, but it was definitely unique!

[dani negreanu]

Thank you 😁 for taking the time to write such a detailed and enlightening report.

[vtcruising]

Thanks for the detailed review!  Loving the tech suggestions!

 

As far as the charging on the other side of the bed, many of us have moved the phone to that side and used the USB port in the phone. I was a lot happier once I did that. 🙂

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Day 2: Naples

 

For Naples, we went with APTours, covering Herculaneum and the Archaeological Museum.  We could not have been happier with this decision.  Our Herculaneum/Pompeii decision was based on the following:

- We were originally supposed to have our 80y/o (active, but c'mon) parents with us, and Herculaneum is more compact than Pompeii

- We had VERY limited time, so Herculaneum felt like it was more manageable

- Herculaneum is much "denser" than Pompeii, and we felt it would feel more "immediate" as a living town

- We had read more and seen more about Herculaneum in the run-up to the trip, so we felt we could get more out of it.

 

In the end, for us, on that day, it was 100% the right call.  Also the right call was having a guide for both the museum and Herc.  We had Pina from APTours, and she was fantastic.  My best way to describe her is that whenever we crossed paths with another guide in Herculaneum, they had cheery greetings for Pina and then told us how lucky we were to have her.  We felt the same way.

 

We were driven by Mercedes Vento van from the port (NOT with the Celebrity busses - go just outside that area) to Herculaneum to meet Pina, our guide.  We had bought the tickets ahead of time as per APTours recommendation.  Pina took us around the site and REALLY drew us in.  Herculaneum is just so stunning, with areas that feel as if there is no way they could have been uninhabited for almost 2000 years.  After that, we were driven in Naples while Pina called restaurants (it was Sun) to find us a table for lunch.

 

We had wonderful Neopolitan pizza with Pina and spent lunch discussing modern Northern-vs-Southern Italian culture and issues, and the relationship to the EU.  Fascinating.

 

We were then driven to the Naples Archaeological Museum.  Let me be clear - the artifacts are amazing.  But the facilities, the climate control (none) and the curation were poor.  Nothing in the museum "told a story", as great curation should.  As English-only speakers, I cannot IMAGINE going to this museum without a guide.  Pina once again brought it to life.  In the end, we ran out of water (we had left a couple of the water bottles in the van.  Mistake), and the heat of the museum brought our day to end.  The bathroom facilities were kinda lacking, and there was no great way to refill large water bottles.  Above the ground floor, we saw few if any placards in anything but Italian.  But the artifacts were beyond belief, especially the day-to-day items and the micro-mosaics.

 

So, while the day was pricey (kinda), for less than a Celebrity excursion, we had a driver, a full-day, local guide, and the ability to redirect things as we went.  We left that day looking forward to our next tour with APTours (coming in Livorno).

 

Next up - Day at Sea and Ship's Tour.

 

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Also, I'd like to cross-link to my post on another thread about how we handled the heat across all days:

This was the difference between enjoying each day and coming home ALMOST as pasty-white as we left vs heatsroke, arguments, and proto-skin cancer.

 

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Next - Day at Sea:

 

We laid pretty low on the day at sea, as we had been getting up pretty early and hauling in the heat for about 5 days straight by now.  However, we _did_ book a ship's tour for the daughters and myself (husband).  We did this after having an AMAZING "ultimate ship's tour" on the Royal Princess with husband and husband's father on a previous cruise.  This Celebrity tour was less expensive, but also a let-down after the Princess tour.  The celebrity ship's tour was (of course, each of these stops had someone to explain things):

- See the kitchen

- See the engineering control room

- See the laundry

- See a crew lounge

- See the bridge

- Get to keep the lanyard we used for the tour (which could be a SeaPass holder)

 

This was a bummer, because in addition to everything above (except the lanyard), the Royal Princess Ultimate Ship's tour also included:

- See the food stores

- See the printing dept

- See the medical center

- See the theater stage AND props/costume stores

- See the forward anchor winch area

- Meet the Captain after the bridge tour and have a group picture

- Mid-tour rest break with canapes and Prosecco

- Complimentary Princess bathrobe to take home

- Personalized stationery pad

- Framed copy of the photo with the captain

 

Yes, the Princess tour was more expensive (not quite 2x, I think), but I'd have rather paid that extra and gotten that tour on Edge.  The daughters would have LOVED the theater part (esp with the amazing theater tech on Edge).  But while the daughters enjoyed the tour, I was left feeling like it was MUCH less special than the one on the Royal Princess.  Perhaps Celebrity should consider such a higher-end tour?

 

 

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Oh, and another thing we saw on the Sea Day, as my wife and I decided to make a pass through the resort deck to see how crazy the chair-saving was (we are NOT lounge-chair sea day folks, and we were MUCH happier lounging on our Infinite Verandah or on the nice couch in the IV room).  Chair saving was not insane when we went to a late breakfast, but there were a good number of people outside in chairs with the large, neon towel clips (and while I understand that people may be using them solely to avoid towel-sliding...  I doubt it).  In the solarium (which was shockingly empty at that point), the lounge chairs had these tent cards on them:

[UnorigionalName]

On 7/7/2019 at 12:47 PM, MrsEmmaPeel said:

Oh, and following on to charging, we found that the USB ports in the white boxes on the desk provided VERY low current and charged the battery tanks we tried to charge there very slowly.  I strongly recommend bringing your own 120/240V charger blocks, ESPECIALLY if your devices are any form of QuickCharge (Apple or Android).

 

 

Is there anywhere that provides high amperage USB charging out of a socket?  The USB protocol as defined is only low current.  There are many high-amperage protocols and I doubt cruise lines and hotels want the liability of bricking someone's electronics because of incompatibility.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

On 7/10/2019 at 7:34 PM, UnorigionalName said:

 

Is there anywhere that provides high amperage USB charging out of a socket?  The USB protocol as defined is only low current.  There are many high-amperage protocols and I doubt cruise lines and hotels want the liability of bricking someone's electronics because of incompatibility.

Well, obviously, there's a huge variety of the newest, high-speed charging bits, but IIRC, some ports will provide only 100mA in all cases instead of the USB 2.0 spec of 500mA for charging.  That's kinda what the port in our room on Egde felt like.

 

In general, these days, we tend to avoid all of the "USB charge" ports for one of the multiple reasons one might choose to skip them (1: unless you have a charge-only cable handy, there's always SOME data/security risk, 2: They rarely provide decent current 3: there's always the chance you might take a hit and mess up your HW).  But our system is generally to bring a good, multi-port charger with us on trips.  We were just being lazy and trying the USB charger port in the box with one of our battery packs (thus no data risk) and we found we were right to continue ignoring these.

 

They may be good for an overnight charge, but if you expect to come back to the room after a day in port and get a noticeable charge before dinner, bring your own 120/240V charger.  For _small_, we LOVE the Anker dual-port ones that are the size of the small iOS chargers, but much better.