Dining and Thermal Spa on Edge

[sissyb]

I have just booked an Edge cruise for March 2020 (first Celebrity cruise).

 

Booked the 3 day specialty dining package and now see I can’t make reservations until we board?  We are afraid we will get horrible choices. Not sure of the reasoning for this. Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. 

 

Also so wanted to book a 3 day thermal spa pass, not available. The only one available is the weekly. Is this booked up already?  I thought of getting a weekly couples pass but when I add it to the cart it only allows me to choose myself or my husband not both of us. So I was unclear as to how that whole process worked. Any insight would be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance 

 

[NMTraveller]

20 minutes ago, sissyb said:

I have just booked an Edge cruise for March 2020 (first Celebrity cruise).

 

Booked the 3 day specialty dining package and now see I can’t make reservations until we board?  We are afraid we will get horrible choices. Not sure of the reasoning for this. Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. 

 

Also so wanted to book a 3 day thermal spa pass, not available. The only one available is the weekly. Is this booked up already?  I thought of getting a weekly couples pass but when I add it to the cart it only allows me to choose myself or my husband not both of us. So I was unclear as to how that whole process worked. Any insight would be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance 

 

We found out that you have to book the weekly in order to get sea days.  We were able to book the couples weekly on board. The spa is rather busy on sea days.  You may have a difficult time finding a lounger on the first sea day.  The spa is tranquil and quiet in the evenings.  The weekly lasted for the full cruise.

 

We had the 11 day specialty dining.  We got there early and booked the 11 nights.  Fine Cuts is difficult to get into on Sea Days.  Fine Cuts and Eden are best.  The rest are very average.

Edited October 19, 2019 by NMTraveller

[sissyb]

Is there any benefit getting your dining choice based on your cabin?  We are in a sky suite. 

[Miaminice]

We returned from a Med cruise on Edge last week... looooved the 4 included restaurants. We also dined in Fine Cuts and Rooftop just to give them a try. To be honest, we enjoyed it but thought it wasn’t worth the money. Next time we‘d just stay in the regular restaurants. They were awesome. We did not even miss Blu (we usually book AQ).

Normandie was our favorite.

 

[prim8keeper]

When we were on Edge even suites had difficulty getting into the specialty restaurants. While I suspect exceptions were made, it was probably only for the very top suites. We were also in a sky suite. If you are truly set on dining at certain restaurants on certain days you will probably just have to book them individually versus using the package. We tried Eden while on board and while good, we both thought Luminae was better, but as you know food is subjective. At this point we generally just eat in Luminae and only do one specialty restaurant, if any.

 

As far as the Thermal suite pass you can only buy individual days or for the entire week. We had the week couples pass and made a habit of going in the evening before we changed for dinner. NMTraveller is correct that it is kind of a zoo on sea days.

[vtcruising]

Various cruises have reported having difficulty getting their specialty choices, but others have not had as much difficulty, so likely will be cruise-dependent. The packages save you money, and they do save enough bookings for the packages, but the downside is that you may end up with times that are less desirable.  The people who pre-book and pay full price are more likely to get the dates/times they want. If you really want to try a certain restaurant at a certain date/time, I would book ahead. I posted the prices for the packages below - the Edge is on the right and you can see that you are saving approx 17% for the 3 night package (actually it is less now that Eden is only $55PP).  The 3 most expensive restaurants are the Fine Cut Steakhouse at $55, Eden at $55 and Le Petit Chef at $55, so you would save $28PP at the most (only $18 if one of the bookings is Rooftop Grill). For me, I would rather know that I had the dates and times that I wanted and pay full price, but that is me - you may feel differently. 🙂

 

If you keep the package, I would board at 10:45 or the earliest you can and head for the Retreat Lounge and have a concierge book your restaurants (easiest to have them written down and hand them the list). They make phone calls and can sometimes make things happen (they did for us).

 

We've eaten at all the Edge specialties and some more than once. Our favorite was Fine Cut Steakhouse, loved Le Grand Bistro and Le Petit Chef is definitely worth going to once, IMO, Eden has an amazing chef - if you like fish/seafood, you will probably like it (you could also try to ask at least a day ahead for a less fishy menu). Rooftop Grill had good BBQ and was more casual, but fun. We enjoyed it and will go back on a late port night to have less wind (though they did just install more wind protection up there). Raw on 5 was very good, if you like seafood - they have a few good non-seafood items. It is a la carte with a $35PP credit if you use your dining package.

 

specialty dining packages.pdf

 

As far as the Thermal Pass, try just putting in one name to book the couple's pass (only get charged one price as the IT Dept hasn't figured out how to do two people for one cost yet). That's what I had to do for a cabana.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2019 by vtcruising

[hcat]

2 hours ago, Miaminice said:

We returned from a Med cruise on Edge last week... looooved the 4 included restaurants. We also dined in Fine Cuts and Rooftop just to give them a try. To be honest, we enjoyed it but thought it wasn’t worth the money. Next time we‘d just stay in the regular restaurants. They were awesome. We did not even miss Blu (we usually book AQ).

Normandie was our favorite.

 

Thanks for sharing this great  news!

We enjoyed BLU on Edge in Jan, but  did not like its location and lack of view.

Now we'll be trying the 4 mdr plan next month 2 nights in each one...plus one dinner on shore. .  Glad you enjoyed it.. Looking forward to all of them. What were some of your favorites?

 

We'll skip the  Fine Cut and Eden dinner,  and hope to try the Rooftop Grill for lunch and also the Bistro and Raw on 5 for lunch...  We also love the EDEN Cafe.

[Miaminice]

18 minutes ago, hcat said:

What were some of your favorites?

 

loved Normandie and the Brie starter and the herb crusted tenderloin. 

 

DW liked Cyprus and the starters there. 
 

Also enjoyed the outside space of Eden Cafe.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Miaminice

[hcat]

8 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

loved Normandie and the Brie starter and the herb crusted tenderloin. 

 

DW liked Cyprus and the starters there. 
 

Also enjoyed the outside space of Eden Cafe.

Yum yum yum...yes that is a great space outsude the cafe..Cafe has great souos, sammies, desserts and breads...don't get me  started! Counting down!