Sailing on Edge June 26th

[George C]

14 hours ago, goldsmip115 said:

I actually survived missing my boarding first day lunch in Luminae on one cruise. Life did go on.

Did Luminae offer lobster roll any other days for lunch? We have a 2 checkin Saturday so we will also miss it.

[tunaman2011]

18 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

They gave me a noon checkin time.  IF I am lucky, I might be able to make the Concierge lunch.  Do they close the doors at 1 pm or 1:30pm?

 

Greetings

 

Noon is the earliest check-in for the cruise so unless they are planning on a completely empty venue then they should keep the doors open long enough so that some guest have access.  Reports I've read said check-in went quickly with people on board within 30 minutes.  You should be ok.  Just note that there are not many menu selections for the Concierge Lunch so you may wish to peruse the menu beforehand.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[graphicguy]

@bnurick....Was going to wait until the end, but you've been so helpful so far, maybe I'll "Thank You" twice.  This is the first THANKS!

 

This has been so helpful to me, as I'm sailing next month (Eastern route).  Good to know about the Chef's Table.  Was looking to book that, so will use those $$$ for something else.

 

Love the "take away" from what you posted...."like-minded people cruising together".  No debate.  No arguments.  You're vaccinated.  You show your Vaccination card, and go on your merry way.  Once you do that, as you say..."no one cares"!  

 

Sounds like being the first sailing out after the lockdown, things are going relatively smoothly.  That's also good to hear.  I would imagine some tweaking here and there as more cruises happen.  But, I think we all expect things will be somewhat different, whether enforcing boarding times (mine is 12:00 p.m., so good to know I'll be one of the first on and won't have to dilly-dally at the pier if I keep my boarding appointment).  Won't have to see others push their way in if early, or if late.  That's refreshing to see.  Be on time.  What a novel process!!!!!!

 

Love the pics!  Love the dailies!  

 

Plus, the good news is, you've got about ½ your cruise left.

[SECdawg]

Enjoying all of the helpful information about this cruise. Quick question about Costa Maya. Were you required to wear your mask while wandering around the port area shops and pool? 

[djh]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Actually in the Retreat there is the Suite Manager who is over the Concierge (now usually 2 if there is a sundeck) and the butlers.  The Retreat Concierge is in charge of the Retreat lounge and sundeck an is a single point of contact for any guest request/problem.   The Butler more takes care of your personal needs primarily in the stateroom like room service, laundry, coffee etc.  Yes they are more than happy to make dining reservations and try to resolve any issues you may have.   The concierge and butler roles do overlap some and they are both there to make sure you have an enjoyable trip.

 

For non retreat guests there is also the Concierge available to everyone on the ship, they are much more like a hotel concierge.

FYI, the butler is no longer referred to as a butler on the Edge. Their title is now “personal retreat host”.

[D C]

27 minutes ago, djh said:

FYI, the butler is no longer referred to as a butler on the Edge. Their title is now “personal retreat host”.

I noticed that excursions are now "Curated Experiences" as well.  

 

[bnurick]

3 hours ago, johnbob7 said:

Very much appreciate the info you are sharing, helps us prepare for our July sailing. 
 

Question: are the Retreat Sundeck and Lounge areas open and serving all day, even port days? Serving as in bar and light snack menus. TIA

 

bobj

Happy to share.  The Retreat areas are always open and serving (pool deck bar), but the lounge has set hours with snacks, like a 330pm tea time.  I wish they would have snacks out all day, but someone has to stand there serve them.

 

3 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Many suite guests also like to have breakfast on their verandahs, so that would help with keeping the capacity down.

Thanks for posting. Hope you continue to have a wonderful cruise. 😊

 

Will do!
 

3 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Just a very kind reminder......these are the first few cruises after the pandemic. EVRYTHING will be a bit different. Keep that in perspective. Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Staff is definitely figuring it out. Plus there is a lot of press aboard which from my perspective is making Fine Cut type restaurants harder to get into, last minute only.
 

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I am enjoying your live posts. Thank you.

I had a question about housekeeping's post pandemic routine ......are house keeping services limited? Do they clean your room once a day and freshen up/turn down at night?

 

Hello Arzeena, yes they do two services a day.  We had to start asking for a specific time as it wasn’t seamless with our routine/schedule.  They are still figuring it out on the timing IMO.

[NutsAboutGolf]

I had two questions:

1) Have you tried calling the room service number and ordering off the MDR, even if just a side a bacon for breakfast?

2) Are you self-carrying/disembarking off the ship?  I curious when folks are cleared to leave the cruise terminal as I'm hoping to book a FLL 1000am flight (I have airline status and clear so airport lines won't be an issue for me).

3) Is FLL luggage valet service active?  I won't be able to utilize it but it could be helpful to others.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Thanks for all the helpful information; we're sailing in October and your posts are getting us very excited.  Were you contacted pre cruise by the shore side concierge and could you select a boarding time through them?

[basenji56]

2 hours ago, tunaman2011 said:

Greetings

 

Noon is the earliest check-in for the cruise so unless they are planning on a completely empty venue then they should keep the doors open long enough so that some guest have access.  Reports I've read said check-in went quickly with people on board within 30 minutes.  You should be ok.  Just note that there are not many menu selections for the Concierge Lunch so you may wish to peruse the menu beforehand.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

Someone just posted on another site that they won't be having the Concierge lunch.  They will have a Concierge lunch on the SECOND day.

[kirtihk]

On 6/26/2021 at 6:41 PM, scrabble6 said:

 

In Dec 2019 we walked through the Spa and onto that deck right before sailaway--we weren't sure it would be open, but nobody stopped us.  A few other passengers were there, but otherwise it was empty.  There was a tray of sparkling wine/bubbly flutes, so we enjoyed a toast.  It was an amazing sailaway!

On the embarkation day typically the spa and sauna/steam room area is open to everyone to walk through on many cruise lines and ships.

[D C]

7 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Someone just posted on another site that they won't be having the Concierge lunch.  They will have a Concierge lunch on the SECOND day.

Interesting.  We've always skipped over the first-day concierge lunch in lieu of getting right after enjoying the ship.  Is the menu worth a day-2 visit?  

[basenji56]

1 minute ago, D C said:

Interesting.  We've always skipped over the first-day concierge lunch in lieu of getting right after enjoying the ship.  Is the menu worth a day-2 visit?  

It's the same menu as on any other day.  The advantage of it is you can get a seat and relax instead of dealing with the crowding in the Oceanview.  If the ships are at low capacity, that might not be a problem this year.

 

[kirtihk]

On 6/28/2021 at 1:08 PM, BridgeBabe said:

The little cafe, right near Eden, has amazing lunches.. Went there nearly everyday for lunch! Check it out! and the cookies are awesome!

Yes, it was also great when we were on the Edge on the April 2019 Transatlantic crossing. The Eden performance was the best treat for me (visited every single night) along with the SEA Thermal Suite.

Edited June 30, 2021 by kirtihk

[EatonDoolittle]

25 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

It's the same menu as on any other day.  The advantage of it is you can get a seat and relax instead of dealing with the crowding in the Oceanview.  If the ships are at low capacity, that might not be a problem this year.

 

 

This makes no sense as a Day 2 CC lunch replacement. The dining room is always open for lunch on sea days anyway, so if there is not a different menu,  it's not really a Concierge Lunch. 

If they do somehow differentiate the Concierge part of it, I hope they'll keep out the half naked, sweaty masses that populate the Oceanview on sea days at lunch time. Agree the lower capacity will help . 

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks for all the helpful information; we're sailing in October and your posts are getting us very excited.  Were you contacted pre cruise by the shore side concierge and could you select a boarding time through them?

We're sailing in a suite on the Edge next month and were contacted via email by the Concierge shore side. They asked about any special requests we would like to make for our sailing. Online check in for our sailing was not available when they emailed us.

[bnurick]

5 hours ago, johnbob7 said:

Very much appreciate the info you are sharing, helps us prepare for our July sailing. 
 

Question: are the Retreat Sundeck and Lounge areas open and serving all day, even port days? Serving as in bar and light snack menus. TIA

 

bobj

Bobj, happy to share.  The sundeck is usually always open to my knowledge. The lounge has snacks at certain times of the day. I think this is because someone has to serve them. I know they do a 330pm tea time and put items out. Cheers. 

 

5 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

Many suite guests also like to have breakfast on their verandahs, so that would help with keeping the capacity down.

Thanks for posting. Hope you continue to have a wonderful cruise. 😊

Our butler said if we wanted Luminae brought to our CS he would bring it. We have not though. We usually do coffee, tea and pastries. Cheers. 

[bnurick]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

@bnurick....Was going to wait until the end, but you've been so helpful so far, maybe I'll "Thank You" twice.  This is the first THANKS!

 

This has been so helpful to me, as I'm sailing next month (Eastern route).  Good to know about the Chef's Table.  Was looking to book that, so will use those $$$ for something else.

 

Love the "take away" from what you posted...."like-minded people cruising together".  No debate.  No arguments.  You're vaccinated.  You show your Vaccination card, and go on your merry way.  Once you do that, as you say..."no one cares"!  

 

Sounds like being the first sailing out after the lockdown, things are going relatively smoothly.  That's also good to hear.  I would imagine some tweaking here and there as more cruises happen.  But, I think we all expect things will be somewhat different, whether enforcing boarding times (mine is 12:00 p.m., so good to know I'll be one of the first on and won't have to dilly-dally at the pier if I keep my boarding appointment).  Won't have to see others push their way in if early, or if late.  That's refreshing to see.  Be on time.  What a novel process!!!!!!

 

Love the pics!  Love the dailies!  

 

Plus, the good news is, you've got about ½ your cruise left.

THIS!  First, thanks for saying thanks. I’ve tried hard to not discuss vaccine, mask, etc.  Second, very likeminded people. I would recommend people who want perfection to wait a few months.  Cheers!

 

2 hours ago, SECdawg said:

Enjoying all of the helpful information about this cruise. Quick question about Costa Maya. Were you required to wear your mask while wandering around the port area shops and pool? 

 

Happy to share. So mask were recommended but not mandatory. I didn’t wear but the wind was so large you couldn’t transmit anything between two people. Plus, as another has said, everyone there had to be vaccinated. It’s kinda a rural area so maybe it was more doable there as opposed Cozumel.  Cheers!
 

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Thanks for all the helpful information; we're sailing in October and your posts are getting us very excited.  Were you contacted pre cruise by the shore side concierge and could you select a boarding time through them?

 

Good afternoon. Yes, I received an email and I requested a lot of wine lists that were not on the app. They provided. Cheers!

[C-Dragons]

15 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Bobj, happy to share.  The sundeck is usually always open to my knowledge. The lounge has snacks at certain times of the day. I think this is because someone has to serve them. I know they do a 330pm tea time and put items out. Cheers. 

 

Our butler said if we wanted Luminae brought to our CS he would bring it. We have not though. We usually do coffee, tea and pastries. Cheers. 

I can’t eat them but have heard guests in the Retreat rave about the delicious breakfast pastries in Luminae!

[Ken the cruiser]

I have a critical question which is of the utmost importance regarding Luminae chocolate desserts. Are they still on both the lunch and dinner menus? My DW is a chocoholic and that is one big perk she looks forward to when we're in a suite. 😎

[bnurick]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I have a critical question which is of the utmost importance regarding Luminae chocolate desserts. Are they still on both the lunch and dinner menus? My DW is a chocoholic and that is one big perk she looks forward to when we're in a suite. 😎

Ken, here is three days worth from the app.  Peace ☮️ Out.
 

[H2OH!]

6 hours ago, djh said:

FYI, the butler is no longer referred to as a butler on the Edge. Their title is now “personal retreat host”.

and the Willis Tower in Chicago is still the Sears Tower to us 🙂  Butler it is 🙂

[Ken the cruiser]

39 minutes ago, bnurick said:

Ken, here is three days worth from the app.  Peace ☮️ Out.
 

Cool! Thanks!!!

[gator489]

When are the chic nights?

Thanks, Margie

[D C]

4 hours ago, bnurick said:

THIS!  First, thanks for saying thanks. I’ve tried hard to not discuss vaccine, mask, etc.  Second, very likeminded people. I would recommend people who want perfection to wait a few months.  Cheers!

 

Perfection? 

If the first margarita isn't perfect, I drink it anyway, enjoy the ocean view, and hope the 2nd is better.  I've found that by the 4th one, they're pretty close to perfect.