Aug 7th W-E-W Caribbean Edge Cruise - B3B

[Ken the cruiser]

26 minutes ago, cruisingxpert said:

One final question.  I think you mentioned taking some clothes to your car during one of the turnarounds.  Where did you park and how long a walk from the parking to the terminal entrance?

 

It's been wonderful to have you and graphic guy posting on these cruises.  I hope someone on the next cruise keeps it going.  It makes the wait til Sept 11 feel not so long.

We board the ship via terminal 25 and the parking lot is pretty much kitty-corner to the terminal. It will take about 5-7 minutes or so to walk from the parking lot to the terminal once you take the elevator down to the ground floor. It’s not far at all. Have a wonderful cruise!

Edited August 28, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, countess5 said:

Ken

I’ve said it before about how great of a job reporting and sharing you have done……….but it’s time to turn the keys over to us and let us ride!!!!

 

Thanks agin.

 

Cheers! 

Sounds like a wonderful idea! But someone has to step up and open a thread so we can all follow along! 😎

 

[graphicguy]

12 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

I understand her love of chocolate. Many years ago, on a cruise ( not Celebrity) it was a great cruise except for a lack of chocolate desserts.😮 I mentioned this in the mid-cruise comment card , jokingly. The next day , a beautiful, tasty chocolate cake was delivered to our stateroom. 

I will be looking for that cake in Eden this week! What is life without chocolate!

I think I relayed an encounter at il Baccio……I would stop there every afternoon for some coffee.  I would always get a lemon tart, too.  I told one of the “baristas” there that they could drop off one of the chocolate cakes to my cabin if they wanted.  He asked what my cabin number was. I don’t know if he was actually going to do that, but he sure acted like it.

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I think I relayed an encounter at il Baccio……I would stop there every afternoon for some coffee.  I would always get a lemon tart, too.  I told one of the “baristas” there that they could drop off one of the chocolate cakes to my cabin if they wanted.  He asked what my cabin number was. I don’t know if he was actually going to do that, but he sure acted like it.

We loved their hot chocolate! It is always super tasty and I agree there lemon tarts are also quite tasty!!

[terrydtx]

On 8/27/2021 at 10:26 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

I am so confused. We just heard over the Carnival ship loud speakers that their passengers are now allowed to leave the ship, and there are A LOT of passengers now debarking, but of course have to wear a mask …

 

However, folks on the Edge are only allowed to go ashore if you are on a Celebrity sponsored excursion. It appears some cruise ships interpret the Nassau rules one way while others interpret them totally different. Should be interesting to see what happens as our last day in port evolves. 😎

 

 

We are in Nassau today on Equinox with two RCL ships and their passengers are walking all over town,  why Celebrity?

[Ken the cruiser]

29 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We are in Nassau today on Equinox with two RCL ships and their passengers are walking all over town,  why Celebrity?

Did you watch to see if the RCL passengers were required to put their masks back on, like the Carnival passengers were, when they got to the end of the gangway before they reentered the ship? 
 

I think Celebrity is just trying to be super protective of their passengers and crew, especially with the levels of the Delta variant present in the Bahamas. 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-the-bahamas

 

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Did you watch to see if the RCL passengers were required to put their masks back on, like the Carnival passengers were, when they got to the end of the gangway before they reentered the ship? 
 

I think Celebrity is just trying to be super protective of their passengers and crew, especially with the levels of the Delta variant present in the Bahamas. 

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-4/coronavirus-the-bahamas

 

From where we are I couldn't see passengers getting back on the ship but I see many walking around with no masks.

[BridgeMates]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We are in Nassau today on Equinox with two RCL ships and their passengers are walking all over town,  why Celebrity?

Question Terry:    On our 7-day B2B in Nov, can we turn in laundry (elite) the last day or so of the first cruise and start the next part with clean clothes?  I know they generally won't take laundry after about the 5th day of a 7-day cruise.  I can wait until the first day of the second cruise but would like to know (if you do).  Thanks!

[terrydtx]

25 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

Question Terry:    On our 7-day B2B in Nov, can we turn in laundry (elite) the last day or so of the first cruise and start the next part with clean clothes?  I know they generally won't take laundry after about the 5th day of a 7-day cruise.  I can wait until the first day of the second cruise but would like to know (if you do).  Thanks!

I have no idea, never did any laundry on a ship., sorry.

[Ken the cruiser]

38 minutes ago, BridgeMates said:

Question Terry:    On our 7-day B2B in Nov, can we turn in laundry (elite) the last day or so of the first cruise and start the next part with clean clothes?  I know they generally won't take laundry after about the 5th day of a 7-day cruise.  I can wait until the first day of the second cruise but would like to know (if you do).  Thanks!

I’m not Terry but we just finished doing a B3B on the Edge where they let us put in a bag of laundry on the day before our transition day but would not work on it until the day after transition day.  We got the laundry back on day 3 of the second cruise but it counted against the second cruise even though we put it in the last full day of the first cruise because it was after the deadline.

[BridgeMates]

36 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I’m not Terry but we just finished doing a B3B on the Edge where they let us put in a bag of laundry on the day before our transition day but would not work on it until the day after transition day.  We got the laundry back on day 3 of the second cruise but it counted against the second cruise even though we put it in the last full day of the first cruise because it was after the deadline.

Just what I needed to know.  Thanks!

[favoritevacation]

On 8/27/2021 at 4:49 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

Just heard from the Captain that the two COVID cases were disembarked this morning in Nassau and flown home on a chartered jet and are doing fine.

So….why would someone be tested mid cruise and found out to be positive.? It is great that this is the policy, much less chance of spreading the virus….but, how and why would you know if you had covid mid-cruise? 

[Ken the cruiser]

21 minutes ago, favoritevacation said:

So….why would someone be tested mid cruise and found out to be positive.? It is great that this is the policy, much less chance of spreading the virus….but, how and why would you know if you had covid mid-cruise? 

If you have a flight booked after the cruise, say back to Canada, you are required to have a negative PCR test prior to getting on the plane. Celebrity will provide the required PCR test for free, but it does take 2-3 days to process the results from what I understand. Hence the reason why they were tested so early. 

[Luckynana]

Great job on all of your posts, Ken!  Thank you for sharing and taking us along!

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, BridgeMates said:

Question Terry:    On our 7-day B2B in Nov, can we turn in laundry (elite) the last day or so of the first cruise and start the next part with clean clothes?  I know they generally won't take laundry after about the 5th day of a 7-day cruise.  I can wait until the first day of the second cruise but would like to know (if you do).  Thanks!

On all of my cruises they generally would not accept laundry after the morning of the 5th day.   I have had a butler say he could do it and mark it express service.   I had wine spilled on my dinner jacket and he wanted it cleaned for me before it could set a stain -  generally they charge for this but he said he would have it waived.    This was on a B3B in a Royal Suite.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Well, I guess this cruise adventure regarding our Edge B3B has finally come to an end for us. We finally made it back home after an 11 hour relatively uneventful drive that covered around 700 miles. The drive also allowed us plenty of time to reflect on our cruise and we both agreed 3 weeks was plenty, especially being that it is summer in the Caribbean, but we wouldn't change a thing. I was also quite happy to see I only gained 1 pound from all the eating and drinking I did on the cruise! Yes! 😁

 

I also want to thank everyone who tagged along on this thread as it gave me something to do sitting out on the balcony while the DW sat in the air conditioned cabin playing her computer games during our various planned downtimes.

 

Who knows, one day we may actually meet on the high seas while playing trivia or on an excursion! So until then, take care and always remember Ronald Reagan's famous quote when reading CC posts, "Trust but verify!"  😎

 

[jcpc]

Ken,

We are the ones who are thanking you.  Your 3-week journey was enjoyable for ALL of us.  I hope you and your DW are acclimating yourselves to being on land again.  And I hope your DW found a chocolate dessert at home tonight!  Again, thanks, and I look forward to reading about your next adventure.

jcpc

[pno4te]

Ken,  I started following you and @graphicguya few weeks before our 8/21 cruise and learned a lot from both of you.  We share our love of the Edge and of the Celebrity crew who manned her!  We loved everything about this cruise (except the lack of a coffee table in front of the sofa!) and look forward to booking our second Celebrity cruise in the very near future.

 

You asked about the Infinite Veranda.  I was a little leery but we both came to love it.  We were on the port side and did notice a little heat build-up when we had direct sun and Capt. Kate locked the windows.  However, we would book it again because most of the time it provided quite a window view of the beauty of the Caribbean as we sailed.

[Ken the cruiser]

26 minutes ago, jcpc said:

Ken,

We are the ones who are thanking you.  Your 3-week journey was enjoyable for ALL of us.  I hope you and your DW are acclimating yourselves to being on land again.  And I hope your DW found a chocolate dessert at home tonight!  Again, thanks, and I look forward to reading about your next adventure.

jcpc

😂😂 She did!! She finally got to eat some of her 80% dark chocolate candy bars and was all smiles after the long drive home!! 😎

[favoritevacation]

Welcome home! I have just spent the last two and a half hours reading about your wonderful three weeks aboard the Edge. We are booked on the October 16th cruise to celebrate our twins 30th birthday! I wanted to book the Chefs table to celebrate their birthday, but it is not offered online. I called X and they said maybe I can book it once on board. Posts #140 & #167 refer to the chefs table, but no information on how to book nor the cost. Another thing that I read about on post #334, was the best price offer form. How does that work? I booked direct with   X and I’ve been asking them if the price has come down, and they have been giving me on board credit for the three cabins that I have booked, one sunset veranda and two adjoining porthole  verandas. Any advice on chefs table or best price offer would be greatly appreciated!

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Who knows, one day we may actually meet on the high seas...

I sure hope so.

[favoritevacation]

I’m sorry, I thought of one more question, how do you reprice your cabin if it is all sold out, like the sunset verandas are? Thank you, so very much!

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, favoritevacation said:

I’m sorry, I thought of one more question, how do you reprice your cabin if it is all sold out, like the sunset verandas are? Thank you, so very much!

Unfortunately, you can’t if there isn’t one to compare pricing with. I’ll answer your other questions tomorrow morning if that’s ok.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, favoritevacation said:

To determine if there is a price reduction in the cabin categories you booked, SV or POV, you will need to do “fake bookings” for each category and compare the current cost, to include any ongoing Captains Club or military (if qualified) promotions, against what is listed on your confirmations. As I mentioned if there are no SVs available, there will be nothing to compare to so it would be a no go for those. 

 

If you do find that the price has gone down, here’s the link to a thread discussing the Best Price Offer form. I mention how to fill out the form as well as provide a link to the form on post #6. Don’t worry about the grayed out portions of the form as that information is available to the Celebrity form reviewers in your existing booking and they have the means to determine the price reduction is, if there is one. In our case most times they gave us more OBC than we were expecting.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, favoritevacation said:

Welcome home! I have just spent the last two and a half hours reading about your wonderful three weeks aboard the Edge. We are booked on the October 16th cruise to celebrate our twins 30th birthday! I wanted to book the Chefs table to celebrate their birthday, but it is not offered online. I called X and they said maybe I can book it once on board. Posts #140 & #167 refer to the chefs table, but no information on how to book nor the cost.

For us we booked the Chef’s Table online about a month before our first cruise, but they went fast as there are only 10 seats. The price if I recall was $135 pp plus $60 if you want to purchase the wine pairing option once your seated. 
 

Personally, it was a one and done for us. There was just too much food for us. It was very tasty and the chef was very informative, but also very rich with a lot of seasonings which later caused us some serious heartburn for several hours as we are just not used to eating that much fancy food which also included two entrees, one fish and one beef. But, we’re also in our late 60s and our stomachs just aren’t as “durable” as they once were when we were younger. But like I said this was our experience which, of course, may be totally different for your family if you are actually able to book it on your cruise.
 

As an alternative and I know this sounds a little corny, but we had a great meal along with a great show that is guaranteed to make you laugh at Le Petit Chef, and it’s “only” $55 per person plus $15 pp if you would like the wine pairing option!  The “show” used to have 4 chefs competing to create the best dish, but about a month ago they introduced a new menu which also means a new “plate” show. Anyway, that’s my 2 cents on this subject. 😎