M&J’s Sort of Live 10/9 EDGE Eastern + Sky Suite

[fsdorado]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:02 AM, M&JfromSDL said:

First Impression… The crew at the top of gangway cheering as we walked on. Unexpected and dare I say brought a little tear to my eye. We’ve sat at home over the course of the pandemic daydreaming about traveling again. And the day was finally here!  
 

I carried on a backpack with my camera gear and wanted to drop it at our cabin. When we arrived our Retreat Host was next door, introduced himself, and gave us an orientation to the room. For time purposes, we were dropped off at 12:30 and had finished the room Walkaround at 1:15pm.  Pretty good embarkation process!

Here are a few shots of the suite:

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of suite are you in?  We have our first Sky Suite booked for February 2022 on the Edge and we're very excited!!

 

 

Frederick

[M&JfromSDL]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:55 AM, fsdorado said:

 

What kind of suite are you in?  We have our first Sky Suite booked for February 2022 on the Edge and we're very excited!!

 

 

Frederick

We are in an S2 (or S1) Sky Suite. 

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, M&JfromSDL said:

We are in an S2 (or S1) Sky Suite. 

Isn’t the S2 cabin cool? We loved going to sleep and waking up with the curtains left open so we could look out at the ocean! We also initially wondered why they had that window between the bathroom and main cabin and kept the slider closed for the first few days. Then we decided to keep it open and what a difference it made with bringing light into an otherwise dark bathroom area!

 

We also had a lot of fun with the Luminae staff as we were there for 3 weeks. Marco was the maitre d’ in August and he was a lot of fun to talk with when you get him talking about some of the characters he sees coming to dine in the Luminae. 😎

Edited October 13, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[M&JfromSDL]

Sorry for the lag ya’ll. We had a great day in St. Thomas yesterday. Let me catch up from where I left off. 

++++
 

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the Retreat sun deck.  It was a nice sea day of relaxing in the pool, listening to music and enjoying the occasional cocktail. 

 

We had a pre-dinner martini at the Martini Bar. This is becoming a routine and I think we will end up making martinis at home more often. 

 

Dinner Monday in Luminae was another mixed bag. 

Amuse bouche. 

 

Salmon Sashimi

 

Smoke Hake 

 

Fennel Soup with Lobster

 

Seafood Fettuccine

Dessert

 

We keep having running into unpleasant seafood which is disappointing. The salmon sashimi was okay but the lobster in my soup was really terrible. The shrimp and squid in our pasta dish were okay. 
 

I am not one for shows on cruise ships but I read on a social media post about how great the Charity Lockhart show was. The mail tech from the spa also recommended it. So we went and I have to say it was really good!  
 

 

 

After the show it was time for the casino. I watched two of favorite Nationals players play for their new team while my wife played video poker. 
 

 

We stopped by the Oceanview cafe for late night pizza then headed back to the room where our host left us a plate of cookies!

 

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by M&JfromSDL

[M&JfromSDL]

Tuesday - October 12 - Saint Thomas

 

The later arrival time was great. We slept in a bit and grabbed room service breakfast. 

 

 

We booked the Champagne Catamaran sail to Saint John ahead of the cruise. We did this excursion about 9 years ago on a Royal cruise and had a great time. 

The excursion starts with a 40 minute drive out to the Marina. It’s a roller coaster of a drive with okay scenery. The other passengers were pretty quiet. You could hear a pin drop. 
 

The catamaran departs from eastern side of the island near red hook. The ride over to Saint John is beautiful. The water is deep blue and you see some incredible homes and boats along the way. 

After a 45 minute ride we arrived at Honeymoon Beach. I decided not to snorkel but to just wade in the water.  It was so relaxing and many fish swam right up to us. 
 

 

 

 

 

The catamaran ride back was a lot of fun. We caught a brief shower but it didn’t dampen the fun.  The rum punch was flowing, the crew did a great job firing up the crowd, and we had a great ride back. I highly recommend this excursion. 
 

 

We switched it up and did sail away on the Magic Carpet which was pretty cool. 

 

 

Dinner again at Luminae. 

Short Rib

 

 

Dessert

I decided to grab my nightly cappuccino from Cafe il Bacio.  

I lent my wife $50 so she could play the slot machine next to me. She got down to $8 and then won over $1000!!!!  Think we may be signing over the voucher to the future cruise desk. 

[RICCruisers]

I lent my wife $50 so she could play the slot machine next to me. She got down to $8 and then won over $1000!!!!  Think we may be signing over the voucher to the future cruise desk. 

Congratulations on the big slot 🏆 

I hope the remainder of your cruise was enjoyable. We board Edge on Saturday after you get off.  Are you taking the train back to NOVA?

 

[gbphipps]

We enjoyed a B2B on the Edge in July/August.  Have you been to the Eden bar yet?

[M&JfromSDL]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I decided to soak up every second of the remaining days of the cruise without having my head buried in my phone. I will have to do that when I am home. I will up date this thread from the plane ride home. 

[msteries]

What sort of vehicle took you to the Marina for your catamaran excursion?  One of those open air, bench seat thingy-s where the bouncing never ends? The last time I was on one, I got the outside seat and had to hang on for dear life.  I wrenched my shoulder and was in some pain for days.  I love to cruise and proudly claim that no cruise can ever be a bad cruise, but that one came close!

 

I am really enjoying your posts.  Hoping to be on the Apex next February, and returning to my annual big splurge on an S2.  It is soo true that once in a Celebrity suite you are spoiled for life!

[molemaui]

Enjoyed your pictures and review. Boarding this coming Saturday for our second Edge cruise. Love the Retreat. Like another poster said, once you've done the Retreat, you can't do anything less! 

 

Was especially interested in your comments regarding Luminea. Having also sailed other premium lines (Silversea, Oceania, Regent) I felt that the food quality and service in Luminea was equal to the "premium: lines on our last sailing. Hope it continues!

[graphicguy]

Love this review.  You’re in my favorite cabin category on my all time favorite ship.

Edited October 17, 2021 by graphicguy

[LGW59]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Love this review.  You’re on the forties cabin category on my all time favorite ship.

Me as well!  Not too much, not too little, perfect balance, of course it is M&J review, I am just an very appreciative spectator, but IMO, thanks and so glad you have enjoyed your cruise!

[graphicguy]

I see CC finally got the posting and login issues fixed, again!

[graphicguy]

Great pics.  Congrats on the nice slot hit.

 

Loved sail away on the Magic Carpet.

 

Curious, what was the passenger count?

Edited October 19, 2021 by graphicguy

[lola2013]

Wow...take me back!  I sailed the same itinerary on Edge 9/11-18...back for a month already and your review takes me back to my happy place.  

Enjoying every word and picture!

Susan

[pcrum]

On 10/8/2021 at 11:07 PM, M&JfromSDL said:

Hi everyone. We are a thirty-something couple from outside of Washington DC.  This is our first Celebrity cruise and the first time we‘ve splurged on a suite.  

Like many of you, COVID-19 ruined a bunch of trips we planned. We had low expectations this trip would take place as planned so we are extra excited it is here and actually happening.  

If you are like us you spent the pandemic looking through old live threads, watching cruise ship tours on YouTube while daydreaming about cruising again.  We also got caught up in Captain Kate’s #hopefloats posts on various social media sites.  

We initially set our sights on the 10/8 Equinox sailing because we did the ABC itinerary on the Freedom of the Seas 2 years ago and loved it.  But it was the newer Edge and what we felt was a great deal for the Retreat that sold us.  

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Why go on vacation if you can’t throw a fun packing party?   Packing parties are a staple in our house ahead of any vacation.  We open up all the suitcases on the living room floor, watch our cats panic because they realize we are leaving and figure out what clothes to bring.  Oh!  Can’t forget, you also need great food and a bottle of wine or 3. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You had me at cats and wine!