Semi-live from the Edge | February 3-13 | Southern Caribbean

[OrcaGirl]

After lunch, we checked out the upper deck areas, including the Rooftop Garden, before going to tour the spa. It’s truly a beautiful ship. Obviously I’ve watched videos and read trip reports so I knew what to expect, but it was cute seeing the husband react. He keeps saying that it doesn’t really feel like a cruise ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We especially wanted to see the thermal suite in the spa, since we love love love the thermal suite on NCL. But alas, gorgeous as the space might be, without the pool and hot tub, it’s just not worth the cost for us.

 

 

I did get a sample ‘massage taster’ with the accompanying hard sell of massage services. I’ve booked a manicure for tomorrow but will wait to see how we do at the casino or Deal or No Deal before booking any of the pricier treatments.

 

The husband needed a crash nap so we headed back to the room.  I sat out on the verandah while waiting for Sleeping Beauty to wake up.

 

[sharonann24]

We are on the Edge on the February 13 sailing to the Panama Canal.  I will be reading your review with  much interest since some posts have not been great.  This is our first Celebrity cruise (we also love NCL) and we will be traveling with my father (93 plus!) and my brother and sister in law.  We have traditional dining--no specialty restaurants at all, but we do have the drink package!  LOL.  The ship looks beautiful and with our sub zero weather tonight in CT Ft. Lauderdale looks mighty attractive!

[Texed]

Great to see the horse Mr. Ed—ge    😊

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for doing a live post.   Really enjoying photos and all the details.   You have a great writing style and have already suckered me in ...

[OrcaGirl]

Afternoon observations:

 

Our bags had arrived by the time the husband woke up from his sleepytime, so we spent a few minutes unpacking. After initially saying there wasn’t much storage space, the husband changed his tune as I kept pointing out more options.

 

Our shore excursion tickets and invitations to various loyalty program and Concierge things were tucked inside the printed dailies — would have been very easy to accidentally miss all that.

 

 

We spent some time at the pool before sailaway, and the DJ was playing a weird mix that I absolutely loved. I can’t describe it other than it was bizarre and awesome and at the perfect volume.

 

 

 

 

 

There is what appears to be soot marks on all of the white cushions around the pool. And I’ve got mystery black smudges on my arm.

 

The captain’s announcement mentioned something about swells up to ??? high? For once, the audio quality of PA annouent was fantastic but I didn’t hear due to cocktail-induced loss of attention-paying. 

 

We watched sailaway from near but not in the sunset bar (packed!) See my Instagram Stories for the time-lapse video. 

 

 

The 2-level walking/jogging track is hella cool but needs more directional signage.

 

 

The husband loved the slice of cheese pizza he grabbed as an afternoon snack. Said it was nice and garlicky.

 

While checking my email on the verandah that we booked for ‘free’ via the Blue Chip Casino Club, I received another free cruise offer. Sigh. It’s a rough life.

 

 

Premium wifi has been good so far, but video kept dropping during a FaceTime call with my mom.

 

[OrcaGirl]

Confession time: I assumed that everyone talking about the Oceanview Cafe cutbacks was… exaggerating? Maybe not big users of the buffet in the first place? Chicken Littles? Negative Nancies?

 

But no, it’s actually quite bad. My husband typically prefers the buffet; on our last NCL cruise, we ate dinner in the buffet every night. And even he, who finds something good everywhere, was struggling to find something interesting to eat tonight other than nachos and pizza. He was so certain that the baked potato bar he spotted at lunch would be available at dinner too, and was disappointed to not see it.

 

On the plus side: the pizza was indeed really good. And the desserts look good? And it wasn’t hard to find a seat? … that’s all I got for positives.

 

I’ll be dragging him to the MDRs for the remainder of the cruise.

 

So yeah. I’m sad about the current state of things.

 

I did notice one woman expressing her displeasure about the buffet situation to the manager, who seemed to take a “those decisions are made above my pay grade” approach to answering her.

Photos: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Reel Love]

Thank you OrcaGirl for a great review so far!  Looking forward to following along  😊

So glad for you that the phone and passport issues were both resolved......was feeling panicked for you by proxy just reading about it as can relate, lol (my hubby lost his wallet on our way to a cruise once....luckily found out within about 20 minutes where it had dropped out of his pocket and within an hour had it back in hand but an absolutely horrible way to start a cruise!  Especially when the border agent was giving us a hard time about re-crossing the border to get back into Canada to pick it up.)  Anyways, have a fabulous cruise!!!

[TheHawk1]

1 hour ago, OrcaGirl said:

But no, it’s actually quite bad. My husband typically prefers the buffet; on our last NCL cruise, we ate dinner in the buffet every night. And even he, who finds something good everywhere, was struggling to find something interesting to eat tonight other than nachos and pizza.

So sad to hear and see that the reports are true. And it doesn’t appear like any amount of bad publicity will shame Celebrity into reversing course.  Looks like the buffet will only be good for lunch or mid day snacks from now on.

[OrcaGirl]

Evening activities and observations and shenanigans:

 

Before and after dinner, we explored the 3-4-5 levels of the ship. Again, absolutely gorgeous.

 

Eden is especially stunning; we had a reservation for dinner on the final night (all that was originally available) but the Concierge was able to move us to Monday night. Squee!

 

 

 

 

The all-girl band playing in the atrium was good.

 

 

“Mmm, toothpaste pairs surprisingly well with Heineken.” — my classy husband

 

I love the little bite-sized treats at Cafe al Bacio. The lemon meringue tartlet was delightful. 

 

 

The husband wishes Sim Cruise was a thing. Not like metaverse, but a game like SimCity where you try to build a profitable and well-functioning ship.

 

We observed the True or False game show, and then played ‘general knowledge’ trivia as a team of two. We tied for first-place but lost the tie-break. Dang.

 

 

 

The husband declared that the men’s rooms have a “bold new urinal design” more suited to the tall gentleman. (He’s 6’5”.) I will not be asking further questions or requesting photos.

 

We swung through the casino, each dropping $20 with no success. Oh well. No one said free cruises are cheap.

 

 

Question: anyone know how the free $5 match play works?

 

Stopped by the martini bar, ordering espresso martinis in an ill-guided attempt to caffeinate up to stay up past 9pm. Delicious, but the server said they weren’t serving the small size so it cost an extra $7 each above the Classic beverage package.

 

 

 

Speaking of, some people are making really good use of the drink packages already. No judgment, but from previous experience I hope they pace themselves. And no more dancing on the martini bar!

 

The 80s Flashback party was super fun, with songs by the all-girl band (Magnifica). They played Annie Lennox, Rick Astley, Banarama, early Madonna, etc. I mostly chair-danced, but the husband (a former 80s new wave club kid) hit the floor for Soft Cell and A-ha.

 

 

Although I do argue that Cher’s Do You Believe In Love After Love is decidedly NOT 80s. Great song, but I was in ****ing university when that come out. (Fact-check: 1998!) 

 

We stuck around for the DJ… The husband requested some Bowie. I should have snuck over and specified Magic Dance but Let’s Dance was good too. (The husband’s 3rd favourite song.)

 

 

Oh god they got me dancing. Damn Journey and Bon Jovi. I better not remember this tomorrow.

 

To the very enthusiastic young lady with Big Anna Kendrick Energy who complimented my husband on his dancing: thank you, you made his night, his week, his year.

 

“Ha ha you’ve got to get up early for a manicure.” — my ******* husband after keeping me up until midnight 

 

Who cuts off the bang bang bang on the door baby tin roof rusted part of Love Shack?!?! Uncool Mr. DJ!

[Surfguyxxx]

Thanks for your perspective.  I'll be on the Edge in October doing the Suez Canal cruise from Rome to Dubai.  

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning!

 

Is the ship rocking or is that my hangover?

 

But wow did I love waking up to this view.

 

 

We tried leaving the verandah window down a crack, as we love falling asleep to the sound of the ocean, but even just open a smidge, it was hella loud so we had to close it all the way. Alas that meant that the husband’s thunderous snoring kept me awake much longer than I would have liked. Oh well.

 

 

I woke up a bit before my alarm, and headed down to Cafe al Bacio for some much-needed coffee. And a Nutella croissant. And a coffee and cherry danish for the husband because I’m a good wife.

 

 

Then it was off to the spa for my manicure appointment. The ship wifi is apparently slow for the staff, and they couldn’t get their iPads to work for the check-in and waivers, so it was back to pen and paper.

 

[OrcaGirl]

Manicure time! I got my first fancy shellac mani-pedi on the Solstice back in October, and the polish lasted *2* months. 
 

 

I still wish there was a ‘no upsell, promise I’ll tip extra’ option but alas, no. But the mani turned out super cool, even if they didn’t have any glitter/sparkling colours like on the Solstice.

 

 

Saw a Princess ship sailing by in the opposite direction but couldn’t tell which specific ship. (My next cruise is on the Discovery Princess in April.)

 

A bit of a squall blew in for a bit nearby but the weather is otherwise lovely.

 

I tried to head to Eden for a quick bite but forgot that they wrap up the breakfast service at 9:30am.

 

So back up to the buffet. Busy, but excellent food choices.

 

If you read my previous live threads, you’ll know I have strong opinions about hash browns. These were very, very good. 

 

 

I also enjoyed the bacon-mushroom-onion-Swiss omelet, but wish the ordering queue was a bit clearer and that there was space to wait that didn’t block a whole station. 

 

Now enjoying a mimosa while reviewing the day’s activity options and pondering how long I have to wait before waking up the husband by lowering the verandah window thingy.

 

[WNCtourist]

It's sad that even on Edge the evening buffet has been so reduced. Glad you are enjoying the rest of the cruise!

[Flatsman]

Just came off this same  cruise.  Ship is beautiful.  Take some time to explore the art work on each deck.  The passageways have real interesting photos on each deck.  We enjoyed the Eden cafe, open during sea days, for breakfast and lunch.  Get the chocolate chip cookies at lunch as soon as they set them out. They go fast.  Did they close the stirfry for dinner in the OV?  

[Momperson3]

Also just got off Edge— also a “free” cruise.  Surprise I even got a offer.  Haven’t cruise on Celebrity since 14 or 15 and even than probably spent less than $100 in casino. 
This time spent more—-(not a ton) but came out ahead.   Really hoping for another offer in future 

Our only complaint is the dinner buffet (just started cutting back beginning of January 

I can understand the cutback— but wish they would offer a little more— especially on a longer cruise & after port day

Hopefully, Celebrity will tweak it a little 

But amazing service & great ship

 

 

[vickykay]

How is everyone receiving free cruises?

[SFCAcruiser]

34 minutes ago, vickykay said:

How is everyone receiving free cruises?

 

Basically Celebrity has been running a "clearance" sale on poorly-booked itineraries and using the BCC to offer this promotion to some of us. Short answer to your next question - nobody here knows why some of us get the offers and others do not. 

It might be discourteous to Orcagirl to hijack her great thread about the Edge since this topic has been discussed  a number of times since at least last Summer. Search this forum for "BCC" (Blue Chip Club) and some threads will pop-up.

[Sibsie]

I’m on this cruise too. Was talking to the Retreat manager earlier and she said they were oversold in the Retreat and had to downgrade some cruisers and offer compensation. Retreat deck is really busy but we still managed to find a spot to sit for a while and it doesn’t feel too crowded. 
 

Our cabin is nice but some of the furniture is showing wear and tear. Staff are great and working their socks off. Haven’t seen our butler yet but with 14 cabins to look after they’re busy and we don’t need much. 

[britestar]

Following along. Thanks for posting.

[BRC6C]

Thanks for the live posting! My husband is on this cruise, also a BCC deal. 

[OrcaGirl]

1 hour ago, vickykay said:

How is everyone receiving free cruises?

Like others have mentioned, I had sailed ONCE on Celebrity like 5-6 years ago. I probably spent under $100 on slots, my husband maybe a couple hundred on table games. We are not big gamblers by any means. But we started getting the emails with free cruise offers last summer, and who am I to say no? 🤣

 

My October 2022 on the Solstice was also a BCC free cruise, and yea, that sailing was EMPTY. But this is a 10-day sailing on the Edge, and it’s very full. So I don’t think it’s about just filling poor-selling cruises anymore.

 

 

[SFCAcruiser]

49 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

...My October 2022 on the Solstice was also a BCC free cruise, and yea, that sailing was EMPTY. But this is a 10-day sailing on the Edge, and it’s very full. (with revenue passengers?) So I don’t think it’s about just filling poor-selling cruises anymore.

 

 

 Perhaps BCC did its job and managed to fill your cruise? We will never know, but it does not seem to have any effect on your fun.
I look forward to your next installment since I will be on Edge next month - my first E class cruise after many on M & S class ships. Thanks for sharing. 

[OrcaGirl]

Hung out at the Sunset Bar for a bit, drinking a way-too-strong-for-11am strawberry daiquiri, before returning to the cabin to wake Hungover Beauty. 

 

 

By then it was lunch time so back to the buffet. Lunch options are still looking good and plentiful.

 

First course: all the veggies!

 

 

Second course: all the carbs and cheese!

 

 

Random observations:

 

The in-app messaging seems to work well but doesn’t send a notification when you get a message so I had to trust that the husband would be actually checking the app when he woke up to know where I was.

 

Based on photos, my mom is convinced that my husband isn’t having a good time. I had to reassure her that’s just his ‘angry German resting face’ (he’s not German) and he’s actually incredibly thrilled with the ship. And the drink package she bought us. 👍 

 

I could spend hours just staring at the ship’s wake. (Our cancelled January cruise was going to be our first aft cabin and I’m still a little sad about missing out on that.)

 

 

The outdoor pool and the solarium are PACKED. Or at least every seat is claimed by a towel. 

 

I think we’ve seen one or two teenagers, and no little children at all. Either they’re all sticking to the kids clubs or most parents don’t pull their kids out of school for 10+ days in February. (Update: I have since spotted one toddler and two tweens.)

 

We met our cabin steward today, he seemed lovely and we were very impressed that after one night, he figured out that the husband needs the bed sheets left untucked due to his stupidly long legs. And I get to practice my Indonesian — terimah kasih banyak!

[Daneenm]

14 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

Evening activities and observations and shenanigans:

 

The all-girl band playing in the atrium was good.

 

 

The 80s Flashback party was super fun, with songs by the all-girl band (Magnifica). 

We really enjoyed Magnifica when we sailed in November!  We thought they were by far the best that performed in the Atruim in the evenings.

[miched]

Save $7 and get your espresso martini from Cafe al Bacio.   Tell them you want a shot of espresso, vodka, and the coffee liquor in the classic package plus some sweetener on ice.  Or get a shot of espresso and take that to a bar and order a classic Black Russian and then add the espresso to it 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

• 2 ounces vodka

• 1/2 ounce coffee liqueur (usually Kahlúa)

• 1 ounce espresso, freshly brewed (or cold brew concentrate)

• 1/2 ounce simple syrup

• Garnish: coffee bean