Solstice or Edge - Caribbean with aft (sunset) balcony

[rodndonna]

We are looking at booking a Caribbean cruise for Jan 2026 with Celebrity and am trying to decide between Solstice and  Edge class. 

 

We have sailed Millenium once and loved it and have booked Constellation.

 

The cruise we are looking at booking for Jan 2026 would be geared primarily to ship experience. Am drawn to trying the Edge class but wondering if we should just save a few dollars and book Solstice Class. We would be taking an aft balcony, so the Infinite Verandah thing doesn't come into play.

 

From purely a ship experience - are there any compelling reasons to pay a little more for Edge class ? If we go Edge, should be just go all in and book  Excel? 

Edited February 10 by rodndonna

[PTC DAWG]

Hard to go wrong here..

[Liao]

24 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

We are looking at booking a Caribbean cruise for Jan 2026 with Celebrity and am trying to decide between Solstice and  Edge class. 

 

We have sailed Millenium once and loved it and have booked Constellation.

 

The cruise we are looking at booking for Jan 2026 would be geared primarily to ship experience. Am drawn to trying the Edge class but wondering if we should just save a few dollars and book Solstice Class. We would be taking an aft balcony, so the Infinite Verandah thing doesn't come into play.

 

From purely a ship experience - are there any compelling reasons to pay a little more for Edge class ? If we go Edge, should be just go all in and book  Excel? 

I have only sailed on Celebrity twice, once on the Edge and once on the Summit.  Both ships are very nice, but very different.  Though the staff working on both ships, in my experience, were among the best in the service industry I have encountered.  I felt that there was much much more to do on the Edge ship, the entertainment in the bars and lounges and in the theatre were all excellent.  I liked it so much I just booked another two week cruise on the Apex.  

[Reel Love]

Based on your comment of "purely a ship experience" I would give a slight nod to try the Edge.  Have sailed all three classes (Solstice class is my personal favourite), but I found the Edge to be quite stunning and really enjoyed the ship.  But as PTC Dawg said, really hard to go wrong with either choice.  Whichever class of ship you choose.....enjoy! 🙂

[jelayne]

We love the Edge class and have sailed all 4 E class ships with the Xcel booked.  Our 1st cruise on the Edge we were in love with her, Apex is almost identical. Then the Beyond came out and they added or changed some things making it even better.  
 

We got off the Ascent at the end of January it was even better than the Beyond.  We are booked on the Xcel for January 2026.  In the meantime we have 2 booking on the Edge and 2 on the Apex.  
 
 

[NMTraveller]

It depends upon what you mean by ship experience. E class is more crowded at venues,  S class less,  and M class is the best.  M class is more chill and E class more crowded...  S class is in between.  E class does not have the Sky Lounge .  My choice is always M or S,  or E if in a suite.

[paulh84]

I’d pick Edge class 90% of the time. You can get on Beyond from Miami in Aqua with All Included for around $4k right now. SV is about $250 less. With today’s prices that’s hard to beat. 

Edited February 10 by paulh84

[George C]

My first celebrity cruise was solstice in sky suite, recently did penthouse on edge . Suite stuff way better on edge. Big plus in general is entertainment is way better on edge class , more specialty restaurants.

[Mauidiver]

You’ve asked such a personal question regarding preferences.  We cruise for itineraries more than the ships being the destination, so we choose our itinerary first, then the ship when there’s a choice.  Were I cruising just for the ship experience, then it’s E class for us. 
 

We like that the E class ships are more modern than other classes in the line.  We really like the 4 MDR concept over a traditional dining room as for us it feels more “restaurant” than “banquet” style.  And we love the pool deck and public spaces on E class as there are so many choices for hanging out.

[rodndonna]

Thank you all!

 

We've decided and Edge class it is for this cruise. 😃

 

Probably the Beyond 😎

[keesar]

44 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Thank you all!

 

We've decided and Edge class it is for this cruise. 😃

 

Probably the Beyond 😎

Do your homework choosing a room on Beyond.  There are a number of rooms that have issues with noise.  In any case, bring ear plugs on that ship.  

[jelayne]

47 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Thank you all!

 

We've decided and Edge class it is for this cruise. 😃

 

Probably the Beyond 😎

You will have a great time!

[rodndonna]

1 hour ago, keesar said:

Do your homework choosing a room on Beyond.  There are a number of rooms that have issues with noise.  In any case, bring ear plugs on that ship.  

 

Thanks, will try to avoid noisy locations based in reviews. We always use a white noise app on our tablet ... at home and travelling so that usually helps if we pick wrong or get bad neighbours, 😃