Likely not totally live, Edge, 50 somethings cruise to Alaska

[Barwick Cruiser]

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Ok.. don't ask what I've been smoking.... I honestly thought you captured a butterfly.

Good catch Jim…I had to go back and take another look! 🦋 

[Jim_Iain]

28 minutes ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Good catch Jim…I had to go back and take another look! 🦋 

I've met some bartenders that made roses out of the bar napkins.   Might have been a Black Rose.   

[tink218]

Looking forward to reading your report. We are going on this cruise next July with my son and his family. Have a great trip!

[cruisetonowhere10]

Well, I’m home and will provide a review. The “live” just didn’t happen for me.  I had the basic WiFi and many websites would load, but cruise critic wouldn’t.  Feel free to ask any questions as well. Spoiler alert…it was great and I have no complaints of any kind.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Welcome back.  Looking forward to your review and hearing about your experiences.

[mauimary]

1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Well, I’m home and will provide a review. The “live” just didn’t happen for me.  I had the basic WiFi and many websites would load, but cruise critic wouldn’t.  Feel free to ask any questions as well. Spoiler alert…it was great and I have no complaints of any kind.

I’ve experienced the same issue with basic WiFi trying to load CC.  It was just too frustrating trying to post and having to do it from onshore restaurants. I didn’t want to use the short time we had in Ports. Will look forward to reading your review. 

[Barwick Cruiser]

I had the same issue on Eclipse to Alaska..could browse with basic but couldn’t access cruise critic. On Silhouette in the Baltics I could access cruise critic on the basic…maybe its ship or geographic related? 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, glad you had a great time and I look forward to reading about it whenever you get a chance to post! 
Cathy

[cruisetonowhere10]

Embarkation/Embarkation Day:

 

Very smooth process.  We had a 10:30-11:00 port arrival time.  We left our hotel (Thompson Seattle) around 9:45 via Uber.  Traffic was heavy heading to the port.  For whatever reason, our Uber driver was able to get us right to the terminal building which was unexpected. We decided because we only had carry on suitcases and backpacks to deal with we would carry on our own luggage.  Got right through the checkpoints with no issues.  I’d guess we were sitting by 10:20, but I was too busy trying to figure out which person could be @Ferry_Watcher to worry about timing.  😂 The RC ship in port was boarded first then they started with Edge. This was a bit frustrating but what can you do? We were in group 3 and once they started boarding within minutes we were on the gangway and on the ship.  We went directly to our muster station (Cyprus) then my plan was to go to Cosmopolitan to see about our early dining reservations, but there was nobody there for that purpose.  We headed to our room which by all accounts was ready, and dropped our bags. This is most certainly not a known strategy…lots of people varying around their stuff making comments that they were waiting for an announcement.   Off for a walk around the ship to get a lay of the land, stopping at Cafe il Bacio for a snack of mini sandwiches for DH.  To the best of our knowledge we skipped lunch.  🤷🏼‍♀️ We eventually ended up back at Cosmopolitan to confirm we had a set early dining time of 5:30 and we did (at Cosmopolitan.) They said this should be in our room (that plus my Captain’s Club welcome info never materialized in the room, but the Effy locket did — more on that to come.) Then we headed to the Sunset Bar for some drinks and met a few people.  After sail away we unpacked, met our stateroom attendant (i Made and as others have mentioned that is a very common crew name) and off to Cosmopolitan for our first dinner.

[cruisetonowhere10]

Cosmopolitan Early Dining:

 

I am sure everyone has different preferences but we really wanted a set, early dining time with set staff. It worked out perfectly and I highly recommend.  We were at a 2-top table with a bit of a water view.  The couple next to us was awesome and we ended up really enjoying our time with them.  On the other side of us was a group of four older women who were also great to talk to.
 

Our waitstaff was Abdul, Nanik and Julie.  The wine collection area was right near us and I can say with 100% certainty I did receive Villa Maria SB straight from the correct (newly opened each evening in front of me) bottle. We also had a Malbec a few times but I’m not a red wine drinker so I didn’t pay attention to what it was — it was very drinkable. We can’t say enough good things about the food.  We overindulged every night in part because Abdul would insist we needed extra things to try.  In general we asked him what he recommended each evening and were always happy. We had dishes from all 4 main dining rooms (if you ask there is a menu that lists all of those options.) We did not miss a night and thoroughly enjoyed our set dining scenario. Our nearby tablemates were all very complimentary of the food.  I went in with the expectation I wasn’t eating gourmet food and I like to cook and we often find restaurant food to be a let down for the price so I was prepared to be unimpressed.  Definitely our experience was solidly good food (and we probably tried 70% of the offerings) with attentive staff who really wanted us to be pleased with our meal.  I did make sure to mention after Day 1 that the service and food was 10/10 on the survey 😂

[Ferry_Watcher]

28 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Got right through the checkpoints with no issues.  I’d guess we were sitting by 10:20, but I was too busy trying to figure out which person could be @Ferry_Watcher to worry about timing.  😂 The RC ship in port was boarded first then they started with Edge. This was a bit frustrating but what can you do? We were in group 3 and once they started boarding within minutes we were on the gangway and on the ship.

 

LOL, at about 10:30 that morning I remember looking up at the folks checking in and guessing that you had already been checked in.  Getting that #3 boarding group says to me that you were there pretty early.  The Ovation always begins embarkation earlier than the Edge.  Their terminal doors open around 9:45, and they start boarding earlier as well.  I think it is the difference between trying to get 4900 passengers embarked (Ovation), vs 3100 Edge passengers.

 

Happy to hear that your embark process went well. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

Cosmopolitan Breakfast and Lunch:

 

As a general rule, I dislike buffets (more on out positive Edge experience later) so we did have breakfast (2-3 times) lunch (once) in Cosmopolitan (including debarkation day.)

 

Breakast has all the standard breakfast options of which we tried several. We were also able to customize a bit (salmon instead of Canadian bacon on eggs Benedict, 4 egg omelet, etc.) Coffee, juice, whatever food you would like (DH got an omelet and eggs Benedict on debarkation day.)

 

We only went to lunch once in the MDR and had burgers (very good minus the fries which were not hot.)

 

I think this is a great option if you want to avoid the buffet.  

[cruisetonowhere10]

4 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

LOL, at about 10:30 that morning I remember looking up at the folks checking in and guessing that you had already been checked in.  Getting that #3 boarding group says to me that you were there pretty early.  The Ovation always begins embarkation earlier than the Edge.  Their terminal doors open around 9:45, and they start boarding earlier as well.  I think it is the difference between trying to get 4900 passengers embarked (Ovation), vs 3100 Edge passengers.

 

Happy to hear that your embark process went well. 

There were definitely more Ovation passengers and it was okay sitting there, just not entirely what I was expecting.  I did note that the priority access pass (or whatever it is called) really doesn’t do much for embarkation if you are already in an early boarding group.

[cruisetonowhere10]

Raw on Five — lunch:

 

This was the only speciality dining we did (after this and laundry and the premium dining package upgrade we had very little OBC left which ended up being used by DH for an emergency conference call which required upgrading him to the premium WiFi package with two days left.) We were pretty committed to having very little additional expense on this trip (I will recap that at the end for my fellow budgeters.) Raw on 5 was fine….it was a Sea Day so a nice way to spend a lunch but the sashimi and rolls we got were just okay by sushi standards.  Solid, but nothing worth paying for on top of the fact that you are already paying for food (for us anyway.) 

[cruisetonowhere10]

47 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Embarkation/Embarkation Day:

 

Very smooth process.  We had a 10:30-11:00 port arrival time.  We left our hotel (Thompson Seattle) around 9:45 via Uber.  Traffic was heavy heading to the port.  For whatever reason, our Uber driver was able to get us right to the terminal building which was unexpected. We decided because we only had carry on suitcases and backpacks to deal with we would carry on our own luggage.  Got right through the checkpoints with no issues.  I’d guess we were sitting by 10:20, but I was too busy trying to figure out which person could be @Ferry_Watcher to worry about timing.  😂 The RC ship in port was boarded first then they started with Edge. This was a bit frustrating but what can you do? We were in group 3 and once they started boarding within minutes we were on the gangway and on the ship.  We went directly to our muster station (Cyprus) then my plan was to go to Cosmopolitan to see about our early dining reservations, but there was nobody there for that purpose.  We headed to our room which by all accounts was ready, and dropped our bags. This is most certainly not a known strategy…lots of people varying around their stuff making comments that they were waiting for an announcement.   Off for a walk around the ship to get a lay of the land, stopping at Cafe il Bacio for a snack of mini sandwiches for DH.  To the best of our knowledge we skipped lunch.  🤷🏼‍♀️ We eventually ended up back at Cosmopolitan to confirm we had a set early dining time of 5:30 and we did (at Cosmopolitan.) They said this should be in our room (that plus my Captain’s Club welcome info never materialized in the room, but the Effy locket did — more on that to come.) Then we headed to the Sunset Bar for some drinks and met a few people.  After sail away we unpacked, met our stateroom attendant (i Made and as others have mentioned that is a very common crew name) and off to Cosmopolitan for our first dinner.

Here are a few ship pictures….

[cruisetonowhere10]

36 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Cosmopolitan Early Dining:

 

I am sure everyone has different preferences but we really wanted a set, early dining time with set staff. It worked out perfectly and I highly recommend.  We were at a 2-top table with a bit of a water view.  The couple next to us was awesome and we ended up really enjoying our time with them.  On the other side of us was a group of four older women who were also great to talk to.
 

Our waitstaff was Abdul, Nanik and Julie.  The wine collection area was right near us and I can say with 100% certainty I did receive Villa Maria SB straight from the correct (newly opened each evening in front of me) bottle. We also had a Malbec a few times but I’m not a red wine drinker so I didn’t pay attention to what it was — it was very drinkable. We can’t say enough good things about the food.  We overindulged every night in part because Abdul would insist we needed extra things to try.  In general we asked him what he recommended each evening and were always happy. We had dishes from all 4 main dining rooms (if you ask there is a menu that lists all of those options.) We did not miss a night and thoroughly enjoyed our set dining scenario. Our nearby tablemates were all very complimentary of the food.  I went in with the expectation I wasn’t eating gourmet food and I like to cook and we often find restaurant food to be a let down for the price so I was prepared to be unimpressed.  Definitely our experience was solidly good food (and we probably tried 70% of the offerings) with attentive staff who really wanted us to be pleased with our meal.  I did make sure to mention after Day 1 that the service and food was 10/10 on the survey 😂

Here are a few dinner pictures (in general we were too busy eating, talking, enjoying to bother with photos.)

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 minutes ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

There were definitely more Ovation passengers and it was okay sitting there, just not entirely what I was expecting.  I did note that the priority access pass (or whatever it is called) really doesn’t do much for embarkation if you are already in an early boarding group.

 

Open boarding for the Ovation usually happens by 11 AM.  The Edge usually has open boarding by 11:30, as they prefer a more leisurely opening (to help the crew working to get the staterooms mostly ready for luggage to be dropped off).

 

The Premium Access folks are the first group after the Retreat guests for boarding.  The Retreat guests are taken out a different door, so you may not have seen them at the start of embark.  

[cruisetonowhere10]

3 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Open boarding for the Ovation usually happens by 11 AM.  The Edge usually has open boarding by 11:30, as they prefer a more leisurely opening (to help the crew working to get the staterooms mostly ready for luggage to be dropped off).

 

The Premium Access folks are the first group after the Retreat guests for boarding.  The Retreat guests are taken out a different door, so you may not have seen them at the start of embark.  

Ahhh…I was wondering that.  I saw their “area” but never saw them walk by.

[cruisetonowhere10]

1 hour ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

Cosmopolitan Early Dining:

 

I am sure everyone has different preferences but we really wanted a set, early dining time with set staff. It worked out perfectly and I highly recommend.  We were at a 2-top table with a bit of a water view.  The couple next to us was awesome and we ended up really enjoying our time with them.  On the other side of us was a group of four older women who were also great to talk to.
 

Our waitstaff was Abdul, Nanik and Julie.  The wine collection area was right near us and I can say with 100% certainty I did receive Villa Maria SB straight from the correct (newly opened each evening in front of me) bottle. We also had a Malbec a few times but I’m not a red wine drinker so I didn’t pay attention to what it was — it was very drinkable. We can’t say enough good things about the food.  We overindulged every night in part because Abdul would insist we needed extra things to try.  In general we asked him what he recommended each evening and were always happy. We had dishes from all 4 main dining rooms (if you ask there is a menu that lists all of those options.) We did not miss a night and thoroughly enjoyed our set dining scenario. Our nearby tablemates were all very complimentary of the food.  I went in with the expectation I wasn’t eating gourmet food and I like to cook and we often find restaurant food to be a let down for the price so I was prepared to be unimpressed.  Definitely our experience was solidly good food (and we probably tried 70% of the offerings) with attentive staff who really wanted us to be pleased with our meal.  I did make sure to mention after Day 1 that the service and food was 10/10 on the survey 😂

Here are a few dinner pictures (in general we were too busy eating, talking, enjoying to bother with photos.)

[cruisetonowhere10]

Eden Cafe:

 

We ate breakfast (2 times) and lunch (once) at Eden Cafe and this is a great option if you don’t want to deal with people and aren’t picky.  The options are limited but we liked everything we got fine (not amazing but nice to just eat a small amount of something decent.) 

[cruisetonowhere10]

Oceanview Cafe (Buffet):

 

As I have mentioned, the buffet doesn’t hold huge appeal to us.  I’m a germaphobe (paranoid about norovirus — in fact I never touched any food with my hands…I even used a fork and knife for rolls) and the whole load your plate(s) with food just doesn’t scream fine dining to me.  That being said, the hand washing stations do make it easy to wash your hands, get your food, wash up again.  In any event, if you can’t find food you like at the buffet you are likely very picky.  We found the Indian food to be quite good and I had the best bolognese I’ve had in a long while at the made to order pasta station.  Didn’t try any of the desserts so can’t comment there.  We also enjoyed the roasted veggie carving area — roasted veggies and roast chicken were our go to healthier fare. Plenty of fresh fruit, cheeses, etc.  Drinks are available and servers come around and take alcoholic drink orders as well. The pizza was lackluster but we are New Haven/New York pizza fans in New England and I realize that’s hard to replicate.  All in all, I wouldn’t discount the buffet and thought most everything we tried was fine.  DH felt the scrambled eggs were not fresh eggs, which is what most people on here say.

[cruisetonowhere10]

Oceanview Cafe (Buffet):

 

As I have mentioned, the buffet doesn’t hold huge appeal to us.  I’m a germaphobe (paranoid about norovirus — in fact I never touched any food with my hands…I even used a fork and knife for rolls) and the whole load your plate(s) with food just doesn’t scream fine dining to me.  That being said, the hand washing stations do make it easy to wash your hands, get your food, wash up again.  In any event, if you can’t find food you like at the buffet you are likely very picky.  We found the Indian food to be quite good and I had the best bolognese I’ve had in a long while at the made to order pasta station.  Didn’t try any of the desserts so can’t comment there.  We also enjoyed the roasted veggie carving area — roasted veggies and roast chicken were our go to healthier fare. Plenty of fresh fruit, cheeses, etc.  Drinks are available and servers come around and take alcoholic drink orders as well. The pizza was lackluster but we are New Haven/New York pizza fans in New England and I realize that’s hard to replicate.  All in all, I wouldn’t discount the buffet and thought most everything we tried was fine.  DH felt the scrambled eggs were not fresh eggs, which is what most people on here say.

[cruisetonowhere10]

Bars:

 

I think we visited most, if not all.  We had big plans to use the premium drink package to try drinks we don’t normally try.  DH failed miserably as he loves cosmos and just ordered a grey goose cosmo everywhere (we watched quite a bit and it always seemed like it was a grey goose bottle.) I tried a few new drinks — Pina at Eden Bar was one of the grossest drinks I’ve ever had and I tried a dirty martini and wow, gross as well. I prefer fruitier options although the Mexicali martini at the martini bar was really good. Martini bar was our favorite but we also hunted down one bartender (Olympia) and went where she was. I don’t know if we hit our premium drink package break even point but it was likely close for DH.) It was nice not to worry about the price for sure and order what we wanted. 

[RK-NC]

14 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I tried a few new drinks — Pina at Eden Bar was one of the grossest drinks I’ve ever had

 

LOL! I agree! I really wanted to try some of the higher priced Eden drinks but after trying Pina, I was done. It's been great to read your review @cruisetonowhere10 Hope you had nice weather? I've read some other Alaska reviews/live reports and it seems like it's been very rainy this year. 

[cruisetonowhere10]

21 minutes ago, RK-NC said:

 

LOL! I agree! I really wanted to try some of the higher priced Eden drinks but after trying Pina, I was done. It's been great to read your review @cruisetonowhere10 Hope you had nice weather? I've read some other Alaska reviews/live reports and it seems like it's been very rainy this year. 

Our weather was quite good it sounds like.  The crew suggested this was the best it’s been in awhile.  Later on today I’ll move on from my food/drink reviews and eventually will get to weather/ports/etc.

[cruisetonowhere10]

Stateroom:  We had an infinite veranda room (7286) which was an aft stateroom.  We quite liked it and I was able to feel the wind in my hair, we kept the “window” down all the way each night and listened to the water and had a nice breeze.  This was great because despite setting the room ac to 70 or below we couldn’t get the room temp to go low enough for our liking but by opening the window we did.  We had some rainy/misty weather and it didn’t come into the room.  To the best of my knowledge the window was never locked so we had total control over it (mostly kept it open.) We sat in the chairs (they weren’t amazingly cozy but were acceptable.) We brought our good binoculars and used them to watch whales and the like.  The room was spacious, storage was fine (we had our two carry on suitcases and two backpacks and everything fit with room to spare.) Our house is circa 1980s and our master closets are of single regular size so we aren’t accustomed to a large walk in closet so this served the purpose and we could have brought and fit much more. Bathroom was very roomy, plenty of storage and well appointed.  No complaints.  Bed was acceptable — as good as I would expect. Stateroom attendant was great (although outside of wanting clean towels we have low needs/expectations.) I purchased one bag of laundry pre cruise on sale and we sent it out Saturday night jam packed and received it back on Sunday without issue. We spent plenty of time relaxing in our room looking out at the water.  We also enjoy watching port activities so we sat there for that as well. Refrigerator kept things very cold — I’m wondering if the fridge on the Edge class ships are different from S and M? Room was clean, no disrepair of any kind.  Only complaint is not a Celebrity one — we had kids above and next to us and it sounded like bowling practice was going on in the afternoons and one evening it was like everyone was up partying until the wee hours of the night. We both agree we would happily stay in an IV room again (cost was over 5k for the two of us and suite prices were untouchable for our budget.) We saw from a distance the porthole verandas and didn’t love the look of the balcony. They seemed small and the porthole wouldn’t have offered the same light, full wall of viewing that we had. I brought magnetic hooks which I highly recommend for raincoats/hats/backpacks. We would have concerns in a warmer weather cruise with the ac if it’s really capped and can’t go lower.