woneill63

Wow, a lot of replies, and I appreciate each and every one ! The room situation is basically apples to apples, Edge sunset veranda as opposed to an Equinox balcony stateroom, not much difference if any. My wife does tend to sleep in each morning when we don't have an earlier excursion booked, at least until 10 am. While I usually get up around 7, get some exercise, then breakfast, and read a book on the balcony. This is why we always book balcony rooms, she can stay in bed, in relative darkness, while I am occupied on the balcony. I have not heard the best things about an iv stateroom, so we will continue to book 'true' balcony rooms. We always prefer to get a late dining time, 8 or 8:30, this seems to give us more time during the day for excursions and a visit to the pool, usually a nap from 4:30 to 6. Then cocktails before dinner or a show in the main theater. On the Constellation, we almost always met up with friends at the Rendezvous Lounge before dinner for a drink and entertainment. After dinner we usually had drinks at the martini bar. Looking at the deck plans, it looks like the Edge has 6 bars for 2900 cruisers, while the Equinox has 11 bars for 2800. The two newest Edge class ships, Beyond and Ascent, have corrected this shortcoming by adding at least two more bars. I don't understand why Celebrity would push for all inclusive pricing and then reduce the number of bars to service their clientele. On almost all of our cruises, we get the drink package, so, yes, we do enjoy our cocktails while cruising. The area of the Edge that I am most intrigued by is easily Eden. After we drop off our carry on baggage in our room, we are heading directly there to check it out and have lunch. We purchased the three night dining package, and will probably dine at Eden twice and Fine Cut once. I know that both cruises will be spectacular in their own way and will be cruising with an open mind towards both type ships finer points. Cheers !

Very interesting, my wife and I will be sailing on the Edge Oct 14, 10 nighter out of Rome, booked in room # 7315, my sister and husband are in # 7310. We have never sailed in an aft cabin before and I was not really interested in an iv cabin. We usually book balcony cabins as high up as possible, under the pool deck or buffet area, and near the elevators. We have never had a problem with noise.

For those of you who have sailed both class of ships, which do you prefer and why ? We have only sailed on Celebrity once, Constellation 10 nighter out of Rome back in the summer of 2019, and were very impressed with the overall quality and service aboard. We are experienced cruisers, with more than 25 cruises on various lines, who are getting older, late 50s now, and booking less cruises with Royal and NCL, and starting to book more with Celebrity. We have an upcoming 10 day sailing on the Edge in October out of Rome and an 8 night Equinox in late May. From all my research and reviews that I have read, it looks like the Equinox looks like a better fit for us. I am very confident that each cruise will be fantastic. Thoughts and input ? Cheers

Maya Chan was a romantic beach break type excursion, just my wife and I. We had a nice private area to ourselves, with a hammock, thatched roof canopy, a couple of chairs, and a beach bed. Fantastic service and great food, we really enjoyed it. Krazy Lobster was very different. We had a table 20 feet from the water, just hanging out with my guys, shots of tequila, loud music and carrying on. The service and food were just as good, just a totally different atmosphere and vibe.

We have eaten at Giovanni's seven or eight times and have never had a bad meal, food was delicious and the service was very good. We have tried Jamie's Italian twice and were disappointed, we won't try it again. We dined at Izumi's recently on the Mariner, the food and chef show were ok, nothing to write home about. If you really like the habachi table cooking and rarely do it around your home, then go for it. If not, Giovanni's, in my opinion, is the better choice.

My favorite comment was "If that is a balcony, than my house has 27 balconies". Ha, ha.

We bought the three night dining package on the Mariner a few years ago. Right after boarding I went to Chops and made all my reservations for the sailing. I got the nights and times I wanted within 30 minutes. I have since been on the Mariner a few times and all the specialty restaurants were very good, especially Chops. The best was easily Chef's Table, I can't recommend this experience enough, well worth the eighty something dollars spent per person.

We were at the Coco Beach Club last month on a 8 day Mariner sailing. Cost was 250 per person. The lunch was spectacular, service and food was second to none. I went all out and had three lobster tails and a filet, probably the best lunch I ever had. Service to our beach side loungers was spotty at best. l have had better service at most beach resorts. Despite there being two ships in port, it was nice and quiet during our visit, it felt very exclusive and inviting. Cards on the table, my brother in law picked up the tab for our visit. And this was my first visit to Coco Cay, so I can't really compare it to a typical stop there. In the next few months I will be visiting Coco Cay twice so I will be able to judge it better as I will not be going to the Beach Club.

Ok, here is the real deal. This happened to me again a few weeks ago on my Mariner June 5 sailing. They scanned my carry on and then asked me if I had anything to declare. I said, and I quote, "No, not really" and kept on walking. In my carry on I had 12-12 oz waters and three bottles of wine. I could have just about anything in that carry on and I believe that they would not challenged me. A few years back, on an NCL cruise, I had three bottles of wine on my carry on, and one bottle was confiscated at embarkation, it was brought to my cabin on the last day in the afternoon for us to enjoy that evening. So, in summation, from my personal experience, you can smuggle as much as you want on board, using the shambooze bottles and other means, plus bring as least three bottles in your carry on.

Correct, I was on the Mariner two weeks ago. What used to be called Sorrento's is now Cafe Promenade, serving the same exact type food, slices and small sandwhiches.

We always book as far out as possible, usually at least a year. We have found that this gives us a good price and room selection. Then I call a rep at least once or twice a month looking for a price reduction. Calling repeatedly has really paid off, I got a total of almost sixteen hundred off of our three staterooms on a recent Mariner 8 nighter. The reps dont mind and are happy to reprice your cruise if possible. Cheers and Happy Sailing.

I did a Brilliance four night boy's cruise on Feb 24 of this year, while the ship was sailing at 50 percent capacity. I don't think that I ever glanced at the pool movie screen so I can't comment to that. The ship is over 20 years old and is showing it's age in certain areas. Our rooms were all fine, the service was very good, and the food was excellent. We did a family cruise, six of us, Mariner 8 nighter a few weeks ago that was nearly full. Other than our mdr waitstaff being new with a few minor hiccups, it was a smooth cruise from start to finish. I would suggest that you try a newer Royal ship to get a more accurate feel for the cruise line. We did an Alaskan cruise, back in July, 2007, on a smaller twenty plus year old Princess ship, and were not impressed. Eventually, we will get around to giving them another shot at our business, as they appear to have some interesting itineraries. We usually sail with Royal because our son loves their kid's clubs and their family friendly ships and staff. We tried a Celebrity 10 day Adriatic cruise a few years ago and it was fantastic. As our son gets older, he is 15 now, and eventually departs our household, we will probably move to Celebrity and give Cunard and Princess a try. Cheers and Happy Sailing.