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We've stayed in a Sky Suite twice now... and we have a 5 1/2 year old now so some of this was tailored to that

1) Emptied Fridge of everything except Iced Tea / Milk - we specifically asked for that

2) For afternoon fruit - customized to what we wanted so there wasn't waste

3) Wanted TV out of Hotel Mode so we could would iPad on TV

4) They can help with dining reservations / shore excursions

I believe they can help with unpacking / packing but we are fine doing that on our own.

We did alaska about 6-7 years ago on Regent which is MUCH more just on the surface (Starting around 11k per cabin including airfare) - however that is all inclusive and includes many excursions options in each port.

I will agree with others that it depends on what you are looking for in terms of "things to do" on the ship - They do have shows / entertainment throughout the ship, but they don't have the "rock climbing walls, flow riders, games" etc that other ships have.

A couple of notes / things to consider:

1) Alaska (like many European cruises) tends to be a sight seeing cruise so you may find after a half day / full day excursion you just want a quite evening

2) Look at the itineraries - some are round trip, some are one way also the length most are 7 days some 10-11 days

3) Look at flight costs even look for this year just to get an idea

4) Look at the excursions you want to do - Some will say do on your own, others will say do through the cruise

This is more of a personal preference what you prefer - I took a look at one tour "Alaska's First City Highlights and Lumberjack Show" which is showing for $59/pp where as just getting tickets for the Lumberjack Show is $37 so you need to see is it worth the little bit extra to be part of the ship tour and not worry about getting back on time.

Once you do all this I would look at the base fare, the airfare, and then the cost for excursions / tours you want to do and factor all that in - You may also want to look at Royal as they have similar sailings to Celebrity but their ships have more of the "Family friendly" activities on board 

9 minutes ago, richstowe said:

Wow! your expectations are very different then mine would be . An expensive summer Mediterranean cruise out of a fabulous city on a brand new ship - My hopes for a amazing cruise would be very high .

I care more about the places i'm going to see than the ship itself - after doing so many cruises in the Caribbean where half the time we just hung out on the ship and didn't really care about the activities or shows - we were just going to get away.... now we cruise for sight seeing and in many respects the ship is just a floating hotel  - do I want a nice room sure - but my wife doesn't drink and for as much as I do, I really don't - we like seeing simple shows and as well as larger productions - we like seeing the cirque shows.

This is what is nice about cruising is that for those that want the ship to be the destination it can be and for those that just look at it as the means of transportation that works too - 

One thing to note and that I find interesting - is that the riverboat cruises (which we haven't done yet as we have a 5 yr old) cost just the same if not more than some of basic (non suite) cabins on Celebrity - and you aren't getting nearly all the bells and whistles as what you get on Celebrity.

I guess my overall point is that while the reviews maybe coming in negative - it is a matter of perspective and what the expectations are.

I find it interesting to read the reviews / feedback - here are my 2 cents

1) This is a brand new ship / class - so if you expect the exact same experience as other ships you are going to be disappointed 

2) these preview cruises are as much a way to show off the ship as they are training for the crew - My country club recently renovated our clubhouse and before we opened backed up we went through a about a month of "shakedown" where it was limited the number of people who came and after every meal we were giving a survey to complete before we left.

I would say to expect the first month or so of regular schedule to get things worked out - once they get into their rhythm of the weekly turn around I think a lot of things will be worked out. I also wouldn't be surprised if over the next few weeks we hear about various mechanical issues that might creep up - I remember many years ago we were on a new NCL ship for new years and it was the 4th sailing and one night in the middle of the cruise the ship was listing for about 45 minutes because on of the stabilizers wouldn't retract - they can only test so much before it comes online

3) I always find food subjective - what one person thinks is wonderful - someone else really doesn't like

4) Room size / IV - The IV is something new  - long time celebrity customers are used to a "cookie cutter" experience on the cabins  - so now they have something completely different 

I will be on the Edge in July out of Barcelona - My expectation is that it is a new ship and I have no exception otherwise - it will be a new experience

How is the wifi / internet speed - I know it maybe better in this part of the world than others depending on the service they are using

3 hours ago, MVPinBoynton said:

here is a pic of the back of TV.  I will fix it up before I put it in the review. There is a way to use Apple AirPlay on the TV also; but I didn’t have the time to play with it. 

 

Mike from a fellow boynton beach person (and techie) thank you for the photo - I'm hoping that either airplay will work on they have the HDMI port enabled - we have a little one and it's useful for putting videos up on the tv

Philip

1 minute ago, vtcruising said:

Just tried it and it does! Thanks, I wouldn’t have tried it. 😀

Thanks - if you can post a pic that would be great - hopefully it's a little warmer on the ship - it's only in the low 40s this morning in the West Palm Beach area

Philip

Sorry to hear about your mis-step - I have a question about the S1 - and probably other cabins - with the TV mounted across from the couch - does it tilt at all so you watch from in bed or do you have to sit on the couch and watch?

VT.... if you could get a shot of the TV connection - or see if it's able to hook up an HDMI cable - we are in Sky Suite in July (i believe it's considered an S2 - so I'm curious

thanks

Now that there are some folks on board.... I was wondering if someone can get a photo of the TV hookups ....specifically in the Sky Suite - but really any room - I want to see how easy it would be to hook up my ipad to the HDMI to watch some videos 🙂

it seems like it's doing a 360 before docking

http://www.ftlauderdalebeachcam.com/

Now that we have a "finished product" it is very interesting to watch the 2nd build and be able to identify what blocks are

I'm not sure if the edge will show up on any of these cameras but it may - these are web cams from around the azores

http://www.spotazores.com/  and https://www.webcams.travel/webcam/fullscreen/1214724319

On MarineTraffic.com it shows updated about 5 minutes ago just off the coast of spain

I think it depends on where the different sites get their data from and if it is satellite based or radio based

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:5655169/zoom:14

Tracking the edge

For those interested... https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/ Here you can search for movements into Port Everglades - Edge is listed in their list of ships to search for - It seems that they only have scheduled through November 3rd right now - as we get closer you should be able to see when it's scheduled for

I'll chime in here as I've been the Oasis of the Seas - given the number of passengers, they muster in MANY different venues inside the ship both large and small - I believe the one that we were assigned to accounts for 2 or 3 lifeboats and it was a small venue - even there we were standing shoulder to shoulder or on the floor.

I agree with the statements that these indoor areas are staging areas and have a very different purpose than needing to have a seat for everyone - and for purposes while at sea under "normal" operations you are probably correct that they wouldn't allow that many people at one time

Just wondering when we are going to see some more photos ?????

I would check out South Florida Shuttles - the issue with Uber / Lyft is that we don't have the multiple sizes as readily available down here in south florida as other major cities

We were on that trip this summer - the independent guests I believe could get off between 8:30 and 8:45 - you then need to get through customs and figure on a good 20-30 minutes back to the airport and that is assuming you have a car waiting to take you and they are outside the terminal

From my understanding is that for every 4 cabins that have the "regular balcony" that they middle 2 have the post - I will be in a Sky Suite (s2) and we have one of the "end" cabins so won't have the post, I'm not sure if I'd rather have the Infinite Balcony or a standard one... or Infinite Balcony vs a balcony with a post - I think it will be very interesting once we start seeing post from people who are in the cabins vs just what we are seeing

You will get a code when you check-in for the cruise - then you will setup your internet account once on board and enter the code - it is unique per person - you can only have 1 device logged on at a time per user account with the perk

9207 would be greatly appreciated - I keep trying to count / figure it out, but it seems to be just out of frame for most of the close ups

We just booked on the Celebrity Edge for July 2019. We plan on spending 2-3 days before the cruise in Barcelona.

We are a family of 5 (My folks, myself and wife and our 5 year old) - We had a wonderful company in Rome which did the airport / port pickup drop off as well as had some walking tours available -

I know walking tours may not be an option in Barcelona but looking for recommendations of tour companies / things to do