Celebrity Edge's Blocks Are In The House!

[hcat]

Lloyd... thanks...keep those teasers coming!

 

Love the pool...there will be loungers around and even in the pool edge...

New spot for chair hogs!

 

The elevated hot tubs are scary!

[Tall-Cruiser]

Some would call this glimpse of the Edge a tease. [emoji12]

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

 

Lloyd - Thanks as always for the photo tease/updates. A while back I thought one of the hot tubs was blue, but it looks like it's just a covering on it.

Eroller is right - the pool is big.

[Tall-Cruiser]

Damn the pool is big. I love it. Perhaps the largest afloat along with the TUI new builds (which EDGE is modeled after). Looks like there is even a damper in the center that raises up to prevent excessive water movement.

 

-eroller - Is this a common thing now with some of the new builds with large pools? Thanks.

[marylander2]

the pool is long and deep - compare the depth of it with the height of the guy walking near it on the last pic...

[marylander2]

I was trying to find some photos I took from my last cruise. These were taken during our stop in Grand Cayman and you can clearly see that Norwegian Escape is using their own Tender launches.

 

I am not sure why it happens, but apparently either when the sea is calm or when there is an overwhelming number of the ships in the port, they allow to use the ship's tenders (there could be up to 8 ships at one day over there!). One of the reasons that they claim for using tenders overall is that the fringe coral reef comes too close to the shore and they don't want the ships to get docked, thus to speed up the tendering process they offer to use larger (~200 pax) local boats.

 

I also saw an interesting suggested project on GC where they consider building remote docking piers - on a distance from the shore - and use cable cars to ship passengers to the shore from those docks...

[Sandy1975]

Awesome pool and great hot tub. I may use it on my own because there is no way my hubbie will be up there!

[marylander2]

Not sure there are many in the current Caribbean itinerary... but if you think about it.... down the road it opens the ship to small ports that they don't currently service. If tendering is easy and more pleasant for the passengers... then perhaps ships can start stopping at some of the other islands not currently serviced. Let's face it... after a while going to the same places... while nice... does get old... so throw in a Saba other island and you have some freshness in the itinerary.

I tend to disagree with some of your otherwise excellent points, Kearney.

Tendering would NEVER be an easy or a pleasant experience unless you are on a ship carrying only a few hundred pax. Windstar (who at some point was btw stopping at Saba - that's how I visited that island) or perhaps Crystal (who makes regular stops there this season) are those where tendering would be less painful. The issue is not much the comfort or the boat, it is its capacity and frequency of shuttling plus the distance from the pier. Local authorities allow only this much of lifeboats to be used by the cruise ship for tendering, and the bottleneck in tendering is still the ticketing system and waiting time. Recall how much time you spent onboard waiting in line (if you really need to go ashore early for private excursion) vs the actual tendering time...

Of course, if you are in the suites or bought ship tour or have a status that lets you beat the lines (I am Elite Plus, this helps a bit) - then it is easier, but still would be neither pleasant nor easy even with magic carpet and new boats... Better - perhaps.

Saba is a sleeping small piece of the rock - there is nothing there to offer to us cruise folks, there is only ONE beach, which is washed on and off depending on the wind/waves, and 3-4 tiny villages that do not have anything typical for other cruise meccas. There is a school of medicine, and the only reason to have it there - as I figured - is that students would have no nightlife or other distractions ...

[DachshundsRule]

They sure have a way to go. Can’t believe they’ll be walking travel agents around the ship next week.

[steamboats]

Thursday September 13.

 

I read two news reports ... one was saying September 13th, the other September 12th.

 

steamboats

[DachshundsRule]

Earlier the better!

[Cruise a holic]

Awesome pool and great hot tub. I may use it on my own because there is no way my hubbie will be up there!

 

The hot tub has no protection from the sun. Hope that another one is in an adult pool area and protected. With all the information we have available about the dangers of direct sun light- a no sun option should be available for those who care.

[deliver42]

Maybe it's me, but I don't remember any hot tubs, other than in a solarium being shaded from the sun.

[Lloyd555]

The tenders.

Photos by Christian Plagué

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

Best shots so far of the tenders..maybe not as bad an obstruction?

 

Thanks Lloyd

[hcat]

Maybe it's me, but I don't remember any hot tubs, other than in a solarium being shaded from the sun.

 

I recall some covered outdoor hot tubs but not sure what ships..we do.not use them because they permit children to use them as baby pools.

 

Ones in the solarium are very nice usually but I bet they'll be crowded as many people are not going to be fans of the martini glasses... fear of heights and they look like they are away from gen pool seating.

[citruscruiser]

It looks like the open deck above the pool is in a decline/incline (depending how you perceive it). Or is it an optical illusion?

[lucangus]

Any new pictures from the Inside ??? Can't wait to step onboard in inaugural season. I'm in on March 3rd 2019 Ship will only be 8 weeks old !

[hcat]

I am not sure why it happens, but apparently either when the sea is calm or when there is an overwhelming number of the ships in the port, they allow to use the ship's tenders (there could be up to 8 ships at one day over there!). One of the reasons that they claim for using tenders overall is that the fringe coral reef comes too close to the shore and they don't want the ships to get docked, thus to speed up the tendering process they offer to use larger (~200 pax) local boats.

 

I also saw an interesting suggested project on GC where they consider building remote docking piers - on a distance from the shore - and use cable cars to ship passengers to the shore from those docks...

 

Cable car..would be a big effort...esp for a windy port. Not that practical!

 

.the place is overcrowded by many ships ..There's traffic congestion, excursion congestion, beach crowds etc.....maybe they should impose a stricter limit limit on visitors per day..

[eroller]

The port of Geiranger in Norway has an interesting solution to tendering. The ships still anchor in the inlet, but at least one gets to use a telescopic pier that actually moves out to the ship. It’s pretty cool.

[cruise47]

Thanks Lloyd555, for posting those two (2) photos of the new The Edge tender boats.

[vtcruising]

Best shots so far of the tenders..maybe not as bad an obstruction?

 

Thanks Lloyd

The one on the left is tucked up and in and looks a little more obstructive than the middle one that is out and hanging down a bit. I am assuming that they usually will be up and tucked onto deck 5?

 

Great to see them uncovered! :D

[vtcruising]

They sure have a way to go. Can’t believe they’ll be walking travel agents around the ship next week.

I was thinking the same thing. They likely will have some staterooms (including a suite or two) ready and maybe a couple of key venues finished for photo ops? Can't wait!

[Cruise a holic]

I recall some covered outdoor hot tubs but not sure what ships..we do.not use them because they permit children to use them as baby pools.

 

Ones in the solarium are very nice usually but I bet they'll be crowded as many people are not going to be fans of the martini glasses... fear of heights and they look like they are away from gen pool seating.

Don’t recall outdoor shaded hot tubs outdoors either. Maybe on older ships

[vtcruising]

It looks like the open deck above the pool is in a decline/incline (depending how you perceive it). Or is it an optical illusion?

Maybe you are looking at the jogging track up to 16? It does make 16 look a little slanted.:)

[kearney]

Lloyd, nice looking tenders.... Seems obstructions are minimal for the tenders.... davits a bit more annoying... but the top portion of the windows are clear.... I know that there have been a lot of comments about the orange arches... but the pop of color is better, in my opinion, than the fancy painted hulls of Norwegian.