Celebrity Edge Cruise Ship to Debut Early With New Preview Sailing Dates in November

[LauraS]

Check out the latest Celebrity Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Celebrity Edge Cruise Ship to Debut Early With New Preview Sailing Dates in November

[IanK]

While it is exciting that Edge is progressing well, it now means that my sailing (which was the second sailing) is now the 7th sailing. I'd be Really P*ssed if I had booked on the original "Maiden Voyage" to now be told that it is the 6th sailing - just calling it the maiden voyage doesn't make it the maiden voyage.

 

A bit misleading Celebrity !

[SusieDee]

While it is exciting that Edge is progressing well, it now means that my sailing (which was the second sailing) is now the 7th sailing. I'd be Really P*ssed if I had booked on the original "Maiden Voyage" to now be told that it is the 6th sailing - just calling it the maiden voyage doesn't make it the maiden voyage.

 

A bit misleading Celebrity !

 

No kidding!!! ‘Really Pissed’ is an understatement.

 

We immediately booked the ‘inaugural’ Caribbean cruise sailing Dec 16th when we heard about the new edge ship. We were super excited! We rearranged our cruising schedule to go on this cruise instead of another one we’d already place a deposit upon. Then we were asked for an additional deposit which we happily paid and we’ve spent the past 10 months thrilled at the premise of the special feeling of being among the first guests on the ship. Last week we were notified the ship was going to be finished early and that we could keep that booking or change our booking to the new earlier cruise on Dec 9th .. well okay, that’s fine, we’ll do that, even though it means we lose a week of income- it will be worth it, right! We want to be on that first sailing!

 

Then we hear today that there will be FOUR ‘preview’ sailings prior to ours. Yes, Really pissed!! There is no way. None. The word CANCEL flashed in red lights in my mind.

 

My poor agent. All the work she’s done so far only to receive my email this morning cancelling our cruise and requesting a full refund. What a disappointing decision Celebrity made.

 

I know this is first world problems, but when you’re paying super premium rates (Celebrity is already pricier, and we always go aqua class A1 and had a sky suite on our last cruise 2 months ago) there’s a big investment we’re making for that feeling of being special. Now we’ve been kicked to the curb! I certainly don’t feel like a celebrity any more.

 

Get a grip, Celebrity. You just gave us huge cause to look at other options. We were extremely loyal and wouldn’t have dreamed of even looking at another cruise line, but now I will go out of my way to do so. After all the glowing recommendations I’d made. After all the word of mouth and good faith we held for you. We were working our way up the ranks in the Captains Club and the Elite level was on the horizon! I couldn’t care less now. Oh how quickly things change when the fairy-tale illusion that you actually care about your guests is vaporized.

 

I sincerely hope the backlash is huge.

 

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Edited January 9, 2018 by SusieDee
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[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

We had a similar experience with Princess a few years ago. In June 2013, we sailed on the official maiden voyage of the Royal Princess. We also booked the maiden voyage of the Regal Princess for June 2014 (very far in advance). We thought it would be fun to be on the maiden voyage of both of these sister ships. However, the Regal Princess was completed early and Princess added two seven-day cruises before our "maiden" cruise. They offered to let us switch to the new maiden voyage before the sailing was open to the public. However, we stayed with the cruise that we had booked because we preferred the itinerary. Thus, our cruise became the ship's third sailing.

 

On the bright side, the experience on the Edge's December 16 cruise should be better because the crew will have several prior voyages to work out any unexpected problems that may occur.

 

Chuck

[lizhutch424]

I understand being disappointed that the sailing you booked is no longer the inaugural sailing. I even understand the choice to cancel. But your anger at Celebrity is misguided and a bit of an overreaction in my opinion. I can’t imagine letting something like being on the fourth sailing instead of a first sailing completely ruin a trip on a brand new ship with your loved ones. The article posted above says that the same thing has happened with RCI’s latest ship. Also, cruise lines regularly have sailings before the official maiden voyage for press and others. Don’t see the need for hysterics here.

[MartiniBarhooked]

Seems like the December 6th sailing is a BARGAIN.

[SusieDee]

Hi,

 

We had a similar experience with Princess a few years ago. In June 2013, we sailed on the official maiden voyage of the Royal Princess. We also booked the maiden voyage of the Regal Princess for June 2014 (very far in advance). We thought it would be fun to be on the maiden voyage of both of these sister ships. However, the Regal Princess was completed early and Princess added two seven-day cruises before our "maiden" cruise. They offered to let us switch to the new maiden voyage before the sailing was open to the public. However, we stayed with the cruise that we had booked because we preferred the itinerary. Thus, our cruise became the ship's third sailing.

 

On the bright side, the experience on the Edge's December 16 cruise should be better because the crew will have several prior voyages to work out any unexpected problems that may occur.

 

Chuck

 

They offered, so we switched to the new sailing the week prior then they added 4 more sailings of idiotic 3 day Bahamas cruises (that we would never do!) we were never advised at all. We happened upon the info through a cruise promotion site.

[mnocket]

If the ship is going to be finished early, do you really expect Celebrity to just let it sit idle? I'm sorry you're disappointed. Celebrity could have made some concessions (extra OBC?) to those who paid a premium for the maiden voyage that is no more, but I can understand their decision to add earlier sailings.

[DCT61]

The same thing happened to us on the SOLSTICE. We were on the inaugural cruise, when 3 were added prior to ours. We cancelled and booked one of the added dates at a cheaper price. NOW when we see advertised inaugural cruises...we laugh.

[chemmo]

They offered, so we switched to the new sailing the week prior then they added 4 more sailings of idiotic 3 day Bahamas cruises (that we would never do!) we were never advised at all. We happened upon the info through a cruise promotion site.

 

Having cruised on Equinox for the first ‘suite life’ cruise (only minor adjustments, not a new ship!) and seeing many issues (no menus, incorrect chairs in Luminae, odd opening times, different butlers interpreting perks differently....) I would never want to be on the first cruise of a new ship!

 

Those first three day cruises will just get the ship up to speed...The broken shower, the buffet hot plate with an issue, the leaking toilet....all will be spotted and rectified. The routines of service in different bar areas, the boarding and disembarking procedures ‘tweaked’ to perfection, the appropriateness of venues for events will be reviewed....your maiden voyage would run better for those trial short cruises.

 

I can understand your disappointment but honestly think if you kept your cruise it may be better than if you were the ‘first’ on board.

 

Perhaps in future Celebrity should name the first published cruise something different than ‘maiden’, perhaps ‘the official first sailing’ offering some special events....Then if extra pre cruises were offered you would feel less cheated.

[excitedofharpenden]

No kidding!!! ‘Really Pissed’ is an understatement.

 

We immediately booked the ‘inaugural’ Caribbean cruise sailing Dec 16th when we heard about the new edge ship. We were super excited! We rearranged our cruising schedule to go on this cruise instead of another one we’d already place a deposit upon. Then we were asked for an additional deposit which we happily paid and we’ve spent the past 10 months thrilled at the premise of the special feeling of being among the first guests on the ship. Last week we were notified the ship was going to be finished early and that we could keep that booking or change our booking to the new earlier cruise on Dec 9th .. well okay, that’s fine, we’ll do that, even though it means we lose a week of income- it will be worth it, right! We want to be on that first sailing!

 

Then we hear today that there will be FOUR ‘preview’ sailings prior to ours. Yes, Really pissed!! There is no way. None. The word CANCEL flashed in red lights in my mind.

 

My poor agent. All the work she’s done so far only to receive my email this morning cancelling our cruise and requesting a full refund. What a disappointing decision Celebrity made.

 

I know this is first world problems, but when you’re paying super premium rates (Celebrity is already pricier, and we always go aqua class A1 and had a sky suite on our last cruise 2 months ago) there’s a big investment we’re making for that feeling of being special. Now we’ve been kicked to the curb! I certainly don’t feel like a celebrity any more.

 

Get a grip, Celebrity. You just gave us huge cause to look at other options. We were extremely loyal and wouldn’t have dreamed of even looking at another cruise line, but now I will go out of my way to do so. After all the glowing recommendations I’d made. After all the word of mouth and good faith we held for you. We were working our way up the ranks in the Captains Club and the Elite level was on the horizon! I couldn’t care less now. Oh how quickly things change when the fairy-tale illusion that you actually care about your guests is vaporized.

 

I sincerely hope the backlash is huge.

 

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Some posts on this board truly make me roll my eyes and this is one of them. As chemmo says, a few short cruises to iron out the kinks beforehand might be the best thing for you. And btw. Being nearly Elite doesn’t make you loyal, especially with the attitude toward Celebrity you show here. Heaven help some who have to deal with real adversity. Sorry, no sympathy from me.

 

Phil

[Orator]

The same thing happened to us on the SOLSTICE. We were on the inaugural cruise, when 3 were added prior to ours. We cancelled and booked one of the added dates at a cheaper price. NOW when we see advertised inaugural cruises...we laugh.

 

Lots of hype always precedes the launch of a new class. High prices are paid by those who want to be the first to experience the ship. This has been the case with Edge. I haven't booked Edge at this point since I remember the Solstice launch where prices for the announced "Inaugural" were also high. I did jump on the second pre inaugural cruise which was offered at a great price since they needed to fill the ship quickly. If history repeats I believe that many who booked early will cancel before final payment and there will be bargains to be had by those who waited.

The "first" cruise will be the first revenue producing cruise and we really don't know for certain when that will happen. Anything can happen.

[mscinmia]

I was on a maiden voyage on a different cruise line. They were still doing construction on several public areas, no working bathrooms on that deck and several cabins unfinished. Workers all over the ship. They were still taking the stickers off the bar glasses! While it was a nice cruise, I would never do another maiden voyage again......

[sasset]

I would never eat in a restaurant the first night it opened, not even for the first several months and it's not moving through the ocean.

[Iamthesea]

Seems like the December 6th sailing is a BARGAIN.

 

Why do you say that?

We looked at tacking on the December 6th sailing to our December 9th sailing (changed from the 16th) and to get the same class of our stateroom (AQ), the 3 nights would cost $1200+ per person. :eek:

[MartiniBarhooked]

Why do you say that?

We looked at tacking on the December 6th sailing to our December 9th sailing (changed from the 16th) and to get the same class of our stateroom (AQ), the 3 nights would cost $1200+ per person. :eek:

Compare it to the other 3 they added.

[hvsteve1]

I just booked three cabins today. We're dong B to B on Dec. 6 and 9 and taking some neighbors. As one is a single lady, she has the single veranda for both segments. Another couple has a veranda for both. We have a veranda for the 6th and a Sky Suite for the 9th. I think this is probably our only shot at experiencing suite class on Edge. The B to B is because I don't think you can experience this whole ship in three nights.

 

One of the disturbing things is X is being slow to announce details of the ship. For example, the reps can't tell our TA if the suite will have free drinks in the lounge as does Michael's club. There's no info on restaurants with deck plans having large blank areas. I can't believe they are 11 months from launch and still don't have restaurant plans. The X web site is also offering perks during the booking process then saying "oops" when you try to finalize. There are NO perks on these short cruises, not even for suites. I have no idea if beverage packages will even be offered. So we're sort of booking without knowing all the details. But we're still excited. :D

[hvsteve1]

Correction: Dec. 3 and 6. :o

[Clarea]

Exciting news, thanks!

[MartiniBarhooked]

I just booked three cabins today. We're dong B to B on Dec. 6 and 9 and taking some neighbors. As one is a single lady, she has the single veranda for both segments. Another couple has a veranda for both. We have a veranda for the 6th and a Sky Suite for the 9th. I think this is probably our only shot at experiencing suite class on Edge. The B to B is because I don't think you can experience this whole ship in three nights.

 

One of the disturbing things is X is being slow to announce details of the ship. For example, the reps can't tell our TA if the suite will have free drinks in the lounge as does Michael's club. There's no info on restaurants with deck plans having large blank areas. I can't believe they are 11 months from launch and still don't have restaurant plans. The X web site is also offering perks during the booking process then saying "oops" when you try to finalize. There are NO perks on these short cruises, not even for suites. I have no idea if beverage packages will even be offered. So we're sort of booking without knowing all the details. But we're still excited. :D

We bought all 4 perks when we booked go BEST. Go Best was $135 each. This is the Dec. 6th sailing.

Cruise Fare 529.00 529.00 0.00 0.00 1058.00GO BESTTaxes, fees, and port expenses135.0087.07135.0087.070.000.000.000.00270.00174.14Total Charge 751.07 751.07 0.00 0.00 1502.14Amount Paid 200.00Balance Due 1302.14

Edited January 13, 2018 by jimkathyd1
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