The Many Choices of Edge Dining Venues: How Do We Choose?

[vtcruising]

Maybe I'm the last to see this Cruise Critic review of the Edge, but there were a few things I hadn't seen before (or maybe just forgotten). Since there is no reveal around the corner that we know of and it is a slow Edge forum day, I will share my thoughts:

• During the day The Rooftop Garden will host yoga and various games and activities. At night, passengers can show up for live music and the line's "A Taste of Film," which pairs movies and dining (I had forgotten about yoga and games up there).
  

• Dinner on the Edge (Deck 16) offered only once or twice per cruise (knew it would be occasional, but hadn't seen a number yet).
  

• Blu (Deck 5): This spa-centric restaurant is for the exclusive use of passengers staying in AquaClass cabins, as well as suites (I hadn't seen it in writing yet that suite guests would be allowed in Blu on the Edge, though assumed it).
  

• Eden Restaurant (Deck 4); $65: As much a theatrical experience as it will be a fine dining venue, Eden Restaurant will offer five courses of "experiential dishes" served by performance artists the line calls Edenists. Each course will offer two menu items to choose between with ethereal names, such as raindrops, morning dew, the deep or heavenly sin. The experience will end with an event Celebrity is calling "The Crescendo" in the bar (I had forgotten about the Crescendo – now I definitely have to do this! ;)).
  

• Le Grand Bistro (Deck 4); $25: Inspired by classic French bistros, seating options will range from tables on a planter-edged "sidewalk" to the inner cafe with sea views. At breakfast and lunch, the sidewalk counter here will offer a la carte pastries, freshly-baked breads, sandwiches and other quick bites (I didn’t realize that the take out counter was on the “sidewalk” – it sounds cool).
  

• The Le Petit Chef experience will feature two fixed menus for diners to choose from (some were wondering about this).
  

• The Retreat Lounge will serve breakfast and host a happy hour daily (now Michael's Club serves a continental breakfast and has a tea every afternoon - I wonder if that will be replaced by happy hour?).
  

• Eden Bar will be the coolest place on the ship to hang out, according to this review (I plan to head there soon after boarding the ship to see if it lives up to the reputation – I will break in my Premium Beverage Package, all in the name of research :D).
  

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1130

[$hip$hape]

Maybe I'm the last to see this Cruise Critic review of the Edge, but there were a few things I hadn't seen before (or maybe just forgotten).

Since there is no reveal around the corner that we know of and it is a slow Edge forum day, I will share my thoughts:

• Eden Bar will be the coolest place on the ship to hang out, according to this review (I plan to head there soon after boarding the ship to see if it lives up to the reputation – I will break in my Premium Beverage Package, all in the name of research :D).
  

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=1130

Since the EDEN was our first attraction to the Edge, we hope others will find it too boring,

and leave it to ourselves.:):cool:

[vtcruising]

Since the EDEN was our first attraction to the Edge, we hope others will find it too boring,

and leave it to ourselves.:):cool:

Yes, I hope it isn't crowded in there, though It seems like it will have lots of little nooks and crannies to hide out in. The Eden Café sounds nice and the bar and restaurant will be unique. It will be interesting to see if the concept is successful.

[vtcruising]

I found this nice FAQs sheet for Edge Culinary offerings. Not much new info, but it put the nice pictures with the seating info and times restaurants are open, etc. It tells which ones are open on sea days, but not port days for lunch. It has most info in one document.

 

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/download-press-kit-item/18/

[Kiwifromkiev]

I found this nice FAQs sheet for Edge Culinary offerings. Not much new info, but it put the nice pictures with the seating info and times restaurants are open, etc. It tells which ones are open on sea days, but not port days for lunch. It has most info in one document.

 

 

 

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/download-press-kit-item/18/

 

 

 

Thank you [emoji120], this is a great resource!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[vtcruising]

Thank you [emoji120], this is a great resource!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hi Kiwi: I did learn a few things from this:

- it looks like the Magic Carpet on 5 (connected to Raw on 5) isn't open for lunch so will need to go there for dinner, if we want the MC part of the menu, I guess (Raw on 5 open on sea days).

-the Rooftop Grill is open for lunch on sea days so will plan accordingly.

-looking at the spacing in the MDRs, it looks better than what there is now, but who knows if that is just the rendition - there is about 19-20 sf per seating in Blu and the MDRs and 25 sf in Luminae. Anyway, it all looks pretty nice to me. :D

 

-hcat: if you look at the last page of this document, there is a nice close up of the port side of the ship. I think you can see that Blu will have life boats next to several windows, but will have a few unobstructed view windows on aft end of the restaurant. You can see where the outside tables will likely go - looks like a small roof out there just past the lifeboats. A cool addition to Blu!

[rickdent]

I believe the drawing on the last page is the starboard side of ship, not port.

[$hip$hape]

Have tried a search but no luck.

Can someone point me in the direction to find menus for the new speciality restaurants (Edge).

Thanks.

Curious; have you had any luck yet?

Do you still need help?

Edited April 10, 2018 by $hip$hape

[vtcruising]

I believe the drawing on the last page is the starboard side of ship, not port.

 

 

 

You are correct- it was 5 am when I wrote that - not awake yet![emoji6]

[Silkroad]

I found this nice FAQs sheet for Edge Culinary offerings. Not much new info, but it put the nice pictures with the seating info and times restaurants are open, etc. It tells which ones are open on sea days, but not port days for lunch. It has most info in one document.

 

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/download-press-kit-item/18/

Nice:). Thanks for posting this. It should help us plan our exploration of as many venues as humanly possible:evilsmile:

[hcat]

• From Vt cruisers post "
  
• During the day The Rooftop Garden will host yoga and various games and activities. At night, passengers can show up for live music and the line's "A Taste of Film," which pairs movies and dining (I had forgotten about yoga and games up there)."
  

Thanks for posting all that good info

Guess we missed the part about the movies when we pre - booked a dinner there for early evening in one of the ports. Hopes for a nice sunset....

 

Live music during dinner with the posted menu sounds great but hope we can miss the movie with paired dining! Either way it looks like a nice space.

(Wierd that the print color reverted to black...)

[vtcruising]

Nice:). Thanks for posting this. It should help us plan our exploration of as many venues as humanly possible:evilsmile:

Yes, my cruise planner spreadsheet has most of the meal times filled in. I am still not hitting every place so I am considering skipping lunch and having dinner at 6:00 in one place and then again at 9:30 another. Then I may get to all of them. It's all in the name of research! ;)

[vtcruising]

• From Vt cruisers post "
  
• During the day The Rooftop Garden will host yoga and various games and activities. At night, passengers can show up for live music and the line's "A Taste of Film," which pairs movies and dining (I had forgotten about yoga and games up there)."
  

Thanks for posting all that good info

Guess we missed the part about the movies when we pre - booked a dinner there for early evening in one of the ports. Hopes for a nice sunset....

 

Live music during dinner with the posted menu sounds great but hope we can miss the movie with paired dining! Either way it looks like a nice space.

(Wierd that the print color reverted to black...)

They likely have specific movie nights/times and may have a different charge for the Taste of Film since on other X ships the menu is tailored to the movie theme (at least it used to be how they did it). Hopefully, if your reservation happened to be at that time, they would help you move the time. It sounds like fun, but we probably won't do it on our preview cruises. I didn't even think of the sunsets up there - great idea to have dinner up there at sunset time. It should be a lovely place to dine at that time! :D

[hcat]

And later in the evening the stars should be visible and beautiful!

[Silkroad]

Yes, my cruise planner spreadsheet has most of the meal times filled in. I am still not hitting every place so I am considering skipping lunch and having dinner at 6:00 in one place and then again at 9:30 another. Then I may get to all of them. It's all in the name of research! ;)

Let’s see, if you’re still doing the Edge b2b in January, you’ll have even more days for “dining research” than we will on our 15 night TA:D. I think of it as a Dine-a-lounge-a-thon. We must pace ourselves, and make frequent refreshment stops;p.

[Silkroad]

And later in the evening the stars should be visible and beautiful!

 

I would love to see stars, but it’s always been too cloudy on our cruises. Is the Caribbean usually better for star gazing?

[hcat]

We have had mixed results...but mostly good, We look for the relevant sky map for the area and dates to help as a guide...on a clear night stars show well as there are no city lights to affect the views...

 

We tried the Celeb Astronomy lecture once.. that night it was too cloudy and way too windy on the outside deck...program was apparently short lived!

[Silkroad]

Great. Thanks! We’ll look forward to possibly seeing the stars on our first Caribbean cruise later this year:)

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Does anyone have experience with the specialty restaurants and food allergies? I'm gluten free and want to try a couple - the steakhouse should be fairly easy, and from the menu it looks like Eden may be ok. But I'm curious if it's generally possible to eat in the specialty places with food allergies?

[Silkroad]

Does anyone have experience with the specialty restaurants and food allergies? I'm gluten free and want to try a couple - the steakhouse should be fairly easy, and from the menu it looks like Eden may be ok. But I'm curious if it's generally possible to eat in the specialty places with food allergies?

From what I’ve read, the answer is yes. I don’t have personal experience, but here are a couple of fairly recent threads on the subject:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2045353&highlight=Gluten+free

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2498214&highlight=Gluten+free

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

From what I’ve read, the answer is yes. I don’t have personal experience, but here are a couple of fairly recent threads on the subject:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2045353&highlight=Gluten+free

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2498214&highlight=Gluten+free

 

Thank you!

[vtcruising]

Let’s see, if you’re still doing the Edge b2b in January, you’ll have even more days for “dining research” than we will on our 15 night TA:D. I think of it as a Dine-a-lounge-a-thon. We must pace ourselves, and make frequent refreshment stops;p.

We canceled one of the Jan Edge cruises reluctantly, but had to make some choices when we rebooked the Flower Power cruise. Someday we will be retired and maybe can cruise more. :)

 

Yes, you are right, we will need to pace ourselves! I should probably stick to one dinner a night ;).

 

No, I am not excited at all about the Edge... excuse me while I go back to working on my cruise spreadsheets and to finish designing our special Edge t-shirts that we will wear when we board....:D

[Silkroad]

We canceled one of the Jan Edge cruises reluctantly, but had to make some choices when we rebooked the Flower Power cruise. Someday we will be retired and maybe can cruise more. :)

 

Yes, you are right, we will need to pace ourselves! I should probably stick to one dinner a night ;).

 

No, I am not excited at all about the Edge... excuse me while I go back to working on my cruise spreadsheets and to finish designing our special Edge t-shirts that we will wear when we board....:D

 

Believe me, I understand. Our travel wish list is full of trips that are too long to take before retirement.

I’m thinking breakfast, mid-morning espresso, lunch, mid-afternoon espresso, pre-dinner cocktail, dinner, and perhaps a wee digestif, after which we shall dance or perhaps promenade around the decks until we can sleep lol.

I understand. I may not create a spreadsheet, but I’m definitely excited about exploring the new ship. We’re fortunate to have someone on our roll call who has designed a very attractive t-shirt for us. Can’t wait:D

[vtcruising]

Believe me, I understand. Our travel wish list is full of trips that are too long to take before retirement.

I’m thinking breakfast, mid-morning espresso, lunch, mid-afternoon espresso, pre-dinner cocktail, dinner, and perhaps a wee digestif, after which we shall dance or perhaps promenade around the decks until we can sleep lol.

I understand. I may not create a spreadsheet, but I’m definitely excited about exploring the new ship. We’re fortunate to have someone on our roll call who has designed a very attractive t-shirt for us. Can’t wait:D

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is designing an Edge t-shirt (my DH just rolls his eyes). I was thinking of putting pictures of us waving from the Magic Carpet on the t-shirt, but doubt my DH would wear that - I am going with something more tasteful! I am saving some OBC to buy out the gift shop - Edge magnet, ornament, mug, hat, ship's model, etc......... ;)

 

I like your meal/beverage plan - hope they announce the gym plans soon. I am going to need it! :D

[J18ktleo]

vtcruising,

I just noticed you're on our Jan 20 sailing too!

I'm so excited, although don't think I'll be doing the shopping you have in mind!!!

Have a group of 24 ladies on this cruise so we'll be the partiers!!!!! :cool: