Celebrity Edge- Major Ship Envy!

[stickey_mouse]

49 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

We've got 6 reviews in now, averaging 2.3 Stars.

 

Man, they are worth reading if you like a good laugh. One person loved it, 5 hated it. Nothing in between. A divisive ship, no doubt. Though a couple of the reviewers clearly have an axe to grind, for whatever reason. One person said, "The most entertaining activity was the life boat drill." Now we know that can't be true and must be 100% hyperbole.  

[Sea42]

1 hour ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

We've got 6 reviews in now, averaging 2.3 Stars.

It is interesting that all of the negative reviewers have few or no prior forum posts on CC. Maybe they didn't really know what they had signed up for.

[Nymich]

I have traveled both lines a few times.  Celebrity does some things well but the food is much better on HAL.

 

That being said the early reports on Edge are not good.  The infinite veranda is a nightmare.   The prices are sky high and the early reviews are poor to terrible.  I will pass.

 

She may look good from afar but she may be far from good.

[mcrcruiser]

14 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

Excellent thread.

 

What the Edge means to me is the continued and deliberate plan to - use physical ship attributes to dazzle guests while - reducing service levels, food quality and quantity and other items. The small stateroom sizing is an example.

 

Cruise lines are hoping that consumers are so enthralled with the bells and whistles that they will not notice the eroding product.

 

A recent poster on the Celebrity site posted that in the MDR they are serving pressed turkey roll as turkey dinner - really Celebrity, not.

 

What is the saying  - "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time"

 

Not buying it Celebrity or HAL or Princess etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We checked on Cruise Ship Deck Plans web site & the veranda state rooms are 201 sq ft & the balcony is 42 sq ft  . The Soltice class is a bit smaller for a typical balcony cabin 

[Jammu2]

My inlaws are D+ on RCI so I have cruised them and X a few times. Its a different product. I dont really care for the experience but A LOT of people do. I don't respond to it. 

 

The danger I think is that all the cruise lines try to imitate RCI and X and as a consequence lose people like me to the near-luxury and luxury brands. I will just cruise less.

 

I do not like the "class" segregation. I dont like mobs. I do like good food. Hopefully HAL keeps their core customer in mind when they design new ships. I am unlikely to book on HALs two newest ships. Eurodam is about as big as I like. My favorite ship is Oceania Marina. 

[stickey_mouse]

1 hour ago, Nymich said:

That being said the early reports on Edge are not good.  The infinite veranda is a nightmare.   The prices are sky high and the early reviews are poor to terrible.  I will pass.

 

She may look good from afar but she may be far from good.

 

Mind sharing your source of the "early reports"? I'm interested. 

[kazu]

4 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

Mind sharing your source of the "early reports"? I'm interested. 

 

 

There are 6 CC reviews -  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=1130

[terrydtx]

31 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

There are 6 CC reviews -  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=1130

Having now read all 6 reviews all I can say is early in the game it is going to be a hard sell to get people on the Edge. As one reviewer pointed out the new balconies can not be closed off from the rest of the cabin so you can not step through a door and enjoy the balcony without disturbing the other person sleeping in the cabin. That would never work for me as I am the early riser who likes to sit out on the balcony and wait until me DW wakes up.

 

I have only been one one Celebrity cruise over 10 years ago and compared to HAL it was unimpressive. For our mainstream cruising we will stick to HAL for now.

[Doubt It]

7 hours ago, Jammu2 said:

My inlaws are D+ on RCI so I have cruised them and X a few times. Its a different product. I dont really care for the experience but A LOT of people do. I don't respond to it. 

 

The danger I think is that all the cruise lines try to imitate RCI and X and as a consequence lose people like me to the near-luxury and luxury brands. I will just cruise less.

 

I do not like the "class" segregation. I dont like mobs. I do like good food. Hopefully HAL keeps their core customer in mind when they design new ships. I am unlikely to book on HALs two newest ships. Eurodam is about as big as I like. My favorite ship is Oceania Marina. 

 

Well said Jammu2.  Agree with your analysis.

 

But having just come off a very poor Oceania cruise, with their new August 2018, cheapened menu, even the near-luxury brands are downgrading. Take a look at the increase in poor reviews for Oceania and even more so for Azamara. I certainly will not pay the high $ costs for Oceania given they are downgrading.

 

Our household has no cruises booked and none in consideration. But we do have land tours and golf trips booked.

 

Because cruising is constantly cheapening the product, I have no confidence in booking this type of vacation - and glitzy ship design by any cruise line is not going to change our minds.

[Nymich]

6 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

Mind sharing your source of the "early reports"? I'm interested. 

Where else but Cruise Critic!   The first ship reviews and even a lengthy thread about the infinite veranda etc.... I sail Celebrity so I have to stay informed

[Stateroom_Sailor]

8 hours ago, Nymich said:

I have traveled both lines a few times.  Celebrity does some things well but the food is much better on HAL.

 

That being said the early reports on Edge are not good.  The infinite veranda is a nightmare.   The prices are sky high and the early reviews are poor to terrible.  I will pass.

 

She may look good from afar but she may be far from good.

 

I agree about the food, though we have only eaten in HAL's MDR twice, before a Yukon cruise tour.  Celebrity's Blu appears to be a close match, from our limited experience.  When you compare the breakfast menus, the buffet, the Dive-In, HAL is the clear winner.

 

Let's hope if these complaints go wide spread, Celebrity does corrections to future Edge Class ships.  Celebrity passengers are not as loyal as they might think.  Princess and HAL need the competition, plus many of us like to alternate.  If things went south, I wouldn't be surprised if Norwegian eventually sticks their finger in air, and introduces their own premium cruise line eventually...

 

For now, I'll just sit back and read the reviews with a bag of popcorn! 

 

[terrydtx]

Wow, I just had an eye opening look at the cruise rates for the Edge. It has a 11 day cruise from Rome to the Greek islands and back next May. The new Infinite Veranda class start at $7259pp. 

 

We are booked on a similar Greek itinerary in September 2020 on Viking Ocean Cruise Line  that goes from Venice to Athens for 10 days. We have a Penthouse Veranda (PV1) cabin which is comparable to a HAL Signature Suite for $6199pp, which includes all shore excursions, wine and beer at meals, Wi-Fi, laundry and free liquor in our cabin fridge and unlimited specialty restaurants. We also have the Silver Seas Beverage package ($15 drink cap) for $179pp. The Viking Sea is a small luxury ship with 930 passenger max capacity. Would I pay extra for the Edge, I think that answer is obvious.

[stickey_mouse]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 

There are 6 CC reviews -  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=1130

 

2 hours ago, Nymich said:

Where else but Cruise Critic!   The first ship reviews and even a lengthy thread about the infinite veranda etc.... I sail Celebrity so I have to stay informed

 

Oh, the cruise reviews had already been brought up and discussed in this thread. I thought you had other sources. I wouldn't use these 6 reviews (some are a bit suspicious) to conclude, "The early reports on Edge are not good." I thought you meant some CC article or other travel publication. 

[stickey_mouse]

2 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

I agree about the food, though we have only eaten in HAL's MDR twice, before a Yukon cruise tour.  Celebrity's Blu appears to be a close match, from our limited experience.  When you compare the breakfast menus, the buffet, the Dive-In, HAL is the clear winner.

 

I respectfully disagree. I give HAL the slight edge for MDR, but I prefer the buffet (especially its wonderful layout) and pool-side burgers on Celebrity. Dive-In is great, but it can sometimes take a while. And I was shocked at how amazing the Celebrity burgers were. I think we may have eaten 4 of them on a 7-day cruise... 

[iancal]

The price is a meaningless target.  Demand/competition will determine price.   

 

Just as it has done n Zandams's Alaska runs over the past few years where late booking insides have sold for as low as $399 and $499. And a few times as low as $299.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by iancal

[stickey_mouse]

4 minutes ago, iancal said:

The price is a meaningless target.  Demand/competition will determine price.   

 

Exactly! All these posts about their needing to lower the price. The invisible hand of the economy controls that. Sure, you might not be willing to pay the going rate for a verandah stateroom on the Edge, but somebody is. 

[iancal]

This is the reason why we often book inside the final payment window.

[cruisingnewtoit]

My DH and I are in our early 40’s and have only been on one cruise which was on HAL. I loved my time but I also wanted to try different lines. I checked out the Edge for my Celebrity 1st cruise but passed because of the price. Besides the price something about the ship didn’t appeal to us. We are going on the Celebrity  Summit after the it goes through dry dock next year. But if the price drops and we liked our time on the Summit we might try the ship. 

 

We are booked on a Princess Cruise to Alaska on the Royal ship. We are going on the NS next December to the Caribbean.

 

Edge is popular and many are willing to pay to the price so a price drop might not happen for a few years. 

[iancal]

Our first trip on a Solstice class ship was eight months or so after Equinox was launched.   Prices fell to the point where they were in line with other ships/cruise lines.  It may take a little longer, but certainly not years.  

[Jammu2]

6 hours ago, Doubt It said:

 

Well said Jammu2.  Agree with your analysis.

 

But having just come off a very poor Oceania cruise, with their new August 2018, cheapened menu, even the near-luxury brands are downgrading. Take a look at the increase in poor reviews for Oceania and even more so for Azamara. I certainly will not pay the high $ costs for Oceania given they are downgrading.

 

Our household has no cruises booked and none in consideration. But we do have land tours and golf trips booked.

 

Because cruising is constantly cheapening the product, I have no confidence in booking this type of vacation - and glitzy ship design by any cruise line is not going to change our minds.

 

Sorry to hear about the food on Oceania. We had a cruise booked on Sirena but had to cancel due to a medical issue with one of our party.

 

We are booked on Oosterdam in the spring. I want to do Hawaii on Eurodam in 2020 because it is easy to get everyone to our home port (Seattle). Viking Ocean looks good but the prices on prime itineraries are out of this world. We usually cruise with famiky and cant be subsidizing at those levels.

 

I noticed the price increases on Oceania. Other lines as well. Thats why I think HAL can maintain their core cutomer base and be profitable. Spacious non-crowded ships, a bit of old-world elegance, adult focused, add some specialty dining and the spa pass and you get a fairly comparable experience to the near-luxury product for less.

 

But if they try direct competition for the same customer as Royal, everyone loses.

[cruising cockroach]

5 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

If things went south, I wouldn't be surprised if Norwegian eventually sticks their finger in air, and introduces their own premium cruise line eventually...

 

Does RSSC and Oceania not count?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

7 minutes ago, cruising cockroach said:

 

Does RSSC and Oceania not count?

 

No, especially RSSC, a luxury line.  Oceania is a closer option, but Luxury-light.  I consider Celebrity, Princess and HAL to be direct competition.

[mcrcruiser]

9 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

No, especially RSSC, a luxury line.  Oceania is a closer option, but Luxury-light.  I consider Celebrity, Princess and HAL to be direct competition.

The major difference is that HAL & Princess are both owned by Carnival corporation ;while Celebrity is owned by RCL corp .  Having sailed all 3 lines I would say that HAL & Princess offer a  similar product in as far as food & service  . The main difference between those  2 lines are the ship designs  .Celebrity's closest competitor imo is Princess ;but ,both Princess & HAL have more ships than Celebrity . Thus ,in some respects it would be comparing apples to oranges 

[Nymich]

4 hours ago, stickey_mouse said:

 

 

Oh, the cruise reviews had already been brought up and discussed in this thread. I thought you had other sources. I wouldn't use these 6 reviews (some are a bit suspicious) to conclude, "The early reports on Edge are not good." I thought you meant some CC article or other travel publication. 

Sorry Stick I missed that one  lol

[stickey_mouse]

36 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

The major difference is that HAL & Princess are both owned by Carnival corporation ;while Celebrity is owned by RCL corp .  Having sailed all 3 lines I would say that HAL & Princess offer a  similar product in as far as food & service  . The main difference between those  2 lines are the ship designs  .Celebrity's closest competitor imo is Princess ;but ,both Princess & HAL have more ships than Celebrity . Thus ,in some respects it would be comparing apples to oranges 

 

Just curious, have you been on Princess' Royal class of ships? I think those ships have visually stunning interiors, but I have yet to try them.