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Semi-live on the Edge, Barcelona-Rome


Kteacher
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The next port was Marseille. I had hoped to do a private tour, but ended up booking Les Arles, Les Baux with Olive Oil Tasting

at the last minute. This ended up being really nice, thanks in part to the guide, driver, and the visit to the olive grove at the end of the tour.

   It is a fairly long tour by bus, starting with a visit to Arles, where we walked around and had some free time. Les Baux was beautiful, and there was free time for shopping or lunch. We found a nice cafe cafe called La Reinne Jeanne-excellent service and delicious food.

    The end of the tour featured a visit to an olive grove owned by a family for 10 generations. We were given a tour by the daughter who is now running the olive oil production, and she also gave us a tasting of olives, tapenade, olive oil, and local wine. She was so passionate about what she did it was wonderful just listening to her.

    This was an all day excursion with lots of walking, so we were pretty wiped when we got back onboard, but I would recommend this excursion.

   Some photos from the excursion:

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 Villefranche(Nice): This is a tendered port. You don’t need tender tickets, but don’t worry, everything was very efficient. They were using Edge tenders as well as local tenders. 

  We did the French Day In Nice and St. Paul de Vence. The tour guide and driver were excellent, and really added to the whole experience. We had a walking tour in Nice as well as a visit to a wine cellar and free time to shop the farmer’s market. After that we went to a Michelin rated restaurant owned by chef Alain Llorca for lunch. The food and the view were incredible. The last stop was the old village of St. Paul de Vence, where we had a partially guided walking tour, and then some free time. This is an all day tour, leaving at 7 am, and not returning until 5, with a lot of walking (at least we were working off all the food we had been eating 👍).

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  The last port was La Spezia (Florence). I knew I wanted to see Cinque Terre, so booked the Coast of Cinque Terre and Portovenere excursion through Celebrity. My expectations for the excursion was that I wanted reliable transportation to Cinque Terre and back, and wanted to see the coast. Again, the guide for this excursion was excellent. You begin with a bus ride to Portovenere and then a walking tour with free time afterwards. 

    I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of the church at the top of the hill. The view, coupled with the church and a local playing the harp who happened to be there when we were standing at the top was breathtaking. There is enough time at this stop if you want to swim, so bring your bathing suit and towels. We were content with the natural air conditioning at the top.

    After the free time we were herded onto the ferry. There will be people from other excursions, so it will be crowded. Tip- get in line on the earlier side so you can sit up top in the ferry on the right hand side for the best views of the coast. The guide points out sights as the ferry sails up the coast before it stops in Monterosso. There is a walking tour, and then plenty of free time for lunch, shopping or swimming. We ended up spending most of the free time having a wonderful lunch, and then my husband couldn’t resist the water, so he went swimming. You return to the ship via train and then bus back to the pier. It was another long excursion with a lot of walking, but well worth it. 

   Some photos of Portovenere:

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Final thoughts on the cruise:

    This was a port intensive itinerary, so we really did not spend that much time on the ship. This is something to keep in mind if you are really interested in visiting these ports, but don’t want to pay the higher prices of the Edge. The public areas we did have a chance to spend time in we really loved. Eden is beautiful. We loved the performance, but can understand if it’s not for everyone. Hot Summer Night’s Dream was a great show. We also enjoyed the vocalists a few times in Eden. The art work around the ship is worth the time to explore. There is a book in the cabins that is really helpful as it lists the artwork by location with information about the pieces. I have a few more photos to add, including the menus from the Veuve Cliquot and Chef’s Table dinner.

    The cabin really had some functionality issues. When you are paying that much money for a suite you shouldn’t have to worry about the bathroom floor getting soaked when you take a shower, bumping into the protruding legs of a rocking chair, or disposals in the bathroom that just don’t work. There is a phone in the WC that would fall off the wall every time the WC door closed. The balcony furniture is just not comfortable. I missed having a walk in closet (I know, first world problems). The way the closet doors are set up in the bedroom made it really a pain for the two of us to get ready at the same time. This was actually the first time we noticed a real lack of storage space in a cabin. The interior design is meant to have a clean look, but with the lack of storage a lot of our things ended up all over the counter or draped over the rocking chair.

     I’m going to wait and see what changes are made (if any) before we book another Edge class ship. Did we have a great time? Of course we did! The crew is top notch, the ports are gorgeous, the food was outstanding, and the entertainment we saw was wonderful. I usually book another cruise while onboard, and ended up booking the Summit for next summer with stops in Newport and Bermuda. I booked a RS, and I’m looking forward to enjoying it as there will be more time onboard with that itinerary.

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1 hour ago, vickykay said:

Were your excursions in France private or thru Celebrity?  Thanks.

The excursions in Marseille and Villefranche were through Celebrity. They were well organized with great guides and drivers 👍

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1 hour ago, hcat said:

Which date did you book for Summit. ?   We are booked for May 2020..inc,udes Charleston.

 

Loved your review.  Great photos  with good info, very concise,  made it come alive!

Due to the school year calendar I can only travel during school vacations. We’ll be on the Summit on the 7/19/20 sailing.

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Here’s a photo of the menu from the Chef’s Table as well as the book we were given at the end of the meal. We were not charged anything additional for the wine pairings (we had the premium package). The service was excellent, and the head chef was really personable. My absolute favorite dish was the short rib. Sorry for the lack of photos of the food, but did not want to interrupt the flow of the meal by taking pictures.

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Hi -

Thank you for an outstanding Review! Will be on Edge 9/20/19 and am even  more excited by your words & pix. 

We were just on Summit 7/28 to Bermuda and did the Veuve dinner on it. Overall we loved the redo and think you'll like it too

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3 hours ago, mason525 said:

Hi -

Thank you for an outstanding Review! Will be on Edge 9/20/19 and am even  more excited by your words & pix. 

We were just on Summit 7/28 to Bermuda and did the Veuve dinner on it. Overall we loved the redo and think you'll like it too

Thank you, we really had a wonderful time on this cruise. I can’t say enough about the pre cruise City Stay package and all the excursions we booked through Celebrity. Enjoy your cruise! 

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