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Boarded Edge Yesterday—First Impressions


GeorgiaPeach51
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11 hours ago, SI M&M said:

Enjoy following your journey on Edge.  We will be sailing Edge in June for the first time and love the insight you give to the ship.  Have you ever stayed in Civitavecchia?  We are deciding on whether to arrive the day before and stay in Civitavecchia or take a Celebrity Flight and come in the day of sailing?   Any thoughts?

  

SI M & M

Hi, yes I do have thoughts!  We came one night early and would never attempt to arrive the day of the cruise. The thought of missing a ship due to train strikes, interruptions on the line for repairs, traffic accidents, etc., makes me twitch just writing it!  

 

That said, we got a shared shuttle with Bob’s Limousines from Rome to Civitavecchia the day before this cruise. We shared the ride with a nice couple from Germany. When I asked when their ship was sailing she said, “today”. When I asked what time she said “5:00”. It was 2:00 at this point and we had an hour drive. I nearly fell out of the van. 

 

Here is is an example of why we go a day early. We got an email from Celebrity the day prior that warned us of rail disruptions. Impossible to take trains all the way from Rome to Civitavecchia. Those rail passengers had to go by rail from A to B. Then haul bags up and down to a bus from B to C. Then haul bags up and down by rail from C to D. If you were that nice couple who had a three hour window you could easily be too late to board. I think all passengers have to be on board 90 minutes prior.   

 

Others, feel free to weigh in on this. BTW, we stayed at Hotel Traghetto in Civitavecchia. 😜. Nice folks but I don’t recommend. The shower is so small that if you drop the soap it stays there unless you can pick it up with your toes. I’ll post a photo if I can figure it out later. 

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Well, those chairs. Not a fan and I find myself aggravated with Celebrity that they tweak a situation but IMO fail to IMPROVE it. So many valid criticisms of the Infinity “balconies” and they can’t figure it out. 

 

I think the new new chairs are impossible to sit in. Extremely uncomfortable. That cushion we found is as hard as a rock. When u sit on it, it barely dents. It is like super dense styrofoam. I tried it last night and this morning and can say I will not be using it. We are currently at breakfast but will return to the cabin to provide a photo. So, for us, it would cause us to not book another IV because the purpose is to SIT IN THAT LITTLE SPACE AND LOOK OUT, CELEBRITY!  I will grant that comfortable seating is very subjective but I doubt many will be happy with this change. So, it’s smaller, yes, so less bulky. And it’s lighter, so easier to move. But if it’s miserable to sit in what was accomplished?  

 

I’ll be interested to see what others say about them. I will go to the cabin and play musical cushions to see if anything else works and to take photos. Stay tuned!

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First two photos are Hotel Traghetto, Civitavecchia. The room and my husband in the shower. I definitely didn’t do enough research!

 

The third photo is my husband in the chair. The cushion doesn’t give. I experimented with other cushions in the room and it’s a no go. I am currently sitting on the cushionless chair and that is more comfy to me...see the final photo. But I’m not a fan by any means. 

 

The cushions have velcro straps but can obviously be removed. I think that is how I will use it on this trip. 

 

Last night we went to Tuscan for dinner. My husband got the flan appetizer and loved it. I got the octopus carpaccio—meh. No taste. He got the roast chicken and I got the porchetta. Very good. But we enjoyed Normandie more. 

 

Food photos:  Grand Bistro

trout. ok. Overcooked

my husband enjoying mussels—very good. 

Lobster bisque with puff pastry—lacked flavor

 

from Tuscan-/porchetta with polenta. Great!

 

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Yeah, I did a post-cruise night in Fiumicino rather than going back into Rome. Ugh. Should have stuck with the airport Hilton or just gone into Rome.

 

That said, most European hotel rooms - and especially the bathrooms - are much smaller than we Americans are accustomed to. If you need/want the more familiar size, better to stick with known brands.

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Hotel in Cv:     We stayed at the Hotel San Giogio for 2 nights pre cruise quite a few yrs ago. Everything there was lovely including  location,  service,  the room,  internet, breakast and dinner.  We had dinner there the first night with another roll call couple and for the second  night I  planned a big roll call sailaway dinner at a local restaurant...all excellent.  Lately, I saw some posts that the hotel was not honoring some 3rd party res , was overbooking and sending people to lesser properties...

So I would not rec San Giorgio  unless someone does up to date research,,...but we did  very well there.

 

New IV  chairs:  hoping someone will post  side by side comparison photos.  New ones look a bit less clunky and maybe a slightly higher back and less weighty.  They  really look more similar than different.  I used the smaller Hoppen pillows as a lumbar  pillow but that did reduce the seat area.  Hoping our  oversized SV will have older style outdoor furniture on the balc,,,,chairs with footrest and at least one lounger

 

Thanks for all the photos, esp food with comments!  We are less than 2 weeks away from our Sailaway!

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7 minutes ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:


There’s an Italian limo service called “Bob’s”?  😂 

 

Are you sure it’s not called Roberto’s?


no, it’s Bob‘s Limos... and it’s an excellent service. Used them a couple of times. I think the owner is an American from Ohio.

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Found the  photo of old chairs ..Hoppen pillows are on the backs to soften the seatback..

 

Also found  the  non frosted doors we never closed after one try...not very workable  for us spacewise 

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..........While I’m thinking about it. Here are the hooks in action. These are the 22 lb. they also sell 44 and 100 lb.............

 

Thanks!  I'm ordering some today- we have two cruises before our Edge cruise, so I'll make good use of them.  Hoping all the cabin walls (on NCL and RCCL) are also metal!  Lynn

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1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Yeah, I did a post-cruise night in Fiumicino rather than going back into Rome. Ugh. Should have stuck with the airport Hilton or just gone into Rome.

 

That said, most European hotel rooms - and especially the bathrooms - are much smaller than we Americans are accustomed to. If you need/want the more familiar size, better to stick with known brands.

 

Going home, we took a limo from the ship ( they greet you at the port bldg).....and stayed at the Marriot Fuminico (sp?)  A very nice typical Marriot  hotel...loved the town   had pizza for lunch..(sold by the weight, cut with scissors) and there a good restaurant nearby, close to the police station.   Easy cab to the airport.

Edited by hcat
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1 minute ago, hcat said:

 

Going home, we took a limo from the ship ( they greet you at the port bldg).....and stayed at the Marriot Fuminico (sp?)  A very nice typical Marriot  hotel...loved the townm   had pizza for lunch..(sold by the weight, cut with scissors) a good restaurant nearby!  Easy cab to the airport.


Yeah, like I said - the brand hotels are usually pretty standard. I stayed at some place I found on Booking.com that had good reviews...and it was fine but basic. I guess I was not really in the town center (or maybe it was a Sunday?) but there was very little open where I was staying. I got some food at the one place I found open and then watched Scooby Doo and Law and Order eps in Italian.

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3 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

I’ll be interested to see what others say about them. I will go to the cabin and play musical cushions to see if anything else works and to take photos. Stay tuned!

Sorry the chairs aren't any better - maybe worse? They really should have about 100 people of different shapes, sizes, heights try any furniture they are looking to purchase. 🙄

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5 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Ok. Here are the photos of the new chairs and cushions.

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Why in the world they went to a narrow, enclosed style that looks terribly uncomfortable is beyond me. These are very unlikely to be usable for me and DH. We'll be asking our room steward to change them out to something else, I'm sure.

Edited by DebInAntigua
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2 hours ago, JerseyGem said:

..........While I’m thinking about it. Here are the hooks in action. These are the 22 lb. they also sell 44 and 100 lb.............

 

Thanks!  I'm ordering some today- we have two cruises before our Edge cruise, so I'll make good use of them.  Hoping all the cabin walls (on NCL and RCCL) are also metal!  Lynn

Get at least the 44 lb. Hooks. Two of those work well in the shower with a piece of twine as a clothesline. 

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We went to Eden for lunch. Quiet. Free. Great to have options other than the Oceanview. I had cream of vegetable soup which I loved; a Reuben panini, which I didn’t, potato salad that was good, part of a brownie and chocolate chip cookie. Both yummy. 

 

My husband had the chicken pesto panini and chips. He loved both. They also have nice salads, pork belly sliders, pea and mint soup, carved special sandwich of the day, turkey and cranberry sandwich, tuna salad. So we will be back. As you walk into Eden their lunch area is to the left, nice bar adjacent. The Reuben was warm, but not really pressed, so there was too much bread for me. Also had pickles on it rather than sauerkraut. 

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A couple things about the App. As others have mentioned you can unlock your door, but it has other useful features. I’ve attempted a screen shot. When you open the app you see three icons at the top. One is a ship. If you click on it you get all the info for the day. Activities, dining, entertainment. When you click on one of those, such as activities you see everything for the whole day. If you click on specific ones, you get a description and you can tap to add it to your personal schedule for each day. 

 

You can also access your $ info. You can click on each day of the cruise to see the same info for that day. You can click on each dining or snack place to see their hours and menu. It’s amazing and I like using it!  AND can figure it out!

 

re Bob’s limo—yep, Bob. Very responsive. Good driver, on time, clean small van. Shared shuttle from Rome Fio airport to Civitavecchia 70euros. When Celebrity sent that belated email about the rail disruption they offered a seat on the bus with 75 new friends for 70E per person. Bob’s private shuttle was 150 E. 

 

We stayed on ship today. My husband is fighting a sinus infection and it was cold, rainy, and blowing a gale so we gave it a pass. Glad we did. He’s feeling better. 

 

Tomorrow we have a tour in Palma de Mallorca. Have been there before. BTW, there was a Celebrity shore excursion bus that broke down on the way back last night so we departed about 45 minutes late last night. 

 

They now serve water to buy in these bottles. I can’t tell a taste difference and applaud Celebrity for making this move. 

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Your photo of the porchetta looks delicious. What exactly IS porchetta, please? We'll be dining in Tuscan in a few weeks, so I might like to try it.  I enjoy your positive comments about the ship itself, but since none of the balcony cabins, except the sunset verandas, are traditional balconies, I doubt we will sail on an Edge class ship. 

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7 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Well, those chairs. Not a fan and I find myself aggravated with Celebrity that they tweak a situation but IMO fail to IMPROVE it. So many valid criticisms of the Infinity “balconies” and they can’t figure it out. 

 

I think the new new chairs are impossible to sit in. Extremely uncomfortable. That cushion we found is as hard as a rock. When u sit on it, it barely dents. It is like super dense styrofoam. I tried it last night and this morning and can say I will not be using it. We are currently at breakfast but will return to the cabin to provide a photo. So, for us, it would cause us to not book another IV because the purpose is to SIT IN THAT LITTLE SPACE AND LOOK OUT, CELEBRITY!  I will grant that comfortable seating is very subjective but I doubt many will be happy with this change. So, it’s smaller, yes, so less bulky. And it’s lighter, so easier to move. But if it’s miserable to sit in what was accomplished?  

 

I’ll be interested to see what others say about them. I will go to the cabin and play musical cushions to see if anything else works and to take photos. Stay tuned!

Guess we better bring our own cushions! LOL

 

boarding in 20 days and bon voyage!

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19 hours ago, SI M&M said:

Enjoy following your journey on Edge.  We will be sailing Edge in June for the first time and love the insight you give to the ship.  Have you ever stayed in Civitavecchia?  We are deciding on whether to arrive the day before and stay in Civitavecchia or take a Celebrity Flight and come in the day of sailing?   Any thoughts?

  

SI M & M

I would never fly that distance on embarkation day. 

Have you never heard of delays?

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