Edge Review - December 1-8, 2019 Eastern Caribbean

[mikkelhansen]

Just wanted to contribute my review of Edge as well. I know there are already plenty of review threads, but since there isn't a general review contribution thread, here it goes. This is a copy-paste of my CruiseCritic review, with a few notes added. Don't expect too many photos from the ship, I generally don't take many photos when on holidays. My wife took some pictures onboard, I might upload them later. There are lots of photos in the other review threads.

Itinerary was Fort Lauderdale - At Sea - San Juan - Tortola - Philipsburg - At Sea - At Sea - Fort Lauderdale.

 

OVERALL RATING: 4(½)/5 STARS.

 

Cabin 5/5: Our deluxe inside stateroom on deck 8 was fantastic. Comfortable, low-key colours all-round and kept in perfect condition by our stateroom attendant, Nazareth. We loved his towel animals every evening! The shower was spacious and there was plenty of storage space.

 

Dining 3/5: We tried all four MDRs (dinner with Select Plus), Le Petit Chef (dinner), Raw on 5 (lunch), Fine Cut Steakhouse (dinner), Luminae (breakfast) and Oceanview Cafe (breakfast, lunch and 1x dinner). The food was great in all restaurants - see specifics below.

Cosmopolitan (pre-booked timeslot) and Tuscan (walk-in) were very good for being MDRs, quick and attentive service. My wife has gluten allergy, and was promptly recommended specific dishes in these MDRs. She was even offered to pre-order from the next day's menu to avoid allergens (which in turn meant that she could have her all-time favorite carbonara made as gluten-free in Tuscan).

Cyprus (pre-booked timeslot) was below average, clearly stressed/confused waiters, but at least they brought the correct food as ordered. We got a table literally next to the kitchen exit, meaning constant noise and cooks/waiters walking by all the time. No proactive offering to pre-order from the next day's menu, even though they were made aware of my wife's gluten allergy as the first thing.

Normandie (pre-booked timeslot for "Lobster Night"/second Evening Chic night for four persons) was absolutely disastrous; I'm still shocked after our experience there. Complete chaos from start to end: my wife had pre-ordered gluten-free meals the night before, but we still had to ask the waiters for her gluten-free bread three times before they brought it, which wasn't until during the entrées. No butter sauce was offered for the lobster (???), we had to ask for it. Our main waiter literally disappeared during our entrées, not to be seen again. Coffee orders got lost/forgotten. My father-in-law actually ended up making a complaint about the experience to their butler, since the experience was so bad. Added note: It may be harsh to base these comments on one single dinner, but it was prebooked and it was on lobster night, arguably the most important dinner for both the guests and the ship.

Le Petit Chef was amazing, very entertaining cartoon playing on the table and plates, and then you get served the dish that the cartoon character “made”. Rumor has it there are two different movies, one currently only on Edge and another on the revolutionized M/S-class ships. It would be fun if the films and thus the menus rotated, otherwise it would be a bit steep to pay for the exact same experience on another sailing.

Raw on 5 was – interesting for my wife and I. We have never before had sushi, so it was a first for us. The food is good, even for sushi novices, but pictures of the dishes, be it on the menu card or in a separate picture book, would definitely be appreciated.

Fine Cut Steakhouse was great, and what I as a European would expect to experience in a real American steakhouse. The cover charge ($55pp) was definitely justified, seeing that you could choose any starter, entrée and dessert. The steaks were huge, very tender and tasty. I ordered the 14oz NY strip steak, but had to surrender about ¾ through. The parmesan fries were poorly done, not fully cooked and tasteless, but the starters, the gruyere tater tots, the sauces and the desserts were all very good.

Luminae would usually be off-limits for us, but since my parents-in-law were in a Sky Suite, we were lucky to get invited to breakfast once in Luminae. The food was great, but it was very annoying to order breakfast a la carte, since there was a significant waiting time from ordering, before you would get your food. Having eaten in OCV with breakfast buffet all the other days, this was a big annoyance for us.

Oceanview Café was the great all-rounder. Buffet-style food you can understand, no matter if it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner or in-between.

 

Embarkation 5/5: We were lucky to get priority embarkation with my parents-in-law, which worked very smoothly. We arrived around 12.30pm and there was no waiting time. The normal check-in area seemed to be quiet and efficient as well.

 

Enrichment Activities 5/5: If you can’t find anything to do onboard, it’s kind of your own fault! There were plenty of shows, music and other activities to enjoy. I’m not a pool person myself, but reports from my family who used it were very positive.

 

Entertainment 4/5: Great entertainment, my family enjoyed the Mirage acrobatics show, I didn't attend it. We were not in the Theatre. The Edge Revelation show was a bit too much for me, the performers get VERY close to you and pick guests randomly to participate in the show. I had to turn an actor down three times when I was chosen to participate. The Casino was great with brand new machines with funny playing concepts - very enjoyable.

 

Fitness & Recreation 5/5: I was not in the fitness centre, but my wife reports that it was great with nice machines. My wife had two spa treatments which were both great.

 

Onboard Experience 5/5: Once you get to know the ship’s design, it is nice and easy to move around. The staff always greets you, even if you’ve never seen them before. Everybody was friendly, and participated to creating a nice experience onboard. Added note: We received the Unlimited Internet as a perk, and I'm very happy we didn't pay for it. Loading a simple news website could take upwards of ten seconds, and streaming from any service would be totally out of the picture. Abysmal speed, considering it was the unlimited/high-speed package. I even tried removing the towels covering the in-room router, but to no avail.

 

Public Rooms 5/5: Lots of space to move around, no matter where you go. The shops are what you would expect on a Celebrity ship; high-end jewelry and watches shops, a bare-necessities kiosk, a merchandise shop and a cosmetics shop. The shop staff wasn’t too pushy when browsing the shops. The bathrooms were kept in top condition.

 

Service 4/5: As described under the Dining chapter, the service in two MDRs severely impacts this rating as well. Almost everyone onboard was friendly, but the meltdown in two of the four MDRs can’t be made up for by the rest of the friendly staff. The waiter in Luminae also started asking us to rate her out of 10 after our breakfast there – too much and very awkward!

 

Shore Excursions 5/5: We were only on one Celebrity shore excursion, which was the post-cruise Everglades Airboat Ride. It was absolutely fantastic! After being cheated out of the experience back in January (not Celebrity’s fault, but the tour operator’s), we were looking very much forward to the experience this time. Everything went smoothly, and we even got to buy the excursion with a discount. I would highly recommend this excursion, if you haven’t been there already!

 

Value For Money 5/5: You might get to pay a bit more if going on Edge over another Celebrity ship, but in my opinion it is justified (up to a certain degree, of course). You get a very new ship with very good facilities onboard, which in my opinion counts heavily when calculating the worth of the holiday vs. the amount spent on it. We got a great offer back in June, and we took it. We would not hesitate to go on Edge again, should we get another good offer.

 

Feel free to ask about anything I may not have covered in this review!

 

In San Juan, next to Norwegian Encore:

 

In Tortola:

 

In Philipsburg:

 

Another place on Sint Maarten:

Edited December 10, 2019 by mikkelhansen

[lola2013]

I was on this sailing...sorry we didn't get a chance to meet.  The week just flew by.

We also had a great time...sad it had to end.  I ran into the captain on Saturday and tried to convince him to just bypass Ft. Lauderdale and take us back out to sea for another week (I packed more than enough clothes so laundry wouldn't be an issue).   Unfortunately, he was scheduled to fly home to Greece on Sunday so nothing could convince him not to head back to FL.

Did you get a chance to see Ashlie Amber or either of the two shows by the comedian Darren?  They were both outstanding!

I am planning to do a review also, but am not at all techie so no photos will be attached.

Susan

[mikkelhansen]

18 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

Did you get a chance to see Ashlie Amber or either of the two shows by the comedian Darren?  They were both outstanding!

I didn't attend any shows other than Edge Revelation, their free 10pm show. As described above, that was more than enough entertainment for me! Although being very interested in music, onboard shows haven't really caught me on neither of the two Celebrity sailings we've been on.

We enjoyed the Martini Bar's easy-listening music during our Fine Cut dinner on night 6.

[lola2013]

I agree the music around the ship was much better than expected.  I had read that it was loud and much more appealing to the millennials.  I was happy Celebrity listened to comments and toned it down.

I believe our best meal was at the Rooftop Garden Grill...the filet was fabulous and you cannot beat the warm chocolate chip cookie!

[Illsticktocrusing]

Were there any lecture series during your cruise.  I will be sailing this Sunday and one of the things I like a lot on my Celebrity cruises are the guest lecturers.  

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[cnschultzy]

Thank you for your review! I'm booked for the same Edge itinerary in February and cannot wait.  

[hcat]

Thanks for posting the review  and EDGE photos.

We were on  the EDGE 11/15/19  for 9 nights...No dining issues, great shows and music,  but  everyone's tastes and experiences  are different . Loved Capt Costas.

 

  Unfortunately,  the dining  experience should  be a 10 for everyone.   Seems X  needs to do a bit better!

[Lastdance]

I also want to thank you for sharing your eeperieeence on Edge with us.  My next Edge cruise is on May 4, 2020, but the time goes by so fast that it will be here very soon.

[lauraapp]

When was the cruise director?

[lola2013]

9 hours ago, lauraapp said:

When was the cruise director?

Eddy Jenks was the cruise director. 

[mikkelhansen]

20 hours ago, Illsticktocrusing said:

Were there any lecture series during your cruise.  I will be sailing this Sunday and one of the things I like a lot on my Celebrity cruises are the guest lecturers.  

I didn't notice anything announced, and reading through the dailies it doesn't seem like there was either.

 

13 hours ago, hcat said:

  Unfortunately,  the dining  experience should  be a 10 for everyone.   Seems X  needs to do a bit better!

Yes, I know my Normandie review was directly opposite of yours, but it was a very bad experience, so even if we had been there earlier than night 6, thus being able to give it another chance later on the cruise, we probably wouldn't have, if we had had this experience during an earlier dinner.

 

9 hours ago, lauraapp said:

When was the cruise director?

Eddy Jenkins (https://www.instagram.com/jenkins.eddy) was the cruise director. A funny guy from Wales, who definitely lifted the ambience onboard.

[hcat]

Eddie was very good in the CD position Good humor, good spirt and not in anyibe's face We..enjoyed seeing him at the shows and on  the quizzes that were broadcast on the tv..He knows alot about music and many groups,  he should write a book!

[Bellfree Bat]

22 hours ago, Illsticktocrusing said:

Were there any lecture series during your cruise.  I will be sailing this Sunday and one of the things I like a lot on my Celebrity cruises are the guest lecturers.  

There were "Beyond the Podium" lectures focusing on DNA Forensics. My husband said that they were really good. 

[dani negreanu]

Thank you for a very well written review. Your taking the time to do it is much appreciated. I’m following everything about Edge/Apex 😁

[go.without.you]

No one has commented on the moving carpet. Wondering if anyone used it for fine dining or otherwise?

[Bo1953]

5 hours ago, go.without.you said:

No one has commented on the moving carpet. Wondering if anyone used it for fine dining or otherwise?

We used it on embarkation day and twice for sail away.... 

 

Enjoyed it greatly... 

 

Bon voyage 

 

[lauraapp]

Thanks for sharing!

[lola2013]

15 hours ago, go.without.you said:

No one has commented on the moving carpet. Wondering if anyone used it for fine dining or otherwise?

We used it on embarkation day for a short time.  I never saw more than a handful of people there at lunch or dinnertime.  We docked at each port so there was no need to use it to board tenders.  Seems underutilized. 

[Peteymil]

Who was the captain?

[TeeRick]

Very detailed and thorough review with easy to follow categories and ratings.  Outstanding!

[outandabout]

Do you need to reserve to go on the magic carpet?

 

[Bo1953]

7 hours ago, outandabout said:

Do you need to reserve to go on the magic carpet?

 

Only if you want dinner, which is generally offered once (1x) per sailing and sometimes more on longer sailings or eight (8+) plus days.

 

It needs to be done once aboard ASAP, despite the potential of weather not co-operating, people do clamour to get a coveted spot.

 

bon voyage

[outandabout]

Will do.  I think we'll go at lunch. 

Thank you so much for this info.