More Observations From The Poop Deck

[morpheusofthesea]

Got our negative covid test back last night and we are busy packing for the Edge tomorrow. Driving ourselves to Port Everglades and self parking at the terminal ($105 for the week). Debating whether to bring my 6 foot staff with me to keep my distance. It always comes in handy as I wander through this wilderness we call life. This year we are comparing suite venues and in particular the Retreat on sailing Celebrity ships. As the other ships come 'on line' we will be trying those as well, though next year. A week ago we got this from our shoreside concierge. This report I hope to make on a daily basis for the one week is so we all can compare if suite life is all that it is hyped to be or not. You decide. 

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. :

 

Happy Saturday! I hope you are enjoying your weekend! We look forward to welcoming you back aboard the Celebrity Edge very soon! I was worried you did not receive my welcome email, just incase, I am resending it.

 

As your vacation is just around the corner, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Tanji and I will serve as your dedicated Shoreside Concierge. I work hand in hand with the Retreat Concierges onboard to make your Celebrity experience as carefree as possible, and I am happy to assist you in any way I can.

 

Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns regarding your upcoming sailing. In preparing for your arrival there are a few items that I would like to notate in your file. Please provide the following information so we can make sure all your needs are planned for:

 

Are you celebrating any special occasions?

 

Do you have any allergies we need to be made aware of?

 

Would you like any extra hangers, pillows, blankets, etc.?

 

Expected arrival time:

 

Preferred departure time:

 

Day of sailing contact number:

 

Number of bags:

 

We are gifting a special monogrammed pajama set to each guest staying in our top suites.  We have two sizes S/M or L/XL (they are unisex and run big). If you know what size and initials you prefer, let me know, and I will send this over to the ship.

 

As guests in one of our top suites, I am delighted to let you know that you will receive unlimited complimentary Specialty Dining. Arranging for your dining plans before sailing will give you more time to relax and enjoy the Celebrity Edge. Please find the attached sample menus for our Specialty Restaurants aboard the Celebrity Edge to give you an idea of what each of them offer, and please note menu items may be slightly different. There are a couple of items that I would like to point out regarding the Specialty Dining venues. Kindly note, dining times are 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 8:00pm, 8:30pm and 9:00pm except for Le Petit Chef at Le Grand Bistro which only has two dining times available each night. There is an early seating at 6:00pm and a late seating at 8:30pm. Finally, regarding the Magic Carpet /Dinner on the Edge, these reservations can only be made once onboard. Your Personal Retreat Host (Butler) will be able to assist with these arrangements and provide a menu to review. As always, you are more than welcome to dine in Luminae, which is our exclusive restaurant for our Suite guests. This particular venue is open seating therefore, reservations are not required.

 

Additionally, we are pleased to offer a complimentary minibar that is stocked daily, as well as two complimentary bottles of liquor to enjoy during your time with us. As I would love the opportunity to have these Suite Class Amenities available for you upon your arrival, kindly choose from the below options. Please note, in case the liquor is not your preferred option we can substitute with a bottle of wine, we carry a variety of Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc.

 

First, select two 1-liter bottles of liquor:

 

Beefeater Gin

 

Bombay Sapphire Gin

 

Hendricks Gin

 

Tanqueray Ten Gin

 

Chivas Regal 12 Year Scotch

 

Glenfiddich Select Cask Scotch

 

Johnnie Walker Black Scotch

 

Belvedere Vodka

 

Absolut Vodka

 

Grey Goose Vodka

 

Ketel One Vodka

 

Tito’s Vodka

 

Tequila Patron Silver

 

Jack Daniels Black

 

Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey

 

Makers Mark

 

Wild Turkey

 

Jack Daniels

 

Jim Beam

 

Crown Royal

 

Seagram 7

 

Bacardi Oak Heart Spiced Rum

 

Bacardi Silver Rum

 

Captain Morgan Rum

 

Bacardi Coconut Rum

 

Zacapa Rum

 

Bailey’s Irish Cream

 

Next, choose any combination of beverages for your minibar:

 

Premium bottled purified water

 

Vitamin Water

 

Cranberry Juice

 

Orange Juice

 

V8

 

Tonic Water

 

Club Soda

 

San Pellegrino

 

Perrier

 

Coca Cola ® Products (Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite Zero, Ginger ale)

 

Red Bull

 

Sugar-Free Red Bull

 

Bud Light

 

Budweiser

 

Coors Lite

 

Miller Lite

 

Heineken Light

 

Heineken

 

Corona

 

Blue Moon

 

Red Stripe

 

Sam Adams

 

Dos Equis

 

Peroni

 

Guinness Stout

 

Newcastle Ale

 

Stella Artois

 

Sierra Nevada

 

Strongbow Hard Cider

 

O’Doul’s (alcohol-free)

 

We also offer a luggage program exclusively for our Iconic Suite, Penthouse Suite, Edge Villa and Royal Suite guests! The goal of this program is to ensure all your travel belongings are in your suite as soon as possible. Once you arrive at Terminal 25 and drop your luggage off at the "Priority, Exclusive Curbside Drop-off” location, make your way through the terminal and into the private elevator, which will lead you right to our VIP lounge. From there, you will be able to board the beautiful Celebrity Edge! I have attached the dash sign which you will want to make sure is placed on the dashboard in the car you are arriving by. This will help our staff identify that you are traveling in one of our top Suites and ensure you will have a smooth boarding experience.

 

For the most updated travel requirements you may visit:  https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/travel

 

Kindly indicate your preferences by e-mail or by calling me directly. If you have an urgent matter and I am unavailable, feel free to call our Concierge Desk at 1-877-738-7328 Option 3 seven days a week between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm CST. One of my colleagues will be happy to assist you.

 

Wishing you a great rest of your weekend!"

 

Sincerely,

 

Tanji Smith

 

Celebrity Edge

 

Retreat Suite Concierge

 

ConciergeTanji@celebrity.com

[cbfb]

Wow! Nice! Is this all suites or certain levels? 

[morpheusofthesea]

7 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Wow! Nice! Is this all suites or certain levels? 

Really do not know. Just reporting what we are being offered. Perhaps shore side concierges are different for each category of suites. Last month I reported on our RS on Equinox and did not receive this kind letter from our shoreside concierge. Our luggage wasn't delivered too soon as one would expect booking a RS. I will report on receiving our luggage tomorrow if it will be 'tout de suite' as described in above letter.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Glad to see Tanji is still with Celerity.  She was our Shore Side Concierge on several cruises.  One thing to note, we prefer champagne to liquor and request 2 bottles of Tattinger in lieu of the offerings you were sent.  Your butler will also replenish bottles of wine for you.

[morpheusofthesea]

 

31 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I have attached the dash sign which you will want to make sure is placed on the dashboard in the car you are arriving by. This will help our staff identify that you are traveling in one of our top Suites and ensure you will have a smooth boarding experience.

Perhaps it might help if I make copies of this "dash sign" and tape one on each of DW 8 bags. 

[jelayne]

27 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Wow! Nice! Is this all suites or certain levels? 

The email from the Shoreside Concierge says Royal Suite,   PH Villas and Iconic Suites for  Special luggage handling. But in the past the unlimited dining, in room liquor, etc is for Royal Suites and above and I don’t think that  has changed.

In the past we have received a email pre cruise when in Sky  Suites & Celebrity Suites with request for arrival & departure  times, need for extra hangers, special occasions and allergies.  

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

 

Perhaps it might help if I make copies of this "dash sign" and tape one on each of DW 8 bags. 

Hi Morpheus, looking forward to your posts!

We were down the hall from you on Equinox and roughing it in a Celebrity Suite. I think there were some porter and luggage issues on our cruise. We’ve had a Royal Suite once before and the placard in the window got our luggage there before we did (this was on Reflection, Nov 2019). On this Aug 21 Equinox cruise, when the porters got our bags, they were pointing out and discussing suites, as if checking on what to do. Then our luggage didn’t appear until late afternoon, our butler, unasked by us because we weren’t looking for our luggage yet, tracked our bags down on a different deck - despite the deck number being on the tag. I think there were issues!

[morpheusofthesea]

3 hours ago, cangelmd said:

We were down the hall from you on Equinox and roughing it in a Celebrity Suite.

Yes, you are always very kind and understanding. I love all your posts, most helpful. Hope I do not disappoint. I did not know about dinners on the Magic Carpet, just lunches. Do you know anything about Magic Carpet dinners ? Already trying to contact shore side concierge for a couple of bottles of Tattinger Champagne recommended by Chezmarylou. 

[morpheusofthesea]

3 hours ago, cangelmd said:

(this was on Reflection,

We were booked on the Reflection (would be our first time on this ship) for this Thanksgiving, but a rumor was passed to us while on board the Equinox while waiting to disembark, that the Reflection is slated to be the last ship to be staffed. The staff presently on board are slated for other ships. So we booked the Edge again because it is already staffed and sailing.

[cangelmd]

55 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes, you are always very kind and understanding. I love all your posts, most helpful. Hope I do not disappoint. I did not know about dinners on the Magic Carpet, just lunches. Do you know anything about Magic Carpet dinners ? Already trying to contact shore side concierge for a couple of bottles of Tattinger Champagne recommended by Chezmarylou. 

You are very gracious. All I know about MC dinners is that it is/was a difficult reservation to get. Our one trip on Edge was just before Covid and we were in an inside cabin. When we saw the menu, it was kind of normal and an all you can eat sort of thing. We had already booked Fine Cut and Eden, and just decided we didn’t want to rush on board and stress over trying to get in.

Eden was phenomenal, best foodie food at sea I’ve ever had. Fine Cut was OK, I think we made poor choices, it was not noisy at the early seating. Loved sitting on the Magic Carpet during the day, not crowded at all in the AM especially, killer view. Check out Le Grand Bistro (I think that’s right) for lunch, it had a very interesting menu, like a French brasserie, there’s a daily special and you will be able to eat free there. We didn’t do that one either and I wish we had.
Enjoy! Every week it’s getting harder to cruise, despite the lack of evidence of ongoing Covid transmission aboard. Delta will pass, my immediate area was the 3rd to start rising after Missouri/Arkansas and Jacksonville FL, our numbers are leveling off, so I think we only have a few more weeks of Delta.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

I have been a Cheeseparer all my life. I pride myself in finding that 'perfect' ship and cabin for as close to $100/pp/pd. We eventually got 'cruised out' with the monotony of B2Bs spending  weeks cruising the world on the cheap. We became intrigued once again with this introduction of a 'ship within a ship' concept. We (I) 'bit the bullet' and splurged on the lowest category to get us into 'suite class', and liked it. To DW's delight, we decided to 'push the envelope' and see if there was anything we were missing by booking suites in higher categories and if these cabins warranted the $800 to $1000/pp/pd. So, what we are attempting to discern, is this concept what we  told ourselves  still  'sourgrapes' from by gone days of cruising or have we discovered a new 'El Dorado' in cruising ?

[morpheusofthesea]

9-4-2021

 

Arrived at Port Everglades at 10:10 am. Stopped for security check at port entrance, proceed straight ahead and go through next traffic signal as it curves to the left and ends up at terminal 25 for the Edge. Had our 'PRIORITY' (8 1/2 x 11) poster prominently positioned on the dash. It went completely unnoticed. Maybe we just got to port too early? There were about a half dozen guests lined up in a more organized fashion using theatre rope/straps forming two distinct lines, one for each group, Retreat far left hugging the wall of the terminal. Doors opened at 10:30. Photo taken of vaccination card and passport and check in of boarding pass. Best part NO tracelets nor wristbands.  Escorted immediately to elevator to 2nd floor security check of carry-ons. Had to lift up our own bags onto conveyor belt (MSC shore side butlers did all the heavy lifting for their YC guests). Sat in Terminal Retreat lounge for second check-in and were the first to be escorted to our cabin by a Retreat suite host at 11:17 am. Did I say NO tracelets this cruise and no masks while on board?

[morpheusofthesea]

So far I have learned that this sailing is 800-900 and the ship is yet to sail. It has been in the 1400-1600 range since sailing began. Retreat has a maximum capacity of 380? but we were told it had 247 this cruise. Also the reason why no one has written about the dinner on the Magic Carpet is because there is no dinner slated for the past 3 months on the Magic Carpet, only bar service. Not known when dinner will be served. Anyone know if the Magic Carpet serves dinner on the sailing Apex? Also the Luminae is again closed for lunch on port days. We are being directed to Le Bistro ,for port day lunches ,(which at night becomes La Petite Chef for dinner). Or the Retreat sun deck for lunch. 

[morpheusofthesea]

9-5-2021

Cruise Director at comedy show informed us that we sailed with 950 passengers/1100 crew. Luminae not as packed as July for dinner at 6 pm(opens 5:30). Better able to social distance and seat 2 at 4tops. Service was much improved. Still the CDC has put caps on the arriving staff and crew allowed on board each ship sailing from US ports. (perhaps to ensure staff and crew are no longer housed/crammed together in quarters ?). Staff's biggest concern/fear at the present time is the public's perception of cruising. That should bookings continue to decrease below a 'certain' number the cruise line will have to cancel future sailings until numbers improve.

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I saw a post of dinner on the Edge on Apex.  It looked delicious. Don't know why Edge is not offering it.

[cbfb]

27 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

9-5-2021

Cruise Director at comedy show informed us that we sailed with 950 passengers/1100 crew. Luminae not as packed as July for dinner at 6 pm(opens 5:30). Better able to social distance and seat 2 at 4tops. Service was much improved. Still the CDC has put caps on the arriving staff and crew allowed on board each ship sailing from US ports. (perhaps to ensure staff and crew are no longer housed/crammed together in quarters ?). Staff's biggest concern/fear at the present time is the public's perception of cruising. That should bookings continue to decrease below a 'certain' number the cruise line will have to cancel future sailings until numbers improve.

 

They also need to figure out the pre cruise testing. That is making it difficult for many to cruise. I am not denying the need, but it’s definitely a problem for many. 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I saw a post of dinner on the Edge on Apex.  It looked delicious. Don't know why Edge is not offering it.

No Tattinger, had to settle for Perrier Jouet. Thanks for the heads up.

[morpheusofthesea]

This cabin is magnificent,  compared to most cabins on cruise ships. There is a function on the remote that lowers a 54" tv from the ceiling at the foot of the bed. Bed faces ceiling to floor windows of oceanview, completely private balcony with no one or deck above and solid walls on both sides. NO overhang on balcony. Completely dependent on ship's direction and position of the sun.

[wendyam76]

Had dinner on Magic Carpet on Apex in July - they’ve had it most sailings I think so it does seem strange they haven’t had it on Edge. Have a great cruise! 
Wendy

[morpheusofthesea]

  Something everyone should decide if ever choosing this type of cabin where another level and stairs are involved. Decide on what level you need to unpack and store everything. Bags for this cabin category are deposited outside your door on deck 15. Most of the storage space is located on deck 16. Our butler, the only butler for these suites,  did not offer to unpack or carry our bags upstairs to the second level. We never avail ourselves of the unpacking part, but I always tip extra for the 'heavy lifting' part. We chose to carry each of our bags to the second level, rather DW chose and I carried.  Got back to cabin after breakfast and the steward decided to entice us by filling up the balcony jacuzzi.

[Momma Rene]

On 9/3/2021 at 12:36 PM, cbfb said:

Wow! Nice! Is this all suites or certain levels? 

We are in a Celebrity Suite.  We will not be receiving the mini bar in cabin, etc.  I am thinking of going back to a Sky Suite.  The cost difference between the Sky Suite and Celebrity Suite on our sailing is $2,000 for a couple.  When you know the perks are the same as the Sky Suite, it seems far too expensive for a larger cabin.

[Daneenm]

May I ask which Edge Villa you are in?  We are booked for 15101 (Nov ‘22) and have never sailed Celebrity before.  Fun to read along with all of you travelers in preparation.  Thank you for sharing your travels with us!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Sounds like a few missteps but I'm sure your cruise will be great.  We never use the unpacking service but I would have thought the Butler would at least offered to take your luggage up to the bedroom area.  We had one once that opened a bottle of Pellegrino everything he saw me in the room because he knew I couldn't. We upgraded to a RS because of the stairs in the Villa.

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We upgraded to a RS because of the stairs in the Villa.

A smart move for sure. We try to book months,  a year or two in advance. Hard in these times with all the cancellations. Next month we will try to report from the Edge in the RS, if all goes according to plans. "Gain aft agley" Robert Burns.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

10 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

A smart move for sure. We try to book months,  a year or two in advance. Hard in these times with all the cancellations. Next month we will try to report from the Edge in the RS, if all goes according to plans. "Gain aft agley" Robert Burns.

Maybe we'll be on the same cruise.