Celebrity Edge

[Zanny]

Hi. When the 2 new ships entered Aust last year.I was eager to try the Edge and Virgins Resilient  Lady ship.

Having just got home from an 11  night cruise on the Resilient Lady she certainly  lived up to the great expectations  I have we had a great time. I could not fault it.

Hoping to book the Edge to N.Z. again for Msrch to compare in my opinion  the ship is the destination. Any thoughts on the Celebrity  Edge ship.

Thanks in advance

[MicCanberra]

I look forward to your comparisons.

[onlyslightlymad]

On 1/26/2024 at 5:43 PM, Zanny said:

Hi. When the 2 new ships entered Aust last year.I was eager to try the Edge and Virgins Resilient  Lady ship.

Having just got home from an 11  night cruise on the Resilient Lady she certainly  lived up to the great expectations  I have we had a great time. I could not fault it.

Hoping to book the Edge to N.Z. again for Msrch to compare in my opinion  the ship is the destination. Any thoughts on the Celebrity  Edge ship.

Thanks in advance

Me too, Zanny!  I had Resilient Lady booked for December but had to push her out by a year because of leave issues.  I get on Celebrity Edge in 28 days.  Can't wait.

[FeebeeH]

I have an Edge cruise in 1 week.  I've been reading the Celebrity Edge CC forum with interest, there have been quite a few changes and it seems quite a few people aren't happy.  It may be different to the 2 other Celebrity cruises we've had before but still willing to give it a try.  Hey for at least 11 days we won't be cooking, cleaning or nagging our sons to clean up their dishes - now that's got to be a win!  On the other hand, not sure how our garden will cope with infrequent watering, my keen gardener husband is fretting a bit.

[paulvdb1]

On 1/26/2024 at 3:43 PM, Zanny said:

Hi. When the 2 new ships entered Aust last year.I was eager to try the Edge and Virgins Resilient  Lady ship.

Having just got home from an 11  night cruise on the Resilient Lady she certainly  lived up to the great expectations  I have we had a great time. I could not fault it.

Hoping to book the Edge to N.Z. again for Msrch to compare in my opinion  the ship is the destination. Any thoughts on the Celebrity  Edge ship.

Thanks in advance

Having just got off Edge I think I'd have liked Resilient Lady more - but that always depends on what you want out of a ship. I think Edge seemed to really target naive rich Americans happy to pay ridiculous prices for all the addons. I picked none of the addons and survived OK. Lots of Princess aged passengers so sometimes old people doing silly things in narrow walkways but I was expecting some of that. Ship is quite good, crew very good, entertainment mostly spectacular, regular dining rooms good to very good, bistro generally quite good, app is terrible.  I'd have liked to have had a soft drink package but crazy pricing - so brought my own on board. I'd have liked to try fancier restaurants, but left that to the NZ towns. A few tours would have been nice but MUCH cheaper to book on land. 

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, paulvdb1 said:

Having just got off Edge I think I'd have liked Resilient Lady more - but that always depends on what you want out of a ship. I think Edge seemed to really target naive rich Americans happy to pay ridiculous prices for all the addons. I picked none of the addons and survived OK. Lots of Princess aged passengers so sometimes old people doing silly things in narrow walkways but I was expecting some of that. Ship is quite good, crew very good, entertainment mostly spectacular, regular dining rooms good to very good, bistro generally quite good, app is terrible.  I'd have liked to have had a soft drink package but crazy pricing - so brought my own on board. I'd have liked to try fancier restaurants, but left that to the NZ towns. A few tours would have been nice but MUCH cheaper to book on land. 

Princess aged? 

I am now in my 50's and did have a cruise booked on Edge for March but cancelled for personal reasons. I am concerned - am I now too old for Celebrity Edge?

 

We have cruised a couple of times on Solstice and really didn't see much of an age difference to what we see on most cruises. Maybe the crowd has been a bit younger on Carnival and a bit older on Cunard/HAL NZ cruises generally attract an older average crowd than South Pacific cruises do.

[Porky55]

15 hours ago, paulvdb1 said:

A few tours would have been nice but MUCH cheaper to book on land. 

We have a cruise booked on Edge in December. Have been looking at excursions on a Qld itinerary and WOW 😳

 

Compared same excursion with Princess prices and Edge are triple the price for exactly the same excursion … criminal actually. the only difference I can find is the train seating is "Premier" and includes a glass of wine 🙄
 

So, we will be doing our own thing, as the ship is the destination for this 10 day cruise and we have done the sector a few times. 
 

Rose

Edited January 28 by Porky55

[icat2000]

10 hours ago, arxcards said:

Princess aged? 

I am now in my 50's and did have a cruise booked on Edge for March but cancelled for personal reasons. I am concerned - am I now too old for Celebrity Edge?

 

We have cruised a couple of times on Solstice and really didn't see much of an age difference to what we see on most cruises. Maybe the crowd has been a bit younger on Carnival and a bit older on Cunard/HAL NZ cruises generally attract an older average crowd than South Pacific cruises do.

Maybe cause I'm in my 50s and Princess passenger and did Celebrity Cruises when I was in my 40s 😄

 

I like the Celebrity product but I don't like the USD in Australian waters. 

[Aus Traveller]

43 minutes ago, Porky55 said:

We have a cruise booked on Edge in December. Have been looking at excursions on a Qld itinerary and WOW 😳

 

Compared same excursion with Princess prices and Edge are triple the price for exactly the same excursion … criminal actually. the only difference I can find is the train seating is "Premier" and includes a glass of wine 🙄
 

So, we will be doing our own thing, as the ship is the destination for this 10 day cruise and we have done the sector a few times. 
 

Rose

That price is ridiculous!

[paulvdb1]

10 hours ago, arxcards said:

Princess aged? 

I am now in my 50's and did have a cruise booked on Edge for March but cancelled for personal reasons. I am concerned - am I now too old for Celebrity Edge?

 

Nope - you will be among the youngest on board. "Princess" is how I imagine Princess cruises to be - filled with retirees. I'd say that 90% of the people on my edge cruise were 60-90. Probably around 20 kids, maybe another 20 under 40's. I'd have liked to cruise with some younger passengers - which might have been the case on Resilient Lady  

[paulvdb1]

14 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

That price is ridiculous!

Better wines by the glass - $30USD plus gratuity - so over $50AUD for a glass of wine. This ship astounds with it's expensive options. 

[ceeceeDee]

11 hours ago, arxcards said:

Princess aged? 

I am now in my 50's and did have a cruise booked on Edge for March but cancelled for personal reasons. I am concerned - am I now too old for Celebrity Edge?

 

We have cruised a couple of times on Solstice and really didn't see much of an age difference to what we see on most cruises. Maybe the crowd has been a bit younger on Carnival and a bit older on Cunard/HAL NZ cruises generally attract an older average crowd than South Pacific cruises do.

Come on, Geoff. You're only as old as you feel. 😂 I'm a tad older than you, but have been known to zip across the Lido Deck on P&O on a flying fox! On our last couple of cruises we went with friends in their 30s and had no trouble keeping up with them.😄

[possum52]

8 hours ago, Porky55 said:

We have a cruise booked on Edge in December. Have been looking at excursions on a Qld itinerary and WOW 😳

 

Compared same excursion with Princess prices and Edge are triple the price for exactly the same excursion … criminal actually. the only difference I can find is the train seating is "Premier" and includes a glass of wine 🙄
 

So, we will be doing our own thing, as the ship is the destination for this 10 day cruise and we have done the sector a few times. 
 

Rose

Interesting that Celebrity are calling their excursion Premier Class - the most expensive class on the railway is Gold which for one way is $99 and includes the following -

Gold Class inclusions:

• Dedicated attendant service
• Individual seating in comfortable lounge-style chairs
• A spacious heritage style carriage for travel that offers the ambience of the romance of rail
• Kuranda Scenic Railway gift pack including a Kuranda Scenic Railway pen and postcard
• Souvenir trip fan
• Stop and disembark at Din Din (Barron Falls) railway station, with stunning views of the Falls
• Refreshments featuring a selection of Queensland and local produce such as Gallo Dairyland Cheeses, Skybury Coffee, Wondaree Macadamias, Licks Mango Sorbet, a selection of Australian wines and Great Northern Brewing Company Super Crisp Lager
• Welcome tropical mocktails are served in the pavillion area of Freshwater railway station from 9.35am
• For afternoon travellers, welcome drinks are served onboard the train at Kuranda railway station from 3.10pm

The Skyrail is $62 one way. I guess you have to add in the cost of transfer from Knobby's Head return but that surely would not add up to too much more than $200 give or take. That is really ripping off passengers.

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, paulvdb1 said:

Nope - you will be among the youngest on board. "Princess" is how I imagine Princess cruises to be - filled with retirees. I'd say that 90% of the people on my edge cruise were 60-90. Probably around 20 kids, maybe another 20 under 40's. I'd have liked to cruise with some younger passengers - which might have been the case on Resilient Lady  

Without a  Princess cruise on your signature, it is only perception. I am usually slightly below the mean age on princess, although I am close to bang-on it these days. Cruise on longer cruises outside school holidays and you will have an older crowd, regardless of the cruise line.

 

Virgin is pitching at a younger crowd, so they give off that perception. They are realising they have to advertise to the hilt to attract young cruisers. So far, of those I personally know that have cruised Virgin, 90% are older than me - Virgin was the new breed back and Branson was the cool one back when I was in primary school. Without cruising on Virgin myself, reality may not match my perception either.

 

IMHO, if you have 90% old people on a Celebrity cruise, that makes them Celebrity old. It would only be in Alaska that I have seen anywhere near that % of retirees on Princess. Yes, they have plenty of older passengers, but far from defining.

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Come on, Geoff. You're only as old as you feel. 😂 I'm a tad older than you, but have been known to zip across the Lido Deck on P&O on a flying fox! On our last couple of cruises we went with friends in their 30s and had no trouble keeping up with them.😄

You can have the flying fox. I am OK with heights, but I would only be doing it if free.

 

I am happy to trade drink tips with the 20s & 30s at the mixologist bar. I more than keep up.😂

Instead of grumbling about mobility scooters, I am doing my bit to bridge the generation gap. 😉

[MicCanberra]

Just remember, for Australian cruises, just like anywhere else but a smaller populationto draw off, the crowd is going to be people who have time and money. That will make it an older demographic especially if it is a longer cruise out of school holidays.

[KKB]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:43 PM, Zanny said:

Hi. When the 2 new ships entered Aust last year.I was eager to try the Edge and Virgins Resilient  Lady ship.

Having just got home from an 11  night cruise on the Resilient Lady she certainly  lived up to the great expectations  I have we had a great time. I could not fault it.

Hoping to book the Edge to N.Z. again for Msrch to compare in my opinion  the ship is the destination. Any thoughts on the Celebrity  Edge ship.

Thanks in advance

We haven't tried Virgin but we have sailed Celebrity E-class 5x in the last 2 1/2 yrs, including 2x on the Edge.

We LOVE E-class ships!!

When we tried Celebrity 10 yrs ago after 10 yrs of cruising mostly on Princess (but also DCL & RCCL), we felt it was a small step above the others in service & food. (we generally find all mainstream lines more alike than different)

But E-class ships are step above the rest of Celebrity, imo.

Why?

I like the more intimate 4-MDRs (tho the menus have been streamlined...I still had good to very good food at in Dec on Beyond, but I miss more choices.

The specialty dining is SO good! Eden is a must do each cruise (tho with the recent rate increase, not so sure EVERY time). Chef's Table on Beyond was one of our best meals ever & Le Voyage on the Beyond is also terrific.

The production shows are FANTASTIC--the Imax-like theatre puts them up their w/ RCCL & NCL Broadway level shows (of course, those 2 lines are cutting those...boo)

The ship is fabulous--modern, streamlined. 

Now, the Infinite Verandas (IV) are polarizing. We actually like them as it makes the room more spacious. We find we don't use balconies as much as we always think we will, but we love the light. We did have an aft Sunset Veranda (traditional) on Edge & loved it. We were in OV in Dec & it is the same dimensions as a balcony room so felt that was the happy medium for us. (we just aren't in our room that much)

 

[Lanwood]

On 1/29/2024 at 6:26 PM, arxcards said:

 

I am happy to trade drink tips with the 20s & 30s at the mixologist bar. I more than keep up.😂

Instead of grumbling about mobility scooters, I am doing my bit to bridge the generation gap. 😉

I'll look out for you in the Gym....😁

[Lanwood]

On 1/29/2024 at 8:22 PM, MicCanberra said:

Just remember, for Australian cruises, just like anywhere else but a smaller populationto draw off, the crowd is going to be people who have time and money. That will make it an older demographic especially if it is a longer cruise out of school holidays.

Or me...

Still comfortably in my 40's, with 23 on Princess. Lost count on all the others..😇

[Zanny]

On 1/28/2024 at 11:39 AM, onlyslightlymad said:

Me too, Zanny!  I had Resilient Lady booked for December but had to push her out by a year because of leave issues.  I get on Celebrity Edge in 28 days.  Can't wait.

Well we booked on the Edge in March back to N.z. within 6 weeks but looking forward to exploring  the ship. We were lucky I only saw one wheel chair and one mobility  scooter on Resilient  Lady.i was surprised  that there were slot of older people  on the cruise mostly over65 I think

[Porky55]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:07 PM, possum52 said:

Interesting that Celebrity are calling their excursion Premier Class - the most expensive class on the railway is Gold which for one way is $99 and includes the following -

Gold Class inclusions:

• Dedicated attendant service
• Individual seating in comfortable lounge-style chairs
• A spacious heritage style carriage for travel that offers the ambience of the romance of rail
• Kuranda Scenic Railway gift pack including a Kuranda Scenic Railway pen and postcard
• Souvenir trip fan
• Stop and disembark at Din Din (Barron Falls) railway station, with stunning views of the Falls
• Refreshments featuring a selection of Queensland and local produce such as Gallo Dairyland Cheeses, Skybury Coffee, Wondaree Macadamias, Licks Mango Sorbet, a selection of Australian wines and Great Northern Brewing Company Super Crisp Lager
• Welcome tropical mocktails are served in the pavillion area of Freshwater railway station from 9.35am
• For afternoon travellers, welcome drinks are served onboard the train at Kuranda railway station from 3.10pm

The Skyrail is $62 one way. I guess you have to add in the cost of transfer from Knobby's Head return but that surely would not add up to too much more than $200 give or take. That is really ripping off passengers.

Exactly my point, so at the stops on our Qld cruise, we will be entertaining ourselves.

 

Rose