A Disney girl cruises on Celebrity...

Dug720

See the line where the sky meets the sea?
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
...and LOVED it!!! (As a note, I will use Celebrity and X interchangeably in here as they are the same. Celebrity was started by the Greek Chandris family, and in Greek X is the letter that equates to the “ch” sound, so X is the iconic symbol on all the Celebrity ships.)

I just got back yesterday from my first Celebrity cruise - a 7-night Western Caribbean that went to Key West, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. We were supposed to go to Costa Maya, but due to strikes and blockades by taxi drivers and bus drivers, Captain Kate made the decision to cancel the port - both because we were the smallest ship in (around 2900 passengers) due in port (Harmony of the Seas and one of the NCL behemoths were due in also) so the port area would have been jammed with people and because there is always the possibility in strike/blockade situations of them turning violent. So we had a sea day and overnighted in Coumel.

The details of the cruise can be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2732738-live-trip-report-edge-216-23/

This is my comparison between Celebrity and DCL and my final verdict (if you don't like spoilers, don't look at my signature yet)... To note, I had a Single Stateroom with Infinite Veranda, so no special early boarding or restaurant perks. I did go in as a Captain's Club select member because of my status with Royal Caribbean. Also some things apply specifically to Edge Class - like their 4 dining rooms, Eden, and the Infinite Veranda

Embarkation:

You can do everything including taking your picture using Celebrity's app and have "Expedited Arrival". No going to the counter for you - a quick check with representatives with iPads (including them asking you the health questions in person) and then you can sit. They have a terminal in Port Everglades that was constructed specifically for the Edge class ships - other X ships use it when Edge is not in port (or Apex once she begins sailing out of PE). The suites are seated in a separate area - I got there about 10:30 and they were being escorted on board along with any Captain's Club Zenith cruisers (their highest level). The representatives in the terminal were having everyone sit down before they would begin boarding, so there was no crowd to weed through to board. Boarding started with Concierge guests, then Aqua Class (a category of stateroom), then Captain's Club Elite Plus, then Captain's Club Elite, then Captain's Club Select, and then anyone. I was on board before 11am.
No, you're not announced as you board, BUT you are offered a glass of sparkling cider or champagne when you board. Nice touch!
Also, you can go directly to your stateroom to get your key card (in a sealed envelope outside) and drop off your carry-ons.You can't stay in your cabin at that point, but it is SOOOOO nice to not have to schlep your stuff around.

Advantage: Celebrity

Food:
Buffet:
Those familiar with Royal's buffet will be right at home with Celebrity's Ocean View Cafe. Rather than a line - even a line with pods along the line - there are a couple of "lines with pods" but most is at stations in the center of that area. Lots of offerings every day, and they win the gluten-free desert game by a MILE!! Every day there was a variety of cakes to choose from as well as mousses, creme brulees, and ice cream (ice cream in a separate area). The last day they even has cake pops!! At breakfast they had a gluten free muffin made on board and options of gluten-free bread that was in a separate area with its own toaster. At lunch you could get gluten-free pizza that was prepared in its own oven! Lots of choices!! I did learn that (at least right now - I mentioned it and will mention it again in my follow-up email) you do need to ask with some things to be sure as the labeling is not always consistent - hopefully they will get that corrected.

Other quick service:
They have a grill for burgers and hot dogs, a coffee shop (fee) with included pastries INCLUDING fresh-made (not packaged) gluten-free macarons and one of the cake options, a Spa cafe with smoothies (fee) and light, healthy options, and Eden Cafe which has some breakfast wraps and such as well as lunch offerings. The latter two were not as gluten-friendly from the menu. I did not ask about options as I was full from the Ocean View Cafe.

Main Dining:
On Edge they have 4 main dining rooms. You either have Traditional Dining at either 6:00 or (I think) 8:30 OR Select Dining, where you can go at any point between 5:15 and 8:30 or 9. If you have Traditional, you are assigned to one of the 4 main dining rooms with a set table (usually shared) and the same service team each night. You can request to go to one of the other dining rooms, but you do have to request that and have it set via the maitre d'.
With Select (which I had), you can choose where you would like to eat. It's recommended to make reservations, which I did at a time between the fixed times but closer to Early - and I went to each of the dining rooms at least once. Each dining room has a small signature menu that remains the same each night - Normandie is French, Cosmopolitan is American, Tuscan is Italian, and Cyprus is Greek - the Celebrity Everyday items (standard type apps like escargots, caesar salad, French onion soup and entrees like chicken, steak, and salmon), and a section of the menu "Celebrity Signatures" that changes each night. Everyday and Signatures are the same in all 4 dining rooms. My favorite by far in terms of decor, service, and all around ambience was Tuscan. I was surprised by how much I liked Cyprus - decor-wise it is the least impressive (looks like an old conference hotel dining room) but service and food there was great.

Extra-charge Dining:
On Edge there are a few for-charge dining options. Raw on 5 is mainly Sushi, Le Petit Chef is a dinner where through animation you see little chefs prepare the dish that will appear (so if you're on an alternate menu it won't match) - at lunch this is a for-charge Bistro, the Rooftop Garden Grill which is steaks and other grilled things, Finer Cut Steakhouse which is steaks, and Eden which is an experience.
I only went to Eden on the final night, and I loved it!

A video review:

Simply put, it was an amazing dining experience!!

Advantage: Honestly it is pretty much a draw - I do love rotational dining on DCL with the same servers, but the food was every bit as good on Celebrity and other than some labeling inconsistency which is easily cleared by asking (and I have to ask period on DCL in the buffet, so...) I never felt unsafe with my wheat allergy. The extra care for gluten-free desserts that were made on board as opposed to pre-packaged Enjoy Life cookies and “soft foods” like mousse only on DCL makes me give X a slight edge. And as for pay restaurants, even with all of Disney’s creativity, there is nothing like Eden, and that completely won me over.

Stateroom:
A bit hard to do a direct comparison as Edge has single staterooms have the infinite verandas, which Disney does not have in either form.
I will freely state that the infinite verandas are a big source of debate over on Cruise Critic. People love them or hate them. Basically it makes the veranda a total extension of your cabin, sort of like a Florida room. There are French doors with frosted glass that can be closed to separate the veranda area from the cabin or left open. The window area goes floor to ceiling, and the top portion can be lowered. It can be locked by the bridge for cleaning (they announce that in the Daily Planner which you receive in your stateroom nightly) or in the event of weather that necessitates them being locked - I never experienced the weather and was on an excursion on port side cleaning day.
The single staterooms are about 50 square feet larger than the interior studios NCL has, plus you have the veranda. They are on Deck 6, so the lifeboats (sorry...launches - each one cost a million dollars and have extra features) are at the bottom of the window area, and some have the hardware that holds the lifeboats that blocks some of the view. Neither is a huge deal for me.

A video of my cabin:

Advantage:
Taking into account that these cabins are designed for solo travelers and as such do not have the single supplement, for me they are a game changer and it is not a true comparison as Disney does not have solo cabins. If I compare a 2-person cabin on X then often the price comes out to about the same, X maybe being a tad less. But with the single stateroom, which is perfect for me, there is no comparison. I can do 7 nights on X for pretty much what I would pay for a 4-night Dream Cruise.
Honestly, for me as a solo, unless and until Disney does solo cabins AND has at least some that are not interior, this is game, set, and match to X.

Entertainment:
Ok, this is overall the one area where I fully expected it to be game, set, and match to Disney...but it wasn’t quite the slam dunk I anticipated.
The shows on Celebrity may not fully have the story that Disney ships do (the first one looked like it was going to have a story, but lost the thread early on; the final night show “Colors of Life” had a story that , with different (read: Disney) music could fit right in on Disney.
The singers and dancers were all excellent and extremely talented and had some cabaret-type shows in the smaller Club venue as well.
I don’t do magicians or comedians regardless, so I cannot comment there.
There was a Cirque-type group that did a show in the Club which was generally good (even if I did roll my eyes and mutter “Called it” when it opened with the 2 girls doing a routine on 2 chandeliers to Sia’s “Chandelier”.
And then there was Eden. Eden as a whole is a 3-deck area complete with a living wall, a bar with very unique drinks available, the cafe for breakfast and lunch, many different seating areas and different types of seating, and the restaurant at night. There is a group of entertainers hired by X specifically as “Edenists” and they will interact in the restaurant but they also have a show “Revelations” that is essentially the Adam and Eve story but more generic - like the male and female sides of the world. There is some singing and dancing, and some interactive elements. Again, it elicits strong feelings on both sides. I have seen someone call it “Disney meets Avatar” but given that Pandora is my favorite world in WDW, that is hardly the insult they intended it to be.

Advantage:
This is really the only true draw, which surprised me. Based on my entertainment experience on Holland America and in particular Royal Caribbean (since it is Celebrity’s parent company) I expected Disney to win this one hands down. But I was pleasantly surprised with entertainment on X.

Service:
Nothing to really detail here - it was a draw. My stateroom host, my servers, and every crew member I encountered was polite and friendly and helpful. They were always cleaning the public areas, and the service was excellent.


General Observations:
* Celebrity does skew older, though there were a fair number of children on this sailing as it was Presidents’ Week. But they were generally well-behaved and seemed happy with their club (called Camp At Sea) experiences from little snippets I overheard.
* There is a casino onboard, but smoking is not allowed inside, so even if you walk through you do not have to deal with a nasty stench.
* Quite simply, the ship is a work of art. There are unique pieces all throughout the ship. They do offer a tour that comes with a coffee table book, but I refused to pay $139 for it.

Overall:
I loved it! I had already booked a cruise on the Apex - Edge’s twin which will be launching in the next few weeks - for summer 2021 for my 50th birthday based on the itinerary. Within a couple of hours on board, I had booked the week before so I will have my first back-to-back experience. And by the end of the cruise I had booked Presidents’ Week for 2021 and 2022. (My travel agent joked that she liked having me booked in the forward section as I seemed to keep tripping and falling into Future Cruises.) I’m sure that if the itinerary and price is right, I will be back on Disney - and perhaps they will have non-interior solo cabins on the new ships - but I really have fallen in love with Celebrity. At least their Edge class ships!

I’ll try to answer any questions I can.
 
Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Love your cabin, that window is so cool!! We've only done DCL, but now that my dd doesn't care about the characters, I'm looking at other lines. Also, love that the ship's Captain was a woman!!!
 
Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Love your cabin, that window is so cool!! We've only done DCL, but now that my dd doesn't care about the characters, I'm looking at other lines. Also, love that the ship's Captain was a woman!!!

She is incredible!! They do 3 months on, 3 months off - and the other Edge Captain is male. But Celebrity is really leading the way with women on the Bridge.

She also has her Elf Sphynx Cat, Bug Naked, with her! She (Bug) accompanied her mum to the Captain’s Q&A!! (She is not the only Captain in the RCCL family that travels with a pet - there is at least a parrot, a dog, and 2 other cats in the RCCL Captain family. And some have their spouse and kids the whole time!)
 


We did a Med cruise on the EDGE last Summer, and had a fantastic time! The ship is amazing, we really loved it. We had a true veranda room toward the back of the ship so I can't speak to the infinite veranda controversy. It was a real step up in stateroom design, and was a good size for our 3 person family, the bathroom was also impressive in size/layout. The food was terrific, we had select dining so we dined in each of the 4 main dining rooms. Our teen daughter loved the Ocean view Cafe (buffet), and with good reason---we were spoiled for choice breakfast/ lunch dinner that place knocked it out of the park. We also enjoyed dining at some specialty restaurants: Le Petit Chef and Eden. Eden was an experience for sure & great food. There was also excellent entertainment. The downside---yeah it skews older,and some loyal Celebrity cruisers were whining about how it was different. I could see they are trying to attract a new client, that's why I went with Celebrity vs Royal or Disney. The itinerary was my focus, and I wanted to be on a relaxing ship with quality dining. We were very skeptical about Celebrity & the EDGE going into it, if it would be a good fit for us but now I only want to book EDGE class ships. I'd love to sail APEX!
 
We did a Med cruise on the EDGE last Summer, and had a fantastic time! The ship is amazing, we really loved it. We had a true veranda room toward the back of the ship so I can't speak to the infinite veranda controversy. It was a real step up in stateroom design, and was a good size for our 3 person family, the bathroom was also impressive in size/layout. The food was terrific, we had select dining so we dined in each of the 4 main dining rooms. Our teen daughter loved the Ocean view Cafe (buffet), and with good reason---we were spoiled for choice breakfast/ lunch dinner that place knocked it out of the park. We also enjoyed dining at some specialty restaurants: Le Petit Chef and Eden. Eden was an experience for sure & great food. There was also excellent entertainment. The downside---yeah it skews older,and some loyal Celebrity cruisers were whining about how it was different. I could see they are trying to attract a new client, that's why I went with Celebrity vs Royal or Disney. The itinerary was my focus, and I wanted to be on a relaxing ship with quality dining. We were very skeptical about Celebrity & the EDGE going into it, if it would be a good fit for us but now I only want to book EDGE class ships. I'd love to sail APEX!

I think word is out enough that it is different many “tried and true” X cruisers are either avoiding it or go in knowing that it will be different as I did not hear too many people complaining. Even when Costa Maya got cancelled I did not hear any complaints. I was in the Shore Excursions area for a bit waiting to talk with a person to help decide which excursion I was going to change to get some beach/water time since my day at Maya Chan in Costa Maya got scrapped (they refunded within 2 days, and I had an email from them before I could even contact them!) for a while, and it is right across the area for Guest Services. Now, people might have been complaining quietly, but I heard no one getting loud and demanding compensation besides ship excursions getting a credit and port taxes and fees being refunded. And even walking around the ship and chatting; people were disappointed but understood there was a reason and were happy that Captain Kate made the decision to keep us all safe.

And yes - I am not sure if I will try a “traditional” X ship, but I will definitely cruise Apex and would love to cruise Edge again.
 


Great review. You have peaked my curiosity to look into Celbbrity some more. Love the glass of champagne or cider when you board. Very nice touch!
 
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Glad you enjoyed it! We loved the Edge and the food was amazing. Our next two trips are on the Apex and Constellation and then we are back to RCCL to get to Diamond, way quicker than getting to Elite on X, and then we will likely be full time Celebrity. That said, our trip on the Adventure was a lot of fun this year, so RCCL won't be a big sacrifice lol.

I know they changed the entertainment, skewed the music older since we have been on, so glad to hear it was still really good. We also liked how much they emphasized live music around the ship, that was a nice change from the other lines:)

I am curious about the mislabeling in the buffet? I followed the signs and never encountered an issue and felt great all cruise long. Having recently gotten nailed by a couple of minor things, I have found that my body is much more sensitive to gluten than I thought.
 
We did a Med cruise on the EDGE last Summer, and had a fantastic time! The ship is amazing, we really loved it. We had a true veranda room toward the back of the ship so I can't speak to the infinite veranda controversy. It was a real step up in stateroom design, and was a good size for our 3 person family, the bathroom was also impressive in size/layout. The food was terrific, we had select dining so we dined in each of the 4 main dining rooms. Our teen daughter loved the Ocean view Cafe (buffet), and with good reason---we were spoiled for choice breakfast/ lunch dinner that place knocked it out of the park. We also enjoyed dining at some specialty restaurants: Le Petit Chef and Eden. Eden was an experience for sure & great food. There was also excellent entertainment. The downside---yeah it skews older,and some loyal Celebrity cruisers were whining about how it was different. I could see they are trying to attract a new client, that's why I went with Celebrity vs Royal or Disney. The itinerary was my focus, and I wanted to be on a relaxing ship with quality dining. We were very skeptical about Celebrity & the EDGE going into it, if it would be a good fit for us but now I only want to book EDGE class ships. I'd love to sail APEX!

I am on CC a lot now, and the hatred for the Edge over there is real and over the top ridiculous. Unfortunately the biggest cheerleader for the Edge class and wonderful and helpful poster passed away recently and was a huge loss to the board. She helped me stay positive for our Edge cruise when others were tearing down the ship before she was even built.

We will be sailing the Constellation in 2022, to verify that Celebrity is the line for us. While we don't meet the average age, being laid back cruisers, they have just enough stuff planned to keep us busy. The biggest plus for us was the food. My wife isn't adventurous and found DCL's and RCCL's more common offerings to be boring with not a lot of flavor. On Celebrity she loved the food options and they always had plenty of flavor. That and the desserts broke the industry trend and actually tasted really good, cakes tasted like cakes:)
 
I know they changed the entertainment, skewed the music older since we have been on, so glad to hear it was still really good. We also liked how much they emphasized live music around the ship, that was a nice change from the other lines:)

Actually other than when they had the ensemble doing "Big Band" type music, I found it very modern/current and not skewed older at all. The production shows had a bit of a mix, but it was all in the rock/pop genre.

And yes, the live music in various venues was great, and the performers all seemed to have a clue about what they were performing (as opposed to my time on Brilliance when the primary duo who performed in the atrium area was bad...she was glued to the lyrics on her iPad and mispronounced quite a lot of words. (In the response I received to my email about that one the representative replying indicated that I was not the first person to mention that and ship management had noticed it as well. So it was NOT just me in that case!)

I am curious about the mislabeling in the buffet? I followed the signs and never encountered an issue and felt great all cruise long. Having recently gotten nailed by a couple of minor things, I have found that my body is much more sensitive to gluten than I thought.

Here is an example of a label in the bakery area:
476506

That prompted me to ask "Is it really gluten-free?" to which the girl behind the counter said "No. That is just the coding and something that meets one or more would be labeled like this:"

476507

And yet on the main food line the labels were like this:

476508

476509

So they looked like what apparently was the "code key" on the bakery items but that since they only met one only had one.

IMHO, they either need to use the codes, having them all have the codes on the bottom and use just the symbols or have them all as on the non-bakery items and specify with no code system on the bottom.
 
Actually other than when they had the ensemble doing "Big Band" type music, I found it very modern/current and not skewed older at all. The production shows had a bit of a mix, but it was all in the rock/pop genre.

And yes, the live music in various venues was great, and the performers all seemed to have a clue about what they were performing (as opposed to my time on Brilliance when the primary duo who performed in the atrium area was bad...she was glued to the lyrics on her iPad and mispronounced quite a lot of words. (In the response I received to my email about that one the representative replying indicated that I was not the first person to mention that and ship management had noticed it as well. So it was NOT just me in that case!)



Here is an example of a label in the bakery area:
View attachment 476506

That prompted me to ask "Is it really gluten-free?" to which the girl behind the counter said "No. That is just the coding and something that meets one or more would be labeled like this:"

View attachment 476507

And yet on the main food line the labels were like this:

View attachment 476508

View attachment 476509

So they looked like what apparently was the "code key" on the bakery items but that since they only met one only had one.

IMHO, they either need to use the codes, having them all have the codes on the bottom and use just the symbols or have them all as on the non-bakery items and specify with no code system on the bottom.

Got it. I will say though the labeling in the buffet was a game changer for me and my spouse. I always hated waiting for a chef walk through because she would be done eating when I was just starting. This made life so easy that I got spoiled. RCCL is starting to do this, but they only label like 10% of the buffet items.

On RCCL we loved the piano player on the adventure, but the guy playing in the pub and the house band were not good at all. We got lucky on the Brilliance with the house band Kronos that filled the atrium area multiple levels up when they played. One of the best house bands I have ever heard. Their talent level made you wonder how backwards the music industry is, that talent doesn't equal success. So can totally relate to the live music issues on RCCL.

The Edge had Michael Reddon, who I actually bought his music off iTunes and it is very good and their country style group (Reckless Charms) was also very good when we were on.
 
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Got it. I will say though the labeling in the buffet was a game changer for me and my spouse. I always hated waiting for a chef walk through because she would be done eating when I was just starting. This made life so easy that I got spoiled. RCCL is starting to do this, but they only label like 10% of the buffet items.

On RCCL we loved the piano player on the adventure, but the guy playing in the pub and the house band were not good at all. We got lucky on the Brilliance with the house band Kronos that filled the atrium area multiple levels up when they played. One of the best house bands I have ever heard. Their talent level made you wonder how backwards the music industry is, that talent doesn't equal success. So can totally relate to the live music issues on RCCL.

The Edge had Michael Reddon, who I actually bought his music off iTunes and it is very good and their country style group (Reckless Charms) was also very good when we were on.

Oh, I was happy that they did label things - I just learned to ask the server in that area to verify, especially once I figured out there seemed to be 2 systems going on: one in the bakery and one everywhere else.

We had a variety of people on Edge this past week, no Michael though. The ones we had were awesome!
 
glad you had a great time!
I am on CC a lot now, and the hatred for the Edge over there is real and over the top ridiculous. Unfortunately the biggest cheerleader for the Edge class and wonderful and helpful poster passed away recently and was a huge loss to the board. She helped me stay positive for our Edge cruise when others were tearing down the ship before she was even built.
While I find CC to be a great resource I find that at times it devolves into something akin to how Television Without Pity was, in that once a writer hated something, the collective groupthink was that they all must hate it.
 
glad you had a great time!

While I find CC to be a great resource I find that at times it devolves into something akin to how Television Without Pity was, in that once a writer hated something, the collective groupthink was that they all must hate it.

That and the overall tone can get pretty mean at times.
 
I am on CC a lot now, and the hatred for the Edge over there is real and over the top ridiculous. Unfortunately the biggest cheerleader for the Edge class and wonderful and helpful poster passed away recently and was a huge loss to the board. She helped me stay positive for our Edge cruise when others were tearing down the ship before she was even built.

Yes, she was amazing!!! Bo1953 and Jim_Iain have helped me a lot as well. But that board gets insane. If I see that poster say "loud and shouty" one more time... Honestly I'm glad that there have really only been one or two semi-haters who have posted on my review as so many times any positive review gets immediately jumped on. (And even then one was a misunderstanding more than anything and the other (the "Disney meets Avatar") was definitely not the insult they thought it was since Pandora is my favorite land. LOL)

Now that I have experienced it and loved it so much, I feel like I'll be a lot more immune to the haters - and better able to pick out people who have never experienced it but are just complaining. (I honestly did not even find the "Hoppen chairs" that had been on the IVs and now are around the ramp in Eden THAT uncomfortable. And definitely not tiny enough to be anything I'd remotely consider "dollhouse furniture".)
 
glad you had a great time!

While I find CC to be a great resource I find that at times it devolves into something akin to how Television Without Pity was, in that once a writer hated something, the collective groupthink was that they all must hate it.

Exactly. And then repeat the same thing over and over. I'm so sick of seeing "loud and shouty" - I want to say "A ship is an inanimate object and therefore while the azipods/thrusters could in theory be loud, nothing about it could be "shouty"...but I've decided not to poke the bear.
 
Just peeked over at the quotes coming in for summer 2021 and WOWZA. I never thought I'd be *that* person, but... I've got 14 nights on the Apex (2 cruises B2B) to Spain, Monaco, France, and Italy for less than HALF the quotes I'm seeing!! I could do an 11-night on the Edge (though now that I have the others booked and they are non-refundable deposits it would be more complicated as I'd end up with a future cruise credit for one of them which just seems complicated to use) for less than half of what I'm seeing for those Greek cruises.

I'm very glad the owner of the travel agency I use convinced me to give Celebrity - and specifically Edge - a try!!
 

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