Thrifty Couple Celebrity Edge Review Jan 27th to Feb 3

[cgolf]

Pre cruise

This cruise was my wife and I, and we are mid to early 40’s. I am also gluten-free which can be a challenge at times in life and especially on a cruise. We enjoy going to the shows and eating supper in the main dining rooms. We have only eaten one supper in a specialty restaurant in our 15 cruises. We like to keep active on a cruise with activities or shows, but do treasure some down time to read and watch the ocean go past.


This will be pretty detailed and lengthy with pictures, so it will be spread out over multiple days. My goal will be to have a hits and misses summary at the end, but I will talk about those as I go too. I will do my best to answer all questions, and would request that you either quote or tag me when you have a question to make it easier for me to find.

@Dug720

 

[Dug720]

Looking forward to it!! Thanks!!

 

[DnA2010]

Following! Thanks!

 

[cgolf]

We had an uneventful flight down, my wife wasn’t a fan of the small pocket of turbulence we hit. Attached a photo from the plane just a bit before the sun made it over the horizon. After waiting on hold for quite a while we got hold of the hotel shuttle and were dropped off at the Quality Inn hotels and suites airport/cruise port South in Hollywood. We got there around noon and the place was a zoo. We prechecked in and they took our phone number and called us when our room was ready. We could have had them hold our bags, but they were held in the breakfast and free coffee all day room that anyone could walk into, not a locked area like other hotels.


As for the hotel itself, it was older with doors that opened to the outside of the building where anyone could access from the driveway. The room wasn’t great but did it’s job. For what we payed I had higher expectations. We would stay there again as a second or third choice not a first.

 

[cgolf]

Day 1

The hotel had a bus to shuttle us over and the dropped some people off at the Harmony of the Seas and then we were dropped off at the Edge. We got to the terminal around 11 and check in was super easy. As we were walking in they were starting to board the suites and others. Within 10 minutes of walking in the terminal us inside roomers were boarding. Of course the first thing we did when we boarded was to go and get on the call list for an upgrade to aqua class, 21 rooms were open before the closed bookings.


As we walked on our first impressions were that it was a beautifully decorated ship. After following VT’s and others reviews and live threads I felt we knew a little bit how to get around. After we were done at guest relations we headed up to our room to drop off our carry ons. This is the best, other lines need to catch on and do the same. So much easier to deal with the buffet.

 

[cgolf]

When we went to the buffet I discovered a game changer for me and dealing with with being gluten free. On the other lines I have sailed I would always have to get the attention of the chef and have them walk me around and show me what is safe. Not on Celebrity, they have most things on the buffet marked to tell me wether it is gluten free or not.

To some this may seem silly, but for some of us this is a big deal. It made me feel like a normal passenger. More on this later...

 

[cgolf]

Day 1 Room

Have to say that we were blown away by our room, 10168. To get into the room you need to key into an outer door and then key into your room. The hang up storage had more than enough room for the clothes we brought with and we didn’t come close to filling the drawers and cabinet with our other clothes and other essentials. I am not sure if the veranda rooms have less storage or it’s just that we pack less than others. The lounger in the room made a nice storage are for clothes as we changed for meals and our coats during the day. I used the tom tom to set my PJs on.

 

[Dug720]

When we went to the buffet I discovered a game changer for me and dealing with with being gluten free. On the other lines I have sailed I would always have to get the attention of the chef and have them walk me around and show me what is safe. Not on Celebrity, they have most things on the buffet marked to tell me wether it is gluten free or not.

To some this may seem silly, but for some of us this is a big deal. It made me feel like a normal passenger. More on this later...

View attachment 380256
View attachment 380257

THIS is awesome!!!! The possibility for cross-contamination from careless others is still there, so if you need 100% sure, finding a chef to get a plate made up in the back might still be advised I guess, but I love this!!!

 

[cgolf]

THIS is awesome!!!! The possibility for cross-contamination from careless others is still there, so if you need 100% sure, finding a chef to get a plate made up in the back might still be advised I guess, but I love this!!!

This made my cruise. As far as we can tell I am gluten intolerant, but had been gluten free for a while when they did the test so who knows. We have our suspicions though, because of some health issues 10 years before I started the gluten free diet.

I will say post cruise I felt better than I did going in, so that is a good sign.

Also you will see a dedicated bread and dessert station during lunch later, and in the morning if you want bread, they usually keep it where you need to ask for it.

 

[cgolf]

The bathroom was very nice. There were hooks to hang our toiletries bag on and enough shelving to hold the items we used everyday. The shower was amazing. There was room to move and the shower head was removable. Overall this was the nicest inside room we have stayed in. We did get an offer to upgrade to aqua class, and the total would have been quite a bit under what the final prices, not sure what they were at the time we booked our inside room. We stuck with the inside room and are very glad we did.

 

[cgolf]

I will end today with a funny post. On the last night as I was walking down the hall to go to the show one of the rockers was out in the hall. I figured it was out there in case anyone needed a rest Later it was moved further down the hall and eventually disappeared.


I will look at the day 1 daily planner and get a post or two ready for tomorrow night. Unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to post pics of the daily planners. We used them to write down notes about what we liked and disliked.

 

[pattyw]

Looking forward to reading about your trip!! Great so far!! We are cruising for the 1st time in April on Allure- 7 night Western Caribbean cruise. I'm trying to get all the information I can!

 

[mevelandry]

Day 1 Room

Have to say that we were blown away by our room, 10168. (...)

W-O-W!!!!

 

[cgolf]

Day 1 Ship Exploration

Day 1 was spent getting to know the ship. I of course had to visit Mr Edge, and on the last night gave him a gentle pat on the nose on our last lap around the track. We ventured out onto the Magic Carpet briefly and then got some pictures of the pool area. From a deck up the main pool doesn’t really look that big, but when you stand next too it you can appreciate how big it really is. We took a look at the Martini hot tubs too. They were nice, and had a great view, so I would say keep one or both on the next build, but please put a hot tub on the resort deck. We like to swim a bit and then hop in the hot tub, but didn’t do that with the main pool because it is a hike to get too the hot tubs.

 

[tltay2005]

Great start. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[starvenger]

Very cool so far. I’m not certain if I like the ultra-modern look just yet (would probably need to cruise on the Edge to know for sure) but I applaud their seeming efforts to go “all-in” with it.

I’m not a GF eater but I’m always appreciative of efforts made to inform people about what’s in what food wrt allergies and diets.

Now, if there was only a cilantro-free designation...

 

[cgolf]

The Oceanview cafe is really nice the high ceilings really give it an open feeling. We loved the outdoor seating and was surprised when not too many took advantage of it. Of course the food was really good and as I mentioned earlier there was a nice gluten free selection. They have also put out hand sanitizer dispensers now, but we preferred the sinks. We were going to try other locations for lunch, but just did the oceanview everyday because it fit our needs well.


I also added a pic of the gluten free deserts too. One thing we noticed is Celebrity’s cakes actually had good flavor, which we didn’t see on other lines.

 

[cgolf]

Checked out the rooftop garden and thought it was a pretty nice looking space. There were varied seating options including the big wooden bench. The wooden bench got more comfortable the more we used it and learned to sit in it, but it definitely wasn’t the easiest seat to get out of. I will say I did look for and find some stains on the cushions from the smokestack, but at least to me they weren’t too bad and I didn’t feel that they took anything away from the space. I will add that we tolerate wear and tear on things knowing that these are mass market products that are in use 24/7 for maybe on average 350 days a year in a very harsh environment. It was really cool to see the real plants, and the wall with plants growing out of it. We saw staff keeping the plants trimmed daily. The live plants is a really nice touch compared to the fake plants we have seen on other lines. It surprised me to find that the plants added good vibes when you were walking around and made the spaces seem more natural, can’t really articulate well the feeling I am trying to describe, it was just a nice touch.

 

[cgolf]

We next visited the Sunset bar. This seemed like a nice place to sit and relax and watch the ocean, as long as you weren’t sitting at the bar where your back would be to the ocean. This was a popular spot during our cruise, we sat back there a few times, but not having a beverage package we didn’t order any drinks.

 

[cgolf]

Next up was the Solarium. This was a nice covered area with the spa cafe, a smaller pool, and a nice sized whirlpool. There was a lot of seating in the area and we didn’t see a lot of chair hogs either.

Two things we would like to see in the solarium would be a small bar and possibly a roof that opened when the ship is in warmer climates.