Amazing ship and amazing staff!
Celebrity Edge Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 53
11 Night Amalfi Coast & Greek Isles (Rome Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 09, 2019
Ship: Celebrity Edge
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 10250
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
I would seek out future cruises on Edge specifically because I was so impressed with the ship. Celebrity did an EXCEPTIONAL job in trying to route us to the planned ports giving us the best possible weather conditions but changing the dates of which day we would be in which port and ultimately we had such great weather in each port, missing the rain and wind that we would have otherwise encountered. Most cruise lines would just cancel and call it a "day at sea". Celebrity did most of the work in figuring out our excursions that we had already paid for and redoing all of the reservations to make for a seamless transition. I also recommend this particular cruise as a great way to get a taste of Italy and Greece and check a few locations off of your bucket list and/or create a new list of where you might want to come back and spend more time. Excursions though are key to your experience in each port and what you will see or not see.Embarkation
Using Celebrity's new app as part of the embarkation process helped expedite the process and made for an extremely fast process compared to when we cruised with Celebrity just three years ago. But their wasn't enough staff and/or they weren't always well positioned to make for a smooth and easy flow for the mass amounts of people trying to figure out where they are supposed to go.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The specialty restaurants are quite good overall, however, the dishes can be hit or miss more often than not. Soups for example were consistently excellent, appetizers were a mix, main dishes were a mix, salads and dressings are not so great and while the desserts look beautiful, they didn't always live up to how they looked or their description but others were excellent! The buffet has improved a great deal since we cruised a few years ago with Celebrity and while not everything is "amazing", there were lots of good choices and each night the choices changed making the range of food to choose from quite exceptional. Again, the dishes are a bit hit or miss but you'll find more than enough food to fill you up and then some! In additional to the specialty restaurants, there are also restaurants that you can pay additional money for and while the quality would sometimes bump up slightly, I don't know that I'd necessarily pay for them again but they do offer additional variety and they were quite good but nothing amazing if you are from a city that already has exceptional restaurants/cuisine but the level of service does certainly increase considerably if you are looking for that type of experience.
Onboard Activities
The fitness center was clean and well appointed and never too busy on our particular cruise. The pool was quite often extremely crowded and could/should be bigger for this size ship. There's a great deal of lounge chairs but not enough staff to keep on top of clearing towels and serving drinks like you'd find at a resort for example. Unfortunately, the guests do not clear their towels into the plentiful towel drops as they should, leaving the burden to the limited staff but for the most part everything is exceptionally clean.
Entertainment
We cruised three years ago on Celebrity and saw the shows and comedian on our ship and there is no comparison to the shows and comedian that we saw on this cruise. The design of the theater (which is new being a new ship) and the level of the performers were fit for acts you'd pay for in Vegas and were quite exceptional!
Service and Staff
The staff on our last cruise with Celebrity and this cruise were consistently excellent and so friendly and really go out of their way to make you happy. We were told by one staff member, that for the most part, they are not allowed to say no and must find a way to make the guests request happen and you do feel that way and see that in action, even when people seem to take advantage of that policy as people tend to do. Our room steward not only did an exceptional job at keeping our room spotless and in order, he was always super friendly from the moment we saw him in the morning till we went to bed at night ... that's a long day!
Ship Quality
This is a new ship and so the expectations for cleanliness were/are high and Celebrity met those expectations and exceeded them. I'm a commercial interior designer with a background in 4 and 5 star hotel design and the attention to detail on this ship was exceptional and the finishes were beautiful but also functional, which often cannot be said for some of the best hotel chains.
Cabin / Stateroom
The bed was better than most hotels and was comparable to Westin's, who are known for their high-level comfort mattresses. The size was perfect for two, with a king size bed, a small sofa for two or three, a desk and chair, a dresser, a storage closet with hanging and additional shelving, plus a generous size bathroom with a decent amount of counter space and a good size shower for a cruise ship with a multiple adjustment showerheads. We were in Aqua class which has certain options that other rooms do not and I don't know all of those differences.
Ship tip
Be sure to book your excursions and even your specialty dining preferences as far in advance as possible or else you'll be limited to what's left, even if you try to do it two months in advance, you'll find yourself eating at 9:30 and limited to restricted options for excursions.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
There's lots to see in Rome, especially the pre-B.C. era architecture/ruins but you must be careful about where you eat as many restaurants are a tourist trap and serve very mediocre food and then overcharge you and/or add "service fees" that they will tell you are "taxes" and still ask you to pay additional tip. Be sure to check TripAdvisor or Yelp before you dine somewhere, no matter how charming or quaint the restaurant may look. We were taken and then saw an article about sooooo many others that experienced the same, then came home and saw an article on CNN about it as well. This is not the cleanest city and lots of trash thrown about the streets and tons of graffiti everywhere but we never felt unsafe but remained alert and cautious as one should always be when traveling.
Lots of shopping, lots of history, lots more of this rather large island that we would love to go back and explore. Very clean, very beautiful streets and architecture. The food was good and offers something different than Italy or Greece if you are wanting to try the local cuisine but they also have lots of pasta dishes as well.
The white buildings are beautiful and the shopping is great but the congestion and ease of getting to the top of the island where Santorini actually is is NOT easy, nor is getting back down to the port, be prepared! Our understanding is that beginning in 2020 they will begin to further limit how many visitors are able to visit per day, as the town just cannot handle the amount of tourists they allow currently. It's extremely crowded and the charm wears off by the end of the day but it's a beautiful island and worth seeing.
The white buildings and architecture area initially charming but the island itself is quite desolate and not very attractive which nobody ever tells you. There's not a lot to do other than the typical shopping but it's not very good shopping. We went to Delos, an uninhabited island with ancient ruins which was extremely interesting and really made the whole port worth stopping but Mykonos itself wasn't that great but glad I saw it and checked it off the list. Another small port that has difficulty keeping up with the amount of tourists.
We visited the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii and both were extremely worth it but overall not enough time for both in one day but when you cruise, you have little choice but enough to know if you'd want to go back again or not. We did not spend any time in the port of Naples but it didn't look like someplace we'd want to spend any time ... very depressed looking area and quite poor all around you.
Disembarkation
Could not have been easier or quicker. We used the Celebrity bus service to take us to our hotel and that could not have been a better decision. They had a tour guide on the bus who continued to educate us on our way to the hotel which made it feel like we were on another excursion and they arranged our taxi service from the drop-off to our chosen hotels. The taxis were all lined up and waiting for us all when we arrived, it was very slick!