Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Edge
1/13/19 to 1/20/19

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Page 1 – Embarkation, Ship, Cabin, Dining, Activities, Entertainment
Page 2 – Ports of Call: San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tortola, B.V.I.; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

Ports

We had taken a similar cruise to this one in 2009 when we were on one of the Celebrity Solstice’s first cruises. That 7-day cruise had the same ports as this one, except we also spent a day in Labadee. It was a much better itinerary; but this one was OK, since I was more interested in the ship than the ports this time.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

The entrance to San Juan is a popular attraction of a cruise. As you approach it, you can see the mountains rising above the big city. The closer you get, you see the 18 ft. thick walls of the 16th century fort, El Morro.

As you pass by, you get a different view of the fort. It does make for an interesting entrance to the port.

We also passed by La Fortaleza, which is the official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico. I have wanted to visit this place so many times but have never been able to. This time was no exception, since there wasn’t enough time once again. One of these days!

The dock area itself is nowhere near the big city we had seen when we were approaching San Juan. This is a good thing, since it is actually in Old San Juan, the old colonial settlement that was founded in the early 1500’s.

We have been to San Juan many times in the past. I normally enjoy getting off the ship to walk around and explore this fascinating town. With our arriving at 3:30 PM in the afternoon and sunset at 6:00 PM, it didn’t leave much time for exploration. I was just going to get off the ship to take some photos of the Edge.

I liked the large star between the two piers.

However, I also got off the ship after dinner. This would be the only time that we would be able to get photos of the illuminated exterior on this cruise. I wasn’t about to miss that opportunity.

The ship didn’t leave port until 11:00 PM. When I got back on the ship after taking the photos at 8:30 PM, I asked how many people were still in town. The security person told me that there were only about 200 people that hadn’t returned to the ship.

Tortola, B.V.I.

As we cruised into Tortola, we could see this small island’s mountainous terrain. The homes on the sides of those mountains must have an awesome view.

When we were here in 2009, we took a ship tour to Virgin Gorda to see their main tourist attraction, the Baths. This time, I was just going to walk around town, since I hadn’t seen much of it during the first visit. The weather was perfect, as it had been the whole cruise so far. I was looking forward to spending some time off the ship. The main town area didn’t look that far away, so that was where I would head.

We were docked right next to the brand-new Norwegian Bliss. At the end of the dock was Tortola Pier Park. Since the park area was just completed in 2016, we hadn’t seen it on the first visit. Although Carol hadn’t planned on exploring with me, she did want to check out the shopping near the pier.

There weren’t as many shops as ports like St. Maarten, but it was a nice and more relaxed atmosphere. Behind the shops on the right side was a nice marina.

Further up the street and to the left, I came to the open-taxi stand. When I originally researched Tortola, I had thought about going to the beach. Since I was by myself, the cheapest and probably the most fun way to go was in one of these vehicles. But I changed my mind to go sightseeing on my own instead. The prices were quite reasonable. It was $8 each way to the popular Cane Garden Beach. They were getting a lot of customers that were interested in a beach day.

On my walk I saw some new construction projects as well as some structures that had been damaged by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The CAT 5 hurricane hit Tortola with 215 MPH winds. It was the most powerful Atlantic hurricane to ever strike land. 85% of the buildings on Tortola were either destroyed or severely damaged. I was impressed with how good Tortola looked considering it had only been 16 months ago. I had looked at post hurricane videos and there was devastating destruction. The city area did better than the outlying areas, since the larger buildings were more solidly built. But there were many flattened areas within the city itself too.

I didn’t pick up the official tourist map from the information booth when I got off the ship, so I wasn’t real sure where I was going; but I knew I couldn’t go too far where I couldn’t easily spot the ship if I did get lost. I had the ship’s shopping map, which I quickly realized was worthless for sightseeing. While walking I took a photo of one of the British Virgin Islands car license plates. I like the motto “Nature’s Little Secrets”.

There was a sign pointing to Road Town, which sounded like the place to go. All I was seeing was homes and shops, so I turned off that road and headed a different way. I’m glad I did, since I came to a small group of folks from the ship with a map who were also sightseeing. The first place we came to was the H.M. (Her Majesties) Prison Museum, the oldest building in Road Town. The 200-year-old building was renovated and opened to the public in 2016. I walked in to the courtyard, but when the group I was following decided to leave, I followed them rather than going in to the prison museum. It didn’t look that great and there also appeared to be a fee to enter it, which is probably why the group moved on.

We then came to St. George’s Episcopal Church. The church was originally built in the 18th century but was destroyed and rebuilt in the 19th century. The bright red and white building is surrounded by an old grave yard.

The interior was rather pretty with the wood slat ceiling.

When walking around town on Caribbean islands, one needs to pay close attention to where they are walking. This hole in the middle of the sidewalk could do a lot of damage to an absent-minded tourist.

The town had some cute buildings, including this very small little house.

The brightly colored buildings were also interesting.

I left the group, since they seemed to be lost. I decided to just head back in the general direction of the ship. There wasn’t much to see until I came upon a local market. I went in to see what was there.

Having been on so many cruises, neither Carol or I bother with buying souvenirs unless we are in a very special place. But since I didn’t need another brightly colored shirt or hat, I just looked around. When I got to the back of the market, I could see how close it was to the ship. It is probably a cheaper place to buy souvenirs than the shops next to the ship, but I didn’t bother checking to verify. People were having fun bargaining with the vendors.

After I returned to the ship for lunch, I went up to deck 15 to look over at all the fun stuff that was on the top of the Norwegian Bliss. They did seem to have a lot of entertainment, particularly for kids.

Later that afternoon I went swimming in the main pool and then laid down on a lounger in the solarium. Where I was laying, I could watch people flowing and splashing through the plastic tube ride on the Bliss. It was entertaining; but I have a feeling it won’t be used as much after the Bliss moves up to Alaska for the summer season. Unless it is a pretty warm day, swimsuits and cold water could make the tubes a bit less fun.

We had a nice view of the island as we left port. If I come back to Tortola, I will probably do an excursion to see other parts of the pretty island. A friend of mine was raving about a food tour they took through the ship, which could also be a good option.

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten

Early in our cruising days, we would talk to older cruisers at our dinner table about what they did while they were in port. When they told us that they stayed on the ship, I couldn’t believe it. Why in the world would someone stay on a ship when there is a beautiful port at the end of the dock. 52 cruises later, I am beginning to understand why. I still want to get off the ship whenever I am in port, if for nothing else, just to get some exercise. But when we have been to a port like St. Maarten so many times, I am just not interested in doing that much. Since we were cruising by ourselves, going to a beach isn’t as appealing either, especially since Carol doesn’t care for beaches. These days, I just get off the ship and explore to see if there is something new to discover that I hadn’t previously found.

Carol and I left the ship and headed down the long pier. She was glad she had her TravelScoot. As is usually the case in St. Maarten, there are a lot of ships in port and lots of cruisers scrambling to shore to enjoy the island. In addition to the Edge, there were four other ships in port. We had the Oasis of the Seas, MSC Magnifica, MSC Divina and parked behind the Edge, the HAL Veendam.

I stayed with Carol for a short time while she checked out the shops. I preferred to go to the main town, where there is more to see. To get there, you can walk or take the ferry. With it being a $4 round trip, the ferry is normally the easiest option. At 9:45 AM, there was no line at all and I just walked right onto the ferry.

After a few minutes we headed to town. It is a quick ride with stops at one end of the beach area or in the middle of it. I took the first stop. Like with Tortola, St. Maarten was heavily damaged by Hurricane Irma. The wind was less, but it was still a 182 MPH CAT 5 hurricane. There were buildings that were still damaged, as well as some that were being renovated. But for the most part everything looked like it always did. There has been a lot of time and money invested to get it back in shape.

The beach area looked great! I was surprised that it wasn’t more crowded like it normally is. I wasn’t complaining.

While looking for interesting places to visit, I came across St. Martin of Tours’ Roman Catholic Church. I love to visit churches, so I had to check it out. A large bronze statue of St. Martin of Tours was at the front of the church.

To the side of the building is a shrine to Our Lady of La Salette. This is for an event that happened in La Salette, France in 1846 that has been recognized by the church as a miracle. There are statues on both sides of the shrine.

The church’s interior was nicely done, with lovely statues along the walls.

Continuing my walk down the narrow Front Street with lots of jewelry stores and other vendors, I passed by the court house. I looked inside the door to see if there was anything worth taking photos of. There was just a counter used for locals to pay taxes and other government business matters.

I continued my walk. It is an enjoyable place to walk around. I was still surprised that the streets weren’t filled with tourists as they normally are when we have previously visited. As I got closer to some of the more popular areas, there were more tourists, but still quite sparse for St. Maarten standards. I liked an illuminated pathway between Front Street and the ocean that is probably most enjoyable in the evening.

I next came to the Methodist Church that was built in 1851. It was covered with wood shingles, an unusual look to it.

I was about to pass on going inside, but figured that there wasn’t much else to look at before I headed back to the ship, so I went in. Other than shopping, churches are about the only other tourist attraction in the small town. I’m glad I did, since it was quite different than what I was expecting.

After leaving the church, I continued down Front Street and then to the boardwalk. I was really impressed with how nicely everything had been fixed up since the hurricane. It actually looked nicer than the last time we had been in St. Maarten.

I hadn’t stayed in town long; but I had seen enough. I boarded the ferry to head back to the Edge. When we got to the ferry pier at 11:15 PM, I couldn’t believe the crowds that were waiting to get onto the ferry. I guess that people were waiting until later in the day to go to town. It was going to take a long time for this crowd to board the ferries. It probably would have been much faster to just walk. I hate to think what the crowd would be like when it was time to leave town and head back to all the ships.

I looked back as the crowd was continuing to grow and the line was extending up the ramp to the pier. I am so glad I went in early.

I took photos of the Edge’s unique bow and the Magic Carpet from the pier.

I thought it was interesting that the three times we docked, we docked on the starboard side, where the Magic Carpet would hang over the pier. I guess it is a way to make cruisers on the ship next to us curious about cruising on the Edge. I am sure it would drum up some business. It is a unique feature that makes the Edge most recognizable.

The next two days were sea days as we headed back to Fort Lauderdale. I was glad that we didn’t have another port, since I much preferred to just enjoy our last two days on the Edge.

Recap

We booked this cruise almost two years ago to experience the new class of ship from Celebrity. When we were able to do a 2-day pre-inaugural cruise on the Edge in November, I was concerned that it might take the excitement away for this cruise. Rather than taking it away, it made me more excited about spending a full week on the Edge. It is a gorgeous ship with some amazing cruising innovation that make cruising more enjoyable for us. I thoroughly enjoyed cruising on the Edge.

The main thing that I didn’t care for was the veranda portion of our Infinite Veranda cabin. I feel confident that Celebrity will find a way to make this concept more appealing in the future. They will need to, since the majority of cabins on the ship are of this type.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Edge 1/13/19 to 1/20/19

Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Edge
1/13/19 to 1/20/19