Pre-Inaugural Cruise on the Celebrity Edge
11/27/18 to 11/29/18

Click on the above link buttons that will take you directly to a particular page or area of the review; or you can just click through to the next page at the bottom of each page.
Page 1 – Embarkation & Restaurants,
Page 2 – Lounges, Entertainment, Eden, Rooftop Garden, Retreat & Outer Decks
Page 3 – Spa & Other Venues
Page 4 - Cabins
Page 5 – Dining and Shows (including the Eden show)

Cabins

We were assigned to an Infinite Veranda cabin #8299. With this being the new type cabin available on the Edge, I was anxious to try it out. Plus, it would be a preview of the cabin we will have on our January Edge cruise. The infinite veranda is unique in that the veranda area can actually be part of the cabin by opening the bifold doors, which are normally open by default. There is a motor driven window at the outside of the veranda that can be lowered by holding a button down or using the Celebrity app on a mobile device. If the window is open in hot or cold weather, you would probably close the bifold doors to keep it comfortable in the main cabin. The veranda portion is not very deep, but it is good enough for sitting out there. The whole concept does make the air-conditioned cabin larger and it will be popular for many people. Some will prefer a traditional veranda.

A few hours after we got into our cabin and Carol unpacked our luggage and put up all of our clothes, we got notified by Trish from the United Way that we had been upgraded to a Sky Suite. It was totally unexpected and most appreciated. Below is a photo of me with Karen and Trish from the United Way after they notified me of the upgrade. I wish that Carol could have been in the photo.

Infinite Veranda 8299
I did get a lot of photos of the Infinite Veranda cabin and knew that we would like it; but I will do a more complete review after actually spending some time in it for our January review. Below are photos and comments from our short time in the cabin.

I thought it was interesting that in numbering the cabin doors, they now leave off the deck number. So instead of it showing 8299, it just shows 299, since it is obvious that we were on deck 8.

The Infinite Veranda cabins are arranged with either the bed by the bathroom or by the veranda. We prefer it by the veranda, so that it is easier to get Carol’s portable scooter into and out of the cabin. Some people prefer the bed by the bathroom, since it gives them a larger expanse of area toward the veranda. The king size bed has room under it to store large suitcases, which comes in very handy.

On the same wall as the bed is a very comfortable and functional couch.

On the other wall is a desk and chest of drawers next to the refrigerator

An interesting feature of the desk is that it can be pushed into the chest to provide more floor room. We had planned to do that, so that we could put Carol’s scooter there when not being used. Since we weren’t in this cabin long enough, I couldn’t take a photo of how it works. When I was in an accessible Infinite Veranda cabin on the cabin tour, that I took the next day, I was able to get photos of how it looks when pushed in.

On top of the desk is a white box containing electrical plugs and USB ports. With the 2 USB ports, it does reduce the need for more outlets, which makes the single European and US outlets quite adequate. The only issue is that some adapters won’t fit into the box, like my Canon battery charger. The box was almost large enough, but not quite.

Since there is also a US outlet and 2 more USB ports next to the bed, it would solve the problem with any large adapters.

There is no glass topped cocktail table in the room to put drinks or food onto, like in most cruise ship cabins. But they do have a tom-tom type table that has a hard top that can be turned over to expose a cushion top. It comes in handy as a foot stool that way. Under the top is an opening that can be used for storage. Some people used this table for an additional place to ice down their wine bottles. I don’t know if it is intended to be used that way; but it will be. The below photos of the table were from our suite, not the infinite veranda; but it is the same tom-tom table. That is why there is a curtain behind them.

The veranda chairs were pretty comfortable; but they did not recline. When sitting in the chairs, it was easy to look out to the ocean without having a bar obstructing the view, since the bar seemed higher than on a normal balcony. This allows you to see under the bar when sitting in the low chairs. It is a shame that there were no foot rests; but there just isn't that much area on the verada section.

When the window is down, this was the view from our cabin.

To darken the room, there are blinds that come down from the ceiling in front of the veranda window that make the room totally dark. It was very nice, but there is an issue with it if you want to go on the veranda in the morning before your spouse is awake. When you open the blinds, the whole cabin lights up. There is no curtain for the bifold doors.

The closet had plenty of hanging space. Since we are tall, there was no issue to reach the hangars; but it will be a problem for shorter people. They will probably be having to use the tom-tom table to reach it. Beside the closet is a rounded corner that is actually more storage. Beside it is another door that opens up to reveal even more storage. We were told that these cabins have more than the previous ship class cabins.

We really like the new bathroom design. It is larger and allows the shower to also be larger. It is a nice upgrade from the previous classes of Celebrity ships.

I really appreciated the new automation features in the cabin, which I will discuss more when discussing the suite. We could control the window, blinds, lighting, air conditioning and TV from our iPhones using the new Celebrity app. The AC, blinds and lighting were also controlled from the digital thermostat.

Sky Suite 10146
After Carol repacked everything in our cabin, we headed to our Sky Suite, number 10146, where she had to unpack again. Fortunately, with it being just a 2-day cruise, we hadn’t packed as much stuff as we would for a longer cruise. As we walked into the cabin, we really appreciated the upgrade. This cabin was awesome! The most obvious difference being the much wider cabin with there being a very nice veranda.

The veranda was nice and wide; but not that deep. It was most disappointing that there were no loungers on balcony, just two chairs. I have heard many complaints about this. The lack of foot rests is also surprising. If I paid for a suite and liked to use the balcony a lot, I would be quite disappointed.

The furniture was basically the same, except for the addition of the very comfortable rocking chair. It quickly became Carol’s favorite spot in the cabin.

Looking back toward the bed, there is a window into the bathroom. Once we checked out the bathroom, we found that the window could be completely closed with mirror panels on the bathroom side for privacy, or the window could be left open. It was a nice feature to be able to look outside from the bathroom.

Like in the first cabin, the bedside table also had the same electric outlet/USB port configuration, which is great for those using a CPAP machine. The other bedside table just had some storage.

Along the entryway there is a nice large closet for hanging clothes and another with additional drawer space and the safe.

Like in the infinite veranda, the desk could be pushed into the dresser. The dresser also had a refrigerator and three large drawers.

The bathroom was really nice with a large double sink and a separate doored area for the toilet.

There was a large bathtub shower combination. It was great to have such a large shower area but I found that the floor got wet in front of it after use. The first morning I had put my towel on the edge of the tub closest to the toilet. So, I didn’t notice that there was much water on the floor. The reason was that the towel got most of the water and it was very wet when using it to dry. The next day, I found a different place for the towel. But there wasn’t a good place to hang it near the shower where it wouldn’t get a little wet. As a result, the water that was absorbed by the towel the first day, landed on the floor. This could be an issue for a lot of people with potential slipping.

The suite had upgraded bathroom products. The two white containers on the bathroom shelf contained q-tips and cotton balls.

The bathroom night light is located under the sink cabinets. It was just the right amount of light.

The balcony was most comfortable; but I was surprised that it had the same furniture as the Infinite Veranda, with no reclining lounge chairs. That upgrade was only available on the higher-class suites with larger balconies. We had a view of the Magic Carpet, since we were starboard side of the ship. The view down as in most cabins was to the life boats and tenders.

It was surprising when I pulled the curtains to close, that they automatically shut. They also opened automatically when pulled that way; as well as through the AC controls on the wall and through the mobile app.

With the bed facing the ocean and the TV on a side wall, we were pleased to see that the TV did pull out from the wall to angle toward the bed. The Sky Suites that have beds that face the opposite wall do not have TV’s that can angle toward a different way.

I am including photos of the various screens on the TV showing what is available from it, since it is a question people frequently ask about.

There were many inputs on the back of the TV; but since the remote does not permit changing inputs, they wouldn’t be usable. Perhaps there is a way to use them if you ask at Guest Services. I did like that you were able to use Apple AirPlay with the TV; but I couldn’t get it to work, even though I did follow all the instructions.

The room automation features that can be accessed through a mobile device are really nice. I won’t show other features available on the Celebrity app, since there are many and they can be seen by just downloading the app. The room automation is only available when on the ship. Celebrity has a nice video that shows how the app can be used. Here is a link to it: https://www.celebritycruises.com/celebrity-app . It would be helpful to watch this video before cruising on the Edge to know the many things you can do with it.

The basic room screen allows you to adjust room temperature, control the room lighting and open or close the curtains. For the Infinite Verandas, it opens or closes the blinds in front of the veranda window.

I did like that the app had the TV remote controls available. Even though we didn’t watch TV on this cruise, I liked the convenience of it, since I rarely know where the remote control for the TV is in a cabin; but I always know where my iPhone is!

There is also a Scenes page on the app that adjusts the blinds and lighting in different ways.

The only minor issue that we had was that since there are magnets on both the bathroom and closet doors, when you close them, they make noise. Since Carol sleeps later than me, there was no way I could close them quietly.

Stateroom Discovery

On the second day, we were able to visit the various suites and other types of cabins on the ship. The suites are just awesome and I would love to be able to justify staying in them. But at least I was able to see them all in person and be envious of those who book them. There were other types of cabins that were also good to see, since it will help readers of this review to see what is avilable for them. I am just including photos with no commentary on the various cabins, since I didn't stay in them.

Royal Suite #12103 –