Sailing on: Celebrity Cruises, Southampton

Highlights

• Celebrity Edge herself! This experience was ALL about the ship and it took 2 days at sea to briefly discover all of the venues on Celebrity’s newest, most innovative ship. She is beautiful, contemporary, light and luxurious.

• The Edge Infinite Veranda stateroom. I loved the neutral décor, abundant storage, the curved mattress – everything is so practical and thoughtfully designed. The spacious bathroom with lovely amenities, and the feeling of extra space created by having the infinite veranda – similar to a French balcony that opens and closes from the ceiling at the touch of a button (or by the Captain in bad weather), thus allowing more interior space and light.

• The very fancy tender boat (to take you ashore when tendered). This is definitely not your usual ‘tender boat’ it’s a spacious ‘launch’ complete with full leather seats and is very comfortable. Even better is that you step directly into the launch from a flat platform (a.k.a Magic Carpet) and greeted in this same space with a cool drink and a bar when you return. Even though we didn’t have a port, I was treated to a ride in the launch to circumnavigate the ship – a highlight for me!

• The Magic Carpet. This is the orange, external platform that you see in the pictures. It generally will be positioned on the pool deck and has a bar and comfy lounges and furniture for relaxing while easily transforming into a bar or restaurant. The Magic Carpet moves between decks (with no people on it). When at a tender port, the Magic Carpet becomes a departure lounge for the launch (the very fancy tender boat) when required to shuttle guests to shore when the ship is tendered. A very easy and flat walk to board and disembark, no more unstable or steep steps!

• Food and Drinks – a wide selection of excellent food and drink venues from the complimentary and the included venues. There is no single main dining room, but rather four complimentary main restaurants – Normandie, Tuscan, Cosmopolitan and Cyprus. Each has the same menu along with some choices from the region their name represents. I dined in Normandie and Tuscan and they were both excellent, even the snails.

• The Grand Plaza is a breathtaking, glamorous three-story atrium space featuring a Martini Bar, lounges and meeting spaces. There was always activity here throughout the day and music with a wonderful atmosphere in the evening. The heart of the ship!

• Eden Bar. This ‘Garden of Eden’ is relaxing and bright during the day with sweeping ocean views, and filled with entertainment at night – ranging from slightly risqué dancers to the silent disco – so much fun!

Top Tips

1. If booking a veranda, look at an Edge Infinite Veranda stateroom. The extra space will give you the feeling of being in a suite without the higher price tag. Of course, the suites are outstanding too.

2. Beverage package. If you like to have coffee in the morning (Café Baccio has great coffee), a few bottles of water (take one or two onshore with you) or soft drink, and a few martini’s in the grand Martini Bar or wine at dinner, consider the Beverage Package option as part of the Celebrity Sail Your Way Promotion. It adds up quickly onboard!

3. Book the specialty dining early via the Cruise Planner. Try Le Petit Chef™ and Friends for a fun, delicious and truly unique experience.

4. Book a cruise with a few sea days if possible so that you can enjoy the facilities and venues onboard Celebrity Edge, as well as your destination

5. For casual dining, check out the Oceanview Café. The ‘buffet’ on Celebrity is always exceptional, but on Celebrity Edge it was bigger and better. Dinner is quiet as most people are in the range of restaurants, but you’ll find an amazing range of fresh options including a choice of roasts and cooked to order steaks and salmon. The same goes for breakfast with multiple omelette stations and smoked salmon bagels anyone?