Here’s my Celebrity Edge ship review following the inaugural cruise. Those inaugural cruises, usually only 2 nights, don’t give you much time to explore and review.
But I managed to pack as much into the short cruise and took as many photos as humanly possible. So keep reading for just about all the information you’d need to know what to expect aboard Celebrity Edge.
This is the first ship in Celebrity’s new Edge Class of ships.
Celebrity Edge Review
From the cruise line that coined the phrase “Modern Luxury” over a decade ago, Celebrity Edge is one amazing ship. Its innovations truly push the envelope way to the edge.
Completed in October 2018 in France and now at its homeport of Fort Lauderdale, Celebrity Edge welcomed media and travel agents onboard for a two-night curiosity cruise.
While two nights isn’t much time to fully get to know a new ship, you’d be surprised how much ground you can cover when pressed for time. There were stateroom tours, spa and fitness center tours, and a dine-around tasting at each of the main restaurants.
From the extremely and cleverly designed outer decks to the three-story glittering Grand Plaza, there wasn’t much time to dawdle.
The first of four Edge class cruise ships, Celebrity Edge really has gone the distance. Not only in innovative concepts from dining options to fitness choices and relaxation but to visual entertainment experiences that are like nothing you’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. Or possibly anywhere.
So let’s start the honest-to-goodness highlights of my Celebrity Edge review with real photos, not artist renderings.
The first thing that hits you when you begin walking around is the Grand Plaza. An open, three-story venue with the key meeting place on the ship, the Martini Bar. There’s also Café al Bacio and the Grand Plaza Café.
View of the Grand AtriumMartini Bar in the afternoon.
There are also several upscale shops including Tiffany’s, Coach and an Apple store. Celebrity Cruises is an authorized Apple reseller.
Andy: “This here isn’t Floyd’s Barber Shop, that’s for sure”.
What does this look like to you? It’s an outdoor lounge area with bar service or bring food from a nearby venue.Definitely not your average ship. That’s the Magic Carpet getting ready for dinner seating.
Celebrity Edge Staterooms
As you might imagine, there are dozens of stateroom categories, configurations and choices. I counted 20 categories ranging from the Iconic Suite at 1,892 sq. ft to the Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda (probably will be the most popular for a while) and inside staterooms, of which there are only 12.
There are a total of 25 wheelchair accessible staterooms, including two Sky Suites, eight with the Infinite veranda and three deluxe inside staterooms.
Here’s my “Edge Stateroom with Infinite Veranda:
This is what all the buzz is about…the window that drops down at the touch of a button.
Two things I learned about the Infinite Veranda window:
1. It’s ultimately controlled by someone on the bridge (so if it’s bad weather, someone will lock it closed)
2. I took this photo when my window finally decided to work. It malfunctioned (or was controlled on the bridge) for most of my two-day cruise. It was like being in an oceanview stateroom with a fixed-closed window almost the entire time.
Very roomy shower, great water pressure, too.
Jewel box is actually a cleverly-designed charging station.
And my favorite, bedside USB ports.There’s a plug-in-yourself hair dryer in a concealed drawer under the sink. There are only two speeds and you need to keep the ‘On” button pressed while you use it.Hangers that come off from the closet rod. Thank you, Celebrity. And a really nice, light-weight robe, too.Solo Stateroom with Infinite Verandah.
Celebrity Edge Review – Dining Options
In total, there are by my count 18 restaurants/places to eat onboard Celebrity Edge. Of those 18, seven charge a fee for speciality dining.
Fee-based:
Fine Cut Steakhouse
Le Grand Bistro
Le Petit Chef & Friends
Eden Restaurant
Raw on 5
Magic Carpet – an outdoor extension of Raw on 5 with a separate menu
Dinner on the Edge – Dine at the top of the ship on the Magic Carpet when in port. Reservations taken only when onboard.
Complimentary dining:
Main dining rooms: Normandie, Tuscan, Cyprus, Cosmopolitan
Spa Café
Eden Café
Oceanview Café – the Lido Buffet
Mast Grill
Rooftop Garden Grill
For Suite and Aqua Class Guests:
Luminae
Blu
Dining with a view at Fine Cut Steakhouse.Magic Carpet getting ready for guests for cocktails.My tablemate’s prime rib at Cyprus. Not exactly Greek food, but was recommended.
Bars and Lounges
Aside from the Martini Bar in the Grand Atrium pictured above, there are nine more bars and lounges scattered around the ship. Another Celebrity carry-over is my favorite…the Sunset Bar, located where else but at the very aft of the ship.
Relaxation:
For relaxing and simply doing nothing, Celebrity has you covered.
Main pool area with whirlpools. The entire space glows in deep neon colors at night.
Quiet time in the Solarium.4.5 laps equals one mile. Great walking and running track slopes down and up a deck.
Parting Thoughts
This is just a preview of what you can expect on Celebrity Edge cruise ship. Celebrity spared no expense to create an almost fantasy-like cruise experience for guests over 21-years.
Families with small children will find Celebrity’s Camp at Sea excels at keeping kids entertained. Activities range from S.T.E.M. experiments and demonstrations to culinary creating and arts and crafts.
Staterooms are very large and appear even more so because of the sleek furniture, pale colors and minimalist design. I wasn’t all too comfy with the mattress, though. Maybe it starts out extra extra firm to last through several years of use.
Overall, I really liked my stateroom, except for my Infinite Verandah window not working 80% of the time.
It’s always hard to get a feel for a new ship with only two days to experience what others spend a week investigating.
For example, the traffic flow at Oceanview Café was well-designed and shouldn’t get too crazy at feeding times. Corridors seemed wider than usual, too. The ship’s designers did a fantastic job with guest-to-space ratio.
There are only two elevator banks, forward and aft. At first I thought one more bank of elevators in the middle of the ship would have been a good idea. However, these elevators are enormous! They’re fast, easy to know which buttons to press and six elevators in each bank.
Celebrity Edge is Best For:
The first guest demographic that comes to mind is the 35-50 age group. It’s really such a cool ship, though, that unless you hate avant-garde concepts or 21st century technology, just about anyone will be wide-eyed at what they find onboard.
You won’t find a low-key classical string quartet but if you venture into Eden, you’ll experience trippy, other-worldly performance art.
Guest-participation in an Eden performance.
If you think you’ve seen and done it all, don’t mind cruising with 2,900 other guests and like to spend days at sea on deck in the open air, Celebrity Edge might be the best choice for your next cruise. It’s totally unique.
Hi CM,
Thank you for your lovely comment. Cruise lines get higher revenue for balcony staterooms so the less inside, the more they can charge. It’s all about economics, right? Inside staterooms are nice and cozy for sleeping, for sure.
Happy cruising,
Sherry
This is a really thorough review, thanks for writing it! I really enjoyed it. I’m most shocked at the lack of inside staterooms. I’m a big fan of insides.
Hi CM,
Thank you for your lovely comment. Cruise lines get higher revenue for balcony staterooms so the less inside, the more they can charge. It’s all about economics, right? Inside staterooms are nice and cozy for sleeping, for sure.
Happy cruising,
Sherry
This is a really thorough review, thanks for writing it! I really enjoyed it. I’m most shocked at the lack of inside staterooms. I’m a big fan of insides.