I Just Spent a Week on the Celebrity Edge: My Review
Updated: Aug 2
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure
This week, I arrived home from Europe after spending about a week and a half in Europe, much of it on the Celebrity Edge. It is famous on the Internet for its chic, modern, and elegant design.
But did my time on board match all of the hype the ship receives to find out? Keep on reading to learn more!
Related: Find the Celebrity Cruise voyage that works best for you!
 | Celebrity Cruises is owned by Royal Caribbean International and is a great choice for your next cruise vacation! |
Celebrity Edge review
To evaluate my experience on the Celebrity Edge, I’m going to judge the ship on a number of criteria, including:
The embarkation process
The stateroom/cabin
Food and drink
Ports of call
General customer service
Pros and cons
If you haven't checked out my original Celebrity Cruises review, that may be a great place to start.
1. Embarkation process
My wife and I embarked on our latest adventure in Civitavecchia, Italy as we set sail for Barcelona, Spain, with stops along the way in:
Ajaccio, Corsica
Portofino, Italy
La Spezia, Italy
Cannes, France
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
About a month before our voyage, Celebrity reached out to us to select a port arrival time that worked best for us. As cruise fans, we wanted to get on board as quickly as we could, so we selected the earliest time available, which was 11-11:30 AM.
The check-in process was truly a breeze, and we were onboard before noon, with our bag drop, passport check, and security screening already completed. It was the easiest embarkation process I had experienced over the course of nine cruises I have been on.
2. Stateroom review
After we boarded the ship, we were given the option to immediately drop off our carry-on luggage in our cabin, which I had never experienced before. And even though the staterooms were not yet ready for our enjoyment, it was still a nice touch to start our vacation in a relaxing way.
Later on, before 2 PM, they were clean and ready for us to enjoy.
My wife and I stayed in a Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom, which did not have a balcony, though it may as well have, given the size of the porthole in the room. Actually, it was not a porthole at all. Rather, it looked more like a slider that didn’t open. Either way, we were impressed.
Our cabin had a desk, a dresser, plenty of creative closet space, and the largest cabin bathroom I had ever seen. The shower appeared to have marble walls, though I’m unsure if they were real or not. Additionally, the bathroom had a nice deep sink and a large toilet creatively located in the corner so that it didn’t waste any space.
3. Food and drink review
For my wife and I, food and drink are among the most important parts of our trip. The food onboard was really very good, just as how I remembered it from my last Celebrity voyage a few years back.
The menu structure has changed somewhat over the last few years, however.
The four main dining rooms have three sections to their menus, for example. The first section of the menu are the classics, those things that are on each restaurant’s menu every single night of your cruise. We found a New York strip steak, a broiled salmon, and a rotisserie chicken dish here.
The second part of the Edge’s menus are those items that rotate each night. Again, these items are available in all of the dining rooms.
Finally, there are a few restaurant specific dishes that you can find only in the specific dining room you’re visiting. It is worth nothing that these items do not change from night to night.
On this trip, we ate at the following restaurants:
Oceanview Café buffet
Cosmopolitan
Cyprus
Tuscan
Normandie
Café al Bacio
Oceanview Café
The buffet on board (Deck 14, where the pools and solarium are), the Oceanview Café on the Edge was better than its counterpart on the Celebrity Summit.
We ate there for both breakfast and lunch multiple times as the week went on and we were very impressed by the options available.
For breakfast, options included English fare, European options, American favorites like pancakes, and more types of breakfast meats, egg dishes, bakery items, and fresh fruits than I had ever seen in my life. There were also stations for made to order items like Eggs Benedict.
My one critique of Oceanview for breakfast was that the options did not vary much day to day. However, there were so many options that it didn’t really matter all that much.
Lunch was a similar story, but with more variety. Everyday items included a gorgeous salad bar, stir fry station, carving station, and Indian cuisine, though all seemed to vary somewhat. The American station did change drastically from day to day, and there were also themed dishes based on the port we were visiting in any given day.
For example, while in Spain, lunch included a number of paella and traditional Spanish options. The same was true while in the Italian and French ports.
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan was one of the four main dining rooms (MDRs) on board. We ate there twice, and though the food was very good, it was not our favorite MDR on board.
We knew the Cosmopolitan from our time on the Celebrity Summit, but on this ship, the restaurant was not our favorite. There was nothing wrong with the food, but the service was not quite up to the level we remembered. We had to ask for things like water refills, for example.
My favorite dishes in Cosmopolitan tended to be pasta based. Also, the Caesar Salad and French Onion Soup from the everyday menu were great.
Cyprus
We also ate at Cyprus two times. The menu here is themed with Mediterranean and Greek flair. You’ll see traditional favorites here, like lamb, pita-based appetizers, and more.
In my opinion, the food was better than Cosmopolitan, though it ultimately was not our favorite. I would not hesitate to return to the restaurant on future voyages, however.
Overall, I found the service to be more attentive at Cyprus, but it is hard to judge a restaurant's service, since so much of it is server specific.
Tuscan
If my math is right, we dined at Tuscan one time, where the menu had, as you’ll probably guess, Tuscan food.
They tend to offer homemade pasta dishes, though I also remember a pork chop and good carbonara dish.
It could have been waitstaff specific, but all of our appetizers, soups, and salads came out at one time, which we were not crazy about.
Normandie
Normandie was our favorite main dining room on this voyage. We ate there the last two nights aboard and were treated to menus with dishes like Beef Wellington and Prime Rib.
We also found the service to be a little better at Normandie, at least in our experience. The sommelier was seemingly ever present to get us drinks from the bar in ways that they weren’t in the other restaurants.
The dining room was also upscale looking and had some wood paneling from the Celebrity Summit, another ship I’d been on. It was a nice sentimental touch for sure.
Though the menus are subject to vary from cruise to cruise, you may be able to find a sample Celebrity Edge menus here.
The Celebrity Edge also has a number of specialty restaurants onboard, including:
Raw on 5
Fine Cut Steakhouse
Le Grand Bistro
Le Petit Chef
Eden Restaurant
Rooftop Garden Grill
I didn’t visit any on my cruise this year so I can’t speak to any experiences there, but we did not feel especially called to try them, mostly because the included dining options were so good and the presence of four main dining rooms provided good diversity and options.
I will say that beverage service was a little difficult to get at bars for the first couple days of our voyage. Maybe my wife and I were just trying to get drinks at popular times, but it became seemingly easier as the voyage went on and we discovered our favorite lounges and bars onboard.
In case you’re interested, we frequented:
Eden, which is on Deck 5 Aft
The Martini Bar on Deck 3 Midship
The Casino Bar on Deck 4
The pool bar did have good cocktails when we went, but most of the time, they were simply too busy for us to want to spend the time waiting in line.
Instead, for a shorter wait, consider visiting the bar in the very back of the ship on Deck 15 or the one in the Oceanview Cafe. They could make all the same drinks, they were fewer crowds to contend with, and the views were seemingly perfect.
Similarly, we really liked the Martini Bar on Deck 3 in the heart of the ship. But if you don’t have enough time to wait for service, either at the bar or in your seat at the surrounding lounge, the nearby Casino Bar on Deck 4 could be a quick and fast alternative.
4. Ports of call
Like I mentioned, on this voyage, we stopped in Corsica, Portofino, La Spezia, Cannes, and Mallorca.
Though the ports are not directly applicable to my Celebrity Edge review, I will still include some information here.
Here are my thoughts on each.
Corsica
Ajaccio was a beautiful seaside town. Home to beautiful beaches, great local shopping, and delicious restaurant options, it was a great port to start our Edge vacation.
When we got off the Edge, we headed towards the town center, where there was an incredible farmer’s market set up. Local fish, meats, cheeses, olives, flowers, and wines were abundant, and we went for a swim at the beach to the north of town.
Portofino
We used our Portofino day as an opportunity to walk from Portofino all the way to Santa Margherita, through the town of Paraggi. We walked bits and pieces of The Walk of Kisses, which had picturesque views in all 360 degrees.
The mountains literally meet the ocean in this beautiful area, so you'll want to have your camera ready.
Ultimately, the area from Portofino to Santa Margherita is my favorite place that I have ever traveled to.
La Spezia
La Spezia is a port in what appears to be an industrial medium sized city on Italy’s northwestern coast.
The town itself is not really of note, but it’s access to Florence, Pisa, and the Cinque Terre villages absolutely is.
On this day, we opted to visit Cinque Terre, which was easily accessible via train (less than thirty minutes to the furthest one - Monterosso).
All in, we visited three of the five villages:
Vernazza
Monterosso
Riomaggiore
Of the three, Riomaggiore was probably my favorite, though all three were extremely picturesque and gorgeous.
Rather than taking the train from Vernazza to Monterosso, we decided to take the walking trail, which cost €7,50 per person. Beware - this “trail” is more of a strenuous hike, with nearly 700 feet in total elevation gain.
If you do not have proper footwear, stamina, or water, I do not advise that you try it.
Cannes
My wife and I were tired after attacking four ports of call in four days, so we used our Cannes day to stay close to the ship, do some shopping, and explore as much of town as we could.
We ultimately got back on the ship after spending about three hours ashore, visiting a local church, headed up to the top of town for an incredible view, and peer into Louis Vuitton, Dior, and visiting Ladurée for some authentic macaroons.
It was incredible to see first-hand the lifestyles of the rich and famous, though the port itself was not my favorite. Excursions were available to Nice and Monaco, however.
Mallorca
Mallorca was our final stop and a cool place. It wasn’t my favorite port of call, but this may be because the cruise pier is not near the town center and the area connecting the two was largely under construction.
We did a catamaran excursion on this day on a ship called the magic (we booked it directly through Celebrity), and it was fun.
We sailed about 40 minutes out to a quiet cove with crystal clear water, where we had a couple of hours to swim, enjoy the sun, and enjoy complimentary snacks and sandwiches.
The ride back was a little longer, nearly 60 minutes, as we hugged the coast and took in amazing sights.
5. Customer service
The customer service onboard the Celebrity Edge was incredible, probably the best that I’ve ever experienced onboard a cruise ship. Every member of the staff was friendly, happy to assist, and willing to help.
Sure, there are always going to be those things that you encounter, like the occasional dirty bathroom, but I found any of these items to be handled quickly and professionally.
At one point, the plumbing in my cabin stopped working. Before I could even talk to housekeeping or guest relations about the issue, Celebrity's team of engineers and plumbers were already on scene to respond.
6. Celebrity Edge pros and cons
After spending a week onboard, I identified many pros, and a few cons, to sailing on the Celebrity Edge.
The most noteworthy pros for us were as follows:
The food
Customer service
The relaxing nature of the solarium
There are a few cons to the Edge that may make it not as suitable a vacation type for some travelers. For example,
We found that the nighttime entertainment was repetitive and average at times.
There are limited child-friendly activities for young families and travelers with children.
Anytime dinner reservations can be difficult to make.
But again, none of these cons stopped us from having an incredible vacation aboard the Celebrity Edge.
Conclusion
The Celebrity Edge is a beautiful ship that I would not hesitate to travel on again. The ship's beautiful design, comfortable cabins, plentiful public space, and courteous staff make it a unique experience that every traveler should consider.
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