Celebrity Edge 2021 - Part III Life on the Edge - Cruise Life

 

The Solarium

The solarium tends to be my daytime refuge on cruises. I love hot tubs, and quiet, and views of the ocean.

The Solarium Pool

Solarium Loungers

One of the many bars

Pool Deck

A quiet corner on the pool deck

Quick snacks on the pool deck

The main pool

The path to Eden

Eden is a wonderful space with, naturally, a garden theme. The cocktails are the fancy sort, like you would maybe find at the World Bar on other ships. Eden also has a breakfast area, a staggeringly good restaurant experience, and live entertainment.

The service was always excellent, whether I was having a 6(!) course meal in Eden, or getting a coffee. 

Cafe

Martini bar

Cocktail show

The Magic Carpet

Quite the chandelier

Caviar rich Caesar salad from the Steak House

Dining room vegetarian curry

I only made it to a couple of shows. I had missed being at sea so much, that mostly I wanted to be on deck, looking at that ocean. I also brought a ton of books. The Elton John impersonator was pretty good, and the live music was nice to see after being in lockdown for so long. I also enjoyed the "Front the Band" where they do karaoke with a live band. That was too short though. Overall, the onboard offerings were wonderful and luxurious (more about that in another post). 

Next Celebrity Edge 2021 - Part IV - Ports of Call

Celebrity Edge 2021 -- Part II Life on the Edge - Embarkation and Cabin

My embarkation was scheduled for between 1:00 and 1:30. I shared a cab from the hotel with some others with the same schedule. Embarkation was amazingly seamless. No lining up, no waiting. Some health checks, a scanning of the boarding pass, and I was walking on to the ship while some crew clapped along to "Happy". I was feeling it.

Sea passes are supposed to be waiting for you at your cabin under the new protocols, and they are open when you board, but pass wasn't, so I toddled off to guest services. Again, no waiting, and I had my card in a couple of minutes.

I was in a solo infinite veranda cabin. Celebrity is now kind enough to offer cabins with no single supplement, and an ocean view. This meant they only gave me one robe and there was no option for beds apart. Also, there was balcony furniture, but no other conversation area.

The view was slightly obstructed, as the cabin was above the lifeboats, so you couldn't see directly down to the water. This was my first time with an infinite verandah. I'm of two minds about these. I wouldn't call it an actual veranda stateroom. It's sufficiently enclosed that it's really more of an ocean view with a floor-to-ceiling window that opens. For that, I like it, but I'm not entirely sure it should rate veranda prices. 

The control panel states that the captain may close the window and lock it for various reasons, including when the windows get washed. I did get a notice that the windows would be washed one night on the ship. They weren't.

I always enjoy looking at the sea show, same as the air show. I like knowing exactly where I am, where I've been, and where I'm going.

My stateroom attendant, Eden (like the restaurant bar lounge complex at the back of the ship), was wonderful. He took very good care of me, and made sure Gravedigger Mickey was always comfortably settled before he left the room. 

 Next: Part III Life on the Edge - Cruise Life

Celebrity Edge 2021 - Part I There and Back Again

 I normally do flights out and back as separate posts, but it was pretty similar right down to the food this time, so I'm just going to do one post to cover both flights.

Airline: WestJet
Class: Premium
Seats: 2D out 2C back

I was in premium, so I got through security quickly, and Nexus sped up my customs clearance, so I was ready for the gate with an easy hour and a half to spare. No lounges open: what to do? As I was walking to the gate, the answer presented itself. A tiny out of the way corner bar near my gate had people sitting at it with what were obviously bloody somethings. Aha! Breakfast! 

I went to the gate a few minutes before boarding was to begin. The process was on time, and, after being handed a sanitizing wipe for my seat area, I was soon settled in to my newly germ-free home on the aisle. 

I got settled in, and we took off in a timely fashion. Service started shortly after. A bilingual menu was brought to me indicating that we would be served lunch before 11am, but that was fine with me considering I had been up since 5.

Since it was still morning, and Westjet has sparkling wine (love ya!), I ordered a mimosa to start off with. It came some assembly required, but was quite enjoyable. A bag of nuts accompanied it.

By passenger request, they didn't serve the meal immediately (it was a little early for lunch). When it arrived, it was the best meal I have ever had on Westjet. The pasta was delicious, the salad varied, and the dessert tasty.

It's only a couple of hours from YYZ to FLL, so I read a book, and occasionally checked in on the airshow to see where we were. Westjet doesn't give iPads to business, so you have to use your own device. 

The service was good, and I never lacked for drinks or food. While we were still digesting lunch, they brought snack boxes around.

Landing was simple, and my luggage did not take long to arrive at baggage claim. One taxi ride later, I was at the Hilton Marina.

The Hilton Marina actually is a marina, with boat parking, and a pool, and pool bar (not swim up). I found the pool too cold this time, but it wasn't that warm outside either.

The room was nice, with a king bed, and a balcony with a water view. There was ample coffee for me with the coffee maker, and the toiletries were of fairly good quality. It wasn't fancy, but I was comfortable.

I tried to spend as much time outside as I could. Especially knowing that I would be going home to Canada in winter, where outside is a notsomuch thing, at least for me. This made the pool bar my buddy. I was drinking Aperol spritzes, which were nice, even if you could only get them in plastic. Dinner was mahi mahi tacos, which were also served to go style poolside. 

Breakfast the next morning was a danish and a latte. It was just fine. Before I knew it, it was time to go to the ship.

Next: Part II Life on the Edge

Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part IV - The Voyage Home

• VIP Lounge Punta Cana
• Air Canada Business Class Seat 2C

The lounge in Punta Cana is somewhat bare-bones. You pay extra for premium drinks, and are limited to 2 bar-rail.  However, they have a lovely courtyard, ostensibly for smokers, that gives you a last chance to commune with lizards and palm trees. 

I went to the gate ten minutes early, and discovered they were already boarding. I showed my departure forms, my proof of vax, and my boarding pass, and headed to my seat. It was the same one I had before, so I easily stowed my carry on in the cubby in front of me.

Sadly, they still haven't reinstated on the ground beverage service (bottled water is distributed), or hot towels, but the rest is now available, so once in the air we were offered beverages, and meals.

I chose the couscous, which was quite nice. I washed it down with more than one glass of the red wine on offer. 

 

The service was, as always, terrific, and my seat was comfortable and roomy.

PSA time: I was on the train home within 50 minutes of landing, thanks to my Nexus card. If you travel at all, the thing is invaluable.

Coming soon: the Celebrity Edge.

Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part III - Resort Life - Evening

Days are easy to fill at a beach resort, but what to do when the pools close, and the sun goes down? The lobby lounge is pretty, comfy, and has a variety of live musical entertainments. It's adjacent to the outdoor auditorium where there is a show every night. There was some confusion about whether the "Queen Show" was about royalty or the rock band. It was indeed about the band. There was also a metal night, and a diva night, and others, so the entertainment was definitely intended to appeal to a broad audience.

Every night, the entrance to the lounge hosted one or two models in masks and costumes. You could take pictures with them. I'm under the impression this is A Thing.

You could dine outdoors at the French restaurant every night, or indoors at any restaurant that was open (French included). If you wanted teppanyaki (called hibachi down there), you needed reservations, but the show was fun. 

The lobster bisque at the French restaurant was good, but never very hot, that I noticed. There wasn't a lot of lobster other than that, though. Other seafood was available in each restaurant, if you happen to dine that way.

I like to walk along the beach at night when available, so I did that here as much as I could. There was rain some nights, since we weren't out of that season (September in the tropics -- what else would you expect?). 

I normally finished off each evening with a glass of wine, and my waterproof Kobo, in my balcony hot tub. It's a wonderfully relaxing way to end up.

Next -- Part IV - The Trip Home

Breathless Punta Cana 2021 - Part II - Resort Life - Day

My room was right behind the pool with the swim up bar. Due to the plague, the swim up part was closed, but the servers would take orders and deliver into the pool, so it was no great tragedy. The service was excellent at all times. No one was going thirsty here.

On the other side of my building was the Xhale Club, where I had checked in, where there was a nice bar, with snacks, where I could get change, and where they had an exclusive pool with cushier loungers. The ones with shade were generally claimed very early, so I didn't spend a lot of time here.

Xhale also has a private area on the beach. There is lots of shade and abundant loungers. The service here is also wonderful. And, if you're really impatient, there is a bar, and a snack bar, within easy staggering distance.  One thing to note: the shoreline is public, so occasionally families from Dreams next door will wander over. I mention this because Breathless is adults only.

There is a bit of a reef just off the beach, so there's lots of stuff to see when the sand hasn't been stirred.  I didn't avail myself of the free non-motorized watersports, but I did use my own snorkel set, and had a good time.

I decide on my last full day to splurge, and booked a Bali Bed for myself. I invited a nice couple I'd met to hang out, so it was a very nice day indeed. Not only was it comfy, but they brought us an amazing number of bottles of sparkling wine in ice buckets. I did find it a little disappointing that they could not provide the fruit skewers and sushi that were supposed to be part of the experience (damn Covid), but they did bring anything we requested from the snack bar. It was nice, and I would recommend it.

Next - Part III - Resort Life - Evening