This cruise EXCEEDED all of my expectations!

Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises Ship: Celebrity Edge Itinerary: Alaska This was my second cruise with Celebrity and my 15th overall. With the exception of two cruises, all my other sailings have been with Royal Caribbean—so I came into this cruise curious about how Celebrity would compare. I'm happy to report that Celebrity Edge blew me away. The Ship: Edge is absolutely beautiful—modern, clean, and thoughtfully designed. Public spaces are stylish and well-maintained, and the overall atmosphere feels elevated but still welcoming. Dining: The food was consistently excellent across the board. The Oceanview Café offered a wide variety of quality options, and the Main Dining Room never disappointed. I also dined at Eden and Fine Cut Steakhouse—both were fantastic and well worth the upcharge. Eden, in particular, was a standout for both its creative menu and atmosphere. Entertainment & Activities: The entertainment on board was top-notch. Samantha White gave an incredible performance—she was easily one of the best vocalists I've seen at sea. Alex, the Cruise Director, brought unmatched energy to every event. Bradley, the Activities Director, was engaging, fun, and seemed to be everywhere at once. Captain & Crew: I’ve never seen a more visible and engaging captain. He made daily announcements with humor and insight, and was often seen around the ship interacting with guests. The entire crew, from stateroom attendants to waitstaff, were friendly, attentive, and professional. Itinerary: The ports were well-chosen, and everything ran smoothly—from tendering to excursions. A well-paced and enjoyable itinerary overall. Final Thoughts: Going into this cruise, I wasn’t sure what to expect—but it surpassed my expectations by far. The ship, the crew, the food, the entertainment—it was all outstanding. I’d recommend this cruise to just about anyone, whether you’re new to cruising or a veteran like me. Only downside? I left the ship about 10 pounds heavier—but with zero regrets! Would absolutely sail on Edge again. Celebrity has earned a new loyal fan.

It was as good as is possible.

It's as good as any five star ship. The food is amazingly good, the cabins so comfy and excellent service at all the ports. We loved all the ports particularly the Bay of Islands where you can go for hike with fantastic views. And to see Milford Sound with l blue sky just was amazing. The company is so well organised from beginning to the end can't wait to do another cruise with them. I am a very fussy sleeper and our balcony cabin was so quiet and all the crew are so helpful. My wife is disabled and they were always there to help especially getting on and off at ports . There were plenty of activities on the sea days or there are many lounges to relax and f course there is never a shortage of food. The other guests were all so friendly and we enjoyed meeting different people each night for dinner.

Right up there !

The ship began at Sydney, with stops at Hobart, Adelaide, and Melbourne. Due to swell the stop at Kangaroo Island did not eventuate. I am a frequent Cruise traveler, and many other cruise lines (e.g. Cunard and Princess) and I was keen to experience the Celebrity Edge class ship. Celebrity Edge is a new and elegant ship, which lived up to all expectations. Dining, entertainment, allocated stateroom (interior deluxe) and style excellent. Hard to fault. Highly recommended. Celebrity Edge was launched in 2018, and is in great shape. This ship provides an overall elegant and sophisticated business class experience, in all facets. The food and entertainment consistent and of a very good standard. Room was spacious with a couch and very modern spacious bathroom. Staff service attentive, and this ship met all expectations. My critique, is based on many cruises, across 5 cruise line operators, and any criticism is aimed only at seeking improvement. We are conservative cruisers; the ship itself is our primary destination. No feel of overcrowding. Celebrity was 90% full about 2,800 passengers and over a thousand crew, but spacious, and quiet alcoves everywhere! Embarkation Ship boarded at Circular Quay. Not too long, no issues THE SHIP IN GENERAL The Celebrity Edge is a large ship, 140,000 tons, 17 decks. Some people find the size of the ship a little overwhelming. We can understand that but we like the larger ships with more people and facilities and many choices on board. Although there were approximately 2,900passengers on board, it did not feel crowded. So many choices, which are the great delight of cruising, one does as little or as much to do as you like. Some passengers take that for granted, mumbles here and there, but we value the great choices available! I often strolled through the ship at 6.30am in the morning, hardly a person to be seen! The late-night owls are few. Few kids aboard, great! Throughout the day, many quiet spots in “Eden” a great relaxing natural spot to lounge, find a quiet corner, listen to a spot entertainer, or just soak up the rolling waves. Eden also serves a complimentary breakfast and lunch bites. Used the Gym fitness machines each day, excellent facility, but background music is too loud. There is no need for such sound, if you want to listen to music or television etc., a range of personal devices are available. Silence is Golden, great views from the Gym, why a heavy sound-track. This comment applies to all Cruise ships, stop or lower music in Gym, it is not required. Pools and spa facilities as you expect, available, and nice, pools can be cluttered during the day. The Rooftop Garden with great views and seating options, was lovely. Library facilities were disappointing, few books in cabinet. Great walkway on the top of the ship for the walkers/runners, and if you can, walk the stairs rather than take the lifts, keeps the weight off. The other bars and public seating areas on Edge were excellent, roomy, and stylish. The main show Theatre was enormous and the production shows and entertainment top class. Will Martin and the Ships dance /singers’ group, highly professional, and the evening entertainment, polished and all professional. Spot entertainment e.g. pianist, vocalist, violin duo etc. were visible and pleasant. Listening to these spot artists, can make a cruise very pleasant. I travel to enjoy these moments. The enrichment speakers were also sound, and the newly introduced destinations presentations, most useful and well-done. Excellent recording stars on each night (Country, Broadway, Opera, comedians, and magicians, standard excellent. Overall, the formal and stage entertainment was totally professional, all part of your travel package. I would listen to Will Martin any day of the week. The Eden dance floor was also focus for the production dancers/singers, with late night intimate 40-minute theme productions, delight to watch. The shopping available on the ship is, mostly high end. Watch, perfume etc. shops. I would like to see a better stocked, variety shop, but they compete with the cruise ports shops. Art distributor Park West very visible on the ship with offerings, some lovely paintings! Celebrity produces a daily Events list and timings, available hard copy and on line, a key to planning your day. Solid range of late release movies shown on upper deck, available in room, or at advertised locations. Good work here, my wife watched more than a few while reclining in the cabin. The more movies the better, it is an ageless form of entertainment, and Celebrity deserves a bow for their up-to-date movie selection, and no cost. Excellent range of cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, excellent range of choices every day, including the usual bingo, table tennis, bridge games. The weather conditions throughout were very good and no rough days at all, so the luck ran our way. We were the opposite direction to the Queensland Cyclones. However, motion sickness can be an issue, in the Pacific and Australian cruise sphere, and any cruise if you are susceptible, prepare in advance. Dining Traditional 1st or second sitting evening dining room sitting versus Anytime dining are great options. On Celebrity Edge ships, you can enjoy four complimentary main dining restaurants: Normandie, Tuscan, Cosmopolitan, and Cyprus, offering a variety of cuisines and atmospheres. We now prefer traditional dining at a set time, in our case 5pm in the Cyprus Restaurant, this was excellent waiter style service, starting with soup, main course, and dessert choices. 5pm seems early, but it leaves the evening free to do what you wish. We mixed breakfast venues. Dining room waiter service on some days, buffet the next, wonderful choices. Breakfast always a thrill, especially when being served waiter style, your own selection from a wide menu, white table cloth etc. Nice! Specialty restaurants abound for a fee surcharge. With that surcharge starting at $40 USA pp, you sit down knowing you have spent close to NZ$100 prior to dining begins. 1 per voyage is our approach, the free dining options meet in our view any reasonable needs, and anything else is a wonderful treat. The Cafe Al Bacio has desserts and pastries, you pay for coffees, but no obligation to order any drinks. Not as good as Princess International Café , but another option for guests. Up on the outer deck, Burger style food available, we did not use, but popular. The Oceanview buffet on board matched the best. 8 Variety stations, offered a range of food, the choice was overwhelming fine. Open most hours was great. Service was good, and their breakfast buffet top class. You read some sharp comments about the cruise buffets; I think they offer excellent value, wide choice, and sound presentation. You must be a very fussy eater, if you complain about sub-standard cruise buffets. Avoid peak times if you can. Located high up in the ship with great views, the buffet option is a great way to dine, particularly when not peak hour, and this Celebrity Edge option matched the best we have had. ROOM SERVICE Recently cut back and fee based. Continental breakfast ordering still available at no cost, and this was a nice option to wake up to. Tray delivered; my wife enjoyed several times. OUR CABIN We had an De Lux interior Cabin, on the 12th floor. Very modern, spacious with lounge seat, large TV, bathroom spacious with good shower pressure and fully enclosed. Bed super Queen, large, a little too firm for our taste, but bed softness is different for all. Except for Europe, we normally go inside stateroom. In Europe with Ports most days, a balcony makes sense, but for a long voyage with many sea days, you just do not use it, the wind factor and speed of ship affecting usage, this has significant implications for ships in the Tasman/Pacific area, where seas are sometimes lumpy. The design of the cabin made good use of large mirrors to enhance the feeling of light and maximize space. The open space wardrobes without doors provided plenty of hanging and excellent storage space for our requirements. Our main cases fitted side by side quite comfortably. Bedside lights have dimmer switches. Soaps and towels were changed twice a day. Bathroom shower was pressure excellent. Air conditioning was excellent. There is a safe in every room and our cabin had a fridge. No noise transference issues on this trip, you need luck with who are your neighbors ‘this time no issues”’ If you wish to drink bottled wines in your cabin Celebrity seem to have no problems with you purchasing wines or champagne and bringing them on board at embarkation (Small print says 2 bottles). You can take these wines into the dining room but you will be charged an enormous corkage fee, if you do so ($US70) PORTS OF CALL The cruise lines are often coy on where they berth at Ports of calls, and this often means you are located long distances from City. This cruise the information as to locality and options was much more visible and available. Good on you Celebrity;  Hobart. One of the great ports, everything close. Hobart has got their waterfront right on!  Adelaide. Well away from City, but Train station right outside Port gates. Some nice walks close to ships and a lovely Marina.  Melbourne. Port Lincoln, Train and bus access to city easy, and some nice local facilities close by ship for Coffees and a walk  Kangaroo Island. Missed due to sea swell. Disembarkation Easy.

Our 12th Cruise (3rd with Celebrity); BEST One Yet

The words below are my own; I did not use AI to either help me compose or edit the review. Since our first cruise in 2006, my wife & I have been fortunate to have enjoyed twelve cruises on Premium, Luxury, and Ultra-Luxury cruise ships. Our recent 9-night “Australian Wine Cruise” onboard Celebrity Edge was the best one yet, being slightly better than our previous best, on Celebrity Silhouette for its “Best of Scandinavia” cruise from Amsterdam in May 2024. Put simply, the quality of service, food, and “World Class” entertainment (more on this later) was truly exceptional, delivering excellent “value for money” given the entire experience. Embarkation was surprisingly fast and efficient: we arrived at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay just before 1:00PM (our scheduled boarding time was 1:30PM), yet we were allowed to proceed, and after going through the check-in formalities and security screening, were onboard Celebrity Edge about twenty-five minutes later. Disembarkation was even smoother: we had collected our luggage and were in a taxi less than ten minutes after stepping onto the gangway. The Per diem for the All Included Package (Gratuities, Wifi, and having upgraded from Standard to Premium Beverage Package) in a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom was less than half what we would pay to cruise on a Luxury or Ultra-Luxury cruise line, and our recent experience onboard Celebrity Edge was, without exaggeration every bit as good as what we enjoyed onboard Silversea Silver Shadow, Crystal Symphony, Crystal Serenity, and/or Viking Orion; the only difference being Celebrity Edge carries 2,918 passengers (yet it has never felt crowded during our two cruises onboard the ship). Being on Celebrity Edge is like being in a combined 5-Star Hotel + Luxury Shopping Mall. It all starts with the personal and attentive service my wife & I receive onboard Celebrity cruise ships. Without exception, every single crew member my wife & I had the pleasure of interacting with during our cruise on Celebrity Edge made us feel welcome, special, and truly valued (Celebrity quite obviously invests quite a lot in their crew training programs). Every human being has their own unique story to tell, so my wife & I take time to get to know a few members of the crew during every cruise we take, and we were able to do so during our just-ended cruise on Celebrity Edge. Thanks to Estrella, Mbali, and Hanz for having shared your stories with Margaret & me. It is impossible to remember and recognise every crew member who provided such warm and friendly service to us, but included Sebastiao, Hanz, Mbali, Ugur, Vikash, Cecilio, Loretto, Wai, Galvish, Melvin, and Riza. Our stateroom attendant Komang had our room looking like new every single day of the cruise. He fulfilled my request for a softer pillow within fifteen minutes on embarkation day. Hotel Director Clint, Food & Beverage Director Orlando, and Restaurant Operation Manager Sachin went out of their way to make my birthday dinner in Fine Cut Steakhouse both special and memorable. Regarding food, you are spoiled for choice on Celebrity Edge, with the ship offering 29 different food & beverage options. The four different Main Dining Rooms (American, French, Greek, and Italian) offer three different regional-specific Starters and Entrees, as well as traditional Starters and Entrees which are the same in all four restaurants. We enjoyed lunch in Le Grand Bistro twice during the cruise, and found the Le Francais Burger (which we ordered both times) to be the best we have ever eaten during a cruise…it is truly out of this world! Both times we dined at Le Grand Bistro was a “spur of the moment” decision, yet Sebastiao was able to allocate a table for us with less than a thirty-minute wait both times. Dinner at Raw on 5 on two nights during the cruise was particularly good, with Loretto finding a table for us on both occasions, as we hadn’t made reservations. The restaurant was full during the last full day of the cruise, so this says a lot about the quality of food and service. We most thoroughly enjoyed my birthday dinner at Fine Cut Steakhouse, me especially so because they serve Roast Prime Rib of Beef, which, despite Australia being renowned for its beef exports, is a dish which isn’t served in many restaurants in Australia, unlike in the USA, where it was my favourite dish to order when growing up there many years ago. One day while having lunch in the Oceanview Cafe, the Executive Chef for Celebrity Edge was there, speaking with some of his team members, and I took time to compliment him and his team for the consistently high-quality and variety of food items they serve to nearly 3,000 passengers...each and every day. I have done two Inside Access ship tours while onboard Celebrity cruise ships (Edge and Silhouette), so have seen the galleys, and know how very many chefs are working to produce the amazing selection of food to choose from for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In relation to “World Class” entertainment: International performers in the Celebrity Theatre that my wife & I saw were Will Martin (New Zealand); Hayden Smith (Australia); and Alexa Jayne (UK). Each one was great at what they do, in their own unique and individual way. After having seen Will Martin’s first performance, I posted the following on a Celebrity Cruises Facebook group page: “My wife Margaret & I just saw Will Martin perform in the theatre here onboard Celebrity Edge, and, without any doubt or exaggeration, it was absolutely and exponentially the best individual performance we have ever witnessed or experienced on a cruise ship. He is obviously immensely proud of his New Zealand heritage, and incorporates it into his dialogue between songs. I had tears in my eyes when he sang What a Wonderful World. Thank you Celebrity Cruises!” The all-girl band Magnifica from Argentina played popular cover songs, and had people dancing and singing from the first song every time they performed. We couldn’t get enough of them. Shining Waves also performed cover songs, and they were good. Solo guitarist Mari played a different style from what we enjoyed from Charlie during our cruise on Celebrity Edge in December 2023, but she had us singling along with her. Silent disco, DJ, movies, trivia, art auctions, line dancing, enrichment, and destination lectures, as well as an ABBA singalong (one night only) and many, many more entertainment options are available, with multiple options to choose from each day. My wife & I have three more cruises booked with Celebrity (Edge, Honolulu to Sydney – October 2025); and (Millennium, Singapore to Tokyo + Roundtrip Japan – March 2026), and intend booking a Transatlantic crossing cruise from the USA to Europe for 2027, after the itineraries have been released later this year. Celebrity Cruises ticks “all the boxes” for my wife Margaret & me. We are happy, comfortable, and relaxed when onboard a Celebrity cruise ship. Combined with how the crew members make us feel as very welcome and special as they do, makes both of us look forward to many more Celebrity cruises.