The most stylish cruise ship you’ll ever set foot on
By Ute Junker
Sangria, yes. Cava from Catalonia, yes. Sherry from Jerez and txakoli from the Basque Country, oh yes please. I have downed all of them, with great enjoyment, on my various travels around Spain. Horchata? Never heard of it. Even once I’m given its English name, tiger nut milk, I’m still drawing a blank.
Plenty of room to spread out in Celebrity Edge’s staterooms.
So I’m delighted when, halfway through our walking tour of Valencia, I find myself sitting in a gorgeous old horcharteria, festooned with colourful mosaics, with a glass of cool horchata in front of me. I’m impressed not just with the horchata – a creamy beverage with a slight hint of cinnamon – but also with the tour guide who has a few other surprises up her sleeve. (Drinks and nibbles on a first-floor terrace overlooking the main square is another standout.) Our first shore excursion on this Mediterranean cruise gets a big tick from me.
The Grand Plaza.
The ticks keep coming fast and furious on this Celebrity Edge cruise. Our seven-day voyage follows a classic Barcelona to Rome route, but there is nothing predictable about it.
Take the shore excursions. At every port there are plenty of memorable options to choose from. A drive through Corsica’s mountainous heart, stopping in absurdly picturesque stone villages to sample local delicacies, is one of my highlights. Another is an off-beat Jeep tour of Ibiza’s wilder western half, a wind-in-your-hair experience which showcases a very different side of the island. Far from the chic beach clubs with their cocktails and DJs, we discover golden-sand beaches protected by rocky promontories and gently washed by aqua-tinted waters.
What really sets this cruise apart, however, is the ship we’re travelling on. The brief for the designers of the Celebrity Edge was simple: create a cruise ship that looks nothing like a cruise ship. And that’s just what they delivered.
Raw on Five restaurant.
Celebrity Edge is the most stylish ship I have ever set foot on. From the triple-tiered Eden space designed by Patricia Urquiola, complete with a verdant living wall, to the black and white spiral floor in the spa that channels a Zen garden vibe, the interiors are stunning. Light streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows that are found everywhere from the gym (which has a seriously impressive range of kit including Peloton bikes) to the various restaurants, and this is the only ship I know of with its own rooftop garden.
The sense of space is also remarkable. Usually the least pleasant part of cruising is the walk to your cabin, along corridors that are often narrow and low-ceilinged. On Celebrity Edge, it is not just key spaces such as the soaring Grand Plaza – with its five-level chandelier that changes colour depending on the time of day - that have been designed on a generous scale. Even the corridors are spacious, with the cabin doors set back so they don’t block your passage every time they open.
My Concierge Class stateroom has neutral-toned interiors courtesy of interior designer Kelly Hoppen and offers plenty of room to spread out, but the knock-your-socks-off accommodation is found in the ship’s VIP area, The Retreat. The suites here are supersized – the Celebrity suites have up to 160 metres of living space, and they’re not even the top lodgings – but it’s the special services that make The Retreat stand out, from the exclusive Luminae restaurant to the private pool.
Just as impressive as the ship’s design is its activity roster. Over sunset drinks I eavesdrop on what other guests have been up to, or what they are planning to do. They might be unleashing their creativity in a sketch class, working up a sweat in the gym or at the pool volleyball tournament, or getting down in the silent disco. Some throw themselves into the golf chipping challenge; others unleash their competitive energy in the digital scavenger hunt.
Designed as the loading platform for tenders, the Magic Carpet can also be raised to the top deck of the ship where it functions as a bar and restaurant that sits beside the ship rather than on it – a one-of-a-kind experience.
My days tend to be slightly less energetic. This ship lets you craft your own cruise experience and mine revolves around early-morning stretch classes, relaxing coffees at Cafe al Baci, and plenty of time in the spa. It’s the most impressive spa I’ve encountered at sea, and the first one where treatment rooms come equipped with views. The masseurs do an excellent job coaching stubborn knots of muscle to reluctantly unravel.
Then there is the food. With 29 bars and restaurants to choose from, dining here is stress-free. Forget set meal times and assigned seating. You can show up at any of the four main restaurants whenever you like during service; it is only the specialty restaurants that require reservations. Whether you go for a prime steak at the Fine Cut steakhouse or a seafood tower at Raw on Five, sampling a few of these venues is highly recommended.
No matter what time hunger strikes, you can always find something tasty aboard this ship. Scouting for something to eat at 4.30 one afternoon I discover the pizza bar, which dishes up superb, thin-crust pizzas fresh from the oven from 11.30am until 1am.
Or you could make your own. One thing I didn’t expect to be doing on this cruise was preparing my own lunch, but when a pasta-making class appears on the daily schedule, I’m quick to put up my hand. I’m anticipating the lesson will take place in a sterile kitchen so I’m delighted to discover our six-person class is being held in the open kitchen of Eden, where we can either enjoy the sea views straight ahead, or turn and take in the lush vegetation.
Our instructors include Eden’s head chef, who promises that by the end of the class we’ll be tucking into pasta we’ve made. We exchange dubious looks but soon realise that there is hands-on help available for those who want it. Some of the hard work is taken out of the process by clever kitchen machines that turn out dough that is just the right consistency, but that still leaves us with the task of rolling it out to the perfect thickness before slicing it into long ribbons.
Celebrity Edge’s designers were told to create a cruise ship that didn’t feel like a cruise ship.
Preparing the sauce is, by contrast, easy and before we know it we are tucking into our meal. It’s not the best-executed meal I enjoy onboard but I wolf it down with a definite sense of satisfaction, although not before snapping off a couple of shots for posterity.
The shots never make it onto social media – with so many other Instagrammable features to choose from, my pasta is quickly outclassed. Among the most photogenic options is the Magic Carpet. Designed as the loading platform for tenders, the Magic Carpet can also be raised to the top deck of the ship where it functions as a bar and restaurant that sits beside the ship rather than on it – a one-of-a-kind experience.
The Magic Carpet gets particularly lively in the later afternoon, which is also when the bar at the stern of the ship also comes alive. I have to confess that my favourite place to be at the end of the day is my stateroom – at least once I discover that those floor to ceiling windows actually lower at the touch of a button. With a glass of bubbles at hand, sea breeze playing around my face, it is the most tranquil way to watch the setting sun paint the heavens in pastel shades.
More ways to fill your days
Be dazzled by Le Petit Chef, a dining experience that combines eye-catching digital projections with a gourmet meal.
Revisit some of your favourite movies or catch up with recent releases at the outdoor cinema in the leafy roof garden.
Take in a Broadway-style show in the theatre, kitted out with sophisticated equipment including a rotating platform, laser projectors and aerial rigging.
Unwind with a session in the thermal suite, which includes a hammam, a salt room, steam room, float room and heated tile loungers, among other things.
Check out the moves of the flair bartenders at the Martini Bar as they deliver not just creative cocktails but also a choreographed performance.
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CRUISE Celebrity Edge is currently cruising from Sydney until April. It will then cruise across the Pacific to North America before returning to Australia in the spring.
The writer travelled as a guest of Celebrity Cruises.
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