Cheating on Silversea - Edgy!

October 2024 was a long time ago, right? The world has been busy since then - so it's entirely understandable, isn't it, that despite having researched it thoroughly and writing 800 words of advertising copy about it, my first visit on board Celebrity Edge today was a, cough, voyage of discovery? It was fun to be invited, along with other travel writers, for a tour and a lovely lunch; and despite, thanks to my long-time Silversea connection, my prejudice against big ships, I actually came to see its attractions.

Because Celebrity Edge is BIG. It literally loomed over everything in Auckland's port, dwarfing the ferries and blotting out the Hilton. It is properly massive. It's not actually the biggest there is, by some margin (Icon of the Seas, 7,600 passengers) but, accommodating nearly 3,000 guests on 15 decks, with 30 bars/restaurants and three main swimming pools, it's far from intimate. And it’s way, way bigger than Silver Muse’s scant 600 guests.

The clever thing though is that the designers have catered for snobs like me by their ‘ship with in a ship’ scheme (which is probably not unique). On Edge, the cunningly-named Retreat is accessible only to those who have rooms suites there - some of which have two storeys and private plunge pools. It's all butler service, fancy restaurants, spa, complimentary this and that. Basically, Silversea. 

But, Silversea with access to big-ship add-ons like a decent-sized swimming pool, massive theatre, wide choice of restaurants and entertainment - and the Magic Carpet. This is a tennis-court sized deck on the right starboard side that slides up and down for 13 storeys, as tender access, a lounge or a restaurant. One Aussie passenger I spoke to on it was a loud Celebrity fan - he's done "about 20" cruises with them. Out of 56! (He also took the trouble to inform me that both Celebrity and Silversea are part of the Royal Caribbean group. Gee, thanks, OWM.)

It did help with the ambiance that most of the passengers were, of course, ashore - the bulk of them, it looked to me, queuing for the Waiheke ferry. So it was nice to wander through lightly-populated spaces, enjoying the elegant décor, the artworks, even the remarkably realistic plastic plants. And finishing up in a restaurant where friendly staff delivered a delicious but, afterwards, painfully generously-sized long lunch, followed by cheerfully juggling martini servers, was the crowning touch. So, would I? Would you?