Videos from our New Years Cruise on the Celebrity Edge

    On the ship - Celebrity Edge New Years Cruise

The Pool Deck

                Leaving Fr. Lauderdale

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale

                 The Ocean View Cafe

               One of the shows in the Theater

              A show in Eden during dinner

          The main lobby just before midnight

          Our room with the Infinite balcony

New Years - 2019 - Day 11

WOW!! what a wonderful cruise we had.

It was so good to travel with our old friends, Jeff and Vera and Barb and Tim and what a great time we had.

The casino led by Annette was wonderful - great team and we enjoy them very much.

As we had lots of time before our flight to Atlanta and then home, we, along with Barb Freeman went to a Marriott hotel and stayed there.

We walked to a little local restraurant for lunch and then left the Marriott at 2:00pm on their free shuttle to the airport.

Our flights were all on time and we made it home to Bloomington at around 10:30pm.

Annette - The Casino Manager - we were last with her in Europe in 2013
Great staff in the Casino

Barb and Barb leaving the Edge

The menu

Barb and Barb at lunch

New Years – 2019 – Day 10

January 5, 2019 – Barb’s Birthday

Our last day and it is another sea day.  The weather was beautiful when we went out on the deck.

As we did yesterday, we stayed on the deck in the sun until 12:30pm and then joined our friends for lunch.

Barb Freeman did not join us the entire day as she was not feeling well.

After lunch, we went to the casino to play in the blackjack tournament; however, Ed did not qualify.

Then we went to the room and packed for the trip and got ready for the evening.

We met everyone except Barb F for blackjack and Ed won and Barb did not play.

The show was a production number based on A Mid Summers Nights Dream and it was pretty good.

At dinner, we were joined for the second time by Cameron, the Guest Relations Manager and it was fun talking to him.  We found out that the top suite, called the Iconic Suite is priced at $87,000 and it is sold out for the next several months!!

After dinner we went to the casino where both Ed and Barb won nicely.  The great news is that we had a wonderful run at the casino that almost covered the entire cost of the cruise.

This is the last of the blog until we get home and post a couple of videos.

After saying good bye to our new and old friends, it is now 1:30am and time to go to sleep as tomorrow we will be up at 7 and on our way home.  We arrive in Bloomington at 10:14pm and can’t wait to see all of the family and also of course Pippen.

Night and thanks for following our trip.

Hugs from Mon and Ed

Going out for the evening

\It is called the Magic Carpet and it goes up and down for evenings, lunch and getting on and off the ship.

With Annette - our casino host

New Years – 2019 – Day 9

This is the first of two sea days before we arrive back in the United States and today the weather was beautiful, clear, not windy and 91 degrees!!

We were out on the deck in the morning, lunch was with our friends on the back of the ship and then outside in the afternoon.

We did come in at 2pm for a drawing for a free cruise in the casino, but none of our group won so it was back outside for the rest of the day.

We played a session in the casino at 6pm before the show and Ed won nicely and Barb just watched.

The show tonight was a female singer and it was very good; however, the sound was way too loud.

Then of course on to dinner, this time in the Greek Restaurant called Cyprus and the meal was wonderful and no question that we ate way too much Greek food.

Next stop was the casino at 10:30pm where Ed won and Barb played slots for only the second time and lost.

Tomorrow is another sea day and our last day on the cruise.

See everyone soon.

The pool deck - see the 2 story hot tub in the back left

One of two hot tubs at the main  pool

The Roof Top Garden at the back of the ship

Our spot on the sun deck

Grilled Sea Bass - Greek style

New Years – 2019 - Day 8

Saint Maartens/St. Martins –

This island is a 37 square-mile island and is the smallest landmass in the world governed by 2 nations with the side we dock at being Dutch and the side with the best beach being French.  The Dutch side is also where the best shopping is.  They actually have 2 different currencies and use 2 different languages on the island along with English and dollars.

This is one of our favorite islands because of the great beach, Orient Beach.  It was literally wiped off the island during the hurricane a year ago.  Everything was destroyed and swept out to sea or tossed inland.

We were here in March and they had started to rebuild but it was still 80% destroyed.

Today, they have rebuilt a lot of the island.  People on the island told us that most of the Dutch side was already rebuilt; however, the French side was taking longer as the country of France is actually involved in a lot of their decision making.

We left the ship at 9:30am and took a taxi to the beach and rented beach chairs for the day and the weather was perfect. 

Lunch was a grilled Mai-Mai with a salad and fries and at Pina Colota

We left the beach at 2:00pm and took a taxi back towards the ship and were dropped off in the port town where we shopped for a little bit before walking back to the ship.

We got some snacks from the café and relaxed on our balcony before cleaning up and going to the casino for a session with Tim and Barb before the show.  Ed lost a little and Barb didn’t play

The show tonight was a comedian and he was really funny.

Then we all went to dinner in another new restaurant and it was outstanding.  We were pleased that Cameron the Guest Services Manager was able to join us for dinner so that was fun.  He reports directly to the Hotel Manager and we have known him through Jeff and Vera first for a number of year.

Next of course was the casino where Ed lost and Barb tried to cheer everyone on.

The good news is that we are still ahead – not a lot but ahead!!

Tonight we head for home and will be spending two days at sea before arriving in Fort Lauderdale.

Going to the beach

Our ship is the middle one with the blue hull

Going out for the evening

New Years – 2019 - Day 7

We were docked at Tortola when we woke up - an island that we had visited before.

We had nothing planned as there really is nothing to do in Tortola except go to the beach, walk around in the very tiny city or take a boat to close by island and snorkel.

We choose to walk into the city and look around.  The city is so small that at its largest point, you can walk from one end to the other in 30 minutes.

There are a bunch of tourist shops right at the port and then very few shops even in town.

We did have an interesting time visiting their prison which was in use up to 1994 and it was a terrible place.  The lady who took us on the tour was very informative and we enjoyed her very much.

After the tour, we walked back to the ship and met our friends for lunch.

After lunch, Barb went to the pool deck and the sun and Ed went to future cruise and booked our next three trips.  Oct 14 – an 11 night Southern Caribbean Cruise, Jan 3, 2020 a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise and Feb 17, 2020 a 12 night New Zealand/Australia Cruise. 

At 6 we sailed way and we went to the casino before the show and dinner and Ed lost a little and Barb just cheered us on.

Then the show which was another production number and it was the best one they have had, but still not great.

Of course next dinner which was the best of all of the regular restaurants in food quality and service  and then onto the casino where Ed won quite and Barb was a great cheerleader!!

Tomorrow we spend the day in St. Martins, one our favorite islands because of Orient Beach.

Night

Barb wanted to buy a hat in town!

Flowers from Ed - Wine from the Guests Services Manger

Touring the Prison

Going out for the evening

Newy Years - 2019 - Day 6

WOW – what a night it was for New Years Eve!! 

Of course we slept in and finally made it to the upper deck and out in a beautiful sun at 10:00am.

It was a little breezy, but simply wonderful to relax on the deck as we headed towards San Juan.

We met our friends on the back of the ship for lunch and sat around talking and eating for about an hour and talking about our next cruises together.

Then we went back up on the deck to await the arrival of the ship in San Juan, which was at 3:30pm.

We are certainly spoiled and blessed as we have been to this island many times; however, it is still an amazing sight cruising into the harbor protected by a gigantic fort!!

Barb has been fighting a very hard cough that she sometimes gets when we cruise and Prednisone usually takes care of it, which she gets with a prescription.  She went to the ship’s doctor and the cost to see the doctor was going to be $140 and then the medicine was going to another $100 for the prescription.  Instead the nurse suggested going to certain pharmacy in town and ask for the prescription.  Guess what – the first pharmacy said no, not without a prescription.  The second one said sure and gave her the prescription for a total cost of $40 with no doctor visit.  Amazing!!!

After the crowds left the ship, we went out and walked around a little bit and came back to the ship for the 7:00pm show which was a production number by the cast and it was very interesting, but not to our liking.

Then we went to eat with everyone and finally to the casino to close out the evening where Ed won big and Barb watched.  Jason started with a $100 bet then – 2 6’s against a 3, next card a 6, then 2 doubles.  Dealer busted!!

We have left San Juan and are sailing toward Tortola.

Night for now.

Our room from the door

From the other end

The fort at the entrance of San Juan

Our Ship - the Edge

Leaving for the afternoon in San Juan

Relaxing in San Juan