The Most Magical Two Days Ever
WOW. What a trip.
When Celebrity Cruises reached out and asked us to go on their brand new ship, The Edge, we couldn’t say no. But why did they ask us? Let’s break it down.
The trip: a two day sailing from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas. The reason: to experience their new ship and to attend its naming ceremony with the other guests.
The verdict: the ship exceeded every expectation we might have had, and we can’t stress this enough, but it was an EXPERIENCE like nothing we’ve ever been through before. For starters, every part of the ship is picture-worthy, like the indoor pool or one of the outdoor hallways that looks like shark teeth:
As soon as we got on board, we took some time to explore the ship and all it had to offer. As we walked around, we noticed some of our favorite Celebrity Cruises staples, like Cafe al Bacio, where PJ always gets his favorite cappuccino, and the Oceanview Cafe, the buffet-style restaurant that’s always open and always delicious.
We also took some time to be fancy ;). We put on these luscious, white robes they had in the closet, poured some champagne that was waiting on us when we got into our room, and for a second, pretended we were the kind of people who drank champagne for breakfast. That’s the mindset these ships put you in! That, for a couple of days, you can escape the outside world, have a little fun, and be anyone you want to be.
Speaking of the rooms, they’re insanely beautiful. We stayed in a stateroom that came complete with a queen-sized bed, gorgeous modern design, and tons of storage. We also kept getting a lot of questions from y’all asking if our room had one of the infinite verandas, which makes the room 23% bigger, and it did! It was so cool! It’s this huge window that sticks out over the side of the ship, bringing you to the water’s edge and makes you feel like you’re floating right above the sea. With the touch of a button, the top part of the window lowers and suddenly it’s this giant balcony letting in the most amazing breeze and view of the ocean.
Here’s a picture of PJ to show y’all what we’re talking about:
Like we mentioned, we were there for the naming ceremony, and for one of the ship’s first ever sailings. On the first night, after we finished exploring and got cleaned up, we headed to the theater for the ceremony. It was such an amazing spectacle, with performances by Andra Day (when she sang Rise Up we both got chills), speeches by the CEO of the Celebrity Cruises and its parent company Royal Caribbean (!!!!), and the ship’s godmother, Malala (never did we think we’d be in the same room as the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize). The entire ceremony was hosted by Celebrity Cruises ambassador and one of the ship’s designers, Nate Berkus.
Can we talk about THAT for a second, too? Nate was Oprah’s interior designer who has since exploded into the design world and is one of the most well-known designers in the world. Along with his husband, Jeremiah, Nate hosts a design show on TLC called Nate & Jeremiah by Design. The two of them are big inspirations for us as a gay, married couple with a love of all things home and family, not just for their interiors (which are perfection by the way), but with how they lead a seemingly normal life with their two kids at home.
The best part of it all was that we got to meet him! After the ceremony he came up to us and introduced himself, saying he knew who we were and that it was a pleasure to meet us. We died. We were shook. We fangirled. All of it. It was the cherry on top of an already incredible night.
(Nate Berkus, right, along with the CEO of Celebrity Cruises Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Malala in the center)
After the ceremony, we had reservations at Normandie, a French-inspired restaurant where we ate things like duck (we were being fancy, remember?) and ordered three different desserts because we couldn’t decide which one to go with. Again, stuff we wouldn’t normally do in our every day life, but when you’re on this ship, it feels like you’re in another world where anything is possible and you never want to leave.
After dinner we did one of our favorite things to do anytime we’re on a cruise: walk around the outside of the ship at night. The wind blows a cool, comforting breeze, and you normally can’t see anything around you but darkness, but since we hadn’t left the dockyard yet, we were surrounded by the city lights of Fort Lauderdale, which illuminated the background and made for an even more enchanting evening.
See that huge martini glass? It’s actually a two-story hot tub (one of two) that overlooks one of the outdoor pools. It was late, and we were tired, but we couldn’t resist relaxing in it on our first night.
The next day we woke up early to enjoy some pool time before it became too crowded. The sun was out, it was very hot, and there were a couple of pools to choose from. We went with the smaller, more intimate one at The Retreat. How cool are those chairs floating above the water?!
We took a quick ice cream break after lunch and then headed to tour the suites on the ship.
We’re standing in one of the villas, which are 950 sq ft, two-story suites, as you can see by the HUGE STAIRCASE GOING UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR!! We were honestly blown away. On a cruise ship!? This was bigger than PJ’s first house!
Below is the living room in one of the Iconic Suites, that come with their own gigantic terrace. The entire suite was something like 2400-2600 sq ft, which is bigger than our last house.
After the tours, we had dinner reservations at Eden. It’s so hard to even describe what Eden is, because it’s so many things all in one. The website describes it perfectly:
“We invite you to indulge every sense in a transformative atmosphere that changes from chillful mornings to playful afternoons to sinful evenings.”
Eden is an event space and restaurant, but they also put on live performances, and all of the staff are dressed as woodland creatures, in character the whole time they’re serving you. They have fun names for their drinks and food, like The Forbidden and Blue Velvet.
Even the way to Eden is crazy cool. You go through this rooms filled with mirrors and metallic trees, with light dancing all around you. It’s trippy and magical and enchanting and like nothing we’ve ever seen. Dining at Eden is, like everything else on this ship, an experience, and one that you can’t take our word for alone. Nope, you' have to see it, feel it, and taste it for yourself.
After dinner, we headed to one of the performances of Hype, their brand new show. The talent was insanely good, and the covers of songs like Hotline Bling, Toxic, and I Like It, kept us on our feet dancing for the entire hour. The live shows are always something we look forward to on every Celebrity Cruise. They’re creative, inventive, and the voices are always top-notch. To say we were blown away would be an understatement.
And just like that, our time on the Celebrity Edge had come to an end. We woke up the next morning back at the port and it was time to get off the ship. Did we want to leave? Nope. But we left feeling inspired, refreshed, and relaxed. It was the perfect little getaway for a few days, and just what we needed.
If you want to learn more about sailing on the Celebrity Edge, you can click here. If you want to see more of our experience, we have a highlight reel on our Instagram stories you can check out, too! We want to send a huge thank you to Celebrity Cruises for bringing us on board and showing us all The Edge has to offer. It was an experience we will never ever forget!
