Boarding a Celebrity Ship for the FIRST time... SOLO!

[@rogercooley6]

It's refreshing that you don't need to have people along with you in order to enjoy yourself. I've been on over 40 cruises, and me time is paramount.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@rogercooley6 absolutely! Nothing better than being completely free to make my schedule however I want 😄

[@oellett]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line! Enjoy!!

[@MerCruisesSolo]

After this cruise, it might be my new favorite as well! 😄

[@Cory69]

Once you do celebrity or royal you'll never want to go back to anything else their so good!

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@Cory69 absolutely loved Celebrity! Not sold on Royal, but I’ll give them a try someday 😉

[@michelleg-7]

So glad you like celebrity they are so good😊

[@northwestman1]

Looks like a beautiful Ship, thanks for sharing Mer.

[@TravelWithBen121]

Wow, the ship looks brand new! I love the Solarium, a great place to be when it's raining! Your cabin looks very modern and I like the doors open up all the way and the window opens up! Enjoy your cruise, looking forward to watching! 😁

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@TravelWithBen121 the Solarium is definitely a spot I took advantage of a lot on this cruise! Will miss it on my next NCL 😆

[@NowBoardingVlogs]

Thanks for sharing! I will be on my first Celebrity cruise on October 4th! It is the Celebrity Reflection and it will be out of Ft Lauderdale as well.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

Can't wait to check out the other Celebrity ships! Have a great time, it's so close!

[@NowBoardingVlogs]

@@MerCruisesSolo Yes Ma'am, I plan on it! I am counting the days, lol.

[@tolstadb]

Love the Reflection and her sister the Eclipse. I hope you enjoyed your time on her.

[@jdb316]

I definitely want to try one of the Edge class ships sometime but what Celebrity has done with solo pricing makes that prohibitive for now. I hope the stuff in your bag was OK.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

I totally agree, and it's very disappointing that they're punishing solo travelers in this way! Hopefully they will reconsider and change their pricing to align with other companies who are handling solos better!

[@dsayre8028]

What a great video. I just got off this same itinerary a couple hours ago and had a wonderful time. Can't wait to see the rest of the series. Also ran into Views and Ques if you have ever seen their channel.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

It was a great itinerary! I ended up staying on the ship almost the whole time, it's just so nice and so much to do and enjoy! 😄

[@johnbuckley8324]

Looking forward to your thoughts on Celebrity throughout this series. I have a Transatlantic cruise on Apex coming up soon. 🙂 Cheers! P.S. were you able to save your camera gear?

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@johnbuckley8324 everything was fine EXCEPT for one of my microphones 🥺 I have had it in rice since I got home and took it out to test and it doesn’t seem to be recoverable. Huge bummer, they are not cheap, but it was my own fault!

[@sail2day822]

Celebrity is my favorite cruise line

[@dakashades]

Thanks for the tip about the Riverside Hotel offering a shuttle bus to the cruise port. I’ve just started planning a solo cruise in January 2026 from Fort Lauderdale on Celebrity Ascent. Your hint will help me with my planning. Glad you’re loving Celebrity. I cruised on Celebrity Edge in February this year from Sydney Australia to New Zealand and loved it. It was my first large ship cruise and now I’m hooked.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

you're very welcome! The Ascent looks amazing, I can't wait to check out the other Edge class ships! 😍

[@paulwinge4173]

I'm glad you're giving Celebrity a try We're loyal HAL fans as I mentioned during your Volendam cruise, but Celebrity is a close second. We love the Millenium class ships and the Solice class is nice too. Our Apex cruise was cancelled so we have yet to test those but they look great. I'm excited to hear you are on the Beyond!! Hopefully Captain Kate is onboard and you get a chance to meet her. She's an amazing woman and I follow her KZbin channel, daily . Have a great cruise!!! Paul

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@paulwinge4173 thanks, Paul! Celebrity has inched its way up to being at the top of my list as far as cruise experiences, just wish they wouldn’t alienate solo cruisers by charging so much more - but I am looking forward to giving their other ships/classes a try, as well as other ships with HAL! Captain Kate was indeed onboard, she is amazing and it was such a treat to experience being on the ship while she was working! 🤩

[@paulwinge4173]

@@MerCruisesSolo Awesome! I've followed Kate for quite some time, and I have the utmost respect for her accomplishments and her attitude toward her crew and her guests. I hope you get to meet her.

[@benjaminsmith2287]

HAL and Celebrity fan here as well. Don't like the Edge class. Millennium is pretty good and Solstice is very nice. HAL has evolutionary ships so they don't really change too much which is something I appreciate.

[@em9341]

I’m glad you’re having fun. There’s no way I would ever give celebrity a dime though. They charge solos thousands more for the same cabin than a couple. (Booking a suite solo was at least 3k more for single occupant ~14k total than it was for a couple ~11k total). That is hostility towards solos that I won’t abide by and I don’t care if they apologize for their pricing.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

I agree with you! I called this out in the video as well. When I booked this cruise back at the beginning of the year, I compared pricing and I was not charged more than double for this solo cabin. If/when I cruise Celebrity again, I won't book unless the price is at or less than what it would cost for double occupancy - I'd rather put my money towards another cruise line. If solo travelers refuse to pay what Celebrity is trying to charge, I hope that they'll reverse their decision on extorting solos, because they really do have a great product 🤞

[@em9341]

@@MerCruisesSolo I appreciate that you called it out. :) I find myself being pretty loyal to NCL/Oceania/Reagent because they’re just much better about solos (Feeling like a valued guest as opposed to an afterthought).

[@tristaswan2453]

It isn't just cruises that do that😂 all inclusive everywhere charge more per room for a single traveler.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@tristaswan2453 but a lot of cruise lines actually don't charge more for a solo traveler, and Celebrity has shown that they are the odd one out and therefore not preferred by solo travelers when other lines are going to treat us better.

[@555tg]

Good for you and glad you enjoyed yourself .we are leaving the UK Saturday and looking forward to our first Cruise on the Beyond ..

[@MerCruisesSolo]

have an amazing cruise, such a beautiful ship! 😊

[@555tg]

@@MerCruisesSolo Thank you 🙂x

[@MrKn1214]

I was on the Beyond in April this year with my sister, and it was definitely one of the best experiences ever had. We will be on the Summit to Alaska next year .❤

[@traceymckeen2968]

Terrific video, I cruise celebrity as a solo often and love it 😍

[@MerCruisesSolo]

Thank you! I hope to do more solo cruising on Celebrity as well! 😊

[@teenalaughton7188]

Loved it, did you happen to meet Capt. Kate? I've been watching her content and it's good. Looking forward to more.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@teenalaughton7188 yes, I met her on the last day, she is awesome!

[@kerryharder2416]

Wow so beautiful glad you are having a wonderful time.

[@oldgadfly8398]

Looks like a nice ship. I'll have to check it out some day. Cheers.

[@barbaralazier8352]

I travel solo and ❤that way of traveling. Celebrity is my favourite Cruise Line

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@barbaralazier8352 they are up at the top of my list after this cruise as well! 🤩

[@trikynguyen3680]

Thank you for showing more in buffet room

[@Valerieesquilin]

Hey Mer!! What a video ship and video, it made me started looking and considering booking this cruise to go on vacation with my mom. I love outdoors so I love all the greenery Deco on this ship. Sad about that storm, but yes that Florida bipolar weather. Great solo room but really appreciate you advocating for solo cruisers. Much needed. Yes, even when we travel solo we are willing to invest in a spa experience, a good wine and book, etc. I don’t care for casino but I rather put that money to treat myself. Also I enjoy reading through the comments all the support from this community and heyyyy i see more likes and views with every video!! 🤩❤🎉 you deserve it all! 🎉 and yes i have watch this video like 3 times… 😅

[@MerCruisesSolo]

I agree, I like to treat myself especially more so when I'm cruising solo, such a shame Celebrity doesn't take that into account when they're punishing us by charging so much extra! But you're right, this ship is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to cruise on more Celebrity Edge class ships! Thank you so much for being such an avid watcher of my videos! 🥰

[@Valerieesquilin]

⁠@@MerCruisesSolohoping that cruise companies will be listening and work on that , I can definitely see more people doing solo cruising in the future. Lol watching the video again, i loved that they were playing rain songs, i would’ve enjoy that, “it’s the little things”… i cant wait for more videos on this cruise so many cool things about this cruise super glade you decided to go with this one, new cruise line+new cruise port. Cheers 🥂 sorry your things got wet, thanks for sharing because everyone traveling from Florida should always prepare for rain, so i think this will help others. Also currently watching while i eat pizza. Lol.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@Valerieesquilin me too, so glad I chose this cruise, such a great experience! New video coming Saturday! 😊

[@Valerieesquilin]

@@MerCruisesSolo yayyy I can’t wait 🤩😍

[@melthebelgian.5837]

Travel on the "edge" in 40 days, solo traveler (male) so looking forward to the rest of this series. I don't think price was to bad ~$1600 aud 5 nights, did book well in advance that may of helped. I hate the solo supplement. 17 cruises and counting, all solo.

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@melthebelgian.5837 I definitely found prices to be better booking further in advance as well, I hope you have an amazing cruise! The Edge class ships are incredible 🤩😍

[@rhondalyn100]

I appreciate this video and information so much. No way would I book a solo cruise on any ship knowing the view was going to be obstructed...especially if I'm paying double or triple to cruise solo. For sure, Celebrity is not on my radar at this point. Thank you!

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@rhondalyn100 yes, it’s very unfortunate - and my cabin was not marked as obstructed on the Celebrity website, I only knew ahead of time because of the amount of research I did 😕

[@Chrisell]

Did you have Captain Kate McCue as your ships captain?

[@MerCruisesSolo]

@@Chrisell yes I did! She’s amazing!

[@LaszloBagi]

Hope your camera gear is ok

[@007bfields]

Mer, great video as always. I am sapphire level on NCL but have 2 celebrity ( reflection and apex) scheduled for 2025. Hope you have a wonderful time.