It can get expensive booking a cruise for one person. Most often you pay double the price — and sometimes you pay more than double as the cruise line wants more passengers in order to earn more revenue from onboard spend.
Fortunately Celebrity has a few rooms for solo passengers. These rooms can only accommodate one person. I found a deal about a year and a half before the sailing and booked it.
There are a total of sixteen Single Infinite Veranda staterooms on each of the Edge Class ships. They are all located on Deck 6. Ten are listed as obstructed views; all sixteen look out at lifeboats. They are located around the two elevator banks on the ship.
Each Single Stateroom with Infinite Veranda measures 176 sq ft (131 for the room plus 45 for the veranda area). They are roughly 35% smaller than the standard Infinite Veranda staterooms.
Here is a look at the Single Stateroom with Infinite Veranda on the Celebrity Edge.
Stateroom 6218
When booking I picked room 6218. This is one of the six non-obstructed Single Infinite Veranda rooms on the ship. It is located on the starboard side near the aft elevators. There are rooms above and crew space below, so it is relatively quiet.
The Single Stateroom with Infinite Veranda is similar to the standard Infinite Veranda rooms but it slightly shorter and has a few missing elements.
As you enter, the closet is immediately on your left followed by the bathroom.
Inside the closet is a bar for hanging clothes and a strange metal handle that looks like it could store golf clubs. It might be a small shelf that is missing the top piece. One robe is provided.
After the closet is the storage where you will find the safe and mini-bar.
I had my room steward remove the contents of the fridge so I could use it to store bottles of water. There are two shelves that held an umbrella and laundry bag. I used these for some of my clothes as there are no drawers in the single room. The standard rooms have a dresser but there isn’t space in the single room.
There are also no hooks in the room (except in the bathroom). I like a couple of hooks for a jacket, hat, lanyard, etc. I would suggest bringing your own magnetic hooks.
Next to the bed is the desk/dressing table.
On the desk is the phone along with a box that has various power outlets. The box can close to hide your chargers. Inside are two 110v universal outlets, one 220v European style outlet, and two USB-A outlets. The button you can see on the box controls the light on the mirror.
The bed faces a wall mounted TV. I was only able to access about ten on-demand movies on my TV. There were also a few live channels.
On the other side of the bed is a small storage unit with a table lamp.
Behind the lamp is another US style outlet and two more USB-A outlets.
A difference between the standard and single Infinite Veranda rooms is the lighting. The only lights in the single room are the desk mirror, table lamp, and two recessed lights (one by the door and the other in the veranda). Other rooms have additional backlights along the ceiling. I found the single room to be fairly dark even with all the lights on.
Lights and temperature, as well as window shade, can be controlled either by a touchscreen panel by the bathroom or via the Celebrity app on your phone.
The Infinite Veranda is unique to the Edge class of ships. The last roughly 3 feet of the room switches from carpet to a solid floor surface. Two chairs and a small table fill most of the veranda space.
The top half of the window can be lowered with the touch of a button on the wall.
The screen panels can be closed if you wanted to experience the veranda as a more traditional balcony separated from the rest of the room. I preferred to leave the panels open whether the window was open or closed.
Looking out the window, the view is somewhat impacted by both the lifeboat and overhang from the floor above.
A fabric shade can be lowered to block out light. You must have the veranda window completely closed to lower the shade.
In all of my past cruises, the door to the veranda has not been able to be propped open. So you only get fresh air while going in or out to the veranda. I rarely spent time on my balcony.
The Infinite Veranda allows you to open the window and allow fresh air into the room. I found it much more useful than a standard balcony. I am in the camp of people that think the Infinite Veranda is a great feature; especially for an itinerary like Alaska.
Bathroom
The bathroom in the single stateroom is slightly smaller than in a standard room.
The toilet is on the left. Single vanity with shallow sink is straight ahead. The shower with glass door is on the right.
The sink is a bit strange with the faucet on the right rather than in the middle back of the sink. I didn’t mind but it is a strange set up.
Only one glass was provided in the bathroom, though a second one was in the room near the mini bar. There is storage along the left side of the sink as well as under the sink. For one person it was plenty of space.
A bar of soap and bottle of lotion is provided at the sink.
The shower is large and has the standard wall mounted hand held shower, a basket shelf and bar for shaving your legs. There is no overhead rain shower. Wall mounted shampoo, conditioner, and body was are provided.
Additionally there are two small hooks in the shower and two more on the bathroom door.
Overall I found the bathroom to be bright, clean, and functional.
Overall
This was my first time sailing in a single room on a cruise ship. I think Celebrity has done a good job of offering a product that someone traveling solo is going to love. It doesn’t sacrifice any of the benefits of a standard balcony room. On other cruise lines I’ve seen single rooms be mostly interior rooms or rooms with a strange layout. While smaller than a standard Infinite Veranda room, the single rooms live up to their larger siblings. If Celebrity could find a way to add some drawers (maybe in the closet) and increase the lighting, I would choose the Single Stateroom with Infinite Veranda every time.
Have you sailed on a Celebrity Edge class ship? What did you think of the staterooms? Share in the comments below.