JDPCruisers

Others can correct me if I go astray, but open for lunch and dinner with daily specials on the blackboard visible from the hallway. no bar, but on E-class a bar is right next door and they will get any drink that is available when you're dining. Not sure about other functions, but I have never seen any. 

10 hours ago, mtempelaar said:

Not yet.  A butler finally came by and left his card. Hubby is planning to ask tomorrow 🤞. In 2022 we didn’t have a lounger at first but our butler got us one.  I am not to sure this time that we can accomplish the goal.  

Mind sharing the name of your butler? We're on the Beyond in a couple of weeks in a SS so just curious.

41 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

I think it may have been your review on that excursion that helped my parents decide to go, I really wanted too, but my sister had no interest in a 6.5 hour tour and after me planning everything, I figured she deserved a say in something.  hahaha

I'll add my thanks for the review. Very helpful as are on Beyond Apr/May for the first time so you have essentially confirmed the positive experience that many others have shared. We are in a SS so hopefully we won't experience the noise issues that others have had.  

3 minutes ago, Nachosdelux said:

yes you can go to the main dining room or the buffet as well

And, if you are not aware, the Beyond has four separate main dining rooms to choose from (unique to E-class ships).  

40 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I've been doing the gym. It's too warm outside for me, and the track is very short and only in KM. It hurt my head trying to calculate how many times I had to walk to get a mile.

How has the gym been, any issues with finding a treadmill or stationary bike?

18 hours ago, Cap_D said:

Thanks.  Will be on March 22.  

Yes, thanks. We're on her Apr/May so this is welcomed news.

7 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Thank you !

 

Here were the concierges last week:

 

 

Great, thanks!

23 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Thank you for the Viking info. The one that concerns us the most is the entertainment aspect. Although we also loved the Beyond the Podium speaker on Celebrity and Viking touts their lecturers so I am sure we would like that. My wife likes the casino more than I and she has indicated a willingness to forego it. 

 

We were looking at the PV2 for a trip that long, and its $481 pppd, still less than the Apex or Ascent SS, comparable to the Silversea Port-to-Port fare but more than the Silhouette. 

 

Great review and pics. We will be on the Beyond Apr/May and I don't recall who the concierges are in the Retreat?

Dedicated SS butlers back on Ascent? 

17 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

I'm considering E-class (maybe a suite) for a TA, meaning lots and lots of sea days.  I'm leaning toward Apex with its fewer suites and where Luminae sounds like it's a bit more special.   

Have enjoyed Apex more than once in a suite and can say we haven't been disappointed, the same on Edge TA last spring. Both the ships and Luminae were great. We had no complaints. Will say that on Edge TA they were at ~50% occupancy so that contributed to the ambiance for sure as the staff were even more affable and available than they usually are. 

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

One thing we noticed last night was the difference between the brisket on Ascent and on Beyond. More inconsistency.

 

First picture is from Ascent, second one is form Beyond.

 

 

 

 

That is one reason why we try to give any restaurant another shot if something is a miss . Needless to say the one last night is the runaway winner.

 

mac_tlc

We are looking forward to trying Rooftop for the first time after reading the mostly good reviews on CC. We just sort of haven't gotten around to it on previous E-Class cruises. Will do this time on our B2B. How has the service been?

23 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

It has been going on for a while now..every now and then, someone here gets all ruffled up.  I rarely see enough kids on Celebrity for it to matter. 

Same here, rarely see kids and have not noticed any not well behaved. Personally, we have not seen any in the solarium other than one with a parent in a hot tub on Apex once. Was well behaved. Now, I couldn't say that with the kids that were in Solarium Bistro during lunch time, no so well behaved and the parents were with them. We'll see in a couple of months on Beyond.

11 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

I'll just do this with some bullet points.

 

• EMBARKATION DAY:  Easy peasy.  First of all, we live about 38 minutes from Port Everglade, so that part is a pleasure and part of why cruising is such a stress free escape for us.  Terminal 25 is beautiful...we arrived at about 11 and as Retreat guests, we were guided to some elevators where we were checked on an ipad and walking up the gangway within minutes.  We walked to our room and entered with the seapass cards.  Our room wasn't quite ready (which was fine) and our butler Ari appeared before we left the room and introduced himself.  We dropped our stuff off and commenced our initial exploration.  Lunch in Luminae...more about Luminae shortly.
• OUR CELEBRITY SUITE: Beautiful, clean, spacious. Very blessed to be able to cruise that way.  It was our second CS (first was on the Eclipse last October) and the luxury of having two rooms when you are a couple with different sleeping patterns was nice.  I am a very early riser and it's nice to be able to slip out of bed and close the door and put on the TV in the other area.  Bathroom was nice...could use a little bit of counter space, but no complaint really.  Our TV in the living area started pixellating badly at one point, and one phone call and apparently they were able to reboot it remotely and it was fine after that.  Location with 11th deck forward of the aft elevators...we liked it so much we booked the exact same suite on the same ship for the same time next year.
• BUTLER/STATEROOM ATTENDANT: Both were ever-present, amiable as can be, always smiling, always anxious to help.  Butler (Ari) brought us coffee at the same time every morning (as requested) and helped us to juggle around a couple of specialty restaurant reservations we decided to cancel and/or change.  I don't think we are overly demanding at all, but he never failed to take care of what we asked.
• LUMINAE: We had breakfast pretty much every morning, and dinner 5 of 7 nights.  The food was always good...not 5 star restaurant good, but very good for a cruise ship and better than any MDR fare I've had in years of cruising.  Selection was fairly limited, but I was always able to find choices I ended up enjoying.  Portion sizes were definitely on the small side, but I assume that's in part because they expect people to order more than one dish.  My wife, who is a more basic eater was happy with the classics options.  It's great to have the same server at every meal...that's what cruising should be IMO...and we never had to wait long for bread, coffee refills, wine refills, etc.  The entire staff was great...great personalities, working hard with smiles on their faces.
• SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: This cruise we ended up only dining in Eden and Rooftop Garden.  After hearing so many wonderful things about Eden, I was frankly a little disappointed.  Not that it was bad...it just didn't blow my socks off.  My food was a little under-seasoned and portions were small. Nothing worth complaining about, and I will likely try it again in the future.  Service was very good.  Rooftop was a nice surprise.  While the vibe was a little strange...and all the servers seemed to be overworked a little stressed, the comfort food was really enjoyable.  We probably pigged out more there than at any other time on the cruise.  Ribs, brisket, cornbread, corn on the cob, chicken. Yum.
• RETREAT LOUNGE: We loved hanging out there before dinner with our pre-dinner cocktails.  Staff is absolutely delightful (perhaps you're seeing a pattern here).  By day 2 they knew us and our drinks and we began to get to know them as well.  Somehow Celebrity manages to find the best humans to work on their ships lol.  My one little complaint about the Lounge was there was absolutely no variety in the food/snack choices from evening to evening.  Same cheeses, same crackers, same olives and roasted red peppers, same potato chips, same peanuts.  I wish they would have changed it up a little from night to night...but somehow we seemed to keep coming back lol.  
• RETREAT SUNDECK: Again, great staff with great attitudes.  More shade would have been nice, but we spent a lot of time up there and loved the hanging chairs over the pool in particular.  There are three of them and everyone who wanted to spend time in one seemed to be able to.  I will mention one time some guy actually placed his shoes on the chair to hold it when he walked away...that was a little off-putting for sure.  The area got pretty crowded on sea days...you could almost always find a lounger, and a couple of times I did see staff remove towels when a chair was empty for a while. Note to fellow cruisers: it's a nice thing to do to at least crumple up your towels when you are done with your chair so others know you're not coming back!
• ENTERTAINMENT: Good for the most part.  I won't get too specific because I assume it changes, but the comedian was very funny, the acrobatic shows amazing.  We did slip out during a strange Tina Turner revue that was just a little odd.  But the theater is beautiful.  
• OVERALL: Gorgeous ship, wonderful suite, very good food, unbelievable staff.  Very few complaints, and nothing that would keep us away from Celebrity in the future (we have two more Edge class cruises booked).  Prices are definitely getting out of hand, so that may be an issue.  But I work hard all year long and we take two cruise vacations a year.  It's just worth it to us to splurge for them and I we are blessed to be able to do it.

 

Thanks for reading if you did!

Thanks for the summary. Great to hear! We love Apex and look forward to being back on her May/June 2025. 

On 2/14/2024 at 5:26 PM, abbydancer2003 said:

Greetings from the midpoint.  We're currently in our room watching The Holdovers, while we wait for our 8:30 reservation at Fine Cut.  Our Luminae Maitre'd says he'll stop by.  We'll see.

 

First, what I've done.  In Sint Maarten, I went with a couple to Maho beach (the one at the airport).  We walked around for a while and then came back.  

 

In Sint Lucia, I'd booked a tour called the Taste of St. Lucia through a tour company.  It was a visit to an old house that had a botanical garden, and some historical stuff and then we went to the kitchen area for some tastings.  

 

Today was Barbados, and I just walked out of the terminal for a bit, but it looks like there was nothing close, so I went back to the ship.  One note, we were parked behind a Costa ship, and it was a long walk out.  They do offer free shuttles.  

 

Both yesterday and today we were delayed in leaving due to  medical emergencies.  Yesterday, I know it was a broken hip.  Probably the same today.  

 

Tonight, when we started the movie, it asked for whose (is that spelled right?). account to use.  We stopped it, because it's been quite a while since I've watched one of theirs, so I tried calling the concierges to make sure we wouldn't be charged.  They didn't answer, so I figured I'd run up there.  At the elevator I ran into our head butler, who asked where I was going.  I told him, and he said no I wouldn't be charged and why didn't I call him about it.  So the good ones, still want to make sure we get the service we paid for.

 

I think that it will be about 3 weeks on this ship for the dedicated butlers to come back, but if you're on, and you get George, he's very responsive. 

 

Two more ports, two sea days and it's home to prepare for my mega trip in March.

Appreciate your musings as we will be on the Beyond for the first time April/May. Any issues with noise in your cabin as others have reported? Also, great news on the return of dedicated butlers in SS and is George from one of the islands as we may have met him as the butler on Edge last spring for the folks next door to our cabin. We had Walter who is a gem, is still a dedicated butler but will not be on Beyond. 

18 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

We did that tour back in December 2022 after getting off the Beyond.

 

It was on a large bus and toured us around a few sites mostly waiting for our time to board the boat to cruise the canals and see all the mansions.

 

We were the only ones on the tour going to MIA so they dropped everyone off at FLL and then took us to MIA. Pretty funny to have this giant coach for two people, but that's how it worked out.

 

We enjoyed it, but I wouldn't do it again. The double decker boat wasn't anything special (you're sitting on folding chairs) and it's a good idea to make sure you get under the shade on the top deck. Also, once I've seen the mansions and the ostentatious displays of wealth I don't need to see them again. It was not that much more than regular transportation so worth it. We did the Everglades tour once and enjoyed that more.

 

For our upcoming cruise on the Beyond I hired a car to get to MIA since this time our flight leaves at 11:20 am. We could probably make it with an Uber, but I didn't want to chance it since we disembark on a Friday morning.

 

I hope that helps!

We did the same, but dropped of at FLL, and agree with get under the shade as we had both hot sun and rain. We liked it though it's a one and done for us. 

6 hours ago, villauk said:

 

Yes, I got the initial email requesting questions but no further email with the actual link to the webinar. Additionally, I did get the loyalty matching survey.

Received the invite to submit a question, did so, but no follow-up on when the webinar will be?

38 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Yikes, it’s a bumpy morning here on Reflection.  This is our first day of white caps and she’s really a rockin.

 

As I was coming in to the MDR for breakfast (yes, I had eggs AND pancakes AND apple danish…I danced up an appetite last night, ok?) a security officer was escorting a couple out to the medical office to be treated for sea sickness.  

 

I really owe my friends who are sailing on other ships in the Caribbean right now (I surround myself with like addicted people what can I say), their social posts about the weather clued me in that we might have a rough ride as we came back north so I preemptively took some motion meds before bed.  My friends I met on Edge a couple of years ago are currently on a Regent Antarctica cruise and are going through the Drake Passage today have no sympathy at all for our pathetic rough seas.

 

I think many are also recovering this morning from the full moon deck party last night, a party so lit that it rivaled the white party on Divina that I barely survived last year.  But I’ll tell you all about that shortly.  

 

Despite the wind, it’s a beautiful sunny warm day.  I’m doing some work on the pool deck instead of Al Bacio this morning because I learned from the first 2 sea days that if you aren’t in your deck chair by like 9am, your chances of getting one are slim.

 

After I finish this contract review I’m heading to a VERY unofficial meet up of cruisers under 50 (organized via Instagram DM’s) at the sunset bar for mimosas.  Then later I’ll have lunch at The Porch again with some new friends from the east coast.  I’ll probably give the casino one last donation after lunch.

 

Tonight is the magic show and dinner in Tuscan Grill.  Happy Friday! 
 

 

 

Great review as usual. We will be in the ABC's this April/May and have been looking for something in Bonaire to book and your feedback on Lady Bellas is very helpful. Continue to enjoy!

2 hours ago, ggo85 said:

June means lots of daylight and fewer kids than later in summer.  Weather is always iffy. We cruised in mid-July a couple of years ago and it was in the 50s and rainy the entire time. They said the week before it had been in the 80s and sunny.  First port - everyone bought sweatshirts!  But it was fine. 
 

Fewer kids tend to ne on these cruises than Med cruises.  But there can be exceptions.  Fjords are magnificent.  

Thanks for the information.

22 hours ago, RichYak said:

How is it that you plan on getting access to the Retreat Package?

I don't. I was curious to see the price difference compared to booking a Retreat suite. 

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

That’s going to be limited, and will add up pretty quickly as you have to book the entire week. 
 

They were turning down retreat guests that requested this on my recent sailing on The Ascent. 

Thanks for your recent experience. Just curious, is one able to book this for others when you board on the ship or has to be done in advance? 

2 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

That has been available for a while..

That's interesting to know as I've never seen it advertised, and currently isn't online, or received a notification of it being available before? Any idea on how it's limited?

1 hour ago, Team Stag said:

We have always gotten a table for two in Luminae.  Now be warned, they tend to be very close to other tables of 2 due to the space constraints.  

And, with the new Retreat Privilege Package offering the tables are likely to get a lot closer together in Luminae/Blu and the Retreat Lounge/Michael's Club depending on how many people end up having this booked. On E-class an extra $199 pp/pd and $125 pp/pd for S/M class in any stateroom for Retreat amenities as long as a current Retreat guest books it.  

18 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Keep in mind this is a package purchased buy someone sailing in the Retreat for family/friends who are not sailing in the Retreat. 
 

 

Yes, correct but just collect the money from them or pay for them and you're good to go. Luminae and Blu are not that large on most ships so will be interesting to see what that does for capacity and the Retreat sundeck pool and bar area, as well. Maybe suite guests have been asking for this to be available for their family and friends? For the price, it is a no-brainer if stateroom space is not that of an issue for you. I guess we will see on the Beyond in a couple of months. 

3 minutes ago, Hawkstar33 said:

The jury will not be out long on this one.  

Agreed. I just did a practice booking and and inside stateroom for 2 including the Retreat a package is $1888 cheaper than a SS for a 7 day booking on Ascent.

28 minutes ago, Hawkstar33 said:

Yup...New great changes

 

I just checked and it's $199 pp/pd on E-Class and $125 pp/pd on M and S class. IMHO, this along with the other changes doesn't look like booking suites is providing any exclusive amenities for what you are paying for.