Scottishclover

19 hours ago, ILgirl said:

Thanks so much for your great review!  While I enjoy and appreciate all reviews on CC, it seems that a majority are posted by members traveling in a suite.  I travel solo and I know that will never be me so the pictures of meals in Luminae and talk of what the butler situation is on “Beyond” is beyond me, ha ha!  You have a lovely family.  So nice to be making these great memories!  Thx again for all of the time and effort you put into the review!

As much as I enjoy the reviews from Suite guests ( most of whom have lots of experience with Celebrity), I think it’s good to read reviews from lots of different perspectives. I think as a family we are pretty easy to please on board and are just grateful that we can visit some lovely places.

On 8/5/2023 at 3:11 PM, BettyPC said:

Thank you for such a great review!  We have not done the cities you cruised to.  We will be on Beyond in 2025 - 40th wedding anniversary.  

 

Betty 

I’m sure you will love the Beyond. It’s such a classy ship and will be perfect to celebrate your anniversary. We are a little behind you. We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary next year. 

14 hours ago, AllRightJack said:

I’m new to cruise critic but have been following your blog with real interest. I was also on the Beyond at the same time and it’s so interesting to read your thoughts on the experience. Wonderful pictures. Do you think you will cruise the Artic Circle next year after cruising two years in succession? DH can’t be so mean if he signs off on three cruises in a row😀

I hope you enjoyed the cruise as much as we did. We’ve been discussing the Arctic Circle Cruise this morning. Prices have went up since I started this review😭 We may go back to our usual hiking holidays in the Austrian Alps. Saying that for 2 weeks in a similar standard of hotel as The Beyond, there is not much of a difference in price. Prices for hotels everywhere have really skyrocketed recently. 

15 hours ago, Ski Mom said:

Beautiful photos! Fabulous review! Your daughters are lovely and so is mom! I love their style! I will be on a Celebrity cruise in late September. I have limited mobility and will probably be seeing Naples in either a transport wheelchair pushed by DH or a mobility scooter I will be renting for the cruise could you please recommend an activity for us to do in Naples?

Thank you 😊 Regarding Naples I would definitely ask the question over on the Italy Ports of Call board. Someone will have experience of tours for people with limited availability. I think food tours are quite popular in Naples. Celebrity offer accessible shore excursions too. 

LIVORNO 

What did we do?

Quick look round Livorno then treated it as a sea day.

What did others do?

Pisa, Florence but plenty had the same idea as us and stayed on the ship. 

Need to Know

You are not allowed to walk through the port on your own so City of Livorno provided a free shuttle to Piazza Municipio in the centre. There were people waiting to sell tours to you there.

Originally, we had decided to stay on the ship given we had already been to Florence, Pisa and Lucca on our trip. However, the temptation of a free shuttle to Livorno was too much so me, DH and DD2 hopped on . DD1 decided to stay on the ship and do a run ( shock, horror). Her running app worked much better when the ship was docked than at sea and she really chalked up the miles.

As it was Sunday, there wasn’t much open in the centre of Livorno so we had a wander around the canal area. Had the weather been cooler we might have walked out to Terazza Mascagni. I think we had all reached our threshold in terms of sightseeing ( and the heat🥵) by this point so gave it a miss. After all, we had been on the go for 18 days.

Some parts of Livorno are quite scenic.

Once back on the ship we had a lazy day. I thought I might get a swim but the pool was busier than ever. Lots of people had obviously decided to stay on the ship too. 
 

After doing the packing, we decided to change it up for our pre- dinner drinks and went to the Martini Bar. We hadn’t been all cruise for some reason. Last year that was our bar of choice.

Sadly, I discovered too late how delicious a rose martini is. DD1 had passion fruit but preferred mine.

After dinner we watched the production show Elements. It was the opening night with a new cast. It was nice to see the previous cast who did Stage Door and Arte supporting them in the audience. All to soon it was time to head upstairs for our final sleep on The Beyond.

Livorno Verdict

You really need to do a tour as there’s not a great deal to hold your interest in the town itself. My suggestion is either Pisa or Lucca. Florence would be a really long day. 
 

QUICK-FIRE Q&A

I thought I would address some questions often asked here on the forum.

Captain?

It was Captain Kate’s first cruise back. DH enjoyed her riddle of the day.

Cruise Director?

Alejandro. We thought he was quite entertaining. Activity Manager Alexa was great. A cruise director in the making for sure.

Chair Hogs?

Of course. When I went to the stretch class at 7 am on Sea Day 1,  most of the loungers directly around the pool had people’s stuff on them. 
 

Wifi? 
The basic package was rubbish. The girls could message friends but photos wouldn’t upload. DD1 said the WiFi was best in Cafe al Bacio🤷‍♀️

Dinner in Oceanview Cafe?

We went one night and I was impressed by the amount of choice. There was carving station, stir fry, Indian etc, nice selection of desserts. Plenty folk were eating there.

Drinks Package worth it?

For us probably not. We are not big drinkers , though we do like our coffee. You need to do the maths. Next time I think we might go cruise only. 
 

Favourite Drinks?

Alcoholic: Marrakesh Mule, Elderflower Blush

Non-alcoholic: sparkling mint lemonade - so refreshing on a hot day

Gluten free beer on board?

Yes, at Craft Social. DH found it was quickest for him to get it there and join us in other bars. 
 

Kids on Board?

Not too many wee tots, mostly older teens. I didn’t see any unruly behaviour

( and being a teacher, I would have noticed!)

Any other questions you have, I’ll try to answer😀

@hcat DDs are not big shoppers. They don’t buy into fast fashion. DD2 buys all her clothes second hand so has no interest in hitting the shops when we are abroad. One thing Dad is very pleased about 😂

ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW 

We were totally impressed with the entertainment on the Apex last year and wondered how the Beyond would measure up. I would say the 3 production shows on the Beyond are maybe even better. I especially loved Arte. The guest acts are always a very personal thing but we enjoyed most of them. Going to the evening show as a family is a big thing for us on cruises. We did go to a couple of shows in Eden. These are enjoyable but you do need to go early to get a decent view. Some evenings we also attended some of the game shows but I preferred the Apex for this. 
 

Mum and Dad still know how to have fun at 80s Flashback in the Club. 
 

There was definitely more offerings last year on sea days on the Apex. A lot of the guest acts did matinees in Eden/Grand Plaza. DH and DD2 were disappointed not to get a chance to retain their title in the archery competition this year. Maybe not as much is planned on warm weather cruises during the day as everyone is on the deck sunbathing. One criticism from DH is that there should be separate competitions for adults and children, e.g., golf chipping/table tennis. He wanted to take part but said he would feel guilty beating a young lad and at the same time didn't want to be hammered by them either. 
 

Everyone cruises for different reasons and I think the entertainment is a big draw for us as evenings on land holidays can drag a bit. We are not musical in anyway but appreciate the talented performers onboard. I especially love the adaptability of the orchestra to accompany so many different acts. I do wish people would show them respect by arriving on time and not leaving before the end. 
 

17 hours ago, LizikinsLivesToCruise said:

 

Agree with your verdict on Dubrovnik. Could even add more. Enjoying your review, thanks for taking the time to write it, @Scottishclover.

Thank you. I’m glad you agree with me. I wondered if we were just living up to the Scottish stereotype of being a bit tight with our money! 

17 hours ago, hcat said:

Your photos are amazing.

We did the ship's tour to Taormina...enjoyable and well organized,   but at times our guide droned on a bit much.  We got to see a wedding party emerge from the local church...very exciting. Nice shops and  places to eat.. it was an expensive outing.

 

As your photos show..it is very hilly.  The bus took the  mountain curves okay but sometimes I just closed.my eyes!  if anyone gets bus sick,  wear your bands!

Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed Taormina. I will just need to be content with what I’ve seen of it on “White Lotus”.

NAPLES

Naples has an embarrassment of riches so….

What did we do? 
Actually, we went a bit left field and caught the hydrofoil to the island of Procida.

What did others do?

Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Pizza in Naples, the options are endless. 
Need to Know

It’s an easy 10 min walk into town. You are very close to where the ferries leave for Capri, Ischia and Procida. Hydrofoils are not for everyone.

So while the ferries leave close to where you dock, the Beyond was actually in the worst possible berth ( thanks for that Captain Kate) so we had a very sweaty sprint to catch our 8:25 hydrofoil. I ordered tickets online direct through SNAV (around €40 return each) and I would recommend this if you are catching a ferry. On the way to Procida it was a sell out. Caremar also have ferries but the SNAV times were better.
 

The ferry pier was absolutely mental😱 What is the point of having an electronic board up with gates that are wrong? Nobody knew where they should be and the staff were not friendly. The majority of people getting on were locals going for a day trip to the beach ( it was Saturday) although there were a few folks with luggage. When the gates eventually opened for the hydrofoil it was every man for himself. Now, there was a Celebrity tour getting on this hydrofoil, presumably going to Ischia. I know the kind of money people had shelled out for that trip and I would have been mighty unhappy about the scenario. There was no way the guide was able to keep everyone together. By some miracle, we managed to get seats together for the crossing.
 

Fair warning - the hydrofoil can be rough. We were just about ok but I was relieved we were getting off after 40 mins at Procida and not going on to Ischia like most. The crew were handing out sick bags left, right and centre, and everywhere you looked people were throwing up. Note to self: next time take the car ferry instead. 
 

It was all worth it though when we arrived at Procida.

Marina Grande port as we stepped off the hydrofoil.

The shops here weren’t too touristy.

The blue and white ribbons were still out celebrating Napoli’s Serie A title win. Even though he played for the team 30 years ago, Maradona is still a legend in these parts.

We walked from the port up winding, narrow streets until we reached Terra Murata for the instagrammable views of Marina Corricella. 

The colours were just beautiful against the blue skies.

The DDs coordinated in white today for some photos. 
 

Lots of steps took you down from the viewpoint to the harbour at Marina Corricella which was filled with small fishing boats. 
 

Procida was the location for the films The Talented Mr Ripley and Il Postino and it’s easy to see why. The island still retains a very Italian atmosphere. We only heard two English voices the whole time we were there. The island is tiny so very walkable but there is a public bus and also bikes for rent too. 
 

After a picnic lunch of some fruit and some pastries ( there’s even a gluten free bakery on the island) and a stop for an afternoon espresso, we spent a little time on the beach. There’s quite a few beaches on the island with dark volcanic sand. We picked the closest one to the port so as not to miss our boat. It was very busy but lovely to paddle in the clear water. It was like walking into a bath, especially when you’re used to the North Sea!

We were very grateful that the hydrofoil back to Naples was much quieter and seemed a bit smoother.

I would have liked some more time to explore Naples. Some of the buildings looked interesting.We’ll  just need to come back. 

Naples Verdict

It wasn’t the most exciting of days but I think it worked well for us - we were ready for something low key.  Pompeii would have been good but I think unbearably hot and I was worried about the traffic getting back to the ship if we had done a private tour to the Amalfi Coast. Capri, I imagine would be too flashy and busy for us. I also heard from other guests the boat to Capri wasn’t kind to sensitive stomaches either. All in all, we had a lovely day. 
 

Next up….. our last port of Livorno and final thoughts about our cruise on the Beyond.

Wonderful photos of Geiranger. Bringing back lots of memories. Thank you. I hope the weather holds for you.

26 minutes ago, MikeMary4449 said:

We are really enjoying your review from your July cruise on the Beyond.  How special that you can share these memories with your daughters!  One small question: As we will be going to Katakolon in October and taking the "Olympia site and Archaeological Museum" tour, I am curious about your comment regarding the "Greek plumbing".  Was there a Western-style restroom at the museum or would you consider it "primitive"?  I just want to be prepared.  If you would feel more comfortable discussing this offline, you can email me at:  mserraino AT outlook DOT com.  Thanks so much.

Mary

Glad you are enjoying the review. Regarding the plumbing in Greece, in many toilets in Greece you are not allowed to put toilet paper down the toilet. Instead there is a little bin at the side in the cubicle for this. This was the case for the toilets at Olympia and also for a toilet we used at The Old Fortress in Corfu. There is normally signage on the doors to let you know. I went to Turkey around 30 years ago and it was the same there. Things might have moved on since then though. 
 

There was quite a commotion from some of the ladies when they came out the toilets at Olympia. Better to be prepared for it.
 

Enjoy your cruise, the temperatures in October will be much more pleasant. 

4 in an Inside Cabin? Are we mad?

Given the hullabaloo on another thread about the scrapping of butlers, I’m not sure how relevant this section will be to most of you. Surely not everyone who posts here stays in suites? I’ll keep it light anyway. 

It only works if: 

-The extra 2 are your kids😉😂

-Your kids aren’t too tall for what the DDs affectionately called the rock and the trundle. 
- You keep on top of clutter and mess (note to mums, just pick the clothes up yourself, nagging on holiday does not go down well!!)

- You get ready at different times for dinner. Two of you go indulge in the drink package, then swap over. It’s really not that onerous 🍹🍸

- You haven’t brought the kitchen sink with you in your luggage. The bathroom sinks are a good size to do a wee bit of hand washing if needed. You guessed it - this cheapskate isn’t paying for someone else to do her laundry. I even managed to get a full glass of Campari spritz out a white sundress 🦸‍♀️ 

Seriously,  everyone knows what suits their own budget and tolerance levels. My in-laws said once you go to a balcony from an inside there’s no going back. Well, for us there is. Would we have liked an IV like last year? Yes of course, but I would rather have an extra holiday or use the extra money for activities in port. We only use the cabin for sleeping and dressing. On Edge class, the deluxe insides are roomy and have plenty storage. We also loved the location on deck 12. Close to the resort deck, gym, Oceanview Cafe and Secundo  al Bacio for morning coffee. 
 

Next up….. La dolce vita in Naples

We were in Livorno a couple of weeks ago and the shuttle from the ship to the town centre was free. We were cruising with Celebrity but the shuttle was run by the city of Livorno. We were given tickets by local staff in the terminal area.

MESSINA, SICILY

What did we do?

Celebrity Shore Excursion “In the Footsteps of the Godfather”. When we booked it ages ago it was reasonably priced. 

What did others do?

Taormina was very popular, Mount Etna Tour also. 

Need to Know

The ship docks very near the centre.10 mins walk to the cathedral. On leaving Messina it’s a great sail through the Straits of Messina and you will  also see the active volcano Stromboli.

New day, new port. That’s what is very special about cruising, waking up in a new place each day. When researching this port, I realised that we would probably need to get out of Messina and asked my sister for advice. She had done a big Sicily road trip last October. My options were Taormina or Godfather Tour. The Godfather tour was a resounding yes from her. She had been to Taormina and said it was so crowded and we would like the mountain towns much better. How right she was. 
 

Our tour lasted from around 8:30- 2:30pm. It took you to two mountain top towns where scenes were filmed. You actually didn’t need to have watched the Godfather films to appreciate the beautiful scenery. DH and I have seen the films but the DDs hadn’t. 
 

After about an hour on the bus, we stopped at the first village, Forza d’Agro.The journey there was quite hair raising! It reminded me of some of the roads on our favourite holiday island of Madeira. 

The bus driver coped well with all the hairpin bends. 

Forza d,Agro was so genuine and completely untouched by tourism.

2 different churches were used in filming the scenes for Michael and Apollonius’s wedding. This was one used for inside filming. 

I thought the skull under Jesus was interesting. I’ve never seen that before. 
 

The sleepy main square. 
 

An espresso here cost €1. That was more like it. 
 

There were lovely views of the Sicilian coastline and our guide pointed out Mount Etna across the hazy sky. 
 

After some free time to wander, we got back on the bus for a 40 min drive to Savoca. Here we got an included lemon granita ( so refreshing) with what I can only describe as a giant breadstick to dip in it. Then we had a short walking tour with our guide up to the church followed by some free time for a look around on our own. 

We walked altogether from the main square up to the church perched on the cliff. As it was so hot, we took our time. 

 

The exterior of this church was used for the wedding scene. 

You could get this little tuk-tuk up to the church instead of walking.

DD1 admiring the views. It was so pretty in every direction. 
 

The famous Bar Vitelli had a room inside with lots of photos from the filming. 

A sculpture to honour Francis Ford Coppola.

We thought the tour was brilliant. The guide was lovely and gave the right amount of information. If you were really into the Godfather, you might have liked more information about that but I thought the information about the actual mafia activities in Sicily was more interesting. It’s all about corruption of government organisations these days. 
 

Back at the port, we decided we might as well see what Messina was like. We found most of the cafes and shops closed. I wondered if they had a siesta time here due to the heat? We couldn’t even find a gelateria open😭 Maybe we were looking in the wrong place but everywhere seemed to be deserted. Even the Cathedral Square was quiet.

Messina Cathedral

Sailing through the Straits of Messina was an added bonus. You are very close to land on both sides. On sea day 2 we passed through and it was a little rocky but it was much calmer heading north this time. We managed to be in the right place at the right time ( Sunset Bar) to see Stromboli at its best.

Stromboli is active at the moment.

This was the daytime view of Stromboli taken on sea day 2.

Sicily Verdict

Be prepared for it to be hot. This was the first day I heard people complaining about the extreme heat. I would definitely recommend the Godfather tour. It gave you a great sense of the true Sicily. I think you need to do a tour here as Messina doesn’t have a great deal to offer. We absolutely loved our day here and would love to come back to Sicily for a longer holiday. 

11 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Thanks for the nice write-up and photos.  Booked Ascent for next year.  I've wanted to try an Edge-class ship, so it will scratch that itch.  The food looks well-prepared too.

We would also like to try the Ascent. I wonder if there will be any small improvements from the Beyond? We do like longer cruises though and next summer in my school holiday window, the Ascent is only doing 7 day cruises. 

11 hours ago, Ellan Vannin said:

I think we met  and spoke to you when you were on the way back down. It was certainly hot that day as you got towards the top. Much easier last time we were there in the rain.

We had intended to hike through the forest more this time but the thought of ice cold beer in town won the day

I remember! What a small world. I would have stopped to chat more but we were all out of water by then and couldn’t wait to get back down for a drink. We have hiked in quite a few places all over the world and I would say The Ladder of Kotor  is up there as one of my favourite half-day hikes. 

4 hours ago, wineoclock said:

Can I ask if you took magnetic hooks? Or were there coat hooks already? Thinking of taking them for coats etc. It was great on Silhouette as they had hooks so coats etc didn’t need to take up wardrobe space. Far more useful than I ever thought necessary! 

There are hooks on the back of the bathroom door and in the shower. I suppose magnetic hooks might be useful, especially on a cool weather cruise when you might have coats/jackets. When we cruised on Disney I used to take a wall tidy thing with lots of pockets but I think the storage on Edge class is really good so it’s not needed. We still had plenty storage left had we needed it. It would depend how much luggage you have with you. We’re not fashionistas so tend to pack light. For reference, between us we had 1 23kg case and a rolling duffle holding about 20 kg. Also a small day rucksack each. That was it. I love how you can get your empty luggage under the bed and out the road. 

Really enjoying your report. Thank you for taking the time. Cruising in Norway is spectacular and I can’t wait to see what you get up to at all the ports. Remember to get up early for the sail into Geiranger. 
 

We are just back from a cruise to Italy and Greece on the Beyond. We are big DIYers normally but with lots of OBC we did a couple of Celebrity tours and were also pleasantly surprised.

Enjoy  the rest of the cruise 😀

3 hours ago, weacat said:

Sorry to read about your cruise to Japan.  I'm sure that would be an amazing experience.

 

We also looked at a Norwegian cruise for next summer but after the "cool" weather this past cruise, we want something warmer for next summer.  We are thinking of a B2B so we can see both eastern and western Mediterranean.  It will be an intense 14 days but we will be able to see a lot. 

I know, summer in Northern Europe can be unpredictable. We had very mixed weather the last time we were in Norway. Personally, I found we just about got away with the heat on this cruise. It would have been a lot more comfortable if it had been 10 degrees cooler. Mid 20s is my sweet spot😎 I did enjoy waking up though and not worrying about the weather. We are not used to that here😂

1 hour ago, wineoclock said:

@Scottishclover

 

Thank you very comprehensive! Loved Eden on Apex but will have to see what we can get reservation wise this time. 
 

Can I ask if gf options in Raw on 5? I’m also gf as it affects my rheumatoid arthritis. I agree about the bread 😁

Silhouette had a dedicated gf section with delicious deserts in OV as well. 
 

We scored a good deal for a suite guarantee so will be in Luminae with a few specialities if available. But on Apex we managed to get reservations on board we just had to be a bit flexible. 

DH didn’t eat in Raw on 5. Japanese food is not his thing. The big issue I see with eating there gluten free is soy sauce. I use gf soy sauce at home when I’m cooking but not sure if they could accommodate at Raw on 5. Maybe others will have some experience of this? Sorry.

KOTOR

What did we do?

Hiked the Ladder of Kotor first thing and then had a wander around the old town

What did others do?

Some people did boat trips in the bay and visited Lady of the Rocks Church at Perast. Judging by how busy Kotor was after our hike, I think lots just went to the old town.

Need to Know

Kotor is a tender port. Tickets for tender were available at Craft Social. Journey around 15/20 mins. Old town was about 5 mins walk from tender dock. 
 

DH and I got out on deck for around 6 for a very serene sail in to Kotor. A friend at my Zumba class and father in law had both suggested this.

The morning light was very pretty.

After a quick breakfast we donned our hiking gear and caught one of the first tenders around 7:30. We were so early, tickets weren’t required at that stage we just walked straight on.

Kotor Bay from the tender dock.

There’s  information booths just at the entrance to the old town and we got some maps and directions. We had to go old skool as our roaming data did not include Montenegro. It took us a little while to find the start of the hike and it’s not really well signposted. It’s left of the old town over a bridge then head for the path up by the Pekara Bakery. We were on the right path but it’s not obvious. 
 

When we finally started the hike it was 8:30am and already hot🥵 We each had our own filled water bottles with us plus a Celebrity water bottle too. We didn’t consider the hike to be too strenuous as it’s a series of switchbacks which cut out the steep incline. You can go even further up than us but after about a 2 and a half hour climb amongst stunning views, we decided to turn back. It’s best to do this hike as early as possible as parts of the path are shaded in the morning. If you are fit at all I would really recommend doing this hike. You don’t even have to go too far, as far as the fort would give you the views. The view from every corner was just wow. I just hope the my pictures do it justice. I’ll let the photos talk for themselves….

Early on we had an exchange with this man and his donkey who told us he was “ a proud Croat”. 

A tall ship sailed into the bay as we were walking.

The fort, about a third of the way up. You can access it via steps from the old town.

Can you spot the Beyond?

The path was not well defined in parts. Hiking boots would be ideal but we just had our trainers.

The sweat on my back is evidence of how hot it was!!

You can see the switchbacks here.

There were a lot of mountain goats around.

There were a few people hiking but we mostly had the path to ourselves.

We just kept going higher….

….Until we got to this point on a kind of plateau and decided to turn around. 

Just checking The Beyond is still there on our way back down!

By this time it was getting so hot. So hot in fact that the snakes were out sunbathing. Yes, I got a bit of a fright when a black snake slithered across the path in front of me. I’ve googled - it might have been a Whip snake. Needless to say I did not stop to take a photo and increased my speed to get off that damn mountain! I’m not going to lie, it was harder going down. The monotony of the switchbacks was beginning to get to me and DD1 a bit and we were trailing the others. To make things worse, our water was now getting to a premium. 

Nearly down….. but still pretty.

In total we had been hiking pretty much nonstop for 4 hours out and back. The Ladder of Kotor hike does go a bit further but I don’t think the scenery gets any better. Once off the mountain, we headed in to town for a much needed drink and look around.

The old town is set against a beautiful backdrop.

Kotor was a bit like a mini Dubrovnik but more authentic.It’s pretty but tiny and still has a bit of an undiscovered feeling about it. I will say it felt a bit swamped by all the cruise guests. I couldn’t imagine spending more than an hour or two here. Doing the hike was a great idea for us. Just so you know there are a lot of stray cats lurking about in Kotor. I am not a cat lover and found this a bit off putting but I know lots of people find this cute. After a potter about, we decided to head back to the ship. We did have about a 20 minute wait to get the tender and the cold towels and water came in very handy while we were hanging around. 
 

Kotor Verdict

I think you can probably guess what I’m going to say here. It was our favourite port but that was probably due to the hike. We are not good at just looking around and shopping, we need to be doing something active. I think you would be hard pushed to beat Kotor for scenery anywhere in Europe. It’s like Norway but with decent weather. By the way, the deck was still busy at 7pm for the sail out. Plan on eating your dinner later that night.

1 hour ago, wineoclock said:

We did Norway fjords on Silhouette in May. Spectacular. Have the Best of Scandinavia booked on apex for June. Didn’t love Apex but the destinations look fab. 

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on  the Silhouette. Another possibility for us for next summer is Baltics again ( some different ports from last time). Just not sure about Silhouette after being on Apex and Beyond. 

In an attempt to help @wineoclock to persuade her DH to go on the Beyond, here’s my thoughts on the food.

First know that we are not foodies and have food preferences/ restrictions. I don’t eat meat, DH is has coeliac disease so needs gluten free and both daughters are vegan. I’m pretty sure the servers hearts must sink when they see us coming😂. 
 

Oceanview Cafe

We ate here for breakfast everyday and lunch most days. Fantastic selection. If you can’t find something you like, there’s something wrong with you. I thought the quality of what we ate was excellent. Typically this was: dishes from the Vegan corner ( 2 daily), Indian food, Salad Bar, hummus/meze station. Can’t comment on meat etc. On occasion, I had grilled mackerel and salmon with salad, which was nicely cooked. I also appreciated the Make your own Greek Salad station.

At breakfast and lunch there is a dedicated gluten free bread and dessert section. DH thought choice had improved  since our last cruise. The girls felt there were lots of vegan choices at lunch. Breakfast was slightly trickier but they coped. I think some vegan pastries would have made their day. 

A few criticisms:

1) Labelling needs to better. There’s actually a lot of vegan food throughout the buffet but not labelled as such. Cakes labelled as gf and vegan in the buffet were then just labelled as vegan at Cafe al Bacio🤷‍♀️ Bottom line be proactive and ask if you have food allergies.

2) DH was royally fed up with the gf bread by the end of the cruise. Even in Eden his bread offering was 2 slices of toast. Surely Celebrity could source some decent gf rolls?

MDRs

Chic night in Normandie. 
 

Overall I think the food in the MDRs was slightly better than on the Apex. I do like the 4 room concept. I had booked times in advance on the cruise planner but there was really no need. We normally ate between 6:30 and 7pm and there was never a queue. We preferred Cosmopolitan and Normandie but I think there are just certain servers you hit it off with. In our case the very sweet Dewi and sommelier Randy, who enjoyed a good joke with DH on his girly drink choices. 
 

The girls got a vegan menu each night

( last year the chef just veganised the veggie menu) . There was only a choice of one main course though for them. On 2 nights they didn’t like it but no biggie, they just went up to Oceanview to get something. DH didn’t order the night before like last year. We did look ahead ourselves on the app and if anything needed modifying he just requested it. Standouts for me were the Toasted Israeli Couscous cake and the speciality cod dish from cosmopolitan. I do think the menus are too meat heavy and the vegetarian option relies too much on goats  cheese and mushrooms. If you don’t eat a lot of meat ask for the vegetarian menu for more choice.

Eden

As we had a lot of OBC I managed to wear down DH into agreeing to go to Eden. You should book well in advance as it’s popular and with good reason. We both loved everything about Eden; the food, service and atmosphere. We were seated at the window directly at the wake, which just added to the experience. For once, I did take some food photos. 

Amuse Bouche - no cracker for DH.

DH had mulligatawny soup for starter.  I sometimes make this at home. Eden’s was better. I had the crab cake (delicious but filling) and we shared Bouquet of Garden Greens.

I had Corvina cooked in olive oil for main course.

DH had Filet Mignon ( gf minus the wellington) 

I had the Meyer lemon Tart for pudding

 ( and yes I could taste a hint of Lavender)

Petits Fours. Sorry started eating before I took the photo.  I think I got enough for 2! You can see DH had a separate plate in the background. He also had butterscotch crème brûlée for dessert. 
 

Even DH admitted it was an amazing  meal. There was also lovely acoustic guitar coming down from the Eden lounge area. We also had more of a chance to chat with our servers, which was nice.

My only criticism and this is really in general with the food. I don’t think there is enough sourced locally. For example in a specialty restaurant like Eden all fish should be locally caught. I was told my fish was from Panama 🤷‍♀️ There was a lot of salmon on board. On a Baltic, British Isles, Alaskan, Norwegian cruise I would expect this but not on warm weather cruises. 

Raw on 5

So the girls like to eat out a lot at Ramen places at home, so we said they could use some of our OBC to go to Raw on 5. There’s not a lot of vegan choice on the menu but the chef happily modified. They ended up having vegetable ramen no egg, mango and avocado ‘sushi’, edamame and yuzu sorbet. They also indulged in a cocktail - I think a gingertini and a tea leaf. They both enjoyed the whole specialty restaurant experience and complained the next night about having to dine with the ‘plebes’ again😂

The chef didn’t skimp on presentation for the vegan sushi.

The restaurant was sold out that night, so it pays to book in advance.

Thank you so much for all the lovely replies so far. Next up… our favourite cruise day in Montenegro.

11 hours ago, weacat said:

Thank you so much for your review.  We just came back from our 12 night Baltic Cruise on Apex and your review from last year really helped us plan for this year - especially with DD age 9.  We are about to book this same cruise you are reviewing for next year but it will be on the Ascent.

 

So since we seem to be following you a year behind - what's planned for next year?  🙂 

Glad you enjoyed your Baltic Cruise. I think Scandinavia is probably my favourite part of the world. We’ll set up for families too.
 

As for next year 😂 Well we actually have a cruise booked to Japan at Easter, but are in a bit of a quandary. We booked it ages ago and got a great deal. For once we even booked 2 rooms. However, it turns out neither of our girls can come. DD1 will be in Germany on an internship as a foreign language assistant in a school and just gets 1 week off at Easter.  DD2 starts her degree at St Andrews University in September and they have unusual semesters compared to the rest of the Scottish Universities and actually gets no time off. Her exams start shortly afterwards too. Now DH and I could still go on our own but we have left it so long to decide that the flight prices are a bit out of reach. We haven’t made a final decision yet.

We are looking at Norway and Arctic Circle next summer as an alternative. We’ve done Norway before with Disney in 2016 and loved it. The Celebrity Apex cruise has different ports and we can hike in them all, which is our activity of choice( you will find that out when I post the Montenegro section of the review). Also the girls would be happy to come with us too. Only drawback is it sails from Southampton which is a bit of a hassle to get to for us. Amsterdam or Copenhagen is so much easier.