mfs2k

i have only purchased travel insurance for one cruise out of 13. Thankfully I never needed it. I would have purchased it for this cruise but the Celebrity Covid policy, which is still in effect, and the departure port being a short drive from home, swayed me not to spend the extra money. But I will say I’ve had some anxiety the past 2 weeks that something non-Covid related would happen to my wife or me and that would really be bad. So far so good. Knock on wood. As we’re getting older, and more things happen unexpectedly, I think we’ll be buying travel insurance from now on.

Not sure if you remember but there was a massive Omicron outbreak in many places in December 2021. Not just on your ship.

Having you host the “Live from Beyond” thread on our cruise means I get to go along for the ride. Literally and figuratively since my wife and I will be on board too. This is like when my brother decided to get enthralled by genealogy. I got the benefits without doing the work since we share the same genetic tree. . Thank you to say the least

I agree with the maintenance reason. Who knows why. Emergency plumbing or electrical repair perhaps.

I’m bringing clear latex gloves to use at the buffet on Beyond next week. Is this stupid or a good idea?

Has the retreat lounge bar been as busy as the other bars? Is it well stocked? For those in the retreat does it make sense to get your drinks there and carry them to where you are going? or is it too far out of the way? from what I’ve been reading, I feel like next week on Beyond I will be getting most of my drinks at quiet bars and carrying them to where we want to be.

Activity by the pool during the day on a carnival ship is lively. There's a live pool band playing good music, various pool games and contests organized by the activities staff which is amusing (to me) to watch if you choose to. (There are also many quiet areas of the ship with lounge chairs to enjoy the sun too). The bars are generally livelier than a Celebrity ship. There's usually a piano bar which is crowded with people singing along. Theres a club lounge at night with great bands playing, in addition to the shows in the theater. The late night club has lots of younger people dancing till the early morning hours. The activities are geared more to the 25 to 45 age crowd vs the 45 to 85 y/old crowd. I did enjoy those cruises, but now that I'm 63 I don't mind the relaxation and less noise.

From other threads The MDR kitchens are VERY far from Luminae on E class ships so it’s not usually allowed. If you want something ask for it the night before and they’ll accommodate if possible.

I booked a 1/2 cabana 9 months ago on beyond for my cruise next week for $150. The price since went up. Basic economics of supply and demand I guess.

Maybe it has to do with sitting in my house for 3 months in 2020 watching tv and every day hearing rollcalls of the 1,000 or more people in each state dying of Covid and watching friends and parents of friends contracting Covid and dying or nearly dying with no end in sight and a vaccine a year away. Not to mention my otherewise healthy 32 y/old daughter getting Long Covid in 2020 and fearful for 6 months she was going to die. Maybe that has SOMETHING to do with it? Evidently I'm not in a permanent sense of fear becuase I am going on a cruise next week happily, but I am amazed that people have such short memories and are in denial that this happened to the world. .

I'm pretty sure Celebrity isn't hosting your version of a "Beefsteak" on night one in the Main Dining Room.

This is an irresponsible post.

Have you sailed out of the rough seas yet?

I live in NY and work in Manhattan and haven’t heard of this. The closest is a NY strip (striploin) steak. my guess is it’s a cheaper alternative to prime rib which has gotten better expensive.

Caribbean and west coast California and Mexico only. Never that rough.

Stay safe ❤️❤️

Is it chipped?

Why are so many riding out the bad weather from their cabins ?

But isn’t it refreshing to have problems on board other than Covid? Even if it’s stampeding elephants on the pool deck, broken champagne glass Poconos hot tubs and 90 foot seas.

I totally get your frustration and disappointment. My point really is there's no such thing as oversold, but it sounds like they are understaffed. Hope it gets better. Find a bar no one's discovered yet and drink up.

A cruise ship can't be overbooked. It's not like they're going to make some passengers wait for the next boat to leave Bayonne or transfer some guests to the Marriott ship down the street. Anything less than 100% double occupancy plus some cabins with 3 or 4 to a cabin, is undersold. Cruiselines are fighting for survival and they need to fill cabins. In fact, postive tests before sailing and vid policies have prevented most sailings from being fully booked.

same

I, too, was a regular Carnival cruiser (12 cruises) before switching to Celebrity in 2019. I was always amused by people's impressions of Carnival being a ship full of animals. I never experienced that and I sailed on many Spring Break caribbean cruises. Carnival was fun and enjoyable for my wife and me. We never travelled with children and never experienced anything crazy. With that said, we decided, as we got older, it was time to step it up a notch and move to Celebrity. Celebrity is a bit of an older crowd than Carnival, but there are many cruisers in their 30's to 60's. Celebrity is more refined and has better service and mostly better food. There are fewer "fun" cruise organized activities poolside but you definitely can have a good, fun time. The room experience is nicer on Celebrity too. It's like transitioning from a Marriott 3 1/2 star hotel to a 4 star hotel. If you want a 5 star hotel experience like Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton, you need to get out of mass market cruising and you'll pay a lot more. The music on board is good, but I found the bands to be better and more lively on Carnival. Celebrity has many acoustical performances and no piano bars. The shows on Celebrity are good, just as they were on Carnival. Celebrity will bring in more entertainers for specific legs of cruises, which Carnival does less of. Late night was more active on Carnival. Celebrity cruisers go to sleep at 10 pm. (kidding! lol) (sort of)

Thank you for providing an update. You've earned my trust re: your ship reports, through your earlier posts. I did have images in my head of the elephant rolling off it's perch, into the sea..

I'm not an IT expert, but perhaps StarLink relys on satellites over specific areas of the planet, and perhaps there aren't many satellites over the mid atlantic, since there isn't a lot of demand there. Celebrity might not have known this since this is the first time Beyond is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps this will be taken into consideration before a roll-out to all ships.