HS2BS

My wife is in a wheelchair most of the time. Over the Xmas & NewYears in both 2023 & 2024 we were on the Beyond and never had a problem; also, on the Ascent transatlantic.Fire door sills(on E class)are easier to get over them, then on the Silhouette and Reflection(S class) with whatever size wheel you have. Embarkation, always has assistance available either with you own wheelchair or the cruise lines, thru checking and onto the ship. Disembarkation you will wait in a designated area until you number is called. We always bring our own wheelchair without any problems from the airline or ship - bring your own! Hal

Cruisers left high & dry! we had booked from Ft. Lauderdale hotel to ship in Miami(Oceania Seriena), pick up was timely and arrival at ship was fine. During the transfer the driver asked who was using the service for the return trip to a hotel or Fll, and he wrote it down. Prior to disembarking(March 11j I called the number given, and only got an an answering machine - left multiple messages! No pick up!! To this day I have never heard from them!!

The stairs did not flatten out to a ramp, just stairs from deck four. Help was available to hold both my wife’s arms, and they carried her wheelchair separately. Still not easy Hal

This was the only means of exiting the ship today from deck four! Certainly not ADA compliant considering the demographics of this cruise!,

Valley Church beach has a steep sand drop off, making it hard to exit the water! Dickenson Bay has many more food alternative and choices of lounger & umbrellas. As a senior, We choose Dickenson Bay - better day! Calm waters and easy in/out of the water - next to a few resorts. Hal

We were on the Beyond over Xmas and New Year cruise, most of the ducks that we brought with us went directly to crew members. The crew showed us pictures of their collection of ducks in the cabin, all were extremely happy to add to their collection. Posts upside down! For the Eurodam next month the duck theme is Valentine’s Day. Hal

Get off at the main pier- there will be multi venders trying to entice you to go with them. We usually go to Miguel’s, which is opposite Holland House and the restaurant “The Blue *****”. Last November it was $25 for the two chairs, umbrella and 5 beers or sodas. Hal

Being prepared for this excursion is the key to enjoying it. There is little that can be done about the buses, ferry or food, but knowing what to expect will help. As another poster stated that there were over 300 cruisers, most not cruise critic members, you will be in a knowledgeable position.of bringing a “basket of goodies” sufficient for the ferry and don’t forget the long evening bus trip back to the ship. Safe travels, Hal

Celebrity needs to develop a better relationship with this ferry operator to understand what cruisers expect from their excursions, no matter what country it is in! Even the bus company needs to have their drivers better trained and slow down. We had the same type of ride back to the ship last Xmas in the rain, and it was white knuckles all the way. Talking to some of the other cruise critic cruisers who read my reviews - they were pre-warned about this excursion and no one had any problem taking food items with them yesterday. You go from the ship to the tender to a bus to the ferry and back to Colon by bus, 12+ hours. Hal

Docked in Colon

We’re out of the locks and back in the Atlantic

Our number has been called, and the Beyond has cleared the first lock(1:50 est) a bit early! Hal

All of the “ship’s excursions” have departed, and the Beyond is waiting for clearance to return to the locks - told it could be 2 - 4 hours depending on speed of traffic. There is the same type of line up for the locks as there was prior to entering this morning, but there is only alternating one way traffic. Hal

Not on the excursion that we were on! Hal

Third lock gates “sliding open into Lake Gaten

Presently in the first of the three locks on the Atlantic side, there is a very large cargo ship in front of the Beyond. Woke up at 5:30 to see dozens of ships waiting for passage; while the Beyond skirted the the line and moving to the front. Our cabin has a front facing window not a balcony. The schedule for the partial transit will be the same for all the E class ships as per staff captain.There is no getting off the ship unless your on a “ships excursion”.

The rooftop garden grill on E class ships is different then the lawn grill on S class ships: as it has no salad bar or make your own personal pizza. Recently on Ascent ta there was no plastic weather shielding so we got wind blown rain inside and cold(they did pass out blankets). Hal

Travel agents are not going to like this as it is directly avoiding paying commissions! Hal

I’ll let everyone know as we will be on the Beyond in 10 days that does the partial transit, and this excursion. Hal

With the partial transit - you tender to shore where you have to climb considerable flights of stairs to reach the buses that take you to the ferry. Hal

We just got off the Ascent last month on the transatlantic cruise and, asked the hostess for a table with the same waitstaff every night(wife has mobility challenges). Done! Then asked the waiter for the menus from the other venues, which we ordered from(mixed every menus to our liking). Left the automatic gratuities, and added in cash to those who made our cruise enjoyment, Hal

We did the partial transit on Beyond last Christmas and New Years Cruise, and are doing the same this year! Also did the ferry to the west coast: 1 this is not an excursion for anyone with mobility issues, the ships tender docks at a pickup point that has about 70 steps 2 bus ride from pickup point is anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours 3 getting on ferry has many more steps to climb 4 lunch on ferry was “crap” - bring more then snacks, there are plenty of drinks except there was nothing diet 5 very long ferry ride, got right off the ferry(no time for shopping) and back to Colon 2 - 3 hour bus ride 6 bus parked in the Colon Shopping area so that you had to walk through the mall to get back to the ship, another long walk This year we’re along for the cruise and the seasonal merriment! Hal

I took a picture of my edited monthly brokerage account, only leaving the date, shares and last part of my account number. Then sent that off to Stockperks with their digital paper work - 24 hour turn around! Hal

We did this excursion December and it was one of the best excursions ever! First, this is part of the family that has Bonaire carts with reliability. It had recently come up from South America and is beautiful and well maintained. Cruised in both directions and then went to the snorkeling park for great fun, then lunch and drinks. Wonderful day! Hal

We were on the Island Princess’s repositioning May 24 - June 4, and there were too many problems to list. We had a wheelchair accessible cabin without an automatic door, and a non accessible balcony(so why charge us for a balcony). Air conditioning was a consistent problem in cabin and in most of the ship. Food - boring and mediocre quality, entire ship is very poor for accessibility movement, guest services gives lip service but forgets to note discussion. Overall this ship should have never made it past Covid scraping - after 19 Princess cruises we now know that this line needs better management! We have Ruby booked next year(last Princess cruise for us) and are canceling our 54 day cruise March of 26 on this ship. Hal