Back from Beyond

[mfs2k]

We returned from our 9 night Beyond repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Bermuda, Curacao, Aruba, and disembarking in FLL and here are some notes:

 

We booked a sky suite so we got to take advantage of the Retreat.

 

Prior to this we've been on 10 Carnival cruises; 1 Norwegian cruise and we sailed on Celebrity Equinox in March 2019.  

Beyond is the largest ship we've been on.  It was also the oldest average passenger age cruise we've ever taken.  According to one of the officers, the average age on this sailing was 70.  I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it seemed about right. 

 

We prefer a younger demographic.  While we're no spring chickens ourselves, (62/63) we do prefer a younger cruise because it's a bit more lively and fun for us (your mileage may vary).  Fortunately we made friends early on with fabulous younger people who we spent most of the cruise with, and had a great time. I think a lot of the crew and passengers thought they were our daughters.  Nope. Just friends.  They pushed our typical boundaries and we did things we don't normally do.  In Aruba, we rented two side by side UTV's and explored the island, both off-road and on-road and had a blast. 

 

 

 

We decided we were going to take full advantage of the specialty restaurants and experience each of them to the fullest. 

 

My wife and I went to Eden the first night alone and really enjoyed it.  We went back another night with our new-found friends and had the wine pairing dinner.  It was fabulous, but the cost/benefit of the wine for me didn't have the value it might have had for others.  The wine add-on was either $100pp or $120pp.  I forget. We sat at 6pm and finished at 10pm.  That was a loooong dinner.  But delicious.  

 

My wife and I went to Fine Cut alone one night.  I really wanted the Tomahawk steak.  the menu said it was for two, but my wife wanted filet mignon.  The waiter said I should order it anyway for just me.  Most of the weight was the bone, and I ate most of the steak. I'm glad I had it.  The server was great.  We went back to Fine cut a second night with our friends and it wasn't as good because the server was aloof and inattentive.  Service makes all the difference. 

 

The four of us went to Le Voyage one night.  We had a reservation for two and tried to change it to 4 guests.  They accommodated us a different night for the four of us and sat us in the restaurant's private dining room. It was great.  We sat at a dining table which could seat 8 and had fabulous food and service.  Instead of the wine pairing set menu, the four of us ordered all 8 starters.  They served them in 2 courses and we passed the plates so we all got to try each of the starters in the course.  Amazing. We each got our own entrees and we shared desserts.  Le Voyage is an intimate restaurant, but when you're seated in the private dining room, the intimacy is even greater.  We sat at 8:15 and left at 11:15. We were the last ones in the restaurant and didn't even know it until we left.  Thank you to the service and kitchen staff.  You're awesome. 

 

We also went to the Rooftop Garden grill one night.  It wasn't nearly the standout the other restaurant experiences were, but I don't think it's intended to be the same level.  The food was good. The smoked wings were phenomenal.  They'd only be better if they used fresh chicken wings vs frozen, (you can tell by the redness of the bones - frozen wings have darker bones when cooked) but I get it.  It's a cruise ship and they're not getting daily deliveries of fresh wings. 

 

Luminae....  Some of our meals were good.  Some of the service staff are totally on point and provide four star service.  Some of the staff are also recently promoted and still have some learning to do.  The Maitre D's and Sommelier are so good.  The kitchen staff needs to step up their game. I wasn't overly impressed. I won't go into overly critical detail but there's a lot of room for improvement.  I did, however, LOVE the veal chop I got one night.  It blew away my expectations. Some breakfast comments: The peach Cobbler French toast was buried in a cream sauce I didn't like (BURIED).  The Waffles were made with potato batter.  I asked for plain waffles with normal pancake batter and got potato waffles.  The eggs Benedict eggs were hard cooked several days in a row despite requesting them runny.  By the end of the cruise we were very specific and redundant and they came out the way they were requested.  We had breakfast one morning in Blu.  I liked their breakfast specialty items better.

 

It was interesting to see how the levels of food changes from one venue to another.  For example, the croissants were biggest in Luminae, a little smaller in Blu and much smaller in Oceanview Cafe.  the bacon was thickest in Luminae.  the juice glasses were biggest in Luminae.  etc

 

The retreat lounge and the retreat outdoor deck were great.  The lounge was my place to go in the morning for coffee and to watch the sunrise.  The staff are incredible.  Loved them all.  The outdoor deck was nice but quiet.   

 

We spent one day in a cabana at the pool the last sea day.  The pool scene was livelier and more fun.  They had officers/guests volleyball in the pool and pool Olympics which were fun to watch.  It was quick enough to be amusing and not overbearing.  I like a party in my brain. Watching is fun.  I'm not participatory but that doesn't mean Im not enjoying it.  FYI, most of the cabanas were empty despite seemingly sold out before the sailing on the cruise planner. 

 

The sky suite cabin was great.  On the first day I asked my butler if he could get me a full sized lounge chair like they had on the pool decks.  After multiple CC threads, I didn't think it was possible but I asked anyway.  He delivered!  We had a full lounge chair all week on our patio in addition to the two chairs and table.  They did fit nicely.  Hw was tipped generously at the end of the cruise and so was our cabin steward.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask politely. 

 

One note if you're sailing on Beyond. I always travel with USB power blocks because our device counts keep increasing between kindles, ipads, phones, airpods, and watches.  I didn't need the power blocks on this ship.  There are enough USB charging ports and outlets on both sides of the bed and on the table that I didn't need to use the blocks. Well done, Celebrity.  Well done. 

 

The weather on this trip unfortunately was rainy for the first 6 days.  Thankfully the last few days were gorgeous.  I think if it were sunny all 9 days I'd come back burned to a crisp.  I did get good color the last few days. 

 

We met some people with an Edge Villa and spent an afternoon hanging out in their private plunge pool.  I liked the villa but I wouldn't pay what they ask for for it.  The two levels make the space seem smaller than a wide suite would. If you're going to give me two rectangle boxes instead of one, I'd prefer them side by side instead of stacked on top of one another like the Villa was. 

 

Misc random notes as I think about them:

• Thank you Kelly, @PinkSandGirl for your pre-trip organization and event coordination.  Loved meeting you and seeing you everywhere we went, it seemed, on the ship.  Your live blog review was great. 
• I did the behind the scenes tour and found it interesting. It felt a little too showy than watching things in action.  For example the garbage room was spotless and no sign of garbage.  The recycling was on display like at a museum.  We didn't see people actually doing laundry in the laundry room.  We saw unattended equipment.  I think the staff are sent on break when we walk through.  The mechanical control rooms were fascinating.  All electronic.  Same with the bridge.  If the generators went out and the ship plunged into electrical darkness, it seems everything would come to a halt as we drift in the sea. That would be an adventure. 
• Bermuda will always be the rainy island for me.  3/3 times we've bene there it's rained. Heavily. 
• Curacao was cloudy.  We met my sister there, who was coincidentally on vacation on the island. She picked us up in a rental car and we explored a little bit  Found a museum at a turn of the century hospital which was mildly interesting and had a great lunch at "Ceviche."
• If I didn't have the retreat lounge, i would have been in Cafe Al Bacio more (did I spell that right)
• Bourbon. I had to search for premium bourbon besides JD, Jim Beam and Maker's Mark. I found Buffalo Trace at many bars hidden away if I asked and I discovered they had hidden Bulleit Bourbon in the Theater bar; World Class Bar and the bar for Fine Cut.  but I never actually saw a bottle on display.
• Bartenders seemed understaffed. There was usually a wait for a drink.  
• Aside from the cruise critic meet and greet when we got on board, I never went to the sunset bar because it was in the back of the ship and we spent so much time at the retreat in the front of the ship,  If I didn't have the retreat, Id probably hang out there. 
• Burgers at the retreat deck and mast grill were great. 
• The Oceanview Cafe was good. I always had something I liked eating.  On the last day the servers kept referring to it as the "extravaganza"  I didn't find it extravagant, but I did find it good. I liked the shrimp.
• The touchless (or minimally touching) had controls for public bathrooms and doors to/from the pool deck were great. 
• There were only 4 children on our cruise and 2 dogs. I liked having a virtually adults-only cruise.  I want a younger demographic but not that young. 
• The beds are hard.
• When we departed we had two sizes of toilet paper in our cabin.  The European toilet paper leftover from the TA had a narrower roll length.  American toilet paper is wider.  
• We went to all three production shows.  I liked the one with the paintings the best. Elements second best, and Stage door third best. The dancers singers and acrobatic artistes were great.  The videographers and stage managers and creators were awesome.
• The magician/illusionist/escape artist dude was great. 
• the music on board was great. 
• The Jazz Joint in the Club was awesome
• I regret not seeing the Eden performers.  Sad.  I need to go back just for that. 
• Awesome, great, phenomenal, fabulous and terrific have been used a lot in this post

 

So where do we go from here? 

I'm realizing a few things about cruising:

 

• Its more fun for us when we are with others who are fun.  I think my wife and I would have been bored on this cruise had we not connected with two very fun people. There would have been more naps. Don't get me wrong.  I cant stay up late like I used to.  I was falling asleep in my chair in the theater a few times, overlooking the martini bar, and other evening locations and went to bed early and up at the crack of dawn.
• I don't know how I could sail again on Celebrity without a suite but I also don't think I'll ever get as good a deal in a suite as I did on this cruise. It's all about the size of the croissant.  lol.
• I want to be sailing with a younger crowd
• I was told the European cruises have a younger demographic. 

 

That's all I have for now.  If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer. If i think of more, I'll add to the comments. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by mfs2k

[George C]

Thanks for your great review, we sail her in 3 weeks in a corner aft sky suite, love the sound of the jazz joint , we normally spend lots of time in the jazz club on rccl. We also wouldn’t sail in anything but a suite on celebrity.

[KKB]

Interesting...having sailed Edge & Apex in the last 18 mos. we felt the demographic was lower than we have seen on typical Celebrity cruises (with the exception of a 5 day Constellation cruise over spring break...2/3 UofFL students--they win as the youngest demo ever!)

We are 56 & 59.

Beyond prices may currently be pushing the demographics higher, plus a repo cruise is typically an older demo.

7 day Caribbean cruises out of FL bring a younger demo.

 

[mfs2k]

42 minutes ago, KKB said:

Beyond prices may currently be pushing the demographics higher, plus a repo cruise is typically an older demo.

7 day Caribbean cruises out of FL bring a younger demo.

I’m curious about the demographics on European cruises. 

[KKB]

2 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

I’m curious about the demographics on European cruises. 

Can't comment...but I suspect you will find a lot more families in Europe?

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, mfs2k said:

We returned from our 9 night Beyond repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Bermuda, Curacao, Aruba, and disembarking in FLL and here are some notes:

 

We booked a sky suite so we got to take advantage of the Retreat.

 

Prior to this we've been on 10 Carnival cruises; 1 Norwegian cruise and we sailed on Celebrity Equinox in March 2019.  

Beyond is the largest ship we've been on.  It was also the oldest average passenger age cruise we've ever taken.  According to one of the officers, the average age on this sailing was 70.  I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it seemed about right. 

 

We prefer a younger demographic.  While we're no spring chickens ourselves, (62/63) we do prefer a younger cruise because it's a bit more lively and fun for us (your mileage may vary).  Fortunately we made friends early on with fabulous younger people who we spent most of the cruise with, and had a great time. I think a lot of the crew and passengers thought they were our daughters.  Nope. Just friends.  They pushed our typical boundaries and we did things we don't normally do.  In Aruba, we rented two side by side UTV's and explored the island, both off-road and on-road and had a blast. 

 

 

 

We decided we were going to take full advantage of the specialty restaurants and experience each of them to the fullest. 

 

My wife and I went to Eden the first night alone and really enjoyed it.  We went back another night with our new-found friends and had the wine pairing dinner.  It was fabulous, but the cost/benefit of the wine for me didn't have the value it might have had for others.  The wine add-on was either $100pp or $120pp.  I forget. We sat at 6pm and finished at 10pm.  That was a loooong dinner.  But delicious.  

 

My wife and I went to Fine Cut alone one night.  I really wanted the Tomahawk steak.  the menu said it was for two, but my wife wanted filet mignon.  The waiter said I should order it anyway for just me.  Most of the weight was the bone, and I ate most of the steak. I'm glad I had it.  The server was great.  We went back to Fine cut a second night with our friends and it wasn't as good because the server was aloof and inattentive.  Service makes all the difference. 

 

The four of us went to Le Voyage one night.  We had a reservation for two and tried to change it to 4 guests.  They accommodated us a different night for the four of us and sat us in the restaurant's private dining room. It was great.  We sat at a dining table which could seat 8 and had fabulous food and service.  Instead of the wine pairing set menu, the four of us ordered all 8 starters.  They served them in 2 courses and we passed the plates so we all got to try each of the starters in the course.  Amazing. We each got our own entrees and we shared desserts.  Le Voyage is an intimate restaurant, but when you're seated in the private dining room, the intimacy is even greater.  We sat at 8:15 and left at 11:15. We were the last ones in the restaurant and didn't even know it until we left.  Thank you to the service and kitchen staff.  You're awesome. 

 

We also went to the Rooftop Garden grill one night.  It wasn't nearly the standout the other restaurant experiences were, but I don't think it's intended to be the same level.  The food was good. The smoked wings were phenomenal.  They'd only be better if they used fresh chicken wings vs frozen, (you can tell by the redness of the bones - frozen wings have darker bones when cooked) but I get it.  It's a cruise ship and they're not getting daily deliveries of fresh wings. 

 

Luminae....  Some of our meals were good.  Some of the service staff are totally on point and provide four star service.  Some of the staff are also recently promoted and still have some learning to do.  The Maitre D's and Sommelier are so good.  The kitchen staff needs to step up their game. I wasn't overly impressed. I won't go into overly critical detail but there's a lot of room for improvement.  I did, however, LOVE the veal chop I got one night.  It blew away my expectations. Some breakfast comments: The peach Cobbler French toast was buried in a cream sauce I didn't like (BURIED).  The Waffles were made with potato batter.  I asked for plain waffles with normal pancake batter and got potato waffles.  The eggs Benedict eggs were hard cooked several days in a row despite requesting them runny.  By the end of the cruise we were very specific and redundant and they came out the way they were requested.  We had breakfast one morning in Blu.  I liked their breakfast specialty items better.

 

It was interesting to see how the levels of food changes from one venue to another.  For example, the croissants were biggest in Luminae, a little smaller in Blu and much smaller in Oceanview Cafe.  the bacon was thickest in Luminae.  the juice glasses were biggest in Luminae.  etc

 

The retreat lounge and the retreat outdoor deck were great.  The lounge was my place to go in the morning for coffee and to watch the sunrise.  The staff are incredible.  Loved them all.  The outdoor deck was nice but quiet.   

 

We spent one day in a cabana at the pool the last sea day.  The pool scene was livelier and more fun.  They had officers/guests volleyball in the pool and pool Olympics which were fun to watch.  It was quick enough to be amusing and not overbearing.  I like a party in my brain. Watching is fun.  I'm not participatory but that doesn't mean Im not enjoying it.  FYI, most of the cabanas were empty despite seemingly sold out before the sailing on the cruise planner. 

 

The sky suite cabin was great.  On the first day I asked my butler if he could get me a full sized lounge chair like they had on the pool decks.  After multiple CC threads, I didn't think it was possible but I asked anyway.  He delivered!  We had a full lounge chair all week on our patio in addition to the two chairs and table.  They did fit nicely.  Hw was tipped generously at the end of the cruise and so was our cabin steward.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask politely. 

 

One note if you're sailing on Beyond. I always travel with USB power blocks because our device counts keep increasing between kindles, ipads, phones, airpods, and watches.  I didn't need the power blocks on this ship.  There are enough USB charging ports and outlets on both sides of the bed and on the table that I didn't need to use the blocks. Well done, Celebrity.  Well done. 

 

The weather on this trip unfortunately was rainy for the first 6 days.  Thankfully the last few days were gorgeous.  I think if it were sunny all 9 days I'd come back burned to a crisp.  I did get good color the last few days. 

 

We met some people with an Edge Villa and spent an afternoon hanging out in their private plunge pool.  I liked the villa but I wouldn't pay what they ask for for it.  The two levels make the space seem smaller than a wide suite would. If you're going to give me two rectangle boxes instead of one, I'd prefer them side by side instead of stacked on top of one another like the Villa was. 

 

Misc random notes as I think about them:

• Thank you Kelly, @PinkSandGirl for your pre-trip organization and event coordination.  Loved meeting you and seeing you everywhere we went, it seemed, on the ship.  Your live blog review was great. 
• I did the behind the scenes tour and found it interesting. It felt a little too showy than watching things in action.  For example the garbage room was spotless and no sign of garbage.  The recycling was on display like at a museum.  We didn't see people actually doing laundry in the laundry room.  We saw unattended equipment.  I think the staff are sent on break when we walk through.  The mechanical control rooms were fascinating.  All electronic.  Same with the bridge.  If the generators went out and the ship plunged into electrical darkness, it seems everything would come to a halt as we drift in the sea. That would be an adventure. 
• Bermuda will always be the rainy island for me.  3/3 times we've bene there it's rained. Heavily. 
• Curacao was cloudy.  We met my sister there, who was coincidentally on vacation on the island. She picked us up in a rental car and we explored a little bit  Found a museum at a turn of the century hospital which was mildly interesting and had a great lunch at "Ceviche."
• If I didn't have the retreat lounge, i would have been in Cafe Al Bacio more (did I spell that right)
• Bourbon. I had to search for premium bourbon besides JD, Jim Beam and Maker's Mark. I found Buffalo Trace at many bars hidden away if I asked and I discovered they had hidden Bulleit Bourbon in the Theater bar; World Class Bar and the bar for Fine Cut.  but I never actually saw a bottle on display.
• Bartenders seemed understaffed. There was usually a wait for a drink.  
• Aside from the cruise critic meet and greet when we got on board, I never went to the sunset bar because it was in the back of the ship and we spent so much time at the retreat in the front of the ship,  If I didn't have the retreat, Id probably hang out there. 
• Burgers at the retreat deck and mast grill were great. 
• The Oceanview Cafe was good. I always had something I liked eating.  On the last day the servers kept referring to it as the "extravaganza"  I didn't find it extravagant, but I did find it good. I liked the shrimp.
• The touchless (or minimally touching) had controls for public bathrooms and doors to/from the pool deck were great. 
• There were only 4 children on our cruise and 2 dogs. I liked having a virtually adults-only cruise.  I want a younger demographic but not that young. 
• The beds are hard.
• When we departed we had two sizes of toilet paper in our cabin.  The European toilet paper leftover from the TA had a narrower roll length.  American toilet paper is wider.  
• We went to all three production shows.  I liked the one with the paintings the best. Elements second best, and Stage door third best. The dancers singers and acrobatic artistes were great.  The videographers and stage managers and creators were awesome.
• The magician/illusionist/escape artist dude was great. 
• the music on board was great. 
• The Jazz Joint in the Club was awesome
• I regret not seeing the Eden performers.  Sad.  I need to go back just for that. 
• Awesome, great, phenomenal, fabulous and terrific have been used a lot in this post

 

So where do we go from here? 

I'm realizing a few things about cruising:

 

• Its more fun for us when we are with others who are fun.  I think my wife and I would have been bored on this cruise had we not connected with two very fun people. There would have been more naps. Don't get me wrong.  I cant stay up late like I used to.  I was falling asleep in my chair in the theater a few times, overlooking the martini bar, and other evening locations and went to bed early and up at the crack of dawn.
• I don't know how I could sail again on Celebrity without a suite but I also don't think I'll ever get as good a deal in a suite as I did on this cruise. It's all about the size of the croissant.  lol.
• I want to be sailing with a younger crowd
• I was told the European cruises have a younger demographic. 

 

That's all I have for now.  If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer. If i think of more, I'll add to the comments. 

Great review and there was nothing I had a differing opinion with. This particular sailing did indeed have an older average passenger age than our other recent Celebrity sailings. 

[jelayne]

Interesting we were on the TA and the demographic was a  younger that we had experienced in the past although not as young a we saw on the 7 night Caribbean cruises on the Edge & Apex.

 

We noticed it the most in the Retreat Lounge and Liuminae where you tend to see the same people daily where there were a lot more in the  40 -  mid 50 age range. 

[kwokpot]

6 hours ago, mfs2k said:

When we departed we had two sizes of toilet paper in our cabin.  The European toilet paper leftover from the TA had a narrower roll length.  American toilet paper is wider.  

I'm curious if this was in response to my post and/or if you had noticed this prior to seeing my post about it? 

[VMI72]

We noticed the older demographic as well. We have sailed the E-Class ships numerous times and we were on the first passenger sailing of the Beyond out of Southampton in April. We have never seen an older demographic and so many mobility challenged people on a cruise. I think maybe it had something to do with the 9 day voyage and the Cape Liberty port which generally sees a bit older demographic. Time of year probably had something to do with it also. I agree with most of what mfs2K wrote. We were also in a sky suite. We love the sky suites. There are just two of us so a sky suite fits the bill. I do believe the ship was understaffed for the number of passengers on board. Also, as noted, a great many of the staff were new in their positions. Therefore, service was inconsistent. For some, it was a great cruise, for others not so much. It all depended on how you spent your cruise and what type of accommodations you booked. The weather did not help the mood of many for the first 5 to 6 days of the cruise. And my wife and I were surprised that there was no bling or any acknowledgement of Beyond's first cruise from an American port. I know the "naming" was Nov. 4th, but there could have been something. The same thing happened in Southampton and disappointed many passengers. Even though it was billed as the Inaugural cruise and maiden passenger voyage there was no fanfare at all - nothing! So different from other cruise lines that give commemorative items and bling to the  passengers on a maiden voyage. Anyway, we enjoyed the cruise, but it was not our favorite. We are older, in our '60's, but not THAT old. Like mfs2K we like a younger demo - it does make things more fun. 🙂

 

[mfs2k]

22 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I'm curious if this was in response to my post and/or if you had noticed this prior to seeing my post about it? 

Ha. I noticed right away when we boarded and opened the drawer with spare toilet paper. The rolls were unwrapped. I hadn’t given it much thought until I saw your post and I had a “oh yeah” moment. Later in the cruise we got paper wrapped rolls.  Supply chain issues I figured. Inconsistent products. 

[amevola]

7 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I’m curious about the demographics on European cruises. 

We have only sailed the Med twice (Hal and Celebrity), but the age demographics were much lower than what we just experienced on the Beyond TA on the non-Retreat end.  Both sailings had very few children and many in the 75+ range.  Maybe it was because prices were more on the expensive side as mentioned by KKB.

Edited November 6, 2022 by amevola
grammar problem

[VMI72]

My wife belongs to a Cape Liberty Beyond Facebook group. Several in the group are reporting that they have tested positive for COVID the day they got home or the day after. Any in this group testing positive? Just curious since I know of two passengers that were quarantined while we were on the cruise.  

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, VMI72 said:

My wife belongs to a Cape Liberty Beyond Facebook group. Several in the group are reporting that they have tested positive for COVID the day they got home or the day after. Any in this group testing positive? Just curious since I know of two passengers that were quarantined while we were on the cruise.  

No one I know on board was/is sick or tested positive.
 

It doesn’t surprise or shock me that some people have Covid after traveling to the ship, spending 9 nights together with 4,000 others at sea, then they travel home.

 

Why would you expect everyone to return healthy ?  

 

THAT would be weird. 
 

Edited November 6, 2022 by mfs2k

[VMI72]

5 hours ago, mfs2k said:

No one I know on board was/is sick or tested positive.
 

It doesn’t surprise or shock me that some people have Covid after traveling to the ship, spending 9 nights together with 4,000 others at sea, then they travel home.

 

Why would you expect everyone to return healthy ?  

 

THAT would be weird. 
 

I did not "expect" everyone to return healthy. Why would I?  I was just curious as to whether anyone in this group has tested positive. No hidden agenda here, just wondered how this group was getting along. Lighten up.

[HoneyDad]

Great review! We stayed in a Sunset Veranda and were happy to be able to be outdoors during rainy periods. The windows going up and locking on E-class ships are not for me. We loved hanging at Craft Social and the casino. We enjoyed the shows as well, those were some of the best we have seen at sea!

[nimiq]

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Great review and there was nothing I had a differing opinion with. This particular sailing did indeed have an older average passenger age than our other recent Celebrity sailings. 

I think longer cruises no matter what attracts an older crowd. We have been going a bit more on Celebrity lately and found the demographics have been more of our age around 50’s. 
it’s seems also that Celebrity has been trying to attract the X generation with all the activities and music. 
 

my thoughts 😂 

Sea Ya 

Eric 

[mauimary]

From our experience the longer the cruise and the more expensive the cruise the older the demographics seem to be. We were also on the Beyond the later part of July in Europe and the demographics for that one were all over the board.  There also didn’t seem to be many families. Capt Kate had her husband and Niece and Nephew with her.  This was a 9 night Med Cruise. Port intensive with only one sea day which was exhausting   We were also at apx 50% capacity on that cruise.  We had a Sunset Veranda and we’re very happy with the size.   Large veranda but it was really too hot to spend much time out there. 

We did a Transpacific to Australia a few years ago and there were many retired folks on that one.  Many sea days which is the kind of cruise we like. 

[mfs2k]

I would like to plan another cruise or vacation but I have no idea what or where. 

 

What will, or should, come next for us Is anyone’s guess.
 
I have $15,000 taste and a $5,000 budget. Sigh. 

[swigso]

20 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

I would like to plan another cruise or vacation but I have no idea what or where. 

 

What will, or should, come next for us Is anyone’s guess.
 
I have $15,000 taste and a $5,000 budget. Sigh. 

Just keep looking, book while on board and buy lottery tickets.

😂😂 we sailed in a suite for the first time in September and there is no way my wife is ever getting into one of those cabins with the big brown doors, great review and it would be a pleasure to sail with you.

Oh remember 60 is the new 40 👍

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by swigso

[mfs2k]

4 minutes ago, swigso said:

Just keep looking, book while on board and buy lottery tickets.

😂😂 we sailed in a suite for the first time in September and there is no way my wife is ever getting into one of those cabins with the big brown doors, great review and it would be a pleasure to sail with you.

Oh remember 60 is the new 40 👍

 

Love this response. Thank you. See you somewhere. 

[Jeremiah1212]

On 11/5/2022 at 11:50 AM, mfs2k said:

I’m curious about the demographics on European cruises. 

 

On 11/5/2022 at 11:53 AM, KKB said:

Can't comment...but I suspect you will find a lot more families in Europe?

 

During summer, a little more but not a ton. I sailed Beyond in May on a 10 nighter then Reflection in September on an 11 night. Both from Rome. It was mostly the same age group as you would see in the Caribbean when school is in session. The familes with kids in September were mostly toddlers.

[swigso]

I have to say age demographic does not mean much to me. If you want to have a good time you will.About 10 years ago I was on a TA from Barcelona and there was a group of WWII veterans who had visited Normandy prior to the sail home. 
My word they may have gone to bed early but the bar between 5 and around 8 was fantastic. What stories they had to tell one of mt best ever cruises. Age is in the mind 🍷

Edited November 6, 2022 by swigso

[George C]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

I would like to plan another cruise or vacation but I have no idea what or where. 

 

What will, or should, come next for us Is anyone’s guess.
 
I have $15,000 taste and a $5,000 budget. Sigh. 

We definitely look for suite bargains, when we stated doing grand suites on rccl we spent about 1500 a person for a 7 day cruise, now normally over 2k to 3k , only thing we are interested in is celebrity, Rccl oasis class or MSc yacht club. We do splurge on our celebrity music charters we go for a royal suite over 5k .

[Boytjie]

We were ably to drink a variety of bourbons and whiskeys at the Eden Bar. I even got Nico to make be a Brooklyn cocktail twice!

[wilycoyote76]

Good review, I’m sailing Beyond the week after Thanksgiving, my first non Carnival cruise. Also thanks for confirming that the bourbon selection is pretty weak, its surprising to me that’s one area Carnival seems to be better than Royal/Celebrity.