Live Review, Celebrity Beyond, December 11-18

[natshala]

On 12/15/2022 at 3:26 PM, Stealthdog said:

 

I haven't heard anything specific about Deck 9.  Deck 8 and Deck 12 were the two I heard about.  But, based on others posting in this thread, it has spanned other decks.

I was on deck 9 (9282) on a B2B November 27-December 11). I had no noise whatsoever. My friend on deck 10 (10195) complained about the noise. Another friend (10194) had no noise. I was told the rooms are individual pods that fit into the ship’s superstructure (my word, probably incorrect). Apparently, if they don’t fit accurately, they make this banging noise. Don’t know why it seems to occur at night.

My two cruises were smooth as glass. I imagine the noise would be exasperated in choppy seas. I hadn’t heard of pax being moved to other rooms to sleep.

 

[natshala]

Exacerbated not exasperated. Ugh…spellcheck! 

[TravelingCircusof5]

Thanks for the great information!
From where Beyond docked in st Maarten, would it be easy to walk over to the beaches or town on your own? 

[CruisinBanka]

4 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

Sadly, our cruises came to an end and that realization hit us quickly as we watched the sunrise over the Frozen Tundra of Northern Virginia the morning after debarkation as the Autotrain brought us to Lorton, Virginia.  

 

But, we have hope as our next planned cruise is in 173 days, 2 hours, and 34 minutes (now 170 days).  I don't think I will last that long and will probably end up on a last-minute cruise out of Baltimore or Florida this winter.  

 

Celebrity is our favorite line, and this sailing on the Beyond was wonderful.  The staff on board was the best we have experienced.  We really enjoyed the E-Class style and would not hesitate to go another.  I'm not sure how we would feel going on an older class now.  

 

I hope this review was helpful for people already booked on the Beyond, or considering it, and hope you all have a wonderful time on the ship!  Happy Sailings!

Thanks for your excellent recap and honest opinions of Beyond. You provided us with some valuable information we will use when we board in February for a B3B! Happy Holidays to you!!!

[Texed]

2 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Thanks for the great information!
From where Beyond docked in st Maarten, would it be easy to walk over to the beaches or town on your own? 

From Beyond it is a easy walk to the water taxi.  The water taxi to town will dock close to the downtown beaches.  😊

[horseymike]

Great review Stealthdog. Very informative with great photos.

Thanks for your time and effort creating this review and sharing it with all of us. 

[MamaChach]

16 hours ago, TravelingCircusof5 said:

Thanks for the great information!
From where Beyond docked in st Maarten, would it be easy to walk over to the beaches or town on your own? 

 

We have taken the water taxi several times.  However, last March we decided to walk to town as I read on here that was very possible.  It isn't far - you walk through the market at the port then down the street and you're there.  We saw lots of mountain goats. This beach is Great Bay Beach.  Very beautiful.  Lots of chairs available to purchase.  This trip we are planning to go to Orient Beach as we have never been there before!

[MamaChach]

@Stealthdog  Really appreciate all your details!  Looking forward to Sailing on Beyond in March.  We stayed in an IV on the Edge the year it came out.  I was disappointed in the IV for the cons that you mentioned.  We booked a SV this time on Beyond.  I will share comparisons when we get back.  I will really miss AQ!  I've been trying to book the weekly Thermal Suite but we don't feel it's worth $440 for both of us.  

[ihate2cruise]

On 12/20/2022 at 4:07 PM, Stealthdog said:

Our awesome Room Attendant surprised us with a bottle of Prosecco the morning on Day 7 for my birthday.  🙂

Love that Pop of color on the pillows!

 

[natshala]

20 hours ago, MamaChach said:

@Stealthdog  Really appreciate all your details!  Looking forward to Sailing on Beyond in March.  We stayed in an IV on the Edge the year it came out.  I was disappointed in the IV for the cons that you mentioned.  We booked a SV this time on Beyond.  I will share comparisons when we get back.  I will really miss AQ!  I've been trying to book the weekly Thermal Suite but we don't feel it's worth $440 for both of us.  

I was in Aqua B2B two weeks ago. I enjoyed the thermal suite in the beginning but, honestly, it got old quickly for me. The second week I only went twice. Just me.

[miched]

On 12/22/2022 at 10:06 AM, MamaChach said:

 

We have taken the water taxi several times.  However, last March we decided to walk to town as I read on here that was very possible.  It isn't far - you walk through the market at the port then down the street and you're there.  We saw lots of mountain goats. This beach is Great Bay Beach.  Very beautiful.  Lots of chairs available to purchase.  This trip we are planning to go to Orient Beach as we have never been there before!

 I think it is a 1/2 mile walk.   I always take a lot of US dollar bills.   There are vendors always selling the local beers out of a cooler for a few dollars.   It is legal to drink the beer in public.  There is also a cheese store/factory on the way.   It is nice to stop in and get some free samples.   The cheese is very good.  
 

Happy crusing 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

[Michele035]

On 12/18/2022 at 8:42 PM, Stealthdog said:

I was hoping to use this opportunity to complete the review, but the Amtrak wifi is as bad as old school cruise wifi and its taking me 30 seconds just to upload a page.  Will have to complete it tomorrow when I get home.

 

Debarking the ship this morning was a snap.  Everything was on time, and we started the process of getting off the ship around 750AM.  Picking up luggage was a mess at this terminal (which isn't a reflection on Celebrity) - Entering and exiting the luggage claim area was the same spot so there was major congestion of people going in to get their luggage and people already with their luggage trying to leave.  There should really be a separate exit for people leaving with their luggage.

 

This is my 3rd cruise ship departure that I did not need passports.  You will not need them and can keep them secure in your bags, purses, etc.  After you collect your luggage, you will only need to pass through a facial recognition scan to leave the terminal building and go outside.  Not sure how I feel about facial recognition being used like this, but that is a different topic.

 

We ubered to our friend's house, picked up our car and were already on the road to Orlando by 845AM.   We stopped by family to pick up the rest of our belongings and arrived at the Sanford Amtrak Autotrain terminal at 1:30PM.  Train left for Lorton, Virginia at about 5PM.

 

If anyone has any questions on how the AutoTrain works, ask away.  If not, I'll just post the rest of the pictures and complete the reviews of the cruise.  

 

Overall, the Beyond is fantastic....our favorite ship we have been on.  We do like the Oasis Class ship design better than the Edge Class ship design, but we haven't been on a ship like the Beyond.  We would recommend everyone to check out the Beyond.

hi, I just read your review and appreciate all the great insight on the Beyond.  We are going in March.  I wanted to ask about the facial recognition in Port Everglades.  I have my own apprehensions about this so wanted to ask, did you have your picture taken by customs before you boarded in the port?  I know we have the pictures that are attached to our Seapass via Celebrity.  Just wondering how they got a picture of you for the facial recognition or if you knew.  Thank you in advance!

[MACruisers]

Facial recognition is tied to the photo in your passport.   When you disembark, you'll proceed to a series of small pedestal-style kiosks, where you'll look at a screen that reads your face with a camera and compares it with the photo that's linked to your passport or visa.  Travelers who don't want to have their photos taken can, instead, request that CBP verify their identities directly.