Beyond v. Apex?

[dateacher]

Went on the Beyond as my first Edge class and got bumped up to Retreat class. Now I can't go back.  For those of you who have been on Beyond and Apex, was there any significant differences?  I seem to remember some complaints about Apex but can't remember what they were.  Getting ready to book Apex but wanted some opinions before I do.

[jelayne]

Apex Retreat Sun Deck isn’t as large as the Beyond, just 1 level.   Luminae is on Deck 12 vs 16 on Beyond.   Beyond has more suites so Luminae is larger and has more windows.

The Sunset Bar on Apex is smaller and has  less covered seating than the Beyond.  The restaurant Le Voyage is only on the Beyond. 
 

[dateacher]

Thanks.  Sounds like they made some improvements on the Beyond and after...

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, dateacher said:

Thanks.  Sounds like they made some improvements on the Beyond and after...

Yes, the Apex has some small improvements over the Edge and Beyond has changes compared to the Beyond

[jryan110]

In addition to the previous comments, Beyond has also had the World Class Bar and two smaller infinity-style pools added.  The World Class Bar is located on Deck 5, near Raw on 5, and the pools are located adjacent the Rooftop Garden.

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 hours ago, dateacher said:

Thanks.  Sounds like they made some improvements on the Beyond and after...

 

Beyond is lengthened which adds more staterooms and therefore more passengers...So, things like the larger retreat, sunset bar and martini bar MAY feel as "crowded" as the slightly smaller Apex/Edge

 

The biggest difference at the moment which could change once the Ascent starts to sail is how great the Beyond's crew is; you repeatedly hear this from passengers and social media content creators that the Edge/Apex crew is great but on the Beyond they take it whole new level

[Jim_Iain]

While i will make a disclaimer that I have never been on Beyond, I have been on Apex for 22 days and taking a week break in Amsterdam before re-joining the ship on Sunday for a 11 British Isle Cruise.

 

From discussions with others -  Some love Beyond and Some don't.   The biggest differences noted is that Beyond has an additional deck and carries about 176 more passengers (at 2x per cabin)  1467 cabins Apex 1646 on Beyond.  Space Ration 37 for Apex vs 36 for Beyond.   Passenger Load 2918 - 3521 Apex vs 3276 - 3950 for Beyond.

 

Some say Luminae is a full deck front of the ship and is so large as most of the additional rooms are suites that the feeling of intimacy is lost and approaching the size of of the MDR on a M-Class.    Again I have not experienced

 

We loved Apex but the food prep in Luminae was inconsistent and the Poultry (even after speaking to the Maitre 'd and Chef) was like road kill.    On the other hand the Fish Dishes were the best I have had on any Celebrity (except Sole in Murano).  

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Jim_Iain

[Ronin23]

Have done a Suite on Beyond and to be honest wouldn’t do it again. Simply too many suites for the space allocated, even with the increased Retreat area.

 

Personally, I think Celebrity got a bit greedy by allocating so many extra rooms to suites  that it loses a lot of the appeal.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Ronin23

[Lastdance]

So, Beyond for a TA and b2b; I did the exact same on Apex last fall.  Suite life is superb.  Never waited for a table, everyone knew us at Luminae and we were treated like royalty, even more so than when we cruised the Baltic and did a two-day private tour in St. Petersburg with just us, a guide and driver!  Luminae is more open and the views are gorgeous.  It feels spacious due to the gorgeous windows; personally, I loved not being so crammed together like on other E class ships. Everything on Beyond blew me away and also my DH; however, we just hit the time/place perfectly with our choice of cruises.  Apex was great, but Beyond is just that!  The Retreat areas were never packed in at deck 17(lunch was awesome) and we always found a lounger.  People were very nice.  Yep, once in a lifetime.  Doing Beyond for a Caribbean in December, so I will lower my expectations just a little; where you choose to cruise also makes a difference too.  We did our TA in a suite and presently in an SV.  There is a Huge difference, but also in cost too.  Nice thing is our butler, cabin steward and suite concierge still take care of us in little ways…attention to those little details makes the difference!  Rosanna knew the correct answers to every question.  That is a first for a suite concierge!!!!

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Lastdance

[dateacher]

7 hours ago, jryan110 said:

In addition to the previous comments, Beyond has also had the World Class Bar and two smaller infinity-style pools added.  The World Class Bar is located on Deck 5, near Raw on 5, and the pools are located adjacent the Rooftop Garden.

No World Class Bar on the Apex could be a deal breaker for us.

[Cruise a holic]

While we probably will sail in a sky suite on the Beyond in the future, I must say the suite staff on the apex will be hard to beat.  Only negatives IMO is that the suite deck on the apex lacks shade- the Beyond is supposed to have more shaded areas which my DH and I really want.

 

You probably cannot go wrong with either ship.  Enjoy your cruise.

[JBare]

The Martini Bar area on the Beyond is vastly improved over Edge/Apex and is more like S class ships with all round access. As already said the Sunset Bar is also better with a better layout and more shaded areas. The cabanas face inwards towards the pool rather than out to the Magic Carpet.

Edited May 8, 2023 by JBare

[Texed]

We have sailed on Edge, Apex, and Beyond.  We had great experiences on all three.  But, Beyond was superb. 😊

[dateacher]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

While we probably will sail in a sky suite on the Beyond in the future, I must say the suite staff on the apex will be hard to beat.  Only negatives IMO is that the suite deck on the apex lacks shade- the Beyond is supposed to have more shaded areas which my DH and I really want.

 

You probably cannot go wrong with either ship.  Enjoy your cruise.

That's interesting about the shaded areas because on the Beyond there were some good areas, especially near the bar.

[lv2cruisgrl]

5 hours ago, Ronin23 said:

Have done a Suite on Beyond and to be honest wouldn’t do it again. Simply too many suites for the space allocated, even with the increased Retreat area.

 

Personally, I think Celebrity got a bit greedy by allocating so many extra rooms to suites  that it loses a lot of the appeal.

I agree. We have done Apex and Beyond in Retreat and like Apex better.  

[hcat]

4 hours ago, dateacher said:

No World Class Bar on the Apex could be a deal breaker for us.

we loved that  bar on BEYOND..great location and ambiance. We found Luminae  was fairly dark unless seated up front.  Looking forward to ASCENT and then APEX..neither will be in suite class  it was not something we need but enjoyed trying it!

[dateacher]

1 minute ago, hcat said:

we loved that  bar on BEYOND..great location and ambiance. We found Luminae  was fairly dark unless seated up front.  Looking forward to ASCENT and then APEX..neither will be in suite class  it was not something we need but enjoyed trying it!

I wish I felt that way about  the suite class. Now that I've tried it, I don't want to go back to  anything else.

 

[C-Dragons]

2 hours ago, Texed said:

We have sailed on Edge, Apex, and Beyond.  We had great experiences on all three.  But, Beyond was superb. 😊

Ditto. 👍

[George C]

1 hour ago, dateacher said:

I wish I felt that way about  the suite class. Now that I've tried it, I don't want to go back to  anything else.

 

Totally agree , my first celebrity cruise we got a free upgrade to sky suite and never booked anything else. I find it strange that apex has less suites , so far we only booked edge and beyond for that class, I preferred edge but I believe that was because we did a move up to penthouse 😁

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Beyond was nice on our November 2022 cruise. 

 

Looking forward to APEX later in summer. Since that experience will be much more about the destinations stops, the ship becomes secondary in terms of specific differences from Beyond.to us - the Martini Bar area was nice on Beyond, but not worthy of a lot of hoopla.

 

[Tyler414]

I don't spend extra for the retreat, so can't comment on that.

Beyond is 30 yards (90 feet) longer.  It's very noticeable on the pool deck.

The for rent cabana's are facing the pool deck and not towards a walk way and the sea.

Beyond has a much, much nicer aft deck 15

The Rooftop grill on Beyond has more wind barriers, helping reduce wind while dinning.

The running track on Beyond is less intrusive to guests not using it on Beyond (despite being a longer    ship the running track is smaller on Beyond, an improvement in my opinion.)

There are 2 infinity pools aft deck 15 starboard, Edge/Apex have none.

There is an additional bar (Mast Bar) on deck 16 starboard.

There appears to be an area on deck 16 starboard above the pool deck where a band can be set up (the beyond cruise I was on could have held funerals on the pool deck) so it was not used.

Le Voyage is only on Beyond (best meal I had)

World Class Bar is also only on Beyond (I had one drink there, never went back)

The Martini Bar has double the seating around the bar vs. Apex and the extra 90 feet shows up there as well.

The Club has windows on Beyond, Apex does not.  Feels like a dungeon on Apex.

The seating in Fine Cut extends all the way to the edge of the ship, no so with Apex.

There is an additional bar (Oceanview Bar) by the Pizza station. Apex does not.

Beyond has a special chocolate place (not cheap) in the area leading to Eden.

There are still only two elevator banks on Beyond, just like Apex, there should be three or more evenly spaced out.

 

If I think of more I'll be sure to continue to add to the tread 🙂 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Tyler414