Trip Report - Celebrity Beyond 12-night Mediterranean Cruise, May 15-27, 2023

[kidoctr]

It's been a while since I've written a full trip report of our vacation (the last one was in 2018!).  If anyone is interested, I've posted our TR to my blog:  http://kidoctr.blogspot.com/2023/06/
My final notes and thoughts (TL;DR version) is here:  http://kidoctr.blogspot.com/2023/06/celebrity-beyond-mediterranean-cruise.html
I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

We had an incredible trip on the largest most beautiful Celebrity ship we've ever been on - this was our #10 cruise on Celebrity.  Our first was 15 years ago!

[C4HCG]

Sounds like you had a great time. What’s a TR? Forgive my ignorance. 
 

And there’s lots of debate on here about how the Celebrity offering is reducing whilst the price increases, how would you compare your 10th cruise with them to the previous ones?

[jelayne]

TR = trip report

[Swordfish1949]

Nice blog - thanks for sharing.

 

[theopup]

What an utterly thorough and wonderful review. I really enjoyed it, and the pictures were superb 

 

thanks

[kidoctr]

21 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Sounds like you had a great time. What’s a TR? Forgive my ignorance. 
 

And there’s lots of debate on here about how the Celebrity offering is reducing whilst the price increases, how would you compare your 10th cruise with them to the previous ones?

We did have a great time.  I might be using a Disney reference but TR = trip report.  

We're luxury travelers - so it's usually flying business or first class and traveling or staying in suites for us.  I agree the price seems to be climbing (although this trip wasn't the most expensive we went on - that would be our Azamara cruise) but their offerings seem to be improving as well - the included gratuities, Starlink streaming internet, Retreat, and, omg, the food!  We're not averse to paying for good food and good service at all.  We're fortunate in that we have friends who travel the same way we do and don't blink at spending $$ for a fabulous dinner.  Hand over fist, we loved the Beyond and joked about how it will be super hard to go "down" from there (eg going back to a non-Edge class ship).  

[Oceansaway17]

27 minutes ago, kidoctr said:

We did have a great time.  I might be using a Disney reference but TR = trip report.  

We're luxury travelers - so it's usually flying business or first class and traveling or staying in suites for us.  I agree the price seems to be climbing (although this trip wasn't the most expensive we went on - that would be our Azamara cruise) but their offerings seem to be improving as well - the included gratuities, Starlink streaming internet, Retreat, and, omg, the food!  We're not averse to paying for good food and good service at all.  We're fortunate in that we have friends who travel the same way we do and don't blink at spending $$ for a fabulous dinner.  Hand over fist, we loved the Beyond and joked about how it will be super hard to go "down" from there (eg going back to a non-Edge class ship).  

I am booked for the Ascent next fall 2024.  Will be interesting to see if any changes from Beyond.

[kidoctr]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am booked for the Ascent next fall 2024.  Will be interesting to see if any changes from Beyond.

Jealous!  We're booked for the Apex in July 2024 - even the Apex will seem like a slight 
"drop" for us.  LOL.  

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, kidoctr said:

Jealous!  We're booked for the Apex in July 2024 - even the Apex will seem like a slight 
"drop" for us.  LOL.  

lots of folks like Apex.

Ascent will be similiar I think except for some dining.   

[cinderellen]

That was a wonderful read! Thanks for sharing 

[Cap_D]

Thanks for the terrific TR.  Enjoyed learning about how you integrated your tours at each port, and really explored the dining options on the ship.