Also new to Celebrity, a few questions

[depplep]

Hi, we're considering Beyond next July, 8nt Caribbean. We've mostly cruised Royal. The ship looks beautiful and is more what we're looking for in style/design. We are drinkers so I would like to know how the bar service is in general on the ship. Also, service in the restaurants and specialty dining. We don't do the shows and we've been to all but one of these islands so it's important to us that the service and food are very good on this ship as we will mostly be at the pool, bars, restaurants for all 8 days. Also, I can't seem to find menus anywhere for this ship.  Is it more beneficial to book the drink package with the cabin or is the price the same if we book it later? We're going to upgrade to the premium drink package regardless. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[cruisestitch]

Before you decide to book an e class ship, be sure to learn all about the IV rooms to make sure they will meet your needs and there won’t be any surprises 

[RedIguana]

There might be some instances where you can do better later (possibly black friday cruise pricing with black Friday wifi/beverage pricing if you can time them just right), but as a rule you come out pretty far ahead booking AI and upgrading (hopefully finding the upgrades on sale pricing). The best prices I have seen on these boards for the premium package is 45.99 + 20% ($55.20 pp/pd) and $13.99 for WiFi (so $70 pp/pd). The best I have seen on my limited celebrity cruises is 55.99 + 20% and 14.99 for internet. If the AI price is higher per day than these (remember to factor in the upgrade costs), it might be worth gambling on waiting. Run of the mill sale prices are typically 65-75 + 20% for premium beverage and roughly $20 or so for internet. I'm pretty sure a more experienced Celebrity cruiser will chime in if my figures are off.

🤪

[dino1037]

We have cruises mainly Royal but did Beyond in September for first Celebrity cruise.

We loved Beyond….booked All included but I upgraded once onboard for $20 plus 20% tips ….got my moneys worth though!

We booked Beyond again for May and have upgraded at a much cheaper price in current sales…I checked daily for upgrade prices and booked when it was at a good price… can be cancelled and rebooked if goes lower and we had OBC to pay for it.

Different to Royal….a bit classier …. Enjoy

 

 

[CNSfromHI]

2 hours ago, depplep said:

I would like to know how the bar service is in general on the ship...

 

Is it more beneficial to book the drink package with the cabin or is the price the same if we book it later? We're going to upgrade to the premium drink package regardless.

My wife and I enjoy our cocktails and beers, too. I definitely recommend purchasing the Premium package when you book, or at least upgrading before your cruise. Should be a better deal that upgrading onboard. Others here might be able to suggest if/when you might find a booking deal given the Black Friday "sales" going on.

 

Bar service on our past two Celebrity cruises (both on Silhouette) was fantastic. There are many watering holes and we tried several during the initial days of our first cruise before finding one or two that fit our "style" with friendly, attentive bartenders and the right vibe. Some feel more formal, some more casual, so it's definitely worthwhile to look around and find the spot(s) you like.

 

Hope this helps,

 

cjr

[depplep]

Thank you all. My computer finally pulled up menus for the specialty dining. I don't see a list of wines or champagnes on their drink packages. If anyone can direct me to a link I would appreciate it. 

[deliver42]

Dino1037.

If you booked the drink package with OBC, cancel the package a book the new price. The OBC only takes a few minutes to be refunded.

[May B]

1 hour ago, CNSfromHI said:

My wife and I enjoy our cocktails and beers, too. I definitely recommend purchasing the Premium package when you book, or at least upgrading before your cruise. Should be a better deal that upgrading onboard. Others here might be able to suggest if/when you might find a booking deal given the Black Friday "sales" going on.

 

Bar service on our past two Celebrity cruises (both on Silhouette) was fantastic. There are many watering holes and we tried several during the initial days of our first cruise before finding one or two that fit our "style" with friendly, attentive bartenders and the right vibe. Some feel more formal, some more casual, so it's definitely worthwhile to look around and find the spot(s) you like.

 

Hope this helps,

 

cjr

The bar service you experienced on Silhouette will not be a good predictor of Beyond, imho.

 

That having been said, I expect the OP to find a rhythm that works, after night two. Night one is generally a madhouse every place. 
 

The four main dining rooms concept takes a bit of attention for it to be mastered. Actually, last October (2022), the whole systems was in disarray for more days than I thought it should’ve. My recommendation is to chill out and not be in a rush. Check out the four menus so you’ll know which of them have things on offer that particularly appeal to you, depplep. You’ve probably already begun to understood the concept.

 

We dined at Eden and the service was great. Special experience for sure, but we do not have a good track record with specialties, on any line, on any ship. 

[depplep]

Do I understand that Celebrity now has done away with the traditional seating? Can we just walk up and get a table for two in one of the four MDR's? We don't mind waiting for a drink as long as we have been acknowledged. Oasis was a prime example. Beautiful ship but the service was nonexistent. They would make eye contact and continue to talk amongst themselves in every bar. We had to get our own drinks the entire week and even then they acted like you were bothering them. We just tried our first NCL cruise last month and the service and the staff were exceptional. The ship, good, but not the WOW we were looking for.

[cruisestitch]

5 minutes ago, depplep said:

Do I understand that Celebrity now has done away with the traditional seating? Can we just walk up and get a table for two in one of the four MDR's?
 

on E class ships only

 

 

We don't mind waiting for a drink as long as we have been acknowledged. Oasis was a prime example. Beautiful ship but the service was nonexistent. They would make eye contact and continue to talk amongst themselves in every bar. We had to get our own drinks the entire week and even then they acted like you were bothering them. We just tried our first NCL cruise last month and the service and the staff were exceptional. The ship, good, but not the WOW we were looking for.

 

[May B]

21 minutes ago, depplep said:

Do I understand that Celebrity now has done away with the traditional seating? Can we just walk up and get a table for two in one of the four MDR's? We don't mind waiting for a drink as long as we have been acknowledged. Oasis was a prime example. Beautiful ship but the service was nonexistent. They would make eye contact and continue to talk amongst themselves in every bar. We had to get our own drinks the entire week and even then they acted like you were bothering them. We just tried our first NCL cruise last month and the service and the staff were exceptional. The ship, good, but not the WOW we were looking for.

You can just go to be seated, when you want, or you can make reservations. On my Edge TA, alas, they couldn’t even figure out how to handle the reservations vs. walk-ups! It turned out fine once we fed ourselves a dose of patience … plus it got better as the cruise went on.

 

I think you will find the bar service better or much better or vastly better than what you report from Oasis.

 

I’ve never cruised n NCL.

[snowflake_quilter]

16 hours ago, depplep said:

Do I understand that Celebrity now has done away with the traditional seating? Can we just walk up and get a table for two in one of the four MDR's? We don't mind waiting for a drink as long as we have been acknowledged. Oasis was a prime example. Beautiful ship but the service was nonexistent. They would make eye contact and continue to talk amongst themselves in every bar. We had to get our own drinks the entire week and even then they acted like you were bothering them. We just tried our first NCL cruise last month and the service and the staff were exceptional. The ship, good, but not the WOW we were looking for.

I just spent 2 weeks on Beyond, and never waited for a 2-top in any of the main dining rooms. Walked up and was sat immediately every time. And in the same wait team's section, as well.

 

I highly recommend Rooftop Grill if you are interested in specialty dining. I went back there an extra time, it was excellent.

[depplep]

Thank you so much for this information.