Here we go again... LIVE from Beyond, February 19, 2024

[mac_tlc]

We went to Luminae for dinner last night. I forgot to grab a picture of the actual menu but these screen shots are from the app and it was accurate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the Apple and Hearty Green salad and French onion soup:

 

 

 

For our entree, I had the Lamb loin and my wife had the Rigatoni Arribiata:

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we went to the Headliner Show, Uptown:

 

 

A very talented and energetic trio they were! Audience seemed engaged and was singing along . 
 

I will say, the shows and entertainment have been very very good. It is one of the things we look forward to. 
 

After the show we wandered over to the Club for the nightly 8:30 game show. There is one every night at 8:30. 
 

 

mac_tlc

Edited February 26 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

And finally, the Celebrity Today for Day 8:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by mac_tlc

[Rocky4]

Just off a 7 day Ascent cruise in a Sky Suite and will be sailing on the Beyond in February 2025.  While many things may change, this is an excellent review.  Thanks for taking us along. 😀

[Keys Kathy]

1 hour ago, Rocky4 said:

Just off a 7 day Ascent cruise in a Sky Suite and will be sailing on the Beyond in February 2025.  While many things may change, this is an excellent review.  Thanks for taking us along. 😀

Which date in Feb?

[Rocky4]

30 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

Which date in Feb?

Ascent was the 02/11/2024.  Beyond is 02/14/2025. 😀

[MartiniBarhooked]

16 hours ago, 3boyz2keep said:

Just off the Beyond last week in a suite. We chose to eat in Blu two nights and never a wait or long time for service or food. 

Did you just show up or make arrangements. 

[spammie]

16 hours ago, MMMCruiser said:

After reading the comments about the chair hogs, how are things in the Retreat Lounge and on the Retreat sundeck?  Chair hogs is one of the reasons I booked into the Retreat but now I'm wondering if it's still going to be a problem. 

They are everywhere!  We were in the Retreat in November and they were there.  Lots of crew walking around and did nothing about it.  We prefer to sit in the shade and watched as chairs sat for hours with personal stuff on them and nobody using the loungers.  😞

[clarkgriswold]

Hi:

 

We will be on the May 18 Beyond’s ABC cruise leaving PE (FLL) at what looks to be Terminal 25 and have a question about parking. We plan to Park at Port Everglades Parking. Is there ever an issue with it being full when one arrives to p[ark? If yes, what is a available as a back-up if in a pinch for parking?

[RK-NC]

1 hour ago, spammie said:

They are everywhere!  We were in the Retreat in November and they were there.  Lots of crew walking around and did nothing about it.  

This is so disheartening to read but thank you for weighing in. At least we know what to expect and hopefully I can get my "hair on fire" feelings behind me now. I have seen posts about chair hog enforcement on Apex. I wonder why it's not happening on Beyond? 

[RK-NC]

19 minutes ago, clarkgriswold said:

We plan to Park at Port Everglades Parking. Is there ever an issue with it being full when one arrives to p[ark? If yes, what is a available as a back-up if in a pinch for parking?

 

We asked about this on our April 12 roll call and got good feedback about Palm garage parking. Planning to arrive around 10am and our research shows that we shouldn't have a problem. Our back-up plan is to park at the airport garage and get transport back to the port. There are several park and go options away from the port but we wanted garage parking instead of a surface lot. 

[mac_tlc]

What a great time wandering around Willemstad, Curaçao. All of the sidewalks and walkways from the ship to the floating bridge and then again on the “old town” side of the bridge are very wheelchair friendly. Very few curbs, wide sidewalks. One of the easiest islands to maneuver around.

 

And it’s a pretty island:

 

 

 

 

While we were waiting at the floating bridge for it to open, the Explora 1 sailed into the harbor:

 

 

 

 

 Nice view while resting a bit:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Once on the “old town” side, we wandered around the narrow streets and of course stopped for a beer and took a picture here:

 

 

 

A few other picture of the area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for lunch at Iguana Carfe, right on the water near the floating bridge:

 

 

 

I had the steak quesadilla and the DW had a cheeseburger:

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26 by mac_tlc

[abbydancer2003]

In your wanderings, did you happen to see the Synagogue?  Oldest in the Western Hemisphere.  Still active.

[mac_tlc]

About 2:00, we headed back. 
 

A few pictures along the way:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Cut tonight at 6:30!!!

 

mac_tlc

Edited February 26 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

4 minutes ago, abbydancer2003 said:

In your wanderings, did you happen to see the Synagogue?  Oldest in the Western Hemisphere.  Still active.

We did not, although I’m sure we were pretty close to it. The streets on the old town can be pretty narrow — you never know what’s around the next corner!

 

mac_tlc

[hcat]

3 hours ago, RK-NC said:

 

We asked about this on our April 12 roll call and got good feedback about Palm garage parking. Planning to arrive around 10am and our research shows that we shouldn't have a problem. Our back-up plan is to park at the airport garage and get transport back to the port. There are several park and go options away from the port but we wanted garage parking instead of a surface lot. 

we always find a spot..

 

After we dropped off our luggage, and circled around, we got a great spot for Ascent in January.(11 am window).

 

Post cruise,  our porter took all our stuff right to the car and helped load into the trunk.  Well worth the tip!

[hcat]

1 hour ago, abbydancer2003 said:

In your wanderings, did you happen to see the Synagogue?  Oldest in the Western Hemisphere.  Still active.

We passed it on our walking tour but no time to enter..Very nice that it is active!

[Tyler414]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

 

Fine Cut tonight at 6:30!!!

 

mac_tlc

Can't wait to hear about your Fine Cut experience.  Other than Petit Chef, I have all specialties booked Eden, Le Voyage, and Rooftop twice.  Fine cut my last two cruises has just been OK.  Seems like I'm not the only one with similar experiences.  I do have it booked once, but considering canceling.  Le Voyage has a great filet and I think Rooftop has the best filet. 🥂

[MMMCruiser]

5 hours ago, spammie said:

They are everywhere!  We were in the Retreat in November and they were there.  Lots of crew walking around and did nothing about it.  We prefer to sit in the shade and watched as chairs sat for hours with personal stuff on them and nobody using the loungers.  😞

Not what I was hoping to hear, but I appreciate the honest feedback.  I need shade, too.  I was hoping that the hog to chair ratio might be better up there.

 

3 hours ago, RK-NC said:

This is so disheartening to read but thank you for weighing in. At least we know what to expect and hopefully I can get my "hair on fire" feelings behind me now. I have seen posts about chair hog enforcement on Apex. I wonder why it's not happening on Beyond? 

I'm sailing on the Apex - I haven't seen anything about enforcement there, but since you have seen it I will hope for the best. 

[mac_tlc]

Good morning from the Sea!

 

 

Today is a sea day as we head towards Falmouth, Jamaica tomorrow. 
 

It must be a sea day😏😏.

 

 

 

In fact this little seating area I am in has four couches and 8 chairs and the only unreserved one is the one I am sitting in. And I am alone.

 

It about 6:45am ship time and we got our hour back last night so everyone is out reserving extra early. 
 

 Curaçao was a great day yesterday, colorful, maneuverable and lots to see.

 

We did Fine Cut last night and it was ……..  OK. It was a roller coaster in fact. We had a 6:30 seating and arrived at 6:25 and were seated immediately.  It then it was 7:15 before our order was taken . We had a good 50 minutes to stare at the menu. Our waiter mentioned that he had a larger table with some specific allergies that took him some time, he apologized.

 

Here is the menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For starters, I got the Wedge salad and the arugula salad (I can’t say no to goat cheese). 
 

 

 

 

Love this goat cheese fritters!!

 

My wife was disappointed that they did not have the jumbo shrimp cocktail, so she went with the Lobster cocktail. An interesting choice for her since she typically never goes out of her way for lobster. She also had the arugula salad.

 

 

 

She loved it!!! The starters were all exceptional and an A+. That arugula salad is one of the best salads we have had this trip.

 

For our entrees we both got the filet, 9 oz. 
 

 

For the sides we got bacon mac&cheese, tots and asparagus.

 

 

 

This is where the roller coaster went down the hill. While the filet was cooked as ordered and was flavorful, it was not hot enough to last the entire meal. Started out OK but halfway through, it was cold. 
 

Picture that sizzling plate at Ruth’s Chris that’s too hot to touch…. It was not that. In fact the plate wasn’t hot at all, even when it just came out. Even the sides, served in cast iron mini skillets which hold the heat better, were not hot at the end. 
 

My wife was less concerned about this than I was. She finished hers, I ate about 1/2. 
 

I mentioned it to the waiter when he picked up the plates. Later he said he mentioned it to the chef and the manager who both suggested they give us another one —too late for that. We had prepaid at a really good price. 
 

Dessert made the roller coaster go back up a bit. We both had the Ultimate Sundae.

 

 

Edited February 27 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

Seems like I timed out on making edits so here is the Last paragraph on Fine Cut:

 

While good, it can’t hold a spoon to the one we had on the Edge in 2022. That one has real hot fudge, lots of whipped cream and even a cherry on top. No hot fudge was to be found here, even though the menu description says so. A small dab of whipped cream and no cherry. But, hey, it is ice cream so all cannot be lost! 
 

While an OK meal, we will not be back for a while. Next time, we will try the filet at the Rooftop Garden Grill, which is cheaper anyway— and has a great watermelon and feta salad. 

 

While Fine Cut was a swing and and a foul ball, the show last night was a grand slam ! 
 

Arte — wow. We have seen it before and it was still fabulous!

Some pictures highlighting that fabulous LED screen:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is shows like this that give us pause in going on a smaller ship with less entertainment offering or smaller productions.

 

mac_tlc

Edited February 27 by mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

The Celebrity Today for Day 9:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 27 by mac_tlc

[A&L_Ont]

19 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

While an OK meal, we will not be back for a while. Next time, we will try the filet at the Rooftop Garden Grill, which is cheaper anyway— and has a great watermelon and feta salad. 

 

I'm sorry to read that your experience was not the best.  We have had the same experience at 2 of our last 3 meals at Chops.  The two bad ones were on different Oasis Class ships, and the good one was on Freedom.  Smaller ship win in this case.

 

19 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

the show last night was a grand slam ! 
 

Arte — wow. We have seen it before and it was still fabulous!

 

It is shows like this that give us pause in going on a smaller ship with less entertainment offering or smaller productions.

 

Mac, like you we like the shows on the larger ships.  It feels hard to move down to the shows that are not as elaborate, when the others are just better.

[cruise47]

What was the name of that show in post #246.

It looked fabulous.

[mac_tlc]

2 hours ago, cruise47 said:

What was the name of that show in post #246.

It looked fabulous.

The show is Arte.

 

Stage Door was earlier in the cruise and Elements in on day 11. All fabulous. Even on a 7 day cruise they do all three. 
 

mac_tlc