Beyond Ultimate Southern Caribbean Review 3/1-3/11

[Tyler414]

Warning:  Very Long and I am definitely NOT a writer or spell checker.....lol 

 

I have gotten SO MUCH great info from other reviews and "lives"  I wanted to contribute my 2 cents.  Overall we all had a wonderful cruise vacation and can't wait for our next Celebrity adventure, any "complaints" I may have are very minor and had zero impact on the overall vacation.

 

I started planning this cruise all the way back in June 2022 when X still offered OBC, Premium Bev, premium WIFI...and we were in a sunset veranda 11296 (zero noise issues)  I'm fairly new to cruising, with my first cruise being back in 2019 on an older NCL ship, I had such a fun, relaxing time I ended up booking my second cruise on board.  That second cruise was on the brand new at the time NCL Encore, it ended up being the third to last cruise before the shutdown.  I came away from that cruise in awe of the Celebrity Edge ship I saw in two of the ports we were at.   The NCL Encore cruise, almost had the opposite affect on me, I hated it for many reasons and just did not enjoy myself.  Since the restart I have been on four Celebrity E-class cruises, and two Virgin cruises.  This cruise my sister joined me (we are both in our mid 40's) and on black Friday our parents (mid 70's)  decided to join and booked during the wonderful black Friday sale, they ended up in an infinite veranda and they absolutely loved that style (cabin 8209 zero noise issues as well)   We are all pretty active and enjoy doing active excursions.  We flew into Miami the day of embarkation (I know it's risky, but my preference) with no issues and got an Uber for the four of us to Ft Lauderdale for $80 and were on the ship by 12:30.  Celebrity has perfected their embarkation process IMO.  This is my sister and my second time on Beyond, we saw all the shows on the first cruise, so we didn't go to any production shows this time around (we did make an attempt a couple times, but due to zero seats available, we did not stay.  Our parents went to all production shows and few other main theater shows and they said they were fabulous.

 

Day 1  Depart.  We departed Ft Lauderdale around 4:30 to wonderful weather and hung out around the sunset bar area (one of my favorite spots on E-class) Later on my sister and I had a great diner at Le Voyage. 9/10  We both had the filet and based on our previous experiences at Le Voyage it was excellent.  The only "issue" was we were to full for desert and had a show to catch, so we were trying to pass on desert and our waiter insisted we stay, we again said we were going to pass and he asked us to hold on.  After sitting for about 5-7 minutes and wondering what was going on, we got up and left.  By the time we got to the theater it was full, so we missed the show. no biggie.  Off to the casino.

 

Day 2  Sea day.  I rented a 2 person cabana for the day and glad I did, sea day one, the pool area was packed and the Chogs were everywhere.  The night before I received a phone call in our cabin asking what bottle we wanted, I chose vodka (Kettle One) when we arrived at the cabana out attendant brought the vodka, fruit plate, water and a round of drinks.  Our parents joined us once in a while with no one saying anything about four people being in the 2 person cabana.  My sister and I both had the Luminae Burger and it was delicious.  Overall the cabanas can be a bit pricey, but with the black friday sale and a full sailing, it was worth every penny.   In the evening we ate at Raw on 5. 10/10  My parents and sister rarely if ever eat sushi, so I ordered for them and they loved everything. And off to the casino

 

Day 3  Sea day.  Today we had the wine pairing planned, we are not big wine folks, so this was a very informative and fun thing to do.  We received 6 half full glasses of wine and a "food" tray with various pieces of fruit, cheese, sun dried tomato, and a couple other things. I would recommend to anyone who may or may not drink wine.  In the evening my sister and I ate at Rooftop Grill. 10/10 This continues to be one of the better specialty's on an E-class ship in both value and the food.   I again had a delicious filet, mac n cheese, sliders, wings.

 

Day 4   St, Marten.   My sister and I did our own thing to Orient Beach, we got a taxi with two other folks and where charged $20pp for round trip. On Orient beach we went to Contiki Beach Club, the beach, loungers, food, drinks, everything was great.  We ordered a light lunch of sushi and fries. Everything at Contiki was great, clean restrooms, shower, staff all great.  After about 4.5 hours it was time to pay the bill and head back for some Philipsburg shopping.  The final bill for the two of us was $150 plus tip.  That included padded loungers, umbrella, whos knows how many drinks and food.  When we finished shopping, we took the water taxi back to the port area, if I remember correct it was $7 for a one way ticket each.

Tonight for dinner we all dined at Eden, this was at least the sixth time I've eaten at Eden and again everything was excellent. 10/10

Tonight was the "Shine the Night" pool deck party that I was looking forward to and bought a special shirt for the party.   I went back to the cabin pretty tired and ended up falling asleep and missed it the whole party and the casino.  lol   A reason to do another cruise now. (not that I needed an excuse)

 

Day 5  St Lucia.  All four of us did the Celebrity excursion Botanical Gardens & Catamaran with lunch.  It was a 6.5 hour tour with many short stops at local venders and viewing stops of the Pitons on the way to the Gardens.  Along the way we stopped to get some fresh picked banana's, best I've ever eaten!!  After almost 3 hours of slow, hilly driving we arrived at the Botanical Gardens.  It was a short half hour walk through the beautiful gardens and then onto the included lunch.  The lunch was the typical chicken, fish, lentils, salad, that is served in the Caribbean.  After lunch, on to the catamaran for the trip back to port, along the way we did stop for about 45 minutes for some beach time.  Overall 10/10

We did not eat in any MDR during this cruise, a lot of specialties and Oceanview.  Tonight was an Oceanview evening. It is what it was.  lol

 

Day 6   Barbados.   The parents did a beach day with a Celebrity excursion to Carlisle beach.  They said they had a wonderful relaxing day at the beach and the beach itself was clean and the staff were great.   My sister and I did a DIY with Silver Moon Barbados.  They have a max of 12 people on their catamarans.  Today 3 of the 12 did not make it, so there were only 9 folks on the Cat. If you plan to do a catamaran with snorkeling in Barbados Silver Moon is the only choice IMO,  This ended up to be the best excursion on the entire vacation.  It was such an awesome day, from the snorkeling, to the drinks, the first class lunch provided, to the private(ish) beach we swam to. Everything was first class++  10/10+++

For diner my sister and I ate at Fine Cut, I don't know what it is with Fine Cut, but it was again underwhelming for me.  I had, again a filet (we see a theme of meat here) it was just OK.  I just don't understand why the steak joint on the ship has the 4th best filet, and it seems consistent. 7/10

 

Day 7  Antigua.   We all went on the Celebrity excursion  Catamaran cruise with Lobster Lunch.  This was another knockout by the staff.  It was a big catamaran full of people, we cruised down the west side of the island and the captain was very informative about everything on the island.  After the first beach stop lasting about 45 minutes we got back onto the Cat. with tables and chairs placed out for our excellent, freshly cooked lobster lunch, it was delicious, even my non seafood eating sister cleaned her tail until nothing was left.  After lunch we headed to another short beach stop before heading back to port.  10/10

Tonight I was able to book a 6:30 dinning time at Rooftop for all four of us, this was important to me because the ship did not depart until 7pm.  Rooftop can get windy, especially when at sea, so no wind issues while eating.   I think we all had the filet and ordered way to many apps, it was hard to finish the best desert on the ship, the cookie with ice cream.  Another 10/10   And off to the casino. 

 

Day 8  St Kitts.  Today all four of us were to do a Celebrity excursion Catamaran to Nevis with lunch, this was a 6.5 hour land and sea tour stopping at Alexander Hamilton's birthplace? and a few other stops.  My sister and I decided we did not want to do such a long tour, so just the parents went on it, and my sister and I opted for a 4 hour Trip to Nevis with lunch, pretty basic catamaran ride to a Nevis beach where a lunch of chicken and fish was waiting for us. After lunch we relaxed on the beach for about 45 minutes before it was time to head back.  I think after hearing what a great time my parents had, I had regrets on switching.  Oh well, next time.  9/10

Another diner in Oceanview and back to the casino for me.

 

Day 9   Sea Day.  We had a cabana rented again for this sea day another bottle of vodka (unopened bottle came home with me, I'm not that big of a drunk  lol)    I really enjoyed the freedom the cabana offers, come and go whenever, not having to be or fight the chogs is great.  This time I opted for the chicken sandwich on the cabana menu, and it was excellent as well. 

Tonight was another Le Voyage night.  Again I had the filet and saved room for desert this time.  Tonight we had the best waiter of the cruise Dev, he was outstanding, and made the wonderful meal even that much better.  10/10   And then off to the casino.

 

Day 10  Sea Day.   The dreaded last day.  Did not do much during the day, relaxed and enjoyed my last day of vacation.

Tonight was the finale at Eden, tried some different for me apps and entre and they were Eden good.  Again great food and service. 10/10

 

Day 11    Disembarkation   After an incident with NCL with my luggage, I now carry off my own luggage.  Again, Celebrity has perfected this, we where in the Uber by 7:30 and at FLL by 7:45 to easily make our 10am flight.

 

Overall this was an awesome vacation on Celebrity Beyond that I've been looking forward to for a long long time.  I'm not going to say it was make or break for Celebrity, but after a not so good cruise on Beyond in January 2023 (the start of the major cutbacks that they seemed to have now reversed)

I was prepared to cancel my three future cruises with Celebrity, I am definitely keeping the reservation after this cruise.

Thanks again to all those before me who have posted reviews, comments, shore excursion experiences, overall help on Cruise Critic.  Sorry for the long winded, poorly written review.  Till next time 🥂

 

[Tyler414]

I'm happy to try and answer any questions anyone may have. 🥂

Edited March 20 by Tyler414

[hcat]

lovely review ..we agree.great ship!

some of our fav ports.

 

.Our long excursion to Nevis on Ascent was best ever..great tour, lunch beac, shopping.

 

Glad you, your sister and your parents had fun and shared some good times!

Edited March 20 by hcat

[catspaw1]

Enjoyed reading your very informative trip report. Glad you had a good time.

[Tyler414]

17 minutes ago, hcat said:

lovely review ..we agree.great ship!

some of our fav ports.

 

.Our long excursion to Nevis on Ascent was best ever..great tour, lunch beac, shopping.

 

Glad you, your sister and your parents had fun and shared some good times!

I think it may have been your review on that excursion that helped my parents decide to go, I really wanted too, but my sister had no interest in a 6.5 hour tour and after me planning everything, I figured she deserved a say in something.  hahaha

[JDPCruisers]

41 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

I think it may have been your review on that excursion that helped my parents decide to go, I really wanted too, but my sister had no interest in a 6.5 hour tour and after me planning everything, I figured she deserved a say in something.  hahaha

I'll add my thanks for the review. Very helpful as are on Beyond Apr/May for the first time so you have essentially confirmed the positive experience that many others have shared. We are in a SS so hopefully we won't experience the noise issues that others have had.  

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for your well written review.   I really enjoyed reading your ideas and observations.

 

Jim

[Galaxy2004]

Thanks for the review. A friend and I were eyeing this same cruise and you might have convinced us!

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, Tyler414 said:

Day 4   St, Marten.   My sister and I did our own thing to Orient Beach, we got a taxi with two other folks and where charged $20pp for round trip. On Orient beach we went to Contiki Beach Club, the beach, loungers, food, drinks, everything was great.  We ordered a light lunch of sushi and fries. Everything at Contiki was great, clean restrooms, shower, staff all great.  After about 4.5 hours it was time to pay the bill and head back for some Philipsburg shopping.  The final bill for the two of us was $150 plus tip.  That included padded loungers, umbrella, whos knows how many drinks and food.  When we finished shopping, we took the water taxi back to the port area, if I remember correct it was $7 for a one way ticket each.

Tonight for dinner we all dined at Eden, this was at least the sixth time I've eaten at Eden and again everything was excellent. 10/10

Tonight was the "Shine the Night" pool deck party that I was looking forward to and bought a special shirt for the party.   I went back to the cabin pretty tired and ended up falling asleep and missed it the whole party and the casino.  lol   A reason to do another cruise now. (not that I needed an excuse)

 

 

Good call on the French vs Dutch side. Such a better vibe if you can handle the wind. If you ever go back, La Playa Resort a few spots down from Contiki has excellent food and drinks. A vast improvement over the tourist food (and prices) you typically find on the Dutch side around Philipsburg. 

[Tyler414]

3 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Good call on the French vs Dutch side. Such a better vibe if you can handle the wind. If you ever go back, La Playa Resort a few spots down from Contiki has excellent food and drinks. A vast improvement over the tourist food (and prices) you typically find on the Dutch side around Philipsburg. 

I agree, we were considering Maho beach (airplanes) but I heard it can get very crowded at the beach and the bar next to the beach, so we opted for the very chill vibe on Orient. 

[hcat]

20 hours ago, Tyler414 said:

I think it may have been your review on that excursion that helped my parents decide to go, I really wanted too, but my sister had no interest in a 6.5 hour tour and after me planning everything, I figured she deserved a say in something.  hahaha

hope they enjoyed it!

 

Maybe next time you can find a shorter excursion to Nevis..We had an interest in Hamilton and history,  and were happily surprised about everything else included on the tour. 

 

At a minimum  you can pick a quick way there...with  a nice lunch and beach visit!  

 

Next year at St Kitts we are just doing a coastal boat trip but not over to Nevis!

[hcat]

10 minutes ago, hcat said:

 

ps  I had a great outfit for SHINE but conked out early!  Next time we may have to take an afternoon nap!

Edited March 21 by hcat

[cruise47]

excellent review 

[Rustyman]

Thank you Tyler414 for a very informative and succinct review. You cover the important areas in few words and this has helped my planning for the same cruise in November. 👏👏

[Texed]

Thanks for posting.  😊

[Margin Walker]

On 3/20/2024 at 3:56 PM, Tyler414 said:

I'm happy to try and answer any questions anyone may have. 🥂

I've never cruised on Celebrity.  
 

What is a CHOG? 
 

Thanks

[Tyler414]

Just now, Margin Walker said:

I've never cruised on Celebrity.  
 

What is a CHOG? 
 

Thanks

Chair Hogs

[Tyler414]

20 minutes ago, Tyler414 said:

Chair Hogs

In all fairness I stole it from @sid_9169

Edited April 2 by Tyler414

[cheeseheads4ever]

Tyler414,

Thanks for the very informative review. Excellent detailed information. We are on a Beyond in a couple weeks. We were on Beyond last April and there was a female bartender at the Martini bar that was just getting her feet under her. Kind of shy and timid but really tried hard. We tipped and complimented her on how great of a job she was doing making us drinks. Even ran into the bar hostess manager and said she is doing such a great job. I just can’t remember her name.

Now I just looked on YouTube and seen this shy timid bartender standing on the bar pouring a martini flight with no shyness at all. It was so was nice to see her come out of her shell so to speak. Hopefully she will still be there in a few weeks.

Do you remember the names of any Martini Bartenders?

Thanks again for the info!

[countess5]

I must jump in and agree about Silver Moon.  

We were in Barbados in March and had an outstanding time sailing with them

 

This was our second time and it was even better than the first time!

 

Cheers! 

[cruisegal40]

Thank you so much for this review. Doesn't seem to be many reviews on Beyond. We will be trying our first X on Beyond in September and looking forward to it.  Can you elaborate how much storage your parents had in the IV? 

[Tyler414]

2 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

Tyler414,

Do you remember the names of any Martini Bartenders?

Thanks again for the info!

I do not recall any Martini Bartenders names, we spent less time in the martini bar than we did on our last cruise, no real reason, just the way the chips fell.

[Tyler414]

1 hour ago, cruisegal40 said:

Thank you so much for this review. Doesn't seem to be many reviews on Beyond. We will be trying our first X on Beyond in September and looking forward to it.  Can you elaborate how much storage your parents had in the IV? 

I was only in their cabin a few times, but seemed to be the same storage we had in our sunset veranda, which is a decent amount.

[cheeseheads4ever]

Sorry just thought maybe you seen a name badge or two. Thanks anyway…

[cruisegal40]

22 hours ago, Tyler414 said:

I was only in their cabin a few times, but seemed to be the same storage we had in our sunset veranda, which is a decent amount.

Thank you for this!