Live from the Beyond! May 18, ABC Sailing

[toddmanka]

On 5/23/2024 at 2:14 PM, CTCruiser76 said:

Awesome...thanks for the tip on Avila, we just made our reservation. We are on the June 15th Beyond cruise and are enjoying your live blog. 

 

Making the reservation was kind of strange....but once they finally got back to me on the whats ap, the communication was good. 

 

Hope you continue to have a good time and keep up the live posts...we appreciate it. 

Did you call the hotel or e mail them .Looks like a good deal for a beach day  We are also leaving on the 15th

[AbbyCruiser45]

9 hours ago, chrismch said:

RE: MDR DINING... Do I understand correctly that if you dine in any of the 4 restaurant options that you can get the daily specials from any of the other 3 and mix and match as desired?

Yes! We only learned that midway through. I’m behind on updates but we dined in Cyprus 2 nights ago and I ordered from 3 other of the MDRs. Baked brie from Normandie, corn soup from Cosmopolitan, the beef en croute from Normandie, and the Carbonara from Tuscan! Everything was excellent. 

[chrismch]

Wondering if there are showers in the locker areas of the spa that anyone can use after working out? We've been able to do this on other class ships.

[CTCruiser76]

1 hour ago, toddmanka said:

Did you call the hotel or e mail them .Looks like a good deal for a beach day  We are also leaving on the 15th

I did it through their online website and it was sort of strange ... they have you download a communication app that is a little odd....took a few tries to get it to connect.....then once we did, you send them a message like "Day Pass reservation request". It took them a day to get back to us, but once they did, they were very fast and efficient. The other thing is, you don't have to pay upfront, they just take your name and number of guests, then you pay when you get there.

 

I didn't try calling. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

30 minutes ago, chrismch said:

Wondering if there are showers in the locker areas of the spa that anyone can use after working out? We've been able to do this on other class ships.

I haven’t visited yet, but yes there should be as there were on the Edge. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Hello everyone! I am behind on live updates but we’ve really been enjoying the relaxing last two sea days of this trip. Yesterday was my favorite lunch buffet, the Italian day! There is always so much fresh cheese and they had fried calamari.

I’ve been trying a few drinks: 

 

Hugo Spritz: elderberry liqueur and Prosecco 

 

Mudslide

Belini

French 75 

Last night was the second formal night and we had an excellent dinner. I had the corn soup (again, I love it), Cesar salad, lobster and sirloin (prefer that cut over the Wellington) and the baked Alaska. 

We had such a lovely evening before and after dinner. The martini bar was slammed before dinner because of formal night, so we ended up at the window in Al Bacio. This ended up being great because we saw porpoises outside! We were very close to the coast of Hati. 

After dinner, we walked the upper decks and saw the moon rising. I just got a new phone and it handles nighttime photos perfectly. 

Tomorrow morning will be quick as we have an early flight. I plan on writing up a final reflection/review in the next day or two after getting home. Overall though, this has been a perfect trip. 

[KKB]

@AbbyCruiser45

Question: has there been Bingo on this cruise?

I have not seen it on Eclass in the last few years but it has been reported that it is back.

[AbbyCruiser45]

11 minutes ago, KKB said:

@AbbyCruiser45

Question: has there been Bingo on this cruise?

I have not seen it on Eclass in the last few years but it has been reported that it is back.

Yes! I know for sure there is Bingo today. I think there was another earlier in the cruise. They still had Deal or No Deal also 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

5 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

15 hours ago, chrismch said:

RE: MDR DINING... Do I understand correctly that if you dine in any of the 4 restaurant options that you can get the daily specials from any of the other 3 and mix and match as desired?

Yes! We only learned that midway through. I’m behind on updates but we dined in Cyprus 2 nights ago and I ordered from 3 other of the MDRs. Baked brie from Normandie, corn soup from Cosmopolitan, the beef en croute from Normandie, and the Carbonara from Tuscan! Everything was excellent. 

Can you see the choices from the other dining rooms on the menu you are given, or do you have to find them on the app?

[AbbyCruiser45]

Just now, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Can you see the choices from the other dining rooms on the menu you are given, or do you have to find them on the app?

In Cyprus, they gave us a Cyprus branded menu that had only the exclusive entrees and starters for each of the 4 MDRs. You would likely have to ask for it, but I imagine every MDR has that. You can always check on the app too!

[toddmanka]

On 5/25/2024 at 8:54 AM, CTCruiser76 said:

I did it through their online website and it was sort of strange ... they have you download a communication app that is a little odd....took a few tries to get it to connect.....then once we did, you send them a message like "Day Pass reservation request". It took them a day to get back to us, but once they did, they were very fast and efficient. The other thing is, you don't have to pay upfront, they just take your name and number of guests, then you pay when you get there.

 

I didn't try calling. 

Thanks. They responded same day booked for June 19  looks like a good deal. Short cab ride. 

[Stem to Stern]

On 5/25/2024 at 11:42 AM, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Yesterday was my favorite lunch buffet, the Italian day!

So if I am keeping up with you, Italian day in the Oceanview Cafe was on the second to last sea day?

Appreciating all of your detailed reporting and making extensive notes.

[AbbyCruiser45]

4 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

So if I am keeping up with you, Italian day in the Oceanview Cafe was on the second to last sea day?

Appreciating all of your detailed reporting and making extensive notes.

Yes, second to last! The last day was “Buffet Extravaganza” with cocktail shrimp! It was excellent but very busy. They will also put the buffet them in the daily planner next to the hours for the buffet. You’ll get that delivered to your stateroom the night before so you can plan your next day and if you want to dine at another venue. 

Edited May 26 by AbbyCruiser45

[hcat]

Great Review.. til next time!

[Stem to Stern]

How was the noise level around the ship?

Any favorite quiet hangouts?

[AbbyCruiser45]

Waved goodbye to the ship this morning! 
 

I have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow, but I plan to post about my final thoughts and an overall review in the next few days!

[AbbyCruiser45]

8 minutes ago, Stem to Stern said:

How was the noise level around the ship?

Any favorite quiet hangouts?

There are quite a few! Eden during the day is normally very quiet. That’s my favorite spot to read. World class bar is closed until 4pm typically, but there is a great spot with about 4 chairs that overlooks the plaza. Typically quiet during the day. The club is also a nice, quiet spot if there is not an event going on. The bar opens around 2, so you can grab a drink and enjoy a seat. There is an alcove of chairs in one corner that has a window so you can still see the waves. 

[AbbyCruiser45]

Alright, this will be my final big post on this live thread! I always like to reflect on the final experience in the big domains. 

 

Dining

I know there have been a lot of shifts in Celebrity in terms of dining in the last few years, but I think they have finally struck a pretty good balance in terms of delivering quality but also working with obvious cutbacks (as most lines are experiencing). The menu is slimmer than in years past regarding the appetizers, typically only 2 new options every night. However, the quality of the food was exceptional. Every item was good and cooked perfectly. This was true in the MDR and Oceanview (where we had lunch all sea days). There were some really fantastic items in Ocean View, like fried chicken, calamari, shrimp, and sliced top-round steak. I sailed Princess last summer, and I cannot say the same for their buffet and definitely not for the MDR. 

 

I had the Premium drink package, and I was happy with the wine selection. I missed some favorites, such as Conundrum, but they still had classics like Decoy and La Crema. 

 

Stateroom

Earlier in the trip, I mentioned the issue with the late turn down on our room. That issue was resolved, but we still just had a less-than-average experience with our stateroom attendant. During the trip, she never introduced herself to us. She cleaned the room well, and if I never cruised Celebrity before, I would not have thought anything of it. But I do think it was below the Celebrity standard. For example, the bed has decorative pillows that are typically taken off at turndown and put back on the bed during the morning service. She left them on the couch the whole trip, which crowded the couch. Of course, this is beyond first-world problems, and we just put them on the bed ourselves to make room, but it was just the little things. I also am not sure if we have had good luck in the past 4 cruises, but our attendant almost seemed to stalk our schedules, and as soon as we would leave for breakfast, they would quickly pop in and clean our room. Typically, our room was not cleaned until 11:30 or 12, and I never saw the cart in the hall until well after 9, which I thought was strange. What I find frustrating about the end of cruise survey is that I would have liked to mention these things and rate her at an 8/10, but I would never do that because I do not want to hurt someone's livelihood over such trivial things, but I do feel that it was not up to the Celebrity standard. (We did tip and rate her 10/10.) 

 

 

The room itself was funny, room 8202. It was a regular (not deluxe) inside stateroom. The layout was a little small, but it had a lot of storage. What was weird but nice was that there were two doors leading to the room, with keycard access to both. There was not another room connecting, so I am not sure of why it was set up this way. Why it was nice, though, was because we heard no hallway noise all trip because of the two doors. 

 

Inside the room looking out the first door:

 

Lastly on the room, the Beyond creaking and cracking. I only heard it one day when the seas were a little rougher. I mostly heard it in the hall, but I heard one big pop in our room that woke me up one night. I cannot remember if that has happened on another ship before. 

 

Entertainment

We did not go to any of the live shows, regrettably. It is always tough with a larger group because dinner takes much longer, and we do not always have the time to do so. We enjoyed live music throughout the ship, though. We always did trivia almost every day, and that was always a lot of fun. I thought there were a lot of activities to choose from, such as sports tournaments (bocce, putting, bag toss, etc.), arts and crafts (dot painting and origami), and different styles of trivia (TimePlay, music, and general knowledge). 

 

The Ship

Finally, I thought the ship was so well designed. There were some faults the Edge ship, but hey are mostly fixed here with the much larger Sunset and Martini bar. I really don't have much to say other than I enjoyed every space. Here are some pictures I took around the ship of our favorite hang out spots: 

 

World class bar: 

 

Eden: 

 

 

Martini bar: 

 

Final Thoughts

Celebrity continues to deliver an excellent product. We had a fantastic time with very few complaints. I was very excited to try out the Beyond, and it did not disappoint. Kaleb and I should be sailing again on the Reflection in March. I put a TBA future cruise booking that we need to finalize, but I'm excited to try out another ship. My parents adore the Reflection. Thank you everyone for following along! Until next time!

[chrismch]

The last day was “Buffet Extravaganza” with cocktail shrimp!

Were these the peel and eat variety? What other specials did they have? Was that buffet lunch or dinner?

Thanks for pointing out where your room was located. Deck plans make it look a little larger. Glad to hear it was quiet as there is so much unmarked space around you. We also have an inside cabin for our cruise so we will be making sure we look for all our hidden extra storage that just looks like a wall. Are those interior walls still magnetic? We always bring magnetic hooks and clips for hats and daily planners on the wall.

Thanks for all your feedback!💐

[AbbyCruiser45]

31 minutes ago, chrismch said:

The last day was “Buffet Extravaganza” with cocktail shrimp!

Were these the peel and eat variety? What other specials did they have? Was that buffet lunch or dinner?

Thanks for pointing out where your room was located. Deck plans make it look a little larger. Glad to hear it was quiet as there is so much unmarked space around you. We also have an inside cabin for our cruise so we will be making sure we look for all our hidden extra storage that just looks like a wall. Are those interior walls still magnetic? We always bring magnetic hooks and clips for hats and daily planners on the wall.

Thanks for all your feedback!💐

They were already peeled, just tails on! It was a lunch buffet. We did not do dinner this trip, but walked through several times and the food looked very good. 

 

The walls were magnetic! I also hang things on the wall with clips. 

[gatour]

Thanks for the additional information.  When I saw your first photograph of your cabin days ago, I figured it was a deluxe inside cabin since it seemed large.  Amazed now that you said it was the "smaller" inside cabin.  Looking at the deck plans it looks like they are shorter but wider than the deluxe inside cabin.

 

I am considering a Celebrity Beyond cruise.  I initially was thinking the type of cabin you had but then switched to think deluxe inside seemed it to seem larger.  Now I am thinking about the cabin category you had.  Thanks

[asctony]

48 minutes ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

They were already peeled, just tails on! It was a lunch buffet. We did not do dinner this trip, but walked through several times and the food looked very good. 

 

The walls were magnetic! I also hang things on the wall with clips. 

FYI: Ceilings - using magnets from ceilings will hold more weight.

 

[horseymike]

Thank you  for your excellent ongoing review about your cruise.

The pictures and descriptions were excellent, very informative to us who are scheduled for a cruise on Beyond in September.

 

[depplep]

We sail in 46 days. I can't wait to try your food and drink recommendations. Did you happen to go to Le Grand Bistro? I was looking for some feedback on the food there and also to verify that it's really only open 2hrs a day?

[kabmab]

Thanks for the great cruise review!  We enjoyed the Ascent in April and recently booked the Beyond in August.  Your review of resort day passes was really helpful, and we're booked for a day at Avila thanks to you.