PinkSandGirl

I never really thought about flowers not being allowed but read this in the app today. (Posted below) I have brought shells and rocks back. Yikes! Never got pulled aside for those. I was given a grasshopper at a restaurant in Cozumel made from palm once. I still have it. Aww, how nice. The bouquet 💐 is lovely. Cheerful. Happy Birthday. It's OK to continue celebrating. 😉 When I went to Maui (land vacation) I bought bamboo that's in lava rock. They sealed it and it had all kinds of documentation, stamps & seals so I could bring it on the plane and back into the continental U.S.A. I still have it and it has grown to be tall and has taken on a very unique shape. ❤️ Got it in 2001. Stays indoors and not in direct sunlight. Sorry for the side story. 😅 🍹

I would like to Welcome anyone from the Roll Call to feel free to contribute as well, if you'd like. The more the merrier. 🥳 If you aren't on the Roll Call, keep the banter, questions and comments flowing. 🤗 I enjoy the commraderie these 'Live's' can form. 🥰 I admit I sometimes tend to read and follow along but don't necessarily always comment. I appreciate everyone before me and currently - to share your cruise experiences. I used to think everything I do during a cruise, that's what others did as well but that's far from true. We all have our 'thing'. I have found it very interesting to learn what others do/don't do. 🍹

Retreat Pre-Cruise Personalization & Shoreside Concierge At least 2 months ago I started to receive e-mails to personalize the cabin. I also received an e-mail from Shoreside Concierge about a week ago. My dad also received the e-mails for their cabin. I didn't receive this type of communication the last time I sailed on the Beyond. Same cabin type this time as last time, Sky Suite. Here is the e-mail (not the shoreside one - it seems to have disappeared from my inbox), the questions asked and then what showed after I submitted the form. 🍹

Spelling correction.

It'll be 'Yay' for you and 'Grrr' for us.😂 Joking. Hehe As the cruise ends, as sad as that always is, it is always nice to go back home...and then also plan the next one. 😉 Along the way, if you need any information, just ask. 🍹

There are 365 beaches, one for each day of the year, and so many look lovely. 🏝 The beach restaurant has local food and gets good reviews. 🍹

Gotcha. Totally understand. Some places you enjoy going to over and over. Others, not so much. We've explored both sides of St. Maarten/St. Martin. Haven't been there since March 2017 - before the hurricane hit that did so much damage. There was a great French Patisserie on the French side, Serafina's. That location isn't there anymore (after the hurricane). They now have a tiny little spot somewhere else. Barbados. Ooh. Flower stall. I love flowers. 🌺🌷🪻🏵🪷 It's ashame you can't bring them onboard. I just want to take the colorful flowering bushes, trees, vines, etc...with me when in tropical climates. 😉 I will post details and pictures for each of our ports. Something different at each port. I like to mix it up. 3 ports are planned to a tee. 2 are loosely planned but with ideas/plans and we will see where the day takes us at times. 😉

Hopefully you still talk to me at the end of the cruise. 🤣 hehe I like the countdown updates you post with the animals. I am an animal lover so I think we'll get along. 🐈🐈‍⬛ Looking forward to meeting in person. After all this time on the Roll Call, it's nice to put faces to the CruiseCritic names. 😉 I will be posting my update later with my shirt details. 🥳 🍹

Yes. That's what we're thinking. Her 90 days will fall during our sailing. Thank You! =). Nice, you were did the same itinerary. 🍹

We have a private tour booked. I'll post all the details and who we're using. Quick Overview: An island tour with multiple stops/highlights (Nelson's Dockyard, Shirley's Lookout), a taste of the famous black pineapple, a beach stop (go in the water, food, bathrooms, chairs), etc... It's a 6 hour tour, just us in an air conditioned van. I was able to customize it. We're being picked up at the port. 🍹

Aww, Thanks. 🥰 🍹

Which ones don't you love? Just curious? I've been to St. Maarten and St. Kitts. St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua will be new to all of us. 🍹

Hi! Thank you for the succinct yet informative review! I can have a tendency to ramble. 😆 Glad you had a great time with family. Looking forward to this same cruise next week. We have a catamaran tour booked in St. Lucia. I want to see the Pitons. I looked at the tour you did but my dad didn't want to spend a lot of time in a van/on a bus so we went with all catamaran. I do want to try the famous bananas so I'll have to see if I can find any. 🍌 🍹

Great! Thanks. I'll look at it. 🤗 🍹

That's great to hear! Thank You! 🍹

Yes, I agree. We do things together and also separate. Who wants to go to the pool one day and who wants to do something else but always meet back up. Who wants to wake up early for breakfast, who doesn't but then meet for lunch and usually always have dinner together. As for ports, we stick together. Sometimes some want to stay on the ship so some get off, others don't. I always say with cruises you can do as much as you want or as little. 🍹

I feel like they become 'my cabin' and when I am looking to book I immediately go to see if it's available. I do so much research to pick the 'perfect' (based on what I like) cabin location and once I find that, I like to stick with it. 😉 That's great you had the same cabin #. 😃 🍹

Jim & Iain, Hi! Have safe traveling days and wonderful cruises. It's always fun reading your Live threads and the community that forms around them. The first one I ever read was your 'adventure' in 2020 before the world shut down. When you cruised the Equinox in '21, I even had my dad following along since we sailed after you in October '21 on the Equinox. We would talk about your travels and say, 'Jim and Iain did this, said this, etc...' and my mom would be like, who are you talking about?! 😂 It's like we knew you. 😉 Kelly =). 🍹

I was wrong. There was the Christening and press sailings and then you got on. I think that was you. 😉 🍹

Hi! Enjoy your cruise! 🥳 I hope the things you aren't 100% satisfied with get corrected. A fully packed ship. Ugh. I have a feeling my sailing will be the same since the sailing has been pulled for quite some time now. I know it's good the ships are full but definitely got spoiled on a half filled ship in '21. When I was on the Beyond in '22 the ship wasn't at capacity, which was nice. Still a lot of people but it never seemed like areas were bursting at the seams. Like some of the others that are following your journey, I'll be boarding next Friday as you disembark. It'll be my 2nd time on the Beyond. 🍹

Fort Lauderdale Arrival ✈️ We fly and arrive on Wednesday, April 10th. Originally I booked through Flights by Celebrity (as soon as the flights became available) and we were going to fly on the 11th. We've used Flights by Celebrity multiple times. I book, choose my seats at the time of booking, after payment is made I would call to have them 'push it through' so I have full control of the reservation. As with the cruise and hotel, I always check prices to see if there are drops. The airfare kept going higher and higher. Like the cruise. I received a flight notification (before final payment) for a plane change for the flight to Fort Lauderdale. We fly First Class and I like Row 2. The new plane, they had us in Row 2. All good there except First Class only had two rows. It was a smaller plane. Didn't like it. Started looking at other options. The flight on the 11th was an 8am flight so I would have to be up at 3am (probably no sleep or 2 hours max). Ended up getting a better deal for an early evening flight on the 10th. So, cancelled with Flights by Celebrity. Note. Before I cancelled with Flights by Celebrity I had the flight on the 10th on hold and then booked it. American Airlines, the system caught this, and contacted Flights by Celebrity. American wanted to cancel the flight on the 11th. Someone from Flights by Celebrity contacted me to see if this was correct and didn't want to do anything until it was confirmed by me. I thanked them (that was nice) and he was able to cancel the flight. I was going to call that day, American flagged it before that. I booked with American myself because I was able to get a pretty good deal with miles for the flights for all of us so I used miles to book it. When I first started cruising we would fly the morning of the cruise. I can't imagine doing that now! 🍹

Tolerable Pricing. I know what you mean. Crazy. This cruise, I always would look for price drops. Ha! That was a joke. They kept going up, up, up. Plus, then they took perks away. Rosie & Pete. So nice you've gotten close and cruise together. 😍 ❤️ Real Balcony ❤️ 🍹

Changes with Celebrity When we booked, the 4 Retreat perks were still what many of us had been accustomed to: Onboard Credit, Gratuities, Premium Beverage Package & Premium Internet. Butler. I'm sure many of you know the Butler saga that has unfolded, changed, etc... Our Butler last time was wonderful. I'm going in with an open mind. We aren't demanding and don't ask for very much. Last time, she kept wanting to do more. I like doing things myself (like bookings, etc...). I prefer evian stocked and my boyfriend a glass of pineapple juice. People that know me 'may' say I can be high maintenance at times 🤣 but see, I'm not. 😉 If evian can't be stocked, easy enough...I'll stock it myself. <I do however think something like water should be stocked regardless of the Butler situation>. Food. Based on reviews there seemed to be a decline in the food overall (from when I last sailed) and less choices but it has taken an upswing. Food is subjective. I admit I am picky or as a friend of mine says, I'm particular. Luminae: Honestly I wasn't in awe with it. Food and service. I enjoyed it for the most part and there were some dishes and desserts that I still talk about but our last sailing, I think it was off though. When we started sailing with Celebrity we were very happy with the food. That was the Main Dining Room, casual places, Blu and specialty. I do hope the food is still good. Again, going in with the outlook of it being good. 🍹

Hi! Paul! Happy to have you along. 🥰 Yes, I remember you saying you have the Beyond booked. People love the Sunset Verandahs! Our friends tried getting one when they booked and I was checking daily to see if one was available, but no. I just started looking at the forecast for Florida and the islands. Hi! to Tim. CoCo 😉 🍹

Booking Date Booked the beginning of February '23 - used Future Cruise Passages that we got from the Beyond in October '22. Originally Our Sailing was going to be the last sailing before the Beyond went to Europe for the season but Celebrity decided to keep the Beyond in the U.S.A. so the Beyond will continue sailing from Fort Lauderdale. I like having a cruise on the 'books'. I would definitely love to cruise more than once a year but I take other types of vacations throughout the year. In 2023 I didn't cruise. Had a lot of other trips and things going on so it was hard to schedule. Yay!!! to it being cruise time again! 🥳 🍹