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We started on Rome, went down to Sicily headed up to Italian riviera , then French Riviera then end in Barcelona. The only shuttle we have used so far was in le Spezia and it was super efficient and no wait as well. Also lovely is the welcome back with cold wet towels and water. Darn! I did not look closely at the bill to see if the tip was automatically generated. We dine at fine cut the last night so I will try and report back

We are not ignoring lumier, and others on the ship that we have met have loved it. I think the issue is, I was expecting Lumier to be bettter than most other restaurants on board. The thing is, my experience, all the restaurants are serving fabulous food with excellent service. I would not book suite level for this restaurant alone, as all of the dining on board it’s excellent quality. That said, I would book retreat level for the service of your retreat host (wish we could bring sini home with us) the spaciousness and design of the room, the lounge and lounge concierge, - I want to say the pool area as well but honestly there is such fabulous pool areas all over this ship it’s hard to say…and the easy access to tendering. we like to try different things, and I wanted to compare the main dining room on X to my experience on Oceania in the main dining room. We went to Cyprus last night. Wow again, food was excellent. Better than Oceania on mho. Not sure where we are eating tonight, might try rooftop, or perhaps the French dining room.

I don’t think celebrity is holding down the numbers by 3/4 for training! I don’t know when the crowds will be back, but the tour guides are telling me they expect an explosive summer due to the number of hotel reservations in the big cities. Apparently Florence two star hotels are going for five star prices.

We did try the spa! We had a massage and then bought the day pass for 50% off (if you get a treatment it’s half price) There was no one at the thermal suites, it felt like you had the place to yourself, but we were in port that day, so probably the reason. The thermal area is gorgeous and very zen. we have been through the solarium area, and honestly it looks and feels like the spa area. Huge space, lots of comfortable loungers, soft zen music in the background. Gorgeous space. Holy cow, this ship is so gorgeous. Also, I feel like there is a particular scent that lightly permeates both the spa and the solarium, and I love the smell. The solarium is an adult only space. They have a lovely little cafe with small bites, we tried it yesterday and delicious.

Kids. We are on the cruise. Joys luggage made it at midnight before the cruise. Joys luggage had a bit of a world tour as it was London as well as Rome. Air Canada team said they would pay up to 750 in items purchased. ( we waited to the last day possible but as we were not sure it would make it, we cancelled our tour and went shopping instead for knickers and other essentials….) thanks for all the comments, I will read them with more attention when we get home! BTW, celebrity beyond is an amazing ship!

Hi everyone just wanted to drop a note as I am currently on the beyond and I have a few things to say. This ship is gorgeous. The staff are amazing and the food is unreal. I have sailed on Oceania, and the food at Eden and Raw on Five blows them out of the water. I can’t wait until we try the steak place. We are staying at the retreat level, and while food is fine, it did not knock my socks off at lumier. The service there, however, does. And in the lounge there is almost always delicious things to snack on. But the best service I have experienced in a restaurant was at Eden. Make sure you ask to sit in Kaden’s? Section. (Got to check her name might) She was fantastic, so enthusiastic, so knowledgeable, so fun. She made it so hard to decide what to have! Honestly an amazing experience from beginning to end. Our retreat host Sini is the bomb as well, along with Ruskin our room attendant. We have been spoiled. We are in the aft sunset sky suite, and the room is spacious, well designed and so comfortable. Also our balcony with two large padded lounge chairs, two chairs and a table are everything we could possibly want. The ship only has about 900 people on board, which makes it fantastic for everything except the nighttime clubs- they just don’t get the same vibe with so little people. The retreat pool area is amazing, such comfortable furniture and just a multiple of sitting areas, but I could say the same about the solarium. (Also, all over the ship there are lovely places to sit, all unique and cozy. ) Sailed Disney, princess, royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Oceania. Comparing the Level of service, food, friendliness, gorgeousness of the ship and its multiple pool areas, well Celebrity is the best I have been on. Just Wow Dont hesitate to book this ship! I don’t want to get off in Barcelona!

We are in Rome, so that number does not work. And, there is a six hour time difference that complicates things. The number and email we were told to use did not work at all for any communication. We searched on the web, trying to find a number that would work, only to be put on hold for twenty minutes with no one answering ( and we were super concerned on the cost of that phone call.) We finally figured out an email that got us a response. But, so far, no luck with suitcase…

I use to do this. But I did not on this flight. I will NEVER do this again. I felt so bad for the couples that lost their carry one, as it is always the most essential stuff in your carryon.

Love this!

Thank you for letting us know that the Cruiseship may help us. We will ask at guest services if there is anything they can do. It is true that baggage handling is responsible for the checked baggage to get to the plane. However, I am not lying about the carryon baggage that was requested to be checked (the ones that you leave by the plane door because Air Canada tells you the overhead compartments will be too full). We stood in a two hour line at the airport in Rome to file the missing luggage claim, and we got to know peoples stories. How is that even possible to not load onto the plane? This happened, so I want to warn my fellow cc members. The airport we flew out of was Toronto. It was last Saturday night, (big storm that night). We have been in Rome 4 days, you would think that they could have got that luggage caught up to us. We have been in contact with AC since my last post, and we’re told it’s on plane ,will arrive tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and it’s not here. Get the same story again, and again it does not show up. Today we can’t risk it anymore, we have to get her some stuff. My shoes fit her but nothing else. I will tell you that my friend is taking this with great attitude. We have had a lot of fun in Rome, being hopeful that her baggage would arrive. But today we are going to find a mall and shop. It’s painful though, as she spent quite a bit of money before the cruise on some lovely clothes.

Hello friends I want to let you know that Air Canada is having a real issue with losing vast quantities of luggage. My suitcase made it to Rome, but my friends did not. Also, about 100 other people on the same flight lost their luggage. Worse, it’s been three days and still no luggage, and we are about to cruise this Thursday. It is impossible to get a hold of anyone at lost luggage in Rome, although they gave us a phone number and an email. The phone is always busy, and no response when we email. someone at our hotel on a different flight got their luggage lost, and it has not been recovered. There appears to be some major internal problems for air Canada. I am telling you this because I want to warn everyone to pack a major carryonbag with all your essentials (my friend did not) and or mix and match families clothing so everyone has some stuff if you get at least one bag. Also, you know how before a flight they ask anyone willing to tag their carryon bag and allow air Canada to stow it for them because the flight is full and there is no room for everyone’s carryon on the upper bins in the airplane? DO NOT DO THIS. Several people on our flight lost that bag as well! Never made it on the freaking plane! People were seriously screwed. So, if you are flying air Canada, be careful. If you are thinking about flying air Canada, I would choose differently.

Thanks for the info. I am not looking forward to the return to Canada part, I have read so many things about what a zoo it is…. and celebrity emailed tonight changing the antigen requirement to two days prior rather than one…. This is the third time in the last three weeks they have flipped the requirements…..

Thank you!

Good Morning fellow Canuck’s i am leaving for a celebrity cruise in a couple of days. I have done my research on the Covid rules, but I know there are some experts on this board, and I just want to confirm all my ducks are in a row! Leaving Toronto for Italy, I have my vaccine record with my booster, which is well under the 270 day time frame. I have downloaded ArriveCAN to my phone and have pre entered all the information that I am allowed to do so, including my vaccination records. I did do Italy PLU form but understand this is no longer needed (although I will bring the scan code just in case). My understanding is that I do not need an antigen test prior to boarding the air Canada flight, or even entry to Italy. My vax record is enough. I do need to do an antigen test 1 day prior to boarding the cruise (and have the logistics figured out for this in Rome, so no problem) I may need a PLU to get off the ship in Spain, but apparently celebrity gives you all the info on how to do this before disembarking so I am not concerned. I think I also need an antigen test to disembark in Spain, but this is not a problem as I can do this onboard the ship. Traveling back to Canada, using ArriveCAN, I understand I do not need to provide an antigen test, but I can be randomly selected once in Toronto for testing. Am I correct on all these points? It seems weird I don’t need an antigen test to get on the flight to Italy, and it seems weird I don’t need one to board the plane back home. I have no problem doing the tests, I just don’t want to be surprised at the airport…..

Hi there I will be on a cruise and we disembark in Barcelona, early June. Does anyone know what the current rules are? Do we need an antigen test to get off the ship? Do we need to do a PLU form? thanks!

Do we know yet, whether you can do Independant shore excursions in Italy? I thought there might be an update regarding this on May 1. I am specifically looking for celebrity ships if they allow independent shore excursions. Many thanks ~A