sergel02

I was reading this article the ship is going back to passenger sailings, so I’m a bit confused why the possibility of an April 2023 sailing seems unlikely. https://www.cruisehive.com/holland-america-confirms-ship-will-return-to-service/76102

Wonder if lines will move back towards smaller ships in the future.

Someone on Reddit was wondering this too. They’re HAL cruise in the Pacific was a lot cheaper than even Carnival or Royal. For me, I priced out the Rotterdam and Celebrity Silhouette at the end of May next year to the Fjords and HAL was overall $1500 cheaper. I do wonder why it seems cheaper. Not sure if they’re cutting costs elsewhere or they found a system that works well for them.

yeah, I dont know about that. I agree with using the main showroom more but the nature documentaries and talk presentations are something that has appealed to my family and I despite us being younger than the typical demographic. I actually sent feedback I wanted more of them like the underwater one because it felt so immersive with the screens on the Pinnacle class ships. I do think the productions shows could be better. It wasn’t bad but did lack singing, and after going on the Celebrity Beyond I noticed a difference. As far as the kids things, some people in this thread seem to think there are only 2 options: Drunk party cruise with screaming kids commandeering the ship and sleepy sailings with no kids and lights out at 10. There is a middle ground. I don’t think they need to appeal to kids and teens the way larger lines do but I do think they should make sure they have a nice cruise too since families do come. I remember hating the fact there weren’t even kids clubs when I was younger so I’m happy things are changing a bit. For comparison, I feel like Princess and Celebrity’s S-class do a good job overall. Some lines focus on suite experiences, or spas, or activities, but for HAL i think their strength is their focus on enrichment and education, along with the arts and music. There are certain people and families from all demographics it appeals to and enhancing their experience would be good. There are people like me who like the classic feel of cruising and enrichment offerings but don’t want to pay the higher prices or go on the really small ships of other lines. No clue who they’d sell to if HaL was sold. I did have a dream that Viking bought them though 😂

I mean I don’t think not catering to teens will kill them but for those who really don’t want kids, they might go Virgin, Viking, or Cunard. Personally I’m in the camp that the ship doesn’t need to cater to kids or teens like Royal or NCL, but it should have a decent program or facilities for those who do come on. There IS a set of cruisers who have families, but like the smaller size of ships, focus in enrichment and ports, who also can’t afford Disney. The basketball thing is unfortunate, but does make me wonder if some ships in the future will move it inside like I think the Disney Wish has or Royal did with Anthem if the Seas kind of. A bulk of the games and physical activities are centered around a section inside of the ship rather than a sports deck on top.

If it’s like in the Koningsdam I went on it’s like a separate lounge, but right across from the Billboard room and dueling piano so it gets kind of loud sometimes, especially with casino right above you. HAL is kind of known for their music now but I wonder if the change was licensing thing. Maybe rebranding them might help some guests little rather than getting rid of them entirely. I admit I didn’t check out either the Blue Club or Rolling Stone much in my cruise because the music wasn’t my style, but I didn’t know until I went their set list was more varied than I thought. I wonder if they’ll merge some venue purposes and have singers perform in the same area. BB Kings and Lincoln Center both performed in the same venue on Koningsdam but at different times.

You might not get to explore more of the ship. You will miss some of the specialty dining though like Palo unless you skip one of the main dining rooms.

Been home for a bit so I can from some final thoughts about the Beyond overall. Overall Impression It was my first time on an edge class ship, and the last Celebrity ship I was on was the Millennium. I really loved the Beyond though. It was probably one of my favorite cruise ships I've been on. Some ship-specific highlights and musings: The Rooftop Garden. My mom and I love greenery on cruise ships to the point that it's harder to pick ships that lack it. I'm happy more and more ships are adding it. The Sunset Bar. Not so much the actual bar because we don't drink, but more the tiered seating. Reminded me of Santorini a bit. Again a feature I hope more ships implement. The Oceanview Cafe overall design. It was easy to move around and I didn't realize how big of a difference the large windows would make for making the ship feel more airy. The Infinite Verandas. Loved the extra space it added. I'm already seeing other ships like Viking Octanis and MSC Europa add it too. Really liked the spacious bathrooms too. Lots of places to sit and look outside. I liked the iLounge and classes it offered. Food was good overall. Staff were nice and helpful. Le Petit Chef. One of the best meals I have had and I loved the show. Will sail again on Celebrity for sure just because of that. Enjoyed the shows overall. The Destination Gateway was great and I think more ships need something like it. Even if you have to take a tender, it's nice not getting off or coming onto the ship in a dungeon like other ships. Enjoyed the spa a lot. It looked like ones I've seen in luxury hotels with the design and private rooms. Also staff didn't try too hard to sell us stuff. The resort deck was nice and large with places to sit. It was a bit too hot for us to really use it but I liked it. I liked the smaller plunge pools by the Garden. THE ARTWORK! This was the first time artwork really impressed me on a ship. They even give an artbook. The overall design of the ship I think suited someone like me who's entering their 30s. On that note, I loved a lot of the music. Some songs I discovered are Jubël - Teenage Minds, Nathan Lanier - Torn, and Priya Ragu - Kamali. I like some of their sustainability practices and efforts. Captain Kate of course. Some more neutral or negative aspects for me I missed having a dedicated Observation Lounge. The NCL Bliss has a large one, and HAL's newer and upgraded ships have a fantastic one that is also an educational and enrichment center with maps and screens. I know ships would rather use that space for staterooms or suite lounges but I really love having an observation lunge, especially one that wraps around. The Theater was nice, but I'm constantly reminded of HAL's newer ships in this aspect too and how they wrap around more. It led to some shows and videos being more immersive. A few too many shops IMO. Some of that real estate and staff could have been better used. I did kind of missed 1 large dining room. I don't mind the split dining rooms, but I kind of wish they had a bit stronger theming or design to make each one stand out more, kind of like how Disney does but not that far. The Blinds to close window in the staterooms are really loud, that it does wake people. You can also hear your neighbor sometimes. I wondered why you couldn't press the button to have the window go down on it's own rather than having to manually hold it every time. EDEN: This I'm the most conflicted on. I loved the nature theming, and I loved the seating before you enter with the nice chairs and the nature sounds playing. The actual EDEN area always smelled of fish which made it hard to sit and enjoy it. We never ate there partly because we forgot there was a place to eat. I like the windows and the design looks great from outside the ship, but it was a lot of space and I wonder how else it could have been used. The Magic Carpet was neat but nothing amazing. It was nice to use for tendering though. In any case, I really did enjoy the ship overall. This was the first time I've been on a ship and would want to go on that same ship again.

Thanks, hopefully we can try it sometimes this year or next. It’s the one class I haven’t tried and it seems nice. Do wish they were able to update the rooms like they did in the Millennium and Summit but I think COVID kind of got in the way. Wonder if the Reflection will have some room changes when it goes into dry dock.

Flatbush does have the right of it though. Part of the reason for the testing is to limit the people who are positive onboard. If someone tests positive then they won’t be able to board, limiting potential spread. Testing right before boarding would probably be best for that but that would be an even bigger nightmare for both guests and the cruise line. Plus with 48 hours, a lot of people haven’t flown yet, like in your scenario. That way some can get a voucher or refund for their flight. Cruise lines can’t follow people and what they do between testing and boarding but they’re trying to minimize the risk. Most places don’t have to take care of people if they get sick, but cruise ships do. That all said, I can still see lines taking away testing. It’s a stressful and now expensive hurdle for guests, and as long as vaccinations are required there is less risk of someone getting really sick on a ship, which was always the biggest concern.

Thanks for posting because I was wondering when they were gonna change it. I’ve been in the Beyond but never the Solstice class. For those who have been in both, would you recommend Apex or Silhouette for these cruises, since they’re all 12 nights?

I was in the Beyond recently and really loved it. It was probably my favorite cruise ever. That said, i did have some negatives somewhat similar to yours. We cruise similarly, mostly focusing on food, shows, and itinerary. I found the food in the buffet good overall but it lacked variety compared to other premium lines. The sound in the theater was loud and I had issues with it, but it was fixed by the last night. Wish it could have been earlier. I liked the mirrored hallway personally and found it fun. I didn’t find the ship soulless (always curious how people define this) or dark but I do agree there were too many shops, especially high end ones. I get they only need a purchase every now and then to make money but it felt like too many shops where the space could have been better used. I found lots of places to sit, and many pretty quiet. The plaza was really loud though. I thought I was the only one noticing the fish smell in Eden. Made it hard to sit there.

Day 9 - Sea Day The last day is always the saddest. Also maybe someone else can answer this, but as we were reviewing our bill we noticed we never got port fees for Corsica back. I remember in Royal when we missed Nassau due to weather we got them back. - Two major highlights for us were Captain Kate’s Q&A talk and the excursion of the back stage tour Of the ship. - During Captain Kate’s talk she mentioned about how she got interested in sailing, where she went to school, where she’s worked (a banana boat being one of them), and about her husband. It was a funny and entertaining talk, and I’m glad I got to see her in person. Definitely among the most famous ship captains out there. She also talked about the hardest ports to dock into. - She spent the last 5 minutes or so being a bit more technical and talking about the ships environmental standards and practices. She says it’s one of the questions they get asked the most. - Some points she mentioned: • The Beyond is equipped with shoreside power, so it can plug into shoreside ports that have the capability and turn off its engine which generally is going to be more dirty than shore power. • The ship’s silicon paint and its air lubrication system and hull design all help it glide through the water smoother, using less energy. • The ship either burns cleaner Marine Gas oil which is super expensive or Heavy Fuel Oil. The heavy fuel oil requires the use of the scrubber system, which washes the exhaust which is then stored in tanks to discharge in ports. • The white plume you see is the scrubber system working and is a mist from scrubbing the fumes rather than just raw fumes. This is something the engineers said during the backstage tour. • The ship recycles a lot and limits single use plastics. During the backstage tour an officer mentioned they can sell the recycled material on land. • They’re flagged in Malta which has stricter environmental standards. No clue how true that is though. • They have their own desalination plant, so they can use water for sinks, toilets, galleys, etc, without taking water from ports. • Once used, the gray water from everything but toilets goes though a treatment system before it can be dumped overboard once they’re at sea, which depending on the country can be 6-12 miles at least. • The toilet water is separated between the solids and liquids. Solids get burned up, and liquids get purified until they’re safe enough to even drink. • During the backstage tour, there was an intern on the bridge who’s explained things about how the bridge works. Her focus is actually to work on a National Geographic Vessel as her focus is on Marine Biology. She had concerns over working on a cruise ship but she did say from what she say Celebrity does more than other lines, and an environmental activist i let on a different ship said similar things. - I have video clips of her talks though I am not sure if I can post here. - The backstage tour was fun. It was $129 a person booked while on the cruise. Not sure if it was cheaper if your pre booked. - The your included the kitchen and galley, the engine monitoring room (not the actual engines), the laundry, some crew area, and the bridge. - It’s hard to explain every little detail covered but if you never done one I highly recommend it just to see. They talk about how strict they are with food temperature and reducing food waste (since that costs money) and how everything is made to order. Where your laundry goes, how crews get the uniforms done. - The bridge was fun to see. It is so expansive. While at sea they may have just 3 people there but when docking in port they can have 7+. - One notable nice difference was the variety of people on the bridge. There were many men and women, and from many different countries, ages, and ethnicities. I’ve done bridge tours before and it was often older men from a smaller handful of countries so it’s showing how more people are getting interested in sailing, and that’s something the intern mentioned about her class too. - Fun fact about the intern is that was my first time meeting on a ship, but she mentioned a large chuck of her class got internships on various Celebrity ships so if you go on one this summer you may meet one.

Day 8 - Naples - Sadly none of us felt well so we skipped our excursion to Sorrento. There were taxi drivers at the pier offering tours to there or Pompeii but they were a bit forceful so it ended up making us trust them a bit less sadly. - The heat and humidity was rough but luckily there was a nice breeze. - We did go get some pizza. It was nearby, and it was called La Lazara Trattoria La Lazzara Trattoria e Pizzeria +39 081 551 7854 https://goo.gl/maps/1VPRrbA9fPfVsqMS7 - Pizza was great, pasta was a bit too Al dente for us though, bathrooms were private but not the cleanest but okay. They had outdoor seating. - While leaving some birds decided to hitch a ride on the lifeboats lol. - The show that night was called Arte I believe. It was probably my favorite one of the night. - Day 9 was a sea day and it was busy for me so lots to talk about but we are flying out early tomorrow so it may be a couple days.

Sadly since our tour was only 5 hours and we only had 45 minutes in the Vatican we weren’t able to. It takes around 30 minutes to get through security we were told. That’s what it was! I remember seeing that on the paper Celebrity gave out.

Yeah for sale. I know I’m the US when we say apartment we usually mean rent, whereas condos are for sale, but I believe in Italy (and many parts of the world) apartments can be purchased. I know in Japan and Korea people can purchase them, though every country seems to work differently. Really sorry to hear your COVID troubles. It’s a shame the insurance doesn’t reimburse everything. After hearing something on this sailing, I’m not shocked the suite prices have skyrocketed. I was hearing a guest talk to a staff about suites (I think they wanted to upgrade and were willing to pay). My sailing only has 1600 guests, yet all (194 in tots I think) suites are all booked. I thank all you suite guests subsidizing my cruise haha. When I heard that I kind of understood why Celebrity puts so much emphasis on their Retreat.

I got my days mixed up. Previous day that got canceled in Corsica was day 6 not 5. Just an fyi, on public transportation through September 30 masks are required on public transit in Italy, including tour busses. Day 7 - Rome - We had an excursion booked through Celebrity: Rome City Sights I believe it was called. It was listed as 5 hours and operated by Aloschi Brothers. The tour bus was very nice. - Jackie was our guide and she’s great. She’s from the UK I believe but has lived in Italy for 32 years. She was super knowledgeable about the history of Rome, about the sights we saw, and even about Italian culture. She talked about how Italians don’t always greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, that’s only sometimes with family. They don’t drink cappuccinos during nighttime, and many Italians live with their families until their in their 30s. The average rent for a 900 square foot/100 square meter apartment, 3 bedroom 2 bath is around 400,000 Euros. - The tour drove just past the Coliseum so definitely DO NOT book this one if your goal is to explore how Coliseum. It did stop at the Vatican and we had 50 minutes to explore. - WE SAW POPE FRANCIS! It was a random surprise. He was giving a speech. I believe 6/29 is a kind of Catholic holiday, as it was a day off In Rome. As someone raised Muslim I’m not too familiar with all the important days in Catholicism so maybe someone else knows. - Will say there are A LOT of goods sellers who are a bit pushy, and beggars but we were warned few of them are truly impoverished. Our guide told as about older women who present sickly and are asking for money by the Vatican. They aren’t actually older women and many of their actions are very exaggerated. I noticed 2-3 and they do dress and act very similarly, usually wearing a head scarf and shaking their cane like it’s having its own earthquake. I don’t know any one who uses a cane who uses it by shaking it around while walking 😆 - For dinner we went to Raw on 5. Ordered 5 items including dessert and it was a lot of food that cost around $62. - I finished the night going to watch Hungarian violinist Bernadett Nyari perform. She was great and she had just flown in that day from Florida. Something happened and Celebrity asked her to do a last minute performance. She was supposed to be on vacation haha

I’m not sure entirely. Though typically it’s 60 minutes before gangway is up. I think from celebrity’s site they have to submit manifestos an hour before of who is on the ship.

I forgot pics. Some slight spoilers for the both Le Petit and Elements though.

Day 5 - Ajaccio, Corsica but not really - We we’re supposed to dock in Ajaccio at 0800. At that time, Captain Kate made an announcement that went into the rooms even about weather conditions making it too windy to dock right now and she wouldn’t put the crew and guests at risk. She and the tugboat Captain waited for the storm and wind to pass. It was apparently something that uniquely happens in that area according to the tugboat. At 1030 it did and she came back on announcing that while the storm passed, another one was coming at noon, so she made the choice to head to Rome (slowly). - Misses that port, so we had and extra sea day. Not much happened today so I’ll talk about Le Petit Chef and Family and the show Elements from yesterday. Day 4 Part II: Electric Bugaloo - This was my first time to Le Petit chef. One member of our family decided not to go because he didn’t think any of the food would be good and Celebrity was really nice to cancel that and not charge us. - The whole thing was amazing! The show was so unique and exceptional. - The food was amazing too. Nothing was bad. We did get the Branzino instead of the short rib for our main. The show didn’t match but it still was fun to watch. - Something we loved was that the background stays on while you eat. Adds to the ambiance. The music was loud enough to block out sound from the plaza but not be over the top. - Will definitely do again next time we go on Celebrity. Price was $55 a person. On land, some of the cheapest options we found were at least $100 a person so it felt with it for sure. - Elements had a weird hiccup apparently during rehearsal. Something happens and they changed the typical 1930 and 2130 shows to just one show at 2100. - It was a fun watch and I loved the use of the 5 elements. It was a mix of acrobatics, dancing, singing, a cello player, and a couple unique bits with a variety of music. - I kept waiting for the giant tree to come out and them remembered that’s in Apex lol - Again though, like with the previous show it got overly loud. Not sure still if it’s the mics or the singers themselves. I’m inclined to the latter since one singer was fine with dynamics. Overall day 5 was relaxing after the busy day 4. Rome tomorrow!

I thought their dry dock was supposed to be January 2023?

Day 5 - La Spezia - Pisa - Florence oh god it was so hot today I think my eyeballs were sweating - The ship docks in the industrial port of La Spezia but the city is nice enough to have a free shuttle to the cruise terminal. - The AIDA Cosmo was docked behind us. Interestingly enough everyone on that ship was wearing masks, though I think they got ride of the rules to mask. - We didn’t have a excursion booked and were going to wander around port but it was a lot of walking. We ended up booking a tour with a local company I’ll link a pic of below. €35 for a 4 hour trip to Pisa with 2 hours at the actual Tower site. There were tours to Florence as well, and Cinque Terre. Prices much lower than the Cruise. - Trip was around 1 hour each way. Poor guy in the back was puking sadly (though very quietly). It’s a slightly bumpy ride. Our tour guide lady was REALLY helpful and nice though. Not much commentary on the sites but super nice. - The bus drops you about 15 minutes from the entrance so it’s a bit of a walk in the heat. Place was SUPER crowded. - We saw the Leaning Tower but didn’t have time to go inside. We did go inside the Cathedral which was worth it. Tickets are usually €7 a site or €24 for all but we got in for free. Maybe it was a special. - Restroom tip: every place requires you to either buy something or pay €0.50. We also went to ale Petit Chef tonight which was amazing but I’ll have to talk about that later.

A couple pics from yesterday.

Our waiter told us today at dinner that the next cruise should have 2000, and the one after 2900. And one in September has over 3000 booked already (curious which one). I guess we just got a bit lucky in ours for smaller crowds. I’m excited for Elements, though they changed its day. It was supposed to be day 6 before Rome, but will now be tomorrow, Day 5. We have Le Petit tomorrow at 1845 so hopefully we can make the 2130 show. I have heard no reason she should be as she just started being captain of this ship. This is only the 7th sailing for this. Day 4 - Santa Margherita and Portofino Sorry to disappoint but we had a tour booked but we’re so exhausted from the last day we ended up not going. One of us had back issues, the other knee, the other foot, it was a wonder we travel at all sometimes. - We really wanted to see the town, but the 10-15 minute tender ride and heat and humidity keeps us on board. Did have a busy day still though but a bit sad we didn’t leave. However, Rome and Naples are our last days before 1 sea day and WE. MUST. SEE. THEM. We know our limits and want energy for those ports haha. Spa stuff - I Did go to the spa and they gave us a $50 off coupon for a treatment yesterday so I got one if the men’s facials for $100. - Milena was my aesthetician and she as amazing. She did try to upgrade my treatment and sell me stuff but wasn’t very pushy. I did by some product but didn’t want to upgrade and she never pushed it, and she taught me a lot about my skin without making me seem like some ugly elephant likes others have haha. - The spa is really amazing for a cruise ship. I heard Celebrity invested in it for their Edge class and they weren’t kidding. The area is massive and there are tons of private treatment rooms like some hotels on land. I feel like if you’re on the fence on trying spa treatments on ships the Edge class are a great one to try, if finances allow. Between the service, gratuity, extra tip, and the product I bought, I spent around $200 total at the spa. - Keep in mind, the treatment states 50 minutes but mine ended up being closer to 65 minutes. - After the treatment I rushed on over to the Club Social. James/Jim Kennedy, a former director of the Kennedy Space center, was a presenter. We were fortunate to get someone so experienced and knowledgeable in space on our ship. - He mentioned how he usually only gets to speak on sea days, but Captain Kate was able to convince her bosses to allow him 4! He has some more and he talks about the ISS, Shuttle launches, SpaceX, etc. He also assumed I was a college student so I guess the spa treatment was working. - Something that sets the premium lines out for me is they seem to have more Enrichment talks like this which I enjoy. - Had dinner at Tuscan which was good. The pasta was some of the best I ever had. I have pics but they’re on my phone and I’m too lazy to switch devices at 1AM. Tomorrow is La Spezia…which is like an hour drive from Santa Margherita haha. The ship is only going at 8 knots tonight.

Day 3 - Nice - Villefranche - Monaco Wow we’re pooped 😫 - The ship docks in Villefranche which is between Nice and Monaco. We decided to do an excursion to Monaco and Monte Carlo. I always wanted to see Monaco since I watched Princess Diaries 2 in 2004 haha. - Important to note for anyone visiting soon: there is construction in the parking lot I guess so instead of picking you up where you tender at, you have around a 10 minute walk uphill to get to your busses. - This was honestly part of what tired us out a ton. The tour involved a lot of walking but it wasn’t too bad through Monaco. We did need to wear our masks during the bus but could take them off outside of it. - Tour drove us by Nice which was gorgeous. It does go very high though. There was a lady on the bus who started feeling a bit queasy every time she looked over the edge. - Then it dropped us by the Aquatic Museum which we didn’t get to go into but I wish we could. - Then saw some gardens which had a tribute to Grace Kelly. - We got to see the Royal Palace which offered a nice view of the harbor. We got about 45 minutes to explore so we got some food and souvenirs. - Went back tot he bus and then it took us to Monte Carlo. Odd thing though is we had to climb up to it, since they said buses can’t go there. Yet the hop on hop off busses could go up there fine. - The excursions description said you needed to be dressed up to go inside the casino and needed your passport but you didn’t need to be dressed up and any form of ID worked. - The your was supposed to take around 4 hours but it lasted more like 5.5 hours. Part of it was waiting for people and traffic but it still, plan for more time. - 10 minute tender back the ship and dinner at Normandie. Got the baked Brie for an appetizer and because it was International Seafarers Day AND the Infinity finally went back into service, they gave everyone free champagne. Overall I loved Monaco and I want to go back and see Nice one day. My feet probably don’t but they don’t have a choice 😂