RTR 21-0

Just logged on because I was missing being on our cruise and saw this post. We are 27 days after our 1st Celebrity cruise on Beyond and loved everything about the ship and trip from beginning to end. Only complaint was bar service was a little slower after our favorite bartender left mid week for vacay, but that complaint is more us being spoiled by our guy’s incredible service from Sunday to Tuesday. We’ve been on 14 Carnival, 1 RC,1 Celebrity and can’t wait to book more on Celebrity. Beyond was beautiful, the food was plenty and we always found something we liked, drinks were made perfectly, but the one thing that stood out the most was how friendly every crew member was.

I left a mini review on May 21st.

We booked a tour of the coast, Ravello, Positano and Sorrento with Mr Taxi Cab Driver. One of his drivers picked us up at ship around 8, brought us to each stop giving us plenty of time to roam around, shop, take pics and stopping along the way for pics. Told us about the areas and recommended a good restaurant in Sorrento. Had us back in Naples a little before 4, plenty of time before we were supposed to be back onboard. Their price was 400€ up to 4 people.

Recently returned from our first European/Mediterranean vacay on our first Celebrity Beyond cruise and to say we were blown away would be an understatement. Beyond is a beautiful ship but what made it more special was the people working on it. I lost count at the number of times daily we were asked how we were enjoying our cruise, how was our day, etc. After day 1 our fav bartender knew us by name, fav drink and stateroom number. Stateroom attendant was super nice and attentive and surprised us with little extras for our anniversary. Drinks were poured with a heavy hand unlike Carnival which can be hit and miss. If I’m paying for that drink package I want to taste more Tito’s than cranberry 😁. Other than the Mast burger we had no complaints about the food. Sorry Celebrity, Guy’s Burgers on Carnival is the winner in the burger category. But we have been on 14 Carnival, one RC and one Celebrity making memories and without a doubt Celebrity will be the first we look at in the future.

We saw very little on Beyond on deck 11. I also used our towels to sit on but checked the towels after and it was minimal.

As promised, getting back to you about Andreas. He wasn’t the one to show up at port. Someone else that works for him was there. I’ll admit I was a little skeptical when we walked up as he was yawning and didn’t seem very motivated/enthused. He ended up being very informative about the area and an excellent driver on the 25 hairpin turns. Weather that day was a little dreary and rained hard during what should have been our stop in Njegusi so we opted to keep going but not sure if we would have enjoyed stopping there anyway just based on looks from the outside (wasn’t our vibe). For us it was a day well spent touring the island but my instincts tell me there are other companies that may offer a better experience.

Not sure if this should go under a different topic or heading but I wanted to let everyone know about a fabulous car company we used during our recent pre and post cruise stay in Rome. I contacted 12 companies for rates and went with the most reasonable one even though it wasn’t the most recommended online or on this forum. They are Mia Limos. We used them for pickup/drop off to hotel from FCO; pickup from hotel to Civi; pickup from Civi to hotel; and hotel to FCO. Each time our driver was waiting for us with a sign at the airport and port and always at least 10 min. early for pickup. Cars were Mercedes and spotless and the drivers (we had 3 different people) were always friendly and professional. Wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.

We recently stayed at Navona49 in Piazza Navona for two nights pre-cruise and it was wonderful! Booked 10 months in advance directly through their website and received a better rate than what Booking.com offered. I emailed a few times prior to booking and Angela (I believe she’s 1 of the owners) replied quickly each time. She actually emailed me three weeks prior to arrival to let me know construction on an adjoining building had begun earlier than expected and scaffolding with some type of cover had been placed in front of their building. She wanted to “give us full transparency” so as not to be disappointed. We chose to keep our booking and gave us a discount and had a bottle of Prosecco upon our arrival. We booked the deluxe suite which has an adjoining room equivalent to a small living room. It reminded us of a little apt and was great for keeping all of our luggage in instead of walking over in the bedroom. The place was immaculate, employees very friendly and great location to walking to almost every site you want to see, except for possibly Vatican City & Colosseum but taxi circle was right around the corner. Highly recommend.

Wanted to report back and let y’all know what I ended up bringing. My black New Balance 1080 v11; purchased a pair of New Balance 990 v6 that is a sort of greige (grey/beige); and purchased a pair of Naturalizer Morrison in white. Each were interchangeable with my outfits and so comfortable! Never had an issue with my feet even after logging 15,000-18,000 steps per day! Found a cute & comfy pair of dress sandals on Amazon by Dream Pairs that worked perfect for nights on the ship.

Recently returned from our Beyond cruise and wanted to report back on my experience with euros. I probably spent way too much time overthinking it but I was a European traveling newbie and I assume that comes with the territory 😅 We purchased ours pre-cruise from our bank and I’m glad I did. I had our Euros divided into envelopes for each tour guide we pre-booked (Kotor and Greece both used Euros) as well as private drivers; allotted a certain amount for our 2 day pre cruise & 1 one post cruise Rome stays, extra gratuity for cabin steward and a couple euros for our fav bartenders (although one night we tipped US and the bartender said they gratefully accept any denom tip) and came back with enough small Euro coins to give to the grands. Only used our CC for the hotels. I read plenty of tips to get Euros once in Rome, but I felt that would have taken away our time exploring and we arrived pressure free and ready to take on Rome.

Returned this past week from our cruise and anytime dining in the complimentary restaurants was easy breezy even on the get your fancy on nights. We generally dined around 7:30, walked up and asked for availability/wait time and each time in each of the 4 restaurants we were immediately taken to our table. Food and service in each was great.

Loved our SSV recently on Beyond. Made a point of asking others in convo what type category they had and the manly of those in infinite veranda were one and done. We were interested in a cruise late 2024 and all SSV were booked. Apparently they go quickly so book early.

Just cruised on our first Celebrity cruise on Beyond, SSV cabin 11296, Mediterranean. I packed ear plugs after reading the reviews and never needed them. Cabin was amazing and quiet as a church mouse. Best sleep we’ve ever had. The only time we heard a little creaking was in the afternoon going through the Strait of Messina when weather was overcast and super windy. Once past there no noise.

Piper77 I’ll let you know what I find out.

Thinking we will probably do HOHO in Corfu on our stop later this week. Weather is looking rather iffy so will play it by ear. My questions are, I found HOHO tickets online but can these be purchased at the port by the local company that runs it? It looks like there are two lines, Kanoni and Acheillion. Which one would be more interesting for a 1st time visitor? Possible to do both with an 8:00 am - 7 pm port stay? Weather also not looking great in Zakynthos on Friday. Suggestions please!! Maybe just stick around port? One son said whatever we do in either Corfu or Zakynthos we had to eat hummus for him lol so a great restaurant that isn’t a tourist trap would be greatly appreciated. 😊 TIA!

Wouldn’t you know it! Night before we fly out and I can’t find my plastic holders that attach to our luggage for our tags. Will they attach at the port in Civi?

Thanks Terry! We’re using a credit card w/no transaction/exchange fees. Hubs asked me the question out of curiosity and I had a hmmm I’m not sure moment. Used to cruising in the Caribbean, never a Mediterranean.

Wasn’t sure how to title this but my question is when embarking in Europe will the credit card we have on file for ship charges incur an international fee or are charged in US $?

We have a credit card that doesn’t charge an international fee but we prefer not to use it all, only at our pre & post cruise hotels. All of our tours asked to be paid in Euro, car service company charges a 10% fee if cc is used so we’ll pay them with Euro as well and instead of using the ATM at airport and finding one at a bank, we chose to have them in hand when we land. Our bank charged a $10 fee and of course the exchange rate.

Haven’t really thought about dining reservations because on other cruise lines we usually just decide where to and what to eat based on the mood of the day and always booked with anytime dining. Booked same for this cruise but I was playing on the app and checked out the 4 main dining options for upcoming cruise (Beyond) and noticed the first available for each is 9:00 pm each night. Definitely don’t want to eat that late. Thought I’ve read in previous posts most times one can get a table in 30 min (more or less) w/o a reservation. Is that correct or as Ricky Ricardo said will I, “have some ‘splaining’ to do” to DH?

Ordered our Euros today from our bank for upcoming cruise on Beyond. I requested small bills - ones, fives, tens, twenties - but the banker said she didn’t have the option to choose the denominations and more than likely Wells Fargo will send larger bills. She suggested finding out if Celebrity will make change. Does anyone know if they will or if there are options in Rome (will be there 2 days prior)? TIA

We have him booked for our May 7th cruise. I can give you a review once we get back.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

Similar happened to us January 2022 when we had to cancel our May 2022 cruise. We found a cruise for May 2023 during a promotion but credit wasn’t available so we paid the tax and I followed up at about 4 weeks later and the credit was available to be applied. Not sure if it would have been done automatically so be sure to follow up on your own. I did book the May 2023 cruise w/Celebrity over the phone and they told me about the option to only pay taxes at time of booking so I would say it’s worth a phone call.

Malleykatt, appreciate the info on the Christmas shop. Love to get an ornament in each port. My husband better close his eyes b/c we are going to 5 ports and staying in Rome pre and post cruise. Going to be lots of ornaments purchased lol.