moneeman

We were on Beyond last year in a suite. While we did not "self disembark", suite guests were called VERY early in the process. We were some of the first off the boat.

If you are not already booked on a cruise, open the app and at the bottom select "Browse our ships". Select the ship you are interested in, then select any cruise. Once the app opens to that cruise, select dining, then the restaurant you wish to see. The menu option will be close to the top.

Interesting topic. Obviously, there is no right or wrong here. We have not stayed in Aqua, but we have stayed in a Sky Suite, and the Luminae experience is similar to Blu. We have also eaten in Blu as a suite guest. We love the smaller restaurants. Not as crazy. Not as loud. Better service. We are, in essence, assigned a head waiter (all of ours have been men so far) who quickly gets to know us, and provides great service at every meal. He only services a handful of tables at a time. Also, remember that Blu is open for breakfast as well as dinner, and has a great selection. If you opt to spend the money on specialty restaurants instead, which is also a good option, you will be doing the breakfast buffet (or MDR) in the morning. Blu also will have some menu options that are lighter than those offered in the MDR. Aqua has a few other less significant benefits, but Blu would be the primary one for us. Good luck with your move up, if you decide to go that way.

Sorry, I should have specified room type when quoting rates. The prices are for Sky Suites. The three specific Ascent cruises are: 7/13/24 - 7 nights - $4,367/7 = $623/night 7/20/24 - 7 nights - $4,239/7 = $605/night 7/27/24 - 7 nights - $4,367/7 = $623/night All of those cruises currently have a $650 OBC for suites, which is NOT factored in the per-night rates above. Edited to add this is a per-person rate. Double occupancy required to receive this price.

Thanks for the replies. Price, obviously, comes into play, and the prices vary as you would expect. The average price per night for the potential voyages we are considering are: Norway Apex - $620/night - 3 possible cruises Silhouette -$581/night - 1 possible cruise Greece Ascent - $617/night - 3 possible cruises Equinox - $510/night - 3 possible cruises Infinity - $508/night - 12 possible cruises In Norway, the price difference isn't huge, but as I said before, I much prefer the itinerary on Silhouette. In Greece, the price difference is much more significant. Of course, you get all the added benefits of the new ship for that price. Based on feedback, we will likely eliminate Infinity.

The best views on Alaska cruises are most always on the land side, except for the rare whale sighting. A lot of people book balconies because they were told Alaska is so beautiful, but are disappointed when their view for the great majority of the trip is wide open ocean.

We cruised in a suite for the first time in 2019 on Millenium, only a couple of months coming from their latest remodel. I think it was called "Revolutionized", or something like that. While Millenium is a small ship by today's standard, we thoroughly enjoyed the Retreat experience. When we decided to do a Med cruise last year, we were thrilled to be on one of the first Beyond cruises. Naturally, that was amazing. We are now looking at either a Greece or Norway cruise next year. A couple of new ships are possibilities, but we really like some of the itineraries better on older ships. One is on Equinox, which was renovated in 2019, so I'm guessing that was the same treatment as we saw on Millenium (with likely a larger sundeck area, which is no big deal either way for us). The other two ships with good itineraries are the Infinity (Greece) and Silhouette (Norway). It looks like Silhouette also received the Retreat upgrade in 2020, but Infinity was last updated in 2018 (pre-Retreat). I would love some information or opinions on how the Suite amenities currently on Infinity compare to what we had on Millenium in 2019. I also would like to hear what you like or do not like about the Retreat amenities on Silhouette and Equinox. That will help us narrow our choices.