Detailed review with photos of Celebrity Beyond 23rd June - 2nd July Western Mediterranean

[Dk-cruiser]

Verry nice and well written review, love to read and follow your trip.

 

We are departurering from Barcelona on september 24, and are in SV stateroom 12307, so i'm pleased to hear that there was no noise issues. 

[Lunastella]

47 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

Lunastella, thank you so much for your detailed, well written and humorous review.  it is such a contrast to the other one recently which had us convinced to skip the Beyond.  I also appreciate a review that is not in a suite.

I didn't realize when I read your first post that you are from Dublin.  We fly there 2 weeks from today.  I am Irish also and my family sailed out of Dublin in 1957 for our new life in Canada.  It will be wonderful to sail out of Dublin again and see the Bull Wall where we used to walk.

Your pictures are awesome.  I loved that breakfast you had before sailing.

I look forward to your impression of Beyond and of course, the pictures.

 

Dear Teabag (Barry's or Lyons??? its an irish joke)

Thank you for your lovely comments. Indeed, I am from Dublin, born and bred. I hope you had a fabulous time in Dublin - a great place for pancakes in Dublin is Alma, just off the South Circular road....epic pancakes! If you want any other foodie recommendations let me know.

 

 

[Lunastella]

36 minutes ago, sgadk87 said:

Verry nice and well written review, love to read and follow your trip.

 

We are departurering from Barcelona on september 24, and are in SV stateroom 12307, so i'm pleased to hear that there was no noise issues. 

Hi Sgadk87,

No noise at all, you will be fine, just alot of steps!

[bluwes]

Following along, loving your review, plenty of pics. Not got Beyond lined up anytime soon but sailed on the Edge in her inaugural season back in 2019. 
We are picking up the Reflection out of Rome next Friday, so looking forward to that.

I see you’re all from Dublin, we usually(pre Covid) get over there at least once a year as the missus was born in Howth, but moved to the UK as a child,  so it’s usually some relatives special birthday. Although since lockdown was lifted we have sadly had two funerals to attend.

Enjoy the cruise.

[jzad]

Following along.  We are on Beyond next February!

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review.  Great pictures!

[Lunastella]

1 hour ago, bluwes said:

Following along, loving your review, plenty of pics. Not got Beyond lined up anytime soon but sailed on the Edge in her inaugural season back in 2019. 
We are picking up the Reflection out of Rome next Friday, so looking forward to that.

I see you’re all from Dublin, we usually(pre Covid) get over there at least once a year as the missus was born in Howth, but moved to the UK as a child,  so it’s usually some relatives special birthday. Although since lockdown was lifted we have sadly had two funerals to attend.

Enjoy the cruise.

Thanks Bluews. Reflection was my first cruise (also from Rome), so it holds a special place in my cruise heart. Howth is lovely, the cliff walk is one of our favourites, you must get back soon!

[Lunastella]

1 hour ago, jzad said:

Following along.  We are on Beyond next February!

Thanks! Hopefully it will give you some idea about what to expect next year!

[sgmn]

Looking forward to your review, we were on Beyond the cruise before yours,  though it was different ports. Our cruise was busier, around 2300 I think. On our last day there was a little competition on the pool deck - guess how many on the next cruise. I said 1400 but I think the correct answer was 1690. 

We were also on deck 12, but under the Solarium,  very handy for the lovely fresh coffee in the spa cafe early in the morning. 

Looking forward to hearing about the specialised restaurants as we didn't do any. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by sgmn

[bandp407]

Following - we sail on her end of November in a Sunset Veranda , deck 9. Have a fabulous time!!

[Reel Love]

Following, and very much enjoying your review so far.   Terrific pictures and a great sense of humour!  Looking forward to reading along 😊

[Lastdance]

Lunastella, thank you so much for taking time to write a review for the rest of us to enjoy.  We have a b2b/TA booked on her for next April, so are very excited to hear your experiences, as you "run" around the ship, photographing and commenting on what you see and do.  I am not able to run like I did many years go, but certainly appreciate your time, on this adventure, taking us Beyond the normal ship tour and into your own personal observations...hope you all have a blast!  

 

Waiting for more...

[Lunastella]

19 hours ago, sgmn said:

Looking forward to your review, we were on Beyond the cruise before yours,  though it was different ports. Our cruise was busier, around 2300 I think. On our last day there was a little competition on the pool deck - guess how many on the next cruise. I said 1400 but I think the correct answer was 1690. 

We were also on deck 12, but under the Solarium,  very handy for the lovely fresh coffee in the spa cafe early in the morning. 

Looking forward to hearing about the specialised restaurants as we didn't do any. 

 

Hi Sgmn,

I also took advantage of the fresh coffee in the Spa cafe- every day right after the gym it was my first stop! I think Eden, followed by Le Yoyage, and then Fine Cut would be my order of preference for the specality restaurants. 

 

15 hours ago, Reel Love said:

Following, and very much enjoying your review so far.   Terrific pictures and a great sense of humour!  Looking forward to reading along 😊

 

Thanks Reel Love. Welcome along!

 

 

15 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Lunastella, thank you so much for taking time to write a review for the rest of us to enjoy.  We have a b2b/TA booked on her for next April, so are very excited to hear your experiences, as you "run" around the ship, photographing and commenting on what you see and do.  I am not able to run like I did many years go, but certainly appreciate your time, on this adventure, taking us Beyond the normal ship tour and into your own personal observations...hope you all have a blast!  

 

Waiting for more...

 

Thanks Lastdance, there will be more...thanks for following along. I hope my commentary and photos are useful. I realise that 2 people may have very different experiences even on the same cruise depending on what you like/don't like, but I really enjoyed Beyond. There were way more positives on this cruise than my previous ones. 

 

16 hours ago, bandp407 said:

Following - we sail on her end of November in a Sunset Veranda , deck 9. Have a fabulous time!!

 

Jealous! Can I go again!

[Lunastella]

Day 1 Part B We are on the ship!

 

We made it! 

 

Beyond (again)

 

Straight up to deck 12 where we walked and walked and walked back to our cabin - 12288 – aft – sunset veranda – our first time in a sunset cabin! Our keycards were waiting for us just outside.

 

The long walk…get those steps in

 

 

The cabin was bigger than any we have travelled in before (remember we never stayed in a suite) and trust me when 3 adults are sharing a small space this is important. The balcony is huge – with space for 2 sun loungers, 2 chairs and a table! Do you want to see pics of the cabin now or later??? Ok, ok, I hear you.

 

Lovely calming colours

 

 

Lots of floor space

 

 

Nice art in the cabins too

 

 

Decent sized bathroom

 

 

 

 

 

The sunset balcony 

 

 

Sorry its really hard to take proper photos of the size of the balcony unless I grow wings....it didn't happen. 

 

 

 

 

Ok its time to explore before it gets too busy…although this, it turns out, would never be a problem. Initial impressions are good, very stylish, contemporary, muted colours (if you ignore the big orange thing), loads of art (which may or may not be to your taste, depending on your taste, but I liked it). We decided to start at the top (deck 15) and work our way down….we managed 2 decks….pool, solarium, rooftop garden, magic carpet….before stopping for our first prosecco.  Is it too early for a glass of celebratory bubbles? Probably, but it has been 2.5yrs!  Prosecco in hand we sent the obligatory look at us, we are on vacation (on a ship), drinking prosecco (on a ship), in 28-degrees (on a ship), photo to the family WhatsApp group.

 

I will show some photos of the ship now, but others will follow.

 

The elephant again

 

 

Loungers in the pool

 

 

 

There are a huge variety of seating and lounging areas on the Resort Deck

 

Here

 

 

And here

 

 

And here

 

 

And even here (what's that big orange thing???)

 

 

Where I spend most of my afternoons 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved this...on way too....

 

The Magic Carpet

 

 

First drinks onboard

 

 

 

While exploring the Rooftop Garden (with real plants and herbs!), we saw a host at the entrance to the Rooftop restaurant….perfect, one more job to finalise before we can truly relax…book food! We had already purchased the 5-night speciality dining package, but as we had a package we couldn’t prebook any of the restaurants beforehand. We were worried that all the popular ones like Eden would be booked out (although not overly worried, we are on a ship afterall!). That said, with a little bit of flexibility with times and days we were able to book everything we planned… almost– Eden for today, and then a speciality restaurant for every subsequent day (Fine Cut, La Voyage, Rooftop, and La Voyage again),  we wanted Eden again but it was booked out for the rest of the cruise).

 

 

Rooftop Garden

 

 

 

Plunge pool near the gardens

 

 

OK, job done, time for lunch! Oh hang on, time for unpacking, boo, DS normally does this for me, but it looks like C19 served as a natural break, all rules off, and I had to unpack myself this time. The wardrobe space looked very small, but we managed to fit in an inordinate amount of clothes. Loads of storage space for all the random bits too. Our cabin attendance, Munir, stopped by to say hello and we asked for more hangers and towels as the room was only set up for 2 people. Big question, who would have to sleep on the sofa bed….somehow I always manage to avoid it, but C19, natural break etc etc, all rules off, so who knows…

 

All fits just about

 

[JeriGail]

Thanks for the great review and the photos!  I'll be on the Beyond late next year and was interested in the Solarium as a possible spot for lots of relaxing time, but wondered how hot it gets in there.

[Lastdance]

I love the photos of Ellie, along with what she represents...never get tired of her Beyond balancing act; such a beautiful ship.  We "walk the ships" too, as you find so many interesting cubbies and surprises on all the decks.  

Edited July 7, 2022 by Lastdance

[hcat]

22 hours ago, Lunastella said:

Thanks Bluews. Reflection was my first cruise (also from Rome), so it holds a special place in my cruise heart. Howth is lovely, the cliff walk is one of our favourites, you must get back soon!

Off topic

Small world...we live on Long Island NY. Close friend has a cottage along the cliff walk in Howth..it was her mom's...Photos of the area are beautiful.  Friend is Celebrating that when she returns to visit the cottage  next month she will do so as an Irish citizen in tribute to her mom!

 

Enjoying the review and comments,

[bandp407]

3 hours ago, Lunastella said:

 

Hi Sgmn,

I also took advantage of the fresh coffee in the Spa cafe- every day right after the gym it was my first stop! I think Eden, followed by Le Yoyage, and then Fine Cut would be my order of preference for the specality restaurants. 

 

 

Thanks Reel Love. Welcome along!

 

 

 

Thanks Lastdance, there will be more...thanks for following along. I hope my commentary and photos are useful. I realise that 2 people may have very different experiences even on the same cruise depending on what you like/don't like, but I really enjoyed Beyond. There were way more positives on this cruise than my previous ones. 

 

 

Jealous! Can I go again!

You are so funny! Amazing review - one of the best! I am sorry , at first I did not realize your cruise was over! Got so excited to read on! Looking forward to the rest! 

[cruise47]

What an outstanding review with some excellent photos. Thanks for sharing.

[hcat]

Love all the photos..the SV was a perfect choice for 3..large outdoor balc, larger cabin area. .  The inf Veranda would be much  tighter all around. ,(We have stayed in both styles)

 

You can ask steward to remove alot of the Hoppen stuff( unless u love it)..more room on the shelves! Also can put some of the many pillows away too. Love displaying a small flower arrangement  on the  lighted " niche" shelf.

 

The art you have photographed has us psyched for BEYOND..We enjoyed the Art excursion on EDGE.. included lots of goodies , and had a short tour of the plantings..very well done. Keep it coming   please.!

 

The art piece over the couch is lovely.. do you have any info about it?

 

[Tudy]

Loving your review and your writing style. The photos are good, too.

 

Just booked a cruise on the Beyond for next summer. Based on the prices, Celebrity is very proud of this new ship. I hope it delivers. II am forwarding this link to the friends who are going with us.

 

Can't wait to read about the rest of your cruise.

[Lunastella]

23 hours ago, JeriGail said:

Thanks for the great review and the photos!  I'll be on the Beyond late next year and was interested in the Solarium as a possible spot for lots of relaxing time, but wondered how hot it gets in there.

 

Thanks JeriGail. It depended on the outside temperature. When we were in the south of france (where is was abit cooler than south of Italian), the solarium wasn't too hot. That said, if you stay on the shaded areas at the side, its fine most of the time.

[Lunastella]

21 hours ago, hcat said:

Off topic

Small world...we live on Long Island NY. Close friend has a cottage along the cliff walk in Howth..it was her mom's...Photos of the area are beautiful.  Friend is Celebrating that when she returns to visit the cottage  next month she will do so as an Irish citizen in tribute to her mom!

 

Enjoying the review and comments,

 

Yes Howth is a lovely seaside town that's less than 30min by train from the city centre. Lots of nice walks (and golf courses) and fish and chip shops of course!

[Lunastella]

20 hours ago, bandp407 said:

You are so funny! Amazing review - one of the best! I am sorry , at first I did not realize your cruise was over! Got so excited to read on! Looking forward to the rest! 

 

Thanks Banp407! I'm not funny in real life at all....just ask DS and DM!

[Lunastella]

19 hours ago, cruise47 said:

What an outstanding review with some excellent photos. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much for your kind words Cruise47...lots more to come!