Beyond

[IZZYDAD]

Currently on board T/A sailing, ship is close to max capacity, dinning is severely under staffed. 1hour plus wait time for dinner, even with reservations. Specialty completely booked. Not fun and really disappointed in celebrity for not limiting capacity if they are so short staffed.

[JFontaine]

Thanks for the report. Hope things improve for you. If they don't, why not stop by Guest Services?  Maybe they can arrange specialty dining (cancellations/held back tables) or something else. They want you to have a good time. 

[IZZYDAD]

41 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

Thanks for the report. Hope things improve for you. If they don't, why not stop by Guest Services?  Maybe they can arrange specialty dining (cancellations/held back tables) or something else. They want you to have a good time. 

Tried stopping by guest services, there where 100 people in line waiting. Only two crew staffing the counter. Oh by the way almost  all where complaining of the same thing. I don’t blame the crew they trying as hard as they can. This is a corp issue. They new how short staffed they where and still sold to max capacity.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Thanks for the report.  Unfortately this has been going on for a while.

[Treacher1]

Hope things get better somehow as cruise progresses.  Appreciate the time you took to post - if you can perhaps give us updates as cruise continues.  Boarding in Bayonne, Cape Liberty where your cruise ends.  Wishing you smooth seas and hoping things somehow get better.

[deliver42]

It's all about the money. They'll  cram as many passengers as they can regardless of the crew. We're on her 12/4.

[jelayne]

We are also on the Beyond and yes there are crew shortages and a lot of brand new crew members.  We expected, based on reports from other ships,that they wouldn’t be fully staffed.  We have had to wait with a pager at Luminae and have talked with others who have waited for tables in the MDRs, no one has mentioned a wait of a hour.  Our has been in the 15-20 minute range. 
 

The specialty restaurants have been completely booked, but again due to crew shortages they are not booking to full capacity.

 

The crew is excellent and are working to keep everyone happy. But a little patience on the part of passengers would go a long way.  It doesn’t improve things to scream at a bartender or waiter, it just demoralizes them.

The crew has gone back to masking to minimize the chances of a Covid outbreak among the crew.  
The ship is beautiful, the weather is great, food is very good and if it takes a couple of minutes longer wait for a drink or a wait to be seated for dinner so be it.  Since I don’t have to cook, clean up or make my bed I can be patient.

 

 

 

[mfs2k]

Catch 22 for Celebrity. 
They desperately need the revenue to recoup losses from the past 2 1/2 years. They also have staffing issues just like every other business in the hospitality industry.  I’m sure they don’t mind the cost savings but they also rely on guest satisfaction for future bookings. 
More like Catch-22-squared. 

[mfs2k]

3 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We are also on the Beyond and yes there are crew shortages and a lot of brand new crew members.  We expected, based on reports from other ships,that they wouldn’t be fully staffed.  We have had to wait with a pager at Luminae and have talked with others who have waited for tables in the MDRs, no one has mentioned a wait of a hour.  Our has been in the 15-20 minute range. 
 

The specialty restaurants have been completely booked, but again due to crew shortages they are not booking to full capacity.

 

The crew is excellent and are working to keep everyone happy. But a little patience on the part of passengers would go a long way.  It doesn’t improve things to scream at a bartender or waiter, it just demoralizes them.

The crew has gone back to masking to minimize the chances of a Covid outbreak among the crew.  
The ship is beautiful, the weather is great, food is very good and if it takes a couple of minutes longer wait for a drink or a wait to be seated for dinner so be it.  Since I don’t have to cook, clean up or make my bed I can be patient.

 

 

 

I love your outlook. We’ll be on board in 12 days. Need to follow your example. 

[julia]

We'll be boarding on the 11/8 sailing, and I can't even make reservations at any of the four dining rooms before 8:30 pm!  We shall packed an extra bag of patience!

OP: Thanks for this update, and I hope things will improve on your crossing....  I find the first few days of any cruise to be a bit disjointed.

[Treacher1]

I wonder if more staffing is on the way - if more staff are perhaps flying into NYC area to meet ship in Cape Liberty before the next sailing.  Even if this is the case - does not help now and they still would need time to train on a new ship.  Time will tell if things get better.

[mfs2k]

Just now, Treacher1 said:

I wonder if more staffing is on the way - if more staff are perhaps flying into NYC area to meet ship in Cape Liberty before the next sailing.  Even if this is the case - does not help now and they still would need time to train on a new ship.  Time will tell if things get better.

Keep drinking !

[zitsky]

6 hours ago, julia said:

We'll be boarding on the 11/8 sailing, and I can't even make reservations at any of the four dining rooms before 8:30 pm!  We shall packed an extra bag of patience!

OP: Thanks for this update, and I hope things will improve on your crossing....  I find the first few days of any cruise to be a bit disjointed.

When did you first try to make reservations?  Our first Beyond cruise is in Aqua in May.

 

Anyone know when you can book ship tours on Beyond?

 

Thanks.

Edited October 15, 2022 by zitsky

[jelayne]

There is no set time when you can book excursions.   When they appear in the Cruise Planner you can book them we have some we booked about 6 months out.  

[Maria63]

We were on the previous sailing and had a very different experience - albeit the guest count was acc. to our waiter only some 2500 pax. We dined early in Normandie and had the same table and waiter & sommelier every night, and this turned out very well for us.  We tried Tuscany one night though, and it was indeed a bit too noisy and crowded, and the service was also somewhat too slow and disjointed.

 

I do wish the cruise improves for OP!

[adolfo2]

14 hours ago, julia said:

We'll be boarding on the 11/8 sailing, and I can't even make reservations at any of the four dining rooms before 8:30 pm!  We shall packed an extra bag of patience!

 

That's because our party of four, booked the early dining slots in July/Aug of 2021! Don't feel too bad as we had to make some concessions even then (which I found very surprising).

[julia]

10 hours ago, zitsky said:

When did you first try to make reservations?  Our first Beyond cruise is in Aqua in May.

 

Anyone know when you can book ship tours on Beyond?

 

Thanks.

Tried making dinner reservations several months ago, but I see @adolfo2 made theirs over a year ago!  Actually, this is fine with me, because we like to be flexible and dine whenever.

[IZZYDAD]

Just sat in Eden from 4:30 till 6 and never saw a bar server. I know those in the Retreat class say everything is great, but Celebrity is not short staffing them. Those of us in stowage are paying the price.

[mfs2k]

27 minutes ago, IZZYDAD said:

I know those in the Retreat class say everything is great, but Celebrity is not short staffing them.

Sorry you’re experiencing awful service and overcrowding. At least you know everyone else doesn’t have Covid and is forced to quarantine since it’s so busy. 

[oceancrusin]

2 hours ago, IZZYDAD said:

Just sat in Eden from 4:30 till 6 and never saw a bar server. I know those in the Retreat class say everything is great, but Celebrity is not short staffing them. Those of us in stowage are paying the price.

Any idea what the availability of 'premium' alcohol is currently like on board? I purchased the upgrade to premium for my upcoming cruise out of Bayonne on October 26.

[hcat]

Theres another thread about Covid on Beyond... hope it peters out by our Nov cruise.

 

The affected couple reported they were not treated very well.

 

Does anyone think more staff will join when in US?

[mfs2k]

19 minutes ago, oceancrusin said:

Any idea what the availability of 'premium' alcohol is currently like on board? I purchased the upgrade to premium for my upcoming cruise out of Bayonne on October 26.

I suspect they’ll become well stocked with liquor in New Jersey but it may take them 24 hours to stock the bars. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by mfs2k

[danceswithphones]

25 minutes ago, hcat said:

Does anyone think more staff will join when in US?

The 11/4 and 11/6 sailings will be full of TA's and dignitaries. I can't imagine them wanting to get off to a bad start. They could poach some additional staff from other ships. Infinity has a PE port call on 11/5, Equinox on 11/3, and Edge on 11/7.

Edited October 16, 2022 by danceswithphones

[hcat]

Good point!

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, IZZYDAD said:

Just sat in Eden from 4:30 till 6 and never saw a bar server. I know those in the Retreat class say everything is great, but Celebrity is not short staffing them. Those of us in stowage are paying the price.

Not familiar with Edge class.  On Beyond in May.  Is there a bar inside Eden you can walk to?  Or is it server only?