Back from Beyond

[George C]

1 hour ago, wilycoyote76 said:

Good review, I’m sailing Beyond the week after Thanksgiving, my first non Carnival cruise. Also thanks for confirming that the bourbon selection is pretty weak, its surprising to me that’s one area Carnival seems to be better than Royal/Celebrity.

Please join our roll call , if you haven’t yet.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, wilycoyote76 said:

Good review, I’m sailing Beyond the week after Thanksgiving, my first non Carnival cruise. Also thanks for confirming that the bourbon selection is pretty weak, its surprising to me that’s one area Carnival seems to be better than Royal/Celebrity.

You are in for a treat! The food beats ANYTHING Carnival has, including The Mardi Gras.  Just no nightly Comedy Club or Piano Bar. 

[Boytjie]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

 Just no nightly Comedy Club or Piano Bar. 

 

But then there is Captain Dimitrios !

[kwokpot]

8 hours ago, Boytjie said:

 

But then there is Captain Dimitrios !

He's great! I've been on several ships with him at the helm. He's works out at the gym all the time, usually late afternoon around 4 when I'm there. 

[George C]

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

You are in for a treat! The food beats ANYTHING Carnival has, including The Mardi Gras.  Just no nightly Comedy Club or Piano Bar. 

Could never understand Celebrity not having a piano bar, how is jazz club? 
 

[kwokpot]

52 minutes ago, George C said:

Could never understand Celebrity not having a piano bar, how is jazz club? 
 

There isn't a Jazz Club. What there is on some Edge Class ships is a show in The Club (the multi purpose nite club) that's loosely around a Jazz theme and includes performances by the singers, dancers and gymnasts. Celebrity ships don't have dedicated entertainment spaces like Carnival or Royal ships. Guest entertainment like comedians and pianists will perform in the main theater.

Edited November 7, 2022 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

There isn't a Jazz Club. What there is on some Edge Class ships is a show in The Club (the multi purpose nite club) that's loosely around a Jazz theme and includes performances by the singers, dancers and gymnasts. Celebrity ships don't have dedicated entertainment spaces like Carnival or Royal ships. Guest entertainment like comedians and pianists will perform in the main theater.

Jazz will be performed in different venues around the ship by musicians. 

 

[rjrpar]

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

He's great! I've been on several ships with him at the helm. He's works out at the gym all the time, usually late afternoon around 4 when I'm there. 

Will never understand the infatuation with the captain.  Give me a piano bar or comedy club any day

[jelayne]

33 minutes ago, rjrpar said:

Will never understand the infatuation with the captain.  Give me a piano bar or comedy club any day

A number of the Celebrity Captains are outgoing and make time to engage with passengers  and participate in activities such as Officers vs Guest Pool Volleyball, Officers vs Guest Bocce, Lairs Club.

So while I wouldn't book or not book a cruise because of which Captain we are happy when we find out the Captain is Dimitrios, Tasos or Kate. 

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, rjrpar said:

Will never understand the infatuation with the captain.  Give me a piano bar or comedy club any day

One can say the same thing about people's love of certain Carnival CDs. I also don't understand the infatuation with Carnival's Comedy shows and piano bars.  Every Carnival cruise has crazy lines for the Comedy shows. I'm Diamond with Carnival and have never attended a comedy show on any Carnival ship. 

Edited November 7, 2022 by kwokpot

[mfs2k]

33 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

One can say the same thing about people's love of certain Carnival CDs. I also don't understand the infatuation with Carnival's Comedy shows and piano bars.  Every Carnival cruise has crazy lines for the Comedy shows. I'm Diamond with Carnival and have never attended a comedy show on any Carnival ship. 

I'm Platinum with Carnival and only remember a few late night comedy shows but it's been many years since I sailed with them.  

 

Do you think one can judge a comedian's talent based on the fact that they're working on cruise ships? 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by mfs2k

[nimiq]

22 hours ago, Boytjie said:

We were ably to drink a variety of bourbons and whiskeys at the Eden Bar. I even got Nico to make be a Brooklyn cocktail twice!

What has been your favorite drinks at Eden ? WhTs is a Brooklyn Cocktail ? 
Is Nico a bartender or a server ? 
 

Thanks 

Sea ya 

[alyssamma]

4 hours ago, rjrpar said:

Will never understand the infatuation with the captain.  Give me a piano bar or comedy club any day

I agreed with you until a couple of weeks ago when I was on the Beyond with Dimitrios. He's basically a comedian. He performed in several shows and had me laughing out loud at each one of them.

 

I actually found him *far* funnier than the ship's comedian (and they even performed together in a show).

[George C]

23 hours ago, Boytjie said:

We were ably to drink a variety of bourbons and whiskeys at the Eden Bar. I even got Nico to make be a Brooklyn cocktail twice!

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, before Covid we visited the city every year. Lived close to Brooklyn pier in Carroll Gardens for a while.

[riredsox]

On 11/6/2022 at 7:03 PM, Boytjie said:

We were ably to drink a variety of bourbons and whiskeys at the Eden Bar. I even got Nico to make be a Brooklyn cocktail twice!

I was there one of the times!  I remember hearing about the Brooklyn cocktail.  

[riredsox]

4 hours ago, alyssamma said:

I agreed with you until a couple of weeks ago when I was on the Beyond with Dimitrios. He's basically a comedian. He performed in several shows and had me laughing out loud at each one of them.

 

I actually found him *far* funnier than the ship's comedian (and they even performed together in a show).

😂 Assapanic 😂 

Edited November 8, 2022 by riredsox

[alyssamma]

2 minutes ago, riredsox said:

😂 Assapanic 😂 

LMFAO...my wife and I are still saying that to each other...

 

Clatterfart!

[Cruise_Ship_Vacations]

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

[miched]

29 minutes ago, Cruise_Ship_Vacations said:

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

 

29 minutes ago, Cruise_Ship_Vacations said:

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

I agree some abuse the system.   On our last cruise I was told that Celebrity now charges $150/day for bringing on a animal.  This was by the Retreat Concierge.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, Cruise_Ship_Vacations said:

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

Hmm...I saw the dogs several times and even though I am *not* an animal person, neither bothered me.

 

Personally, I think some of the passengers had worse hygiene than the dogs, and they *touched* the food in the buffet. I even saw one guy scoop food onto his plate (pasta) and then shovel it back into the serving pan. 

[VMI72]

20 hours ago, miched said:

 

I agree some abuse the system.   On our last cruise I was told that Celebrity now charges $150/day for bringing on a animal.  This was by the Retreat Concierge.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅 

I agree with Miched. We are on a confined ship. Until this 9 day cruise, I had not seen an animal on board. This has to stop or we will see all kinds of animals on board and it will get out of control. The airlines cracked down and Celebrity needs to do the same. I love pets. I have had dogs and cats all my life, but a cruise ship is not a place for pets. I agree  that if you are 100% blind and have a well trained seeing eye dog, that can be an exception, but this "emotional support" animal stuff has got to stop on cruise ships just as the airlines are cracking down on it.

[riredsox]

On 11/10/2022 at 8:21 AM, Cruise_Ship_Vacations said:

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

You have no idea why they need their dogs.  Some detect a seizure coming on or any other health related issues.  I talked to both the people that had the dogs and both seemed like they needed them.  The larger one was in training.  

[Boytjie]

On 11/7/2022 at 5:09 PM, nimiq said:

What has been your favorite drinks at Eden ? WhTs is a Brooklyn Cocktail ? 
Is Nico a bartender or a server ? 
 

Thanks 

Sea ya 

 

Sorry, I did not come back to this thread for a while.

 

I Brooklyn is similar to a Manhattan. A Brooklyn is made with dry vermouth and with Amer Picon - which is not always easy to find.

 

Nico was one of the bartenders at Eden. When I mentioned the Brooklyn, he was intrigued (he was very into mixing cocktails) and he did some research. I don't remember what he used as a substitute for Amer Pico.

 

We had many a nightcap there with him and Tatiana behind the bar.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Boytjie

[Cruisellama]

On 11/5/2022 at 9:36 AM, mfs2k said:

We returned from our 9 night Beyond repositioning cruise from Bayonne to Bermuda, Curacao, Aruba, and disembarking in FLL and here are some notes:

 

We booked a sky suite so we got to take advantage of the Retreat.

 

Prior to this we've been on 10 Carnival cruises; 1 Norwegian cruise and we sailed on Celebrity Equinox in March 2019.  

Beyond is the largest ship we've been on.  It was also the oldest average passenger age cruise we've ever taken.  According to one of the officers, the average age on this sailing was 70.  I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it seemed about right. 

 

We prefer a younger demographic.  While we're no spring chickens ourselves, (62/63) we do prefer a younger cruise because it's a bit more lively and fun for us (your mileage may vary).  Fortunately we made friends early on with fabulous younger people who we spent most of the cruise with, and had a great time. I think a lot of the crew and passengers thought they were our daughters.  Nope. Just friends.  They pushed our typical boundaries and we did things we don't normally do.  In Aruba, we rented two side by side UTV's and explored the island, both off-road and on-road and had a blast. 

 

 

 

We decided we were going to take full advantage of the specialty restaurants and experience each of them to the fullest. 

 

My wife and I went to Eden the first night alone and really enjoyed it.  We went back another night with our new-found friends and had the wine pairing dinner.  It was fabulous, but the cost/benefit of the wine for me didn't have the value it might have had for others.  The wine add-on was either $100pp or $120pp.  I forget. We sat at 6pm and finished at 10pm.  That was a loooong dinner.  But delicious.  

 

My wife and I went to Fine Cut alone one night.  I really wanted the Tomahawk steak.  the menu said it was for two, but my wife wanted filet mignon.  The waiter said I should order it anyway for just me.  Most of the weight was the bone, and I ate most of the steak. I'm glad I had it.  The server was great.  We went back to Fine cut a second night with our friends and it wasn't as good because the server was aloof and inattentive.  Service makes all the difference. 

 

The four of us went to Le Voyage one night.  We had a reservation for two and tried to change it to 4 guests.  They accommodated us a different night for the four of us and sat us in the restaurant's private dining room. It was great.  We sat at a dining table which could seat 8 and had fabulous food and service.  Instead of the wine pairing set menu, the four of us ordered all 8 starters.  They served them in 2 courses and we passed the plates so we all got to try each of the starters in the course.  Amazing. We each got our own entrees and we shared desserts.  Le Voyage is an intimate restaurant, but when you're seated in the private dining room, the intimacy is even greater.  We sat at 8:15 and left at 11:15. We were the last ones in the restaurant and didn't even know it until we left.  Thank you to the service and kitchen staff.  You're awesome. 

 

We also went to the Rooftop Garden grill one night.  It wasn't nearly the standout the other restaurant experiences were, but I don't think it's intended to be the same level.  The food was good. The smoked wings were phenomenal.  They'd only be better if they used fresh chicken wings vs frozen, (you can tell by the redness of the bones - frozen wings have darker bones when cooked) but I get it.  It's a cruise ship and they're not getting daily deliveries of fresh wings. 

 

Luminae....  Some of our meals were good.  Some of the service staff are totally on point and provide four star service.  Some of the staff are also recently promoted and still have some learning to do.  The Maitre D's and Sommelier are so good.  The kitchen staff needs to step up their game. I wasn't overly impressed. I won't go into overly critical detail but there's a lot of room for improvement.  I did, however, LOVE the veal chop I got one night.  It blew away my expectations. Some breakfast comments: The peach Cobbler French toast was buried in a cream sauce I didn't like (BURIED).  The Waffles were made with potato batter.  I asked for plain waffles with normal pancake batter and got potato waffles.  The eggs Benedict eggs were hard cooked several days in a row despite requesting them runny.  By the end of the cruise we were very specific and redundant and they came out the way they were requested.  We had breakfast one morning in Blu.  I liked their breakfast specialty items better.

 

It was interesting to see how the levels of food changes from one venue to another.  For example, the croissants were biggest in Luminae, a little smaller in Blu and much smaller in Oceanview Cafe.  the bacon was thickest in Luminae.  the juice glasses were biggest in Luminae.  etc

 

The retreat lounge and the retreat outdoor deck were great.  The lounge was my place to go in the morning for coffee and to watch the sunrise.  The staff are incredible.  Loved them all.  The outdoor deck was nice but quiet.   

 

We spent one day in a cabana at the pool the last sea day.  The pool scene was livelier and more fun.  They had officers/guests volleyball in the pool and pool Olympics which were fun to watch.  It was quick enough to be amusing and not overbearing.  I like a party in my brain. Watching is fun.  I'm not participatory but that doesn't mean Im not enjoying it.  FYI, most of the cabanas were empty despite seemingly sold out before the sailing on the cruise planner. 

 

The sky suite cabin was great.  On the first day I asked my butler if he could get me a full sized lounge chair like they had on the pool decks.  After multiple CC threads, I didn't think it was possible but I asked anyway.  He delivered!  We had a full lounge chair all week on our patio in addition to the two chairs and table.  They did fit nicely.  Hw was tipped generously at the end of the cruise and so was our cabin steward.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask politely. 

 

One note if you're sailing on Beyond. I always travel with USB power blocks because our device counts keep increasing between kindles, ipads, phones, airpods, and watches.  I didn't need the power blocks on this ship.  There are enough USB charging ports and outlets on both sides of the bed and on the table that I didn't need to use the blocks. Well done, Celebrity.  Well done. 

 

The weather on this trip unfortunately was rainy for the first 6 days.  Thankfully the last few days were gorgeous.  I think if it were sunny all 9 days I'd come back burned to a crisp.  I did get good color the last few days. 

 

We met some people with an Edge Villa and spent an afternoon hanging out in their private plunge pool.  I liked the villa but I wouldn't pay what they ask for for it.  The two levels make the space seem smaller than a wide suite would. If you're going to give me two rectangle boxes instead of one, I'd prefer them side by side instead of stacked on top of one another like the Villa was. 

 

Misc random notes as I think about them:

• Thank you Kelly, @PinkSandGirl for your pre-trip organization and event coordination.  Loved meeting you and seeing you everywhere we went, it seemed, on the ship.  Your live blog review was great. 
• I did the behind the scenes tour and found it interesting. It felt a little too showy than watching things in action.  For example the garbage room was spotless and no sign of garbage.  The recycling was on display like at a museum.  We didn't see people actually doing laundry in the laundry room.  We saw unattended equipment.  I think the staff are sent on break when we walk through.  The mechanical control rooms were fascinating.  All electronic.  Same with the bridge.  If the generators went out and the ship plunged into electrical darkness, it seems everything would come to a halt as we drift in the sea. That would be an adventure. 
• Bermuda will always be the rainy island for me.  3/3 times we've bene there it's rained. Heavily. 
• Curacao was cloudy.  We met my sister there, who was coincidentally on vacation on the island. She picked us up in a rental car and we explored a little bit  Found a museum at a turn of the century hospital which was mildly interesting and had a great lunch at "Ceviche."
• If I didn't have the retreat lounge, i would have been in Cafe Al Bacio more (did I spell that right)
• Bourbon. I had to search for premium bourbon besides JD, Jim Beam and Maker's Mark. I found Buffalo Trace at many bars hidden away if I asked and I discovered they had hidden Bulleit Bourbon in the Theater bar; World Class Bar and the bar for Fine Cut.  but I never actually saw a bottle on display.
• Bartenders seemed understaffed. There was usually a wait for a drink.  
• Aside from the cruise critic meet and greet when we got on board, I never went to the sunset bar because it was in the back of the ship and we spent so much time at the retreat in the front of the ship,  If I didn't have the retreat, Id probably hang out there. 
• Burgers at the retreat deck and mast grill were great. 
• The Oceanview Cafe was good. I always had something I liked eating.  On the last day the servers kept referring to it as the "extravaganza"  I didn't find it extravagant, but I did find it good. I liked the shrimp.
• The touchless (or minimally touching) had controls for public bathrooms and doors to/from the pool deck were great. 
• There were only 4 children on our cruise and 2 dogs. I liked having a virtually adults-only cruise.  I want a younger demographic but not that young. 
• The beds are hard.
• When we departed we had two sizes of toilet paper in our cabin.  The European toilet paper leftover from the TA had a narrower roll length.  American toilet paper is wider.  
• We went to all three production shows.  I liked the one with the paintings the best. Elements second best, and Stage door third best. The dancers singers and acrobatic artistes were great.  The videographers and stage managers and creators were awesome.
• The magician/illusionist/escape artist dude was great. 
• the music on board was great. 
• The Jazz Joint in the Club was awesome
• I regret not seeing the Eden performers.  Sad.  I need to go back just for that. 
• Awesome, great, phenomenal, fabulous and terrific have been used a lot in this post

 

So where do we go from here? 

I'm realizing a few things about cruising:

 

• Its more fun for us when we are with others who are fun.  I think my wife and I would have been bored on this cruise had we not connected with two very fun people. There would have been more naps. Don't get me wrong.  I cant stay up late like I used to.  I was falling asleep in my chair in the theater a few times, overlooking the martini bar, and other evening locations and went to bed early and up at the crack of dawn.
• I don't know how I could sail again on Celebrity without a suite but I also don't think I'll ever get as good a deal in a suite as I did on this cruise. It's all about the size of the croissant.  lol.
• I want to be sailing with a younger crowd
• I was told the European cruises have a younger demographic. 

 

That's all I have for now.  If you have questions, I'd be happy to answer. If i think of more, I'll add to the comments. 

Question - We're sailing Beyond in March (Sky Suite), we noticed on the APP that lunch menus are not being published for Luminae for sea days.    Is Luminae open for lunch on embarkation day and sea days?  Curious if that's a change from previous ships and sailings.

 

[Lillibet16]

On 11/10/2022 at 8:21 AM, Cruise_Ship_Vacations said:

I found the large dog on the ship to be “out there”.  Shaking in the buffet garnered looks from everyone. When the woman who had the small dog put it up on the couch’s at the casino bar, that was it for me.  
 

I have a dog and would love to bring it with me.  I’m not judging, however you can get a support animal harness off Amazon for $30. Go to the doctor, get the note that you have ptsd or are depressed and you are allowed to bring a dog on the ship.  Really….   When does it stop?  At one point Celebrity has to say enough, no dogs, cats, birds, etc allowed .   Why accommodate that.   Now I was on a cruise where a guy was 100% blind, had a helper with him as well as his dog. His helper was explaining what he could not see.  I can see allowing that fellow his eye dog, but the emotional support excuse, I’m sorry I don’t buy that.  Thoughts ?

I agree with you to some extent. People who don’t really need them make it hard for us that do. But how do you know? I have a service dog because I am prone to passing it out and she can tell before I do and let me know, in which case I sit down and take my medicine. But you would never know to look at me that anything was wrong until something happened, so I try not to judge. Personally,  I can’t see bringing my dog on a cruise, but I have taken her to Las Vegas and other destinations. I just try to be extra careful when traveling without her, but it is a risk and I have broken many bones passing out unexpectedly.