Loved the Beyond Royal Suite

[mscg2000]

We just disembarked from the Beyond yesterday. There were only about 2400 people on board.I thought I’d offer some observations about our cruise

 

The room:

• Our room was 12127.  When you enter the suite there is a half bath immediately to the right. While it’s a nice idea to have an additional bathroom, we rarely used it. If you’re traveling with others who are using the living room to sleep at night, then having the extra bathroom would be quite useful.

The decor is all shades of grey, very pleasant. There are two small refrigerators, one of which actually keeps drinks cold (as opposed to the usual fridge onboard that is just a cooler). On the counter above the fridges is a Lavaaza (sp??) coffee maker and a pot to make tea. The accoutrements for the coffee are in a small sliding drawer under the coffee maker.

• Across from the fridge is the dining table with two chairs on one side and a banquette on the other. Walking further into the living room, the couch is very comfortable, facing the large tv. There is a large coffee table. Further into the room is an area roughly the size and location of a balcony. It is tiled, visually separating it from the living room. It is furnished with two padded rocking chairs that were not overly comfortable. By designing this area as in indoor space, the size of the actual balcony is greatly reduced. 
• The bedroom is nice, not overly large but very adequate. There is a nice vanity with stool that’s great for putting on make-up.
• The balcony is off the bedroom and it’s small. However, I loved it. Others have reported that the large overhang above deck 12 obliterates the sun from shinning on the balcony. That’s completely true, but for me it was a delight. I’m a Florida girl and never sit out in the sun. In addition, the overhang provided a sense of privacy that I really liked. Also, the walls of the balcony are more substantial than on other ships, adding to that intimate feeling. There was very little wind on the balcony. The balcony was furnished with two comfortable padded chairs, no loungers, and a small table. 
• The bathroom was impressive. There is one very very long sink with faucets on both ends. There is tons of drawer space under the sink. The tub is small but very deep. The separate toilet closet is an excellent idea.  However, there is no door between the bathroom and the bedroom and that might bother some people.  The shower is huge, with no need for shower curtain or door. The closet is located next  to the toilet closet. It’s door is super heavy; our butler provided a doorstop to prop it open. There are two large hanging closets and ample drawer space. 

 

Other observations about the room:

• The floor tile is one you’ll either lover or hate. It It’s a white, grey and black pattern that looks three dimensional as you continue to look at it. .
• There is a charging station on the vanity that’s easy to miss. 
• There’s small ledge as you enter the room that’s great for leaving your key card so you don’t lose it.
• On deck 12, we were very close to the elevators but could hear no noise from them.
• About the creaking, popping etc: we had very little noise. However, we met the people who were in our same cabin, but on the other side of the ship, and they said that’s the noise was so bad they couldn’t sleep. 
• Our butler was Rhona and we loved her!

 

The Ports: We’ve visited these ports many times and we are older (DH with Alzheimer’s), so we didn’t do any excursions.

• Costa Maya: There were four cruise ships at this port. The manufactured fake village at the port would be cute if it weren’t so totally packed with people. Hint: if there are four ships in port, either don’t get off the ship or take an excursion. 
• Cozumel: Less crowded than Costa Maya. We cruised around the porta are in our mobility scooters, had some fru fru drinks. 
• Grand Cayman: This is always a tender port so we couldn’t get off with our scooters. The night before we arrived in Grand Cayman some crew told us that we might have to skip it because of high winds, but it turned out that the weather was fine. The tenders were provided by the port and had no difficulty going back and forth. Now the important issue about Grand Cayman: The ship bars! Yes, only the pool bar was open BUT the staff seemed to have ways of getting us drinks anyway. We had lunch at Raw On 5; drinks were available, kind of “on the sly”. Later in the afternoon we were chatting with our butler and she offered to get us cocktails. I .didn’t try the Retreat Lounge though.

 

Dining:

We only ate dinner in the specialty restaurants. 

• Le Voyage: Loved it, ate there three times. Favorite appetizers: Vidalia onion tart and the Cauliflower appetizer (sounds weird but really good). The salmon was also great. Entrees: Brazilian Moqueca (don’t be afraid to try it. Awesome), Lamb chops. Outstanding sommelier, Leo.
• Fine Cut; Appetizers: Lobster cocktail and Cesar salad. Entrees: Steak, of course Excellent filet . Nothing outstanding but the ice cream sundae was awesome!
• Eden: Appetizer: Risotto. Entree: Loved the lobster casserole. The food was great but there was one plus and two negatives. First it appeared that the ship designers forgot about providing handicapped access to the restaurant. There are many steps. So they Installed a tiny elevator, so small we could barely fit one scooter slanted sideways.  Upon exiting the elevator in the restaurant we had to pass very close to tables full of diners. Because of the accessibility problem we decided not to eat there again. The second negative was the sommelier. She didn’t discuss what wines we might choose from, simply heard our meal choice, said  “cabernet” and walked away. She poured the wine and never refilled, never asked if we wanted a dessert wine at the end of the meal. Maybe she was just having a bad day. The positive; we sat right next to the open air kitchen. It was very loud but a lot of fun. Chef Marco ran the show and we felt like we were watching The Food channel when he would call out the orders and the sous chefs would yell “yes Chef”!
• Raw on 5: We ate lunch here four times and loved it. It was a pleasant surprise because DH doesn’t eat sushi. The seafood tower was incredible: cold lobster, shrimp, snow carb, king crab, oysters (which we substituted out for more crab). Wonderful light tempura shrimp, excellent cooked salmon roll and Beyond roll.

 

That’s all for now. Ask me anything and I’ll try to answer!

[Texed]

Thanks for posting.  😊

[Silkroad]

Wonderful review! We board Beyond for the first time in April, so your comments are quite helpful. Thank you🙂

[britestar]

Thank you for your review.

[mason525]

What a wonderful evenhanded review!  I was on the transatlantic cruise 10/30/23 (in a sky suite)and am now planning to book a Royal suite for June. Agree with your views on the restaurants so hope will feel the same about the cabin. Were the specialty dining options included for the Royal suite?

Thanks

[poohkey]

Does your butler make dinner reservations for you?

 

[Tyler414]

The OP posted this over a year ago.

 

[kjc852]

50 minutes ago, poohkey said:

Does your butler make dinner reservations for you?

 

In an upper suite cabin (Royal & above), you will be contacted a week or two before the cruise by on-shore staff that will work with you on reservations, preferences, etc. We are about to embark on Edge for 18-night cruise in an Edge Villa leaving Sydney for Honolulu and were contacted approximately 3 weeks prior.  Our specialty dining reservation dates & times were included as part of that correspondence, as well as to our preference for the two bottles of alcohol, cabin stock beverages, etc.

Edited April 9 by kjc852

[poohkey]

Is the SEA Thermal Suite included with the Royal Suite?

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On 4/12/2024 at 3:00 PM, poohkey said:

Is the SEA Thermal Suite included with the Royal Suite?

 

No. Only aqua  and aqua sky suite.

[mango puddin]

I fully concur with dining in speciality restaurants when in royal suite. I find the speciality restaurants on Celebrity generally offer higher quality than the main dining options (including Luminae)