Not very live from Beyond!

[hcat]

There is now a sep thread...where the debate will unfold

[deliver42]

If you don't want to pay, order something else.

[jsblbruce]

On 9/24/2023 at 5:01 AM, Wirral Girlie said:

Ooh fabulous, we are doing the same itinerary in a few weeks on 20th October and were also on Beyond last September and had an amazing time!

I'd also be interested to know about the ports and what you have done there. We have been to some of them before so just looking for some ideas.

Look forward to the rest 9f your review.

Thank you!

 

We are also sailing same itinerary 20th Oct and are also looking at new things to do in ports.  Looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

[gfkcruiser]

Will be on board the beyond for the first time for the Transatlantic in October.   Will Captain Kate be on the bridge?

[OysterD]

Day 3 - Kotor, Montenegro

 

So the ships departure today (its a tender port) had always shown as 7pm. But then a throw away comment made by Alejandro (cruise director) in the theatre the night before made us sit up in our seats. "Don't forget, the last tender back will be 5pm". Ermm, surely he's made a mistake we thought, we have a private tour booked from 1-5pm! 

 

We went and checked with guest services, and nope, it was correct, the port had changed the times at the last minute which meant the ship had to depart earlier. While understandable it was out of their control, it was annoying because a. If we hadn't been in the theatre and heard Alejandro we probably wouldn't have found out that the last tender was now earlier until we got off the ship in Kotor and saw the signs. Communicate please Celebrity! 

b. It was especially annoying because the next port after Kotor was Dubrovnik, which is about 30 miles away!! Not like the ship needs 14 hours to travel the 30 odd miles to the next port, but ah well. 

 

The frustration from the earlier day was somewhat relieved when I woke up and opened the blind to be greeted by this view...

 

 

 

 

Tenders (3 X ones from the ship but helped out by some local boats) were already running so we headed down, got tickets and waited. And waited some more. Finally just after 11am we were called down. 

 

This is another win for Beyond (and all E class ships I imagine). Destination Gateway, the magic carpet and the massive ship tenders make for a much more seamless tendering process. And the gateway is large, bright and airy so you're not left standing in random corridors here there and everywhere like you are on S class ships. 

 

 

Although the boarding process was swift, there had been quite a wait as for some reason Beyond had moored a very long way from the dock at Kotor. The tender rides were probably 20-30 mins long. 

 

[Diane Rose]

If you’re able, can you please find out if Alejandro is staying on for the TA.  We had him last year on the Millennium and he was fantastic.  Thank you!

 

Diane

[OysterD]

Day 3 - Kotor

 

So we had booked a 4hr speedboat tour taking in most of the sites and giving us an hour on a beach somewhere half way through the trip. We got off the tender and went straight to the tour boat which was only a few mins walk (Kotor isn't that big!). We explained and she told us she already knew as she had other guests from Beyond booked on our tour. She would start the tour half an hour early and finish it early so we would make the last tender back in plenty of time. Great!

 

We went and had a wander around, got some drinks and headed back to the tour boat where we all got on and set off.

 

You can justtt about see Beyond in the distance, this was a couple hundred metres out of the port.

 

The scenery around here is stunning.

 

 

A natural small island with a church, they must have had a dedicated congregation to attend services there!

 

 

This island, just a stones throw from the other, is entirely man made, something to do with someone once seeing an image of Mary I think in a rock under the surface so the locals piled more and more rocks until they had made a small island, where another church was built! 

 

 

 

 

After 15 mins on the island we set off again and were taken to an old WW2 sub base which had been built into the side of the cliffs. Tour boat took us right inside! 

 

 

 

Next stop was a blue cave but it was partly cloudy by this time so not as blue as normal!

 

 

We stopped here for a bit and had the chance to jump off and have a swim. Not the warmest, but after a min or two you soon got used to it!

 

 

Next was the beach stop, I forgot to take any pics, was too busy having a beer and some food! 

 

Back to the port in plenty of time and back on the tender. One advantage of the smaller Ponant ships is they can get into much smaller ports!

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, a great day out and I would definitely recommend taking a boat tour around the area, it's truly stunning!

[OysterD]

Day 3

 

Dinner in Blu, delicious as usual, followed by a few drinks and then into the Club for the karaoke with the band....no, I didn't sing. I wouldn't even normally sing in karaoke but I was surprised that most of the people who got up were actually really good, so there was no way I was going to try and follow them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A wander around the top decks before bed, the ship does look great all lit up at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hcat]

enjoyed the photos and commentary

tour on Kotor and port looked excellent, BLU dinner menu also very good

 

other than deck parties we never wandered around at night..we will def do that on ASCENT..thanks for the idea

[SSAtlantic]

 Could you share the name of the tour provider? That looks like an awesome tour. 

[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for taking the time to do a Live post.   Really enjoying your experience.   The pictures are fantastic and bring back some really good memories.

[Cruise till you drop]

On 9/25/2023 at 4:47 PM, OysterD said:

Day 2 - Sea Day

 

 

Followed up by lunch at Eden Cafe, salad and sandwiches. Most sandwiches at Eden are free (and delicious), but there were 2 or 3 'premium' ones with a $9 charge which seemed a bit penny pinching tbh. 

 

 

. 

 

 

 

 

There are a few breakfast sandwiches in Eden we like to have on some sea day mornings.  Are those still gratis ?

Edited September 27, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[OysterD]

 

And I'm back. Apologies for the rather large pause between posts, unfortunately the 3 of us all came home from the cruise last Thurs with the unwanted gift of covid. Spent most of my time since then either in bed or on the sofa under a blanket, just starting to feel more human again now!

 

So where were we...

 

Day 4 - Dubrovnik

 

Steps and more steps.

 

So I've been to Dubrovnik a few times before, my friends haven't. We didn't organise any official tours or excursions, just planned to walk around the old town area, the walls and then catch the cable car and have lunch in the restaurant up there. 

 

We got off the ship and there were 2 options to get us to the old town area, a shuttle bus which was I think €14 or 15 each person or a cab for a flat fee of €18. We took the cab, which dropped us off right outside one of the main entrances through the walls. 

 

 

 

We found the main entrance to the walls and paid the roughly €34 (Somewhere around that amount anyway) entrance fee, which seemed a bit steep (excuse the pun) but we figured it must take a fair bit to maintain the walls and city so didn't mind it so much. 

 

 

Might not make the cover of 'Plumbers Monthly' (for the right reasons) but I guess if it works it works.

 

 

 

Can't get enough of the red tiled roofs, such a beautiful contrast between the city and the (normally) blue skies and sea.

 

 

The weather actually was just right for exploring the city. Partly cloudy with a brief shower and temps around 24c. If it had been scorching sun and in the 30s we wouldn't have walked nearly as far!

 

 

 

After we finished walking the walls we had a wander through the city trying to find a bar built into the cliff side which we'd seen from up top. Sat down and had a much needed break (and beer) at Buza Bar while admiring the views out.

 

 

Aside from the iconic red tiled roofs, if one photo could summarise the old town it would be this one. Steps. Literally thousands of them everywhere. 

 

 

After ascending a few hundred steps and heading out of the old town and heading to the cable car entrance we discovered it was closed because of high winds and they had no idea when/if it would open again that day. So we went back down a few hundred steps and found a little restaurant for some much needed lunch. 

 

After lunch we checked again and the cable car still wasn't running, by this time our legs were about to go on strike so we opted to catch a taxi back to the port. 

 

 

View from cabin while leaving port a few hours later. This bridge was one of my first memories of Dubrovnik when I drove into the city for the first time some 15yrs or so ago. 

 

 

 

 

[SDWCruise]

Hi OysterD! We were on the same cruise .. we also have the ‘unwanted gift’! Lots of people coughing/sneezing onboard …. Perhaps time for cruise lines to do spot temperature/health checks? Had a great cruise though … enjoying your photos.

[MCKC]

Sorry to hear you have been under the weather, glad you are on the mend! Thanks for the lovely report, it’s getting me more excited for my trip on the 20th! 

[hcat]

still enjoying the photos and review   

The red roofs and step pics  are great!

 

steps and uneven pavement are difficult  even for those who are  physically fit ...have to wear good shoes and not hurry....

 

[ev8876]

Enjoyed your report.  We were on the Beyond sailing right before yours.  3 out of 4 of us came home with Covid.  Based on the posts to out FB group page, several came down with Covid.  We’d heard the cruise before ours also had a number of Covid cases.  There was lots of “colds” and coughing on board.  Seems the Beyond might be struggling with Covid infections.  Nobody seriously ill though.  Risk of cruising these days. 

[Wirral Girlie]

Thanks for updating us. We board Beyond on the 20th and fortunately (or not!) I came down with covid a few days ago. Luckily, and maybe thanks to 4 vaccinations, it's been no worse than a bad cold. 

Hope you recover quickly and I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks for the info we sail Nov 13 and getting our covid shots this week. Not looking forward to being sick. Guess I will be packing masks!

[OysterD]

21 hours ago, SDWCruise said:

Hi OysterD! We were on the same cruise .. we also have the ‘unwanted gift’! Lots of people coughing/sneezing onboard …. Perhaps time for cruise lines to do spot temperature/health checks? Had a great cruise though … enjoying your photos.

Hope you're feeling better or at least on road to recovery by now! Absolutely loved the cruise and if we had to come down with covid, at least it was the day we got home and not the day we stepped foot onboard! 

We all noticed there was a lot more coughing and sneezing the last few nights actually... I remember we were waiting for the lift one evening and it arrived, doors opened, the sole person inside let out an almighty sneeze and got off, we stepped inside and jokingly tried to hold our breath until our floor! Maybe we should have waited for the next one hahah

[OysterD]

20 hours ago, ev8876 said:

Enjoyed your report.  We were on the Beyond sailing right before yours.  3 out of 4 of us came home with Covid.  Based on the posts to out FB group page, several came down with Covid.  We’d heard the cruise before ours also had a number of Covid cases.  There was lots of “colds” and coughing on board.  Seems the Beyond might be struggling with Covid infections.  Nobody seriously ill though.  Risk of cruising these days. 

Hope you managed to enjoy your cruise though! I think you're sadly right, it is just a risk of cruising these days and not much can be done about it, especially with ships sailing at or close to capacity.

[OysterD]

19 hours ago, Wirral Girlie said:

Thanks for updating us. We board Beyond on the 20th and fortunately (or not!) I came down with covid a few days ago. Luckily, and maybe thanks to 4 vaccinations, it's been no worse than a bad cold. 

Hope you recover quickly and I'm looking forward to the rest of your review.

Thank you! It's been like a bad cold for me plus its sapped all the energy from me, which isn't ideal when you've got 2 weeks of work to catch up on. 

Hope you're feeling better now and enjoy your time on board, which I'm sure you will....she's a beautiful ship with a great crew!

[OysterD]

Day 4 - Theatre & Le Petit Chef

 

We love a bit of magic (who doesn't?!) so made our way to the theatre tonight to get front row seats for the evenings entertainment - Matt Johnson. I remembered seeing him on Britain's Got Talent a few years ago and believe the following year he appeared on the US version. 

 

Turns out front row seats (much like pausing the TV when watching magicians perform!) didn't really help figure out any of the tricks! Only explanation is it just has to be magic! Matt has a great stage presence, is charming and witty and the 45 min show left us wanting more. Which was handy because he was due to perform a slightly different show later in the week in the Club.

 

 

 

 

After the show we walked over to Le Petit Chef to make use of night #2 of our 4 night dining package. 

 

Food was delicious and the light show was entertaining enough for a first time. Would we eat there again, maybe because the food was good, although obviously the visuals might get repetitive after a few times.

 

 

 

 

 

[OysterD]

Day 5 - Corfu

 

We booked our own excursion today - my friends had wanted to go scuba diving at some point on the cruise and having been to Corfu a couple of times before I thought the island must have some decent diving spots/diving schools. I've never dived before whereas my friends have but not for a while, so we booked a beginners 2 dive session for the day. We were picked up from the port in the morning and driven over to the dive school on the other side of the island. After kitting up and going through a briefing with an instructor (1 instructor for the 3 of us) we made or way across the beach and into the water. I'd been a little apprehensive beforehand but it was much better than I imagined.

 

I had thought maybe our first dive would be 15 mins or so followed by a break of a couple hours but nope, almost an hour later we surfaced again. After a 20 min break the instructor asked if we were ready to go back out, which 2 of us declined as we were pretty tired after that first, longer than anticipated dive. For my first go ever, that was enough for me!

 

We lay on the beach while my other friend went back down. A bit of beach time was much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Beyond docked next to her long lost cousin (Marella Explorer used to be Celebrity Galaxy many moons and paint jobs ago).

 

 

Back to Blu for dinner tonight, shout out to our waiter, Willy, for his excellent service and wry sense of humour.

 

 

After a couple of drinks we headed to The Club for the 80s night, which was more entertaining and interactive than we thought it would be. Mixture of trivia and music followed by a choreographed dance by the Club/Eden production cast morphing into a big ole disco. Very fun night!

 

 

 

[OysterD]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:30 PM, SSAtlantic said:

 Could you share the name of the tour provider? That looks like an awesome tour. 

Apologies, forgot to respond to this one...

 

 

https://www.kotorboat-tours.com/index.php/en/speedboat-tours/tour-kotor-mamula-blue-cave-zanjice-beach-or-dobrec-army-base-our-lady-of-the-rock-perast-kotor

 

They depart from the pier literally just a few mins walk from where the tender boats docked.